Morning of the Entrance Ceremony

Today was the day of the Royal Academy entrance ceremony.

I had trouble falling asleep last night because I was nervous, and I woke up early this morning.

There was no point in getting nervous, but after what happened on the day of the exam, I couldn't help feeling gloomy.

Even though I was nervous, I somehow managed to finish getting ready and headed to the entrance a little early.

There, I found Richard-sama and Catherine-sama. Were they heading somewhere?

"Good morning, Richard-sama, Catherine-sama."

"Good morning, Leon-kun. It's finally time for you to start at the Royal Academy. Give it your all."

"Understood."

"Do your best, but don't push yourself too hard. You may encounter quite a few unpleasant situations, but you can always rely on the ducal family."

"Yes. Thank you very much."

The two of them said that and saw me off to the carriage. Had they come specifically to see me off?

They really were incredibly nice people...

After waiting a little longer, the carriage door opened, and Lucien climbed inside.

Once the door closed, the carriage began moving.

"Good morning, Lucien. It's finally the entrance ceremony."

"Yeah, I'm excited!"

Lucien really did seem excited, without a trace of nervousness. I was so nervous, though.

Well, Lucien was the duke's eldest son, so no one would probably do anything to him openly. In contrast, I could only envision a future where I was harassed...

I had to stay strong...

"I'm glad we'll be attending together, but we'll probably be in different classrooms, so I guess we won't have many chances to see each other?"

"Maybe not, but Father said we'd have some classes together, so I think we'll have opportunities to meet."

I see... It was nice that we'd have chances to meet, but it might have been more peaceful if we didn't. Still, I had to show everyone how capable a commoner could be, so I'd do my best.

Wait... If all I had to do was show how capable I was, wouldn't it be enough to get good grades and graduate in one year? I didn't actually need to meet any nobles, did I?

Now that I thought about it, maybe joint classes weren't necessary after all.

As Lucien and I talked about this while the carriage rocked, we soon arrived at the venue. Apparently, nobles and commoners weren't being separated for today's entrance ceremony, and I was guided to a building like the gymnasium where I had taken my exam.

Students at the Royal Academy generally weren't supposed to bring attendants or guards, so Lucien and I were walking around by ourselves. I was used to having someone with me, so it felt a little refreshing. But was it really safe? Well, the school grounds were surrounded by high walls on every side except the gate, and there were plenty of knights at the entrance. No suspicious outsiders would be able to get inside.

Besides, there were probably hidden guards, too. Maybe guards disguised as staff members, or an absurdly strong janitor. That was just my impression, though.

After walking for a while, Lucien and I entered the building, but it had been transformed into something completely different from last time. It looked like a party venue.

Carpets covered the floor, and many round tables had been set up, with five chairs around each one.

Glasses and plates had been placed on the tables. Were they going to serve food too? This was nothing like the entrance ceremony I'd imagined.

"New students, please come this way. We will show you to your seats."

A staff member was saying that at the reception desk, so Lucien and I walked over.

"Could you please present your certificates of acceptance?"

That must have been the paper saying that we'd passed. The entrance ceremony instructions had told us to bring it.

Lucien and I handed over our certificates of acceptance.

"Thank you. Lucien Townsend-sama and Leon-sama, correct? Here are the brooches that serve as your student IDs. Please wear them whenever you're on Royal Academy grounds."

The brooch I was given was shaped like a leaf, with a blue gemstone set into it. Was this actually a precious stone? I had to be careful not to lose it.

"A staff member will show you to your seats."

The staff member beside us led Lucien away, while another staff member came to guide me to my seat.

Lucien's seat was closest to the stage at the front. They probably assigned seats in order of status, starting from the ones closest to the stage.

As a commoner, my seat was naturally at the very back, at the end of the row. From my perspective, it seemed like the best seat because I wouldn't stand out here.

Although status was only officially irrelevant at the Royal Academy, there was no difference between the chairs and tables assigned to noble and commoner students.

They couldn't have high-ranking nobles sit on shabby chairs, so the chair I was sitting in was naturally a nice one too. Well, I was surrounded by furniture of this quality at the ducal residence all the time anyway.

Looking around, I saw that some of the children sitting toward the back looked a little intimidated, while others looked happy. Even the lower-ranking nobles probably couldn't afford much luxury.

Come to think of it, I'd heard that there were hardly any commoners here. Were there any besides me? There had to be a few children of wealthy merchants, but I couldn't tell by looking.

The clothes I was wearing now were equivalent to those of a lower-ranking noble. If I wore anything better, people would say I was acting above my station despite being low-born; if I wore anything worse, they'd say this was why they hated poor commoners.

So the children of wealthy merchants were probably wearing clothes about as good as mine. If so, there was really no way to tell them apart.

While I spent time observing the people around me, a boy came to the seat beside mine. He had brown hair, golden eyes, and delicate features, but he seemed extremely timid and nervous. His face was so pale that he looked ready to collapse. Was he all right?

Judging by this, he was probably a commoner too, wasn't he?

"Um... are you all right?"

When I spoke to him, he visibly flinched and looked at me in surprise. His face turned even paler.

"I-I-I'm sorry..."

Huh? Why was he apologizing to me? Did he think I was a noble?

"I'm a commoner, though..."

When I said that, he looked obviously relieved, and some of the tension seemed to leave his body.

"Thank goodness... I'm a commoner too."

"Then, since we're both commoners, why don't we be friends? Would it be all right if we spoke more casually?"

"Yeah, I'd really appreciate being friends. I was so nervous that I felt like I was going to faint."

"I could tell just by looking at you. You look like you could collapse at any moment. I'm Leon. What's your name?"

"I'm Ronnie. Nice to meet you."

Ronnie finally showed me a small smile. Come to think of it, was this boy the child of a wealthy merchant? He didn't seem like one. His clothes were nice for a commoner, but at this school, they were conspicuously out of place.

"Are you the son of a merchant, Ronnie?"

"No, I lived in poverty with my mother on the outskirts of the royal capital, but she died of an illness, so my younger sister and I lived in an orphanage."

"Really? Then why are you attending the Royal Academy?"

"Well, there was a very dedicated teacher at the orphanage. They taught us whenever they had a spare moment. Of course, they couldn't spare much time, but I really enjoyed those lessons and studied hard. They told me, 'Ronnie, you're smart, so you should take the Royal Academy entrance exam. If you graduate, you can become a civil servant and earn a high salary.' That's why I took the exam. But I didn't know this school was full of nobles. I was only told that after I passed..."

So he had grown up in an orphanage... He must have been extremely clever to pass the exam, but it would be hard for him to get by here.

"I wanted to say that I couldn't attend a school like this, but after everyone at the orphanage made a huge fuss and celebrated my passing, I couldn't bring myself to say anything... These clothes were bought with money that people from the church and those who had grown up in the orphanage desperately pooled together. After everyone went that far for me, I had no choice but to enroll. But there are hardly any commoners here—it's mostly nobles. What if they kill me for being disrespectful? I'm scared..."

So that's how it happened... No wonder he was so timid. If he'd lived on the outskirts of the royal capital, he might have known how frightening nobles could be, but he probably had never actually met one.

"There's no point being afraid now, so let's help each other and do our best as fellow commoners!"

"Yeah... I've come this far, so I've made up my mind. I'll study hard, graduate, become a civil servant, and earn enough money to make sure my little sister and everyone at the orphanage get their fill. They're probably all going hungry."

"Can't the orphanage provide enough food?"

"Hmm, I only know about that orphanage, but they said it's difficult because the government subsidy is too small for the number of children there."

I see... I'd heard the orphanages were run by the government, so I thought their conditions would be good, but apparently not. Well, considering the ordinary commoners' lives I'd seen, it made sense that an orphanage wouldn't be well-off. If they were, everyone would want to go there. They probably had just enough to survive.

I hadn't realized it at first, but my family was relatively fortunate for people living on the outskirts of the royal capital. Four of us lived in a room like one in a small apartment, and there were people who were much poorer than us. The farther you went from the main street, the poorer things became.

Even so, he was only ten years old, yet he wanted to earn money himself and feed his sister and everyone at the orphanage until they were full... It was an incredibly heartbreaking story.

Just hearing what Ronnie had told me made me want to help him. I was such a pushover.

"Ronnie, we're friends now. Let's help each other. If you ever look like you're in danger, I'll help you!"

"Really? Thank you, Leon."

As we talked, the venue gradually darkened, and only the stage at the far end was illuminated. It seemed that the light-orb magic stones mounted on the walls were being removed.

The entrance ceremony was about to begin.