[18] Alpheas School of Magic (4)
This time it was Klump who was surprised. As always, he was the sort of friend who liked to toy with people.
"They say once you master magic you get precognition, huh."
"Not like that. There was a brief connection once. It was intense, though."
Alpheas told how he'd met Shirone when he was about twelve. Klump then told the story of how Shirone later entered the Ozent household.
"Arian Shirone, huh."
Alpheas fell silent again. But this time he actually seemed lost in thought.
"Why not accept it? It could be fate."
"Fate is just a word game. A person's future is something they carve out themselves. If you tack 'fate' onto everything, what wouldn't be fate?"
That didn't work either. Klump clicked his tongue.
Still, he felt a pang of sorrow. He could guess how his friend felt—discovering a great talent but unable to make a decision.
"You still… can't forgive yourself, can you?"
Alpheas said nothing.
"Isn't that why you opened a special admissions track despite the nobles' resistance? You've done all you could. You've produced countless talents. It's time you forgave yourself."
"Hahaha. Forgiving myself would be arrogance. I'm the sort of man who shoved a divine gift into the trash. I'm not asking to be forgiven. What I want is that no one like me ever appears again."
Klump sighed. A certified Grade-4 mage and headmaster of a prestigious school—Alpheas wasn't someone who ought to have ended up like this. He'd been a genius. If only that day had never happened.
"Heh heh. Still, you were obnoxious back then—even I thought so. The Mirhi family's pride. A once-in-a-century genius, and now he's an old headmaster. Life's so unfair."
Maybe age makes you more able to bear pain like you bear children, because despite Klump's cutting joke, Alpheas felt a little pleased.
"Ha! On the other hand, the heavens helped you. That fool with no talent is now a certified Grade-3 inspector. I worry for the future of the Kingdom of Tormia."
They laughed heartily. In the contest between talent and effort, Klump had clearly won. Alpheas felt proud and respectful of such a friend.
"Getting old makes you philosophical, but genius is just a delusion. It's only being a bit better at something. Would that boy really be able to comfort me?"
"Isn't that something you know better than I do?"
Alpheas gave a small chuckle and walked to the window. So it would come to this. The talent he had once been forced to send away over social barriers would, after five years, come back around and stand before him.
He had always believed there was no fate—that a person's future is theirs alone to forge.
Still, a chill ran down his spine. Could it be... fate after all?
"You'll admit Shirone."
Learning Magic (1)
Spring arrived. Flowers bloomed profusely even in Vincent's cabin garden.
For the six months after Shirone's admission was confirmed, he spent happy days with his parents.
Since students lived in dormitories once enrolled, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his family.
He went with his father to cut wood, and at home he chatted over the delicious dinners his mother prepared.
Vincent didn't tell anyone about Shirone's success. He wanted to loudly gloat at the friends who'd quietly looked down on him for having a weak son, but he didn't want to make needless enemies who might cause trouble for Shirone.
Shirone was grateful for a father like that. Vincent had even refused the Ozent family's offer to secure a house in the city—simply because he didn't want to burden his child with obligations.
Those happy days flew by, and finally the day to enter the School of Magic arrived.
Deputy steward Temuran waited outside with the carriage as Shirone said his goodbyes.
"Father, I'm off. I'll write often."
"Yes, my son! Work hard! Now, a kiss!"
Vincent puckered his lips and Shirone's smile froze. No matter how youthful his looks, kissing his father at eighteen felt awkward.
"Father, maybe the kissing can stop now."
"Oh ho! If not, then Dad will do it!"
"Ugh."
As Vincent leaned in with his thick lips, Shirone shrank back. Instead, Vincent pressed a warm kiss to Shirone's forehead and pulled him into an embrace.
"Shirone, I'm proud of you."
In his father's arms, Shirone felt the last traces of anxiety vanish.
"I'm off."
With an ordinary farewell, he stepped out. Temuran waited by the stables.
"Please board. I have orders to escort you to the school."
"Thank you."
They rode in silence to the school. It felt awkward—their positions had reversed in just two years.
But Shirone hadn't forgotten how Temuran had stood up for him despite Butler Lewis's interference.
When they reached the main gate, Temuran courteously helped Shirone down. This was a place frequented by nobles; they had to mind other people's gazes.
"Tuition and book fees will be paid through me. Don't worry about finances—young master, just study hard."
Shirone returned the courtesy.
"Deputy Steward, thank you very much."
"Just doing my duty."
"But I haven't properly thanked you. Because you took me in, I was able to enter the School. I won't forget this favor."
Temuran thought for a moment, then said, "A commoner is a commoner no matter how high he flies. You can't overreach the nobles."
Shirone looked up and Temuran's eyes flashed sternly as he continued, "Still, not everyone gets such an opportunity. Many nobles will likely look upon you unfavorably. Endure it. If you can keep enduring, things will come to an end."
It was the sort of advice you'd expect from a deputy steward who'd risen from orphan to his post. Truth often lives in simple things. If you can endure to the end, there will be an end.
"Thank you. I'll become a mage no matter what."
Temuran smiled—the first smile Shirone had seen from him in two years.
"If you're ready, follow me. You're registered as a guest of the Ozent family and admitted through a special entrance. I'll introduce you."
At the School's main gate the guards stood just as they had six years ago. Whether they were the same men who had chased him away like an insect, Shirone couldn't tell, but even if the faces changed, the attitude of that post probably hadn't.
"What can I do for you?"
"The new student Shirone, yes? Here's his admission certificate and a document from the Ozent family proving his status."
The guard who checked the admission certificate didn't even dare glance at the family document.
If Shirone could cross this threshold, he was clearly of a much higher station than they were.
"Oh, I see. It's an honor to serve you. I'm Marco, captain of the main gate guards. Please take care of us."
When Marco bowed, another guard beside him placed his right arm over his stomach and saluted politely.
The treatment was a world away from six years ago; Shirone was speechless for a moment, then realized the change and smiled.
"Then I'll be on my way. If you ever need anything, find me."
Receiving the documents from Temuran, Shirone took his first steps as a School of Magic student.
His heart swelled as he passed through the main gate. Alpheas School of Magic, cradle of geniuses. What would he learn here, and who would he meet?
Shirone the mage's life was starting now.
* * *
The School occupied an entire mountain of 75.425 square kilometers. There were twenty-two buildings in total and more than forty basic training grounds.
There were 420 students and 32 instructors. At that scale, it was undeniably the kingdom's top school.
Inside the admissions building, neat and attractive students clustered in small groups.
Maps, the school's history, and the curriculum hung on the walls. While waiting to submit his documents, Shirone studied them carefully.
Alpheas School used a "Class Ten" system. Classes Ten through Eight were the basic division; Seven through Four were advanced; Three through One were the graduation divisions.
Only the graduation division used relative evaluation: it could hold up to thirty students, of whom only ten could graduate.
Shirone clicked his tongue at Alpheas's strict graduation system. With graduation exams held only once a year, that meant twenty students were expelled each year.
"So you're Shirone."
Headmaster Alpheas himself came to meet him.
Shirone was startled by how little Alpheas had changed in six years. But given a school that upended common sense, it wasn't entirely surprising.
"Hello. I'm Shirone."
"I think we're acquainted. Do you remember me?"
He couldn't forget. That encounter had been what first set him on the path to become a mage.
"Yes. Thank you again for that time."
"Well, we'll talk more later. For now, come along. You have to take the entrance evaluation."
Shirone was taken aback at the idea of a test upon entry. What test could he take before learning anything at the school?
"Don't worry. It's an evaluation to place you in a class. Can you use the Spirit Zone?"
"Yes, I can."
"Oh! Is that so."
Alpheas had expected Shirone to be talented and clever, but mastering the Spirit Zone alone as a child was rare.
In fact, it had been Alpheas himself who taught Shirone the Spirit Zone, but he hadn't expected a twelve-year-old to succeed on the first try.
That was still how he felt. It was also why Shirone had been one of the last admitted among the incoming students.
Many families began training magic from birth, and among the entrants there were students under ten. Even older entrants rarely exceeded fourteen.
They had timed things so the eighteen-year-old Shirone wouldn't be embarrassed.
"I'll have to teach from the basics. It's a shame—my eyes were too dim. If he'd started a bit earlier…"
Alpheas led Shirone to the examination hall. Other students would be mid-test, so their pace was leisurely.
As they entered, Shirone's mouth fell open. A completely different world spread out before him.
Countless students were using magic. Even in the basic division building, the children's bizarre feats were dizzying.
A girl floated at fourth-floor height, talking to a friend through a window; another student had three books spread in midair, reading them all at once.
Alpheas watched Shirone's reaction and grinned like a prankster. From now on, the level was another dimension.
Entering Class Seven, the students' ages jumped. They didn't use the odd tricks of children, but their eyes brimmed with intellect and they were so absorbed in conversation they barely noticed passersby.
"Lowering the air's convective energy below freezing? Wouldn't condensing the refrigerant be more efficient?"
"But then you can't promote a reversible reaction. What if—rather than reversing the energy's direction—you rotate the time axis…"
Hearing their discussion, Shirone felt a chill. He couldn't grasp the topic at all.
Just then, a loud noise erupted from the end of the corridor. A door was torn off and a girl ran out covering her ears.
The students glanced in surprise but quickly returned to their routines. From the reaction it seemed such incidents were common here.
The girl, clutching her ears, spotted Alpheas and called cheerfully. "Ah, Headmaster! Hello!"
"Heh heh, looks like you had trouble."
"It was a sound amplification test—the output circuit must have failed. I need to redesign it."
"Balancing input and output is important. Keeping the electric force even is key."
"Yes, I'll try it again."
She adjusted her glasses and went back into the lab, where peers were gathered around a strange magic circle discussing its design.
Shirone suddenly understood how narrow his previous world had been. Everyone here looked like a genius.
A results board listed the advanced division's 270 students. In the top advanced group, Class Four, forty-two students were registered; first place was Karmis Amy.
"Wow. Of course the Karmis family is on top."
From his time working for the Ozent family, Shirone had learned the names of famous noble houses. The Karmis were Rank-One nobles with their seat in Creas city.
He didn't panic, though. This was true competition. He wanted to try and see how far he could rise.
"Hey, Amy! Come with us!"
Shirone turned. He had definitely heard "Amy." It was a chance to see the top student of Class Four. A beautiful red-haired girl stood holding books, waiting for friends.
"Huh?"
Suddenly his heart raced. Trauma—feeling before memory. Only after a long moment did he remember who she was.
She was the girl who had tormented him in the back alley six years ago.