RIIIIING—.
—The bell announcing the beginning of class.
Although this was a Magic Academy, a place that made Jaes’s heart race as a fan of fantasy, its system was not very different from the schools he had attended in his original world.
The academy was divided into three year levels, with around eight homerooms in each year.
Each homeroom contained approximately thirty students, with boys and girls, nobles and commoners alike, all studying together.
‘If this is a society divided by social status, would it not have been easier to separate the classes by status from the beginning?’
The question briefly crossed his mind, but it was none of Jaes’s concern.
Aside from the fact that students selected the subjects they wished to take in each time slot, much as they would at a university, it was not very different from the middle and high schools Jaes remembered.
Unfortunately, that also meant it resembled his old schools in ways he found far less welcome.
“Hey, transfer student. I am Belé, the second son of the Marquis of Morris. I have never seen you before. Which house are you from?”
Several boys approached Jaes without warning and questioned him with arrogant expressions. Their clothes and refined features practically proclaimed their noble birth.
Judging from their unreserved behaviour and the way the surrounding students watched their reactions, Jaes immediately recognised them as the most influential group in the class.
‘Sigh. Honestly, why do people like this exist everywhere I go?’
The sight of them brought back unpleasant memories of the delinquents who had tormented him throughout middle and high school merely because he was an orphan, satisfying their sadistic urges at his expense.
Still, his present situation was likely to be worse rather than better, so Jaes began by placating them appropriately.
“I do not belong to any house. However, I was fortunate enough to be taken in by ‘Duke Ailin,’ which is how I came to transfer to this academy.”
“……Duke Ailin?”
‘Yes. So do not even think about bothering me. Just get lost.’
Jaes had spoken politely to prevent unnecessary trouble, but there was naturally a reason he had gone out of his way to mention Duke Ailin.
He had only met the man briefly while still too disoriented to think clearly and had effectively been brought here against his will. Nevertheless, if Duke Ailin truly was as influential as Jaes had heard, mentioning his name should have at least some effect.
However—
“Pfft! What is this? Then you are merely another one of the people Duke Ailin took in to satisfy a passing curiosity. In other words, you are nothing more than a commoner with nothing to your name.”
Belé and his followers immediately began snickering among themselves, causing Jaes a faint flicker of irritation.
‘What is this? That old man is far less useful than I expected.’
After laughing to his heart’s content, Belé wrapped an arm around Jaes’s neck and spoke with an unpleasant sneer.
“Fortunately, you seem to possess a commoner’s proper awareness of your place. If you wish to remain in this class without trouble, make sure you remember my face and that of Lord Damian over there. And as befits a commoner, do not do anything to displease us. Lord Damian is a merciful man. As long as you behave yourself, he will permit you to remain a member of this class alongside us.”
“……Understood.”
“Hehe! I will be watching you for a while.”
Apparently satisfied that Jaes had lowered himself as expected from the very beginning, Belé gave him one last smile before walking away with his followers.
‘……Hmm. Well, is that all?’
To an outside observer, Jaes might have appeared to have obeyed Belé perfectly and submitted to him.
Jaes himself, however, remained remarkably detached.
‘His behaviour did not deviate from my expectations in the slightest. Perhaps that is why it does not feel nearly as unpleasant as I thought it would.’
Being looked down upon only provoked defiance or resentment when it came from someone a person regarded as an equal or superior.
Jaes had developed a resistance even to the subtle insults and indirect pressure of graduate school, which had slowly drained the life from him. Compared to those experiences, the simple-minded threats of boys far younger than him felt less intimidating than endearing.
‘So that sturdy-looking boy named Damian is the true authority in this class. As long as you do not trouble me beyond reason, I will stay quiet as you wish. Since you are the children of noble families, try to show at least a little maturity befitting your status.’
Jaes had anticipated far worse possibilities in a society governed by social rank, so this much was sufficiently manageable.
‘Whew. For the time being, I should concentrate on my original objective: adapting to this academy and acquiring basic knowledge about this world. Mir, even though you have lost all your former functions, observe our surroundings carefully instead of doing nothing.’
<Yes, Master!>
There was Damian, the sturdy-looking boy who appeared to have no interest in Jaes whatsoever.
Then there was Belé, the pompous-looking boy who seemed to serve as Damian’s right-hand man.
With such predictable hostility from the noble children, Jaes’s life at the Magic Academy began in earnest.
* * *
<Master, it is time to wake up!>
“……Mmm.”
It was another morning like any other.
After enrolling at Ielhas Magic Academy, Jaes had moved out of Duke Ailin’s mansion and into the academy dormitory. He awoke to Mir’s alarm, which only he could hear, and stretched lightly.
“A-Are you awake, Jaes?”
“Yes. You are already awake, Ian.”
The person who spoke to Jaes was Ian, his roommate.
Ian was a boy with slightly curly green hair and an enormous pair of round glasses. His somewhat timid nature was a minor flaw, but he was diligent and kind-hearted, making him an ideal roommate.
Ian was a commoner whose talent for magic had been discovered, allowing him to enrol at Ielhas Magic Academy.
Perhaps because Jaes was also from a commoner(?) background, Ian had kindly taught him all manner of things from the moment he enrolled. Thanks to Ian, Jaes had been able to adapt to life at the academy more easily.
“T-Today is the exam for our Basic Magic Aptitude class. I-I suppose I was nervous because I could not sleep very well.”
“YAAAWN. That is exactly when you should sleep properly and keep yourself in the best possible condition.”
“B-But what am I supposed to do when I cannot sleep?”
“…….”
……Although his excessively timid personality could be somewhat frustrating at times like this.
“It is not even a difficult exam. You can pass easily with your usual ability, Ian. Have some confidence.”
“Th-Thank you. Whew. Hearing you say that makes me feel a little better.”
In truth, Ian’s magical ability was not exceptional. However, neither was he poor enough to belong among the academy’s worst students, so Jaes’s encouragement was sincere rather than empty flattery.
Jaes himself was naturally not particularly concerned about the exam either.
‘The Basic Magic Aptitude exam only requires us to calmly cast the First-Tier spell designated by the instructor. There should not be any problem.’
It had already been a month since Jaes began attending the Magic Academy.
During that time, he had studied the fundamental theories of magic and the common knowledge of this world with almost obsessive intensity. As a result, he had gradually begun to find a sense of stability.
‘‘Magic’ surpassing ‘science.’ This is quite an interesting world.’
The most fascinating fact he had learned was that this was by no means a world without science and technology.
Its technology had not advanced to the level of computers, but other nations apparently possessed machines resembling tanks. It was certainly not a world devoid of technological development.
However, at some point, the efficiency of ‘magic’ had surpassed that of ‘science.’ Magic had consequently begun developing more rapidly than science, eventually producing the current system.
‘In other words, this world is undergoing a kind of transitional period.’
As long as someone possessed the proper medium and recited the correct incantation, anyone could easily accomplish feats such as creating water from the air or summoning wind—things that even a smartphone from Jaes’s original world could not do.
Of course, they required a certain degree of fundamental knowledge, and their efficiency varied greatly according to the caster’s skill.
However, computers in his original world had also grown smaller and simpler over time until they became smartphones that anyone could use. Magic in this world appeared likely to develop in a similar fashion.
‘The fundamental principles are not particularly different, after all.’
The greatest and most important difference was the energy consumed in the process.
It was not ‘electricity,’ an energy that humans did not naturally possess, but ‘magical power,’ an energy that the people of this world were born with.
Unlike machines, which could only operate after being charged, ‘magic’ could produce an effect directly through the energy known as magical power.
It was undeniably fascinating, and as an engineer, Jaes could not help finding it intensely stimulating.
It was still unclear whether ‘magical power’ was an energy that existed only here and had been entirely absent from his original world.
Nevertheless, that posed no obstacle to Jaes learning and mastering magic in this world.
‘Understanding a principle and implementing it are entirely different matters. I may possess knowledge about computers, but that does not mean I have the skill to build one myself. Still, the fundamental principles are similar. There must be countless ways to incorporate programming techniques from my original world into the language of magic and improve it even further.’
It would naturally have been ideal if Mir had retained its original capabilities, but expecting that much would have been pure greed.
Even so, as Jaes learned more about this world, several ideas concerning Mir had gradually begun to form in his mind.
For the moment, however, he set those thoughts aside.
“—Wind.”
Jaes had become fairly accustomed to the Magic Language. Moreover, he had completed his doctoral coursework in his original world.
Consequently, First-Tier spells that merely required him to memorise the incantation written in a book and recite it without making a mistake were no longer much of a challenge.
“Hmm. Good. You pass.”
As expected, he passed the Basic Magic Aptitude exam without difficulty.
“Ian, you pass as well.”
“P-Phew!”
Fortunately, the same was true of Jaes’s roommate.
“See? I told you there was nothing to be so nervous about.”
“E-Even so, I cannot help becoming nervous whenever I hear the word exam.”
“Heh. Look at you openly celebrating after merely managing to cast a First-Tier spell. Commoners with such shallow educations truly cannot be helped. Open your eyes and watch closely. Wind Cutter!”
“…….”
However, there were naturally still people who could not resist showing off at every opportunity.
“Belé, this exam is meant to test how stably you can cast First-Tier Magic. There is no need to cast a Second-Tier spell.”
“Haha. I know, Instructor. But First-Tier Magic is far too dull. Wind Cutter is clearly an advanced form of the First-Tier spell Wind, so should it not be sufficient?”
“……Sigh. Very well. I will accept it just this once.”
“Hahaha!”
After casting an entirely unnecessary Second-Tier spell, Belé of the noble faction turned towards everyone, including Jaes and Ian, and gave them a broad, triumphant grin.
‘Sigh. What is he, a child? ……Oh, right. He is.’
Jaes sighed inwardly at Belé’s blatant provocation.
They were currently first-year students at Ielhas Magic Academy.
Ordinarily, mastering Second-Tier Magic was a requirement for graduating in the third year. A student’s talent was then judged according to the degree to which they could wield Third-Tier spells beyond that level.
Belé was still only a first-year student, yet he was already capable of casting a Second-Tier spell to some extent. Jaes could therefore understand why the boy wished to display his ability.
Children at that age were desperate to boast about anything that made them superior to others.
“W-Wow. Wind Cutter is a Second-Tier spell. As expected of a noble, Lord Belé is incredible, unlike us.”
Even Ian, who stood beside Jaes, stared with his mouth hanging open as he spoke.
“I am not so sure. Is he really?”
“H-Huh?”
To Jaes, Belé’s behaviour merely appeared childish.