I took a deep breath and stared at the classroom door.
The wooden classroom door was firmly shut.
We looked at one another in turn, nodded, and carefully opened the closed door without making a sound.
The classroom was bright and cheerful.
The interior was quite impressive too. The desks were arranged in tiers from the teacher’s platform all the way to the back door, making the room look just like a university lecture hall from a movie.
The moment we stepped inside, several people already in the classroom turned their attention toward us.
I couldn’t tell whether they had already known one another beforehand or had become friends after arriving, but some of them were huddled together, chattering away.
“Hm? They’re really little kids.”
As we looked around the classroom, everyone’s attention shifted toward us.
Even the students who had been talking among themselves stopped and stared, and Yeowoo and Sia seemed rather overwhelmed by the attention. Their faces, which had been lively just moments ago, stiffened with tension.
Of course, I wasn’t bothered at all.
My nerves weren’t so weak that I’d get tense just because a bunch of little brats were staring at me.
If anything, I found the situation amusing.
It felt strangely awkward seeing the two girls who always took the lead frozen in place, unable to do anything.
Smiling, I took the lead this time.
“Should we sit over there?”
I pointed toward a secluded seat by the wall in the middle row.
Seats by the windows were bound to be popular and draw attention, so I had put some thought into choosing a spot where we would stand out as little as possible.
“Hmm…… Okay!”
For the first time, I was the one who decided where we would sit.
Several female students whispered while looking at us.
The problem was that I could hear every word.
“They must be from the Magic Department. Their uniforms are so pretty.”
“All three of them are cute too. Should we go talk to them?”
The girls giggled as they looked at us.
They wore only vests and jackets, and unlike ours, their uniforms didn’t have gold trim, making their designs look rather plain compared to those of the Magic Department.
The emblem on the breast of their jackets was different as well.
It depicted a tiger inside a shield.
It seemed to be the emblem of the Martial Arts Department.
We had been told that the Martial Arts Department and the Magic Department shared part of their curriculum and took classes together except for their specialized subjects―magic for the Magic Department, naturally, and martial arts for the Martial Arts Department―but it only truly sank in after seeing it with my own eyes.
Anyway, the three of us sat down side by side, hung our schoolbags from the desks, and waited for class to begin…… or at least, that had been the plan.
Yeowoo and Sia simply talked too much.
Filled with anticipation and excitement, they kept tugging at me, saying they were nervous and talking about one thing after another.
It was exhausting for me.
“Wow. Hi?”
That voice was far too husky to belong to those girls from earlier.
I turned my head to check and saw a face that looked very familiar.
Dark skin and an explosive mop of hair.
He was also quite tall for a thirteen-year-old.
His name was definitely Moon Mujin.
When the freshman representative suddenly greeted us, both Yeowoo and Sia froze without answering, so I greeted him first.
“Yeah. Hi.”
“You’re the kids who were in the articles, right? I heard the Academy’s record for youngest student got broken three times in a row because of you guys.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Were we on the news? I have no idea.
I only watch the nine o’clock news.
“Really? Anyway, nice to meet you, kids. I’m Moon Mujin. I’m older than you, and I’m in the same class as you.”
Moon Mujin smiled and held out his hand toward me.
I extended my own tiny hand, clasped his, and shook it.
This is…… how people on Earth greet each other.
It still feels awkward every time I do it.
I’ve gotten fairly used to greeting people with a bow by now, though.
“Let’s get along.”
“Yeah.”
After greeting Moon Mujin, the parade of introductions continued.
Surprisingly, our classmates seemed to find us adorable.
Maybe because we were clearly much younger and smaller than the others, they didn’t seem hesitant about approaching us first.
“What’s your name?”
“Yeah. I’m Lee Hyunwoo.”
“Ah, you’re so cute.”
An unfamiliar female student stroked my head.
At that moment, Yeowoo’s eyes began blazing.
She started rummaging through her bag as though she were about to pull out a magic wand, so I hurriedly tried to stop the girl from touching my head.
“Ta-da.”
The girl stopped stroking my head and showed me something.
It was a simple little magic trick.
A small spell formula had formed over her palm.
As long as someone knew how to manipulate mana, even a Zero Circle could create a spell formula like that.
Yeowoo, who had been sneaking glances at it, suddenly jolted in surprise and exclaimed.
“Wow! Big sis! What’s that? That’s so cool!”
“Hehe. Right, right? It’s magic~”
The hostility that had been blazing in Yeowoo’s eyes disappeared in an instant, turning her into a docile lamb as she began peppering the girl with questions.
How did she do it? Where had she learned it? And so on.
The girl smiled and said before leaving.
“You’ll learn all of this later~ I just learned it ahead of time.”
Even after the girl left, Yeowoo kept smiling happily, once again realizing that she had come to a magic school.
A little more time passed before a full-grown adult man who appeared to be our homeroom teacher entered through the front door.
He stood behind the lectern and looked around the classroom.
When he spotted several students sleeping with their heads down, he frowned.
And then, suddenly…….
“ATTENTION─!”
His voice was loud enough to shake our eardrums as he woke the sleeping students.
Even I, who had been watching the teacher closely, flinched in surprise, while the sleeping students jerked awake outright.
“I sincerely welcome you to the Academy, freshmen. Since today is your first day, there will be no physical training, but you will have the regular classes you would normally take at an ordinary school.”
The teacher continued.
“Of course, there is no training today because it is your first day, but I trust that you at least did some light exercise before coming here. You are not ordinary students, after all.”
Are we supposed to do that too?
I didn’t know.
I stared at the teacher with an indifferent expression, but Yeowoo and Sia beside me appeared to be hanging on every word with bright, attentive eyes.
“First, I will introduce myself. My name is Kim Jongseok, and I will be your homeroom teacher. My National Certification Grade is ‘Na,’ which is equivalent to B-rank under the international standard. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
The students let out murmurs of admiration at Homeroom Teacher Kim Jongseok’s introduction.
That was understandable.
There were only 784 people in this country at ‘Ga’ and ‘Na’ grades―in other words, A-rank and B-rank under international standards.
Among South Korea’s 140,000 Heroes, our homeroom teacher, Kim Jongseok, was one of those elite 784.
Of those, 300 were A-rank and 484 were B-rank…… so I’d only wear my mouth out stating how impressive our homeroom teacher was.
Still, how did someone this impressive end up becoming a first-year homeroom teacher at the Academy?
There must be some reason he can’t work in the field anymore, which is why he became an Academy teacher, right?
“That is enough about me.”
My thoughts vanished as Kim Jongseok continued speaking.
“I will explain today’s schedule. Today, you will take classroom lessons here. The subjects will be similar to what you studied in regular school.”
Kim Jongseok brought up a touchscreen display and enlarged it so everyone could see.
“Korean and mathematics. Social studies and science. You will also learn the proper mindset, ethics, and social skills expected of an Academy cadet.”
Just as Kim Jongseok said, today’s schedule appeared on the touchscreen in text, seemingly prepared in advance.
Kim Jongseok added an explanation about the basic academic subjects.
“The basic academic curriculum begins at the first-year middle school level. Since the students admitted here vary greatly in age, the level may not suit everyone, but the curriculum will progress quickly, so keep that in mind. If you do not concentrate, you may fall behind.”
Kim Jongseok looked in my direction before continuing.
“Ah. We also have three very young students in our class. You three will receive special lessons based on individual examinations, so there is no need to worry.”
Was this consideration meant to help us keep up with the Academy curriculum that started at the middle school level?
It probably wouldn’t help me much, but it seemed like it would be quite useful for Yeowoo and Sia beside me.
“Starting tomorrow, each department will begin its specialized classes and learn some basic theory. Two days from now, you will begin training.”
The screen displayed the curricula for the Martial Arts Department and Magic Department in detail.
But before I could read much of it, the display quickly disappeared.
The screen then turned black.
“Of course, none of that is important right now. What matters immediately will happen after all your classes are over.”
The homeroom teacher stopped speaking for a moment and examined the students filling the classroom.
“Our class has gathered quite a few promising students.”
Kim Jongseok’s gaze swept across the students before stopping on me.
Then he declared forcefully.
“Today, you will choose the weapon you will use at the Academy. Choose carefully, but there is no need to feel too pressured. If it does not suit you, you will have opportunities to change it later.”
The students began murmuring, so Kim Jongseok rapped the lectern twice to quiet them.
“Then I will see you after class. You would do well to think about it until then.”
***
Time flew like an arrow, and before we knew it, all our regular classes were over.
The schedule had been so packed that we barely had time to become acquainted with the other students before finishing our first day at the Academy.
Lunch had been delicious, and the quality of the classes had been fairly good too, but there really was no romantic charm to Academy life after all.
That sort of thing only exists in fairy tales and novels….
“You can assume that every kind of weapon in the world is here.”
We had arrived at the weapons storage room Kim Jongseok had told us about before class.
Like children on a field trip, the students―including Yeowoo, Sia, and me―stood in a circle around the teacher and listened carefully.
“Go stand in front of the weapon you want. Once the assignments are complete, the weapons will be issued to you. They are training weapons, but some of them cost anywhere from three million to nearly ten million won apiece, so handle them carefully.”
Otherwise, you would spend the next week suffering through incident reports and written reflections, Kim Jongseok added.
Just as the teacher had claimed, there truly was an incredible variety of weapons in the storage room.
Everything from cold weapons to gunpowder-based weapons.
It felt less like a storage room and more like a weapons museum.
“Now. Choose. Stand in front of the weapon you want.”
The students scattered toward the displayed weapons all at once.
The three most popular choices were, without question, swords, spears, and staffs.
Most of the Martial Arts Department students chose swords or spears, while every single student from the Magic Department went straight for a staff.
Every single one except Yeowoo.
Yeowoo alone chose a wand.
You know, the short kind they use in Harry Potter.
It was about time for me to choose as well.
The place seemed to contain practically every kind of weapon that existed in the world, so I wanted to take my time looking around before deciding, but the weapon I could choose was essentially limited from the start.
A mage should choose a staff.
It wasn’t as though I could walk around carrying a sword.
I leisurely walked over and stood behind Yeowoo.
“Hi!”
Yeowoo answered my greeting with a smile.
“I knew you’d come over here!”
The reason I chose a short wand instead of a long staff was convenience, setting aside the fact that I didn’t need a staff or wand in the first place.
Staffs were heavy to carry around, inconvenient, and more than anything, bothersome.
Wands were different.
I could simply tuck one into my waistband, it wasn’t heavy, and carrying it around wasn’t much of a burden.
……Not that any of this really mattered.
Even without a staff or wand, I faced no major restrictions when using magic.
My hands alone were enough.
Even if I had no hands, all I had to do was chant aloud.
While my Circle was still low, I needed time to adjust, so I would occasionally rely on the wand, but once I accumulated enough experience, it would become little more than something for show.
“Now. It seems everyone has chosen a weapon. If anyone has had a change of heart and wants to switch weapons, move now.”
No one moved.
The homeroom teacher crossed his arms, briefly muttered that it seemed no one did, and brought the weapon selection to an end.