Chapter 2: Chapter 2. The Road to the Academy (1)

“This year’s entrance exam is in fifteen days. Make sure you arrive in time.”

With those words, Kaisel vanished from the manor.

He seemed to have used long-distance travel magic to return to Ars Magna Academy.

He wants me to come to the academy?

In all my life, I had never once considered attending the academy.

I enjoyed reading books about magic, but that had only ever been to satisfy my thirst for knowledge.

I’ve never even thought about becoming a mage.

Mages.

People who held a monopoly on all sorts of knowledge and accomplished incredible things.

Could I become one of them?

Go to the academy and become a mage…

Why was it?

It was a future I had never considered, yet my heart was beginning to flutter.

It’s not as though I can keep taking it easy here in the domain, reading books.

My family was already ruined.

The future in which I succeeded my father as lord and lived a leisurely life was gone.

That left only one path for me to choose.

If I really do have a talent for magic… starting a new life at the academy is the right answer.

Kaisel had told me I had a talent for magic.

If a great mage like him said so, I must have at least some aptitude.

In that case, I wanted to put that talent to use.

To secure a new future for Eriol Valencia.

Besides… if I become a mage, I’ll be able to read grimoires that never circulate outside, won’t I?

Books about magic sold to the public were strictly for “general readers.”

The “specialist texts” needed to properly learn magic were only available at the academy.

Apparently, there were even special “grimoires” that required permission just to read.

If I become a mage, I’ll be able to get my hands on all sorts of books I’ve never had access to before.

The academy would have all manner of books I had never read.

The thought of going there to read them made my heart flutter all the more.

Yes. Let’s go.

Kaisel himself had said it, after all.

If I came to the academy and became a mage, I could build an enormous library.

I had to go to the academy, if only to make that future mine.

But…

There was just one thing troubling me.

I would have to leave my parents behind in our utterly ruined home.

“Eriol, don’t worry about us. Go to the academy.”

“Pardon?”

But my father and mother reacted in a way I hadn’t expected.

“If Kaisel says so, you must truly have a talent for magic.”

“That’s right. You mustn’t let this opportunity slip away.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about us, Eriol. We’ll manage.”

Kaisel was surely a wealthy man, yet he hadn’t paid off a single penny of my father’s debts.

All he had given me was a little money for my journey to the academy.

Perhaps the shock had brought my father to his senses. The look in his eyes was different now.

“I have a relative in a city far from here. We’ll rely on their help while we make a fresh start.”

“Father…”

“No more speculating… Just honest work.”

With that, my father turned to my mother.

“I’m sorry, dear.”

“Well, there’s nothing for it.”

My mother let out a long sigh.

“Let’s sell the manor and go to the city together. We have to get this family back on its feet somehow.”

“I’m truly… sorry.”

My father bowed his head to my mother.

He seemed sincerely repentant… I probably wouldn’t need to worry about him from now on.

“All right.”

My parents seemed determined to make their own fresh start.

That meant I could make mine with an easy mind.

“Then I’ll go to the academy.”

To claim a new future for myself.

I had made up my mind to enroll at Ars Magna Academy.

---

A little over ten days later.

After a long journey, I arrived at the coast, with a blue sea stretching out before me.

“Is that Ars Magna Academy?”

I could see a large island across the water.

Long ago, an enormous underground dungeon had been discovered on that island, drawing mages from far and wide.

They had formed an organization of sorts to explore the dungeon together, and as they shared their magical knowledge, the Ars Magna Institute for Magical Research had come into being.

In time, the Ars Magna Institute for Magical Research changed its name to Ars Magna Academy. It was now renowned as the continent’s foremost institution for magical education.

“Good. I won’t be late for the entrance exam.”

I headed for the dock.

There was no bridge to the island, so I had to take a boat.

“The next boat leaves… in twenty minutes.”

After checking the timetable, I sat down in the waiting room.

There were plenty of boys and girls around my age nearby.

Since they weren’t wearing academy uniforms, they had probably come to take the entrance exam, just like me.

“…”

Seated in my chair, I took a book out of my bag.

I’d bought it with money saved from the travel allowance Uncle Kaisel had given me.

It was the latest volume of The Youngest Son of a Political Dynasty, a novel series about a protagonist who broke away from his noble family’s traditions to pursue his own path. It had come out today, and I’d been lucky enough to find a copy at a bookshop I’d stopped by that morning.

There’s a bookshop at the academy too, but apparently new releases take at least a week longer to arrive there.

I began reading, savoring every word.

Of course, I couldn’t let myself get so absorbed that I forgot to board the boat… so I made sure not to “concentrate” completely on the book.

Unfortunately, that meant I noticed someone staring.

What is it?

A girl who looked about my age was sitting beside me.

She had long black hair and a quiet, demure appearance.

There was an elegance about her, and her expensive clothes suggested she came from a noble family.

But… she was staring right at me.

That’s distracting.

Normally, I would have ignored her and concentrated on my book.

I had the ability to immerse myself in a book without paying any attention to my surroundings.

But right now, I was waiting for a boat. If I did that, there was a good chance I would miss it.

I’ve made a similar mistake before.

I considered what to do.

I wasn’t particularly inclined to snap, “Why are you staring at me?”

So I took a less direct approach.

“Ah…”

She gave a little start when I stood up.

I paid her no mind, walked over to the rubbish bin, and threw away a scrap of paper from my pocket.

Then I casually sat down in a seat near the bin.

As though I had simply changed seats while throwing something away.

She’d feel hurt if I made it obvious I was avoiding her.

Before I left, my mother had repeatedly urged me to be as considerate of others as possible.

Apparently, she feared that a son who had spent his life at home reading might treat other people rudely… but she needn’t have worried.

Books had taught me all about basic consideration for others.

“…?”

However.

It seemed that being considerate of someone was no guarantee they would return the favor.

The girl who had been sitting beside me suddenly sprang up and approached the bin.

Then, despite having nothing in her hands, she “pretended to throw something away”… and sat down beside me.

What is with this girl?

Novels featured all kinds of people.

But I had never encountered anyone who behaved like this.

What on earth did she want?

“E-excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“When did you buy that book?”

“This morning.”

“Oh, right. It came out today. So you bought it this morning. I didn’t manage to get a copy.”

Apparently, she was also an avid reader of The Youngest Son of a Political Dynasty.

“You must like The Youngest Son of a Political Dynasty?”

“Yes.”

“I-I like it too.”

“I see.”

“…”

Silence fell.

I had shown her some consideration earlier, but I had no intention of indulging in pointless chitchat.

Still, her gaze kept distracting me… so I sighed and spoke again.

“Would you like to borrow it?”

“What?!”

“I have another book.”

I handed her the book I’d been reading, then took another from my bag.

It was An Illustrated Guide to the Wildlife of the Southern Jungles, by the eminent biologist Dr. Gort.

This wasn’t a new purchase. It had been tucked away in a corner of my library and had luckily escaped seizure.

“Oh, um…”

“You can return it when we get off the boat. Oh, and one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Please let me know when it’s time to board.”

Making it clear that I had no intention of continuing the conversation, I opened the thick wildlife guide.

Now that I had asked her, I wouldn’t have to worry about missing the boat.

I began to concentrate solely on the book, “shutting out” my surroundings as completely as I could.

Hmm… so red-spotted frogs eat other frogs’ tadpoles…

When I lost myself in a book, I lost all sense of time as well.

Oblivious to the passing minutes, I explored the ecosystem of the southern jungles.

“E-excuse me.”

I was engrossed in the lives of long-legged salamanders when I felt someone poking my shoulder.

“It’s time to board…”

“…”

Looking up, I saw everyone getting to their feet and moving off.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, here.”

She handed the book back to me.

“You can keep it until we get off the boat.”

“No, that’s all right.”

“Very well.”

I put the books in my bag and stood up.

Then I strode onto the boat to keep her from trying to speak to me again.

“Phew…”

The boat was large enough to carry several dozen people.

I sat down in the passenger seating area and took out my book. Someone immediately sat beside me.

But it wasn’t the girl from earlier. This time, it was a boy.

“Wow, I nearly missed the boat.”

He was a pretty boy with striking, gleaming blond hair.

Tall and slender, he had sweat running down his forehead, as though he’d been doing a lot of running.

“The hot dogs they sell outside the dock were so good I ordered another one, and I nearly didn’t make it.”

“…”

“Hey, did you try the hot dogs?”

I’d thought he was talking to himself, but he was talking to me.

Why on earth would anyone bring this up with a complete stranger?

I wanted to slip away to another seat as I had earlier, but every seat was already taken, so that wasn’t an option.

“Oh, you’re here for the entrance exam too, right? Same here. I’m Kane Trigger. What’s your name?”

His sociability was truly insane.

Between him and that girl, was the world outside my house more dangerous than I’d expected?

“Eriol Valencia.”

“Eriol Valencia! That’s a great name!”

I wished he wouldn’t shout my name quite so loudly.

“Oh, hold on. Eriol Valencia? Are you… related to Professor Kaisel Valencia, by any chance?”

“…”

At that moment, several people nearby turned their attention to me.

Kaisel Valencia was a great mage renowned throughout the world. Naturally, anyone hoping to enroll at the academy would know his name.

This is driving me mad.

I let out a heavy sigh.

At this rate, it seemed I wouldn’t be able to read on the boat either.

“Wow, it’s so great to meet you. I really admire Professor Kaisel.”

“Right…”

“Did you know? Professor Kaisel took the academy’s entrance exam back in the day too. Apparently, he crossed the sea on a boat just like this one, the same as us.”

Kane Trigger chattered away excitedly.

“But do you know what happened? Halfway across, all of a sudden…”

That was when something happened.

“On the boat…”

KRA-BOOM!

A tremendous blast rocked the boat.

The passengers screamed, and in an instant, all hell broke loose.

“There was… a terrorist attack… by an anti-magic group…”

Beside Kane, who was muttering with an uneasy expression, I gave a short sigh and closed my book.

It seemed reading on the boat was completely out of the question.