Chapter 10
“I think everyone was quite flustered last week. So we’ve decided to conduct the practical sessions from next week together with the Swordsmanship Department.”
Violet, the Magic Department teacher in charge of the Friday second period ‘Physical Training 1’ class, was quite shocked by the students getting lost due to her carelessness last week. Having discovered an unexpected danger, she consulted with the Swordsmanship Department teachers and decided to conduct the next classes together.
“Actually, classes conducted with the Swordsmanship Department are usually available from the second year. But this year, we’ve made an exception to proceed with the first-years.”
At the teacher’s words, the students began to murmur. Emily and Kira also looked at each other with surprised eyes.
“The teacher must have been really shocked last week,” Kira whispered softly to Emily, who nodded. Come to think of it, she remembered Marquis Valenti saying that if they had gone a little further when they were lost, they would have been outside the barrier. Considering it was a forest where monsters resided, albeit in small numbers, it sent a chill down her spine.
Emily unknowingly glanced at Miss Astina and her group sitting diagonally. While the teacher seemed to think the incident was due to her own carelessness, Emily thought differently.
“Originally, groups are formed within the same year, but since you’re all novices who can’t use proper magic yet, you’ll be grouped with third-years. You’ll be scored based on the order in which you find the markers in the forest and return, so cooperate with each other to come back quickly.”
“Teacher, if it’s just a magic test, why is the Swordsmanship Department involved?” a student raised their hand and asked.
Violet nodded and answered, “Yes, that’s why you’ll be teaming up with third-years who don’t need to worry much about their grades. The third-year Swordsmanship Department students will be practicing practical exercises focused on escorting.”
Emily, who looked puzzled at these words, quietly asked Kira sitting next to her, “Kira, why don’t third-years need to worry about their grades?”
“Oh, the guidebook said that from the second year onwards, both the Magic and Swordsmanship Departments only need to pass the practical exam to graduate. But apparently, the difficulty of that practical exam is extremely high.”
“I see.”
Emily blinked at this new information. In fact, Emily had planned to attend the academy for only one year, so she hadn’t read that part of the explanation properly.
“I heard that since I’m a commoner selected by the academy, one per year, I won’t receive financial support after two years. It would be nice if I could graduate within two years if possible.”
As Kira looked at Emily and smiled brightly, Emily smiled back. However, she didn’t mention that she was only planning to attend for one year.
“Alright everyone, today we’ll be covering the textbook material, so please open your books. I’ll let you know about the practical team members next week after consulting with the Swordsmanship Department teachers.”
The teacher’s announcements had just ended. Emily also opened her textbook and focused on the class.
* * *
After finishing class and returning to the dormitory, Emily washed up and changed into casual clothes. Kira had another class right after, so she left, while Emily only had one class on Fridays, welcoming an early weekend. She planned to go into town during this rare free time to buy Life Magic textbooks and gloves for the party.
“Let’s see, the weather’s gotten quite hot, so a summer dress would be good, right?”
Emily hummed softly as she picked out and changed into a light short-sleeved dress with a white background mixed with sky blue fabric. Then, she gathered her money pouch and left the room.
There was only one place within the academy where teleportation magic could be used. The reason, they said, was that since it was an old building, it was constructed with a structure to prevent external intrusion during wartime.
Because of this, even if you went to this place, you couldn’t teleport without applying in advance. Although it was quite a cumbersome procedure, it was the most strictly observed rule in the academy, so all students followed it, albeit reluctantly.
A quite wide path stretched out in a straight line through the garden in front of the academy’s main building. The path was made of flat stones, with wide grasslands and dense trees standing in rows on both sides.
After walking for a while along the central path, you would come to a circular marble space, with tall, round columns made of white marble supporting the ceiling. In the middle, a magic sphere was floating in the air, emitting a rather mysterious light.
“Do you have a reservation?”
When Emily arrived at the teleportation magic site and showed her student ID at the reception, the female student in uniform flipped through a few pages of a thick book and quickly found Emily’s name.
“Miss Emily Adesio, reservation for 11:30 AM. Yes, confirmed.”
“Thank you.”
Emily received the teleportation magic stone and approached the snow-white sphere floating in the center. The dazzlingly beautiful white light emitted by the sphere mesmerized her for a moment, but she soon came to her senses and activated the magic stone.
Whoosh
Her vision flashed white, and just as she felt her toes lift slightly off the ground, her surroundings changed in an instant.
A bustling noise spread to her ears, and suddenly Emily found herself standing in the middle of a busy town street.
“Wow…”
Emily, who had come to town for the first time since enrollment, looked around with wide eyes. The town connected to the academy by teleportation magic was quite sophisticated and clean, with each building having a very cute and colorful appearance.
The passing people also looked relaxed, and the place was filled with lively noise. Emily was genuinely amazed as she looked at the flat stone-paved streets and the magic streetlights erected here and there.
“Wow, there are so many street food stalls too!”
On both sides of the street slightly away from where the shops were gathered, there were rows of street food stalls.
They were selling croissants filled with butter, cream pies with exquisite sweetness, skewered grilled meat rubbed with strong spices, sugar-sprinkled baked potatoes, and cool fruit drinks—all foods that couldn’t be eaten at the academy.
Emily excitedly bought and enjoyed snacks for the first time in a while. After filling her stomach with affordable foods while walking through town, Emily began to look around in earnest.
In the center of town was a large fountain, surrounded by people cooling off from the hot sun and children running around.
Around the fountain were quite luxurious restaurants and tea houses, but they seemed very expensive, so she didn’t consider going in.
Emily first stopped by a bookstore to purchase Life Magic textbooks and then immediately looked for a glove shop.
“Welcome.”
As she opened the door and entered, a small bell attached to the glass door rang with a clear tone.
The shop was selling small accessories like hats and ribbons in addition to gloves. The uniformly cute designs and pretty pastel colors naturally caught her eye.
“Is there anything you’re looking for?”
As Emily was looking at the ribbons arranged by type on the display stand near the shop entrance, a young woman from behind the counter approached with a bright smile. She had a rather cute face with freckles on the bridge of her nose.
“Um… I’m looking to buy velvet long gloves that cover up to the elbow. I’d like them in white, if possible.”
“Velvet? May I ask when you plan to wear them?”
“Next Monday.”
“Hmm, won’t that be a bit hot? Velvet was selling well just last week, but with the weather suddenly turning hot this week, everyone’s looking for lace gloves.”
“Lace?”
Lace is much more expensive than velvet. Seeing Emily hesitate at the mention of lace, the employee smiled kindly and guided her to the display of lace gloves.
“These days, gloves that expose the back of the hand are in fashion, so less lace is used, which has brought the price down quite a bit. Would you like to take a look? By the way, what color and design is your dress?”
“Ah… it’s a navy dress, and the design exposes the arms and shoulders, so I think short gloves might be a bit uncomfortable.”
“Oh, then how about wearing this chiffon shawl? For the white one without embroidery, you can get it at a reasonable price.”
The employee showed her gloves with a navy ribbon on the back of the hand and a design where delicate white lace wrapped around the fingers, along with a fluttery shawl. The shawl price was much cheaper than expected, and the lace gloves were priced similarly to the velvet gloves she had anticipated.
It was slightly over budget but not a big burden, and above all, buying lace gloves now meant she wouldn’t need to buy separate gloves for summer, which was advantageous in a way. Nobles who care about appearances seem quite tired at times like this. As Emily looked at the lace gloves with a serious expression, contemplating, the employee, still smiling gently, made her final pitch.
“If you buy now, I’ll give you this green ribbon as a gift.”
Emily immediately nodded at the employee’s trump card, showing a ribbon similar to the color of Emily’s eyes. With the ribbon added, it became a much better deal.
“Okay, I’ll take it then.”
Emily, who had been wanting a ribbon to decorate her usual summer hat, happily paid right away.
“Thank you, customer.”
Hugging the box that the employee had wrapped at the speed of light with a bright smile, Emily left the shop. Admiring the employee’s great salesmanship, Emily checked the shop’s name once more. Thinking she should come here again if she needed anything, she moved on.
After buying the gloves, quite some time had passed, and it was already two o’clock. Emily took out her teleportation magic stone, held it in her hand, and went to a less crowded street to return to the academy. She softly uttered the activation word.
The next moment, her vision flashed white, and she felt her toes lift slightly off the ground. As she blinked once, the bustling noise of the town suddenly disappeared. Feeling a light floating sensation and her ears popping, she blinked once more, and Emily was slowly descending onto the marble floor in the center of the teleportation magic site.
Her light skirt wrapped slightly around her ankles, and her long straight hair fluttered a bit before settling calmly on her shoulders. As Emily felt the sensation of jumping from a span’s height and set her feet on the ground, she sensed someone approaching and standing in front of her.
Thinking it might be the next person to use the teleportation magic, Emily raised her head to see a very familiar face.
“…Marquis Valenti?”
“Good afternoon, Miss Emily.”
There stood Marquis Valenti in formal attire, looking at her.
