“Your family, I mean. They were quite warm and affectionate, weren’t they? Rare to see these days.”
The mage, who had been watching the scenery beyond the window from inside the carriage my father had lent us after leaving Prah Territory, suddenly spoke up.
“Enough to shatter my preconceptions about the nobles I know.”
“Aren’t preconceptions meant to be broken?”
“Do you think preconceptions exist for no reason? They form because they’re generally accurate, ugh!”
The mage stretched both arms out wide, loosening up her body.
After shaking herself about like that a few times, she soon let out a deep breath, raised her head, and looked at me.
“Phew! Lending such a high-class carriage to a child who’s leaving, and your younger sister who was terrifyingly angry at me had a face like she was about to burst into tears when it was time to leave? At that age, it’s normal to find your older brother disgusting or hateful.”
“…You seem to know my younger sister’s feelings quite well.”
“I have an older brother too, you know. An utter nemesis, really.”
Hmph.
For a while, she hummed a tune as she twisted her stiff body this way and that, then buried herself deep into the backrest against her back as if melting into it like a slime, and spoke.
“Anyway, since you’re now a student of the Akademia, I’ll speak casually with you, alright?”
“I don’t mind.”
When I shrugged with an indifferent expression, she snickered in response.
“How is your personality so good? That’s not the reaction you’d expect from an arrogant noble scion.”
“…I was just born this way.”
“Really? So the world truly is vast, huh? I thought the arrogant temperaments of the nobles in Seongdo were all there was, yet here I am meeting a young noble master with such a naive personality. Perhaps—”
Having said that, the mage opened her mouth as if she’d thought of something, but soon smiled again and simply broke into a grin.
“Ah, no. Is there anything you’re curious about? Despite how I look, I’m your senior, so feel free to ask about life in Seongdo or about the Akademia. This is quite a large favor I’m showing you, you know? According to the rules, guides and freshmen aren’t supposed to exchange information.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it could develop into a solicitation.”
As she spoke the word “solicitation,” her eyes brimmed with unmistakable displeasure, but soon that gaze was hidden behind a smiling expression.
It was such a skilled change of expression that I wondered if I had misseen something for a moment.
“I suppose such things happened often in the past. The Akademia was established to educate the talented equally regardless of class, but as always, there is a gap between ideal and reality, no? In principle, once a noble scion enrolls in the Akademia, they receive the same treatment as a commoner student, but before that noble scion arrives at the Akademia, there was a so-called loophole in the rules.”
“Since the guide would feel the authority of the noble student’s household firsthand, there would be cases where they used information as leverage to request something, I presume?”
At my answer, she lightly nodded in affirmation.
“Exactly. No matter how much you shout equality, equality, do commoners and nobles really become equal? It’s all lies. Commoner students need an employer to hire them after graduating from the Akademia, whereas noble scions inherit their households or become employers of commoner graduates, right? Because of that, there was a lot of commotion in the early days of its founding.”
“‘Was’?”
“It means it disappeared to the point where only students serving as guides are given such warnings. After His Majesty the Emperor once cracked down on it, such things no longer appeared… At the very least, people could no longer openly demand solicitations, since penalty regulations were established.”
“I see.”
As if she had noticed I was quietly looking at her face while various emotions were mixed within her, she turned to me with a bright expression like an actress and spoke.
“So! It’s an old rule considered to mean that such things happened, but rules are rules, so I too could be punished if I break them. That’s why I’m saying I’m showing you favor. Because I like you.”
“Thank you for the favor.”
“Think nothing of it, Young Master.”
At her mischievous reply, I simply let out a bitter smile and quietly gazed at the scenery outside the carriage.
A peaceful landscape of trees lush with greenery passing by swiftly.
As it hadn’t been long since winter ended, the sky was clear and the birds chirped peacefully.
I might even be able to see bear-like animals just waking from hibernation among the trees.
When was it that I first felt this world was a fantasy world after being born into it?
Was it when I saw my father beating a bear almost the size of a house with his bare hands?
When a person lifted a giant bear—more than twice the size of a polar bear seen at a zoo in my previous life—with a single punch, how astounded I had been.
Moved by my father’s brave figure, resembling the back of a hero from legends, I had devoted myself for a time to training to become a knight.
Of course, I had fled after being sick of knight training that bordered on self-abuse.
I suppose it was an important experience that made me painfully realize there was no such thing as a free lunch even in a fantasy world.
“Don’t you have anything you’re curious about?”
“…How does one become a mage?”
“Hmm?”
I took my eyes off the scenery flowing monotonously outside the carriage and looked at her, who somehow seemed flustered by my question, and spoke quietly.
“When you first met me, you introduced yourself as a mage, didn’t you? Can one become a mage by entering the Akademia?”
“Hmm… this is quite a novel question. Usually, freshmen ask what the beds are like, what food is delicious, or whether there are handsome or pretty seniors, things like that.”
“I’m not particularly interested in such things. Rather, does my question… violate the rules?”
With a worried heart, I glanced at her and carefully asked.
Even though she had said she would answer my questions because she liked me, there was a high possibility she wouldn’t mention important information that actually violated the rules.
Of course, if she didn’t answer my question, it would paradoxically reveal the importance of my question, but I didn’t want to put someone who had shown me favor in a difficult position.
“Hmm? No, no. I was just flustered because it’s the first time I’ve heard such a question. You really are… peculiar, aren’t you?”
Fortunately, it seemed my question wasn’t one that involved important information.
But she said my question was peculiar?
“Asking how one becomes a mage is peculiar?”
“Yes, and there’s a reason for that. Mages have a bit of an eccentric image—people who do mysterious things but lack substance? So usually, students entering the Akademia don’t enroll because they want to become mages, but rather aim to secure a position with an Akademia diploma. An Akademia diploma is good enough to overshadow a letter of introduction from most nobles; you could call it a key that grants direct entry into the Empire’s upper class.”
It seemed the perception of mages in the world I was born into was somewhat different from the image found in fantasy novels or movies I had experienced in my previous life.
Usually, mages were treated as walking strategic weapons, beyond being controlled by those in power, occupying positions as regional overlords who established their own governing bodies and ruled territories.
Standard concepts like the Magic Tower or Archmages.
Were there no mages in this world who could launch fireballs with one hand, call down lightning, or even summon meteors?
“But it’s not a question a typical freshman would ask—to be curious about how one becomes a mage, pfft! As expected, you’re interesting.”
“…May I hear the answer to my question?”
“Hmm? Ah, sure. Well, it’s something you’ll learn anyway once you enroll in the Akademia, so there’s no need to hide it. Excuse me!”
She lowered the carriage window and shoved her body through the open window hole, shouting.
“Excuse me, how much farther must we go before we can stop and rest?”
In response to her question, the coachman driving the carriage shouted back loudly.
“An open space where we can stop the carriage will appear soon! From here, it will take just about enough time to quickly drink a cup of tea!”
“Ah, thank you!”
Having finished the conversation, she looked at my bewildered gaze, winked playfully, and spoke.
“When we get off the carriage, I’ll show you the answer to your question.”
“You’ll show me?”
“Yes, seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times, isn’t it?”
After saying such cryptic words, she looked at my puzzled face once, then soon let out a “hmph,” hummed a tune, and buried herself back into the backrest.
Her expression was exactly like that of a mischievous older sister teasing her youngest sibling.
She seemed to have no intention of telling me right now.
Leaving only questions behind, the carriage ran along the peaceful mountain path.
Why did the scent of the forest mixed with the wind flowing in through the open carriage window feel inexplicably more refreshing?