Passing through the hall where students were gathered and walking further inside, the entrance to the massive central auditorium and the four corridors stretching out radially beside it came into view.
“...The Department of Mysticism classrooms are the leftmost ones here.”
Isil pointed to the leftmost of the four corridors with her slender finger.
I examined the corridor she indicated and opened my mouth.
“Still, it seems the information Specter Jude gave us back then wasn’t false. Didn’t Specter Jude tell us we would use the leftmost corridor the most?”
As I spoke, rummaging through memories that had grown quite faint since the encounter with the demon, Isil, who was standing beside me, shook her head and denied my words.
“...There are mistaken parts too. When Senior Jude guided us, there were six corridors, but the ‘current’ Academia main building only has four.”
“Ah, now that you mention it.”
Thanks to Isil’s explanation, I realized the source of the sense of incongruity I had felt when looking at the corridors.
The leftmost and rightmost corridors that Specter Jude had guided us through did not exist in reality.
They were cleanly blocked off by walls, as if such passages had never existed from the start.
*Tch.*
Smacking my lips in disappointment, I tentatively ran my fingertips along the wall to see if the corridor we had entered was hidden somewhere. But whether it was concealed perfectly or had never existed in the first place, only the smooth texture of the wall met my touch.
“Then that secret passage doesn’t exist in reality either. The hidden chamber in the stair wall was nothing but a dream.”
“...Was that what’s important?”
“Of course. How thrilling is it to have a secret space at school that only I know about? It’s perfect for skipping class, too.”
A hidden secret space existing within the school.
It was a shame that such an incredibly cool setting wasn’t real.
No, could it actually exist in reality, and we just hadn’t discovered it yet?
“...Stop standing there with disappointed eyes and follow me.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
As I was stroking the corridor wall, contemplating whether to ask Hwaryeong to punch through it with her fist to see if a hidden corridor would appear, Isil seemed to catch on to my thoughts. She quickly grabbed my sleeve and dragged me toward the corridor where the Department of Mysticism classrooms were gathered.
*Thud, thud.*
Perhaps because the Department of Mysticism had few members, after walking a few steps down a corridor that looked unusually small compared to those where other departments’ classrooms were gathered, we reached a sturdy classroom door made of dark brown wood.
Whether from the passage of time, the door was scarred here and there, but even those scars suited the antique patterns carved into it quite well.
*Creak.*
Without hesitation, Isil grasped the doorknob and opened it. As the old classroom door opened, a subtle friction sound reached my ears, and the sight of the classroom came into view.
“It’s better than I thought?”
When I stepped inside, contrary to my worries, there was no musty smell; instead, a cool breeze seemed to pass through my body.
I turned my head toward where the wind was blowing. Perhaps because the Department of Mysticism was located at the leftmost side, the windows on the main building’s outer wall connected directly to the classroom, offering a wide, open view.
Outside the classroom windows, spring had only just begun, and the fresh greenery of the vegetation and the well-trimmed street trees flaunted their presence.
The landscape was so meticulously maintained that it gave the illusion of having entered a small garden.
*Thud.*
“Shall we sit here for now? No one else has come yet, so we should be able to sit anywhere.”
I sat in the seat closest to the window, turned to Isil, and said,
“I heard from Hwaryeong before that the people in the Department of Mysticism haven’t even introduced themselves to each other yet. Is that true, Isil?”
“Yeah.”
Isil also sat down in the window seat immediately to my right and nodded.
“...I was out of it, so I don’t remember well, but it definitely wasn’t a harmonious atmosphere. More like wild beasts cautiously watching one another, I suppose.”
“Haha, we’ll have to spend at least four years with them. The road ahead looks bleak.”
“...Don’t worry too much, Jin. I heard it’s a problem that will resolve itself with time.”
“Really? Is there some kind of solution?”
At her confident expression, I wondered if there was some special trick to getting along with each other, and I looked at Isil expectantly.
“The professor who came in on the first day said that at most, only five people here would become mages. He said those among us who do become mages would naturally grow close, and the rest would drop out in two or three years anyway.”
“...That’s a truly helpful thing to say.”
“Really?”
“It was sarcasm, Isil.”
“?”
I turned away from her and let out a deep sigh.
No, I hadn’t even expected them to teach ethics like the schools in my previous life.
But was it normal for a so-called professor to stand before students and openly declare that aside from a few of them, none would become mages anyway, so it didn’t matter if they didn’t get along?
Isn’t this a school? It’s not some college entrance exam cram school.
“Tch, do I have too sensitive a mindset for this macho world? No, even so, if this is a school, character education should at least be mandatory—”
*Tap, tap.*
“...Look, Jin. The other students.”
“Where?”
Isil tapped my shoulder and pointed at the classroom entrance.
*Creak.*
Just then, my eyes met with a group of about seven or eight students entering through the door.
“...”
“...”
At their wary gazes, I thought about raising my hand to greet them and slowly tried to lift my right hand. But seeming to dislike the sight of that, they whispered among themselves, ignored us, and passed right by.
In particular, a short, stocky male student who seemed to be the leader of the group glared at my face, furrowing his thick eyebrows into a ‘八’ shape, and walked past.
“Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten such a rude reaction.”
“...It wasn’t me, Jin. They were looking at you much more unfavorably.”
“Hmm, somehow I think I know the reason.”
“The reason?”
For Isil, who looked curious, I discreetly pointed at them settling into their seats and explained.
“Look at those kids. Their complexions aren’t good, right? And they all have expressions that look somehow bloated, like they have indigestion.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the kind of reaction you get when you suddenly overeat high-quality food after starving for a considerable period.”
“I see.”
“In other words, they seem to be kids from among the Holy City’s residents who’ve been subsisting on food even worse than what Academia provides, and in quite small amounts at that.”
I couldn’t be sure since I hadn’t asked, but I was probably right.
I didn’t know exactly which district of the Holy City they were from, but their behavior—fidgeting with their clothes as if their uniforms felt awkward, and looking around with anxious expressions—matched what I’d often heard about Holy City residents.
And most of all, if they were people from the West where I had lived, or commoners from outside the Holy City, they would have shown the subservient attitude commonly displayed toward nobles. But when they looked at me, there was no trace of that.
The emotions that male student showed when he looked at me earlier were exactly two.
Irritation and clear jealousy.
“So I can understand why they dislike me. I read quite consistently in the newspapers that Holy City residents hate nobles and envy the rich.”
“They hate nobles and envy the rich...”
“Yeah, status is still clearly divided in the Empire, but at least in the Holy City, that boundary is becoming increasingly blurred. Of course, nobles are nobles and commoners are commoners, but commoners who outperform nobles through their own abilities are popping up like beans in a drought.”
The best examples are Den Brown, the owner and headmaster of this Academia, and Jugin Raden, the first-year professor in charge of the Combat Department, aren’t they?
Both are individuals who possess greater honor and authority than most high nobles despite not being of noble birth.
“So Holy City residents are said to go wild for and envy commoners among them who do better than nobles. In turn, they despise powerless, poor nobles.”
“...It all sounds very complicated.”
“Well, to sum it up, the reason those kids dislike me is probably because I’m from a noble family. They must have overheard me talking with Lin Edenburgh.”
Well, I caused such a scene during the entrance ceremony that even the most oblivious person would have noticed I was at least of equal or higher noble standing than her.
Of course, as time went by, the fact that I was from the House of Count Praheu would naturally be revealed.
But it was one thing for me to naturally reveal that as I introduced myself, and quite another for them to consistently ignore me while sharing negative feelings among themselves like that.
This wasn’t good.
Surely there was some solution.