Chapter 2: Faculty
While being shown around the dormitory and receiving explanations, we used the cafeteria together for dinner.
Before I knew it, night had fallen, and I said goodbye to Eliza, promising to meet again tomorrow.
Apparently, there’s no curfew in the faculty dormitory since many magicians tend to shut themselves in their research labs. Taking advantage of this, I decided to take a stroll around the academy at night.
In the center stands the castle-like school building, with the men’s dormitory on the right side and the women’s on the left. The town spreads out beyond the academy grounds, with four entrances located in the cardinal directions. However, only the south gate is normally open for regular use.
By the way, it seems the research labs are concentrated on the north side.
The academy grounds at night are mostly deserted, with no shops open, but streetlights everywhere create a fantastical atmosphere.
The air is crisp, making the walk very pleasant.
As I walked, looking up at the spires illuminated by countless lights and wondering if this was what the Sagrada Familia I’d seen on TV looked like, I suddenly heard what sounded like sobbing coming from behind something.
At first, I froze, thinking it might be a ghost, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. When I looked towards the source of the sound, I saw a small figure.
Fluffy white hair, black clothes, and a white tail.
“…A tail?”
As I muttered this, the fluffy head twitched. The figure turned around fearfully and looked up at me.
It was a beastkin girl. Her face and body were like a normal person’s, but she had animal ears and a tail. The fluffy appearance of her head was due to her animal ears being flattened.
She seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. She was small and slender, with slightly droopy eyes that made her look cute.
The beastkin girl, her cheeks wet with tears, tried to move away with a frightened expression. As she tried to distance herself while still sitting on the ground, I consciously softened my voice to speak to her.
“…What’s wrong?”
At these words, the girl held her breath.
“I won’t do anything to you, so come out.”
Hearing this, the girl timidly came out into the light. And when I saw her fully, I was shocked.
Part of the girl’s skirt was scorched, and she wasn’t wearing any shoes. On her left leg, I could see several fresh wounds.
Her expression showed both sadness and shame. The way she averted her gaze from me was familiar. Was this bullying, perhaps?
Involuntarily, my brow furrowed.
“…Don’t move.”
Saying this, I reached out towards the girl’s leg. I felt her flinch, but I ignored it and used my magic. The rare light attribute, healing magic.
“Cure Kale”
As I spoke these words, a sensation like being wrapped in warm, soft air appeared at my fingertips.
The girl looked up at me with wide eyes, then quickly returned her gaze to her own leg.
The wounds healed rapidly before our eyes. The blood left on the surface dried and hardened, finally crumbling into dust. What remained was a leg with beautiful, unblemished skin.
“…Alright, it’s healed. As for the shoes… there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Muttering this, I lifted the still-frozen girl onto my back.
“Eh!? Um…!”
I smiled at the girl who let out a surprised voice and turned my steps towards the dormitory where my room was located.
“Since you don’t have shoes, we have no choice. Be good and stay still, okay?”
As I said this, I realized that my actions might seem suspicious. Would it be scary to be suddenly taken away by a stranger?
I thought this, but surprisingly, the girl quieted down at my words. Though still timid, she placed her hands on my shoulders and entrusted herself to me.
Now, did I have any clothes or shoes that would fit such a small child? While I’m not particularly tall myself, I’m certainly not as petite as her.
As I was pondering this, I thought of just the right person.
“There’s Eliza, isn’t there?”
I could borrow clothes and shoes from her. Eliza seemed kind-hearted, so she would probably lend clothes and shoes to the girl.
I thought it was a brilliant idea.
And so, I found myself visiting the room of someone I had just met today, in the middle of the night.
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I headed towards Eliza’s room, trying to hide while carrying the beastkin child.
There were some close calls along the way, but once we reached the second floor, we stopped running into people.
When we arrived at the intended room and I knocked on the door, a relaxed voice came from inside.
“Ye~s, who is it~?”
Eliza, who poked her head out saying this, had a goofy smile on her face and her steps were unsteady. She was clearly drunk.
I wondered if it was okay to show such a state of a teacher to a student, which the beastkin girl probably was.
No, in this situation, it might actually be helpful. If she’s drunk, she might lend us clothes without thinking too deeply about it.
“…I’m sorry for coming so late at night. I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes.”
When I said this, Eliza looked at me with unfocused eyes and noticed the girl hiding behind me.
Instantly, her expression changed.
Furrowing her brow, Eliza opened the door to her room while looking at the girl.
“Come in.”
“Ah, y-yes…”
At Eliza’s serious tone, the girl’s shoulders trembled slightly as she replied and entered the room.
“You come in too, Aoi.”
Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, I obediently followed.
As we entered, a waft of distilled spirits and floral scent greeted us. Surprisingly austere furniture was arranged in the room, which was about eight to ten tatami mats in size. While the lamps and trinket boxes had cute designs, the table in the center of the room had alcohol in wooden containers and snacks laid out, giving an ambiguous impression of whether this was the room of an old man or a young woman.
Eliza seated the girl in the only small chair set at the table and sat down on the floor herself.
“…What happened?”
When Eliza asked in a gentle voice, the girl looked down with a face on the verge of tears.
“…Aoi-san.”
Hearing my name called, I explained the situation of how I met the girl, being careful not to upset her further.
After listening, Eliza looked at the girl with a pained expression.
“…You’re Shenley from the high school division, right? I heard you were a serious student studying magic diligently… Can you tell me what happened?”
As Eliza gently inquired, the girl called Shenley remained silent, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
Was she unwilling to answer, or unable to?
If she was unable to answer…
Eliza seemed to have reached the same conclusion as I had, her face momentarily turning grim. But she quickly softened her expression and patted Shenley’s head.
“…Well, for now, let me lend you some of my clothes. How about this one?”
Changing the subject, Eliza let Shenley choose some clothes and helped her change.
While Shenley was changing, Eliza came next to me and spoke in a low voice.
“…Aoi-san. My room doesn’t have a shower… and the faculty dormitory is off-limits to regular students… so, is it okay?”
Eliza said this in a joking manner, but she couldn’t completely hide the underlying atmosphere.
I could sense that she was genuinely worried about Shenley, which made me let out a small laugh.
We moved to my room, where Shenley could properly take a shower.
When she first entered my room, Shenley’s eyes widened in surprise at its size, but after looking around two or three times, she seemed to settle down.
It seems she was used to large, luxurious rooms. By the way, Eliza silently watched Shenley’s back as she went to take a shower.
“She seems to be living in the dormitory, so is it okay if she stays in my room tonight?”
“All regular students share rooms with one other person, but since there was an odd number, Shenley seems to be using a double room by herself. So it should be fine.”
After answering with a wry smile, Eliza’s expression darkened again.
“…Shenley advanced to the high school division a year early. While this isn’t uncommon in a merit-based magic academy, the problem seems to be that Shenley is a beastkin and her family is of viscount rank.”
“Problem…?”
I felt anger rising at Eliza’s words. Was it racial discrimination, or stemming from elitist ideology? It wasn’t clear, but there shouldn’t be any hierarchy among fellow students. It happened in Japan too, but just seeing instances of bullying makes one feel indignant at its insidiousness. Noticing that I was quietly getting angry, Eliza hurriedly waved her hands in front of her face.
“I-I don’t think that way! It’s just that inevitably, a hierarchy forms based not only on magical ability, but also on noble rank, country of origin, and birth! E-Even I get called names behind my back for being a dwarf!”
“Some researchers believe that dwarves and beastmen have difficulty with magic because they constantly use magic circulating within their bodies. It’s just that they have less magical power to release,”
However, Eliza’s expression seemed to be one of resignation.
“There are indeed people who say that, but the overall impression doesn’t change,”
she replied quietly but firmly. This was probably an issue she had agonized over and thought through for a long time. As a result, Eliza seemed to have given up.
“I see. But I think we should at least eliminate such discrimination within this academy,”
“I think that would be quite difficult,”
Eliza sighed, dismissing my words.
“The current high school division is a rare environment in recent years. After all, we have royalty from the six great nations gathered here. Whether they intend to or not, factions naturally form,” she explained.
“Factions…”
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