Chapter 8: In the Luxurious Dorm Room {1}

A gorgeous white brick building. It towered even higher than that castle-like structure where the classrooms were, so tall it made your neck hurt just looking up at it.

I wanted to sigh just thinking about how many meters high it must be. Actually, forget the height—what did it cost to build this thing? I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't help myself.

Shape-wise, it was basically a rectangular tower. Yeah, that's what you'd call it—a tower.

"This is... a dorm, right?"

I'd memorized most of the academy's layout. I knew there was supposed to be a student dorm here, but the whole thing felt so unreal I had to ask Gaia, who was standing next to me.

"...Yeah, it's a dorm."

Those red eyes glanced at me with a look that said 'don't ask. Who the hell built something like this on academy grounds anyway?'

I didn't feel weird about going inside. Your average person might hesitate, but while I wasn't nobility, I was hardly your typical commoner either. Plus, I'd been in and out of the central kingdom's royal castle plenty of times, and that place was way more over-the-top than this. This didn't faze me.

"The fact that you're not hesitating—are you actually some rich kid, Sakika?"

The voice belonged to that droopy-eyed student who'd introduced himself as Rate earlier.

His blue eyes still looked young, with a mischievous glint like a kid up to no good. That pretty much summed up his personality, I figured.

Being addressed so suddenly caught me off guard, but I'd probably get used to it eventually.

"...I'm not nobility or anything. But I've been to the royal castle a few times for certain reasons."

He probably didn't notice how tense I got every time I had to respond.

The central kingdom's royal castle was basically the definition of luxury and extravagance. Compared to that place, where I went for work, this was like comparing crystal to diamond.

"The royal castle? Well, if you've been there, I guess this wouldn't surprise you much..."

He'd probably been there once too. Parts of the castle were open to the public. If you lived in the capital, it was a tourist spot you'd visit at least once.

There were a couple of staff members at what looked like a reception desk in the lobby. They'd be able to tell me where my room was.

I excused myself from Gaia and the others and walked over to the desk.

"Excuse me."

The receptionist smiled brightly. She looked like a plump woman in her twenties.

"Yes?"

"I'm Sakika Foras. I transferred in today. Could you tell me which room is mine?"

"Ah, you're Sakika. I'm Mary Franzewell, the dorm supervisor. Here's your room key. Room 903, so that's the ninth floor."

Turns out she wasn't just a receptionist—she was the dorm supervisor. I took the key from Mary.

"Thank you, Ms. Franzewell."

I smiled politely as I thanked her. Mary's face seemed to redden slightly, but I didn't dwell on it and headed back to Gaia and the others. If I asked about it, they'd probably just brush it off anyway.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Where's your room?"

Those slightly upturned eyes were looking at me. That was Naoma.

"Um, room 903, they said."

I was still trying to figure out the right distance to keep with them, so I hesitantly showed them the plate attached to the key. That's when Gaia spoke up.

"That's right next to mine."

"Really?"

If we were neighbors, it'd be easy to hang out. And if something happened, I could visit him without any trouble. Sakika smiled faintly.

I knew where Gaia's room was now, but where were the other three staying?

When I asked, Gaia looked up at the ceiling like he was trying to remember.

"I'm in 902. Rate's in... I think 1006 on the tenth floor. Lilith is... room 915 on the ninth floor, I think. And Naoma is..."

"I'm in 812 on the eighth floor."

Looked like only Gaia and Lilith were close by. The eighth, ninth, and tenth floors were all pretty close though—probably because we were all the same year.

The reason I'd asked about rooms was because I wanted to talk to Lilith about something. I needed to tell her about that weird feeling I'd had earlier.

But having a one-on-one conversation with Lilith, who I'd just met, was impossible. I'd barely ever had a conversation with a girl my own age.

It should be fine if her friends Gaia and the others were there too.

"...I've got something I want to talk about. Could you come to my room around six?"

Even this simple request made me nervous. Despite my hesitant way of asking, they all nodded readily.

"...Thanks. And I'll make dinner for everyone while we're at it."

Time-wise, it made sense for me to cook dinner. When I suggested this, my new friends looked surprised.

"Sakika, you can cook?"

Apparently the surprising part was that I wanted to cook.

"...It's a hobby, I guess."

My hobbies were reading, developing new magical potions and spells and magic circles, and cooking.

"Are you any good?"

I had to tilt my head at Rate's question. I just liked making food, so I made it.

"...You'll see."

That was Gaia muttering under his breath. I had cooked for him plenty of times.

Rate's eyes lit up with anticipation, and Sakika gave him a wry smile.

"So what's this about?"

Naoma asked when we'd stopped in a corner of the hallway. I guess it would be weird to call people over without saying why.

But Rate looked pretty annoyed at being ignored like that. I was starting to get a read on all three of their personalities, which made me smile wryly again.

"...It's about Lilith, but it's not something I can explain in one sentence."

To explain it properly, I'd probably have to start from the basics. With their level of knowledge, a rough explanation wouldn't be enough for them to understand.

"Hey, about Sakika's cooking—"

"About me?"

Lilith cut Rate off and asked me. Rate looked like he was about to cry after being interrupted, and I wanted to help him out, but the Lilith thing was more important.

I was hesitating over whether to answer when Gaia spoke up.

"Ugh... th-that's mean—"

"We can get into details later. Let's go to the room."

Rate tried to speak at the same time but got cut off again, and his shoulders drooped. I was genuinely worried now, so I hesitantly called out to him.

"...You okay?"

Rate looked up at me with teary eyes.

"Sakika~"

Just from me asking, Rate started crying. Apparently I'd made him cry without meaning to.

I didn't know what to do and was about to look at Gaia for help when Rate came flying at me.

I reflexively dodged him. There was a dull thud, and Rate went sprawling on the floor.

Rate was holding his nose and curled up in a ball. It looked like it hurt. Luckily there didn't seem to be any blood, so I was relieved.

"S-sorry. Are you okay...?"

But this must happen a lot, because Gaia and the others just kept walking without bothering to help him.

"Saki, let's go."

Gaia put his hand on my shoulder.

"What about Rate?"

"Leave him."

I still couldn't figure out their group dynamics. But if Gaia said to leave him, he was probably fine.

I hesitated but didn't resist Gaia's pull, walking down the hallway with Naoma and the others.

Pathetic sounds followed from behind. Heavy footsteps and the presence of magical power were getting closer.

When I glanced back, I could see Rate running after us. I let out a small chuckle.

What we reached was a single magic circle. It was drawn large on the floor next to the stairs in a corner of the lobby.

"A teleportation circle...?"

I muttered quietly at the familiar sight.

A teleportation circle was a magic circle that let you teleport to one of several specific predetermined locations by channeling magical power into it and focusing on your destination.

They're mostly used to connect cities so people can travel between them, or to link different floors within buildings so you don't have to climb stairs.

But you won't find them in farming villages or small towns—only in the big cities. That's because these teleportation magic circles are incredibly difficult to create. There aren't many people who can actually draw them.

Most guilds have them too, connecting their branch offices to headquarters, but their use is restricted for emergencies only.

The downside of teleportation circles compared to regular teleportation is that you can only go to specific places. But the upside is that as long as you have mana, you can reach those specific locations.

Teleportation magic is extremely difficult. Even if you have enough magical power, only a tiny handful of people can actually master it.

"You know how to use it, right?" Naoma asked.

I nodded. Anyone living in the capital had used one at least once.

"Yeah."

"Good, that's settled then. I'm heading up first."

Once I nodded, Naoma stepped into the magic circle, channeled her mana, and teleported away.

"I'm going ahead too," Lilith said, teleporting right after her.

"We should go too," Gaia said.

"Yeah."

Gaia and I were going to the same floor, so we could teleport together. We stepped into the magic circle and pictured our destination. The moment I channeled my mana, everything around me shifted completely.

It's pretty common for people to get motion sick from teleporting until they get used to it. I'd never gotten sick from it, but I remembered Gaia used to get nauseous a lot when we were kids and would look pretty miserable afterward.

After we started walking down the narrow hallway, I realized something. I'd completely forgotten about Rate. Since he was going to a different floor, we couldn't teleport together, but I should've at least said something before we left.

I wasn't used to conversations with more than three people, so I hadn't thought that far ahead. I made a mental note to apologize to him later.