Chapter 15: First Class P2

"Oh, it's the homeroom teacher's subject every year, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. I think the first class every year always starts with whatever the homeroom teacher teaches."

Sakika remembered what Gaia had mentioned before.

At Nian Academy, to deepen interaction with homeroom teachers, the first class of every year was always the subject taught by the homeroom teacher.

"Which means..."

Sakika, now fully focused, pictured Eve's face.

Come to think of it, what subject does Ms. Eve teach?

He realized he'd forgotten to ask about her subject.

From what I've seen, I'd guess combat studies...

Combat studies was a subject that taught fighting using weapons, magical weapons, magic, and martial arts.

There were other practical subjects like magical studies, magical potion studies, and summoning studies, plus academic subjects like modern literature, classical literature, mathematics, biology, magical biology, physics, magical history, and ancient history.

But Gaia's answer was unexpected.

"Ms. Eve teaches magical history, I think."

Sakika's eyes widened.

"...Magical history."

He muttered it under his breath, but it didn't feel right.

Magical history covered the timeline from when people first discovered magic up to the present day, and he'd heard that most teachers in this subject were men. Ancient history—covering the period before magic was discovered—wasn't taught in high school.

Plus, from her graceful movements, Sakika had figured she was combat-experienced and specialized in close-quarters fighting. Based on that, he'd assumed she taught combat studies.

"That surprising?"

Gaia looked at him.

"Yeah. I was totally convinced Ms. Eve taught combat studies."

Gaia agreed with that assessment.

"You think so too? Ms. Eve definitely seems like she's been in fights."

"Right... It still doesn't feel right."

More than not feeling right—it felt downright weird.

"Sure, she looks the part, but she's still a woman, right? Why would she teach combat studies?"

But Naoma frowned like she didn't get it. Gaia argued back.

"Being a woman doesn't mean you can't fight. Plus her movements are way too smooth."

Sakika agreed with Gaia completely.

"Huh? Her movements are smoo—"

"What's smooth about them?"

As usual, Rate got cut off by Lilith, who even stole his line.

"Lilith, that's mean..."

Rate looked ready to cry.

"Shut up."

But Naoma shut him down with one word.

"Go ahead, Sakika. Don't mind them."

Sakika smiled wryly and nodded at Naoma.

"Looking at how she walks and stands—no footsteps, her center of gravity barely shifts. I'm pretty sure she's the close-combat type."

That wasn't all Sakika had noticed about Eve.

She was always alert, keeping an eye on all directions.

He hadn't confirmed it directly, but when he'd gotten close to Eve, he'd sensed at least four magical attributes: fire, wind, darkness, and the special attribute of gravity—a magical attribute that wasn't normal or non-attribute, possessed by very few people.

Her magical power was substantial too. Sakika figured her guild rank was S or higher.

Based on all that, Eve was probably incredibly skilled.

"Ms. Eve sounds amazing..."

"Come to think of it, I don't know what her guild rank is."

Lilith and Naoma muttered.

"...What do you think, Gaia?"

Sakika whispered to Gaia. About Eve, that is.

"Definitely S rank or higher. My gut says..."

Gaia added silently.

Information broker—

Exactly what it sounded like: someone who bought and sold information.

They risked their lives investigating whatever clients requested, sometimes even gambling with their own lives. It was dangerous work.

That's why only people extremely confident in their abilities could do it.

Sakika used telepathy magic to speak directly into Gaia's mind.

That's definitely possible.

You think so too?

Since telepathy didn't involve speaking aloud, people around them couldn't hear the conversation.

But this magic could be intercepted, so when using telepathy, you had to make sure no one realized you were doing it.

That's why the two of them kept talking with everyone else while using telepathy.

It was something that required serious magical skill, but they pulled it off like it was nothing.

×××××××××

After walking for a few minutes, the five of them reached the classroom. About ten students were already there.

Classes at this academy were kept small—around thirty students each.

The classroom was spacious, with anti-physical and anti-magical barriers on the walls to reinforce them.

The former was to make practical subjects easier to conduct, and the latter was because teachers sometimes demonstrated magic during theory portions of practical subjects.

They'd been talking in a corner of the large classroom, but when homeroom time arrived and Eve entered, they took their seats.

"Everyone stand!"

At Eve's command, students stood up with chairs and desks scraping.

"Good morning."

"Good morning!!"

They bowed their heads lightly.

Sakika, unused to this routine after so many years, bowed a beat late.

"Be seated."

Once everyone sat down, Eve began speaking.

"Classes start today. I'm teaching first period. The subject is magical history. Also, in one week we'll be doing familiar contracts and magical weapon creation."

The classroom immediately erupted in chatter.

"Yesss!"

"Finally get to make a contract!"

"Can't wait!!"

Cheers went up from everyone. Watching them, Sakika understood.

They've been looking forward to this.

Seeing Lilith and the others celebrating together made him smile.

"Quiet!"

When Eve raised her voice, everyone settled down.

"Before we start class, I'm handing out student IDs. When your name is called, come get yours."

Student names were called one after another. Sakika's name was called too, and he went to get his.

The student ID showed his name, guild rank, attributes, and photo. Of course, Sakika and Gaia's had fake data, but one thing puzzled Sakika.

When did they take my photo...?

Realizing this, a cold sweat ran down his back—and he probably wasn't the only one.

"Regular students get white cards with black text, scholarship students get black cards with gold text. As you know, showing this ID gets you half price on academy facilities. So the cafeteria and stuff is half price. Scholarship students get everything free. Now, let's start class. Today we're covering material not in the textbook, so you don't need it. Just get out your notebooks and something to write with."

Everyone pulled out notebooks and pens. Sakika did the same.

"Today I'm going to talk about a war that happened about ten years ago."

A war from about ten years ago.

Just those words were enough for Sakika and Gaia to understand what she meant.

Maybe it was the perfect topic for students who were getting carried away about being high schoolers. If they went into combat studies with that cocky attitude, someone could get seriously hurt.

That war was the one most deeply burned into Sakika's memory.

Because that war was—

"This conflict is called the Third Central-Northern War, and it was the first time the legendary Silver Blade Wielder entered a battlefield."

When the title Silver Blade Wielder came up, everyone's eyes lit up as they focused on Eve.

They were still getting excited about it. That's exactly why Eve had brought up this topic.

"You all know that many soldiers and civilians died in the Third Central-Northern War. Do you know how many people were killed?"

Eve's heavy words. That single question wiped the sparkle from everyone's eyes.

This war was the most brutal one Sakika had ever experienced.

"Sakika, do you know?"

Eve called on Sakika, who had been looking down the whole time. Sakika stood up and spoke without raising his head.

"Currently confirmed deaths are 3,248,702, with 638,759 missing... That's just from the Central Nation—it doesn't include the Northern Nation's casualties. Combined, the death toll definitely exceeded five million."

He didn't know those detailed numbers because he was an emperor. They still appeared in newspaper corners even ten years later.

They were printed every time deployed soldiers discovered missing fallen comrades.

"Impressive... I can't believe you memorized such specific numbers."

"...No."

Even being praised by Eve didn't make him happy at all. Gaia shot a worried look at Sakika, who remained seated with his head down. Sakika gave Gaia a small smile to brush it off, then looked down again.

When he closed his eyes, memories of that day came flooding back.

Soldiers dying right in front of him. Ground soaked in blood.

Enemy soldiers swinging weapons and firing off spells while laughing like they'd lost their minds—their eyes were hollow, probably seeing nothing at all.

Even when you didn't want to hurt anyone, it was kill or be killed.

To survive, you had to throw away hesitation, swing your weapon, and cast your magic.

And before you knew it, both your hands and body were—

"That's all for first period."

Eve's voice snapped him back to reality. He realized he'd been clenching his fists tight.

Blood was dripping from his hands.

"...Heal"

Non-attribute beginner magic.

He cast it quietly enough that even Gaia wouldn't notice.

This was the weakest healing magic that existed—something anyone could learn with practice—but it was enough for these wounds.

"Class is over. Stand up."

Scrape scrape

Seeing everyone else stand, Sakika hurried to his feet.

"Class dismissed."

"Thank you very much"

Eve strode out of the classroom. The moment she left, Gaia turned to Sakika.

"...You okay?"

"I'm fine."

He forced a smile at Gaia's worried expression.

"...Your face is white as a sheet."

Gaia leaned in to look at his face.

"I said I'm fine. You worry too much, Gaia."

When he tried to brush it off with a fake smile, Gaia's brow furrowed.

"...should tell me..."

Gaia seemed to mutter something in a voice so low and quiet it was barely audible.

"What? Did you say something?"

When I tilted my head and asked, all I got back was a vague smile.

"Nothing. Next is magical potions, so let's move."

"Oh... yeah."

Sakika was curious about Gaia's muttering, but Gaia pulled him along as the five of them headed to the First Magical Potions classroom.

As Gaia dragged Sakika along, he was silently wishing something about his best friend.

Just let me worry about you sometimes...

××××××××××

During lunch break, Sakika and the others came to what could more accurately be called a restaurant than a cafeteria.

"I'll have the A lunch."

"Then I'll go with the B lunch."

"I'm gonna—"

"What are you getting, Sakika?"

Naoma cut off Rate mid-sentence. Sakika let out another wry smile.

"Let me talk for just a—"

"I'd recommend the sandwich."

"Yeah, that's really good."

Ignoring Rate, Naoma and Gaia gave their recommendations.

"You two are so mean—"

"Shut up."

All three voices overlapped perfectly.

"Waaaahhhhh!"

Rate finally broke down crying, slumped in a corner of the cafeteria, sulking.

"Right, let's leave the idiot alone and get in line."

Lilith stayed behind to save seats. Sakika glanced at Rate, wondering what to do, but decided he'd be fine and got in line with Naoma and Gaia.

Sakika bought the sandwich Naoma recommended, Gaia got the C lunch plus a B lunch for Lilith, and Naoma got the A lunch. They returned to the table where Lilith was waiting.

"Here, Lilith."

"Thanks."

Lilith thanked Gaia as he handed her the B lunch. Everyone took their seats and started eating.

Rate was still slumped in the corner of the cafeteria.

After finishing their meal in about thirty minutes and cleaning up, they headed back to the classroom.

Only a few students were there, and something was written in big letters on the blackboard.

[Fourth and fifth period Magic Studies will be held in the Sixth Combat Room]

Sakika and the others had to walk back through the wide, long, and complicated corridors they'd just come from.

By the way, each period at this academy was sixty minutes with ten-minute breaks, and lunch was fifty minutes. There were three periods in the morning and three in the afternoon.

When they reached the Sixth Combat Room, most of their classmates were already there.

The Sixth Combat Room had been expanded from 1 square meter to 1 square kilometer using the advanced space magic "Spatial Expansion," making it incredibly spacious. The floor was covered in dirt like a sports field. It had white walls and a transparent ceiling about three or four stories high, creating an open, airy space.

That much matched what he'd read in the materials, but when Sakika entered the combat room, he noticed something.

---

This combat room had powerful barriers.

By their third year of high school, some students could use advanced magic. Plus, he'd heard that Nian Academy had many talented students.

Probably more students here could use powerful magic than at other schools, so they needed stronger barriers.

A few minutes later, when all the students had gathered, the teacher arrived.

She was a tall woman with long blue-purple hair and eyes the same color. Her hair flowed as she entered and looked around at the students.

"Everyone here?"

For some reason, Sakika felt nostalgic hearing that voice. Had he met her somewhere before?

The teacher, who spoke clearly and directly, seemed to decide everyone was present and began introducing herself.

"I'm Rimi Krotze. I'd be happy if you just called me Rimi. Anyway, let's start class. Skip the formal greetings and get out your Magic Studies textbooks... Oh, and if you have magic books for your attributes, get those out too."

Magic books contained spell chants, how to cast spells, and the average amount of magic power they consumed.

Sakika thought she seemed pretty easygoing as he pulled his textbook, fire attribute magic book, and light attribute magic book from his Box.

Looking around, everyone else was doing the same thing.

"Today you're going to learn intermediate magic. I'll walk around and check on you, so call me if you don't understand something or just can't get it."

That caused a stir among the students.

Sakika didn't understand why everyone was making such a fuss and tilted his head. Gaia explained it to him.

"In middle school, they focus on perfecting beginner magic, so this is the first time most people are practicing intermediate magic. People like us who belong to guilds can secure practice spaces, but regular students can't."

Gaia's explanation made sense, but it raised another question.

I had intermediate magic completely mastered when I was five... Is intermediate magic supposed to be difficult?

Common sense didn't apply to him.

By age seven, when people started calling him the strongest, Sakika could use divine-level magic that even grown adults found nearly impossible to master.

Even though there were only one or two divine spells per attribute, Sakika could use them all. To him, intermediate magic wasn't just easy—it was simple.

I'm not normal.

Lately, being surrounded by Gaia and the other emperors had made him gradually lose that awareness, but now he was reminded of it again.

But being reminded of it made him feel sad and empty.

Why couldn't I have been born normal?

Sakika still didn't know the answer to that.

Has Gaia ever thought about the same thing...?

He glanced at Gaia, but Gaia wore his usual expressionless face, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

While he was lost in thought, everyone started forming groups, so Sakika joined Gaia's group.

"Alright then, let's get started with practice!"

Rate opened his magic book with enthusiasm and excitement. But no one paid him any attention.

"Sakika, you're light attribute, right? Want to try this spell together?"

"Oh... yeah."

Invited by Naoma, Sakika felt both tickled and happy about having friends and nodded with a smile.

"Lilith, I'll teach you some tricks."

"Thanks, Gaia."

Gaia invited Lilith, and having no reason to refuse, she accepted.

"Wait, just wait a—"

"Let's try it over there?"

Rate, who'd been basically ignored, tried to call out to the four of them, but Naoma stopped him.

"Got it."

Sakika let out another wry smile and nodded.

"We'll go over there."

"Yeah."