Academy Admission
In a field bursting with beautiful nature, a blonde woman stood.
Her golden hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her pure white uniform accentuated the brilliance of her golden locks.
Golden mana flickered in her hands.
"Um."
The golden mana, which had taken the shape of a fist, then a sword, and finally a rose, dispersed.
Pang!
The sound of glass shattering echoed as the mana scattered in all directions.
For today, this will suffice.
The slender, snow-white legs of the blonde girl moved.
She wasn't a saint yet, but her figure wasn't that of a young girl either.
With a healthy aura of mana, she walked with firm steps. As she continued up the hill of the field, a garden with flowers spread out came into view.
She seemed pleased, spreading her arms and taking in the air.
Various colorful and beautiful flowers. The pollen scattered by the wind seemed ready to fly anywhere.
"Tere."
She turned at the voice calling her. Her blue eyes, like those illuminating the sky, opened wide in welcome.
"Elly."
"... Were you here?"
A platinum-blonde girl ran over with a smile, waving her hand.
In her eyes as she looked at the girl named Tere, a strong emotion of love was present.
A smile spread across the platinum-blonde girl's face.
Tere thought that Elly had been smiling a lot more than before.
Her face had been full of smiles from some point onward.
Yes. If I had to pick a specific moment, three years ago. After the incident at the cathedral, it seemed like she had changed a bit.
Was it changed or different? With such thoughts, Tere opened her mouth.
"Thinking about going to the academy starting tomorrow, I felt restless and came outside."
"... Me too. I was in a frenzy all day."
"Here, take a few flowers with you." She said with a bright smile.
And Tere stood right next to the girl.
She didn't hold her hand. She didn't cross her arms. Recently, she had become able to be reserved, which felt a bit awkward for Tere.
"Then, shall we go?"
"Let's go."
Three years.
Winter had passed three times, tender leaves had fallen three times, and cherry blossoms had scattered three times.
The snow that fell white melted, and the wind blowing carried the scent of new greenery in May.
The two girls standing before the season of all things starting anew thought different things, but their thoughts ended the same.
To you ─.
Clank clank.
We sat in the carriage, maintaining silence.
Me, Elly, Haruna.
It was the glorious first day of entering the academy as academy students. But I couldn't understand why the atmosphere was so gloomy.
Haruna, the brown-haired girl we now call Haru, had become too tense, her face pale, and Elly had her knees neatly together, eyes closed.
I was just looking out the window at the scenery.
I had intended to empty my mind and look outside.
'It's different from what I thought...'
I had imagined a lively atmosphere eating bento boxes, but it was completely different from what I thought, so I was a bit irritated.
Clearly, this novel was a smiley academy story.
Even if there were dark episodes in the middle, I knew it had definitely kept the daily life parts.
Because if it was only hard developments, readers would die.
Sigh. I sighed.
Even if Elly talked sometimes, I didn't know if she heard or not, and she often asked 'What? Say it again?' and Haruna had become brighter over the three years, but still had the personality of being shy and easily flustered.
"Haru, it might be good to calm down a bit..."
I said while rubbing Haru's shoulder, but she turned to me with a pale face.
"Eh, eh, eh, what?"
My words were too blunt. I looked at Haru with hazy eyes.
"Let's go with high spirits since we're all entering together."
I smiled brightly and patted Haru, but her dark face remained unchanged.
"Princess, princess! It's a bad timing that we're entering together right now. Up until now, the princesses who entered the academy were few, but what wind blew that..."
Lapis Cavan Valmara.
Lazy genius.
The second princess of the kingdom and the eccentric princess who entered the academy, and the princess called a genius.
Why did she enter the academy when she could live comfortably her whole life? She was a person shrouded in rumors.
Usually, royalty don't enter the academy.
Even if it's a place that trains top mages and knights, they don't enter because it would be beneath them to be students like us commoners.
Mostly because royalty with claim to the throne are busy with other things.
That a royal enters the academy means they want to do something even if it means giving up the throne.
- Then, what for?
Everyone who heard about the princess's academy admission asked that.
A girl who gathered the attention of many nobles, academy students, and professors at once, Princess Lapis.
We were to take the entrance ceremony on the same day as that princess.
There, it was rumored that the saint had entered this time too. The saint, the princess, and moreover, the saint was right next to us now.
It was understandable that Haru was so tense.
Three years ago, to treat Haru's mother Helene, Elly had opened the saint's mana. Elly's brilliantly shining mana swept through the entire cathedral.
Elly's blessing magic not only healed Haru's mother but all the patients in the cathedral, creating a pillar of light in the sky.
After that, Elly collapsed, the cathedral was in chaos saying the saint had descended, and Haru and her mother were bewildered by the miracle without understanding.
After that, barely escaping the cathedral, Haru's mother Helene was treated with utmost care, saying she owed us an unpayable debt.
After that, living together, Haru became a true friend in the real sense. And after promising to go to the academy together, three years passed.
We were entering the academy as friends of the saint Elly.
But.
"Elly?"
"... Huh? Why?"
Elly, who often zoned out when alone.
Since that day she collapsed, Elly seemed to have changed a bit in her speech and actions.
To put it bluntly, it could be said that she resembled the original novel's Sera in personality.
Was it because three years had passed and she had mentally grown? Or had she really changed? The sense of déjà vu every time I looked at Elly tormented me.
Was it only me feeling distant from Elly even after three years?
I looked into Elly's eyes and said.
"Is your body not feeling well?"
"... Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you for worrying."
Elly just answered with a smiling face.
How does Elly think of me now?
In the past, Elly would hold my hand whenever she could and do affectionate things, but recently, she wouldn't hold my hand unless I held hers first.
If I held it first, she would be startled and pull away.
Why?
... It was never that Elly's skinship had decreased and she was lonely.
I was just worried about Elly. Now, Elly felt like a friend to protect rather than the hidden villain of the original story to me.
The fact that Elly felt burdened by the skinship we had always done casually was a matter that could never be ignored for me.
"Elly, don't zone out so much. It's a really important time now."
I had perfect casual speech with her, but with Haru, Elly was still difficult, so she used polite speech.
"Sorry~. I couldn't sleep at night so I stopped."
"I couldn't sleep either?"
When Haru pouted, Elly gently held the tip of Haru's finger and said.
"It's cold. If your fingertips are cold, it's said to be bad thoughts."
"That's from a book I read at home...?"
"Yeah. That was fun."
While holding Haru's hand well, why don't you hold my hand anymore?
It was never jealousy. Just purely curious.
Looking out the window, a huge academy campus began to appear.
It was much larger than even a regular university. From the tall stone tower seen in the middle, to the arena that resembled a coliseum in the square.
My heart was pounding.
This was truly the beginning of the academy.
"Look outside. It seems we've arrived."
When I said that, the two who had been arguing looked outside. Haru’s face turned pale when she saw the academy, and Elly had a calm expression.
Besides us, there were many carriages around, and among them, many people were walking.
While looking at the people in white uniforms, I met the face of one person who was in a carriage running alongside.
"..."
A girl with red hair and twin tails.
A girl I accidentally bumped into three years ago while walking on the street.
I never thought such a coincidence would happen.
I stared at her with a dazed face. She looked at me for a moment, then eventually bowed her head as if she recognized me.
I didn't think she would remember. With the thought that I might be able to twist my words later, I also bowed my head.
And the carriage she was on overtook us leisurely.
After a while, the carriage stopped as if it had arrived at the academy.
"Welcome~."
With the coachman's words, we got out of the carriage.
Then, the large building we saw, flags celebrating the academy admission, and the performance of the military band greeted us.
From now on, in the mana test, it would be revealed that Elly was the saint.
This was the prologue of the original story. From now on, chapter 1 would start from this moment.
I knew the development of the original story.
But I didn't know how much butterfly effect this small foreign substance called me would bring.
I looked up at the sky.
Blue sky. The sun high in the sky.
It was a terribly good weather day to enter the academy.