The Start of Academy Life (2)
Kael considered himself extraordinarily fortunate to have escaped the vile grip of this coarse black bread. They say this is a special bread packed evenly with every nutrient the body needs. It was likely fortified with a balanced mix of proteins, vitamins, and everything else. Yet there was a limit to the satiety one slice could provide. For students in the Swordsmanship Department, who put their bodies through rigorous training, such meager meals would prove fatal. To fill their stomachs even a little, they turned to dandelion leaves and roots, nettles, and other plants that would have been dismissed as weeds anywhere else. The Magic Department would be suffering the same torment, forced to survive on nothing but coarse black bread.
Everyone’s still full for now, and lunch won’t hit them too hard either. I should start showing it off subtly from dinner onward.
Having eaten a hearty breakfast, they wouldn’t feel desperate by lunchtime. Hunger would only truly set in by evening. That was when he would let them catch a glimpse. I could always wait until tomorrow. The key was how deeply they had come to feel the misery of the coarse black bread. Revealing the Shop Window before they had truly suffered would drastically weaken its impact. I could let them stew for a few more days. He would watch the situation and adjust accordingly.
Of course, even as he planned to demonstrate the Shop Window’s power to the students at dinner, his ambitions didn’t stop with them. The professors have already been enduring this coarse black bread for years. They supplemented it with dandelion leaves, roots, and nettles at best. Without the Shop Window, Kael would have shared their fate, but its existence allowed him the luxury of observing their plight with detached sympathy.
The princess and Irina’s situations are particularly amusing. Elenora maintained a perfectly dignified, expressionless mask and hadn’t touched the coarse black bread at all. But how long could she keep up that graceful facade? Irina, meanwhile, chatted amiably with the girls around her while clearly struggling to hide her growing anxiety.
Since we’re both in the Magic Department now, I’ll be seeing a lot more of her. Watching that bitch Irina suffer is going to be thoroughly entertaining.
As Kael quietly plotted his revenge, he noticed the principal rising from his seat.
“Students. Welcome to Tartaros Academy. My name is Albert.”
Despite his gaunt appearance, Principal Albert’s voice carried surprising strength.
“You will spend four years by outside time—forty years by the flow of time here. Accounting for vacation outings, that means thirty-three years and four months within these walls. The coarse black bread before you may not look appetizing now, but the day will come when you cannot survive without it. Best to grow accustomed to it quickly.”
Albert continued, his tone grave.
“This institution does not permit withdrawal. Among last year’s second-year students, five took their own lives. I sincerely hope to see every one of you graduate alive and well.”
The dining hall fell into a silence so complete it felt frozen. Professor Galen had mentioned it earlier, but hearing the principal speak directly of the dead students made the hellish reality feel far more immediate and terrifying.
“And I must admit… I envy you.”
Albert let out a long sigh before continuing.
“You only have to endure for thirty-three years! Hoo! I have spent fifty years in outside time—nearly five hundred years within this academy. I am rarely permitted to leave, and in all that time I have not spent more than a week outside these cursed grounds in any given year.”
Kael’s expression turned strange. It wasn’t just him—every student’s gaze toward the principal had shifted dramatically.
He endured five hundred years in this hell?
It was an astonishing feat. One Kael had absolutely no desire to emulate.
“Kuhuhu… I entered this place as a young man dreaming of becoming an archmage who would shake the world. Now I am trapped here, unable to retire. In another fifty years, I will finally be free! Hahaha!”
Albert’s booming laughter filled the entire dining hall. The revelation that he had spent five centuries in this hellish Tartaros Academy inspired not only shock but a kind of reluctant awe. Yet the students instinctively understood that their own thirty-three years—though short by comparison—would be anything but easy.
“Well, that’s enough of the speech. None of you are touching the coarse black bread now, but the day will come when you consider even a single piece a blessing. Hehe. If you’ve finished your meal, proceed to the dormitories. Your room numbers are…”
When Albert lightly raised his hand, glowing blue numbers appeared above each student’s head. He had assigned the rooms through magic.
“These numbers designate your individual rooms. Remember them well. I will not take responsibility for any accidents caused by forgetfulness.”
Kael looked up. The number 107 shone brightly above him.
“Once you’ve memorized your number, head to your rooms and rest. Male students, exit to the right. Female students, exit to the left. You will see a large building.”
With those words, Albert sat back down. The dining hall immediately began to buzz with noise once more.
Students gathered in groups, introducing themselves and discussing their families and newly awakened abilities. As expected of noble scions, most already knew one another.
“You, which house are you from? The Calrod Count family?”
“No, I’m from the Bertin Count family. Calrod is my mother’s side.”
“Ah, that makes sense. You look like them, so I got confused. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I take after my mother’s family, so it happens a lot.”
Such introductions were the baseline. Conversations soon turned to abilities.
“My ability is Steel Shield. I’m worried it doesn’t really suit me.”
“Still useful though. Mine is Intense Explosion, so explosion-type spells get about 1.2 times stronger. It’s a bit awkward. Maybe it’ll shine once I become a high-circle mage, but at the first circle it’s not very practical.”
Similar discussions filled the hall.
Yet no one approached Kael. The glances cast his way were either cold or utterly indifferent.
Just as I expected.
Kael smiled bitterly to himself. Being the second son of Duke Aberwin carried a prestigious name, but in high society he had already been branded the “incompetent shame of the Aberwin family.” His public broken engagement to Irina Rosengart had turned him into a laughingstock, and everyone knew the reason was his lack of talent. No noble house was unaware.
“Isn’t that Kael from the Aberwin Ducal Family?”
“Yeah. The idiot who got dumped by Lady Irina.”
“The Aberwin family was protecting him just to drag him here. How pathetic.”
“Hey! We got dragged here too! Don’t lump us in with that loser!”
Several male students trying to catch Irina’s attention deliberately spoke loud enough for him to hear. A few girls who appeared to be part of Irina’s entourage glanced at Kael and giggled behind their hands.
“They say he can’t even form a first circle.”
“His swordsmanship is supposed to be terrible too.”
“Lady Irina is a genius. It was such a waste for her.”
“That’s why she broke the engagement. He’s only good for his family name.”
Kael didn’t show any anger. Instead, he carefully memorized every face, every name, and every word.
Marina of the Forte Viscount family. Yuliana of the Illid Count family.
By tomorrow at the latest, he would make them regret every syllable spoken today.
As he made that silent vow, Kael’s gaze drifted to the two girls sitting at the next table. They stared down at the coarse black bread with clear anxiety, yet they didn’t seem afraid of the bread itself. Rather, they appeared unsettled by the unfamiliar environment.
One was slender with long brown hair that cascaded to her waist. Her brown eyes were clear and bright, her delicate features radiating a pure, innocent charm. Beside her sat a girl who looked perhaps a year younger. She shared the same long brown hair and small frame, but her brown eyes held a slightly sassy, sharp appeal. Her features gave off a cute, cat-like impression.
Sisters?
Tartaros Academy typically admitted students at twenty, though some arrived at twenty-one. Still, each family was permitted to send only one child. It was extremely rare for siblings to be sent together.
I don’t recognize them. Local nobles, perhaps?
Kael couldn’t place their identities. Their clothing wasn’t particularly fine—bordering on what commoners might wear. The way they failed to mingle with the others only reinforced the possibility that they truly were commoners.
I’ll look into it later.
Losing interest, Kael rose from his seat and left the dining hall. He wanted to locate his room first. Other students were also beginning to stand and head for the corridors.
After exiting through the right hallway, he saw exactly what Albert had described: a massive building. Hidden within the enormous castle, it hadn’t been visible from outside, but it was impressively large.
It looks like an apartment complex.
The design reminded him strongly of buildings from his previous life. His room was on the tenth floor, and to his surprise, the building featured a magically operated elevator. There were plenty of them, so Kael quickly stepped into one.
107 should be on the tenth floor.
Thanks to his memories of modern elevators, he operated it with practiced ease unlike the other students. He rode up to the tenth floor and soon found the door marked with the number 107.
“This is it.”
Kael Aberwin Recognition Complete
With a low creak, the door swung open.