There Are No Noble-Only Lecture Rooms
The newly assigned room was ordinary. The window opened, and a lukewarm warmth rose from the heating pipes. No water dripped from the ceiling. For an academy dormitory, the conditions were quite decent.
“Are you seriously satisfied with this?” Nicholas asked from the bed across from mine.
West General Dormitory, 2nd floor, Room 9. With the North Annex closed, rooms had become scarce, so I’d been assigned to share with Nicholas.
“It’s livable.”
“Isn’t that how dormitories are supposed to be?”
“Plenty of people in this world don’t bother keeping things the way they’re supposed to be.”
“And those people might just seal off three rooms for a countess?”
I didn’t answer and fastened the buttons on my uniform. Nicholas had already voiced his suspicions about me for the twelfth time since morning. Last night he’d asked if I was an illegitimate child of the imperial family. At dawn he’d checked whether I was a secret inquisitor from the temple. During breakfast he’d even considered the possibility that I was a humanoid golem created by the Magic Tower. No conclusion had been reached.
“A fallen noble on scholarship,” I said first.
“I didn’t ask.”
“Your eyes did.”
“You’re getting more suspicious by the minute.”
Nicholas gave up and picked up his bag. Today was the first day of classes after enrollment. New students at Roseria Imperial Academy attended common liberal arts courses in the morning and their respective major lectures in the afternoon. My first class was Imperial History, held in the First Lecture Hall.
The First Lecture Hall. The very first educational building constructed three hundred years ago by the Belcrown family, still treated as a symbol of the academy. The portrait of the first chairman hanging in the hallway was also of a Belcrown. The academy guidebook claimed the imperial family had built it, but that was a lie.
“Where’s the classroom?”
“Third floor, west wing.”
“You’re beyond just liking floor plans.”
We blended in with the other students and climbed the stairs. A long line had already formed in front of the lecture hall. Two students blocking the entrance were checking student IDs one by one. They weren’t professors or staff. They were upperclassmen wearing black student council armbands.
Student IDs engraved with noble crests passed through immediately. Those with ordinary IDs were pushed aside. Nicholas narrowed his eyes.
“Here we go again.”
Our turn came. The male student council member glanced at Nicholas’s ID and handed it back.
“Scholarship students are to proceed to Lecture Room 4.”
“My course registration says Lecture Room 1.”
“There aren’t enough seats.”
I looked past the open door. Lecture Room 1 could accommodate two hundred students. At most ninety had gone inside. Plush chairs had been placed in the front rows, while the back half remained completely empty.
“There are plenty of seats left.”
The student council member frowned at my words.
“Those seats are reserved for the attendants and study aides of the noble students.”
“Do attendants also attend lectures?”
“They assist with lecture preparation.”
“What preparation is needed for Imperial History?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
He snatched my student ID. After confirming the name Ethan Belcrown, his expression grew openly hostile.
“You’re the student who caused a commotion in the North Annex.”
“The mold caused the commotion.”
Someone behind us stifled a laugh. The student council member’s ears flushed red.
“Proceed to Lecture Room 4. A separate lecture has been prepared for scholarship students.”
“Is it the same professor?”
“A teaching assistant will be in charge.”
“The tuition is the same, I assume?”
“Do scholarship students even pay tuition?”
This time the surroundings fell silent. The smile vanished from Nicholas’s face. I met the student council member’s gaze.
“A scholarship is the academy’s payment of educational fees on behalf of the student.”
“Don’t play word games.”
“Isn’t sending students who registered for the regular professor’s lecture to a teaching assistant’s lecture also a word game?”
“This is a long-standing custom.”
Custom again. These people always pulled out that word whenever they wanted to do something not written in the contract. I turned my head and surveyed the inside of the lecture hall. Clarissa was seated in the center of the front row. She glanced in my direction but pretended not to know me and looked away. Beside her sat a red-haired girl I’d never seen before. Long hair loosely tied up, golden eyes. The blue crystal emblem of the Magic Tower was embroidered on her uniform sleeve.
Leticia Arden. Top disciple of the Magic Tower Master. First place in the magic department entrance exam. The genius who had publicly refuted three professors’ theses. She had been reading a book but glanced toward the commotion outside the door.
“What’s going on?”
The student council member immediately bowed at the waist.
“It’s nothing, Lady Arden. Some scholarship students came to the wrong lecture hall.”
My eyes met Leticia’s. She checked my student ID, then turned a page.
“Escort them out before class starts. They’re noisy.”
That was all. Clarissa pretended not to know me. Leticia found it bothersome. The student council pushed us out. Fine. The roles were neatly divided.
I took my student ID back from the male student council member.
“I’ll go to Lecture Room 4.”
He sneered.
“You should have done that from the start.”
Nicholas grabbed my arm.
“Ethan.”
“Let’s go.”
“You’re just going to leave again this time?”
“I have to attend class.”
“With a teaching assistant?”
“There’s something I need to check first.”
Lecture Room 4 was in the basement of the same building. A small room with no sunlight. There were only forty desks, yet over sixty scholarship and commoner students had been crammed inside. Latecomers stood leaning against the walls. On the podium, a teaching assistant who looked like they hadn’t even graduated yet was stacking old textbooks.
“When will the regular professor arrive?” someone asked.
The teaching assistant wore a troubled expression.
“The Imperial History professor is in charge of Lecture Room 1.”
“We also registered for that class.”
“The lecture content will be the same.”
“The textbooks are different.”
Silence fell. The textbooks on the teaching assistant’s desk were the revised edition from twelve years ago—different from the new ones the students in Lecture Room 1 had received.
Nicholas gritted his teeth.
“This is a bit much.”
“A bit?”
“Extremely.”
I examined the walls of the lecture hall. Even the basement classroom had a management call panel. Though old-fashioned, it could recognize the owner’s seal. However, I couldn’t activate it in front of the students.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
“Which building are you shutting down this time?”
“Just attend class.”
Once in the hallway, I headed for the maintenance storeroom beneath the stairs. The door was locked, but when I held the owner’s seal close, the lock clicked open with a short sound. Inside were cleaning supplies, spare magic lamps, and a facility management call panel. I pressed the seal.
Owner confirmed.
A moment later, Ines’s voice came through the panel.
“Where is it this time?”
“The First Lecture Hall.”
“Has it collapsed?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m not sure if that’s reassuring.”
“The regular Imperial History lecture is being operated exclusively for nobles. Scholarship and commoner students have been separated into basement Lecture Room 4. A teaching assistant has been assigned instead of the regular professor. They’re using old-edition textbooks. The back half of Lecture Room 1 is left empty under the pretext of being attendant seating.”
The panel went quiet. The silence stretched. She was angry. Ines spoke less the angrier she became.
“According to the contract, the purpose of the First Lecture Hall is an educational facility for all students.”
“I know.”
“Segregated lectures by social status have never been approved.”
“I know that too.”
“Please specify the level of action.”
This time, I had no intention of closing a single facility. Shutting down the lecture hall would only harm the students who’d been kicked out. The noble students would simply find other good rooms, and the scholarship students would likely be pushed into the basement again. So the opposite approach was needed.
“Change the seating assignment in Lecture Room 1 to first-come, first-served based on course registration order. Prohibit attendant entry. Evict everyone except registered students.”
“The noble students will protest.”
“They came to attend class. They just need to attend class.”
“What about the students in Lecture Room 4?”
“Move everyone to Lecture Room 1. If there aren’t enough seats, remove the attendant chairs and bring in more desks.”
“What if the professors refuse?”
I thought for a moment.
“Charge a usage fee for unauthorized change of purpose of the First Lecture Hall.”
“Classes are also included in the use of leased facilities.”
“Regular classes are free. Noble-exclusive social gatherings are paid.”
The sound of papers being flipped came through the panel.
“At what amount should the fee be set?”
“Twice the regular student tuition per attendant seat.”
“That’s quite expensive.”
“They’re good seats.”
“I’ll handle it.”
I withdrew the seal. When I returned to Lecture Room 4, the teaching assistant had opened the first page of the old textbook.
“The Eastern Three Kingdoms Treaty signed in Imperial Year 247—”
At that moment, a short bell rang from the ceiling. It wasn’t a signal for class interruption or disaster. It was a notice of facility operation changes. Footsteps of staff echoed in the hallway. Soon the door opened and management staff in gray uniforms entered.
“Students of Lecture Room 4.”
The lead staff member unfolded an official document.
“It has been confirmed that segregated lectures by social status violate the facility lease contract and academy educational regulations.”
The lecture hall erupted in murmurs.
“From now on, please move to Lecture Room 1. The same professor, the same textbooks, and the same seating standards will apply to all regular enrollees.”
Nicholas slowly turned to look at me. I pretended not to notice and closed my textbook. The students rose from their seats. At first they hesitated. Then they glanced at one another. When one person headed for the door, the rest followed. Sixty students climbed the stairs.
A much larger commotion was unfolding in front of Lecture Room 1.
“I am Lady Loengrin’s personal maid!”
“Since you are not a registered student, you are subject to removal.”
“If I’m not here, who will prepare the countess’s writing instruments?”
“The student herself can prepare them.”
“How rude!”
“Please remain quiet during class.”
The staff members were firm. The noble attendants were pushed out of the lecture hall one by one. The plush chairs were removed and ordinary desks took their place. Clarissa’s face, seated in the front row, hardened. Leticia also closed her book and glared at the staff.
“Who gave this order?”
“It is a corrective measure pursuant to the building management contract.”
“You’re obstructing academy classes with a building contract?”
The staff member bowed politely.
“We are merely halting the segregated operation by social status that was obstructing classes.”
Leticia’s eyebrows twitched. She soon spotted us entering the lecture hall. Our eyes met.
“You.”
The same woman who had told us to leave earlier was now calling me directly.
“Yes.”
“Why are you coming back in?”
“Because I registered for this class.”
“Weren’t you going to Lecture Room 4?”
“It was an incorrect assignment.”
Leticia fell silent for a moment. Behind her, Clarissa spoke coldly.
“Coincidences seem to pile up often, Mr. Belcrown.”
The main gate passageway. Dormitory assignment. And now the lecture hall. Three times was enough to warrant suspicion. But suspicion alone couldn’t accomplish anything. I walked toward an empty seat. Front row, right side. It had been the seat of Clarissa’s attendant. The desk was wide, and the podium was clearly visible. I pulled out the chair and sat down. Clarissa’s gaze bored into the side of my face.
“That seat belonged to my maid.”
“Your maid isn’t a student.”
“It was originally my seat.”
“But I’m sitting in it now.”
Suppressed laughter rippled through various parts of the lecture hall. Clarissa’s face flushed red. Just then, the professor entered. The elderly professor surveyed the changed seating and the now-packed lecture hall. A bewildered expression crossed his face briefly, but after reading the official document handed to him by the staff, he cleared his throat.
“Everyone, take your seats.”
The students quieted. The professor opened the new textbook.
“Today we’ll begin with the Eastern Three Kingdoms Treaty of Imperial Year 247.”
In the basement, we’d been learning the wrong year from the old textbook. Not anymore. Class began. Nicholas slid a folded note from behind me. When I opened it, small writing was scrawled across it.
Are you the building owner?
I picked up my pen. After a moment’s hesitation, I wrote my reply beneath it.
Be quiet during class.
When I passed the note back, I could sense Nicholas silently cursing. Suppressing a laugh, I turned my gaze to the blackboard. The second day of the new semester. The noble-exclusive passageway had disappeared. The countess’s three private rooms had been sealed. And now noble-exclusive lectures were gone as well. Little by little, the academy was becoming an ordinary school. Strangely enough, every time I did the most ordinary things, the most noble people ended up getting hurt.