Enrollment (1)
"So your name is... Rion?"
"Yes."
"...There's no one by that name on the list?"
"Pardon?"
The dormitory supervisor flipped through the roster several times before looking back at me and shaking her head. Along with the verdict that no such name existed on the incoming students' list.
"Sorry about this. I got word from upstairs to let you in early, but... I can't just admit someone who's not on the list at all."
The supervisor apologized to me. Alessia and Erin flew into a rage at the sight.
"You're a princess—how do you screw up paperwork like this?!"
"...Rion, why don't you share a room with me?"
Amid the chaos, Alessia seemed to be harboring other intentions, but that wasn't the priority right now. The real issue was that my name wasn't on the incoming students' list. Without that, the academy meant nothing. I wouldn't even be a student—let alone part of the key locations central to the story going forward.
But in the game, the premise was that the protagonist had received an academy admission notice. A scenario where he wasn't even an incoming student didn't exist.
This led to one glaring assumption. I wasn't the protagonist to begin with. I'd just happened to wake up at the game's starting point. This world either had its own protagonist somewhere, or none at all.
"Alessia, in the previous loop, I said I'd enrolled, right?"
"Yes, when we first met, you mentioned being an academy student."
"You told me the same thing—that you'd attended the academy."
Putting their testimonies together confirmed I'd attended the academy. So how could I have done that if I wasn't even on the student list?
Maybe my name wasn't Rion?
But that hypothesis didn't hold up. If I'd introduced myself, it would've been as Rion. And if I was registered under a different name, I had no idea what it was—hardly grounds to claim it was me.
"Can't I take the entrance exam now...?"
"Alessia, you know that's not possible."
The exam period had long ended. There was no way they'd let me take it now, and even if they did, my odds of passing were slim.
Honestly, I was desperate enough to grab someone by the leg and beg. Hell, I'd corner a professor and demand a shot at the exam.
That's when the massive witch's hat beside me caught my eye.
"Erin, don't you know any professors? You're the Tower Lord's disciple, after all."
"...One, maybe?"
"...Really?"
A breakthrough seemed possible.
※
"You're the one the young lady mentioned?"
An old man who looked at least eighty was staring me down. Beside him, the "young lady" Erin wore an awkward expression, glancing nervously at me.
"First, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Delad Guptauron, affiliated with the Magic Tower but serving as the academy's professor of flame magic."
"I'm Rion."
"When the young lady suddenly summoned me, I wondered what it was about... Tsk. A boy, huh."
Professor Delad made no effort to hide his displeasure. But I couldn't afford to take offense. I needed a favor from him.
"Please help me take the entrance exam."
"What's in it for me to give you a chance?"
"Delad..."
Erin tugged at his sleeve, then flashed him wide, sparkling eyes. Delad shook his head as if he couldn't resist.
"Thank the young lady for this, kid."
We moved with Delad to an enclosed clearing.
"The arena?"
"Indeed. More things happen at this academy than you might think—far more varied. Sometimes, a duel is the best resolution."
Delad took position at one corner of the arena. I mirrored him at the opposite corner. Roughly thirty meters apart, by my estimate.
"Young lady, what's the kid's magic level?"
"He's mastered all the basic spells, at least."
"Yes... and how many intermediate spells has he learned?"
"...He's still learning intermediate."
Delad stared at Erin, as if he'd misheard. She nodded without meeting his gaze, and he flicked her forehead with a sharp thwack.
"Kid."
"Yes."
"To enroll via magic at the academy, you need proficiency in at least five intermediate spells. I might give you a shot at the test, but there's no way to admit a student who doesn't meet the baseline."
It hit like a thunderbolt. I'd only recently started learning magic, and the requirement was intermediate spells?
Even Erin looked flustered, clearly caught off guard.
"What if it's not magic?"
"...What are you saying?"
"I'm asking about other ways to enroll—without magic."
The academy had multiple entry paths. Commoners like Alessia took the standard exam. Erin's case was exceptional, but magic was the route. And there was also admission through martial prowess, bypassing magic entirely.
Delad stared silently for a moment.
Suddenly, he bellowed upward.
"Instructor! Come down here!"
Thud!—Something crashed from the sky, kicking up a sandstorm. A figure emerged through the dust: a bronze-skinned man, at least two meters tall, grinning broadly with a massive battle axe in one hand.
"This what you wanted?"
I nodded affirmatively. No more words needed—we both knew what was coming.
"When the old man rushed off so suddenly, I followed wondering what was up. Didn't expect you'd serve up some fun like this."
"Insolent brat..."
The man raised his battle axe one-handed, pointing it at me.
"Grab one of those weapons behind you. Or if you're confident in your fists... we can start right now."
I approached the wall as he said. It was lined with weapons. Not razor-sharp for safety, but all solid iron menaces nonetheless.
"This one..."
Among them, the spear stood out most. A halberd, specifically. Different from the one in Lucia's room, but my hand reached for it instinctively.
It's light.
Heavy, yet somehow light. I wished for something heavier.
"Got anything heavier?"
"Heavier than that? We have 'em, but not here."
I hefted the halberd with some regret.
"Ever swung one before?"
"...Who knows."
I'd heard it was my go-to weapon in the previous loop. But I'd never wielded one myself.
Yet somehow, I knew the stance. My body assumed the most natural pose without thought: right foot forward, left extended at a right angle behind. Right hand ahead gripping tight, left behind, body leaned in.
"Not a bad stance."
The man swung his battle axe one-handed in a wide arc. It looked like two burly men could barely lift it, but in his grip, it was a mere twig.
"Come at me."
His words were the signal. I tensed my right leg, calves locking firm as my foot dug into the ground. My body vanished from the spot in an instant.
"...!"
His shocked face filled my vision.
※
Clang!—Clang!—
The halberd clashed repeatedly with the battle axe. Most blows sent the halberd rebounding, of course. But the instructor's face—the man with the axe—was far from pleased.
His first strike had let Rion seize complete control of the fight.
"Rion's winning right now, right?"
"..."
"...Why no answer?"
"Be quiet for a bit."
Alessia knew nothing of magic. But Erin, hailed as a genius, could read mana flows with the naked eye beyond mere spellcasting.
"How is that... even possible...?"
Knight and mage mana use differed vastly. Mages gathered it in their hearts; knights in their dantians. Only those rare few with both could wield both magic and aura.
Yet someone was shattering that common sense before Erin's eyes.
"Aura—from mana?"
Faint in color, but the translucent membrane coating Rion's halberd was unmistakably aura. He was drawing mana from a mana heart—meant solely for magic—to forge aura. Even the physical enhancement from mana circulation was active.
"Alessia, in the previous loop, Oppa used a spear back then too."
"Yeah, he did."
"Did he handle it that well when you first met?"
"...Didn't seem like a first-timer."
His current proficiency could be chalked up to the previous loop. But how had he enrolled back then? With this level of spear mastery?
How?
One word circled relentlessly in Erin's mind, tripping her up.