The Principal's Office
The Empire was a nation founded by mages. In ancient times, mages had driven the rampant hordes of magical beasts all the way up to the northern frontiers, pioneered harsh lands, and established laws. That was why mages held such immense prestige in the Empire. Even a slave dragged in from an eastern colony could immediately regain commoner status upon showing magical talent.
Lily was one such girl who had become a commoner through that path.
Her first manifested spell had been a 3rd Circle healing magic. And it had manifested before her parents' corpses.
"...Ah."
Slaves weren't even allowed treatment from Holy Kingdom priests. All Lily, who had desperately run around for her parents dying from something as trivial as a cold, received were cold, contemptuous stares.
There was only one thing a ten-year-old Lily could do: pray.
They said miracles happened if you prayed earnestly enough. While nursing her parents, Lily prayed desperately. Clinging to a miracle that might not even come.
In the end, the miracle did happen. Just a little too late.
On the day her magic first manifested, her parents showed no response. That was the day she learned the gods loved their little jokes.
After that, life flew by in a blur.
An orphaned slave-turned-mage had no money, of course. The state covered basic tuition, but everything else was on Lily to handle herself.
She had nothing left to protect anymore, but there was only one reason she pushed so desperately: she didn't want other kids to end up in the same situation as her.
Of course, it wasn't purely selfless. She just couldn't accept that this miracle, which had come only after her parents died, meant nothing.
Admitting that would make her hate the entire world.
So this miracle called magic that had come to her had to mean something.
Was it thanks to that venomous resolve? Lily's grades stayed in the top ranks throughout her first year.
She denied herself food she craved, fun she wanted, pouring everything into her magic studies.
That was why she'd come to the auditorium today, too. Skipping one lunch voucher saved enough for a sixth of a needed textbook.
It should have been that way.
So why the hell was this wand in her hand?
In the utterly unreal situation, her true goal slipped out unbidden.
"Where do I get the lunch vouchers?"
The hall froze for a moment.
All eyes turned to her. It didn't take long for simple curiosity to twist into greed.
The first to approach was Ian Vermonth, eldest son of the Vermonth family. He'd loosened his collar slightly, his voice thrilled as he spoke.
"I know a fancier place than the academy cafeteria. If this spot's too much, want me to take you somewhere quieter?"
If Lily were an ordinary girl, she might have swooned. But the Eastern Union Kingdom pharmacies wouldn't sell her medicine just because she was a slave. The hypocrisy of him hitting on her now that she had a wand made her stomach turn.
As Lily instinctively stepped back, Askleon, the Second Prince, stepped forward protectively.
"Miss Lily is a citizen of our Empire. Don't burden her like that, little duke."
Utterly repulsive.
The Empire that had enslaved her parents and discarded them when they were useless, now talking about "citizens"? On what authority?
"But shouldn't we hear Miss Lily's opinion first, Your Highness?"
Saintess Clara was loathsome too. Holy Kingdom priests recoiled from even touching slaves. She'd been beaten once for begging them to save her parents.
No way she'd trust a word from that group's leader.
"Hah, going apeshit over one wand."
"Pfft! That's rich coming from you, Gunter. You want it too but pretending otherwise."
"You done talking, Ian Vermonth?"
Before long, no one cared about Lily's opinion.
The people surrounding her didn't even bother hiding their raw desire to claim the wand.
"...I don't want it."
She hated it. The memories of being treated like an object during her slave days flooded back.
She didn't want to be exposed to those greedy stares anymore.
Her hand gripping the wand began trembling uncontrollably.
That was when she noticed the silver hair.
A brief confusion rippled through the chattering crowd.
A girl pierced through the wall of attendants from various factions.
The startled group focused on her. Voices overlapped in the short moment.
"Hold on, what the hell are you—!"
"Stop that guy!"
"Hey, that's where the VIPs are talking..."
The girl deftly dodged the blocking students, flashing a sly smile at them.
"Hello, everyone?"
A faint smile played on the silver-haired girl's lips as she slipped between six students, hands behind her back.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Ian reacted first. Already pissed from the blatant rejection, a third-party interloper was an insult he couldn't tolerate.
"A mere commoner butting into our conversation? Got some nerve."
"All students are equal within the academy—that was announced at orientation, right?"
"...Your rudeness is excessive, student. We were merely discussing how to protect the new masterpiece owner's identity. Misinterpreting the intentions of representatives gathered here from each faction is a grave diplomatic breach."
The hall chilled as the supposedly mild prince hardened his expression, uttering terrifying words like "rudeness" and "diplomatic breach."
Even a madman would stop there. With the Empire, Eastern Union Kingdom, Holy Kingdom, and Nordenburk—the next leaders of five powers united, burying one person would be child's play.
"Pfft, that's hilarious."
So when the girl burst out laughing, everyone there was stunned.
They couldn't fathom what she was thinking.
Crossing those five powers meant no foothold in the academy—or the continent.
But the silver-haired girl didn't stop.
"Drop the act and say it straight—you're all here because you want the wand, right?"
"How dare you...! As crown prince, I'm here for the Empire's citizens—"
"Student, that's grave disrespect to the kingdom's envoy—"
"Don't lump Nordenburk in with those guys—"
"Excuses to the end."
A flicker of disappointment crossed the girl's face.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Before anyone could retort, the silver-haired girl pulled Lily into a tight hug.
A faint lavender shampoo scent pleasantly tickled her nose.
"Hold on, what are you—!"
"Stop. Any further rudeness, and I'll use force."
With Lily still embraced, the girl plunged into the crowd.
"Guards! Seal the auditorium!"
The prince's urgent shout echoed.
"Hold on tight, Lily."
And a gentle voice whispered again.
"Teleport."
Suddenly, a dizzying sensation of falling from a height enveloped her body.
Lily instinctively clung to the girl.
Teleport was 7th Circle magic. She was in academy uniform like any student—how could she use it freely? Teleport was banned inside the academy—how did she—? No time for questions.
"Eek!?"
The eerie floating, the anxiety of plummeting, the leg-numbing thrill—it felt like being hurled into the air.
But no time to savor it.
The silver girl whispered something chilling in a soft, kind voice.
"Hold tight. We're landing soon."
"La... Landing...? Eek!?"
Her body crashed onto the floor with a thud.
Papers flew everywhere; the wooden floor groaned as if splintering.
"Ow..."
By the time Lily came to her senses, the room was a wreck.
Amid toppled bookshelves and paper piles, the silver girl rubbed her head with one hand, muttering.
"Ughhh, that's why I don't use teleport inside the academy. Didn't expect them to call the guards right then."
The girl's face, seen up close for the first time, was incredibly young and cute. Silky hair, childlike clear skin. And gem-like eyes that felt mystical.
She looked so much like a peer that Lily unconsciously dropped to casual speech.
"Who... are you?"
"Use formal speech."
The staggering girl extended her right hand to Lily, demanding.
"Speak formally. I'm older than I look."
"Uh, y-yes...?"
"Elf-human half-breed."
Lily nodded blankly. Honestly, it was all so absurd it made sense in a twisted way.
The Olive Wand choosing her, drawing stares from untouchable powers, this girl saving her—it was all straight out of a novel. At this point, she'd accept anything.
"How did you use teleport inside the academy...?"
"There's a way."
Lily decided not to pry. More talk would just confuse her further.
Instead, she asked where they were.
"So, where is this?"
"The principal's office."
"Pardon?"
Unfortunately, the answer only deepened her confusion.