Welcome Back to the Second-Year Campus
“Hahaha! We're back!”
The next morning, Simon and his friends arrived on Roc Island via teleportation circle.
From the hilltop where the magic circle was installed, the entire Kizen campus spread out below them at a glance. It was a space so familiar now that it had gone beyond comfortable and started to feel downright homey.
“Alright, guys! Let's hurry down and—”
“It's this way, dummy.”
When Dick started heading down the same route as always, Meilin pointed in the opposite direction.
“We're second-years now.”
“Oh, right!”
Using Kizen's main gate as the dividing line, the right side was the first-year campus, and the left side was the second-year campus. Their spheres of activity shifted a little. Of course, that was only the official division—in practice, the two sides overlapped quite a bit.
And so Simon's group took an unfamiliar path down and entered the second-year campus.
“So this is it.”
“The vibe really is completely different!”
If the first-year campus had a romantic feel, a blend of lounging spaces and athletic grounds, the second-year campus was steeped in a professional, sleek atmosphere. It was, quite literally, a place where scholars lived.
Even the park benches and streetlamps lining the roads were elegant, and enormous libraries and research towers rose like spires into the sky. Cycads and cherry blossoms bloomed all around, their bright petals drifting softly to the ground.
First time I've ever come this deep into the campus.
Simon remembered passing through now and then, since the club building was near the second-year campus. The four of them looked around at the grounds they'd be living in, faces full of anticipation.
“Wow! Look over there! It's the Golden Steak restaurant!”
Meilin's attention, as usual, was fixated on the food.
“There's the Tabirna restaurant too! The best place to eat in all of Kizen! I wanted to eat there so, so badly last year!”
“Why couldn't you just go?”
When Simon asked, Meilin shook her head.
“Last year I went once with the class president—just the two of us—and the seniors gave us every kind of stink-eye you can imagine. 'First-years, how dare they!' That sort of thing.”
“Our upperclassmen do have a bit of a hoarding streak.”
Dick snickered and thumped his own chest with his thumb.
“But I'll be different! I'm going to be an amazing senior! I swear I'll be so good to my juniors!”
“The ones who say that are always the ones who torment their juniors the most.”
Meanwhile, Camibarez was studying the campus map.
“Everyone~ I think we go this way. There's the central main hall!”
“Nice work, Cami! We're late, so let's head straight there.”
They'd been told that once they arrived at Kizen, they were to go directly to the central main hall.
Before long, the four of them found the largest building among the cluster of research halls. A TA stood guard at the entrance along with several henchmen, and spotting the group, she spoke up.
“You're a bit late. If you'd give me your names— oh!”
Her eyes went wide. So did Meilin's.
“Head TA?”
“Meilin! Camibarez! And Simon and Dick too! It's been so long, all of you!”
She was Jane's Head TA.
“Senior!”
Meilin lunged at her in the joy of reunion, but the TA pressed a hand to Meilin's forehead and pushed her back.
“Not so fast. The semester's started, so you'll address me properly as TA.”
“Aw, come on~ we're second-years now.”
When Meilin kept up her whining, the TA just chuckled and let it slide.
“Attendance confirmed for all four of you, then.”
After checking their names on her clipboard, she looked at the group and gave a wistful smile.
“Such a shame. Group 7 of Class A, who were all so close and inseparable—to think you'll have to scatter after today……”
But instead of looking glum at those words, the four of them were all wearing sly, knowing smiles.
“You haven't heard the news from Professor Jane yet, have you, Miss TA?”
Meilin swept her sky-blue hair back and strode past her.
“You'll find out soon enough!”
Dick grinned like a villain hatching a scheme as he walked by.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Simon bowed his head politely as he passed.
“It was great to see you, TA!”
Camibarez gave a quick, respectful bow and scurried along behind Simon.
'……What was that?'
The Head TA blinked as she watched the four of them walk inside.
'They're supposedly being split up, so why do they all look so pleased?'
Their destination was the basement level of the main hall.
Following a plushly carpeted corridor, they came upon an enormous banquet hall lit by countless candles. A party was in full swing.
Lively music filled the air, and aproned henchmen bustled about carrying trays of food. Around the round tables, second-year students wearing red badges on their collars laughed and chattered boisterously.
So many familiar faces!
“Simon!”
He turned to see Toto—his Class A classmate and fellow member of the Mutant club—waving at him.
“Ah, Toto! Been doing well?”
“Yeah! Well, same as always for me!”
“Hey there~ loser.”
Meilin gave a friendly enough wave, but the moment her eyes met a girl's, Toto crumpled inward and gave a meek little bow. 'Ah. Hi.'
“Meilin! Cami! Long time no see, everyone!”
Just then a girl came running up from behind and threw her arms around Meilin and Camibarez at the same time—wham!
“Eek! Who—?!”
The ones being hugged couldn't see the attacker's face, but Simon could.
“Hey, Class President. Long time no see.”
Jamie Victoria, Class A's honorary class president.
Now that she'd been succeeded as class president, Simon felt a twinge of sadness knowing he'd never see her famous Hand Raise in action again.
“Oh, you. Who's a class president anymore?”
Jamie smiled bashfully and smacked Simon on the arm. Then she exchanged cheerful greetings with Dick as well.
“So, Class President! Where are you headed?”
There was only one question that 'where are you headed' could mean at this party—which department she'd choose in the upcoming Department Selection.
“Me? Curse Magic, obviously.”
At her answer, Dick shook his head in mock pity.
“Tragic. A final goodbye to the Hector you've been pining after—”
“AAAH! AAAAAAAAH!”
Jamie shrieked, bolted across the room, and clamped both hands over his mouth. Meilin snickered.
“Class President, you're adorable~”
“Hey! Meilin! You promised you wouldn't tell!”
“Said what, now?”
Meilin swept the hair by her ear with an air of lofty indifference.
“The only two people in Class A who didn't know were you and Hector. Why take it out on me?”
“Uuugh, why won't just I get to die?”
Jamie hit Dick with a Silence curse to shut him up, then sidled over to Meilin with a mischievous smile.
“Hey, hey, guys. Aren't you curious who Meilin has a crush on—”
“HEY!!!”
This time Meilin's face went scarlet as she lunged at Jamie. The atmosphere was as rowdy as ever.
Beyond them, Simon ran into plenty of other acquaintances.
Cindy Vivace and Claudia Menzies, the girls he'd been friendly with in Class A.
He also traded greetings with a boy he knew only by face, having never actually talked with him—Scott Snyder.
“Whoa, Four-Hundred-Dick! You're actually showing your face around!”
For the record, Four-Hundred-Dick was a jab at Dick for squeaking into the academy at rank 400. Scott had invented it literally three seconds ago.
The boys standing behind Scott snickered along.
“Tsk. Tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk.”
Dick wagged his index finger side to side with an insufferably smug look.
“Numbers aren't everything when it comes to life at Kizen. Then again, what would ordinary students know about that?”
“Rank 400 really shouldn't be the one saying that. Zero persuasive power.”
“Ugh, these ordinary students and their yappy little mouths. You want me to say it out loud?”
Just as Dick was smirking and winding up his counterattack—thud!—something crashed into his back.
“Ow, who the—”
Dick turned around, irritated.
“Watch where you're— hup!”
Broad shoulders, a slab of muscle, and beady, hawkish eyes.
A man built like a small hill was glaring down at him with open hostility.
“Move.”
Rank 3 of the first year—Hector Moore.
Dick grumbled something about how some people never learned manners. Beside him, Simon's expression tensed slightly too.
“……”
But Hector said nothing at all and simply walked straight past Simon.
“Huh.”
Dick blinked.
“Was that a world first just now?”
“What was?”
“Hector walking right past you without picking a fight. Is this some kind of apocalypse omen? Is the sun gonna rise five times tomorrow or something?”
Simon watched Hector's retreating back. Whether Hector genuinely hadn't seen him or was pretending not to, he simply walked over to the students of his faction and struck up a conversation.
'Well, fair enough.'
Simon let out a quiet sigh.
'We settled things exactly the way he wanted at the end of last year. No need to provoke me anymore, I suppose.'
Thud!
Hector dropped into his seat and drained a glass of wine in one go.
“Torey-Torey-Hectooor~”
The girls of his faction giggled and settled in around the table.
“What was that? Why'd you just walk past Simon Polentia?”
“……Shut it.”
Hector slammed the wine glass down and ground his teeth.
“I'm barely holding it in as it is.”
The party's energy kept climbing.
The problem was that the banquet hall had grown unbearably crowded. At some point Simon had lost track of Meilin and Camibarez, and Dick had vanished somewhere as well.
And so, left all alone, Simon—
“Simon! What did you do over the break?”
“I helped my father with his work, and did a bit of training……”
“Really? Really? I helped my dad too! We totally get each other~”
“Simon! What are you doing this weekend?”
—found himself surrounded by four girls.
“Special Admission No. 1 AND rank one overall? That's incredible!”
“Can't you tutor me sometime?”
“Is there anyone you're interested in?”
The questions came in an unrelenting barrage, and the back of Simon's neck broke out in a cold sweat.
'Th-this is way too much pressure!'
For a sheltered mountain boy who'd spent sixteen years living nowhere but the peaks, gatherings like this were a hundred times over his limit.
Normally Meilin, queen bee of the female hierarchy, would growl and keep the pack at bay—but she wasn't here right now.
Every time he tried to stand and excuse himself to the restroom, the girls would latch onto his arms with siege tactics, chattering questions without pause. There was no escape.
“So you're not seeing anyone at the moment, right?”
And the most aggressive of them all—a blonde girl—gave him a slow wink.
At Kizen, connections were power.
Before the cutthroat second year began, it was only natural to shore up one's network. All the more so if the arm of the seemingly naive rank-one student was still vacant.
Passing that up would be plain foolish.
She wore a seductive smile and loosened her tie with delicate fingers. Her top buttons were deliberately undone, and she could see the flush spreading across Simon's face.
How fun.
Growing boys were pitiful creatures. If you wanted, a little stimulation was all it took to have them wrapped around your finger.
“Simon. Why are you looking away?”
“N-no, it's just……”
“Did you know? They say at the department party later, the third-year seniors are making everyone perform talent shows.”
Her tongue darted across her lips. She pressed in close enough for Simon to catch the scent of her perfume, letting her figure do the talking.
“Well, I came prepared with a talent of my own.”
With a coy, shy expression, she leaned in and whispered a secret into Simon's ear.
“Want to come watch?”
“No, hold on—!”
Thwip!
At that moment, the girl planted her left hand under her own chin.
Chak!
Her other hand grasped at the air beside her head.
And then, scratching stupidly at her scalp—
“Ookeekee! Ookeekeek!”
“?”
Out of nowhere, she began doing a monkey impression.
Back hunched, legs splayed wide, she strutted in an absurd little dance, utterly graceless. One by one, all four girls around Simon went ookeek-ookeek, mimicking monkeys as they drifted away from him.
“How vulgar.”
Click-click—
A voice rang out, one that seemed to lodge itself directly in the mind.
Long ashen-gold hair swaying with each step, a willowy figure, a beauty mark beneath one eye—and a bright smile playing at her lips that radiated an air of untouchable refinement.
“The writhing of salmon thrashing and flailing their way upstream for a shot at a better life. Repulsive—yet in a way, rather pitiable.”
She came to a stop in front of Simon.
Immediately, boys from all around came scrambling over—a chair materialized behind her, a table was set between the two of them, and wine, food, and snacks were laid out with brisk efficiency.
Before he knew it, Simon had been seated by some anonymous pair of hands, a glass of wine and a handkerchief pressed into his own. She, on the other hand, received the full escort treatment as if it were second nature.
“It's been a while, hasn't it?”
“Serne……!”
Nose in the air, she settled into her chair, a glass of wine in her hand as well.
“As expected—”
Serne rested her white chin on her hand, eyes curving into a sly crescent smile.
“It's much more comfortable watching from among one's own kind, isn't it?”