Welcome to Kizen
The transfer students who had newly joined them had not yet been granted clearance for the direct teleport to Roke Island. So they had made their way to Langoustine first, and from its docks, boarded the Nether Whale for the crossing.
By the time dusk had well and truly settled in, they finally arrived.
"So this is Kizen!"
They stood before the academy's main gate. Benz let out a whistling whoop of celebration, and the other transfer students buzzed with barely contained excitement. White, as ever, simply stared blankly at the empty air.
"Ahahaha! Welcome, welcome, everyone! You've all come such a long way—well done, well done!"
At that familiar, fussy voice, heads turned to find Dick waiting for them at the gate, a Student Council armband on his sleeve. Behind him stood the council's direct minions, and Mojo, their leader, bowed his head neatly with both hands folded before him.
"Dick!"
Simon broke into a wide grin and hurried over.
"It's been a wh—"
"Hey! Peasant! Looks like life's been treating you awfully well, huh? All those smiles?"
Mayrin darted forward in a single stride and jabbed him repeatedly in the chest. Dick retreated with a sheepish chuckle, as if being tickled.
"Simon, what is with this ajumma now?"
"Excuse me? You want to die? While the rest of us were out there busting our asses, you were slurping up honey on desk duty back home. Pretty sweet gig, huh?"
"Oh my, what slander. No appreciation for a treasurer's tireless struggle to build a prosperous Class 330 student council—just squawking complaints day in and day out. This is why the truly great only get their names remembered after they're dead."
"How about I make you famous right now?"
"Dick! It's so good to see you!"
"Hey there, Cami!"
In an instant, the area before the main gate erupted into cheerful chaos.
Then—click.
When Jane stepped forward, all four of them shut their mouths at once. The Student Council minions snapped into deep, formal bows.
"There's no need for all that. Dick here was also given duties of his own to handle."
Jane raised a hand to acknowledge the minions' greetings, then turned to Dick.
"Is everything prepared?"
"Ah, of course, Professor!"
Dick flashed a bright smile and waved the transfer students' roster.
"The induction ceremony is all set up, and I've had uniforms prepared in everyone's exact sizes!"
"Good work."
"Now then—which of you is Berlini? Raise your hand. Ah, Sierra, right? Getting a uniform made with tail holes was a real pain in the neck. Buy me a juice if you see me around campus."
While Mayrin glared at him with withering contempt, an Aland girl edged up behind her.
"Um, Vice President? It's kinda creeping me out that he knows our body measurements."
Mayrin heaved a sigh. Good grief.
"You're right to worry. Consider that information sold to the highest bidder for a mere fifty silver."
"...Seriously?"
"Don't worry, though. I'll drive my fist into that blockhead and shut his mouth for good."
"Hey, I've had enough of this ajumma business! I'm a student council official now—when would I ever do a thing like that!"
"Who are you calling ajumma, you little maniac?!"
As the Vice President thrashed the Treasurer like a misbehaving child and restored order to the ranks, Simon exchanged greetings with Mojo, leader of the direct minions.
"Thank you for your hard work during the transfer evaluation matches, Student Council President."
"You've all worked hard preparing for the ceremony too. Where did you set up the induction?"
"The 2nd-Year Campus Central Main Building, sir."
At that, Jane gestured ahead of them.
"Let's move out, then."
The Central Main Building was the very same place where, long ago, the department selection ceremony against the 3rd-year seniors had been held.
The transfer students first changed into their Kizen uniforms in the dressing room before emerging.
"Whooooa...!"
This drew the most passionate reaction of anything the transfer students had shown so far.
"Look how smooth this fabric is!"
"It really does have wide-area protective magic woven into it."
"They said Kizen students walk around wearing a mansion's worth of money..."
The boys pawed at their uniform jackets, clamoring about defense ratings and how many times stronger than steel the material supposedly was, while the girls refused to budge from the mirrors.
Benz was no different. He swept his bangs back as he admired himself.
"At last! At long last, I'm wearing the black uniform!"
Just then, Mayrin—busy darting about the hall—spotted a pair of green plaid pants crumpled on the floor and picked them up with her index finger and thumb.
"Ugh! Whose are these?"
"Ah, sorry, those are mi—hup!"
Benz's shoulders shuddered.
"Geh—no wonder they called it a grasshopper uniform. It really does look like one!"
Cast off on the floor, the pants were unmistakably a grasshopper's molted shell.
Simon laughed at the sight of him.
"Weren't you saying your roots are in Aland just now?"
"Roots are roots, sure—but I've been reborn as elite Kizen!"
Benz hastily folded his green plaid pants into his bag as he said it.
Once the transfer students had all changed, they lined up in front of Mayrin, who sat waiting at a desk.
The procedure was simple. They confirmed the details on their profiles once more, finalized their department of choice, and signed the documents pledging their enrollment in Kizen and their adherence to school regulations.
"Name?"
"Zetz Chimerat."
Mayrin's quill flew across the page as she fired off one question after another.
"You were in Dark Mechanics at Sierra. You'll be continuing with that major here at Kizen, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
Once the signatures were done, Dick and Camibarez, waiting nearby, handed out various daily necessities.
And then—the last student's turn.
Mayrin's face twisted into a grimace, but she forced a smile and spoke.
"Name?"
"White."
It was White's turn at last. As Mayrin checked off item after item on his paperwork, she arrived at her final question.
"You were in Curse Studies at Moiran, hmm."
She murmured it with a look of mild surprise.
Curses.
He never used a single one when he fought me.
It rankled a little, but she kept her expression carefully managed.
"You'll take the same major here at Kizen, right?"
Then—
White slowly raised his arm.
"Him."
White was pointing at Simon.
"Same department as him."
"..."
Even Simon, who had been sitting back and resting, jolted in surprise. In White's hollow, empty pupils as he pointed, something strange seemed to flicker.
"Switching departments?"
Mayrin narrowed her eyes and pressed on.
"Simon's in Summoning. Are you serious about going there?"
White gave a silent nod.
"Your school started department specialization from first year, remember? This would be completely different from everything you've studied so far. Are you sure you want to change just like that?"
White nodded once more.
...What's he playing at?
This had never happened before, so Mayrin scraped her chair back and rose from her seat.
"Wait just a moment, I'll go ask Professor Jane—"
"There's no problem."
Jane, freshly changed into new clothes, was just entering the hall with the minions in tow.
"Please accommodate the transfer students' wishes as much as possible. The Summoning Department has plenty of openings anyway."
"Ah, yes, Professor!"
Mayrin sat back down and completed the paperwork.
Simon rested his chin on his hand, feeling oddly unsettled, and studied White.
Same department as him.
White had changed his major.
And he'd done it while pointing straight at me.
A strange, prickling unease stirred in his chest—the same feeling that had been there since their very first meeting.
Peir. Peir. Got a minute?
Simon tapped the clone of Peir hanging from his uniform. A moment later, light kindled in the clone's eyes.
"Kahaha! What is it, Boy? I'm in the midst of mastering the power of our newly won 'sword,' and the deeper I dig, the more uses I find for it!"
"Sorry to interrupt. We only just arrived on Roke Island."
"I see! Well done, well done!"
"Actually, there's something I want to ask you."
Simon turned Peir's clone slightly, so that White was in view.
"That student with the white hair—what do you make of him?"
"..."
Peir's eyes flashed. Simon waited for the answer, his face tight with tension.
"Merely a student."
"What?"
At the response, so much blunter than he'd expected, Simon grabbed Peir's clone and shook it up and down.
"Peir! Take this seriously, please!"
"Kahaha! What's the problem?"
"Well..."
It was the first time he'd ever brought this up out loud, but Simon said it with a stiff face.
"Doesn't he remind you of Magnus?"
"Aye, he does resemble him."
Peir's clone gave a low chuckle.
"But to my eye, all human faces look much the same! I judge not by appearances, but by a human's Jet-Black and the aura they give off!"
"Then compare him to Magnus directly. What do you see?"
Peir answered plainly.
"A wholly separate existence, as far as I can tell."
"..."
Just then, Jane called out in a loud voice.
"Everyone, gather round! The induction ceremony will now begin."
The induction ceremony was not a grand affair.
True, if the weekend hadn't been right on their heels, they might have made it bigger, and the other students would surely have come to offer their congratulations—but classes began tomorrow, so they'd decided to keep it as streamlined as possible.
Vice Principal Jane took the podium herself and delivered a speech, explaining what it meant to carry oneself as a Kizen student and walking them through the things they'd need to watch out for.
Afterward, each transfer student was called by name to receive their certificate of transfer, along with a 2nd-year student ID that carried both command authority and investigative authority.
Everyone seemed overcome with happiness. The moment some students received their Kizen student IDs, tears welled up in their eyes.
With the streamlined ceremony concluded, Jane rose from her seat.
"Now then, I'll head off to prepare for classes. The student council members here will kindly walk you through the details of school life."
Simon squared his shoulders, and Mayrin and Camibarez gave small waves from either side of him.
"May good fortune follow you all in your new school life. Ah—and Student White."
White rose from his seat.
"You'll come with me."
No reason was given, and none was immediately apparent—but Jane took White and left.
Soon the adults had all gone, and Mayrin cleared her throat and folded her arms.
"There's no point standing around here. Let's head to the student council room and talk over some tea."
"Sounds great!"
Simon's group led the transfer students out of the building. On the way to the student council room, they'd planned to point out the various campus facilities along the route.
The transfer students found the unfamiliar surroundings a little daunting, but their curiosity and anticipation seemed to run even stronger, and they drank in everything around them eagerly.
"Behind us over there is the training field—it's so popular you have to book it in advance, no exceptions. And this building right here is the Hemomancy Department! Plus the two buildings behind it."
Mayrin chattered away, utterly in her element.
Showing friends around her school for the first time was a genuinely joyful thing. She and Dick occasionally talked over each other and bickered, but the transfer students perked up their ears as if determined not to miss a single scrap of information. These were students who had fought through brutal competition to get here—their attitude showed it.
From time to time, Kizen students passing through campus would murmur among themselves or come up to chat.
"Hey, Simon! Who're these guys?"
"Transfer students. They just joined Kizen today."
"Oh, really? Right, right! It is that time! Anyone here for the Deadly Poison Department, by chance?"
"How many came in for Dark Mechanics?"
The interest in fresh faces was explosive. As passing students began swarming over, Dick stepped forward with an air of self-importance.
"All right, all right, keep it moving! You can check with the departments tomorrow—you're making the kids uncomfortable."
The plan had been to give them a full tour of the school, but far too many students kept gathering.
Simon decided to make a beeline for the student council room.
"You lot set one foot in the Spirit Arts Department and you're dead!"
"You know transfers get their own hazing, right?"
Along the way, a few students hurled their jokes, and Mayrin rounded on them with a look of utter exasperation.
"Argh, get lost, the lot of you!"
"The Vice President's mad!"
"Hahahaha!"
Thankfully, the transfer students seemed to be enjoying even this excessive attention, waving and returning greetings with bright faces. Apparently nothing could dam the joy of having made it into Kizen.
But the crowd had grown far, far too thick. When even 3rd-year seniors, drawn by rumors of the transfer students' arrival, began closing in, Simon reluctantly decided to deploy the Student Council's direct minions.
The moment Mojo's eyes met Simon's, he nodded once and advanced.
"Students. We are coming through."
"Please step aside."
The instant the minions moved and carved out a path, Simon shouted.
"Run!"
Simon sent the transfer students sprinting toward the student council building. Once the last one was inside, he gave Mojo the order to seal off the entrance.
"Whoa-ha."
Benz grinned, dazed.
"Man, insane. That was one heck of a welcome party?"
"Honestly, I'd rather get this much attention than be ignored. I was worried they'd just brush us off."
While the transfer students traded remarks, flushed with excitement, Simon walked ahead to lead them.
"Now we head up to the student council room. The department representatives will be along to pick you up shortly."
The transfer students stiffened slightly.
"Department... representatives?"
"Th-they sound kind of terrifying."
The same hour.
The Summoning Major Dormitory.
Students returning from their missions were shuffling through the doors with weary faces, and the lobby was already abuzz with gossip.
Ughh, I'm dead tired...
Just as one returnee was dragging his feet toward the stairs to his room—
"Hey."
A sharp-eyed girl pointed at him.
"Report to the class rep before you go up. Head count."
"Oh. R-right, sure. Got it."
Her expression was somehow intimidating, so the returnee shuffled off without a word of protest toward the lounge beside the lobby.
"—so then I says to him!"
"Hahahaha!"
Four students were holding court, dressed in uniforms and bathrobes alike. Every one of them had high marks and a prestigious family name behind them.
And in their midst towered a man like a mountain.
Hector Moore.
The Class A students had long since adjusted to Hector and graduated to the stage of razzing him freely, but a few of the department students experiencing him for the first time still flinched at the sight of that enormous frame and those imposing features.
"What is it."
Hector turned around. The returnee faltered for a split second before forcing out a cough and a smile.
"Ah, just reporting back from my mission. They said to check in with you."
"Right. Good work."
Hector raised his quill and made a checkmark on the list.
"Oh, and my name is—"
"Laubel Brenmus."
At Hector's words, the student's eyes went perfectly round.
"H-how did you know?"
"Committing to memory the names of all fifty students in one's department is the bare minimum for a class representative."
Laubel was momentarily moved, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
What the—this guy.
He's actually a decent sort, isn't he? Nothing like he looks.
"Ah—ah. This is a general broadcast from the Student Council."
"2nd-year department representative Hector Moore. 2nd-year department representative Hector Moore. Please come to the student council room immediately. That is all."
Crunch.
Hector's eyes narrowed to slits.
"Those student council bastards, getting high and mighty..."
The apple in his hand exploded with a resounding CRACK. The faction students who'd been chatting with him flinched and stole wary glances his way.
Yep. Terrifying as ever!
Laubel, pelted by shrapnel from the demolished apple, thought exactly the same thing.
Flap!
Hector pulled the department representative armband from his uniform jacket and strapped it to his arm.
"H-Hector?"
"You lot stay put. I'm heading down to campus—won't be long."