94. Because That's How I Was Taught
94. Because That's How I Was Taught
Students admitted through recommendation letters lacked any real sense of community.
Being admitted through a recommendation letter was simply a given for them, so there was no need to form a community around it.
Rather than the commonality of a recommendation letter, communities tended to form through family connections.
For example... a gathering of those from the southwest of the Empire, or a gathering of nobles employed in the capital.
In a broader sense, the community among the Five Pillars was an extension of this.
But it was different for students admitted through the 'exam.'
Having entered the academy with nothing but their skills and no backing whatsoever, they had to band together to survive among the brutal nobles.
-The Trial Admission Students' Guild... the Crows, was it? They're all a bunch of useless bastards. You'd better not expect any real help from them. But... still, it's good to keep a foot in the door.
Companion had once mentioned the trial admission students' guild shortly after enrollment.
Because Amy was late on the entrance ceremony day due to the incident on the bridge connecting the academy to the mainland, her face got stamped into everyone's memory, and they reached out to her first.
'Didn't you just say they were all a bunch of useless bastards?'
-While it's true most of the crows are good-for-nothings, when enough useless bastards gather, there are bound to be ways to make use of them.
'Ways to make use of them?'
-No one is more sensitive to danger than the weak. If you lend an ear to their chatter, you can sometimes glimpse the precursors to major incidents.
Listening to Companion, Amy opened the small notebook she had received as proof of joining the trial admission guild, the 'Crows.'
At first glance, it looked like an old black notebook, but a tremendous spell had been cast upon it.
It was magic that ensured whenever someone wrote in this notebook, the exact same text appeared in all notebooks bearing the same spell.
Even now, messages written by unidentified individuals were scrawling themselves across the pages.
The contents varied.
Seniors warning juniors about points to be careful of, someone badmouthing another person, things of that nature.
The notebook was broadly divided into three sections. The first was 'Chatter,' which everyone could use as much as they wanted and was continuously updated in real time.
The second section was 'Notices,' available once you were no longer a freshman and which could be fixed for up to one month.
The third section was 'Information,' a semi-permanently fixed post that only verified individuals could write in.
Watching the flurry of letters scribbling themselves out in her hand, Amy broke into a cold sweat.
'Isn't this... incredibly expensive magic...?'
It seemed to only work within the academy grounds, and this spell was quite commonly used for communication purposes.
However, what made it another matter entirely was that this wasn't just a one-time use but was being continuously 'maintained' in real time.
The magic wasn't simply consumed to send a single message and that was it, but was being sustained with continuous updates... Even in the Empire, where magical engineering was advanced, delivering handwritten letters was still the mainstream method.
That was because nothing was as safe as having a sealed letter delivered directly by 'couriers.'
She couldn't understand just handing over a notebook enchanted with such magic as if it were nothing.
-Indeed. It's absolutely not something students could pull off on their own.
'Then...'
-It simply isn't the work of students alone. There's support from graduates who safely completed the academy... and likely a few among the faculty as well.
'...So you're saying they're that worried about us who got in through the trial exam... right?'
-You catch on quickly.
A place so dangerous you needed to carry such a thing was an incredibly nerve-wracking statement for Amy, who had just started at the academy.
Normally, trial admission students were bullying targets, but aside from a very brief period early on, Amy had almost no such experiences.
Because the moment Atlas or Liber witnessed it, they'd beat the perpetrators to a pulp and issue thunderous warnings for everyone to hear.
The fact that she could attend the academy without issue now was entirely thanks to those two.
Thinking of this, she opened the notebook again after a long time.
[I got a C on the magical engineering practical assignment, and this is unreasonable.]
[That professor sometimes just hands out C's for no reason. He'll never listen even if you appeal, so just consider it stepping in shit.]
[Mountain Club<< Why does this exist?? We can't even leave the academy grounds and we keep going to the same place??]
[You chose the Mountain Club, so gut it out with grit...]
[Hey, didn't a transfer student join the freshmen this time?]
[After class, some girls took that person away for what looks like an initiation. How scary...]
Amidst the various comments scrolling rapidly down, one post caught Amy's eye.
"They took the transfer student away...?"
She rushed out just in case.
.
.
.
.
.
It turned out to be true. Two female students from the same class were cornering the transfer student... Casey, against a wall in the hallway corner, pressuring her.
Casey showed no change in expression despite the pressure from the two.
"Do you have something you're curious about with me?"
"We're curious, alright. When you introduced yourself, you only said your name. What family are you from?"
"I have no family name."
When she said she had no family name, the two female students' attitudes shifted slightly.
"Hmm... If you have no family name, then where did you get your recommendation letter?"
"I received help from my teacher (恩師)."
"Your teacher?"
"See, I was right? I told you it was nothing much."
"Ayy, that can't be right... Tell us honestly, which family's illegitimate child are you?"
"I have no parents."
"You're well-trained. Did they tell you to say that? If you're not even allowed to use a surname, did some commoner lord take a liking to you?"
"Maybe it's not that. I'm genuinely curious, so can you just tell us properly? If you say you don't have parents, it causes misunderstandings, you know. With a face like that, people might mistake you for someone who caught some local lord's eye and got sponsored to come here?"
The words were so vicious it made one wince.
Despite the personal attacks, Casey just stood there silently, listening without a single change in expression.
Amy decided she had to go and tell them to stop.
-There's no need for you to interfere.
'Why are you stopping me?'
Companion stopped her from stepping forward.
She was reluctant to make enemies of recommendation admission students, but Atlas would have definitely helped.
"Hey, say something. You don't have parents... or were you just abandoned?"
Aiming at the unresponsive Casey, the two female students intensified their personal attacks.
'You're telling me to just stand here and watch that?'
-That's not what I meant.
"Kyaaak!!"
"Aak!!!"
Screams echoed through the hallway.
Startled, Amy turned to look and found the situation completely different from moments ago.
One of the two female students was collapsed, clutching her face, and the other was caught in Casey's grip.
Casey swung the long hair she held in her hand in a tiny pendulum motion, as if carrying a shopping basket.
And with every movement, a faint scream escaped the female student whose hair was seized.
It had happened in a flash.
"What... aren't you a little too weak? Didn't you say something about having a match?"
And Casey, the one who carried it out, spoke flatly with the exact same expression as before.
It was the same blank expression as moments ago.
"M-My face...!! You... you crazy bitch, do you know who I am...!!"
The female student, who was bleeding from her mouth, glared at Casey with bloodshot eyes.
Looking at the floor, several blood-soaked fragments were rolling around.
It seemed a few teeth had been broken.
Since they were in the same class, Amy knew who she was.
She was a young lady from a family that was exactly on the borderline of being able to enter with a recommendation letter.
The family's status was a step below the Five Pillars or Atlas's Nemea, but it was solid.
Generally, she wasn't someone a commoner could afford to mess with.
"I'm not particularly curious, either."
But Casey genuinely didn't seem curious about such things at all.
She tossed aside the female student whose hair she had been holding and grabbed the shoulder of the one bleeding from the mouth.
"Knowing wouldn't stop me from hitting you gently."
"S-Stop it... You'll regret this...!! You.. You!!"
-Peok!!
With a crisp sound, the female student's head whipped around and she slumped powerlessly to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
Along with the impact, a small, sharp clattering sound echoed through the hallway as hard little objects scattered.
Several small, bloody tooth fragments rolled around.
Casey didn't even spare them a glance.
"Fireball!!"
-Tukwang!!
Not a fist, but a massive fireball the size of a watermelon shot toward Casey.
The fiercely launched fireball was fired from dangerously close range, hard to avoid, yet Casey dodged it like a ghost without even twisting her body much.
The fireball slammed into the hallway wall with a tremendous explosion.
"Whoa?! Who's using magic in the hallway???"
No matter what, using 'magic' in the hallway stood out.
As the explosion rang out, students began to gather.
'Come to think of it... she's someone who landed a solid hit on Atlas, even though he insists he let his guard down, right...?'
-At least upper Expert level or higher... she seems close to the peak of that rank. As for who needs to help whom...
From what Amy could see, Casey didn't seem like the type to endure unreasonable things quietly, unlike Atlas.
"You bitch...!!"
The female student whose hair had been grabbed continued firing fireballs.
She seemed quite confident in her combat magic, launching fireballs of that power at high speed several times, but none of them even grazed Casey's collar.
-Kwakang!!!
"That magic is so slow it makes me yawn."
Casey, who dodged the fireballs like a ghost even at point-blank range with bizarre footwork, made onlookers doubt their own eyes.
She walked up to the female student and delivered a powerful slap.
-Jjak!!
"Kyaaak?!!"
The body of the slapped female student crumpled and fell to the ground.
Even as she fell, she glared fiercely at Casey with a tenacious spirit.
Although the opportunity came to hit her several more times, Casey didn't strike and just stared blankly down at the female student.
It was as if she was giving her time to collect herself.
"There, I'll give you one more chance, so go ahead and shoot."
Then, as the female student got back up, Casey raised both arms in a taunting gesture.
"Did you think... I couldn't do it...?"
The female student even took out her wand and gathered her magical power.
The air grew hot enough to feel sweltering as heat condensed on her wand, but she was no longer preparing the fireballs she had shot before.
-That's magic of the 4th circle or higher. She's planning to burn down the entire hallway.
Her plan was to burn the entire hallway so Casey couldn't dodge.
But they weren't the only two in the hallway; there were still many other students around.
"Has she gone insane?! Hey, run!!"
"Uwaaaak!!!"
Realizing what she was about to do, the students fled into other lecture rooms.
In the hair-trigger situation, looking like it could explode at any moment, the female student raised her wand high.
"Fire...!!"
"Both of you, that's enough!!"
She couldn't bring it down.
The female student's wand was confiscated by someone.
Having heard the news, Swordsmanship Instructor Andy had arrived, seized her wand, and forcibly canceled the spell.
He took in the situation and let out a deep sigh.
"Both of you, follow me. And someone get that kid to the infirmary."
The female student whose molars had been knocked out was still groaning, collapsed in the hallway.
-Didn't you say they were master and disciple, but lived like family? Seeing how her hands move without hesitation, it seems she learned well...
'It seems like... that's right, isn't it?'
There was no room for doubt.