Reconciliation (2)
Murmurs spread through the room.
“So that’s Philia?”
“The one who fought over her with the other girl before the entrance ceremony?”
Soft whispers rippled from table to table.
“She’s pretty, huh.”
“What house is she from? Oh, Cryford? That’s a famous family.”
“Seriously, is that all it takes? Being pretty, talented, and from a good family?”
“...Then what else would you need?”
Voices rose and fell in a low, busy hum.
Philia, now the center of attention, tilted her head back and looked up at the clear blue sky.
Should I die?
Academy life looked ruined before it had even properly begun.
Still, if she was going to die anyway, shouldn’t she at least kill the source of this mess before she went?
Ellie...!
The one who had tormented her relentlessly, who came to her every single day to talk, who kept disturbing her reading.
The one who had forced her to meet people, forced her to become more social, the one who had made her think that maybe something was wrong with her lately because being alone, for as long as she wanted, had once been perfectly fine—but now quiet felt strangely unsettling.
The black demon, Ellie!
...I should at least meet her once.
Trembling all over, her hair, eyes, and face all red at once, the girl climbed to the second floor—only to find the two of them coming out of Isabel’s room.
“Oh.”
“Ah.”
“Ah!”
The three girls spoke at once.
Philia shouted first, on pure instinct.
“Hey!”
It was the loudest sound she had ever made in her sixteen years of life.
She had just flung it out with her feelings and all, but even she was startled by the volume.
“!”
“!!”
Both Ellie and Isabel blinked and waited for Philia’s next words.
Uh....
Now that it had come to this, Philia was at a loss for what to say. Should she just scold them? But somehow that didn’t feel quite right.
So she said the one thing she knew for sure they had done wrong to her.
“...Because of you two, I was humiliated in front of all those students.”
“Sorry. Here, Isabel, apologize too.”
“S-sorry...”
Huh.
This time it was Philia’s turn to blink. She hadn’t expected them to apologize so readily. And why was Ellie the one making Isabel apologize?
“Philia.”
Ellie stepped half a pace forward.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into our fight. Neither Isabel nor I meant for that to happen. Can you forgive us?”
“Uh, uh... yeah...”
When they put it that way, she had no choice but to forgive them. What, was she supposed to make them lick her shoes? Demand compensation?
“Good. Then Philia, let’s shake hands with Isabel as a sign of reconciliation.”
“...?”
Philia stared blankly, but Isabel, as if this were the most natural thing in the world, obediently held out one hand, turning her face aside in embarrassment.
Philia was dumbfounded.
What exactly is this girl?
First Dane Edwick, and now this—she had somehow brought two heirs to ducal houses under her wing.
When Philia hesitated, the expression on Isabel’s face darkened again. The rain that had just stopped seemed ready to fall anew.
Ugh.
Philia lightly took Isabel’s hand and shook it. The rain passed; the sun came out.
“That’s settled, right? Then I’ll be going.”
“Where are you going? Come with us.”
“No.”
Philia felt, at last, that she needed to make a decision.
Over the four years she had left at the Academy, would she walk with Ellie and her friends, or would she remain on her own, as she always had?
“Ellie, I’ll make myself clear. Please don’t come near me anymore. Don’t talk to me either.”
Isabel gasped softly.
Philia had expected Ellie to refuse. She thought Ellie would whine and ask why, beg her to stay friends.
But then—
“Understood. It’s a pity, but if that’s truly what you want, I can’t do anything about it.”
Ellie nodded.
Huh?
Philia, who had been bracing herself to tear away from a clingy hand, went blank.
“R-right. So, um, don’t talk to me from now on.”
“Okay.”
Ellie’s expression was serious.
And a little sad.
Philia didn’t know what to do, and so she remained where she was, unable to leave.
“Th-there’s...”
Ellie merely tilted her head, as if asking why, but without actually saying it. Philia had told her not to speak to her, after all.
So why?
Philia’s chest was in turmoil. This was exactly what she had wanted all along, wasn’t it? So why did it feel like this?
Forcing herself, she looked away. She moved feet that didn’t want to move, returned to her room on the first floor, and lay down on her bed.
Then she turned onto her side and hugged the stuffed doll she had brought from home tightly.
...This is suffocating.
Her chest felt heavy.
Maybe it even hurt.
Philia let out a long sigh into the doll’s fur.
The single room she had once wanted so badly suddenly felt enormous.
A little while later, Philia, who had drifted off into an afternoon nap without realizing it, woke to a knock at the door.
“...Yes? Who is it?”
“I’m Ramy, an assistant. I’ve come to deliver your timetable, Student Philia Cryford.”
From second year onward, Academy students were allowed to choose their own schedules, but first-years had to take the same subjects at the same times.
Still, with a hundred students, they couldn’t all be crammed into classes at once, so the Academy distributed timetables spread out neatly across the week.
The paper the assistant handed her was a grid, listing the time, subject, classroom, and professor by day from Monday to Friday.
Let’s see.
Her first class was tomorrow, Thursday.
In the morning, one hour of Mana Theory, one hour of Common Magical Language Theory, and one hour of practical work. Then lunch, followed by one hour of Magical Zoology in the afternoon, and finally two hours of Magical Combat.
Six hours a day, thirty a week, huh. Yeah, this isn’t going to be easy.
Philia prepared the books she would need for tomorrow’s lessons, forcibly pushing thoughts of Ellie out of her head for the time being.
And ten minutes later, the assistant Ramy came to Ellie and Stella’s room as well.
“I’ve come to deliver the timetables for Student Stella Blaze and Student Ellie...”
“Thank you. Stella, this one’s yours.”
“Mm. Thank you.”
Just before leaving, Assistant Ramy sneaked one more glance at Ellie.
She really is bold.
Even if they were roommates within the Academy, where—at least in name—everyone was equal, one was a commoner orphan and the other a princess.
Was it really normal to become friends with someone so naturally? They hadn’t even known each other that long.
And yet Ellie did it with complete ease.
Honestly, Ramy didn’t think she herself would be able to act that casually around a princess, even as an assistant.
She’s definitely someone worth looking forward to.
Since the Academy admitted a hundred students at a time, each year there were always one or two first-years who stood out—some in a good way, some in a bad way.
But Ellie...
That girl was clearly something to look forward to, and yet Ramy couldn’t say exactly in what way.
What was certain was that she would become a storm.
Maybe a storm bigger than any they had ever seen.
After the assistant left, Ellie and Stella compared their timetables.
“Let’s see... only three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon?”
“Only? With this many classes, it seems as though one ought to devote the entire morning and afternoon to study.”
“Really?”
Ellie decided to set aside, for the moment, the sense of school life from her old world—where students were dragged to academy classes after school and buried under evening study hours.
“Anyway, the classes we share on Thursday are...”
“First period and fourth period, it seems.”
“Common Magical Language and Magical Botany, huh. And I’ve got Magical Combat in fifth and sixth period... Wait, do we actually fight there?”
“I do not know whether it will happen on the first day, but I am told that sparring of various kinds is a major part of the class.”
In this world, mages were not scholars.
They were warriors, and the ability to fight directly was among the most important subjects in the Academy.
“Hmm.”
Stella suddenly glanced sideways at Ellie.
“What?”
“Nothing. I was merely thinking how pitiful the children who must attend Magical Combat with you on the first day of school are. Be gentle with them.”
“What do you take me for? Besides, it’s the first day, so they’ll probably do orientation or something.”
“What is orientation?”
“Nothing, forget it!”
“?”
Then the next day arrived.
Freshmen, still unfamiliar with the layout of the Academy, hurried from lecture hall to workshop to practice room in a flustered haze.
They learned and talked about magical language, about how magical tools were made, about mana, about the coming semester.
Tension, hope, and young green dreams all began to bloom, and for many of them it was the first time they had ever experienced classes with so many others at once.
By lunchtime, the nervous first-years had split into two types.
Those whose tension had suddenly snapped, and who now gobbled their food down more eagerly than usual.
And those who still hadn’t relaxed enough, nibbling at the edges of a loaf of bread.
“...”
Philia was neither.
She ate quietly, just as much as she usually did; got up quietly; cleared away her tray quietly; then lay down in the grass for a while before the next class began.
If autumn fully set in, she wouldn’t be able to do this because of the cold, but for now it felt pleasant to lie there under the midday sun.
It was a quiet day, the first she had spent alone in several days.
The restlessness inside her chest still remained, but surely she would grow used to it again with time.
After fourth period, Philia made her way to the combat practice room for the day’s final class, and a familiar head of black hair caught her eye.
“...!”
Perhaps Ellie hadn’t expected to run into her either, because her eyes widened.
But she said nothing. She was keeping the promise Philia had made her extract yesterday—not to talk to her.
Philia looked around the practice room.
There aren’t any empty seats at all.
Each desk was meant for two, but there wasn’t a single one completely open. Only three desks remained with one seat already taken.
One of them was Ellie. The other two belonged to girls Philia didn’t know.
Which should she go to?
No.
Which one did she want to sit beside?
...I don’t know.
In the end, Philia sat down next to Ellie.
“...”
“...”
Neither of them spoke—or rather, neither of them could—so the awkwardness in the air grew thick enough to choke on. Philia even wondered if she ought to tell her to just start talking again.
“...”
“Th-”
But then the hour struck, and the professor entered the practice room. Philia quickly swallowed the rest of her words.
“Good to meet you all. I introduced myself once at the entrance ceremony, but my name is Louis Telemann. Please call me Professor Telemann.”
He was a young man with a sickly air about him, but his eyes were bright and alive. Telemann gave a light clap of his hands and went on.
“As you all know, this subject is one of the most important in the Academy, and it has been allotted a great deal of time. There’s no need to rush straight into class today.”
So, then—
“Today, each of you will do a simple activity with the student sitting next to you.”