Semester Start D-Day
Semester Start D-Day
A month flew by in the blink of an eye.
Thanks to staying at Professor Herlein's mansion the whole time, I saved a bundle on lodging. On top of that, I'd become friends with a young noblewoman from the House of Saliere during my part-time work, and she tipped me generously, so my finances had improved faster than expected.
The full-time part-time job ended today, too. I'd told the owner I'd decide about extending after I settled into the academy a little. Getting used to school life for at least a few weeks after the entrance ceremony had to come first.
In any case, I was flush with cash. For someone who'd just become a free person, anyway.
My base wages, overtime pay, and the bonus for working hard added up to enough to cover tuition and the dormitory fee with a little left over.
Still, watching money drain out was depressing.
"Ugh."
My mood tanked alongside my bank balance the moment I paid tuition. Watching the money I'd scraped together vanish from my account in real time wasn't good for my mental health.
I bet they'd start demanding taxes any day now. Already horrifying.
I'd had plenty of time to think over the past month while I worked. Barring any surprises, living like this until graduation wouldn't be so bad. Earn money during vacations and research new Magic Arts during the semester. The strategy seemed surprisingly viable.
I'd paid tuition, but honestly, there wasn't much to learn at the first-year level. It was like a science high school graduate mowing down ordinary high school classmates for credits. I had three years of hard-earned experience already. Did I really need to sit through things I already knew?
Of course, I knew better than to neglect the fundamentals. The F=ma you learn in middle school and the F=ma you encounter in grad school are clearly different. Attending regular lectures might yield fresh insights from knowledgeable professors.
Now that I thought about it, there was the Hardcover Book.
The book the girl who had been 'me' gave me right before I was thrown into this world. It was the Magic Arts guide that had shown me the ropes when I'd first learned magic, knowing nothing.
<Study on the Correlation between Magic and Physics>
— Subtitle: A Guide to Magic for Physicists Traveling in a Fantasy World (Beginner)
I'd been too busy prepping for the entrance exam to look at it lately. I flipped through the pages for the first time in a while.
[TIP: You cannot return to your original world until you have mastered all magic.]
[◆ Progress]
[Fire Magic: 842/1048]
[Water Magic: 251/992]
[Earth Magic: 353/1005]
[Air Magic: 152/824]
[Unclassified: 2/149]
Good. The progress was inching up. I'd filled in gaps from the books I'd studied for the entrance exam, so I'd acquired every basic Magic Art across all elements. Looking at the results alone, taking the academy entrance exam had been a three-birds-with-one-stone situation.
My goal remained identical. Finish reviewing the paper written by whatever being called herself the Goddess and get back to my original world. To do that, I had to encounter and understand every Magic Art listed in that roster, whatever the cost. Now that I'd gotten into Tillet Academy, I figured things would really pick up speed.
Good. Everything was running smoothly.
I neatened the academy-issued uniform and buried myself under the camp bed Professor Herlein had set up. I finally understood the happiness of covering yourself with a quilt stuffed full of cotton...
This was my last night in this mansion. Tomorrow, I'd have to move into the dormitory the school assigned me.
I said my farewells to the day and departed briefly for my hometown.
**
[All prologue storylines completed.]
[A new application is being installed to support the user currently in possession of the Magic Arts guide, beginning with the 'Academy Entrance Ceremony' episode.]
[sudo - ]
[pw **********]
[apt get /]
[— Magic Guide for Physicists Traveling in a Fantasy World (Intermediate)]
[Download Progress]
[0%]
[10%]
[32%]
[48%]
[57%]
[86%]
[98%]
[100%]
[Installation complete.]
[With the completion of the installation, speaking (-s) and writing (-w) functions have been unlocked.]
[The system's mana construction function has been unlocked. At the current Magic Arts guide grade, a maximum of 100 Sieverts of mana can be stored.]
[Additionally, the user may now configure this Magic Arts guide to be invisible to others. Select 'Settings — Invisible Mode' in Administrator Mode.]
[* (Administrator Mode)]
[General Caution: This Magic Arts guide is equipped with an ego based on neuromorphic computing technology. It cannot be shown or transferred to anyone except the entity the AI recognizes as its master. Physical penalties will be applied to any other person who violates this regulation. Please use with this in mind.]
[ROOT administrator mode now released.]
[For smooth program operation, the exterior of the Magic Arts guide will be partially modified. This process may take several hours.]
[.......]
**
[Master, wake up.]
**
"Nngh."
The damn entrance ceremony day had arrived.
Normally, freshmen who got into the school of their choice stayed up the night before classes started with an excited heart. Unfortunately, I felt none of that. I was a three-year veteran of Tillet, after all. I could walk to the Liberal Arts Building with my eyes closed.
I felt exactly one thing.
"What a pain..."
A sensation like I'd already turned into a jaded senior made me not want to go. Was human nature really just decided by circumstances? The fact that I could even utter such spoiled complaints made me think my luck had truly turned.
My lost three years... They'd never return, and I'd probably never be compensated, either...
My body was half-awake, even if my mind was desperately refusing to go to school.
It had become a habit. I automatically woke up at five in the morning every day. It was like a wake-up call had been installed in my body, and my eyes snapped open the moment dawn broke.
— It's the entrance ceremony, but attendance isn't mandatory. On the first day, you go to your assigned classroom by 11:00, meet your homeroom teacher, get your dormitory assignment, and then they send you home early. They barely hold proper classes for at least a week while they sort out everything else.
I didn't need to go today. I could pull the covers back on and catch a second round of sleep without any issue.
The academies in this world were educational institutions somewhere between high school and university. The voluntary attendance for the entrance ceremony followed a university-like atmosphere. I liked that part.
I'd skipped the ceremony when I entered university and when I graduated. No particular reason. It just felt like a pain.
If they expected me to sit here and listen to the boring moral lectures of some academy higher-up, principal or board chairman alike, I'd definitely curse under my breath. They'd drone on about life lessons, but honestly, no student actually sympathized with that stuff.
I looked out the window with bleary eyes. The sun was barely clinging to the edge of the mountain. I figured it was what it was and pulled the covers back over my head.
[Master, aren't you getting up?]
Come to think of it, I'd been pushing myself too hard lately to earn money. They said overworked people hear hallucinations even when there's nothing there, so I decided today I'd rest just a bit more before going out.
[Master! You'll be late for school soon! Get up!]
What the hell.
It had to be a hallucination. I was seriously considering whether psychiatry existed in this other world when the constant muttering from somewhere grated on my nerves. I kicked off the covers and sat up.
[You're finally up.]
"...!"
They said you can't even scream if you're too startled, and that was exactly right. Shocked by the fluttering book talking to me right in front of my eyes, I forgot to make a sound and instantly threw a punch at the air.
[Ow, isn't that a bit harsh? This is our first conversation. Trying to hit me on first meeting hurts my feelings, you know.]
I finally calmed my startled heart and glared at it.
"...What are you."
[The Magic Arts guide you've been using.]
"What?"
[More precisely, I'm the AI assigned to properly assist you starting today. I don't have a name yet. My notable features are a Linux-based operating system with root libraries installed... Think of me as the result of the Goddess programming it based on standards from your world so you can adapt to me as easily as possible.]
A bound hardcover book calling itself an AI out of nowhere. What the hell was it saying?
Wait. The design seemed to have changed a bit. The color had gotten darker, and patterns you'd see on an integrated circuit were etched into the hardcover. It had turned kind of sci-fi.
Several hypotheses bloomed in my head. The most persuasive one opened my mouth and tumbled out.
"Ah, I'm still in dreamland."
[It's not a dream. If it were, then getting dragged into this world while reviewing it, and suffering through hell, would all be a dream too, right?]
"No, not that..."
The hypothesis that this was a dream had long since been discarded. I'd rather it were a nightmare, actually.
"......"
After a moment of pondering, I gave up thinking. Fine. By this world's standards, a flying, talking book wasn't so strange.
Getting hauled into another world for grading a paper too harshly was already beyond realistic. Show a space shuttle to a caveman and they'd be astonished, but show them an airplane after that, and they'd just go, 'Oh, so those exist too.' That was the extent of my sentiment. It was easier to just accept it as an agent sent by a transcendent being called the Goddess. It wasn't exactly a good attitude for a scientist, but...
What could I do? Even peerless geniuses like Einstein and Newton died without understanding everything in the universe. This was probably beyond my comprehension.
[I'll tell you what to do step by step from now on, so you don't need to open me up to check.]
Anyway, it was about time to get moving.
Putting on the uniform felt strange. I hadn't worn one since high school. That aside, wearing a girls' uniform still bothered me. Fortunately, wearing cycling shorts underneath and wrapping myself in a robe gave me a bare minimum of peace of mind.
[You seem surprisingly composed, considering your sex changed.]
"No, I haven't had a single composed moment. Get in touch with the Goddess and tell her I want to meet her face-to-face, ask her exactly why she dragged some innocent person into this and turned me into this mess."
[Just finish reviewing the paper. By the time you've mastered all the Magic Arts, you'll realize why the Goddess turned you into this mess.]
Forget it. Arguing with an inflammatory book was just a waste of breath.
I grabbed the Hardcover Book floating in the air and headed downstairs.
Unlike the students, most of the professors were supposedly required to attend the academy entrance ceremony every year as custom dictated. I'd heard it was particularly mandatory for professors with significant standing in the faculty council under the Academy Board of Directors, both to get acquainted with the students and to serve as security. Professor Herlein, being on the Board, had already left for work. None of the servants were in sight. Something felt off, but I rolled with it and checked the time.
The clock read 10 a.m. The freshmen were probably suffering through the principal's moral lecture right about now. I could just take a slow walk down University Street and get there. I grabbed my bag, and with a leisurely heart, I opened the front door.
There was a dinosaur in front of the door.