Fake Breasts and Special Admissions (1)
After the academy entrance exam had concluded.
"Hmph, hum-hmm~"
Julius, the director of admissions at Esdinas Academy, hummed a little tune as he scanned the neatly organized list in front of him.
"Everyone who's coming is here~"
Flipping through the holograms one by one on the magic screen, he eyed the names marked "Accepted" on the Esdinas Academy freshman roster before cracking open a canned drink.
"Ahh, just a few more days of work and it's done."
As admissions director, he'd handled a ton of work every year. Someone might gripe, "Don't you only suffer during enrollment season out of the twelve months?"
"That damn student affairs director. If he came over here and did this job, he wouldn't spout crap like that."
As the admissions director grumbled, Esdinas Academy's admissions office was separate from student affairs precisely because of the insane workload. All those complaints to deal with. All that mental stress. He had to smoothly deflect when capitalists and power brokers demanded, "Why didn't our kid pass?!" He had to stop latecomers who missed the exam from clutching the white iron gates and sobbing, or those lurking for days trying to sneak in once term started. And now, part of the remaining tasks involved scrutinizing the freshmen, distinguishing them as much as possible before handing over records to student affairs.
Not the tip of the iceberg—more like the weight of a left leg on the human body.
But today was pure rest. This year's exam hadn't been too tough, and acceptances and rejections were decided on the spot. Absolute evaluation. The test had been packed with questions probing students' knowledge.
Some commoner kids who could read but didn't grasp the content had shouted, "This is unfair!"
"Can't help it if that's reality."
As director, he'd had to drag those disruptive commoner students out. Probably the most hated job across the continent—hell, the whole world. The 300 incoming students saw it as just part of the gig. But the rejects hurled curses, insults, complaints. Even those who couldn't make it to the exam blamed "that guy."
What could he do? Someone had to do it, and Julius bore the responsibility. A duty, even. Good pay, too. And best of all, endure this pain till March, and he could lounge till December.
Mid-February now. Wrap up admissions and post-processing, and come April, cherry blossom trips awaited. Then—
"...Huh?"
Julius's hand froze mid-scroll.
"What's this?"
His finger hovered over one female student's profile. Age nineteen. Basic info was utterly ordinary, but acceptees had full-body profile photos stored in the magic server for records.
But what was this?
"Why's there something weird on her chest...?"
Incoming students might not know, but acceptees underwent a full-body mana scan. A well-known procedure. Some smuggled dangerous items inside. Or their mana signatures changed between exam and enrollment, even if appearances matched.
Textbook examples: One, a student tried entering with a demon seed for terrorism—sparking the magic scan system's adoption. Two, post-adoption, they caught cases where the exam-taker and enrollee differed. Esdinas grads got elite gigs anywhere after networking. Re-takers even tripled up successfully, so they'd overlooked it.
"This girl..."
Until the mana vessel showed suspicious clumps.
"Hold on. I think I've seen her...?"
Julius traveled obsessively, globe-trotting, so her face and body jogged his memory.
"This chick..."
A chill crept up his spine.
"I met her working part-time at that Slender Cafe...?"
Just two months ago. Wrapping his final pre-exam trip, scouting talent at spots popular with C-rank hopefuls.
"......She wasn't this big."
Definitely not. Maid cafes had their quirks, but he staked his faculty career on it. Something was off.
"It's... fake."
With trembling hands, Julius scrolled through.
And found them. About sixteen.
"What the...?"
He'd busted sixteen with phony mana pouches.
"Fake breasts? What the fuck—"
[Esdinas Academy Greenbelt West Terminal, Restaurant ]
"...Fake breasts?"
"Yeah."
"......?"
Unia tilted her head right after I spilled the truth over dinner at the terminal restaurant.
"Um, what does that...?"
"Ah. 'Augmentation' isn't common slang anymore."
Augmentation. Archaic term that somehow went mainstream.
"Want it blunt, or sugarcoated?"
"Sugarcoating might confuse me, so just say it straight. Even if it's... uncomfortable."
"Simple. She showed up with fake tits."
"......."
Unia grimaced but cocked her head.
"Fake...?"
"Yep. Unia, wanna see?"
I pointed to my left eye.
"This eye... sees mana real well."
"......."
I struck a pose, but her focus stayed on the fake breasts.
"Fine, fine. Short version for you."
To make Unia get it.
"I see people's mana with my eye. Like this."
I sparked a fingertip flame before my left eye; Unia gasped.
"Whoa."
"This flame gives me a new sight. Like seeing the world's mana flow?"
"Wow, that's amazi—"
She started clapping, then—
"......Put it out."
She hunched, hands up in guard.
"Sorry. Not trying to peek at you, Unia."
"No, I mean... anyway, keep explaining?"
"Picture helps."
I sketched a quick torso on a napkin with a ballpoint.
"Eek."
"Just a drawing."
Female torso. Prominent protruding mana pouch, but I drew internal lines linking torso and neck.
"Like clothing, or a device. Looks like real boobs outside, but it's a fake chest prosthetic, intricately made."
"Is that, um... like, those... p-pads?"
Unia blushed, asking anyway. Common augmentation—stuffing bra pads, per her knowledge.
"Nah. Not bra inserts. More like wearing chest-shaped armor."
"Armor...?"
"Yeah."
How to explain that to a medieval fantasy gal?
"You'll see eventually, but some armor embeds mana stones to let wearers use mana, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Mana plates. Magic circles etched inside with stones; chant the spell, magic activates."
"Exactly. They shaped that like breasts and fitted it on Binyu Group types. That's the Fake Breast Device."
"Mana armor mimicking a body..."
Unia puzzled it out.
"......Theory makes sense, but does it really exist?"
"Yup."
"Since when?"
"Dunno exactly, but this is the first big reveal of widespread use."
"Huh?"
"Simple. First time it's been flagged."
I tapped the floor lightly.
"Maybe newly developed. Or prototyped three years back, ultra-limited."
"......."
"That nosy brown-haired girl from before, the one who missed the train? She had one too."
"...You saw through clothes?"
"Mana vision."
I swept a hand over my chest.
"Women with big racks gotta have mana flowing inside. But empty void? Suspicious."
"...Weird."
Unia drummed the table.
"But you talk like you knew about these Fake Breast Devices."
"Spot on."
"...You did?"
"Kinda deepens the story."
I winked my left eye at her, then slid over the menu.
"Food first? What'll it be? My treat."
"Can I... get this?"
Unia picked one without hesitation; I grinned at her choice.
"You like this stuff, Unia?"
"Grandma made it a lot when I was little."
"...I see."
Does Unia know? The hidden meaning in her favorite childhood food.
Unia's top pick.
"Custard cream pie, right?"
"Cream pie."
"I prefer making them."