Special Admission Fabrication Class (1)
[Esdinas Academy, Old School Building A Classroom.]
It had been two days since Unia and I registered our mana patterns at the academy through the magic rifle. Now, with just two days left until the semester officially began, the academy had finished all its preparations while we settled into the Old School Building.
"So, we're the only ones coming into the Old School Building?"
"That's how it turned out."
Even before the main semester kicked off, thunderous news hit us out of the blue.
"Wait, why? Does that mean no other special admissions students are coming?"
"Not exactly. Excluding one very special case, all fifteen special admissions students—including you two—have decided to enroll."
"Then why aren't they coming to the Old School Building... oh."
Unia scanned the classroom.
"......I get it. Yeah."
The Old School Building had an antique vibe in every way. With five hundred years of history and tradition, the interior decor and furniture weren't exactly modernized.
"The academy's shiny new systems are over in the 'main building,' and the staff probably warned them about the rundown environment. The ones who recommended the special admissions students, I mean."
"Something like that."
Facility differences. There was no need to sleep and live in this dilapidated place just because they were special admissions students when perfectly good facilities were available.
Most people come to the academy to meet others anyway.
This was a meeting ground. Sure, the special admissions students were taking spots from those who'd cheated their way in before, but what reason did they have to give up the academy's most obvious perks?
And they weren't 'nominal commoners' like us, either.
"On top of that, the special admissions students are all 'special' in various ways."
Instructor Esta reached toward the blackboard.
"Take the third special admissions pick, for example—Ederson Lionheart's granddaughter."
The Mercenary King's granddaughter.
More than the words themselves, the way she wrote them in white chalk on the green board explained why people shunned the Old School Building.
"Granddaughter? The Mercenary King's granddaughter is a special admissions student?"
"Yes."
"......Isn't she famous?"
Unia blinked in surprise.
"There's only one Mercenary King's granddaughter I know of. And she's... still active."
It wasn't just the Mercenary King's granddaughter title that surprised her—she'd already built an impressive public record of skill and achievements.
"A-rank spear wielder and adventurer, Gale is doing special admissions...?"
"Just hearing about her, you wouldn't think she'd enroll here. At eighteen, she's already outshining plenty of graduates in the field."
An A-rank adventurer.
Considering Esta was S-rank, comparing Gale—the Mercenary King's granddaughter and special admissions student—to third-year graduates was—
—an insult, really.
It was definitely an insult.
"Instructor Esta."
"Hm? What is it, Phoenix?"
"If it's Gale, do you mean the one who soloed a Giant Twin-Headed Ogre?"
"That's right."
She was already active on the front lines against great monsters, to the point where even graduating students couldn't hold their heads high around her.
"She teamed up with the Adventurer's Guild for that, but she also beat a Binyu Group executive one-on-one, right?"
"You know your stuff. Correct. And there are 'people' like her set to enroll as special admissions students right now."
People. The deliberate emphasis meant the others had backgrounds and skills just as impressive as Gale's.
"People with skills so advanced they could teach staff right now, enrolling as academy freshmen. Do you two have any guesses what that means?"
"Uh, um...."
Unia glanced at me before raising her hand.
"Does it mean there's some kind of danger lurking in the academy?"
"Ho ho. Keep going."
Esta smirked at Unia's guess.
"She's an adventurer, but also a 'mercenary.' This could be a mission of sorts."
Exactly.
"She's not some twenty-three- or twenty-seven-year-old; she's turning eighteen this year. Perfect age to blend in with academy students."
As Unia pointed out, the Mercenary King's granddaughter was enrolling as a freshman on a mission.
"To sniff out any weirdos among the students. Or to catch dark hands reaching for them while staying close."
"Spot on."
Esta clapped and tapped the blackboard where Lionheart was written.
"The academy's worried sick—not just about the Binyu Group, but other threats too. Politically, things are getting messy."
"Uh, um...."
"No need to worry about the politics yet, of course. They won't think you're weird; if anything, they'll like you."
Esta turned her gaze to me.
Unia had already given a solid answer, so now it was my turn.
"So, we'll have to stick together here in the Old School Building for a while."
"Instructor."
I nodded briefly to Unia, then raised my hand to Esta.
"Do we really have to live just among ourselves?"
"What are you getting at? You don't mean me, do you?"
Esta gave me a sly smile.
"Hoping to live with me, maybe? Hm?"
"The way you're dodging tells me the answer."
"...What did you say?"
"I'll ask directly. Answer me. Does that 'live among yourselves' include Gale?"
"......."
Esta fell silent, lips pressing shut after starting to reply.
"You divided the student dorm areas into four groups without separating by gender."
"......."
I brought up the Old School Building dorms and student room assignments.
"Take my room, for starters. Day one, they split us by gender and floors, but now Unia's moved next door to me."
"That was at Unia's request."
"But if the academy had refused, she couldn't have. And...."
I held up two fingers.
"Unia's in 201. I'm in 202. 203 and 205 are right across from us."
"......."
If asked why no 204, it was superstition around the number four.
"Like cramming each 'team' onto one floor."
"Ahem."
Truth be told, I already knew the answer. In the original story, they set it up so 'four' people moved as a team for various reasons.
"You're not putting just me and Unia as a separate team, right? So Gale's grouped with us too? And you're the team's instructor?"
"Can't say for sure yet."
Esta wrote Esta and Phoenix under the Lionheart name.
"If it was just you two—or people in similar situations—no one would step up as instructor. But as the special admissions names piled up, things changed."
Esta's face turned serious as she added more names one by one.
"One of the empire's princesses, the Rainbow Tower's heir, even a successor candidate from the Silverstar Merchant Group."
Gamer knowledge kicking in.
"The magic engineering lab director's disciple is doing special admissions too."
"Uh.... Hold on. The lineup is kinda...?"
"Daughter of an S-rank adventurer, first daughter of the northern snowfields—we're accepting them all. Honestly, even a countess's daughter would pale in comparison."
"...Wh-why are all these people doing special admissions?"
Unia's face went pale.
And for a moment, I read Esta's expression.
—You're no slouch either.
Unia's background stacked up just fine against the list. Her 'grandmother' who raised her was—
"Enough chit-chat. Phoenix, as you said, the Mercenary King's granddaughter goes into 203. And...."
"And?"
"How you treat her is up to you, but don't approach her with prejudice."
Esta let out a deep sigh.
"Not sure if she'll flaunt it around the academy, but...."
"...Wh-what do you mean, flaunt?"
Unia's face flushed.
"L-like, something embarrassing to show off?"
"Not embarrassing, just... not ordinary."
"Oh...."
Unia glanced at me after Esta's words. We both had a habit of beating around the bush sometimes, so she'd often seek answers elsewhere when frustrated.
"Ears. You're talking about ears."
"Bingo."
Esta raised both hands above her head.
"The Mercenary King's granddaughter, 'Rydmila Lionheart,' isn't your average human."
"...Pardon?"
"As an adventurer, she hid her identity. And this Old School Building is perfect for revealing it to a select few."
She spread her hands palm-up above her head, then folded and unfolded them lightly.
"She's a bunnykin."
The Mercenary King's granddaughter, Gale.
"...If you see a bunny girl wandering the Old School Building in weird clothes, that's your A-rank adventurer teammate, Gale."
"...A bunnykin in a bunny girl outfit?"
"The ears on her head are real."
"......."
"The clothes are personal taste."
She was a bunnykin—and a bunny girl.
"Question, Instructor."
"What?"
"Is Rydmila the fluffy type or the sleek type?"
"......."
Esta stared at me for a moment, thought something over, then quietly spoke.
"Sleek type."
Skin talk.