Enrollment Procedures (2)
"Put your hat on straight. It's all showing."
"It's not my fault it's riding up!"
"Don't lie to me. What part of this looks like it's not your fault...?"
"It really isn't!"
"......"
I had been trying to press Tia's cap firmly down over her head, only to freeze in flustered realization.
She hadn't been wearing it carelessly at all.
Her horns had grown so large that they were pushing the hat up from underneath.
Looks like we'd be buying yet another new hat before long.
"You won't need to scramble quite so hard to hide them at school. As I mentioned before, Saint Sophia has plenty of beastkin among its students and staff."
"The question is which beastkin we're supposed to claim she is."
"Wouldn't a lizard beastkin do?"
"Where on earth is there a lizard with horns?"
"Hmm......"
The Marquis crossed his legs and rested his chin in his hand.
Pass her off as a beastkin? An absurd suggestion. As far as I knew, the only race with black horns and a rough, scaly tail was a dragon. But then, one could never be certain. Perhaps some other fantastical creature like that existed out there. I decided to lean on the Marquis's encyclopedic knowledge for once.
"Does anything come to mind? A species with both horns and a tail."
"Hmm. No matter how I think about it, only a dragon comes to mind?"
"Excuse me......"
A dull ache throbbed through my skull.
So he had nothing after all. I was a fool for hoping, even briefly.
"She won't be able to hide them completely anyway. Quite a few of the faculty there are mages with sharp eyes—not as sharp as mine, granted. It would be best to get the teachers' understanding in advance, and conceal her identity only from the students."
"That's...... actually reasonable......"
He had a point. Regardless of Tia's true nature, the faculty had a duty to protect their students. The real problem would arise only if the students caught on. So it made sense to inform the school beforehand.
"Still, we'll need a species to name to the students in the end, won't we?"
"Shall we go with lizard beastkin, then?"
"So after all that circling around, we land on lizard......"
"Mweh heh......"
I slipped my hand beneath the skirt of Tia, who was dozing against my shoulder, and stroked her tail—hard and firm, as though she wore a suit of armor. It was already impressively large, and it would only grow bigger from here. Worse, whenever Tia got worked up, the tail would burst up through her skirt on its own, so there was no way she could ever hide it. Choosing a lizard with a similar appendage really was the only answer.
"By the way, do lizard beastkin actually exist?"
"Probably not. I've never heard of one. But this world is home to every conceivable kind of beastkin, so everyone will accept it without a fuss. For now, let's hide the horns as best we can, and if she gets caught, we'll just insist she's a rare horned lizard beastkin."
"......"
Somehow, the further we went, the more shameless he sounded—as if insisting none of this had anything to do with himself. But he was offering practical help, so I resolved to grit my teeth and bear it. He was the one who had hired me, after all, and the one getting Tia into the school. Though on reflection, the bastard who had assaulted me was also the Marquis, so......
"Why are you staring at me all of a sudden?"
"I'm not......"
The Marquis gave an awkward laugh. Surely he didn't think I'd simply forgotten the grudge. I would never forget it. No matter how generously he treated me now, I would never forgive him. Not once had the Marquis ever genuinely atoned—never once had he so much as offered me a single word of apology. The thought made my molars grind together again.
"Mweh?"
The carriage ground to a halt with a squeal. Tia, who'd been asleep against my arm, woke with drool smeared all over her mouth and began looking this way and that with drowsy, half-open eyes. She was so adorable I could have bitten her to death on the spot. I quickly wiped the drool from around her mouth with a handkerchief.
"We've arrived. Shall we go take a look at the school Tia will be attending?"
"We're here?! Yay!"
The moment she heard the word arrived, Tia flung open the carriage door and bolted out. The Marquis chuckled at the sight and followed, and I only managed to climb down by gripping his outstretched hand. I still hadn't gotten used to the position of the carriage's step. Once I got the hang of it, I was sure I could manage without his help......
"So this is......!"
"That's right. Saint Sophia. A prestigious academy with a long and storied history."
"Woooow!"
A gasp of awe burst from Tia's lips as she stood before the school's main gate. What a fuss to make over nothing. Still, seeing her so excited lifted my own spirits in spite of myself.
We passed through the main gate and entered the grounds. The campus was even more spacious than I had imagined—buildings everywhere, and dormitories as well. It felt exactly like a university. Along the way, we passed a building whose walls were completely blanketed in ivy, so ancient-looking that its age was obvious at a glance. Its storied history, it seemed, was no mere show.
"Hold my hand."
"Mmuh? Why?"
"Mommy's hands are cold."
"Okay!"
She fell for it hook, line, and sinker. All I'd wanted was to keep hold of her in case she suddenly bolted off somewhere.
"Will you hold Uncle's hand too?"
"Mweh heh. Okay!"
"......"
The problem was that Tia's other hand was now held by the Marquis. When he'd asked her to take his hand, she hadn't even questioned why, the way she did with me. The little traitor. Did she like that sly old man more than her own mother? Oblivious to my wounded heart, Tia simply hummed a happy tune, tugging the two of us along. The proud little smile the Marquis shot my way was utterly infuriating, but short of maintaining a facade of easygoing composure, I had no other option.
"You've come."
Someone was already waiting in front of the admissions building. I gave Tia's hand a small squeeze, and she jolted, trembling as if she'd just remembered what she'd forgotten, before bowing politely to the staff member.
"H-hello there......!"
"So you're Tiamart. A pleasure. And these people are......?"
"Her guardian."
"I'm her guardian."
"......"
The Marquis and I had spoken almost simultaneously. Our eyes met for an instant. The staff member studied the two of us briefly, then opened his mouth as if something had just clicked.
"Ah. You're a married couple, then."
"We are not!"
"Ah—no, you weren't?"
"I'm her guardian. I'm the child's mother, and this man is merely a legal custodian."
"This man......? Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"What's harsh is impersonating a child's guardian. If I'd let you two handle it alone, you'd have introduced yourself as Tia's father without a second thought."
"Fair enough. What a shame, truly."
This man, right to the very end...... I couldn't fathom why he was so obsessively attached to someone else's child. He doted on her as if she were his own flesh and blood.
"Might I ask your names? I am Petrov. I serve as vice principal of Saint Sophia."
"I'm Yulia."
"A pleasure."
"Schwarz Dragonia."
"Yes. A pleasure to meet the custodian as wel...... Yes?"
As the vice principal took the Marquis's hand, the color drained from his face to a deathly gray. Trembling, he slowly looked the Marquis up and down, and before long the terror had consumed him entirely.
"Ah......"
"Vice Principal?!"
The vice principal's eyes rolled back and he toppled over backward.
Unbelievable. This was exactly why I'd said we shouldn't have brought him......
"Well, this is embarrassing. My sincerest apologies."
"Is the spot on your head all right?"
"Y-yes! Absolutely fine, perfectly fine!"
"Good to hear."
Petrov sat facing the Marquis, his legs jiggling nervously as he responded. The headmaster glared at the back of his head with undisguised displeasure. It was true that the personal visit of Marquis Dragonia, who had written Tia's letter of recommendation, was entirely unexpected. But with not only the Marquisate's children but also students from ducal houses and foreign royalty enrolled at Saint Sophia, fainting at the mere title of a marquis was utterly unforgivable.
"Formal enrollment will begin next semester, after the winter holiday, but we requested this visit because there is much to explain about the school, and we need to go over dormitory placement as well. There will also be a brief assessment for Miss Tiamart."
"Dormitory? Is boarding mandatory at this school?"
"It isn't strictly required, but seventy percent of our students live in the dormitories. The academy is rather far from the city center, which makes commuting difficult. The dormitories operate on a two-students-per-room basis, and placement is guaranteed upon application. Also, during the holidays......"
By then, Yulia had stopped hearing anything else. Most of the students lived in the dorms because commuting was impractical. Tia would be no exception. Walking from the villa to the school would take a good three hours each way.
Oh. Once the semester starts, I'll be living apart from Tia.
Suddenly, she didn't want to send Tia to school at all. Yulia abruptly twisted around in her seat to face her daughter.
"Tia. Will you be okay without Mommy? Won't you be lonely?"
"Mmuh? Why would you be gone?"
"If you go to the dormitory, you won't be living with Mommy. You won't be able to commute, either."
"Tia can just run there!"
"If you run, everything in your backpack gets destroyed. No."
"Then Tia...... really has to live away from Mommy......?"
"Yes. Do you think you can manage?"
Yulia said, sniffling. Perhaps she, more than Tia, was the one who wouldn't be able to bear it. A life without Tia. Just imagining it was already unbearable—she felt as though she might burst into tears on the spot.
"Pfft. What are you two doing?"
"What?"
"I'll assign you a carriage. For Tia's commute. Problem solved."
"Oh."
Yulia's face flushed scarlet in an instant. She'd been on the verge of tears believing she faced a parting from Tia. Worse still was the Marquis's expression—the way he was visibly fighting back laughter. Realizing he'd been wearing that look the entire time, Yulia was so mortified she wanted to vanish on the spot.
"You could have told me sooner......"
"I missed my timing."
"Wipe that look off your face before you speak to me."
"Ahaha. My apologies."
Watching the two of them bicker as though they'd forgotten where they were, the headmaster's brow furrowed. This meeting was meant to finalize a student's admission. Even if enrollment had been secured through the Marquis's recommendation, the shameless coziness on display—devoid of even the barest tension—was more than he could bear to watch. At last, the headmaster shot to his feet, unable to endure it any longer.
"We'll set the explanations aside for now and begin the assessment. Miss Tia. Follow me."
"Mmuh......!"
The headmaster strode briskly toward the testing chamber. Ordinarily, the pre-enrollment assessment was a simple written exam—a mere formality to confirm a child possessed minimal intelligence. But this time, he had resolved to exercise his "discretion" to the fullest.
The group arrived at a building crowned by an enormous domed ceiling. A state-of-the-art facility equipped with a grand magical barrier, a physical protection barrier, and all manner of offensive magical capabilities. It was the pride of Saint Sophia—the waiting list alone for borrowing this facility stretched back more than a year.
"Now, will you go inside? In a moment, a scene much like reality will appear all around you. Treat everything as though it were real, and act as you see fit. This facility is sturdy, so don't worry about breaking anything. This is a test of your ability to respond to situations. Understood?"
"Mmuh!"
A hearty affirmation came back. The headmaster worked the control panel, then returned to the observation room and folded his arms. A faint smile played at the corner of his mouth.
"Commencing."
Thud.
The lights in the testing chamber died, and darkness fell. Then, as the light gradually returned, Tia's eyes went wide with shock. Instead of the wide domed room, a dense forest now stretched out around her.
The phrase "much like reality" had been an understatement. It was a scene identical to reality—the smells, the sounds, even the textures of it. Tia almost began to wonder whether she hadn't actually been dropped into a forest.
"Grrrrr......"
"Mmuh?!"
At the bone-chilling sound behind her, Tia whipped her head around. But the monstrous growl came again from behind her, then from her side, and then once more from directly ahead. Tia grasped it at once: something had surrounded her.
Sure enough, beast-like shapes exhaling black vapor began pushing through the undergrowth on all sides, revealing themselves one by one. The sight of those monsters stirred something primal in Tia's deepest instincts. Unable even to think of running, let alone fighting back, she collapsed right where she stood. The beasts tightening their encirclement all opened their maws and lunged at her simultaneously. Tia's face crumpled into a terrified wail.
So this was all she had.
If the Marquis had felt the need to put pressure on her, he must have thought the child remarkable indeed—but the headmaster was bitterly disappointed. Of course, a test against a monster ambush was one that even upperclassmen struggled with. Let one's grip on composure slip for even a moment, and even the strongest warrior was liable to become a prey frozen in terror. Just as the headmaster concluded that the girl was nothing special and moved to force-terminate the test, the corner of his eye twitched.
"MWAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Tia's cry exploded through the testing chamber. The shapes of the monsters lunging at her—and the forest panorama itself—were wiped away in an instant. Darkness once again swallowed the chamber.
Every building at Saint Sophia experienced a massive blackout that day.