Chapter 7: Orientation

Following Becky's lead, I reached a large lecture hall.

In front of me was a platform, and the lecture hall was arranged in a fan shape facing it.

The appearance itself was rather ordinary.

Although it was a very spacious place, it seemed a bit cramped when filled with students.

I didn't like having someone on either side of me, so I sat with the wall to my left.

It didn't matter who sat on the right side, but Becky came and sat there.

I didn't realize it until now, but Becky had a pretty strong perfume scent.

As I was thinking that, Becky looked at me and said.

"Whew~  But today's orientation, so I'm feeling a little more at ease."

"Orientation?"

"Yeah. They'll just tell us what they're going to teach and how they're going to evaluate us, and that's it. That's why the first day is great!"

Having a lot of free time wasn't a bad thing.

After all, I hadn't looked into the situation of the academy yet.

Becky continued to stretch.

"Tomorrow, we'll be divided into classes according to rank... I really need to get some rest today."

"Divide us into classes by rank?"

That words bothered me a little.

It was not that I didn't understand the method of educating people of similar abilities together.

However, the problem was that this boy had been assigned an F rank.

If possible, I wanted to spend time with the most talented students.

Because it was the natural course of action.

In order to know the level of a particular group, one had to look at their representatives.

What level of skill do the top students in this academy have? What are they pursuing?

I was interested in those things. I didn't want to spend time with students who had no interest or enthusiasm for those things.

"They're going to divide us based on the rank we're currently assigned to, right?"

"No? We would be taking a new test tomorrow."

If that was the case, that was fine. Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.

Becky looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"It's just a hassle to do that, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Dividing us based on the rank we're currently assigned to is easier and better. Anyway, you're an A, aren't you?"

“Are you A?”

"I barely made it, but I got an A. But more importantly, what's with that reaction? You're an A too."

Becky looked at me in bewilderment.

“No.”

I shook my head. I was an F, and there was no reason to lie about it.

Becky opened her eyes wide and pursed her lips, but I ignored it. 

It was because I was more interested in the noise around me.

“What did you pass?”

“Illusion.”

“Illusion? Wow, that's a difficult one.”

"Stop talking. I was so nervous I thought I was going to fail. I failed twice and barely passed the last time..."

The inside of the classroom was lively. I didn't hate this noise that I hadn't felt in a long time.

"What are you going to do after orientation?"

"Figure it out yourself."

"What are you going to do after orientation?"

“……”

Such conversations were especially enjoyable. It was good because it was usually a conversation of their age.

"What rank did you enter with?"

"I'm just average. What about you?"

"I'm average too. Same as before. How about you?"

However, the lively and pleasant emotions quickly cooled off.

As expected, there were more students exploring and competing than enjoying the cheerful atmosphere.

It was not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it was normal.

Then, all of a sudden, Becky poked me with her index finger.

Then she smiled and flicked her own ear with her index finger. As if to say, 'Listen to this.'

Come to think of it, there was a conversation that came out exceptionally clearly.

"Oh right. By the way, did you see that?"

"What? Oh, I know what you're talking about."

"Yeah! The Agora Board!"

The Agora Board.

A spark ignited by someone quickly spread like wildfire.

The entire classroom started to fill up with chatter about the Agora board.

“Who the hell solved it and how?”

"I heard the professors are competing with each other over it."

"It's just making people feel discouraged for no reason."

"Everyone, please take your seats."

Then suddenly, a calm female voice caught my ear.

A woman appeared in front of the classroom.

The fire that seemed like it would never go out was suddenly extinguished by her.

She literally appeared in an instant. As if she was there from the start.

'Is it a projection?'

It looked like teleportation, but it probably wasn't actually her who had come there in an instant.

In other words, the image of that female professor was projected in front of the freshmen inside every classroom.

After all, a professor was a professor.

Sharp eyes with dark circles...

Long white hair and a cone hat bigger than my head. On top of that, even the wide-brimmed robe.

To be honest, her first impression was more like a witch than a professor.

She seemed very strict even at first glance.

"I'm Violet. I'll be leading the orientation today."

There was a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Then suddenly, she tilted her head and pointed in one direction with her index finger.

"...Aren't you supposed to take off your hat?"

Then, the students who were wearing hats hurriedly took off their hats and put them down. 

"Wow, she is really old..."

Becky murmured very quietly.

-Ugh

After sighing, Violet continues the orientation.

“Putting tomorrow’s evaluation aside for a moment, I’ll just look at a few basic things today.”

The chaos from earlier had disappeared completely.

All the students focused on her words with their eyes shining.

Or rather, it felt like there would be chaos if they didn't focus.

Her clear explanation continued.

“In this way, magic achieves great results only when it is devoted to various fields. However, there are several types of magic in total... isn't that too basic? I don't think I need to explain."

Students nodded their heads in agreement with the professor's every word, silently carrying out their tasks.

Her unshakable movement was somewhat welcoming and yet also unfamiliar.

"Just as reading comes before writing, an understanding of magical principles must come before using magic."

As I already knew, I was not very interested in what the female professor was saying.

I wanted to think about more advanced topics.

The students wearing the same clothes, the sound of spells being written on the blackboard, and the students responding in perfect order.

The static of students taking notes, the small exclamations of realization, the sighs and groans of those who did not understand…

There were no rules, but it felt like there was a certain order to it all.

Could this be expressed in terms of magic?  I believed it would be pretty fun.

'The attribute was void...'

The number of strokes in the magic spell was equal to the number of people.

'Is it attribute harmony?'

'Then, mix in a bit of the destruction attribute.'

Lost in thought, I let my imagination run wild without end.

And at the end of it all...

-Tap.

Without realizing it, I flicked my finger.

“……!”

At that moment, the image of the professor in front of me disappeared and all the students were startled.

It was a mistake.

I was too absorbed. I didn't actually intend to interfere, but I accidentally cut off Violet's projection connection.

I drew the spell in my mind and quickly restore the connection.

“What, Professor, where have you been?”

“Ah, It was a surprise!”

"Is the orientation over?"

After a moment, the professor's projection appeared again.

She looked around the students with a slightly subtle expression.

And then, at some point...

“……”

She fixed her gaze on me and stared straight through me.

When I was about to say something in confusion-

“… Let me explain.”

- She continued orientation again.

◈◈◈

After the orientation, students poured out of the classroom like water.

'Isn't today the first day after the freshman welcome party?'

Even so, they made a lot of noise in groups of three, four, or five, and get out of the classroom.

Anyway, they seemed to be having a good time.

Even if Flan fell into another world, he still wouldn't have any social skills.

He just sat in his seat, thinking about what had just happened.

“Hmm.”

He had accidentally cut off the professor's projection magic, so he needed to be careful from now on.

This was not Flan's personal space. It was a place where numerous magicians learn and worked together.

'Anyway, what should I do now?'

When he thought of walking around the academy and taking a look at it.

“Are you not leaving the classroom?”

Flan was puzzled when he suddenly heard Becky's voice.

He actually wanted to ask her something.

"Why aren't you leaving the classroom?"

"I, uh, still have something to ask you."

Flan looked at her quietly, as if saying 'go on.'

“Did something go wrong at your home?”

"Nothing happened. Why do you ask?"

"Because you seemed to be in trouble. It seemed like I misunderstood something."

“Nothing really happened.”

"Oh, really?"

Becky didn't have anything to say when Flan assured her that everything was okay.

It looked like a very strict family, but how could there be nothing unusual?

Silence fell for a while. This time the silence was broken from Flan's side.

“You are not going out.”

“Oh, I have to go. I'm going to lunch.”

“Are you eating alone?”

"I'll eat alone. Who else would I eat with? You eat well too. See you later."

Becky hurriedly said goodbye and left the classroom.

Maybe it was because the action was a bit noisy?

Several female students who were chatting together looked at Flan quietly.

Flan didn't try to avoid their gaze.

After a while of staring, one of them came up to Flan.

"Hey, what's your relationship with her?"

“Nothing. why."

Instead of answering, the girls exchanged glances with their group, and soon burst into laughter.

"She's a commoner, you know."

"Commoner?"

"You did not know? She is a complete beggar.”

Flan didn't actually care.

But perhaps she felt even more stuffiness at the calm face of Fan, and she sat down in the seat next to him and continued talking.

"At the freshmen welcoming party, she even sprayed a lot of perfume to hide her poverty."

"She only talks to guys. Her intention is too obvious."

"Everyone hates her. Because she doesn't know her place."

“Hmm.”

It seems that the caste system still holds a significant position in this world as well.

Rather, Flan became more interested. Because he also proved himself as someone from a lowly background.

“I don’t think there will be any problems. I heard that she entered with a good rank.”

"Maybe the guys helped him. She is the queen bee or something like that."

She didn't have that kind of personality, but the girls kept spreading rumors about Becky with serious expressions.

"Don't hang out with commoners. If something happens, you know it's always going to be the commoner's fault."

"Yeah, your family wouldn't approve of it either."

As he listened to these words, he suddenly remembered his promise to Scarlett.

"...I'm not a noble either."

Flan said with a soft smile.

At that moment, the girls' expressions hardened instantly.

"Oh my god..."

Their faces looked like they had just seen something dirty or wasted their time.

Around that time, one girl whispered to another girl.

"Hey, isn't he the one who confessed to Hailey and got rejected?"

"What? Oh~ that's him? No wonder."

“Let’s just go.”

Flan shrugged his shoulders as he watched the girls quickly distance themselves.

He didn't usually pay much attention to rumors like that.

After all the girls had left, he was alone in the classroom.

"Should I take a look?"

He too got up from his seat.

As he was passing the back door of the classroom,

"Student."

Someone called him out in the hallway.

It was Violet. 

The female professor from earlier.

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