She pulled at the sleeve of her left arm again. No matter how many times she did it, it never felt right. Falunholz Shurina stopped in front of the main gate and looked up at the landscape spreading beyond the stone pavement. Her reddish-black short bob swayed in the autumn breeze, tickling her cheek. In her yellow-green eyes reflected an endless expanse of stone pavement and, beyond it, the imposing silhouette of the Lumière Building rising into the sky. Five stories. Stone construction. Magical patterns carved into each window frame, pulsing with power. It was huge. Way too huge. The information stone beside the main gate glowed a pale blue as it displayed: "Magia Academia—New Student Reception at Central Plaza." A magical device. Shurina stared at it for a moment before hurriedly returning her gaze to her surroundings. New students streamed through the main gate one after another. "I'm probably A-class, right?" "Are you serious? A-class is one in fifty. Realistically, you're looking at B." "But B-class can still get into the magic café, right? I heard you need B-class or higher to participate." "D-class and below... apparently you're done for. No public magical positions, nothing." "Really? D-class is basically impossible anyway. I mean, there's no way someone like that would get in." Laughter drifted away on the wind. Shurina lowered her gaze to the stone pavement and pulled at her left sleeve again. (What grade am I...?) She would find out today. She took one deep breath, adjusted the front of her dark green cape, and stepped forward. ◆ Three hundred new students gathered in the great hall. The grand auditorium of the Lumière Building. A stone space soaring over ten meters to the ceiling, with wooden benches arranged in neat rows. At the center of the hall, on a raised platform, stood the "Magical Vein Resonance Measurement Device." A crystalline apparatus sat atop a circular pedestal roughly one meter in diameter. A large magical screen hung beside it, currently displaying the letters "S・A・B・C・D・E" and the distribution percentages for each grade. S-class: one in a thousand. A-class: one in fifty. B-class: one in ten. C-class: one in three. And then. D-class was marked as "lacking practical value." E-class was synonymous with "no aptitude." The measurement official continued his explanation from the platform. A man in his mid-forties with a surprisingly resonant voice. "We measure your ability to resonate your internal magical veins with mana particles in the atmosphere. Simply place your hand on the device. You don't need to intentionally cast magic." The boy sitting next to her whispered, "Magical vein resonance... this is nerve-wracking." Shurina couldn't respond. "Those judged S-class will be individually guided regarding the possibility of special admission status. A-class and above receive priority placement in your chosen major. B-class and above are eligible for all practical magic classes. ...For those D-class and below—" He paused. "—magical instruction becomes elective, so please note that." He said it casually. Scattered laughter rippled through the hall. Shurina kept her eyes forward, gripping her hands together in her lap. (Don't laugh.) She thought it, but the words never left her lips. ◆ The measurements proceeded in alphabetical order by name. "Falunholz Shurina." The moment her name was called, her body went rigid. She stood from her chair and made her way to the platform. She felt the gazes of a hundred and twenty people piercing her back. She stood before the measurement device. It was warmer than she expected. The crystalline surface glowed with a soft white light. (Just place your hands. Just place your hands.) Shurina set both hands on the pedestal. In that instant. The device's light flickered. Just for a moment. For barely a blink, the white light wavered, something else—a different color—began to mix in, and then it vanished. A strange noise lasting less than the blink of an eye. But the text on the magical screen quickly stabilized. D. A capital D, bold and clear. The hall stirred. Chairs scraped. When Shurina descended from the platform and returned to her seat, the new students on both sides subtly—but unmistakably—shifted away from her. (My cheeks are burning.) Her cheeks burned like fire. But she kept her spine straight. She faced forward. The measurement official was already calling the next name. Shurina's result had already been filed away as a closed matter. Her gaze caught on something. At the edge of the platform. A bespectacled man from the administrative office stood beside the measurement device—taking notes by hand. (Why is he writing it down manually...?) All the measurement results should have been recorded on the magical screen. That question was quickly swept away by the heat in her cheeks and the murmuring around her. ◆ After the opening ceremony, new students dispersed to their respective dormitory buildings. The stone pathway was surrounded by trees, their leaves beginning to turn yellow. Autumn light filtered through the gaps, casting complex shadows on the stone. Shurina clutched her luggage bag and consulted her map repeatedly as she made her way toward the East Building—"Salvia Dormitory." (East building, east building...) "Oh, there's a D-class kid." A voice called out. She turned. Four upperclassmen stood there. Second or third year, judging by their uniform colors. "D-class gets in? Is enrollment down this year?" "There's usually no transfer exam. If D-class can get in, my brother could've come too." Laughter. Shurina didn't stop walking. She kept moving forward, eyes ahead. Then something caught her foot. She stumbled badly. She threw out her hands to catch herself, but her luggage bag flew from her grip. The contents scattered across the stone pavement with a soft crash. Textbooks, a change of clothes, a small wallet—everything scattered across the autumn stone. The upperclassmen laughed as they walked past. Their footsteps faded and disappeared. Shurina crouched down and began picking things up in silence. One textbook. One shirt. A wallet. A few pencils had rolled into the gaps between stones. She gathered everything and stood up. Her sleeve rode up. Just below her elbow on her left arm. A complex tangle of fine lines formed a pattern—like a tattoo. A mark that had never faded since childhood. A mark of unknown origin. Shurina stared at it. An image flashed through her mind. A pitch-black night. Her parents' voices—Mom, Dad. Sudden light. Too bright to see anything. After the light faded, only she remained. And this mark. (The answer has to be here.) Shurina pulled her sleeve back down. She adjusted her luggage bag and clenched her teeth. She wouldn't cry. Never. ◆ The exterior of Salvia Dormitory was noticeably more worn than the other buildings. The stone walls were discolored, and the stair railings bore patches of repair work here and there. She'd heard the whispered nickname "the dropout dorm," but she couldn't deny it. But that wasn't the issue right now. When Shurina opened the door to room 203, she froze. Someone was in one of the two beds. Half-covered by a blanket, sleeping soundly. Long lavender hair spread across the pillow. Loose waves cascaded down, spilling over the edge of the blanket. She seemed short—the blanket's bulge was small. Shurina checked the room number plate three times from the doorway. 203. 203. 203. "Um..." Shurina called out. No response. "...Sorry to bother you." Shurina tried again. Still nothing. Just soft breathing sounds. Shurina set her luggage bag in the hallway, approached the bed, and gently shook the girl's shoulder. "Please wake up. I'm... this is my room too..." "...Shut up." A voice came. Low and drowsy, but definitely a voice. She rolled over. Her body pressed against the wall, turning her back to Shurina. As a result, nearly half the bed lay empty. "...Wait, you could hear me?" No answer. "You could hear me, so get up." "...No." "Why not!?" Shurina called for Meira Hoffen, the dormitory supervisor, from the hallway to confirm. A thirty-eight-year-old woman, formerly a C-class mage, with a clearly helpful demeanor. After hearing Shurina's explanation, Meira looked at the girl in the bed and smiled. "Ah, that's Nemuno. Don't worry about it." "I am worried about it." "She's always like this. I thought she'd wake up once her roommate arrived, but—" "She didn't wake up." "She didn't, huh." "Dormitory Supervisor..." "It'll be fine, I'm sure." After Meira left, insisting everything was fine despite the clearly not-fine situation, Shurina returned to the bed. She looked at the lavender head curled against the wall one more time. (She's probably D-class too.) That's what Salvia Dormitory was. Somehow, the tightness in her chest loosened just a little. ◆ Night fell. Nemuno had somehow settled properly into her bed at some point, with no sign of waking. Her lavender hair spread across the pillow. One hand extended from under the blanket, pointing straight at the ceiling. Shurina worried briefly whether she always slept like that, but a few minutes later her posture had normalized. Apparently there was no problem. Shurina watched Nemuno's sleeping face from the corner of her eye. Long eyelashes. Her eyes were closed, so Shurina couldn't see them, but she'd heard her roommate had heterochromia—one purple eye and one deep indigo. Her sleeping face looked younger than her actual age. At around 148 centimeters, she was about ten centimeters shorter than Shurina. Her presence was faint, yet there was something strange about her. A quiet heaviness that Shurina couldn't quite put into words. (What a weird kid.) But she didn't dislike her. Shurina moved to the window. The academy grounds spread out under moonlight. The stone walls of the Lumière Building glowed pale white, and in the distance she could make out the round silhouette of the Arcane Hall. Every building was imposing, yet possessed a certain harmony—proof that this was indeed a prestigious school. Then something caught her eye. The north wing. One section had a different color. While the other stone walls were a dark gray weathered by time, that one corner had been repaired with bright, new stone. It stood out unnaturally, like a patch. (What happened there?) Just as she thought that, voices came from the hallway. Slightly loud, as if the speakers had been drinking. Upperclassmen, probably. "There was a magical runaway there forty years ago, and four students died." "Four people? That's terrifying..." "That's why aptitude testing is so strict now. To prevent another Fracture—an uncontrollable magical explosion—from happening." "Can D-class even cause a runaway?" "Of course not. D-class doesn't have any power. ...But I guess that's why they manage things so carefully. To keep it safe." The voices faded and disappeared. Shurina sat down on her bed. She noticed her clenched fists were trembling. (I'm scared.) To be honest, she was scared. Not of the story about four people dying, but of what this place represented. A place where talent determined everything. Where D-class was mocked and avoided, quietly excluded by the word "elective." But she couldn't run away. She wouldn't run away. Shurina rolled up her left sleeve. She looked at the mark. In the moonlight, the fine lines of the pattern faintly glowed. The night her parents disappeared. After the light faded, only this mark remained. She came to this academy to find out why. Even if she was D-class, even if she was a dropout, even if she was mocked—if she gave up now, it would all be over. She swore it to herself and closed her eyes. ◆ She woke with a dry throat. The room was dark. Well past lights-out. She could hear Nemuno's breathing. Shurina quietly got out of bed and opened the door. The hallway was dimly lit,