The Magical Academy's Misfit and Her Eccentric Companions - Bread Crusts and Off-Target Advice

The shadow from the hallway last night still lingered in the corner of her mind. Falunholz Shurina ate breakfast without settling her nerves, then pushed open the heavy door of Salvia Dormitory. The autumn sky stretched clear and bright above, yet her feet felt heavy for some reason. Lilcrane Nemuno, in the neighboring bed, remained wrapped in her blanket and hadn't moved. Rather than wake her, Shurina headed to the classroom building alone. As she walked the stone-paved corridor, she caught fragments of conversation from passing students. "Yesterday's practical was fun." "Even C-rank spells were pretty useful. I heard there's individual variation in how fire comes out, but..." They spoke naturally. Just an ordinary morning. But Shurina wasn't part of that "ordinary." (There's a practical lesson today.) She pulled down the sleeve of her left arm and quickened her pace toward the classroom building. ◆ The Fourth Practice Hall was a long, narrow room with walls entirely covered in black stone. The material had been specially treated to resist damage from magical flames and impacts. The floor bore scorch marks in several places—a record of countless hours of practice by senior students. The instructor in charge, Cassius Brenner, was a thin man in his late thirties. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and held a small piece of chalk. His smile was gentle, but carried an oddly businesslike air. "Now then, for the first assignment in basic magic: memorize the hand seal for fire-starting magic and try to create a small flame." The textbook she'd read before enrollment explained it: magic worked by resonating the mana channels within one's body with mana particles in the air. You concentrated your will, formed a specific hand seal with both hands, and your mana channels would open outward, connecting with the mana particles. The difficult part was the "opening"—apparently, higher-ranked students could do it more naturally. Cassius demonstrated the hand seal. Index and middle fingers raised, the remaining fingers folded, both hands facing each other. Then a small orange flame appeared at his fingertips. It was about the size of a candle flame, but it burned with definite light and heat. "Like this, you see. It's not difficult at all." Not difficult—that was only true for C-rank and above. The practical began. One by one, students stepped forward, formed the seal, and produced fire. The first student managed a flame the size of a pinky finger. Cheers and applause erupted. The next student struggled a bit but succeeded. Then the next, and the next. Shurina's turn came. As she stepped forward, she felt the weight of the entire class's gaze. Maybe they weren't actually looking. But the heaviness of eyes—you could feel it in your skin somehow. She formed the hand seal. Exactly as Cassius had shown. She took a deep breath and concentrated. She turned her awareness inward—the mana channels, the pathways of her own magical power that should flow somewhere within her body— Nothing happened. Again. This time, she adjusted her finger position slightly. Nothing happened. A third time. She held her breath, concentrated with all her might. Her fingertips felt slightly warm. But no flame appeared. Not even a temperature change. Cassius tilted his head in confusion. In a soft voice that still carried throughout the room, he said: "Falunholz, with D-rank... this lesson might be a bit difficult for you. You don't have to push yourself." Quiet snickering spread through the room. She caught sight of someone in the back row moving their lips. From the shape of their mouth, she could read it: "Can't even start a fire." No sound came out. But they definitely said it. "It's fine. I'll continue." She answered with a smile. She swallowed the tremor threatening to break her voice. When she returned to her seat, she quietly clenched her fist. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure. (If I give up here, it's all over.) The shadow from the hallway last night flickered through her mind again. Those eyes had stared intently at the place on her left arm where the marks were, visible even through the sleeve. She knew why she was here. Being D-rank, being laughed at—none of that was a reason to quit. Even after the lesson ended, Shurina didn't leave her chair. ◆ Once all her classmates had left, the practice hall fell silent. Shurina formed the hand seal again. Cassius had said "feel free to use it after class," which was her only consolation. First attempt. Nothing. Second attempt. Nothing. (What's different? The hand shape? The way I focus?) As she was about to form the seal a third time, she sensed movement in the corner of the room. A long bench sat at the edge of the practice hall. Someone was sitting on it. A tall young man with golden hair that had a slight wave to it, long limbs, and clear blue eyes. His gaze met Shurina's directly. In that instant, the young man casually looked up at the ceiling. She couldn't fathom why he'd look at the ceiling. He wasn't looking. That was the face he was making. But the cloth folded on his lap had clearly been a lunch box until moments ago. The contents were obvious: two crusts of bread and a water bottle. After a moment's hesitation, Shurina spoke to him. "...Don't you go to the dining hall?" The young man slowly turned his gaze back to her. "Today... I'm not in the mood." It was obviously a lie. Not "mood"—"money." No one eating bread crusts and water for lunch would say something like that. Shurina didn't press him. She wasn't exactly in a position to judge anyone else's circumstances. She formed the hand seal again. Concentration. Opening the mana channels. Resonating with mana particles. Nothing happened. "Maybe it's the angle of your wrist." The young man interjected suddenly. "...Wrist?" "Try bending it a bit more inward. The flow of mana channels can be affected by the angle of your joints." He said it with complete confidence. Shurina tried it skeptically. Bending her wrist inward made the hand seal's shape subtly collapse. Predictably, nothing happened. "I think it got worse." "Ah... yeah. Then maybe your breathing is too shallow. Try breathing deeper and concentrating while you exhale." She tried. She formed the seal while taking deep breaths. Her fingertips trembled. So much for concentration. Nothing happened. "...I don't think it's the breathing." "Hmm. Then perhaps you simply lack spirit." "Does spirit have anything to do with mana channels?" "...It might, probably." "Probably?" "W-well, probably, but I think spirit is important." Shurina thought for a moment, then said: "You're C-rank, so why do you pretend to know everything?" The young man froze for an instant. Then he straightened his spine and composed his face into something oddly dignified. "A nobleman is supposed to know everything." The small earring on his left ear caught the light streaming through the practice hall's window—an ornate piece with carved patterns. A noble house crest, apparently. He certainly had the air of it. But right now, he was sitting here with bread crusts on his lap. It was absurd. She laughed. She hadn't laughed once since the entrance ceremony yesterday. Yet suddenly, because of this person, she did. "Can I ask your name?" "Falunholz Leon. And you?" "Falunholz Shurina." They both paused for a moment. "...Same last name." "Is it a rare name?" "Not particularly, but... the Falunholz family is an old noble house from the eastern territories. Though it's fallen into decline." "It's... in decline?" "...That wasn't information I should have shared." Shurina laughed a little again. ◆ The two of them continued practicing together. Leon's advice remained consistently off-target, and each attempt made things worse. When he said "relax your shoulders," she did, and her hand seal fell apart. When he said "close your eyes and concentrate," her hand position shifted and she nearly scorched the wall—well, she didn't scorch it. Nothing happened. Her hand just touched the wall. After an hour, the flame still hadn't appeared. But strangely, her spirits didn't sink. There was something different about failing with someone else rather than alone in silence. "By the way, which dormitory are you in?" She asked while leaning against the wall for a break. Leon nodded. "Room 205." "What?" "Something wrong?" "I'm in room 203." "...Right next door." "Right next door." They exchanged slightly awkward looks. The world really was small. "By the way," Shurina murmured almost to herself, "how much funding would we need for the cultural festival preparations?" Leon answered immediately. "Three gold coins should be more than enough." Shurina turned that phrase over in her mind for a while. A meal at the Magia Academia dining hall cost about fifteen copper coins. One hundred copper coins equaled one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins equaled one gold coin. In other words, one gold coin was worth over a hundred dining hall meals. The dormitory pamphlet said a typical student's monthly living expenses came to just under one gold coin. "Three gold coins is... over three months of living expenses for a normal person." Leon's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "R-really?" "Really." "...I thought three gold coins was reasonable for cultural festival decorations and food." "That's too extravagant. We'd need to plan for about five silver coins." "Five silver coins? What can you do with that?" "Plenty, with some creativity. Probably." "Probably..." He fell silent with a subtle expression, having his own "probably" thrown back at him. Shurina suppressed her laughter and reformed her hand seal. ◆ As evening fell and they left the practice hall, the sky had turned a color somewhere between orange and purple. On the walk back, they moved along the stone corridor side by side. Leon walked slightly behind Shurina. They hadn't arranged it that way—it just happened naturally. (Today wasn't so bad after all.) As she walked with that thought, she felt a gaze on her from behind. She turned around, and Leon was looking down at the stone path. But she'd definitely caught him looking at her just now. It wasn't her imagination. He'd been watching her. (Why?) A question mark formed in her mind, and at the same time, her chest felt restless. A strange feeling. That unsettled sensation when you suddenly become aware of something. Shurina turned forward and walked a bit faster. (Why am I suddenly nervous? That's weird.) She couldn't explain it to herself. ◆ On the first floor of Salvia Dormitory, there was a small self-catering kitchen. Just a pot, a stove, and the bare minimum of cooking utensils. Shurina and Leon somehow ended up preparing dinner together. The first disaster struck within five minutes. "I mixed up the salt and sugar." "You can't tell which is which!?" "The servants always did the cooking, so I can't distinguish them just by looking at the containers." "You can taste them!" "...Ah, that would work." The serious way he said it was absurd. The pot was starting to scorch at the bottom, so Shurina lowered the heat. Next, she started cutting vegetables. Despite claiming she could do anything, her cuts were inconsistent. Some carrot pieces were large, others small. The onion was falling apart. "Your cutting is all over the place." "Don't be rude! The heat will cook it anyway!" "In a noble household's kitchen, they maintain uniform cuts—" "There is no noble household kitchen here!" The mysterious stew they created together, despite their bickering, turned out to be surprisingly edible. The salt-to-sugar ratio was slightly off, giving it an indescribable flavor, but it was food that could be eaten. They sat on the lounge sofa, eating it together. In the distance, other dormitory resi

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Episode 2

Name: The Magical Academy's Misfit and Her Eccentric Companions
Author: Novelia

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