Chapter 23 - I enrolled in magic school (1/2)
Spring is here now, and I’ve finally enrolled in magic school. Magic school, just like its name, is a school where I will learn and train in magic.
People with magic power that reach 15, will be gathered here by the country, and will have to undergo two years of strict education here at the dorms.
This school is run by the country, and it’s the largest one of its kind.
Within its gigantic campus, besides the school itself, there’s also student and teacher dorms, as well as various magic research facilities and other structures.
By the way, there’s a reason for the country to sponsor such splendid facilities.
That’s because people with magical power, and the magic they wield are considered important national treasures.
In other countries, there are very few people that are born with magic power. It’s not zero, but it seems to be extremely rare.
In comparison to other countries, our country has more people born with magic power, and we raise them to be the best. That’s why our country has put so much into developing everyone’s magic power.
Thus, we’re considered national treasures, precious to the country.
In order to help us, the national treasures, be able to use magic better, and to discover people with extremely high talent in magic, that’s why our country is sponsoring magic school.
At this school, if a person is recognized for having powerful magic, they’ll be granted power just below that of the king’s, and will receive a position in the powerful organization similar to a ministry of magic.
And so, each year, everyone with magic power that’s turned 15 is gathered here, but…… They’re almost all nobles.
That’s right, even though our country has more magic users than other countries, it’s almost entirely made up of the nobility and other people with high social status.
Because of that, whether or not you have magic, and how good your magic is, can be considered a mark of noble status, having powerful magic can also get you adopted by the nobility, so by the time people reach 15, most of them will be enrolling in school as a noble.
But of course, it’s not only nobles that have magic power. It’s really rare, but sometimes there are commoners that are also born with magic power. And so, commoners as well are required to enroll in magic school.
However, commoners born with magic power are so rare that, it seems that there haven’t been any commoner students in magic school for ten years.
And now, after ten years, a commoner with magic power has finally enrolled in magic school.
Maria Campbell. She’s one of those rare commoners with magic power, and on top of that with light magic.
Among the five different types of magic, there’s very few people with the strongest type, light magic. It’s said that you can count the number of people with it in our country on one hand.
Obviously, all attention would of course be focused on Maria Campbell who’s a commoner with light magic. Starting from the entrance ceremony, all eyes would be on her.
And so, I followed everyone’s line of sight, and found her.
She has beautiful, flowing blonde hair and clear blue eyes, she’s a beautiful girl. By reflex, I began admiring her beauty.
Maria Campbell is a “commoner” with “light magic,” I’m sure that she’s the most special girl in this entire school, or rather entire country, even.
Well, the main character of the otome game “Fortune Lover” is definitely here.
It’s finally time for the heroine’s appearance and for the game to begin. From now until the end of the game next year, it’s time for Katarina Claes to do battle with the destruction flags.
“I definitely won’t lose to some destruction flags!” I clenched my fist and swore so to myself.
I was trying to do my best after the entrance ceremony, but……
Just a few days after I’ve enrolled in magic school, I’m already being overwhelmed by the heroine Maria’s charm.
As for why, it’s because just a few days after school started, with her out of control charm, she’s already attracted Jared’s interest, and captured Keith’s heart as well.
“Come to think of it, just earlier, I met a girl who has the power of light magic.”
Jared was saying such a thing while he was drinking tea with Keith and me in the dorm’s common room. Jared had invited me over by saying he had some rare candies for me today, and I heard this as I was drinking tea with the sweets I had just received, and I nearly spit out the tea I was drinking.
Somehow, I managed to swallow it without spitting it out, I was really close to staining the tablecloth in front of me with tea with the prince right in front of me. That was close…… And just as I was feeling relieved at avoiding an incident, Keith showed interest in Jared’s topic of conversation.
“Ahh, that commoner girl’s a really hot topic of conversation now.”
“That’s right. When I was walking around on the school grounds just now, I met her by coincidence.”
He met her while he was walking around on the school grounds…… It’s the first encounter event between Jared and the heroine!
The heroine who’s curious by nature, was exploring the school grounds, but since the campus is too big, she got lost. And so, when the heroine had no more idea where she was anymore, she decided to climb a tree to look around, even though she was wearing a skirt at the time. At that time, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed prince, Jared, just happened to come by.
The heroine blushed crimson red at being discovered like this by Jared. And so, Jared got interested in the tomboyish heroine that was climbing a tree in a skirt, and helped her find her way back to the dorms.
……Jared’s story was just like the game’s scenario, I started getting depressed at hearing it.
Ahh, so it’ll just be like the game…… Jared’s already starting to take interest in the heroine after this encounter…… And then, he’ll surely fall in love before long……
“Mmm. So there are other girls out there that climb trees in skirts just like nee-san.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen someone other than Katarina climb a tree in a skirt. Well, since I’m used to Katarina, I didn’t think anything of it, but she seemed really embarrassed.”
“……Mmm, that’s right. Normally, you’d be pretty embarrassed if someone saw you climbing a tree in a skirt…… Most people won’t say proudly ‘since I’m a professional at climbing trees, it’s fine……’”
“Well, Katarina is out of the ordinary. But, that’s what makes her so special. Hey, Katarina, are you listening?”
Ahh, and so Jared’s fallen in love with the heroine, he only got engaged to me reluctantly in the first place as a defensive measure against other noble girls, and I’m going to be a nuisance now…… I’ll…… be a nuisance……
“Oi, Katarina, are you listening? ……It’s no good. She’s not listening at all.”
“……It seems that way.”
Ahh, this is the worst…… It’s only been a few days since school started, and my destruction is approaching me already……
And so, I was so shaken, and completely lost in my own little world, that I forgot to check with the person in question, Jared, about how far along they’ve progressed in their love……
“Hey, it’s already time for us to return to our rooms.” I just kept worrying endlessly until I was finally prompted by Jared and Keith that it was time to go.
And so…… Somehow, the two of them seem to have noticed that something’s off about me -
“Nee-san. After all, since this isn’t our home anymore, it’s not good if you pick up and eat something strange, you know.”
“That’s right, Katarina. You’re already 15 now, you really should stop picking up and eating anything that you see.”
It seems that they’ve misunderstood it to be that I’ve “gotten carried away and eaten something unidentified.” Well, that’s because it’s happened many times before……
But, I have a complaint…… I’m not just “picking up” things to eat! I’m “harvesting” from plants and trees! Even I definitely won’t eat things off the ground, so I’m not “picking up” things to eat! Besides, I’ve done this more than ten times already, and I only upset my stomach twice……
“Oh, I also met that girl with light magic that Prince Jared was talking about just now.”
Just a few days after Jared gave me such a shock, this time it was my stepbrother Keith that made such a comment.
This time it was after I had gotten ready in the morning, with Keith coming to pick me up since he wanted to go to school together, so there was no danger of me spitting out any tea this time. But……
“……What!!”
A mysterious utterance was heard.
“……Hey, nee-san, what’s the matter?”
My stepbrother flinched at my sudden mysterious cry, and pressed me for the cause.
“C, could it be, you were hitting on her!?”
In the game’s first encounter event between Keith and the heroine, he was hitting on her.
After all, in the game, Keith was a real playboy, and would hit on any girl that he saw, anyways, he was a real dangerous fellow. For that reason, when he saw the rumored girl with light magic by coincidence, he got interested in the heroine because of her uniqueness, and started hitting on her.
“……W, what does hitting on her mean…?”
“……Uhh~, hitting on her means, how to explain it…… Mmm. It means to invite girls with immoral thoughts in mind.”
“Inviting girls with immoral thoughts in mind…… There’s no way I would do such a thing!”
Keith was shouting with a bright red face. Well, certainly I can’t imagine Keith doing something like hitting on her. In the game, Keith was a trashy playboy, but thanks to me deigning to give him an education on the matter, he became a wonderful gentleman instead. Well, although he has become a ladies’ man without him realizing it……
Keith was desperately denying it while blushing, so I pressed him with “then, what were you doing with her?”
“She just happened to be walking in front of me, and I picked up a handkerchief that she dropped……”
“Handkerchief……”
That’s right! In the game, Keith got interested in the heroine during their first meeting, and was promptly rejected when he hit on her. And because the heroine rejected him, he got even more interested in her. And so, after the heroine rejected Keith and left, she’ll drop her handkerchief.
After discovering it, on the next day Keith will appear in front of the heroine again and force her with “is this yours? If you happen to want it back, go out on a date with me first.”
“……And, what happened to that handkerchief?”
I’m scared, I’m scared, what’s the answer……
“What do you mean what happened to the handkerchief, I picked it up and gave it back to her.”
“Oh, oh, is that what happened.”
Ahh, so Keith didn’t keep the handkerchief……
Then, it seems that he probably won’t be forcing the heroine to go out with him using the handkerchief as an excuse…… However…… I can’t repeat the same mistake I made with Jared, I need to make absolutely certain to check all the details this time.
“……And, after you met the girl with the power of light magic, what…… What did you think of her?”
“……What I thought of her? She seems like a normal, nice girl. She thanked me really politely……”
Keith answered me like he didn’t really understand what I was getting at……
Ahh, that’s not it! Keith. That’s not what I really want to hear! I’m going to have to be super direct with him!
“What I’m saying is! What do you think of Maria-san! Did you fall in love with her beauty!?”
I raised my voice loudly and grabbed on to Keith’s shoulders, and Keith became completely wide-eyed.
“!? …… Fall in love with her…… Nee-san, what exactly do you mean……”
Ahh, the surprised look that he has right now is just like the way he was when he first joined our Claes family…… I must have nailed it! There’s no mistake! Keith’s already fallen for Maria!
“……Like I thought, you’ve already fallen in love with Maria-san, eh……”
“……Uh, nee-san. Really, what are you saying……?”
I gripped Keith’s shoulders even more tightly.
“Listen up, it’s okay. Don’t hide things from me, aren’t we siblings after all! It’s just that, I want to tell you one thing…… I definitely won’t interfere between Keith and anyone that Keith likes! I’ll definitely be cheering for you and Maria-san! I definitely won’t do something like get in the way!”