“Wow, again, that’s extremely… you were dragged into some remarkable troubles one by one, huh.”

“Right? I don’t understand the meaning of it at all.”

Her flaxen hair lightly drifting around while she makes that conclusion, my roommate Monica shows a bitter smile.

This academy runs on the boarding school system – what’s more, all of the rooms are doubles.

In spite of either simplicity or convenience, each bed comes with a high-spec, extravagant canopy attached. It’s quite wasteful to a degree for two people to use. Nonetheless, this establishment’s splendor is surely because of the n.o.ble families attending from all across the nation.

Since the enrollment period in school is long and incidents also occur, every year it’s possible to apply for a roommate change in the dorms. However, Monica and I have been together since last year. Personally, it’s to the extent that I don’t even mind staying together with her until graduation (no matter how that happens).

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“If it’s the n.o.ble’s version of a joke, then isn’t it fine…?”

While I’m throwing myself down onto my bed and flopping around in agony, Monica’s plump hand gently strokes my head.

A little chubby on the side, the feeling you get from her is that of a kind, gentle person and a good listener.

She always treats my problems with the same level of earnestness as if they were her own. Seriously, Monica’s really a nice girl for carefully considering me. Although my grades are mediocre, I truly believe I’ve been blessed with this beautiful friends.h.i.+p!

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“I’d like to console you some more and then have this be the end of it, haha. In regards to the Kralvane family though, it might not really be a joke.”

“Eh, what? Are there problems with his house?”

“’Are there any problems,’ she says…”

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While Monica was hesitating to say whatever she had on her mind, I think I already have a clue of what it’s about.

Oh well, it’s no concern of mine if there’s a discrepancy in what I know. Even amongst our grade, Monica’s considered a fairly well-informed person.

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Getting up from the bed and straightening herself out, Monica adjusted her largish gla.s.ses and turned her head towards me. Her facial expression also became serious.

“Mm, for n.o.bility it’s not a problem. Rather, because they’re trying to establish stability for their houses, the general recommendation is to aim for prestige and riches by marrying into the elite.”

“I’m not aiming at anything in particular like that.”

“You don’t have any greed, huh. Well that way of living isn’t a problem, but for a magician… hmm. It looks like you haven’t been energetic lately.”

“Is that so?”

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Calling me a magician? To start with, possessing talent at birth means everything.

Well unfortunately, that hereditary situation wasn’t the case with me. No matter how much effort I’m putting into handling magic, it’s not a thing I’m able to do well.

Furthermore, the heredity requirements for magical talent are exceedingly vague. So someone of a n.o.ble lineage might not even inherit it, while an unrelated commoner might suddenly be born with a huge amount of power.

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Though of course, those “n.o.ble families” mentioned before are working on countermeasures for that, it seems……

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“Although people are saying ‘decline’ or ‘decay,’ it’s not – to an extent. There are currently two main players dominating public awareness – both share the qualities of being 『viscounts』and 『prestigious magical families』.

“You do know that if even one side wanes, what’s ‘fine’ and ‘sufficient’ right now will become a serious wound for them in the future. Right?”

“Ahh, sure.”

Essentially, having even only one of the two families is plenty enough. But up until here, both sides have more than fanned the flames with their actions. Well, somehow or other, I understand that the rest of their conflict isn’t over.

Sounds like fame is some serious trouble for a variety of reasons. I have nothing to do with it, though.

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“Gilbert-senpai… no, the ‘next head of the Kralvane family.’ Since people are placing a lot of stock in him, I wonder if there aren’t both huge antic.i.p.ations and duties expected of him.”

“That perver… sorry. That person’s actually good at something?”

“If it weren’t for his obligations, he could have otherwise aimed for the top rank of that cla.s.s, you know. He’s at least a celebrity.”

“……… ah.”

Monica emphasized her words. This time for sure, I’ll do as little sympathizing for that guy as possible, d.a.m.n it!

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Because, the current sixth year students… in this academy’s lengthy history, it’s easy to see that the seniors and their cla.s.s are all abnormalities.

The Kralvanes are also a very prestigious family. In order to be enrolled in that cla.s.s, he has to be an entirely different level of human from the rest of us. Not what you’d expect of his character, though.

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The two most prominent major households in the Rosevita Kingdom are referred to as the country’s “crown jewels” because of their top-cla.s.s magicians. The Kirheinz household is the first out of those two. I can say with full confidence that the next candidate for the family-head position will be the current no. 1 of the school.

A great deal of people skipped grades because they were, altogether, the top of their cla.s.ses. In comparison, I’m close to failing and can’t imagine ascending to a high position in society, either.

And then besides the Kirheinz heir, the student who’s ranked second place isn’t shabby either. It’s said that the Kirheinz family name wins the rankings race by a wide margin, due to the current heir going as far as to skip a grade along with performing quite well in his studies.

But as for this other person – he wasn’t born to a famous family, but he’s influential enough to have already received an invitation from the royal castle. His name is Kimberly-senpai.

Even someone apathetic to her surroundings like me knows roughly about these famous people.

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“Since those two people exist, then at least you don’t have to worry about aiming for first or second place, right?”

“Naturally! Those two are way too amazing. But besides, it seems that there’s a variety of talents coming from that cla.s.s year. People have called it a ‘monster’s den’ before, but it’s not like that’s an uncommon mistake.”

“Wow…”

I wouldn’t go so far as to call Senpai a monster, but we’re not familiar enough with him to bear those kinds of impressions.

His excellence is more or less hidden to a degree, I guess. For Kralvane-senpai who’s burdened with the task of carrying his family’s name and honor, those must not be fun circ.u.mstances at all.

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“Even so, I don’t know why my body has to be sacrificed for Senpai’s sake. I’m not a philanthropist, you know!”

“In its own way, isn’t this present situation fine? There aren’t any problems with either his family background or appearance, I think.”

“Well then, Monica, feel free to take my place. Even though I do tend to dream about romance and the like, any love or affection for him doesn’t exist. It’s impossible.”

I don’t even understand well why, all just for the sake of Senpai’s house, a virgin like me is getting sacrificed. Going as far as to demand things like giving birth to a child – it’s absolutely detestable.

Moreover, even if his face is pleasant, it’s excessively expressionless. And his behavior defies common sense… well, no, he’s a crime-committing pervert.

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I want to be excused from that type of a partner!

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“It’d be great if he did you a favor and gave up, right?”

“Yeah, really…”

While we were wrapped up in an air full of sighs, in the end both Monica and I leisurely continued chatting long after we closed our eyes.

If I went to sleep right now after enjoying my usual daily life, then today’s unexpected incident will only become a regrettable but distant memory. That’s what I believed.

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But the next day, it was decided that my expectations were to be inconceivably betrayed.

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“Hey, hey, there’s an amazingly good-looking guy in front of the girl’s dorm!”

“Eh, isn’t that the sixth-year Kralvane-senpai?! Who’s he waiting for?”

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“………”

“… What should I do, he keeps waiting.”

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First thing in the morning, there was a restless crowd of young women outside. They were all swept off their feet by the hottie’s sparkling appearance within the sunlight.

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But at the back of that crowd, the atmosphere around us was like a funeral.

Tell me. What are you doing, and why are you even there?

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“Meryl, what are you going to do?”

“I’m just mistaking that person for someone else, right?”

That’s right; if that’s the case, I have no choice but to hope. See, look! Senpai’s picturesque form is surely keeping a lovely girl out there waiting somewhere – so quickly do me a favor and leave!

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… However, he’s waiting and waiting without meeting up with the aforementioned beautiful girl.

After the crowd of girls had left the dorm and came back, many of them looked considerably less enthusiastic than before. They were gazing at the sight outside while doing nothing but tilting their heads in confusion.

Sometimes the students lost their curiosity from trying to strike up small talk with Senpai and failing. But this was bizarre; even before then, he was already treating them coldly.

“If it’s the case where you want to believe you’re mistaking him for somebody else, that’s fine. Although, I do recommend that you take the employees’ back exit for today.”

Closely heeding Monica’s proposal with a nod, I begin walking in the opposite direction from the older students shrilly raising their voices.

I turned back and gave a small wave, but it was as if the mood over there had turned into a battlefront.

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It was like a miracle or a stroke of good fortune that I was able to enter into this magic academy. So until graduation, I’ve decided to try my best in my own way!

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However, on this day…

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The word “Truancy” popped into my head several times over.