Volume 1: Enrollment at Magias Academy of Magical Arts

Chapter 2: You Should Contribute to Society

Coffey Dreadroll.

Twenty-three years old.

She was the daughter of my grandfather and a woman named Sophie Dreadroll. Despite her youth, that made her my aunt.

Her profession was mage.

She ran a private guild and was apparently known around town as one of the more prominent young mages.

She’d been almost completely estranged from the Walker family for years, but Grandpa had contacted her shortly before his death and asked her to look after me once he was gone—or so she said.

“Only to a reasonable extent, mind you.”

After adding that caveat, Coffey raised her teacup to her lips.

“I’ve heard the basics about you. The old man said you were talented and that he was proud of you. You two were close, weren’t you?”

That surprised me.

Grandpa had been fairly strict, so I had little experience of being praised by him.

“Now, to the point. Magias Academy of Magical Arts is holding its entrance exam around the middle of next week. I came today to tell you about it.”

“Next week?”

I checked the calendar on the wall.

There were fewer than three days left before the start of the next week.

“I only received this request recently. The old man probably intended to tell you himself, but perhaps he had too much else to deal with…”

Grandpa had indeed said he’d enroll me in an appropriate institution when the time came. He must have meant this Magias place.

“You love magic, don’t you? At Magias, you can research it to your heart’s content. Would you like to take the exam?”

I couldn’t have asked for a better offer.

In my previous life, I’d barely been able to attend school, and circumstances hadn’t provided much opportunity in this life either.

I’d just been wondering what to do next when this attractive proposal dropped into my lap.

It almost seemed too good to be true.

But even a sheltered country boy like me had heard of Magias Academy. It was that prestigious. If the entrance exam was next week, my options were limited.

“I’d love to go, but there’s no time to prepare for the exam.”

“It would be difficult for an ordinary applicant, but the old man trained you, didn’t he? You might as well try. And you don’t need to speak so formally with me.”

Coffey sounded carefree, but the exam would surely be difficult in practice. It wasn’t something you could decide to take one week and simply pass the next. Ordinarily, attempting it would just waste money.

“Magias is a little strict about how it trains students, but the experience will definitely help you once you enter society. Thinking about your future, I believe enrolling would be worthwhile.”

“Even so, the tuition alone…”

“You don’t have savings? That old man used to earn a fortune.”

“Grandpa spent money pretty freely. We’d been living frugally for about five years.”

Coffey folded her arms and closed her eyes for a moment.

The atmosphere seemed to tighten ever so slightly.

“All right. I’ll cover the tuition on the condition that you work part-time at my guild while you study. Assuming you pass, of course.”

She made it sound simple, but this was no small offer.

This was bad. A beautiful woman had suddenly appeared claiming to be my relative, and it was making me a little suspicious.

But Coffey’s existence matched what Grandpa had revealed on his deathbed. For now, I decided not to doubt her.

“Well… it isn’t as though I owe that old man nothing. If he’s dead and I can’t repay him, I’ll repay you instead.”

“Could I see the information packet, please…? I mean, can I have it?”

“Here.”

I accepted the scroll and read through it.

Initial enrollment costs. Annual expenses.

Monthly living costs.

Tuition could apparently be reduced depending on exam results, but I shouldn’t count on that.

Taking everything together, my current finances wouldn’t cover attendance unless I sold the magic swords I’d forged or took on debt. Coffey’s offer was extraordinarily generous by any measure.

“Well… I understand why you’re wary.”

Seeing straight through my guarded attitude, Coffey paused and continued.

“Graduate from a proper school and contribute to society. Life is more fun that way.”

She was completely right.

If I stayed in the countryside and let myself stagnate, all my magical training would amount to nothing more than self-satisfaction.

The reason I’d been born into this world—

I could consider that purpose fulfilled already, just as Grandpa had said.

What remained was deciding what I wanted to live for.

If I went there, would I find the answer?

“I need a little time.”

“Sure. I can wait until tomorrow. Think it through carefully.”

That was plenty of time.

I’d more or less settled on my answer already, but I wanted to calculate the finances in detail just in case.

“Also, I’m staying here tonight.”

“What?”

“I can’t help it. This village doesn’t have an inn.”

◇

That night, I let Coffey use the spare room upstairs while I prepared dinner.

There was nothing in this countryside village, but I at least wanted to serve her a decent meal.

I’d handled most of the housework here, so I considered myself capable of cooking dinner for a guest.

With hardly any entertainment in the village, taking food seriously had been one of my only pleasures.

“Anything is fine.”

That was what she said, but I couldn’t carelessly treat a relative who’d traveled all the way from the capital to discuss my education. I decided to use ingredients we’d saved for holidays and offer the best hospitality I could.

Then came dinner.

Coffey had arrived around noon, and the time until sunset had flown by.

“Oh, this is delicious.”

I relaxed when I saw her happily digging into my cooking.

The main dish was a seafood soup.

I’d used good herbs to give it a stronger aroma.

If I said so myself, it had turned out rather well.

“How did you keep the fish this fresh? The sea is far from here, isn’t it?”

“I stored what we received at a low temperature in a specialized container and stopped it from deteriorating.”

“Huh. But that isn’t the old man’s technique, is it? Did you—did you do this, Brendan?”

“More or less.”

“That’s amazing! And you’re only seventeen!”

Coffey laughed and slapped me firmly on the back.

Apparently, she was cheerful and outgoing by nature.

“What sort of work do mages generally do?”

“Hmm?”

When I offered a topic of conversation, Coffey left her spoon between her lips and let her eyes wander toward the ceiling.

“All kinds. Research, detective work, infrastructure maintenance, construction, mercenary jobs… Plenty also serve in the national army as combat mages.”

That largely matched what Grandpa had told me.

Apparently, though, careers fell in and out of fashion with the times.

Grandpa’s era had been much more dangerous. Children had dreamed of serving their country as army mages, fighting wars, and becoming heroes. Compared with then, career options had diversified considerably.

“Magic can be applied to all sorts of things, so people often use it to do more of whatever they already want to do. Becoming a mage is difficult, but it gives you more choices in life. It’s fun.”

“What kind of mage are you, Aunt Coffey?”

“A jack-of-all-trades.”

Covering her mouth as her cheeks moved like a squirrel’s, Coffey continued.

“Making and selling medicines, guarding important people, exterminating magical beasts, subcontracting magical experiments. Things have been dangerous lately, so I get lots of combat jobs. More, please.”

She had a slender frame, but she could really eat.

Good thing I’d made plenty.

“Oh, but I’m fairly impressive even among mages.”

“Fairly impressive?”

“Yep. I’m trusted with exterminating nasty dragons.”

Like Grandpa, she had a habit of describing things rather vaguely. She probably didn’t realize it, but they truly did seem like father and daughter. They apparently hadn’t been close, so I avoided mentioning that for now.

“Do you have anything you want to do in the future, Bren?”

“Uh…”

At Coffey’s sudden question, it was my turn to let my gaze drift toward the ceiling.

“I don’t know about a career yet, but I want to study more magic.”

The words came out with a surprising ease.

A moment later, I realized what I’d said and slowly looked at my aunt.

She had both hands beneath her chin and was grinning like a child.

“Then you pretty much have to go to school, don’t you?”

“…Yes. I suppose I do.”

I’d intended to tell her tomorrow, but it didn’t matter.

Apparently, deep down, I’d already made up my mind.

I left my chair and bowed deeply.

“I’ll repay every coin. If I pass, please pay my tuition, Aunt Coffey.”

“H-Hey, raise your head. Honestly…”

She became flustered, but it was only polite to make my intentions clear beforehand.

“You’re remarkably well-mannered for someone that old man raised. Yes, yes. Rely on your aunt as much as you need.”

She ruffled my lowered head and laughed heartily.

At first, the offer had seemed too good to be true, but I now believed I could trust her.

“Now that it’s settled, we leave for the royal capital tomorrow! I’ll help you prepare for the exam along the way!”

The following day, I left the village and traveled to the royal capital with Aunt Coffey.

Seventeen years had passed since I was reincarnated into this world as Brendan Walker.

The season was just as winter began to loosen its grip.

◇

In later years, this day’s events would be recorded in his biography as follows:

“I surrendered myself to an indistinct desire,

left the home of my birth,

and decided to take the entrance examination for Magias Academy of Magical Arts.

Ultimately, this marked the beginning of everything

and became

the most profitable investment I ever made in myself.”

Excerpt from Brendan Walker, the Magic-Sword King.