Chapter 9 - Everything Starts From a Greeting (何事も挨拶から)
“Wow, amazing...!”
In the midst of my thrill, I grabbed my brother’s hand next to me and danced in joy. I didn’t expect that I could improve this much after just one practice.
“This is really great! Thank you!”
“......”
“Julius?"
“...Ah, right.”
For some reason, he stiffened for a moment, before coming back to his senses with his eyebrows lowered and smiling in trouble.
“I never saw you laugh before. It just caught me off guard.”
“Oh, really?”
“It’s amazing what memory loss can do to you. You’re really like a totally different person.”
I was still curious about what happened between this pair of siblings. Never showing a smile, never having a conversation. What kind of relationship was that? But I knew he wouldn’t tell me if I asked.
“And you dummy. You shouldn’t be happy with 21 points, okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’m the one teaching you, so you have to score 80 points.”
I nodded in agreement with my brother's words. Practicing with him like this would definitely help me improve. I had that feeling.
◇◇◇
“You apply the technique here.”
“I see...!”
And in no time, a week had passed since I started attending Heartful Magic Academy as Rene Wainwright.
I had quite an extreme school life; gluing myself to my desk every class, practicing magic with Julis once every few days after school, and studying until I fall asleep at night.
I still was immersed in my studies, but it was completely different from my previous life. I couldn’t have been more content. Even having Therese teach me during lunch break like this was a lot of fun.
Just a little bit, the lessons I had no clue about at first became decipherable.
“Rene, you’ve studied a lot. I'm sure you'll do fine on the exam."
“Thanks. I hope so."
And after I started spending time with Therese, no one dared to harass me in public. I could still hear the occasional badmouthing, but it wasn’t anything serious.
Everything was going so well that it felt ominous. With the way things were, surely the day when I could lead a normal school life might come soon.
...It was only three hours ago that I thought so. The bullies successfully tricked me and locked me in the gymnasium’s storage room.
I sit on the mat, hugged my knees, and let out a deep sigh.
“It’s too cliche, no innovation at all! Don’t you think so?”
“...This really sucks.”
A male student sitting on a bench a short distance away muttered, his eyes covered with one hand.
To my surprise, the prince's friend - the handsome young man with blue hair and glasses - was also trapped with me.
He was, apparently, being asked to inspect the storage room the moment I was locked in. An unlucky victim who got implicated in this.
I soon heard a chime from a distance, signaling the end of the last class of the day. Too shocking. This was the first time I had gone AWOL in my entire life, combined with my previous life.
“Seems like the class is over...”
“......”
By the way, there was a suspicion that he might be one of the love interests, no?
To turn a pinch into an opportunity, I decided to try talking to him.
“Um, I’m Rene Wainwright. May I have your name?"
“......”
“Since you didn’t answer, I’ll just call you Yoshida.”
“And who’s that?”
Yoshida was an acquaintance from my previous life, whose trademark was also blue glasses. A nice guy from the same orphanage. Somehow, they both had a similar aura as well.
“Can’t we use magic to get out of here?”
“If I could do that, I would’ve done it from the beginning.”
“Makes sense.”
The brooch glinting on his chest was silver, which proved him to be an A-rank. If he couldn’t do anything about this, then that’s even more for me.
On rainy days, this storage room itself was sometimes used as a training ground. It was designed to nullify magic.
This storage room also didn’t seem to be used very often. There was no telling when help would arrive. Not wanting to waste any more time with nothing to do, I took a book out of my bag and decided to study.
“Yoshida, my bad. Can you teach me this?”
“You sure are carefree.”
“I’m about to get expelled from the school. I don’t have much time, you see.”
“Right, you’re an F-rank.”
He glanced at my brooch and snorted.
“Why should I teach a dummy like you? And I’m not Yoshida.”
“Then tell me your name.”
“There’s no point in telling my name to an F-rank.”
“Hey, Yoshida. About question number two...”
“......”
But after two hours of this exchange, he gave up - or was too bored - and started giving me hints. A bit rude with a sharp mouth, but also a good person.
Soon came evening, and the light coming through the small window turned orange.
Even I began to feel dreary here. All students had probably left school by this name. If this storage room had no toilets, I would’ve died for sure.
It would be tomorrow before we could get out of here. Yoshida might have had the same thought, as he began to make a sleeping area with mats.
“I’m sorry.”
“...It’s not your fault, isn’t it?”
“I’m bullied because I’m an F-rank, so...”
“So it IS your fault. Damn you.”
And because we were alone in a locked room, were in a tight spot together, we began to talk like friends.
“Yoshida, won’t your family come looking for you?”
“They should be soon. It’ll take a miracle to have them think we’re in this place, though.”
“Right...”
As for that family, they definitely wouldn’t look for me... Oh. Today was the practice day with Julius.
I stood him up, I thought apologetically as I was about to lie down a short distance away from Yoshida.
The mat slipped under my feet, causing a nearby shelf to tilt unsteadily.
“Watch out!”
Yoshida pulled my arm just in time, and I managed to avoid being crushed under the shelf. What a cliche... Still, I thanked him in his arms.
Just as I was about to move away, a voice echoed through the storage room with the sound of a heavy door opening with a rattle.
...Why is he here?
It was already nighttime. He should be home now. With this in mind, I turned my gaze toward the entrance.
“You've got some nerve, skipping practice with me and having a secret meeting with a man.”
There, as expected, was my brother with a nasty smile on his face.
sorry for the 2-weeks inactivity! just finished moving to japan and things were a lot more hectic than i expected... every day is me passing straight up after work because i was too exhausted ww, woke up at 4AM to upload the chapters...
switching to daily updates for the entire week to make up for the missing chapters; wishing everyone a good year!
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