Chapter 8 – ８ – Inui Dormitory

Entrance Ceremony Arc

The National Duel Academy is a boarding school.

In addition to the academy’s nature of gathering and nurturing aspiring Duelists from across the country, the government decided that a boarding system was more convenient as a precaution against enemies who might become future adversaries and plot various acts of sabotage.

There are four dormitories within the National Duel Academy.

The Koushi, Kou-U, Shin-Yu, and Inui Dormitories.

The names of the dormitories indicate their direction relative to the main school building when looking at the academy as a whole.

Therefore, the Inui Dormitory is located in the northwest of the campus.

Incidentally, there is a strange rumor that students with similar tendencies tend to gather in each respective dormitory for some reason… but I’ll omit that for now.

The structure of the dormitories is generally the same for all.

They are five-story buildings capable of accommodating 250 students.

The first floor consists of common spaces such as the cafeteria, and is sometimes used for events.

The second and third floors are the boys’ dorms, which also house the men’s baths and laundry facilities.

The fourth and fifth floors are the girls’ dorms, with nearly identical facilities.

As a point of caution, male students are not permitted to go above the fourth floor without a valid reason; if they are found to have trespassed without permission, they will face appropriate penalties.

Depending on the case, severe disciplinary actions such as expulsion may be handed down, so one must not go there even as a joke.

Room assignments are to be followed according to the academy’s instructions.

A-Rank Magic Capacity Holders are given a single room, while B-Rank Evaluated students are generally assigned to rooms of three.

Some are in rooms of two due to numbering constraints, but basically, only A-Rank Magic Capacity Holders can occupy a room alone.

Now, everyone please collect the keys to your rooms… What? I haven’t finished talking yet?

…

✧

“Ah, that’s right. There was also some light talk about the academy-exclusive SNS and classes. How tedious. I shouldn’t have agreed to be the Dormitory Head if it was going to be like this…”

“…”

I, Suzu, Ichi, Marie, and all the other new students assigned to the Inui Dormitory thought the same thing upon hearing the words of our Dormitory Head, Senior Katsura Yū.

Is this senior guy going to be okay?

I mean, there was nothing inherently strange about the content of his speech, and he seemed to be conveying the necessary information properly, so he’s probably fine…

Still, seeing him look so exhausted and disinterested made it impossible not to wonder.

Actually, come to think of it…

“If that is the Dormitory Head, does that mean the other seniors are even more dangerous, maybe?”

“…”

No one answered Marie.

However, as they say, silence is the most eloquent affirmation; it was almost certainly the case.

“It’s not so much ‘dangerous’ as it is a problem of cooperativeness and reliability. A lot of the guys in Inui Dormitory just do whatever they want, so among the third-years, I’m the only one judged capable of reliably transmitting information. Do you understand, Marie Gold Cane?”

“I-I understand…”

However, he did seem to have some skill.

It would be one thing if it were me, a A-Rank Evaluated, but the fact that he knew Marie’s name suggests he might have matched the faces and names of all the new students here—roughly 80 people.

Furthermore, given that he clearly heard Marie’s whisper, his hearing seems quite sharp.

“Now, I’ll continue the explanation. Next is the academy-exclusive SNS… Social Networking Service.”

The explanation resumed.

However, the attitude of the new students, including myself, was now tinged with more tension than before.

Naturally, no one wants to be singled out by the Dormitory Head for the wrong reasons.

“Students of the National Duel Academy are given an account for an academy-exclusive SNS… ah, the official name is ‘Masquerade-net,’ but students almost exclusively call it ‘Masutter.’ Each person is given one account. Its uses range from receiving communications from the academy and checking various notices to chatting with friends and fooling around on the anonymous board. It’s impossible to explain everything here, so please look through it yourselves later.”

‘Masutter,’ huh.

The name reminds me of a certain SNS that changed its name to a single letter a while back.

“There is just one precaution. As I said, you get one Masutter account, and it’s limited to the academy. Therefore, even on the anonymous board, there is actually no such thing as anonymity; who accessed it, when, where, and what information they posted is all recorded.”

“…”

“So, if you engage in slander, impersonation, or inciting crime, the academy will find out immediately. At best, you’ll be suspended. At worst, you’ll be expelled and put on the path to becoming a criminal. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the importance of internet literacy at this stage, but please be mindful of your words and actions.”

Yeah, that’s certainly important.

If you put it simply, it’s just the obvious advice not to make posts that hurt people.

For now, the person around me most likely to be a danger on social media is… Suzu.

“Suzu, be careful. Don’t react even if there are posts making fun of me.”

“It’s okay, Naru. I won’t use any methods that would drag me into that.”

“… I’m trusting you.”

“Is this really going to be okay?”

“Let’s trust her. Even though we’ve only been friends for half a day.”

I felt a vague sense of anxiety, but Suzu is clever, so it’ll be fine.

Surely it’ll be fine.

I’ll believe it’ll be fine.

“Moving on to classes; again, please check Masutter for the details. What I will tell you here is that academy classes are organized according to each person’s progress. So, whether you’re in the A-Rank Group and lack confidence in your academic ability, or a B-Rank Evaluated with a subject you’re bad at, you don’t need to worry about not being able to keep up. The content you receive is different to begin with.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Naru… I’ll be waiting for you.”

“I think that’ll probably be impossible…”

Apparently, there’s no need to worry about classes.

Though, I feel like I’d be pretty shocked if I couldn’t understand even the lowered-level content… right?

I can’t be that stupid.

Yeah, I shouldn’t be.

“Well, that’s everything I need to tell you. If anyone has questions, please ask the dormitory staff. They’ll help you politely. Now, please check your room number and key, then head to your rooms.”

And so, the orientation by Dormitory Head Katsura ended.

We began heading toward our respective rooms.

“Where’s your room, Naru?”

“Room 0304. Third floor, fourth room. How about you, Suzu? I can’t go there, but I want to know just in case.”

“We’re in Room 0410.”

I immediately checked my room number.

Then I checked Suzu’s room number as well, thinking I might need it for some reason.

“We?”

I voiced the question because it caught my attention.

“Ichi is also in Room 0410. We’re in the same room.”

“For some reason, I was also assigned to Room 0410. Strange things do happen, do they not?”

“Hmm? Really? That is strange.”

“Yeah, very strange. Not that it’s a bad thing, though.”

I wonder. It’s obvious that someone’s intention is at work here, but I can’t tell whose intention it is.

Actually, would anyone even gain an advantage by putting these three in the same room?

If I had to say, Suzu, Ichi, and Marie have already become friends, so it’s convenient that they weren’t split up; it seems like the three of them are the ones benefiting…

Well, there’s no point in overthinking it.

I’ll leave it at that.

“Well, Suzu, Ichi, Marie. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you later, Naru.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Naru.”

“Next time is at dinner, Naru.”

We moved to the third floor.

There, I parted ways with Suzu and the others and entered my own room… Room 0304.