Chapter 10 – １０ – First Day of Class

Entrance Ceremony Arc

“Mr. Naru, Ichi and the others are this way.”

“Well then, Naru. Good luck!”

“Naruuu. Take care!”

“Yeah. You guys take care too.”

The next day.

The four of us left the Inui Dormitory together and headed toward the classrooms assigned according to our respective grades.

I didn’t know exactly how Ichi and Marie’s grades fared, but since they were moving together with Suzu, they were likely around the same level as her.

As for me… well, by national averages, I’m ordinary; by this academy’s standards, there’s no other way to put it but “bad.”

Naturally, the education reflects that.

“Now then, this should be the place.”

And so, I arrived at the classroom where I would be studying.

I stepped inside.

“Oh, so it really was this way.”

“Well, yeah. It seemed like it’d be on our side.”

“We’re all in the same A-Rank Magic Capacity group, after all~”

Inside the classroom were three male students.

They were the three I’d seen during yesterday’s unveiling: the buzzcut, the red mohawk, and the green curly-haired one.

“Well, more than anything, that Masquerade was the biggest surprise.”

“Yeah. How do I put it… it was quite something.”

“I had this strange feeling where it was incredibly erotic, yet not erotic at the same time, you know?”

“Ah, that… I’m sorry about that.”

Naturally, the first topic to come up was that from yesterday’s unveiling.

Yeah, well, that… it must have left an impact… even though I myself don’t know the details of my own Masked Form.

“Right, yeah. For now, let’s introduce ourselves. Since we’re all here, our academic levels are probably similar, and regardless of the Magic Capacity talk, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other from here on.”

“True.”

“Fair enough.”

“Sounds good.”

We decided to exchange introductions for the time being.

I went first. I didn’t mention why my Masked Form ended up like that, and I kept things safe by only mentioning that I was in the Inui Dormitory.

“I’m Tokuto Makoto. I’ve got a buzzcut right now, but I actually have bright blue hair.”

“Why the buzzcut?”

“It’s easier. Seriously, it’s so much easier to just shave it regularly. You don’t have to worry about a lot of things.”

Next was the buzzcut, Tokuto Makoto.

I don’t know why, but he had a certain monkey-like vibe to him.

“I’m Tōsaka Kinji. Since Makoto brought up hair, I’ll tell ya—my mohawk is pretty much natural. Not just the color, but for some reason, only this mohawk part grows abnormally fast and is really stiff. So I just figured I’d go with this style.”

“A side effect of magical power, huh?”

“Seems so. Honestly, unlike Makoto, if I don’t maintain it, I start looking shabby, so it’s a bit of a pain.”

Then came the red mohawk, Tōsaka Kinji.

Looking at that bright red crest, the word “chicken” inevitably sprang to mind, but I figured it was better not to say it aloud.

“I’m Magariya Ken. Since we’re still on the topic of hair, mine is natural too. It’s naturally green and just sort of turns into a mop on its own.”

“By the way, is that a pain or easy?”

“It’s a total pain! It feels like it just sucks up dirt on its own.”

“Figures.”

“Yeah, makes sense.”

Finally, the green curly-haired one, Magariya Ken.

Every one of his movements felt somehow dog-like; knowing that mop-dogs exist made him look even more like one.

“By the way, the three of us are all in the Shin-Yu Dormitory. Apparently, the other New Student A-Rank Group members are in the Koushi or Kou-U Dormitories.”

“Now that you mention it, I didn’t see any other A-Ranks besides myself in the Inui Dormitory. So that’s why.”

“From what I heard, they adjust it so that every dormitory has the same number of A-Rank evaluations.”

“I think some of the academy-sponsored events divide teams by dormitory. So, they keep it equal in the obvious areas, I guess.”

Once the introductions were over, we drifted into small talk.

First, we talked about the dorms.

Apparently, the interiors are mostly the same across all dormitories.

However, from what I gathered, the Shin-Yu Dormitory seemed to have more active interaction between students, while the Inui Dormitory seemed to lean more toward individualism.

I suppose that’s what they call the “character” of the dorms.

“Hobbies? Hmm, I don’t know if you’d call it a hobby, but I do light strength training to try and maintain my physique.”

“I see. So that’s the secret to that Masked Form’s beauty…”

“Well, I’m sure it has some effect.”

Next was the topic of hobbies.

Though, at this stage, it was more about what we liked.

For me, it was just that I put effort into light strength training to maintain an ideal body.

“I’m into baseball. To be honest, I would’ve rather gone to a school that was strong in high school baseball than the Duel Academy. Back in middle school, I was the cleanup hitter and the pitcher.”

“The ace, huh. Should I say that’s a shame?”

“A little. Well, since they say I have plenty of magical power, I’ll just work hard in this field from now on. In terms of money and fame, a pro baseball player and a famous Duelist aren’t that different.”

Tokuto liked baseball.

His lingering regret was obvious… but well, like me, if he didn’t come to the Duel Academy by choice, such a reaction is only natural.

“I’m into karaoke. Just singing in general is fine too. I just love the feeling of letting out a loud shout.”

“I’m imagining a chicken crowing at dawn,” Magariya noted.

“Right? My family and friends always tell me that. Combined with this mohawk, I can’t see myself as anything other than a chicken. I’ve even shouted ‘Cock-a-doodle-do!’ at the top of my lungs before.”

Tōsaka liked karaoke.

The important thing here was that, as long as it wasn’t meant as an insult, Tōsaka didn’t seem to mind being treated like a chicken.

Seeing how he laughed it off, he probably viewed it as one of his running gags.

“I like moss terrariums. It’s fun and healing to carefully put things together and make something beautiful. I brought some from home to the dorm.”

“Huh, so people do that too.”

“It’s great! Though sometimes it doesn’t go well and ends up looking terrible.”

Magariya liked terrariums… those things where you grow plants, moss, and small animals in a glass container.

Everyone has their own way of enjoying things, but in Magariya’s case, he aimed to create beautiful terrariums.

“Alright you lot, class is starting. Just so we’re clear, no matter how good your Masquerade grades are, you can’t graduate if your academic performance is catastrophic. You don’t have to ace the tests, but at least listen to the lectures seriously.”

“Yes, sir!”

With the teacher’s arrival, we each took our seats and began the lesson.

The content… yeah, it felt like something I could keep up with.

Judging by their expressions, Tokuto and the others seemed to feel the same.

“By the way, you might mock yourselves for being idiots, but I know a few students who are far worse. So, I’ll tell you now: you lot are still well within the acceptable range of ‘idiots’.”

“Eh, seriously? My grades aren’t even that good.”

“That’s scary. I’m well aware that I’m on the failing side.”

“Maybe we’re just idiots in different directions?”

“No, the way he put it makes it sound like he means academically.”

“And depending on your future progress, I’m prepared to move the lesson level back to that stage. You’ve all become friends as a group of four; you wouldn’t want to end up all alone, right? Make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“…Yes, sir.”

For now, I’ll take the classes seriously.

There’s no harm in gaining knowledge.