First Day

Several metallic clangs echoed around the training yard under the warm morning sun of the next day as Eva clashed with her brother, each with a metal sword in hand.

She panted several times, wiping away sweat from her forehead. “You certainly aren’t going easy on me anymore, Leonard.”

“Going easy won’t help you if you get ambushed.” Leonard’s face remained ever determined, his will unwavering as he swung his sword, manifesting three simultaneous strikes at his sister.

Eva leaped back instead of trying to block, quickly recovering and charging at the Paladin as they exchanged blows against their blades again. Her movements were increasingly becoming more fluid, like a flowing river against a raging tide.

They ceased attacking as it seemed Eva was nearly exhausted.

“Let’s stop here for now. Wouldn’t want you too sore for your first day back to school from spring break.” Leonard suggested, walking towards the weapon rack and hanging up his weapon.

Eva did the same, lifting the bottom of her training uniform to wipe her face. “I’ll have to face him again.”

“A warrior doesn’t correct issues by avoiding them. The only way to live is to face everything head-on.” Leonard replied, taking her sword and putting it away.

“That’s a cliche.” She joked, but gave him a thankful smile, knowing he was right..

“I’m just being a big brother and giving advice. Maybe see if Jerome will do the same.”

“Ew, there’s no way he could come up with anything philosophical.” She laughed before they started leaving the training yard to head to school.

----

“Are you ready for your first day back to school?” Corinne helped Lawrence with his black and dark brown school uniform, ensuring it was free of creases and folds.

Well, it certainly will be my first day. Not back, though.

“More or less.” He exhaled slowly, examining himself in the mirror as he tidied his uniform.

She picked up his hand and gave him a paper slip and an ID card. He looked down at the paper and saw various numbers and notes.

“What is this?” He asked, holding the paper aloft.

“A list of important things like your locker combination, class schedule, map, that kind of stuff.”

I’m glad she did this because nothing came to mind when I thought about school…I must be some idiot.

“Thanks, Corinne.”

She nodded slowly and smiled as they left the room together and headed down to the foyer. Opening the front door, James stood beside the horse carriage while the housekeepers tended to the garden.

“James?”

“A-Ah Mast- Lawrence!” He stuttered as he quickly turned to face the head of the household.

“Shall we go?”

“O-Of course!” He said frantically, opening the carriage door as Lawrence stepped inside.

“Take care!” Corinne waved goodbye, and he did the same, making their exit.

The guards opened the gate, and James urged the horses forward, and they rode on Blackwood Street.

The capital was as lively as usual. It certainly was an experience for Lawrence to watch all of these people go about their day, something he’d usually never done in his previous life.

Things were quiet for a while as they rode. Usually, James would be conversing about something, anything at all.

Am I the cause of it?

Lawrence hadn’t spoken to him since the day he killed those bandits. He was sure it was out of character for original Lawrence to do something like that.

“You’re very quiet today, James.”

It looked like a shock ran throughout his body, but he kept his eyes on the road. “Sorry, Lawrence. It’s because of that day.”

So, I was right.

“I’m just concerned about you, is all.”

“Concerned?” Lawrence wasn’t expecting that, of all things. Concerned? For me?

“Mhm. You seemed off as soon as we returned. Everything you’ve done since you’ve been back is unlike you. I’m sure it’s because of the amnesia, but it’s like you’re a completely different person. Not to mention the intense training you’re doing with Sir Sogard.”

“Even as a lowly servant, I worry for you, especially since you are the head of the household. If not for you, surely I would’ve been a rotting corpse on the streets by now.”

Hearing him concerned about Lawrence made him chuckle. It was something he could only dream of in his previous life.

Even now, as he thought about it, his memories of the Old World were slowly fading. The only thing that remained was his personality.

But even that is slowly disappearing…

“You don’t stutter when you’re talking seriously,” Lawrence commented with a sly smile.

“Gah- It’s a speech tic! You know this!” James wailed slightly, almost wanting to fall over as Lawrence chuckled more.

“Sorry, and thank you, James.”

The servant nodded nervously as they continued the rest of the ride in silence.

Lawrence closed his eyes, relaxing as he began channeling his mana from within the carriage. He thought it was best to get in as much practice as he could, so he didn’t stick out like a sore thumb to his peers.

Attempting to hone Mana Sense in a bumpy carriage is a lot more difficult than I thought, but this is good. He thought positively, exuding tiny traces of his mana to his surroundings.

The young Blackwood could see a manifestation of the little mana James possessed. It resembled the tight, sharp, and sporadic lines of sound frequencies. James’s frequency seemed quite different from Bernard’s, whose frequency was large and more refined.

Looking towards the people they passed, Lawrence could barely catch glances of their frequencies before disappearing from his range.

Not long after, they finally arrived at the entrance to the Imperial Academy on the Indrift District’s Grimhold Row.

James opened the door as Lawrence stepped out, the extravagant Victorian architecture of the academy immediately catching his eye.

It was similar to a university but about double its size, with some modifications to the overall structure. In the courtyard, the flags of each allied nation, including Exalta's own, stood tall, flailing in the wind.

About a hundred students were alone in the crowded area, ascending the tall steps toward the interior entrance.

Lawrence couldn’t help but exhale quietly in amazement, noticing the differences between schools in this world and those in Japan.

“Good day, sir. I’ll return when it’s over for the day.”

Lawrence waved him off before he joined the large crowd of students. Almost all of them were staring at him intently, most likely because he was supposed to be dead. But to him, it felt like a flock of crows staring at him.

There were many guards at a school in the middle of the city, which he found odd. He wasn’t sure if it was normal.

The croak of a raven startled him as he looked up to see the black-feathered bird in a small tree.

Yawning once, he moved to cover his mouth as he entered the academy's main hall, adorned with golden ornaments and dark brown, glossy stone walls.

So, this is what a private school for the most elite snobs is like?

The interior was as impressive as the outside. It had multiple floors, each separated by school year.

When he checked his identification card earlier, it stated that he was a fifth-year student, so I could only assume I was about eighteen or older. If he recalled Lawrence’s fractured memories correctly, the school was divided into six years and housed in one building. This concept is not unusual, but it's relatively rare in the Old World.

Passing through a hall, knights guarded one end with caution tape blocking the entrance. He didn’t pay much attention to it as he tried to find his locker.

Locker 5B-117…5B-117…Lawrence scoured the halls, searching for his locker and trying to navigate the sea of students.

Eventually, he found it and examined it, his expression one of confusion. It had a strange circular lock on the door with no handle.

How am I supposed to open this? Crack the Da Vinci Code? Opening the folded sheet of paper Corinne gave him, he looked at the combination and then back at the lock. There was no obvious way for him to put in the code. He must be missing something.

“Ahem.”

Lawrence looked over and saw a familiar face standing beside him, holding her books close to her chest.

“Ah- Eva.”

Wait, should I have said Princess? We seemed close to each other. Would it be appropriate?

“You remembered my name…” She said in shock, her mouth slightly open, as some of her black hair fell on her shoulders.

Should I have said that Bernard told me? Probably not. Wait, my tone is too casual. How am I supposed to sound?

“I wonder where you would be without me.” She sighed, approaching his locker and holding her hand over the lock as the dial turned, clicking at each number associated with the code.

The door swung open slightly at the final number as she pulled it open, revealing all of the books for Lawrence’s classes.

“T-thank you, Eva…”

“You don’t need to be so formal with me, you know.” She pouted slightly, clutching her books even tighter.

He looked over and was a bit awestruck by how cute she was. By looks alone, she was one of the most beautiful girls he’d seen in both lifetimes. Up close, her amethyst-colored eyes almost glistened like the crystal.

“S-sorry…” He looked away, laughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

She seemed to put the matter to bed as she switched topics. “Do you even know what class you’re attending, mister?”

“Uh, give me a second.”

He meddled with the slightly crinkled paper, but before he could read it, she shoved a blue and orange textbook in his hands.

“Magic Theory, now let’s go before we’re late. I don’t want to lose my perfect attendance record because of you.”

He looked down and read Edward Blackwood's book, The Fundamental Theorization and Employment of Magic and Spellwork.

Seeing the founder of the family’s name shouldn’t have been a surprise due to what he’s done to revolutionize magic.

Eva turned and began heading to class. Since she was the only person he knew, he didn’t want to be away from her in this giant crowd of people staring at him.

----

Arno walked through the academy halls as he greeted the girls he passed by, who looked at him with envy. In front was a small crowd blocking the entrance, which he found peculiar.

“I can’t believe he would come back.”

“You would’ve thought he would stay home after that fire.”

Fire? The young mage surmised they were referring to Lawrence Blackwood.

“Oh, I’ll have you know he’s not so magicless as you say.”

Crow’s words echoed as Arno pushed through the crowd and saw Lawrence talking with the Exaltan Princess at his locker.

What’s so impressive about him? Arno examined the Blackwood son closer and sensed faint traces of mana flowing throughout his body.

So what? Just some mana like anyone else.

A bit annoyed, he made his way to class, feeling like the mysterious man had played him.