Chapter 93 Yuki Chihiro ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It had been roughly a month since we set out. We had finally reached Serpenta Ria¹, the capital of Envyos².
Nothing of particular note had happened during that month of travel, but one truth had become unavoidable: we were nothing more than children who had been coddled by our environment.
Even though it was a long journey, we were utterly useless at basic survival. We couldn’t pitch a tent, and we couldn’t even get a campfire going properly. The “toilet” situation was the biggest nightmare. I’d wondered why our gear included a shovel; I quickly realized it was for digging the holes we had to squat over. To make matters worse, there was no paper. If we hadn’t picked up Utility Magic³ at a town we passed through, the entire trip would have been a miserable, unhygienic slog.
I have to wonder-what was the sorcery instructor at Plaudix⁴ thinking, skipping over Utility Magic? It ended up being the one thing we actually needed.
Come to think of it, I remember Natsumi, Tatei, and Yokoo being weirdly well-versed in survival skills. If we had just bothered to learn from them back then, we wouldn’t have struggled half this much.
But all of that was behind us now. Reaching Serpenta Ria finally allowed us to breathe. Satomi looked like she was at her mental breaking point. We decided to find an inn and hunker down to wait for Yamato’s eventual arrival.
* * *
”I never imagined it would be this grueling… If Maya hadn’t been with us, we might have ended up as corpses by the side of the road,” Yamato muttered, a wry, dusty smile tugging at her lips.
They arrived three days after us. Yamato and her group had managed to make it to Serpenta Ria in one piece, but they brought an unexpected guest.
”Kagaya is here too…?” I asked.
Alongside Yamato Hina and Ise Maya stood Kagaya Mashiro. We were all gathered around a table in the inn’s dining hall. The sun was dipping below the horizon, and the room was filling up with other travelers. The noise was constant-a low roar of chatter and clinking cutlery.
”Yes,” Kagaya replied smoothly. “There was nothing left for me to learn at Plaudix. I saw no reason to linger. To be honest, I wanted to follow Yuki, but you had already departed. I was forced to settle for Yamato’s company.”
”That’s the only reason…?” I asked.
”That, and I wanted to get away from those idiots as quickly as possible. Being around them made me feel like my own intellect was eroding. In that regard, Yuki, you at least meet the passing grade. Yamato is… barely tolerable because she isn’t a fool. But those three you have with you? Utterly unacceptable.”
Kijima and the others bristled, their faces twisting in offense.
Kagaya had a habit of sneering at anyone whose grades didn’t match hers. She was beautiful, certainly, but her personality made her radioactive to most of the class. She seemed perfectly aware of the walls she built around herself; she just didn’t care.
”I’m not exactly your biggest fan either,” I countered, “but there’s a limit to how you talk to people. Besides, I can’t forgive what happened back there-not just abandoning Natsumi, but pinning the entire blame on him.”
”Oh? I didn’t pin anything on him,” she said, her voice flat and clinical. “I simply remained silent. At the time, I judged that to be the optimal path. The sacrifice of a single individual ensured the survival of the collective. While Sugita’s methods weren’t exactly ‘praiseworthy,’ I don’t believe his actions were logically incorrect.”
”What…? A classmate died!”
”To me, he was merely one face among an undifferentiated crowd,” Kagaya said.
She spoke without a flicker of guilt. A cold, sharp anger began to circulate in my chest.
”With all due respect, Lady Kagaya,” Ise interjected-and I had to wonder, had she really worn that maid outfit for the entire journey?-“if that is your stance, then you owe Sasaki a debt of gratitude. To benefit from his sacrifice and then speak of him with such disdain… isn’t that a contradiction?”
”Of course I am grateful,” Kagaya said with a dismissive snort. “His sacrifice is the reason I am standing here. But that is the extent of it.”
Her clinical detachment was sickening. I couldn’t even look at her face anymore.
”So that’s it? You don’t feel… bad for Natsumi at all?”
”I don’t. If anything, I’m thankful he served his purpose. If he were here right now, I would tell him ‘thank you’ without a second thought.”
I ground my teeth so hard my jaw ached. He didn’t die for people like you. Not for this.
I had to physically restrain myself from lunging across the table to strike her.
”…I see. Yamato, if she’s going to be with you, then we’re moving separately.”
”I… suppose that can’t be helped,” Yamato said, bowing her head. “Neither Maya nor I have a sufficient grasp of sorcery yet. We need Kagaya. I’m sorry.”
It wasn’t Yamato’s fault, but the thought of traveling with them was repulsive now. Besides, she had known Natsumi was being bullied and chose to look the other way. Whatever her reasons were, she wasn’t someone I could trust. From that moment on, “working together” was off the table.
We finished our meal in a suffocating silence and retreated to our rooms.
* * *
Two days later.
We stood before the Magical Academy Envyos⁵. The reason was simple: we were there for the entrance exam.
Unlike the schools back home, this Academy held exams once a month. It was a brutal system designed to cull the weak. The bottom ten students were constantly at risk of being replaced by new applicants. Those on the verge of expulsion had to fight to keep their spots; if they failed the monthly test, they were out. It was an elite, all-boarding environment, and the students were desperate to stay.
There were about forty of us in the classroom, including our group of six (minus Ise). The applicants ranged from kids to full-grown adults; apparently, out here, the pursuit of power had no age limit.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice the literal death stares I was getting from the other men in the room.
The exam was split into two parts: Theory and Practical. Theory covered the basics-general education plus the fundamentals of sorcery systems. The Practical was a measure of raw mana capacity and spell finesse, though for the entrance phase, they cared more about the size of your “fuel tank” than how well you drove the car.
We cruised through the general education part. Thanks to our translation skills, reading and writing were effortless. Even when I thought in Japanese, the script on the page seemed to rearrange itself into their language automatically.
The math was a surprise. In all the fantasy light novels Natsumi used to lend me, the math in these worlds was usually at a grade-school level. But this was a prestigious institution; they were throwing middle-school level algebra at us. It wasn’t enough to trip us up, but it showed they were serious.
The “Sorcery Systems” section was a different story. It was focused heavily on elemental magic, and since we hadn’t studied the formal foundations, most of us struggled to fill out the paper. Kagaya, however, seemed to breeze through it. She was rank one in our year for a reason. I had no idea where she’d managed to learn it all.
Then came the Practical.
”Another one over a hundred…?”
”Wait, look at that Kagaya girl. Her mana is over five hundred!”
”That Yuki guy topped three hundred too. And he’s actually gorgeous… Wow…”
”Tch. They’re obviously cheating. I don’t know how, but they are.”
The room was buzzing. Even the examiner stood agape as Rei finished her measurement.
”Mana capacity doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t cast a spell,” someone sneered. He was wearing the Academy uniform-likely one of the ‘dropouts’ fighting for his life. “The next part will strip the facade away. We’ll see who the real frauds are.”
He was about to be very disappointed.
”I just have to hit the target, correct?” Kagaya asked.
”Yes,” the examiner replied, still looking a bit dazed. “Any sorcery is acceptable. Even recovery magic, if you can demonstrate a target-based application.”
”Understood. Then…”
Kagaya took a sharp, steadying breath.
”Flame Burst!⁶“
A deafening roar shattered the air, kicking up a choking shroud of dust. Even though we were standing well back from the firing line, the shockwave rattled my teeth. When the air finally cleared, the targets were gone. In their place was a jagged, smoking crater.
The examiner actually fell backward.
Where the hell did Kagaya learn Flame Burst? That was undeniably a high-tier spell. Then again, I shouldn’t talk-I had just “learned” it myself simply by watching the way she moved her mana.
Yamato and the rest of us showed a bit more restraint, sticking to basic sorcery, but even our “weak” spells drew panicked looks from the staff.
Obviously, we all passed.
As a side note: the student who had been running his mouth about us being frauds? He failed. Miserably.
—
Summary:
Yuki and his group arrive at the capital city Serpenta Ria after a grueling month of travel where they realized their lack of survival skills. They reunite with Yamato’s group, but tension explodes when Kagaya Mashiro coldly justifies Natsumi’s sacrifice. Yuki decides to move independently, and the group takes the entrance exam for the Magical Academy, showcasing overwhelming mana and spells.
—
Trivia:
- Utility Magic was learned mid-journey and was essentially a life-saver.
- Natsumi, Tatei, and Yokoo were the only ones who actually knew survival skills.
- Yamato’s group arrived three days later than Yuki’s.
- The Academy entrance exam happens every month and involves replacing the bottom 10 students.
- Yuki’s cheat ability allows him to learn high-level spells just by observing them once.
- Ise Maya traveled the entire month in a maid outfit
—
Character Insight:
Yuki’s moral compass is firmly set; he cannot tolerate those who dismiss Natsumi’s death as a logical necessity. Kagaya’s pragmatism makes her an antagonist to Yuki’s emotional loyalty, while Yamato is shown as a pragmatic leader willing to associate with toxic elements if it ensures survival.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The contrast between isekai tropes (easy survival) and the gritty reality (shovels for toilets) highlights the author’s attempt to ground the fantasy elements.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Ria – A beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Has a beauty mark (mole) under her right eye. Well-balanced proportions.
• Natsumi – The protagonist. Height 168 to 171 cm, weight 57 to 59 kg. He has a baby face, but he hides his eyes with his bangs. He was bullied by the Sugita gang just because his name sounded like a girl’s name.
• Tatei – Tatei Kozoo. Height 186 cm, weight 52 kg. Natsumi’s otaku friend. Originally a tall and sturdy man, but he became skin and bones due to anorexia. Possesses the skill ‘Materialization Alchemy’. Created equipment for the class.
• Yokoo – Natsumi Sasaki’s otaku friend. His appearance is based on ‘Yoko’ from ‘Comic Party.’ Possesses ‘Materialization Summoning’. Accompanied by a Living Armor.
• Tate – Male Otaku friend of Reese. Gaunt and thin, wears glasses. Possesses Materialization Alchemy skill.
• Satomi – A bronzed girl with bleached hair.
• Yamato – Yamato Hina. Student council vice-president. Serious, beautiful, with long straight hair and sharp eyes.
• Maya – Ise Maya. Yamato’s attendant/maid. Short hair, cold gaze, wears a maid outfit.
• Mashiro – Rank one student, beautiful but cold and detached, high mana capacity.
• Hina – Yamato Hina. Student council vice-president. Serious, beautiful, with long straight hair and sharp eyes.
• Yuki – Yuki Chihiro. Height 178 cm, weight 70 kg (Male). Natsumi’s childhood friend. A handsome, athletic top student in the soccer club.
• Sugita – The leader of the Sugita gang and the primary bully of Natsumi Sasaki. His grandfather is the Superintendent General and his father is a Police Superintendent, so the two of them covered up all his crimes. Because of this, he does whatever he wants wherever he goes. He has a lean build, sharp features, and a calculating gaze.
• Sasaki – The protagonist. Height 168 to 171 cm, weight 57 to 59 kg. He has a baby face, but he hides his eyes with his bangs. He was bullied by the Sugita gang just because his name sounded like a girl’s name.
• Rei – One of the Kijima twin sisters.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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