After entering on the door I saw light flashes around me and I found myself in a small room. It looked like a study room of sort, which had bookshelves around the walls, full of books.

„I see you could find the correct door this time around, Mr. Kanda,” said a man who sat in an armchair. „Please, have a seat.” I was surprised to see this man again. He was the one who helped me out with directions in the library.

„Are you Professor Shagi?” I didn’t think the professor in question would be so young.

„Indeed I am. Why, you thought I might be an old man with a long ass beard?”

„N-No. I just didn’t think you might be the professor who made this trial.”

„You will learn not to judge so easily in the future, Mr. Kanda. Always walk with open eyes. But anyway, let me to congratulate you for passing the trial. You are also the third person who made it here.”

„Does... does it mean everyone else failed? Only three people passed until now?”

The professor laughed. “Goodness, no! Professor Gladiola would kill me if I made a trial that hard. Everyone who make it to the fifth question will pass. Think of it as a form of gratis. Four plus one. Like in a tale,” he said and laughed again.

“So the other doors...?”

“They all lead to a classroom with ‘You passed’ written on the board. And even if you don’t choose a door, one side of the barricade would open and a second year student would await you with the talisman which shows that you passed. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t get it. What was the point of that?” I asked and I could see Professor Shagi smiling brightly with a warm light in his eyes.

“You see, Mr. Kanda, I am a new professor here. And I’d like to nurture my students in a way. What do you think, what will people feel when they see that they were right and the thing they chose was the right answer?"

“I... I guess they will feel they were right? But then how about the door I chose?” The professor leaned back in his armchair, his arms folded.

“I am selfish to an extent, Mr. Kanda. Or rather, very curious. But I am a terrible mage. A friend helped me arranging this trial too, with all the connections and teleportations between the places. I thought of making a door leading to my study because I was curious: who and why would choose this answer? So please humour me Mr. Kanda and tell me, why did you choose curiosity over all those things or austerity?” His eyes shined like before.

“I... I realized I wanted to know people more. I realized I wasn’t curious enough until now. So I want to change it.” I could hear the professor laughing again.

“Pardon me Mr. Kanda, I am not laughing at you. I feel like we are looking towards a great semester if all three of you will make it pass the other two trials.”

“Right, you mentioned there were two others here before me. Were their names Collin and Rika?”

“Collin and Rika, hmm... no, not quite. I assume they are your friends?” I nodded. “Then I won’t bore you for long, Mr. Kanda, so you can join them soon. But no, the other two came earlier, maybe in the second or third group? They said they went through the trial together and they were curious what would be behind this door.” The professor grinned but I looked at him surprised.

“Together? But I didn’t meet anyone during the trial.”

“If you didn’t go through the same door at the start, then it’s no wonder. Nobody said you can’t do it, right?” He kept grinning.

As we were talking, I could hear the door opening. The person entering was that boy from the hall with an unemotional face.

„Congratulations, you passed the trial. Your name?” asked from him the professor with a smile.

„...Klaus.”

„Well, Mr. Klaus, care to join us and talk a bit? You won’t get many more chances like this.”

„I refuse, Professor. I can leave through this door, right? Good day to you two.” With that, as suddenly he appeared he disappeared again.

„It makes four. Not bad, not bad at all. He looked at you like you two had met before. Do you know him?”

„No, not really. I only met him this morning. We were in the same group.”

„So that’s the case. Well, as I said I don’t want to bore you if you want to leave. I’m sure your friends are also waiting for you. Of course if you have any questions, then I will gladly answer them.”

„You said you are a professor but you are not good at magic. And... you also don’t look like a martial artist, Professor, no offense.” I could see him smile at my comment. “So I wondered... what do you teach here?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Well, my subjects are kind of new. As I said I only started teaching here not long ago, it will be my fourth year, to be exact. I teach languages, but my subjects aren’t compulsory and it’s mainly for second year and above students, so... I don’t think we will meet anytime soon in the classroom, Mr. Kanda. But be sure to pass the trials and take up one of my language courses, alright? It might be mainly about languages, but we talk about a lot of other things too. The mood is always great and sometimes we continue our conversations with the students outside of the class.”

“Then I will think about it,” I said, not being sure if I want to take language courses or not.

„Also, once you get old enough, let’s go and have a drink together, shall we? Maybe once you graduate. By that time, you will certainly have tales to tell me, and I’m also eager to share my stories with you and everyone else who might join us.”

„Why me, professor?”

„It’s not about you, Mr. Kanda. It’s about your choices. Whoever can get to me will get an invitation from me for a drink. This is what I decided on. The fact that you became one of them is pure chance. Or, well, maybe it’s not pure chance alone. We will find out once you pass the other trials. But make sure you make it through, alright? It would be a shame if you made it to me, then failed the next ones.”

I nodded. „I’m sorry professor, but I might leave now. My friends are surely waiting for me.”

„I see, I see. You are not as clueless as I expected you to be. Hm, I see. Yes, you shall go now. Hush, Mr. Kanda.” The professor said, showing me the door.

What’s with him? I wondered but after saying goodbyes I left through the same door as Klaus.

I was back in a hall and I could see a second year student waiting by the door I just passed through. He was a boy not much older than me and seemed surprised by seeing me.

“Oh, another one already? Erm, congratulations on completing the first trial. Let me lead you to the reception where you can get your talisman. Make sure to not lose it, okay?” he told me and led me to the reception where Ms. Patricia was still sitting and writing things.

“Hey Patricia, we have another passer through Prof Shagi,” he told her and she looked up. She had a bright smile when she saw me.

“Hey, it was Kanda, right? Thank you Jonah, I will take it from here,” she told the boy who nodded and went back. “So, how was your encounter with Professor Shagi? He was nice, wasn’t he?”

“Uhm, yeah. He said I won’t meet him for a while in class though.”

Ms. Patricia laughed. “Yeah, he only has language courses for now. But they are great. I took up his Elven course last year because I want to visit the Elves in the future. Did you know that- Oh, nevermind, we will talk later, first comes the administration.” She rummaged on the desk and grabbed a paper with strange symbols on it, wrote my name at the bottom and gave it to me. “Here, take this. Think of it as a kind of ticket you got for passing the first trial. Don’t leave it, okay? Putting it into your chest pocket or some other safe place would be the best idea. And don’t forget to bring it yourself for the next trials either. Without it you can’t enter the trials.” Her voice was serious so I couldn’t help but nod while I put away the paper. “Great. So, did you know that Professor Shagi-”

“There you are, Kanda!” I could feel a hand slapping my shoulder from behind. I could see Rika and Collin standing behind me. Collin had the usual stoic expression on his face while Rika had a wide grin. “You passed too, didn’t you?” I nodded. “Great, great! Ah, sorry missy, mind if we take him? We are celebrating tonight!” Rika shouted and laughed.

Ms. Patricia looked dumbfounded and blinked a few times before she could react. “Erm, sure. Congratulations, Kanda. And have a great celebration.”

I wanted to talk a bit more with Ms. Patricia but Rika dragged me away and there were some new people arriving to the reception.

“Why the long face, Kanda? I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” asked Rika with a taunting smile but I didn’t bite her bait.

“Not at all. And so, you passed the trial too, right?”

“Yep!” Rika grinned and showed the paper she got. Collin also nodded, but he seemed more serious than usually.

“Did something happen?” I asked with a little concern in my voice.

“Naaah, he is just annoyed so many people made it through the first trial.”

“Professor Shagi went easy on us. It means the next trials will have more participants,” explained Collin his concerns.

“And more fight! I can’t wait!” said Rika with another laugh.

“Did Sir Posh also make it?” I asked, wondering about him. I encouraged him at the start but I am not sure if he really passed in the end.

“Who knows. We didn’t see him. But we did see Dead Eyes walking out after us, as stoic as ever.”

“I met with him at Professor Shagi’s room. He passed. Oh, and his name is Klaus.”

“Klaus huh... And wait, you met Professor Shagi?! How?!” Rika shouted but even Collin seemed a little interested.

“Uhm... I chose curiosity in the end. But wait, how come we can talk about it? I thought it would be all gibberish.”

“Oh, it is gibberish, unless you also participated. We can discuss every detail we want while others will only hear incoherent babbling,” explained Rika with a smile.

“Did the professor say something?” asked Collin with an interested expression.

„Uh, nothing much. He said the last question was a gratis to teach us. And he wants to go drinking with me once I graduate. He also recommended his language courses? And how it’s about more than languages? It was kind of confusing,” I answered truthfully.

„Anyhow, let’s go back to the inn. You are paying for tonight’s dinner, okay?” said Rika with a grin.

„As if. Pay for yourself.”

„Boooo! You guys don’t know how to treat a lady!”

„You are anything but lady.”

„Say it again, Four-eyes!”

„Keep calm, Rika. We should hurry back to the inn to rent out the rooms again.”

„What are you talking about? Both Collin and me paid for the whole trial period in advance.”

„Eh? No way! Then I am the only without a room now?

„You don’t need to worry. Many people still failed the trial, so there will be enough rooms. But in case there won’t be... you can sleep in my room. The ground might be a bit hard and there aren’t any spare blankets to give you, but hey, at least you will have a roof. Oh, and I also require you to be my servant for a few months. Deal?” She asked with the same taunting smile as always.

“Forget it. See you in the inn!” I said and started running.

“Heeey, I know a shortcut!” shouted Rika as she ran along with me, but I could hear the mischief in her voice. Collin also ran with us.

“I won’t fall for it!”

“You are no fun!” she shouted but both of us laughed, even Collin had a smile on his face. The first trial was over. There were only two more to go for now.

When we arrived back Miriam smiled gently and gave me the same room I had before. After a hearty meal with Rika and Collin I couldn’t wait to get a good night sleep in my bed.