I removed the uniform.

I took a bath. It was surprisingly similar to my own world. A shower and a bath tub. Though I didn’t knew what was written on the bottles, the appearance of shampoo and conditioner was the same as the ones in my world. The water was warm, and the soap was really smooth on skin. There was even a hair dryer. This is looking more and more like a hotel.

I stepped out of the bath, still in my towel. Previously, it was too dark to make out anything, but now that I look at it, even this room is quite, what’s the word. Wait, I promise I have learnt it. It was in that chapter even..uhh, what is it. Something E...elegant? No, close but no. Exquisite? Was it exquisite? I think it was exquisite. What does it even mean? I just remember the word.

The room had yellow wallpaper. Wallpaper. A concept I had only heard about. I touched the walls, and it really is covered with paper. While I do know wallpaper existed in my world too, but people just paint their walls. This is the first time I am seeing a real wallpaper. Ah, and there is also the wallpaper you put on phone screen. I totally forgot about that.

There was a knock on the door. “Flare, you done?” asked Vivian. “Just a minute.” I answered.

Wait, do these people have the concept of minute? They have weird units so I am pretty sure they measure time different. Also, I have a bad habit of dwelling into small things. I should really stop wasting time.

I noticed a bag placed on the bed. It was full of underwear. All my size. While I do admire those tailors’ ability, it is terrifying how much they knew just by looking at my photo.

“Hey, Vivian! Where do I keep the laundry?”

“There should be a basket besides your bed. Clothes are washed on Brahaspati and Ravivar.”

Eh...what? Was that days of weeks? How could that headmaster not pronounce my name but can remember these abominations. So, well. There was a basket besides the bed, a plastic looking one. It was kinda embarrassing to just leave my clothes lying there. I do remember when my brother went to a hostel, he too was embarrassed to let anyone else wash his clothes. He also said that they had to fight who gets in the bath first, but I suppose I got lucky here. I dumped my clothes there, from a distance, to see how good a basketball player I could become. But I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Coming! Sorry!” I said while quickly wearing my clothes. Within two minutes, or it might be five minutes, I was combing my hair straight and was ready and I opened the door to be greeted by Vivian's smile. “Let’s go.” She said, while not holding my hand. I am not complaining, I was just surprised, but I suppose its embarrassing to do so at school.

“By the way, Vivian.”

“Viv. Just call me Viv.”

“Okay, Viv. I really find it strange how similar this is to my world.”

“Strange? How so?”

“Well, on Earth, we don’t have magic.”

“Hm? So, are you the only one with magic?”

“Not the only one, but some of the few.”

“I see. So, what’s strange about that?”

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“Well, you guys have magic. And we don’t. Shouldn’t that make you more advanced or something?”

“If you don’t have magic, how do you power your lights and all?”

“Ah, we have electricity.”

“Electricity?”

“Yes, it’s kinda like magic. But it comes from rocks and all. But it’s not at all as amazing as magic.”

“I see. Let me think for a while.” She said before going silent. We barely walked three steps before she went

“I think I got it. Well, they are just theories, truth to be told. But listen, what if, the laws of our world are different? Like, it could be easy to manipulate electricity, but hard to manipulate magic. Also, it could be like the time itself in our worlds flow different.”

“Different?”

“What is 1 yourn in our world, may not be 1 yourn in your world. I suppose this world is slower if you say electricity can’t do what magic does. The third theory is, we simply don’t have any ideas.”

“Ideas?”

“Well, this one has the least chance of becoming true, but the hero always gets summoned once every 1000 years, to defeat the demon lord. Every time he comes, he brings the technology of his world. Its possible that this world is completely dependent on your world for ideas then.”

“That’s...crazy. But could be true. Hey, about that hero thingy. Is there any hero for this demon lord?”

“Eh? Are you seriously asking that?”

“Hm? What about it?”

“You are the hero, Flare.”

“Ha! I thought heroes are males. I really wanted him to save me though...”

“Save you from what? Is there anything that can harm you?”

“Don’t say it like I am a brute! I have a maiden's heart.”

Vivian didn’t replied, she just giggled.

The breakfast hall was huge. I suppose all students of the school were here, cause it was literally thousands and thousands of students. All in different uniforms, except a corner where all the students were wearing the same colours.

I didn’t knew where I was going since I was just following Vivian around, but by the time we got seated, I noticed where I was. It was among Alex and others.

“Eh? Is it really alright for me to be here? I am just a first year, you know.”

“Of course, it’s fine.” Answered Vivian.

From where I was seated, I could barely make out child senpai's face. His cheeks would be a blessing in mornings.

The food was already in front of me. In one of those pure white plates, with a fork and a knife. I don’t even know what even was in front of me. It was just, food. Like, you know how after cooking, potato, meat, bread, all look the same? Well, probably not, they don’t look the same. But what was in front of me could only be described as lumpy meaty and juicy. There was also a dash of what appeared to be coriander on the side. And a cup of tea.

I first took a sip of tea. It was surprisingly sweet. I didn’t expect them to actually put sugar in this thing. There was also the rich taste of ginger.

Well, now that everything is over, time to focus on the main mission. Now that Alex is out of my reach, which one to go after. I looked around. Usually, I would be pleased, but the fact that I don’t remember anyone’s name really makes me feel guilty. The only one’s name I remember is Nathan. Which is funny because I didn’t even bother to look at him yesterday. Assuming the only person I don’t know to be him, let’s see. He is quite good material too. I now see why past me ignored him. He is good, but not that good. He was rather average, the only thing making him stand out were his black hair and...face? His face is not that good, but...it is interesting for some reason. Really familiar. I don’t know if I have ever seen it but it looks very similar to something.

There wasn’t much talk at the table. But somehow it wasn’t awkward. Someone asked me about my health, and I said I am fine. There was a hustle all around us, the gibberish chorus of students, clinking of plates, stomps of shoes and all, yet it all seemed very distant from us. I suppose that’s the effect of student council. There was a student council at my school too. But they used to be so busy they would rarely be in class. They would spend all day guarding the gates, and corridors. Helping out teachers. I once asked my classmate why he joined the student council , and he said something like “Its a mistake I’ll never do again in my life.”

I wonder how even student council is chosen. There it would be that they would just repeat the previous year’s council all over again and again, till they all graduate. After that they would just choose the smartest of bunch and promote them.

There was the bell announcing the end of breakfast and the hustle and noise multiplied as others got up to dump their plates.

“Uh, where do I have to go now?” I asked Vivian.

“Don’t worry about that.” She answered with a smile.