“And so, after the long war ended a hundred years ago, all of the races came to an agreement.” [???]

Inside a room big enough to fit thirty people, the human male spoke in a monotonous voice while reading some passages from the book in his left hand. His other hand had something resembling a black chalkboard pointer and he waved it in the air. Those who were sitting on small desks in front of him were either listening to his lecture or completely ignoring him. It was something that was inevitable for all teachers.  

“Because of the devastation it caused, a peace treaty was signed. Although there were skirmishes, they never escalated to full-blown wars.” [Teacher]

A closed door allowed entry into the classroom. On the opposite side, there were windows that let in the bright sunlight, warming up those who were sitting next to them. At the very back of the rows of desks, one person was taking a nap like a cat in the middle of the day. Sunlight from the window on her left shined down on her.

“There are still some grudges among the races, especially those with long lifespans like the elves and the fairies, but everyone made sure to respect the peace treaty.” [Teacher]

With her arms crossed on top of her desk and her face planted in between them, she was completely ignoring the lecture. Those sitting closest to her turned their eyes for a moment, but quickly went back to taking notes.

“To get rid of the animosity and to mark the end of the great war, a school was built on neutral grounds and anyone was allowed to enroll no matter what race they were from.” [Teacher]

The balding old man with greying black hair started walking through the rows of desks and went straight for the head of black hair that dared sleep through his class so brazenly.

“And that was how Sanctuary Academy was born. Did you get all that?” [Teacher]

He lightly hit her on the head with his pointer which caused her to twitch. The young female student slowly raised her upper body from her desk and stared at her teacher with sleepy-looking eyes. Without having anyone there to tell her what to do, her long hair that was always properly combed straight was now all messy.

“Can you repeat what I said, Miss Ava?” [Teacher]

The teacher looked at the problem child of his class with quite the cold eyes. Even though she wasn’t loud, flashy or violent, she was the hardest to handle. He had dealt with a lot of middle schoolers before, but none of them were as strange as her. Sometimes, he wondered if she really was twelve years old.

“Ummm… After everyone got tired of beating each other up, they decided to build a school somewhere and have their kids play nice. Ouch!” [Ava]

The pointer came down on her head once more, but with more force.

“… *Sigh* Don’t sleep in class again. I’m getting too old for this.” [Teacher]

Suppressing the vein that popped on his forehead, the old man let out a huge sigh and went back to the front of the class to resume his lecture. The other kids who were watching all kept staring at the girl in the white dress until he started talking again.

“She’s sleeping again.” [Student]

“That half-breed does whatever she wants.” [Student]

“Shhh! That’s an insult! What if the teacher heard you?” [Student]

Humans, dwarfs, harpies and ogres whispered to each other. There were from different races, yet mixed together in this single classroom. That was the purpose of this school: to nurture future generations without prejudice or discrimination.

Of course, it didn’t always work.

“This feels… Nostalgic.” [Ava]

Ava muttered while laying on her back and staring at the sky from the roof. It was lunch break and the school ground was filled with the clamoring voices of students happily eating with their friends and usual group. There were no uniforms and as such, the young ones were wearing clothes native to their land and origin. While everyone was enjoying themselves, one half-elf was killing time by herself until class began.

She had already eaten her meal which consisted of bread and water. Students needed to pay for their food at the cafeteria. Money and other daily necessities were given to her when she was suddenly shipped off to this school more than a week ago and she was using it sparingly.

After being summoned to Nylian’s office, she was told that she would attend Sanctuary Academy which was outside their elven country. The few goods she possessed were swiftly packed up and ready to be sent out along with her. Furthermore, Nylian had mentioned that the single money pouch she received was all they would offer her and that she would have to earn money by herself. It would appear that they wanted to teach her a lesson, but Ava was thankful for their non-interference policy.

Various miscellaneous jobs were available around the campus, so she could do some work for the school and get payed. As such, she wasn’t going to run out of money and die of hunger. But, for now, she wanted to take it easy for a bit longer until she got an accurate idea of how the school worked.

Ava raised her body and stared at the buildings around her from the rooftop. Sanctuary Academy had five roads leading to it from every direction, but all in all, it was in the middle of nowhere. No city was built next to the school which meant that one had to take a carriage to go to the nearest town. Seas of trees and fields of grass filled her view in the horizon.

The entire campus spanned a wide area since the academy taught the different levels that went from primary to high school. The grounds were cleared to allow for outdoor activities and there were also boarding houses for students that came from far away countries.

People that looked like humans, people that had animal ears, people that had scales and more were running around the place. It was a huge melting pot of different races that wasn’t partial to any kingdoms. The goal of Sanctuary Academy was to break down the walls between the races, so it couldn’t favor anyone.

“Not bad…” [Ava]

Losing herself in her thoughts, Ava simply sat there absentmindedly under the blue sky. When lunch was about to end, she got up on her feet and went to the door to get back to her classroom. The middle school building had five floors and the rooftop was off-limits, so she was the only one there. The school had a store that sold various goods to students like pencils, books and handkerchiefs.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

So, she bought a couple of hairpins and used them to pick the lock. If anyone came by, they would have seen a twelve year old, black-haired elf acting like a burglar. Once she locked the door again, she made her way back to her classroom that was on the second floor.

“Look, it’s a half-elf.” [Student]

Along the way, quite a few students were staring at her. Although she had a cute face thanks to her elven bloodline, what attracted their gazes was her long black hair.     

“She’s got black hair, even though she has elf ears.” [Student]

“Never saw a half-elf before.” [Student]

“Well, duh, elves don’t fall for anyone but other elves and they don’t like half-elves.” [Student]

It’s been days since she came here, but not everyone got used to her presence yet. Although some ignored her, most of them started gossiping to their friends upon seeing her.

“But, shouldn’t there, you know, be more with how pretty elves are? Like… With elven slaves and whatnot…” [Student]

“You… Don’t you know anything? It’s really hard to find an elf as a slave since most of them keep to themselves. Plus, they’re all good-looking and can use some elven power. That’s why they cost a lot and you can’t buy one unless you’re some rich noble.” [Student]

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know, ok?! So I’m not some rich noble!” [Student]

“Don’t get angry at me! Don’t start crying for real!” [Student]

Ava ignored the noise around her and kept looking straight as she walked on. There were curious gazes, hostile gazes and mocking gazes. But, so long as they didn’t come bother her, she didn’t mind them. This was something she had gotten used to a long time ago. It was a common occurrence, like hearing birds chirp or feeling the wind blow.

“You think I have a chance if I ask her out?” [Student]

“Don’t know. But, my dad told me that I shouldn’t go out with a half-elf if I see one, so don’t.” [Student]

“Why not?” [Student]

“He said that a bunch of people will spread rumors about you. And the elves will glare at you like crazy. And life will be harsh in general. Also, you won’t have a family.” [Student]

“No family? Why’s that?” [Student]

As Ava went about her business, she looked at her slender pair of legs that her dress’s skirt wasn’t hiding. Now that she was living away from her prison and prison wardens, she was thinking of saving enough money to buy new clothes, preferably pants.

“Because half-elves can’t have children.” [Student]

“Really?” [Student]

“Yeah, it’s weird. A half-therianthrope can have kids. A half-dwarf can have kids. A half-ogre can have kids. A half-therianthrope, half-dwarf, half ogre can have kids. But, half-elves can’t.” [Student]

“Maybe they’re cursed?” [Student]

“Then they’re half-cursed. Half-elves can’t have kids and fairies can’t have kids with any of the other races. My dad taught me that.” [Student]

“Ohhh. What else did he teach you?” [Student]

“Don’t talk to strangers.” [Student]

Having safely crossed the sea of students that were also going back to class, Ava returned only to find her desk occupied by her classmates. Four boys, a human, a dwarf, an ogre and a therianthrope of the cat tribe, were crowding around her spot next to the window. They were talking to each other and laughing much like everyone else in her class.

Window spots were quite popular, so it couldn’t be helped. Ava, not wanting to disturb them, politely waited until they left without saying a word.

“Huh? What?” [Student]

Standing still, she silently waited for them to return her seat.

“W-what’s with you? You’re bothering us. You mind leaving?” [Student]

She waited right in front of them while staring at them without blinking. The four were pretty much unsettled and couldn’t ignore her.

“H-hey! Are you picking a fight or something?!” [Student]

The ogre boy, who was taller than his peers and had a short horn on his forehead, walked up to Ava and glared at her. He raised his fist to show that he meant business, but the half-elf didn’t move a muscle and just kept staring at him. Her dark brown eye and white eye were staring straight at him.

His opponent wasn’t menacing and was smaller than him, but her sleepy expression that didn’t change at all was strangely disturbing him. Of course, as a man and as an ogre, he didn’t back down and stared straight in her mismatched eyes. But, after a few seconds, he broke eye contact and walked away with his back drenched in sweat.

With one enemy down, Ava proceeded to silently stare at the rest of the opposing forces.

“T-the teacher’s gonna be here soon.” [Student]

“Y-yeah, let’s go.” [Student]

The human and the dwarf wisely retreated after flinching from fear.

“…” [Student]

The therianthrope tried to hold his ground and glared at her, but his tactic amounted to nothing and he soon ran away with his tail between his legs.

“(Kids…)” [Ava]

Having easily secured her seat, Ava sat down, wiped her desk a few times with her sleeve and gazed at the sky outside the window. Her classmates that saw the showdown were discussing about the results they just witnessed in hushed voices.

“Did you see that?” [Student]

“She didn’t even need to raise a finger…” [Student]

“Creepy…” [Student]

Comments such as “She’s weird.” and “A half-breed elf.” were flying around the classroom. While weathering such stares and gossips, Ava continued to enjoy her current peaceful life.

“(Ahhh… I really am in a school again.)” [Ava]

With one hand supporting her chin, she was lazily zoning out until the start of class, but the next moment, her sleepy expression changed to a frown.

“(I miss my shut-in life already.)” [Ava]