Yhen Valiance woke up the next day, he found that the girl from last night had already left the room. Checking the clock, he realized it was still early.

“4:35 AM,” Valiance muttered, taking note of the time. He was quite impressed by the girl's diligence. Seems like a hardworking type. Remembering her from last night, he thought about the books she was carrying. She's trying too hard.

Come to think of it, I still don’t know her name.

Even though they were now some sort of roommates, she was still a total stranger to him. Interestingly, he hadn’t properly introduced himself either, so it was fair she hadn’t done so.

Valiance shrugged. Once he saw her on campus, he would at least try to tell her his name.

Having decided on what to do, Valiance immediately took a bath. Thankfully, even though dorm rooms were only for two people at most, there was a bathroom built into the room.

After finishing his bath, he realized he didn’t have any spare clothes. He had left all of them in his old man’s research room. He hadn’t planned to stay at the academy after enrolling. In fact, he hadn’t packed anything.

Still wearing the same white robe from yesterday, Valiance opened the door. A tall girl, about 6'1", came into view. She was also wearing the academy uniform, but instead of a magic robe, it consisted of a long-sleeved shirt paired with a blue and black skirt that stopped about two inches above the knee.

Valiance frowned at the academy's uniform style. The skirt was dangerously close to being absurdly short. However, given how tall the girl was—taller than him—it didn’t look particularly inappropriate.

He forced a smile. “Hello? Who are you looking for?”

“Are you Valiance Esteban?”

Despite the girl’s intimidating height, her voice was surprisingly soft and sweet.

“Yes, that’s me,” Valiance admitted, his tone uncertain. “Why?”

“Professor Blackrose ordered me to bring this to you.” She handed him a set of clothes. “Also, here.”

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She placed a book on top of the clothes. Valiance glanced at it, sensing familiarity, though he couldn’t recall where he had seen it before.

“What’s this?”

“The Student Rulebook,” the tall girl explained. “Kindly read all the rules inside. There’s also general information about the academy.”

“Thank you.” Valiance nodded gratefully. “I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“No worries,” the girl replied with a sweet little grin. “I hope you enjoy your time at the academy.”

“Yes!”

After that, the tall girl hurried away, each of her steps covering great distances. Valiance shook his head, looking down at the uniform and robe in his hands, with the rulebook sitting atop them.

I forgot to ask her name.

Valiance froze as he realized this. He might seem desperate to connect with others, but old man Kalli had often reminded him to make friends. They were valuable sources of help and information. Even if they didn’t want to help, their information was still useful.

“Did my roommate mention the class time?” he muttered, recalling her words from last night. If she wasn’t messing with him, then…

“Shit, 5 AM is near!”

Valiance slammed the door shut and quickly changed out of his dirty white robe into the academy uniform. The moment the fabric touched his skin, he felt its coolness.

Checking the time again, it was now 4:49 AM.

“Okay, there’s still time.”

He hadn’t expected changing clothes to take so long. Making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, Valiance grabbed the rulebook and scrambled out of the room.

---

Flipping the book open, Valiance studied the map on page three. Following it, he reached his destination after two minutes of walking. The building was enormous—the campus for freshmen or first-years.

He saw students like himself trudging soullessly toward the building. Inside, the corridor was lined with doors, each with a sign above it.

1-A… 1-B… 1-C… and so on.

Now, where’s my class?

Valiance was stumped. Skimming through the rulebook, he found no details about his assigned classroom or the lessons he was supposed to take.

The academy’s service seems lackluster.

This impression had started the moment he saw the long lines yesterday, with only one teacher managing everything. If that wasn’t a sign of poor organization, what was?

“It’s you.”

A cold, familiar voice reached his ears. Valiance’s hopes lifted as he turned around to see his roommate descending the staircase, her expression deadpan.

“You’re lost, aren’t you? Don’t know where to go?”

“Yeah…” Valiance muttered, his voice full of embarrassment.

“Follow me,” she said flatly.

“You know where I’m assigned?”

“No.”

“Then—”

“At least you won’t look like an idiot lingering in the corridor without a plan,” she interrupted mercilessly before starting down the corridor.

“True,” Valiance whispered, following her. Then he realized he still didn’t know her name. “Uh, may—”

“You’ll find out later,” she interrupted again.

“How did you know?” Valiance stared at her in disbelief.

She stopped briefly and looked at him. “You’re easy to read.” With that, she continued walking.

Am I?

Valiance tried to figure out what part of him was so easy to read. No ordinary person could predict someone’s thoughts so effortlessly.

“By the way,” he said, “it seems the academy accepts students in the middle of the school year, no?”

“Correct,” she replied. “What of it?”

“What about enrolling in the last month? Can I still proceed to the next grade level?”

“If you can manage it, sure,” she said. “But I doubt anyone could meet the quota that easily.”

“Quota? You mean the academy uses a point system?”

“Did you live under a rock yesterday? That’s common knowledge,” she mocked. Then she stopped abruptly. “We’re here.”

Valiance looked ahead at a sliding door, twice his height. The girl pulled it open, revealing a spacious classroom filled with students.

She turned to him, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips.

“Welcome to the academy.”