[V2C5] Whoever States Their Name the Coolest Wins (But Pretty Boys Win by Default)
Translated by Jodas 2: Daily Lives of a New Teacher and the Apprentice MagesAfter the end of the Wedge Tower’s triennial entrance examination, Guidance Office Director Hegelich immediately reported its results to his direct superior, Spiremaster Abel of the first Spire, “White Smoke.”
Among the successful applicants, two of them posed clear problems.
This was something he could not handle himself. It necessitated involvement from the three Spiremasters and the Headmaster above them.
However, even after reading the names of the twelve successful applicants, Abel’s gentle smile did not falter.
“Julius Löwenich….I see, he must be Samuel Löwenich’s son. Be on the watch for his actions, and keep a close eye on him. You can put him in Instructor Sombart’s class.”
“Of course….. then, the other one…..”
As Hegelich brought up a massive problem that surpassed the threat of Julius Löwenich, Abel smiled widely.
“We’ll leave her with Instructor Hütter.”
Hegelich was shocked by the name Abel suggested.
The Dream Mage Caspar Hütter was a member of the Mage Association who had only been sent to the Wedge Tower a few weeks earlier.
To tell the truth, it was not unusual for the Wedge Tower to entrust the guidance of its apprentices to outside instructors.
There were great differences between the Classical Magecraft practiced in the ancient era and the Modern Magecraft that was widely used today.
Since the members of the Mage Association were almost all skilled with Modern Magecraft, they made ideal instructors for the Modern classes.
However, that wouldn’t do here. After all, there was a much bigger problem at hand.
“Do you not think that this issue is to serious to leave the responsibility to an outsider…..?”
“That is precisely why we will.”
Her voice was gentle, but left no room for argument. Hegelich simply had to swallow his words. That meant that whatever happened with respect to this huge problem, they would just push the responsibility on to the Mage Association.
(Either that, or Spiremaster Abel is trying to test Hütter….)
Abel was most likely harboring many political considerations in her mind.
However, she would not speak of any of them to him. Because Hegelich was a mage of the Modern School.
Even though they all belonged to the First Spire “White Smoke,” Schacht of the General Affairs Office and Eigen of the Finance Office were both of the Classical School like Abel.
As the only Modern mage among the Directors, his standing was weak.
Hegelich could not oppose Abel…..but, he tried to offer at least a little resistance.
“What does the Headmaster think about this?”
Abel’s smile remained unchanged.
“We shall not allow the order of the Wedge Tower to be disturbed.….. Those were the Headmaster’s thoughts, Director Hegelich.”
Abel tapped the pile of documents to straighten them out, then set them on the edge of the desk.
Her actions spoke that she had no more need to read them.
“If any of the apprentices were to disturb our order, then the responsibility for that would fall on your shoulders, as the Director of the Guidance Office. Am I wrong?”
“…..I understand.”
That was as much as Hegelich could muster.
The first morning had dawned since the end of the Wedge Tower’s entrance exam.
Tia, who woke up earlier than anyone, finished her stretches, then headed to the First Spire ‘White Smoke’ alongside Sevil.
Surrounded by a magnificent wall, the Wedge Tower consisted of three Spires numbered in order from the center outward, plus West and East Halls stretching out to both sides.
Generally, people would sleep in the dormitories, but they would take meals in their respective Spires.
As apprentices, Tia and the others were treated as members of the Guidance Office in the First Spire. Therefore, they would eat on the first floor of the First Spire ‘White Smoke.’
Tia headed to the First Spire along with Sevil, and as soon as they stepped inside, she located Wren’s sparkling golden hair.
Yesterday he’d let his long hair fall all the way down his back, but today it was tied in a high ponytail, swinging back and forth.
“Wren!!”
When Tia called to him, his golden tail flipped around as Wren turned.
His self-proclaimed pretty boy face lit up.
“Tia, Sevil! Good morning!”
“Good morning, Wren. Your hair’s a tail today!”
“It sure is. No matter what hairstyle I choose, i’m beautiful…..I still have cuts and bruises where I was hit yesterday; do they stick out?”
Wren lifted up his ponytail. Tia scanned all over the back of his head, but nothing jumped out at her.
“I can’t tell at all, so I think you’re okay!”
“That’s good, then. Sevil, your wrist was hurt as well, is it doing okay?”
“Indeed. Just to be sure, I took it easy in this morning’s sword practice.”
Wren blinked after hearing the words ‘sword practice.’
Nervously, Wren twirled his side bangs with his finger.
“…..Are you two in the same room?”
“We are! I’m with Sevil! We have a bunk bed, and I’m on the top one!”
“Hmm….”
Wren’s reaction sounded a little envious.
Sevil cut right to the chase.
“Is your roommate not with you?”
“He woke up before I did, and went off to do some sword practice. I haven’t seen him since. That guy’s super silent; I can’t talk to him at all! Even though a pretty boy is trying to talk to him!”
Wren pursed his lips and grumbled.
Surely Wren wanted to chat with his roommate.
There was one other sword-weilding applicant that passed the exam. A black-haired boy a little older than Wren.
He had a distinctive hairstyle where his bangs were long enough to cover his eyes, so she managed to remember him.
(Creatures that can conceal where they’re looking are strong ones.)
As she thought that, a voice called out to Tia from behind.
“Hey! Tia!”
Waving a hand as he approached Tia was the fuzzy red-haired Rose. Beside him stood Oliver with his light-brown hair spiked upwards.
Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really had the chance to talk to them since they passed because they were busy with the paperwork, the explanations, and so on.
Tia decided to introduce them to Wren and Sevil.
“Look, Wren, Sevil. These two are the fuzzy Mr. Rose and the ‘Red Rain’ Mr. Oliver who’s on his fourth test!”
“I’m the fuzzy Mr. Rose!”
“I’m the ‘Red Rain,’ Oliver.”
Wren creased his brow. “Huh? What…..Fuzzy? Red Rain?” He mumbled to himself.
Then, Wren massaged his brow with a finger and, suppressing the countless things he wanted to say, spoke to Tia with a mature face.
“Anyways, since he passed, you can take off the ‘on his fourth test’ part.”
“Oh, you’re right! Then, he’s the ‘Red Rain,’ Mr. Oliver!”
“Exactly.” Oliver nodded with a cool expression. Rose smiled as he spoke next.
“Oliver and I are in the same room. My name is John Rose! You can just call me Rose!”
“I’m Oliver Lange. Thou art a comrade who shall walk this treacherous path with me…..I hope to make your acquaintance.”
Rose was muscular, while Oliver was tall.
They were by far the biggest amongst the successful applicants, and while they were intimidating standing side-by-side like this, they were very friendly if you talked to them.
Wren quickly dropped his guard and introduced himself.
“I’m Wren. Nice to meet you.”
“I am Sevil.”
Twelve people passed the exam. Counting Tia, five of them were here, so that just left seven more.
Perhaps the others already had made it to the dining hall.
Tia looked around a bit and observed the other mages.
The mages of the Wedge Tower were generally allowed to wear whatever they wished, but quite a few of them still wore robes.
Tia had on a simple shirt and a pair of shorts. Wren wore high-quality but ill-fitting clothes. Sevil wore a man’s military uniform. Rose wore work clothes. And Oliver wore that were easy to move around in. —Not one of the five wore a robe, so their group stood out. Not to mention the sheer size of Rose and Oliver.
(Now that I look at them, even the ones who aren’t wearing robes have a sash somewhere on their body….)
Frederik, whom she had met last night, had also worn a sash around his arm. That was the sign of a Wedge Tower mage.
Whenever they passed by a robe-wearing mage, they heard voices say things like “Are these the newbies?” and “Good luck!” Since Tia and the others weren’t wearing sashes, one look was all it took to tell they were apprentices.
Eventually, they could see the door to the dining hall in front of the five of them. At that same moment, Tia thought she could hear an aggressive voice shouting from the other side of the door. Tia was sensitive to those kinds of voices.
“Pirororo…..”
When Tia stopped walking, Wren asked her “What’s wrong?”
Before Tia could respond, Oliver opened the door.
The dining hall of the First Spire ‘White Smoke’ was sprawling, with a relaxed atmosphere and long tables lined up in approximate rows.
Almost all of the seats were taken, but in front of the one open table a girl wearing a pointy hat was having an argument with a black-haired boy in a robe.
Between the two of them, a short, slightly stocky boy fidgeted nervously.
None of these three were wearing sashes. They were apprentices just like Tia.
“It’s barbaric to bind spirits with contracts! Hey, why don’t you release that spirit right now?”
“Kuku….. barbaric? You say that like you Classical mages’ methods are all clean and proper.”
“Of course. We’re nothing like the way you Modern ones do things. More importantly, let that spirit go now!”
The girl in the pointy hat grappled the robe-wearing black-haired boy, and the short boy weakly tried to mediate: “Both of you, stop it…..”
However, his words failed to reach either of them and they both continued to fight.
“I’d heard the Classical School had lots of shady characters, but……I didn’t realize they had annoying ones as well.”
“Shady? Don’t you mean yourself? It’s the Modern School that keeps doing secret and shady things that make my skin crawl.”
The girl wearing the pointy hat had her wavy orange hair tied into two braids.
She looked a bit older than Tia.
The Wedge Tower allowed people to dress however they wanted, but she stuck out with her pointy hat and cape.
The girl with the pointy hat billowed her cape with a flourish, lifted her chin up and declared her name.
“I am Roswitha Ohlendorf, the daughter of the proud Classical Mage Leona Ohlendorf! I shall remember your name well, so tell me who you are, Modern School!”
The girl’s voice echoed loudly across the dining hall. She had a good voice.
If she were singing rather than shouting, Tia thought it would sound lovely. She turned to Wren and asked him.
“Hey, hey, Wren. Is this a competition to see who can introduce themselves in the coolest way?”
That would make this the humans’ version of intimidation battles.
Wren’s answered with a face of resignation.
“Yeah, totally. Whoever introduces themselves the coolest wins. Oh, but remember that pretty boys win by default.”
“I see!”
As Tia nodded, Sevil began to laugh. It seemed like she was enjoying this.
“A competition to see who can introduce themselves in the coolest way! You have an eye for merriment, Tia. Perhaps I should participate as well.”
“What, no, stop it you dumbass. You don’t want to get involved with those annoying people.”
Wren’s attempts to stop her were futile. Sevil stepped forward and projected her voice.
“My name is Adelheid Sevil Lamea Krewing! As a demonstration of my good intentions, I shall allow you to refer to me as Sevil!”
She had a good voice that carried and echoed far enough to make Tia, a Harpy, blush.
Silence fell over the entire dining hall. Even the black-haired boy and pointy-hatted girl who had been fighting, and the weak-willed boy between them stood still in shock.
“Sevil, that was so cool! You sounded so strong!”
Sevil rustled Tia’s hair as she praised her, and laughed beautifully.
“Indeed I did. Now, any who wish to present themselves, step forward and state your name!”
“No, wai- hold on, hold on!”
Wren cut in with a pale face.
He made a waste of his pretty boy looks.
“Krewing? Adelheid? Em, isn’t that like…… Her Imperial Highness, the Emperor’s sister!?”
What’s ‘Her Imperial Highness’? Tia wondered, so she asked honestly.
“Is that strong?”
“Indeed it is. I am strong!”
Sevil puffed out her chest, and Wren held his head.
Amidst the chaos, one person was brave enough to step forward. It was Oliver.
What now, what now? People turned their attention to him, and Oliver spoke up.
“I am the man who knows no fear, the ‘Red Rain’ Oliver! Oliver Lange!”
“Amazing, Oliver! That was a radical introduction!”
Sevil had called for ‘any who wish to present themselves,’ and Oliver responded shamelessly. Rose cheered him on.
Wren screamed at the two adults who refused to read the room.
“Now’s not the time for that!!”