Tou No Madoushi

It had been one month since they had entered the academy .

Lynn and Theo were still busy with tests and a.s.signments, but they had become quite used to the workload, and so now managed to make some free time for themselves .

“Today we have Material Generation cla.s.s . Have you finished the a.s.signment?” Academy journal open in his hands, Theo was asking Lynn as they walked .

“I just have to make a few final touches . I’ll finish it on our break” .

“You’ll do it in cla.s.s then? Let’s get there early to get good seats” .

“Yeah” .

The cla.s.s wouldn’t yet start for some time, but they had decided to set out for cla.s.s early .

“Oh, hey Theo . You’re early today” .

“Morning Theo” .

Some of the students they pa.s.sed on their way to cla.s.s called out greetings to Theo . They were all first years students enrolled in the same cla.s.ses as him .

“Hey . See you later” .

Theo responded to each person and quickly walked on .

Lynn tried his best not to stand out, and left some distance between himself and Theo as he trailed behind .

Despite it being one whole month since he started attending the Academy, he still didn’t have any other real friends other than Theo .

In his hometown there weren’t many children his own age, and so he never had to navigate any kind of social system before, at least not with people of similar age . This was another aspect of life inside the Tower that was entirely new to him .

There were no seating plans to speak of in their cla.s.ses, so students were free to sit with whoever they wished . Naturally, the students soon settled into a relatively unchanging pattern as they chose to sit with their friends .

Groups often formed between those of the same s.e.x, country, or social standing .

Lynn was disappointed . When he had seen the great number of children gathered in the a.s.sembly hall for the entrance ceremony, he had expected to make friends with most of them .

He found no one else like himself, in any of his cla.s.ses . That is to say that he was the only one of slave origin . And so he stuck close to Theo . The two were never far apart .

Theo on the other hand, soon became quite popular .

He wasn’t a natural born leader, but his confident att.i.tude and sharp wit with which he spoke fascinated people . He had a tendency, however, to be quite aloof . He didn’t let people get too close to him, but this just added to his charm .

In contrast, Lynn felt himself as rather plain and uninteresting, with no particularly unique traits . He found that people started treating him as ‘the boring one who’s always with Theo’, or ‘that no-body who clings to Theo’ .

Lynn and Theo didn’t expect there to be many other students at the cla.s.s this early, which is why they came at this time, but when they entered the cla.s.sroom they regretted their decision .

Just as they entered the room, they heard the high-pitched voice of a girl . Incidentally, this voice belonged to a girl neither Lynn nor Theo really wanted to see .

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“Do you like that Theo guy or something? You should forget about the likes of him . You’re too cute for him anyway . You should marry someone proper” .

Theo smacked his lips in irritation, “It’s her again” .

Lynn felt his heart drop .

He looked at the part of the room where the voice came from, and as he expected Yuven was standing right there, talking to her friends .

Just then Yuven turned and saw them .

“Oh, well look what the cat dragged in . You look stressed Theo, have you perhaps been through a recession or something?”

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you . And I don’t know what the h.e.l.l you’re talking about with recessions” .

Yuven’s friends watched as the two bickered . Each one of them was dressed fashionably and wore makeup . Lynn felt nervous when they cast inquisitive eyes over him .

“Oh really? Well then you mean you just look like that normally? I see,” Yuven said as she laughed mockingly .

Yuven turned back to her friends . They all giggled quietly, and a few of them cast sidelong glances back towards Lynn and Theo .

“What the h.e.l.l’s wrong with them,” Theo muttered beneath his breath .

“C’mon Theo, let’s go . We have to get ready for the cla.s.s . Those seats over there are free” .

Lynn hurried along Theo and they sat down together at a desk .

Lynn had chosen a desk as far away from Yuven as possible, but her shrill voice still reverberated around the room and could still be heard from where they were sitting .

“If you marry it just has to be to another aristocrat, doesn’t it . And if possible someone from a different country,” Yuven then added, laughing, “Guys who speak Toriaria are so lame” .

The two boys had no doubt her words were meant for them . Toriaria was their mother tongue .

“Don’t worry about her, Theo . Just ignore her,” Lynn said, but he knew Theo was angry .

He gripped one of his legs, and was tapping the floor with his foot, restless . His expression was hard to read, but he looked troubled .

Lynn recognized this as Theo’s habit when he was irritated about something . Lyn did his best to focus on preparing for the cla.s.s, but then a group of boys entered the room . They too were clearly aristocrats, and they had an elegant air about them .

One boy within that group had black hair, and a neat fringe that was cut and styled perfectly, and he had a handsome face with cla.s.sical features . When Yuven noticed him she turned silent, and quickly checked and double checked her appearance .

The moment he sat down, Yuven made a beeline straight to his desk to strike up conversation with him .

“Good morning, Terim . You look calm, I take it then you’ve already finished the a.s.signment, then? I expect you found it easy?”

Her voice was now soft and silken, completely different from how she had spoken to Theo .

“Oh, hi Yuven . If you’re asking me about the a.s.signment then, I’ll take it that you had a rough time with it?”

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“You’re right, actually,” she replied laughing, “in particular the ‘boundary between something and nothing’ was what I found hard . I still don’t quite understand it” .

“Ah yes, that part” .

The two continued their conversation quietly . .

Terim was a highly esteemed young man from Alinto . His family were of course aristocrats .

In front of other highly esteemed students, Yuven hid her usual cold like, thorn filled demeanor, and put up a front full of social grace and flattery .

She was always like this . She changed her att.i.tude at the drop of a hat depending on who she was talking to, or who she was in the room with .

Theo, observing her way of socialising, had been becoming more and more irritated at her as the days went by . Lynn too struggled to ignore her frivolous nature when he was in the same cla.s.sroom as her .

The reason the two of them couldn’t relax when she was around, was her p.r.i.c.kly att.i.tude to those of lower social cla.s.s than her, as well as the fact that, somehow or other, something about her voice grated on their nerves .

However these things weren’t in truth any more than secondary reasons for their dislike of Yuven . The biggest reason was her appearance .

She was cute .

No matter how you cut it, she was undeniably attractive . Amongst the girls taking beginner cla.s.ses, she had to be at least the second, if not the most, attractive girl in the academy .

Her small face and platinum hair, and even the nasty side of her that she sometimes showed flashes of, all of it held a certain charm .

If she was a plain or unattractive girl the two boys likely wouldn’t have cared that much . But to not care about the valuation of a girl as beautiful as Yuven was too much to ask . Was there ever a boy who could remain indifferent before the judgment of such a beauty?

Lynn felt his heart break a little every time he saw her show her sweet side to Terim . She was in a whole different world from him .

Upon entering the academy, it wasn’t long before Lynn realized that one aspect of the Tower was that it was a kind of mingling place for the high cla.s.s aristocrats .

One day Theo explained it all to him .

“This tower is also a place where highly respected families tie bonds with other families . Especially those who want to forge ties with families overseas . I know, it’s weird . Like, do that business somewhere else, d.a.m.nit” .

It wasn’t unusual for the aristocrat to feign ignorance about the arranged nature of their childrens’ marriage, and therefore a polite question inquiring whether or not a married couple first met at the Tower’s wizard academy was often nothing more than a farce put up for appearances, to ignore the fact that both families had sent their children there in the first place simply to form new ties .

Occasionally, the children wouldn’t go along with their parents’ wishes, and chose their partners by themselves, but this sometimes led to disputes and, on occasion, nudged certain nations closer to war .

Among the students of the academy, gossip of such marital matters were commonplace, and the tower’s history was rich with such stories . Some were true, while others were nothing more than speculation about the relations of nations and diplomacy .

In fact, one of the jobs of the masters who attended the students of the aristocrat was to prevent anything from happening which might harm the family’s social standing or prospective ties

They were both part master, who tutored and guided the children on the path of the wizard, and equal part guardians who watched over and ensured the child did not go against the wishes of the family .

It was orthodox for the aristocrat to exercise caution in this way, by managing their children in such a way that their plans wouldn’t be meddled with, but there were also some lower ranking families who aimed to tie bonds with the higher aristocrat by sending their children to the tower . Because this sort of scheming also took place, it only served to prolong the custom of guardian masters who watched over and managed their students .

Yuven was one such student, always attended by an ever watchful master hired by her family .

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Most of the students- aristocrats or not- were aware to some degree of the workings of the adult world, and so strove to not act out of line or in a way that would cause any trouble .

The children of the aristocrat in particular understood their places, and were often told directly by their parents what was expected of them, and so conducted themselves appropriately .

Lynn heard all about how the tower’s social status governed the social landscape, and became aware of an unspoken rule . The aristocracy mixed only with aristocracy, and commoners kept to themselves . One group shouldn’t intentionally try to mix with the other .

However there were cases where students of different social status had to talk to each other, for example when working on certain a.s.signments or projects, and occasionally this even led to the start of friendships . However there was always a sense of caution involved, and all parties were careful not to let these connections become too deep .

Yuven was a kind of symbol that occupied the s.p.a.ce between the social cla.s.s of the high ranking aristocrats and the commoners .

Yuven was from the low ranking aristocracy, but that didn’t mean she was allowed the ambiguity of mixing with both commoners and the high ranking aristocrats .

Because Yuven wanted to a.s.sociate herself as much as possible with the upper aristocracy, she chose to ignore any commoners who approached her or tried to talk to in a manner she deemed too friendly, and if necessary she would even insult them so as to create a distance between them and herself . On the other hand, she adopted a sweet demeanor in front of other aristocrats, especially the ones from higher ranking families .

She skillfully navigated this social landscape, changing her manner of speaking and demeanor depending on who she was speaking to . Whether she wished it or not, she reminded students in the same cla.s.s as her of their position in the social hierarchy .

Lynn looked at Terim, who spoke in such an easy, close manner with Yuven, with a heart half full of envy and half full of pity .

That was because Terim wasn’t Yuven’s favourite . Her favourite, who she was infatuated with, was fifth year student Kruga Mittran .

Kruga was the second son of the Miitran family, a highly respected aristocrat family of the nation Spiruna .

He wasn’t just of esteemed lineage, but was also respected as a competent mage who, as people often said, was expected to achieve great things for the future of the Tower .

Even Lynn, who did not really have many friends at all, was aware of the stories about Kruga and his magical talent and excellent academic performance .

Once Lynn had seen a picture of him in the Tower’s newspaper .

He had dark, black eyes, and a few strands of his long black hair covered his eyes . He had a dark, brooding look about him, but that probably only served to make him appear even more attractive to the girls, Lynn thought .

When Terim wasn’t around, Lynn often heard her profess such things as “Oh, if only I could get close to Kruga Sama” [1] .

“How I wish I could get him to teach me the basics of flying magic . He’s an expert in flying magic you see . If you want to get better, there can’t be any better method than having him teach you . Oh, if only it were possible… To have him teach me attentively . I wonder if there isn’t any way I could ask him . It would be for my studies, of course!”

It was obvious to anyone’s eyes and ears the true nature of her wish .

However, her wish was certainly not out of the realms of possibility .

For a commoner to marry into aristocracy was certainly not a thing deemed good and proper,, but for a low standing aristocrat family to tie with a higher ranking family wasn’t such a terribly uncommon thing .

Kruga was primarily taking cla.s.ses on the 90th floor . The obstacle keeping the two seperate was the difference in cla.s.ses each was able to take .

The time when Lynn most strongly felt the distance between himself and Yuven was the Academy’s exit at the bottom of the steps that led down from the temple-like entrance, where there were two elevators .

One was an ascending elevator that connected to the first cla.s.s residential district of the 90th floor, and the other was a descending elevator that connected to the industrial district of Renryll, situated on the 10th floor .

Yuven of course took the ascending elevator, and Lynn took the descending elevator .

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Lynn often caught sight of the aristocrat kids, dressed in their fashionable and smart clothes[2], boarding their elevator .

If what he heard was true, after cla.s.ses they often attended tea parties reserved for the aristocracy .

One day, Lynn tried asking one of his cla.s.smates who also worked at the factory about the tea parties .

“Hey, about those tea parties… Do you know much about them? I wonder if they’re fun” .

“It’s just a bunch of aristocrat kids chit chatting idly over some tea . So what if you can’t go, it’s not exactly a problem” .

While he said that, Lynn thought he saw a trace of jealousy, or envy, in his face . Perhaps he too longed to go and partic.i.p.ate in such things, but had resigned from thinking about such things .

Whenever Lynn saw her, or heard her voice, he felt a pain in his heart, or a longing perhaps, though there was nothing he could do about it .

Because she easily stood out from a crowd, it was easy to find her straight away if one went looking .

She always wore her platinum hair up, fixed with an expensive looking hair piece, and walked gracefully in her crimson robe, staff in hand .

She had a city vibe to her and was quite showy, but she pulled off her look with ease .

She was like that in the cla.s.sroom, in the hallways, everywhere she went, and whenever Lynn heard her voice he found himself looking around for her .

Whenever he found her in his vision, he realized what he had done by instinct, and hated himself for it .

The times he looked and didn’t see her in his vicinity, he found himself disappointed that he had merely imagined her voice .

While Yuven spoke exclusively to the other aristocrat students, there was just one commoner who she went to speak to of her own volition .

That was Theo .

In spite of Theo being a commoner, she nevertheless went out of her way to quarrel with him about all kinds of things, to the point it was almost like a sort of expected ritual .

However the nature of their relationship was more feisty than tender . One would be hard pressed to call it anything along the lines of affection .

Towards Lynn, who was ever present at Theo’s side, she of course took no notice of whatsoever .

All Lynn could do was to make peace with his aching heart .

It was unthinkable that Lynn could try talking to her, but one day a chance came about- in an unexpected way- that made Yuven speak to him .

Next time… Chapter 18, ‘A Clasped Hand’ .

TRANSLATION NOTES

[1] ‘Sama’ is a j.a.panese name suffix that denotes respect, and it is reserved for bosses, people of influence, or those held in very high regard .

[2] It wasn’t clear to me whether the aristocrat students changed into dressy clothes after cla.s.s, specifically for the tea party, or if they were already dressed up anyway and the author was simply drawing attention to their stylish forms boarding the ascending elevator on their way to some fancy social gathering .

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