And the last one for today, chapter 5.
Episode 5: Roommate
Lynn woke up in a bed in the medical room.
With the unknown scent of medicine pills and the gentle light, Lynn didn"t know where he was.
“Oh, I see you are already awake.”
A woman wearing gla.s.ses and a white coat said as she poked her face from the side.
“Here is…”
“The medical office. It"s nice to be young, you heal up fast.”
After hearing up about him recovering, Lynn remembered about him losing consciousness after fighting against the lion.
“Uhmm… how long have I been sleeping here?”
He asked after looking outside the windows and noticing the night had already fallen. He remembered it was dusk when he arrived at the tower.
“About an hour. Do you feel any pain, or nausea? “
The woman asked while she was measuring Lynn"s pulse.
“No. I"m fine.”
“Is that so? Then you are discharged.”
As the lady said so, she headed towards the desk and started to write something.
“You can leave now. The dormitory manager is waiting outside. You"ll be guided to your room.”
With an att.i.tude showing that she was no longer interested in Lynn, the woman said while keeping her eyes on the doc.u.ment.
After Lynn left the room he heard “If you ever feel sick, come here.”
The dorm manager was a tall middle-aged woman with a st.u.r.dy physique.
“Nice meeting you. I"m the dorm manager, Knor. I"m mainly in charge of the apprentice magicians. Is your body alright now? “
“Yes, I"m fine.”
“Is that so? First of all, we need to a.s.sign you a bed for today. Do you have any allowance from your parents? “
“…no, I don"t.”
“Then, from the mentor who recommended you? Have you heard anything about being financially a.s.sisted? “
Lynn tried recalling if Yuin ever said something like that.
Nothing in particular came to his mind, and he neither believed that Yuin would bother paying for him.
“No, I haven"t heard nothing in particular.”
“Is that so? Then, you"ll have to earn money by yourself.”
“You mean I need to pay rent? “
Lynn thought he would live for free in the tower as long as he pa.s.sed the exam.
“It"s necessary. Isn"t that obvious? You need money for everything in this world. Do you have any money at hand? “
“Nothing at all.”
“Is that so? The please use the Loaning System. It"s a system that allows apprentice magicians to borrow money at a low interest rate. That will cover your living costs for the time being.”
Lynn became uneasy. Even if he were to borrow money, what would he do when that money ran out?
“It"s alright. There are many apprentice magicians who have no allowance and earn their own tuition themselves. There"s an overabundant amount of magicians" jobs in the tower. It"s easy to get a job even if you just came here. However, don"t waste your money. There are a lot of people who become neck-deep in debts and are sold away every year.”
After reading Lynn"s expression of fear, Knor told him in order to encourage him.
“The procedures for the Loaning System are done there. For the time being, I will register you as a magician who has no allowance, that is the lowest rent rate. Is that okay? “
Lynn honestly had no other choice.
“Yes. Please do so.”
“Alright, then let"s not waste more time and I"ll show you around. I was worried since this was an irregular time to join the dormitory, but luckily the cheapest room is available. You will have to share it though. Well, it"s not like you are in a position to complain to be honest. But it"s okay, right?”
Although he felt more and more conditions were being added, there truly was nothing Lynn could do.
But he felt a little refreshed.
And so, everything was decided quickly.
Without any chance for him to voice his opinion.
Knor got up and prepared to leave the waiting room of the medical office.
Lynn followed after her.
“Oh, I forgot to say it earlier, but…”
As if remembering something, Knor suddenly stopped and turned back.
“Congratulations on pa.s.sing the exam. Welcome to the tower.”
That made Lynn like Knor a little more.
Lynn was guided to the residential area by Knor.
In order to go from the section where the medical office was to the residential section, it was necessary to get on the elevator again.
Knor taught him which elevator to ride to get to the residential area.
“Can you read magic letters? Well, I doubt you can. This character. If you take the elevator that has this letter written, you can go to the area where the apprentice magicians live, that"s where you"ll live.”
Knor then tore up a page from her notepad and handed it to Lynn.
After she casted a spell, letters emerged from the blank paper.
“The characters will disappear after a few days. Write it down on another paper later. You can"t live here unless you read at least this much. Either way, you should be able to tell which elevator to take even without a note.”
“How do you read this character? “
“It"s read『Rat"s Nest』.”
Lynn thought it was a terrible name.
“In order to go to the living quarters, you say: 『Rat"s Nest, 30th floor』. Want to give it a try? “
“Can I do it? “
“You should be able to. You understand magic words, right? Try doing it while remembering the feeling you got while using the ring.”
Lynn"s heart was pounding. He never expected he would be able to use magic so quickly. Imitating Knor, Lynn tried and chanted. But he couldn"t p.r.o.nounce it well.
“You need more practice. Well, make sure you practice a lot.”
Afterwards, Knor casted the spell and the elevator began to move.
“Magical letters are important. Without them, you cannot do anything in here. Make sure you learn them soon. You also won"t be able to pa.s.s the academy entrance exam.”
“Entrance exam? Do I need to take more exams? “
He had though the earlier exam also served as the academy entrance examination.
“Yes, you do. All the academy"s cla.s.ses are taught in magic words. No matter how qualified you are, you can"t enter the academy if you don"t understand magic words. What you pa.s.sed was the practical exam. In order to enter the academy, in addition to the practical test, you need to pa.s.s the written exam. They both are supposed to be done one after the other. Was it your master? Or maybe one of the examiners decided you couldn"t and only the practical exam was done.”
“…Written exam.”
“You see, some of the n.o.bility"s children. They study magic words to some extent before coming to this tower, so they pa.s.s both exams at the same time. A child like you must pa.s.s the written exam by your own efforts. Moreover, you are late in joining. So, you have to study a lot more.”
Lynn felt dispirited.
Even though he could barely read and write his own language.
He wondered whether he could remember a whole new language now.
“Don"t make light of the entrance exam. It"s quite difficult. There are some people who can"t pa.s.s it no matter how many times they try. And there"s the tuition. You must earn it by yourself. You can be granted a scholarship to some extent, but that"s only for the ones with outstanding grades.”
The Rat"s Nest in the 30th floor was, as its name suggested, a gloomy place.
Walking behind Knor, Lynn moved through the long corridor.
Doors were arranged at regular intervals.
In each of these rooms, a magician apprentice lived.
Lynn felt a little relieved.
He worried about what kind of chicken coop he would be led to, but this seemed to be a whole better than the slave shop he used to live in the past.
The place where Lynn slept back then didn"t even have a proper door.
“It"s here.”
Knor stopped in front of one room.
She knocked on the door.
However, there was no response.
Knor then began to knock on the door more vigorously.
That action frightened Lynn.
“Theo! Are you sleeping already? Can you get up a bit? Theo! “
After a short while the door opened, and a boy with p.r.i.c.kly hair and a mischievous look came out.
“So noisy. Do you know what time it is?”
It seemed he was already sleep. The boy called Theo responded as he rubbed his eyes.
“Oh, it"s just Knor. What do you want at this hour? …Who are you? “
With a tired look on his eyes, Theo noticed Lynn.
“He just became an apprentice magician; his name is Lynn. I decided that I would let him live in this room. He"s new here, and don"t know many things, but I hope you can teach him the basics. “
“A new apprentice magician? At this period? “
Theo stared suspiciously at Lynn.
“Well, something like that. Anyway, you should get along since you both speak the Triarian language and are close in age. He"s also the same as you, a child with no allowance from parents. Well then, I leave him to you.”
Saying so, Knor quickly left.
“Seriously, that old hag. Selfishly giving me more stuff to worry about. Even though I got to wake up early tomorrow.”
Theo invited Lynn into the room while mumbling his complains.
(He has quite a bad mouth)
In the room there were only two beds, one bookcase and one closet.
“This bed in mine. Yours is the one over there.”
Lynn looked at the bed that was said it was his. There were books and clothes on top of it, some papers, inks and other items cluttered on top of the bed.
It seemed like it would take some time to clean.
“So, your name is Lynn? Where did you come from? “
“Keare”
“Keare? I haven"t heard about it. Oh, wait a second. I"ll clean up the bed right now.”
“It"s okay. You need to wake up early tomorrow, right? I can sleep on the floor.”
“It takes only a moment if you use magic.”
Theo took a cane that was leaning against the wall, and then moved it while chanting a spell.
“Return! “
Afterwards, the items on top of the bed started to move by themselves. Slowly drifting through the air, the books returned to the bookshelf, the clothes got in the closet, and the rest of the items returned to their original places as the softly floated.
Theo grinned as he saw the surprised Lynn who had a shocked face.
“Soon you too will be able to do this. You can understand magic words, right? “
“Yeah.”
“I"m Theo Galfield. Let"s get along from now on.”
He held out his hand.
And with a little reserve, Lynn then shook Theo"s hand.
Next time, Episode 6 “The city of the apprentice magicians”