Raymond marveled at his own insight.
“What the. So it wasn’t just one person per carriage?”
Grape Peel Head’s attitude was the worst from the moment he opened his mouth. In other words, he didn’t seem to have any qualities befitting a king at all.
That brat looked over Nicole once with his grape-like purple eyes. Maintaining a benevolent, noble smile, Raymond replied.
“Right. What a pity. But which family are you from again?”
It was a very refined, noble response. He had politely placed both hands on his crossed knees as he answered, and he hadn’t acted offensively towards the other at all either. While Raymond was admiring his own ‘noble-likeness’, Grape Peel sneered and mocked.
“You’re pretty damn unfortunate with your words. Why’d you suddenly ask about my family? What, are you some nobility zealot? What are you gonna do if I become a mage in the future and get revenge on you?”
It seemed nobleness was equivalent to ‘misfortune’ in Grape Peel’s language.
“Is that so? It’s regretful that my nobility came across that way to you. And I’m quite rough-spoken compared to other nobles, so I advise you to be careful.”
“Does a rougher way of talking suit you better?”
“Even Grape Peel Melon Head can talk, huh.”
“Young Master!”
Thud-
The carriage shook violently once. Raymond still had the graceful smile perfectly in place. It would be better if a smile was considered part of noble etiquette. ‘Grape Peel Melon Head’ that had already left his mouth was hardly a refined word fitting for a noble to say.
Only then did he raise one corner of his mouth in a satisfied manner as he leaned back into the carriage sofa.
“This is my first time seeing someone with a nastier personality than me. And I’m Onyx, not Grape Peel Melon Head.”
“So which family?”
Onyx casually shrugged his shoulders at Raymond’s question.
You’ll find out eventually.”
So he does have a surname. Then is he a noble? But the house he came out of just now isn’t somewhere nobles would live.
Although curious about plenty of things, Raymond simply shrugged his shoulders and briefly asked,
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just keep calling you Grape Peel Melon Head Onyx, you know?”
“Go ahead then. So what’s your name?”
“Raymond.”
“Your surname?”
“I don’t wanna say.”
“Hey, anyone can tell you’re from the Spurling House from the ducal goose crest buttons on your clothes. There’s no family that uses embarrassing buttons like those except House Spurling. Raymond Spurling.”
“Ah, damn.”
“Hahaha.”
They’re both so childish. Nicole quietly sat while thinking the bickering between the two boys was quite cute. The carriage bobbed up and down two or three times.
“The carriage has taken off!”
Nicole plastered himself against the window to look outside.
Raymond wanted to look out the window as well but resisted the urge. Rather than appear childish, it was better to just swallow his curiosity. To think he used to be a fairly renowned Hunter, there’s no way he’d get excited and admire something like a flying carriage!
“Wow, amazing, Young Master! It’s so awesome! Will we ever get to see such a sight again in our lives?!”
Twitch.
“It is pretty amazing.”
Even Onyx chimed in agreement with Nicole’s exclamation.
“Just to that extent?”
W-Well then, should I take a quick peek too?
“Wow.”
The moment he secretly turned his eyes, a short exclamation automatically burst out of Raymond’s mouth. There probably wouldn’t be any enrolling students who wouldn’t admire this sight.
The carriage soared above the clouds over the tallest mansion chimney in the city. Mist swirled around the carriage with clouds pulled over it like a white veil. When they slipped out from within, an overwhelming blue as vast as a giant ocean engulfed them.
“Now this is Foreston.”
Onyx raised one corner of his mouth as he smiled. After exclaiming once in admiration, Raymond sat nonchalantly again and glanced out the window once more. He decided to pretend not to know about the exclamation that had burst out.
“But wasn’t Foreston where we took the exam? Wasn’t it said to be near the capital?”
Onyx answered Nicole’s question.
“That place is probably one created with magic for the exam. When you become 5th Years, you can even learn 6 Circle magic. So they’ll do school activities right smack in the middle of the capital?”
“Grape Peel, you know a lot, huh?”
“Not really.”
Raymond snorted in dismissal at Grape Peel’s answer before this time turning his gaze out the window. It was because Nicole grabbed his collar, yelling ‘I see buildings, Young Master-!’.
As Nicole had said, an enormous castle could be seen outside the window. Rather than seeming like an academy, Foreston’s sheer scale resembled more of a palace instead. A spacious quadrangular courtyard enclosed by walls that looked like massive stone prisons decorated the center, with tall spires protruding around it in a stabbing manner. Mushroom-like circular spaces sporadically bulged out from the outer walls, and inside those small windows, students could be sporadically spotted.
“There are so many carriages! Looks like they’re all freshmen!”
When he looked towards where Nicole’s finger was pointing, carriages charging towards the castle in unison entered his view. It seemed students were gathering from all regions. But it wasn’t just carriages flying around the castle walls that seemed to be Foreston.
“Freshmen!”
“Congrats!”
“Go die-!”
Instead of carriages, they were riding unicorns, hippocampi, carpets and numerous other things. And some were even perched on the backs of flying students…
…Backs?
‘Wouldn’t their spines snap? I guess those brats must have the 17 million won to get spinal surgery, huh? Still, no matter how much Foreston accepts commoners, most will be damn nobles.’
Raymond, who still hadn’t shaken off all the living habits from his past life, clicked his tongue in distaste. Although that much money was mere pocket change to the Spurling family, 17 million won was equivalent to Raymond’s living expenses for a year and six months during his Hunter period.
After sticking out their spines that cost 17 million won, the students flying openly in the sky seemed to be students of Foreston, their future upperclassmen.
“But are those guys now telling us to go die?”
Are they even really students? As Raymond closed the window and asked, Onyx just shrugged his shoulders to reply instead. Before long, their carriage arrived before the tightly shut academy gates. Some had gathered in groups of four to five while others stood alone farther away.
Even the students standing alone seemed to mostly be nobles since they had brought attendants along, as Raymond had expected.
Raymond and Onyx weren’t isolated nor were they large crowds, just averagely grouped as two. Onyx didn’t look like he was planning on talking to other students either, just like Raymond.
“When does this door open?”
“Doesn’t it just open when everyone’s gathered?”
Kuh-kuh-goong—
“Whoaa—!”
“Awesome!”
In front of the crowd of students exclaiming in awe, someone about a head taller than them stood. He had rare green hair and long ears.
“With ears that long, I guess he’s an elf.”
“You seem fairly knowledgeable, huh?”
Onyx raised the corner of his mouth at Raymond. He lightly brushed off Onyx’s purple gaze. Introducing himself as a 2nd Year, the elf with a straight back spoke.
“I’m a 2nd Year, you can call me Parisha. My race is elf. Although Foreston is an academy for ‘people’ talented in magic, there are elves like me here on exchange too. Remember that.”
Parisha continued speaking as he checked the names on the roster to see if all the students had gathered.
“There are 3 Classes in total at Foreston, and starting from the 1st place entrance exam, you’ll be assigned to the Class you want. If your desired career path was royal mage, knights, or wizard towers, it’s Phidas. If you desire the mage judiciary, investigation bureau, audit bureau, then it’s Audit. And students aiming to work freelance or return to your families are assigned to the Gift Class. The dorms are shared among all and there are common lounges along with study rooms separated by Class. Any questions?”
Flash.
“Yeah, you.”
“Do the classes teach different lessons?”
“There are some slight differences. For example, Phidas takes royal history while Gift takes estate management. Of course, it’s possible to attend Audit’s class lessons if you want. Next?”
“Can you change Classes?”
“You can switch Classes from 3rd Year when career paths are determined after counseling every year. Don’t worry too much even if you can’t change Classes. Audit Class students can still become royal mages, and Gift Class students can still enter the judiciary. Any other questions?”
Parisha’s explanation was concise without any excess. Parisha flashed a bright smile as he briskly closed the roster.
“None! Alright, follow me now.”
Waving his hand, green leaves raced towards Parisha. Blown by a light breeze, the green leaves formed a green arrow pointing at the sky. Along with the crowd following Parisha, Raymond entered Foreston.
After passing through the massive front gates, there was a long bridge over a huge lake that one had to cross to enter the academy buildings. When Parisha whispered a secret code, another door opened. As the arch-shaped door was pushed inward, Foreston’s true figure was finally revealed. In a shape like the Colosseum, one could keep watch over all the entering students through railings that surrounded the central garden.
“Welcome, freshmen!”
“This year is the Herbalism Club’s year-!”
“Bullshit! Come play with us at the Cloud Diving Club later on.”
“You guys killed a student last time!”
“Shut it!”
“You need extracurricular specs like club activities to become a royal mage!”
What a bloody welcoming ceremony. I hate this kind of atmosphere. Clenching his mouth shut, Raymond came up with diverse, innovative ways to curse out Foreston in his head.
After walking through the central corridor for quite a while, a spacious lobby appeared. Inside, there was a bulletin board standing lonesomely.
“Bit noisy, isn’t it? Alright, check the roster posted on the bulletin board and find your Class and dorm. The entrance ceremony is 2 hours later. See you later, then.”
Parisha disappeared after saying that much. The students stampeded towards the roster.
“Which Class do you think Young Master will be in?”
“Hmm. Doesn’t seem that important to me.”
“Oh, I heard a big rumor going around among us attendants.”
“What is it?”
“It’s—.”
Nicole made a show of checking all around her before pulling her head close and whispering.
“Rumor is that an Abandoned Prince enrolled in our year.”
“…What? The Abandoned Prince?”
Now that I think about it, among the stacks of gossip columns I read, there was a story related to the royalty, regarding five princes and one princess. And I had to remember all the information about them in detail, down to their faces. If someone were to become king, starting from a position closest to royalty is an indisputable fact.
‘If it’s royalty who hasn’t enrolled in the academy yet…’
The 1st Prince and 2nd Prince had already graduated from Foreston. Among the two, one recorded the highest grades while the other recorded the worst.
The 1st Prince with the highest grades went on exchange to the Kumor Empire. Well, to be precise, it wasn’t an exchange and he was taken hostage. Since the Empire was larger than the Kingdom.
On the other hand, the 2nd Prince with the worst grades was quite romantic. During his time enrolled in Foreston, he eloped with a woman from the Batelbach Empire whom he had studied together with. It was peculiar of the royalty to even send someone after two runaways, but afterwards, the 2nd Prince showed no signs of ever returning.
For now, the 3rd Prince right below them was the most likely Crown Prince candidate. After graduating Foreston, he worked as both a royal mage and administrator.
And the King candidates currently enrolled in Foreston were the 4th Year 4th Prince, and the 3rd Year 1st Princess. Since the System had sent me to Foreston, surely one of them had to be a candidate…
‘There was too little information on the Abandoned Prince.’
His very existence wasn’t widely known to the public, and no information that could hint at his age was scattered either. But for that Abandoned Prince to be in the same grade as me…
“As expected, even Young Master is shocked. Your expression is intense.”
“…Shut up and look ahead.”
“Good gracious, just look at the way he speaks. I wonder what in the world happened for our Young Master to end up like this.”
“…Hahaha.”
“Even laughing crazily now!”
I was lucky.
I had thought the only King candidate I could become closer to among the royals would be 4th Prince Somersett since the current society’s rigid, shoddy system still rendered the 1st Princess unable to become king. But there was one other. And since we were in the same grade, I wouldn’t have to work too hard either.
If I could make both of them King candidates, it wouldn’t matter which one became King. Of course, the possibility of both becoming King wasn’t high either. With the 3rd Prince firmly establishing his position as a royal mage and the 1st Prince taken hostage with no clue when he would return.
But the System said. In the end, all King candidates will gather at Foreston.
‘Let’s expand the pool of candidates and wait. There’s no other way.’
“Young Master, the roster is over there.”
“Right, let’s check our Classes first.”
Since lessons differed by Class, it was best to be in the same Class as the Prince if possible. I’m worried about the 5th Prince. As royalty, he would probably be in Phidas Class, while Raymond who had left that field blank would certainly be in Gift Class.
Since the Abandoned Prince’s name wasn’t revealed to the world, I could only check through surnames on the roster.
‘They’re covered up, huh?’
But unfortunately, all surnames were obscured. It seemed to be Foreston’s temporary measure to minimize the difference between students with and without surnames. Pointing at Raymond’s name, Nicole said,
“Found you! As expected, Young Master is in Gift. Oh, looks like the gentleman from the carriage earlier is in the same Class. His name is here.”
“…That purple head too?”
“Yes! It’s nice to have a friend in the same Class. Alright, I’ll go bring your luggage first then, just a moment!”
“Go on.”
While Nicole was away for a bit, rather than look at the roster, Raymond observed the faces of students checking the roster instead. By looking at their faces as they confirmed the roster, one could tell to some extent whether they were nobles or not. There were books containing information about each noble in the family archives too.
According to Raymond’s observations while standing right in front of the bulletin board, the ratios of nobles didn’t differ too greatly among Classes. However, Phidas, with many aspiring to become royal mages had a lot of royalty sympathizers while Audit with many desiring to enter the judicature or audit bureau had more neutral stances or those unsupportive of the current royalty. Gift was the same.
‘Then the one easiest to deal with is… Phidas.’
Clutching the diary he had personally obtained, the only diary he had personally obtained in his hand, Raymond immediately headed to the dorm.