Before long, she arrived at a door.
“This is it...”
“Huh? The door isn't locked. Could it be—”
Shulim pushed open the door and stepped inside, meeting the eyes of her roommate, who was in the middle of unpacking her luggage.
Twitch, twitch!
“Ah—”
“I'm so sorry! Are you my roommate? Um... I'm really sorry for walking in without saying hello!”
Twitch, twitch!
The white-haired catgirl apologized with a flustered and uneasy expression on her face.
“...”
She hadn't expected her roommate to be a catgirl! To be precise, a member of the White Cat Tribe.
She had pure white hair like winter snowflakes, a pair of neat white cat ears, sapphire-clear eyes, and a very smooth, fluffy white tail.
I want to touch them...
Most importantly, those cat ears and the tail behind her were twitching constantly! Was she feeling anxious about the unfamiliar environment?
I really want to touch them...
“...Um, you don't need to apologize. There's no first-come, first-served rule when moving into a dorm. More importantly—hello, I'm Shulim Hayeral. I'll be your roommate from now on.”
Shulim extended her right hand.
“Ah, um—uh...”
The white-haired catgirl looked at the extended hand in flustered confusion. After overcoming her nervousness, she hurriedly shook Shulim's hand.
“P-Please treat me well! I'm Mico Kedar.”
...
After moving past the initial awkwardness, Shulim and Mico gradually became familiar with each other through conversation.
For instance, Mico, who had been very reserved when Shulim first walked in, now spoke with complete ease.
“Haha~ At first, I was so worried about what kind of roommate I'd get~ I heard that over here, many humans look down on other races and exclude them. I'm so glad my roommate is you, meow~!”
The white-haired catgirl said happily, her tail no longer swaying with anxiety, but wagging gently and relaxed.
“Mico, you've listened to too many scary stories. Every race has individuals who discriminate against others. While it exists among humans, it's only a tiny minority. You don't need to worry so much. Look, didn't you see people of many different races on the streets of Langard?”
Mico Kedar came from the Indam Federation in the southern part of the continent—a world power governed jointly by various beastkin tribes, also known as the Southern Federation.
Although the Indam Federation bordered the Pasara Empire, because both countries possessed vast territories, many places were actually immensely far apart. This naturally led to significant differences in information exchange between the two sides.
According to Mico, this was not only her first time leaving Indam, but also her first time leaving her own tribe. Setting the travel difficulty so high right from the start was why she had been so cautious...
“...That's true. Sorry about that. Ever since I got here, I've only been thinking about enrollment and completely ignored all that. Looking back, I was just being overly sensitive.”
“You really like to apologize, don't you, Mico?”
“Huh? Do I? Sorry, I didn't mean to—uh...”
Shulim chuckled softly and patted her head.
Mico's face flushed with slight embarrassment, and she began laughing along with Shulim.
“Shall we go get dinner together?”
“Sure! I heard there are lots of delicious fish dishes here~!”
“Do you like fish, Mico? I like bobom dishes. I wonder if the academy serves any?”
“Oh, those! I like those a lot too...”
And so, Shulim officially began her academy life.
...
...
“...Students, welcome to Manacos Magic Academy. I am the academy's headmaster, Holstin Min Dawson...”
Inside the great auditorium, the white-haired and white-bearded headmaster of Manacos was giving a speech. Seated below the stage were the newly enrolled first-year students.
Unlike the days of enrollment registration, all the freshmen had now changed into academy uniforms identical to those of the upperclassmen. Aside from their slightly childish faces, it was hard to distinguish them from senior students once they walked outside.
“...The core purpose of Manacos is to explore the depth of magic. Along this path, ancient and great civilizations have created wonder after wonder beyond our imagination. We, Manacos, aim to be the pioneers of this era...”
“...Yet the journey is arduous. Threats from the dark have never ceased peering at this world for thousands of years. Protection has thus become our new mission...”
“...Dear students, the path of magic is endless. Do not fail yourselves, and do not stray into the dark abyss. Well, that concludes my speech. Once again, welcome to Manacos Magic Academy!”
Clap, clap, clap...
A thunderous wave of applause erupted across the venue.
As Holstin's speech drew to a close, the opening ceremony neared its end.
After the assembly dispersed, students were to report to their assigned classrooms.
The class placement results had been distributed in document form to everyone before the ceremony. They were not made public, and the documents only informed each student of their assigned class; the specific scores from the entrance assessment were omitted, nor were any reasons given for why a student was placed in a particular class.
There was no need to worry about any shady dealings. For the academy, ensuring that outstanding students received better cultivation aligned with its own interests. Choosing not to publish the entrance assessment results was done to protect the students.
After all, whether the scores were published or not, the treatment students received within the academy remained the same. However, if published, the details would spread through every street and alley of Langard by the next day. The most exceptional students would inevitably draw the attention of people with ulterior motives. If they merely sought to recruit them, it would be fine, but it would be troublesome if they harbored ill intentions...
From a safety standpoint, not dividing students into classes would have been ideal. However, the academy could not invest equal resources into every single person; tilting resources toward a select minority was an inevitable outcome, so class division was ultimately carried out.
“...Let me see where the Special Class classroom is located.”
Shulim opened the map included in her enrollment packet, quickly found the location of the Special Class, and headed in that direction.
Just as anticipated, Shulim successfully obtained the highest tier of scholarship and entered the Special Class.
A short while later.
“Found it. The Special Class classroom is right here.”
The classroom doors were open, so Shulim walked straight inside. Her entrance immediately drew many eyes, though most quickly looked away and resumed chatting, with only a few continuing to inspect her with curiosity.
Shulim glanced around the classroom. The Special Class room was extremely spacious, arranged in a fan-shaped tiered layout. However, there were fewer than thirty sets of desks and chairs in total, and they were set quite far apart.
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