Chapter 4: Start School

Two months passed by in the blink of an eye.

Razé: “Ah. I’m finally done.”

She was about to enter the school the day after tomorrow. She finished her last job and relaxed down. She barely had any time left, but at least she managed to finish everything she had to do. It was simply a common courtesy to clean up after yourself.

“You’ve worked hard, Leader” said Captain Bonalt to comfort her, although he himself was busy with the handover. He casted a teleportation magic and a large box appeared in his hands. He brought the box towards Raze.

Bonalt: “This is a gift as a gratitude from everyone in the 537th Special Attack Battalion. We hope you’ll like it.”

Razé: “Huh?!”

Razé never expected that those battle freaks could do something thoughtful, her eyes widen with surprise. It must have been arranged by her excellent adjutant.

Razé: “What a surprise. But why?”

Bonalt: “You are our teacher, our benefactor, and our family. Congratulations on your school admission. Due to your mission rules, we are unable to attend your school entrance ceremony. But please know that we are celebrating for you from here.”

It seemed that they had prepared the gift to celebrate her school admission. Razé was deeply moved by their kindness.

Razé: “Thank you. I’ll treasure it. What’s inside?”

Bonalt: “It’s a dress.”

Razé: “Huh?”

Bonalt: “A dress.”

Razé: “Huh?”

Dress? Why? Razé stared at Captain Bonalt with a blank look.

Bonalt: “You really didn’t prepare any, did you? Didn’t you know that Centrior is basically an aristocratic school? Even though you can wear the uniform for the entrance ceremony, you need to wear dress for the welcome party.”

“Wow” Razé opened her eyes wide. She knew that the dress code for the party was formal attire, but since they were students, she thought it meant school uniform. Captain Bonalt, as an adjutant, was such a great help as he always supported Razé for so many things.

Razé: “I almost made a mistake. Thanks. Can I open it?”

Bonalt: “Up to you.”

Razé cleared up her desk and opened the box.

Razé: “Wah. It’s so nice. You really know me well.”

Bonalt: “The measurement is the same as your uniform, so it should fit well.”

She lifted the dress up. It was a light blue A-line dress. It was simple, but the lace swayed elegantly. She liked it very much. For a moment there she thought what to do if the dress was pink. She was glad that they chose this color.

The color of the sunny sky was Raze’s favorite color. The silver-colored heels also matched it well. She was looking forward to wear the dress.

“And this is from me.” Captain Bonalt hold out a small box.

Razé: “From you? You don’t have to, you know.”

Bonalt: “It’s a gift of gratitude.”

Although she was his boss, to Bonalt, Razé was special. He was also got caught up in the war and lost his real sister. Although they didn’t look alike, but Razé reminded him of his sister. Due to that, he had a soft spot for Razé.

Razé put away the dress, and opened the box from the captain excitedly. She had never received so much gifts from anyone, so she couldn’t help but be happy. She carefully removed the pretty box.

Razé: “A hair clip?”

Bonalt: “Yes. I hope you like it.”

It was a sparkling silver hair clip. It was small in size, and it could be used to fasten her long bangs.

Razé: “I like it. Thank you. I will get you something next time.”

Bonalt: “It’s fine. I’m looking forward to hear stories from your school life.”

Razé: “Really? I’m sure there will be lots of stuffs. You’re gonna love it.”

Bonalt: “Yes.”

After looking at the gifts for a while, Razé gathered them together and got ready to go back.

Razé: “I already said goodbye to everyone the other day. It’s a pity that I can’t thank them directly. Can you help me to tell them that I like the gift very much?”

Bonalt: “Noted, I will.”

Razé: “Un … Then, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Bonalt: “May god bless you.”

Razé: “May god bless you.”

A magic circle appeared underneath Razé’s feet. It was a temporary goodbye to this place. She gave a smart salute and teleported away.

***

“Wow, I’m really a student.”

It was the day of the entrance ceremony.

Razé put on her new uniform and stared at her reflection in the mirror as if she were a strange creature. Her hair that was usually tied up casually was combed nicely. She braided her bangs and pinned them together neatly with the hair clip given by Bonalt.

There is no restriction to wear makeup, so she put on colored lip-gloss to make her complexion looked better. No matter how you look at it, she seemed like a student which suited her age. No one could ever guess that she was a soldier if she didn’t say anything.

“Ah, it’s almost time to send the luggage.” When Razé noticed the clock reflected in the mirror, she hurriedly went to check the luggage left on the floor.

Centrior Imperial Magic Academy was a school where kids who had passed the difficult entrance exam gathered. This place that assembled the latest education was also a government secret for the Shian Empire.

She put her luggage on a magic circle which was sent together with her admission letter. This magic circle will transfer her luggage to the dormitory at the specified time.

Considering that there were 150 people in each grade, to transfer all the luggage would require a transporter with magic stones from A-class monsters or above.

A transporter can only be manufactured and used after obtaining permission from the government. It was an important device even for the military. But to see that it was also available at the academy felt weird to Razé.

Well, it was a school where the VIPs gathered.

“Did I forget anything?”

A few minutes after she finished checking the luggage, the magic was activated and the luggage disappeared. Next, she will need to stand on the magic circle, and she will be transferred to the school when the time comes.

“It’s time.”

Razé noticed that she was excited which was very unlike herself. The thing that she was going to do was a mission, but it was also not a mission.

She could act and spend her school life in any way she like. It was a very unrestricted mission.

“I’m going to enter the school as a commoner, so I should pay regard to my social standing. Better to be safe than sorry. I must make sure not to be targeted by the nobles’ kids so that I won’t be bullied in the future …”

It was confirmed that she would return to the military three years later. What if one of those kids become her superior in the future? She needed to make sure to act innocuously to avoid being pushed around by her future superior. Otherwise, this would later develop into a life-and-death problem if she was not really careful.

“Hmm? When I think about it, my name and face are the same. Then what will happen after I got graduated?”

She was going to enter the school as Razé Granoli. The surname was fake, but her first name was the same.

This setting was decided by the Prime Minister and the Principal, so Raze couldn’t do anything about it. She did feel that the fake name was like leaving something half done for some reason, but didn’t think too much about it.

“Well. I can think about it after I graduated. It’s not like I’m gonna make friends with nobles’ kids that can have higher position than me.”

At least there won’t be a situation where someone call my fake name and I gave a delayed response.

— She didn’t realize that this was what people called ‘flag’[1] in her previous life.

Razé made sure the door was locked and then stepped on the magic circle.

A new life began today.

She decided that she would live a fulfilling school life, a life that she could brag about to her subordinates later as she touched the black magic stone on her pierced-earrings.

“I’ll be back.”

Razé disappeared into the faint light.

The unoccupied room was very quiet.

[1] flag: refers to ‘triggering a flag’ which means an action that set off the plot ↩