The next morning, my mother woke me up, and Toko and I were eating breakfast in the living room.
“It’s still so dark out…”
4:00 AM is not morning; it’s still night.
“There’s nothing we can do. You’ll get used to it eventually.”
Toko was eating her toast with an exasperated look.
She was probably suffering from the May blues now that Golden Week had come right as she was getting used to things.
“Hey, have you already changed?”
Toko already had her uniform on.
It was the same white uniform that Sharl had worn yesterday.
However, unlike when Sharl wore it yesterday, seeing my sister with the same face as mine in the uniform felt completely unappealing.
“I’ll head out early. Got it? We’re strangers, just classmates.”
What a rebellious statement.
Well, I kind of agree with her, though.
“Got it. Ms. La Folle.”
“Yes, Mr. Nagase.”
“Whoa, this is so weird—it’s my own last name!”
As we spoke in unison, we glared at each other.
“Just hurry up with breakfast. And Tsukasa, since it’s your first day, you should fix your bedhead before you go,” came a reprimand from Mom in the kitchen. So I quickly finished breakfast, went to the sink, and fixed my bedhead.
Then, I returned to my room to change into my uniform.
“Alright, let’s go…”
As I muttered this, a knock came at the door.
“What is it? I’m leaving now!”
As I answered toward the door, it opened and Mom and Dad came in.
“Tsukasa, here’s your lunch,” Mom said, giving me a bentō.
“The lessons will probably wrap up in the morning, though.”
Class would end at 12, but since we started at 9 a.m., this didn’t seem unreasonable.
“You’re just going to hang out and come back, right?”
Ah… probably…
“I’ll study hard, too,” I said as I put the bentō in my bag.
“Tsukasa, don’t push yourself too hard.”
There came advice from Dad.
“That’s not even the issue… I’m going to lose an arm!”
“Considering your magic power, it seems unlikely you’d run out quickly. Besides, Ms. La Folle’s grandmother has apparently sent a large quantity of potions to restore magic power, so it won’t run out in a few months. Estimating on the low end, you should be fine for a few years. So don’t overdo it. Given your character, if you overexert yourself, you’ll just give up quickly.”
Ah…
Giving up on studying I didn’t like led me to become a NEET after all…
“The thing I’m throwing away is MY ARM! Haha!”
“…”
“…”
This was probably the best joke of the year, but for some reason, Mom and Dad didn’t think it was funny…
“Magic… I’ll try to do my best in moderation.”
Let’s start over.
“Hmm… Oh yeah, here, take this,” said Dad, handing me a single black card.
“What’s this?”
“You obviously haven’t read the guide, so let me explain—since Astral attracts people from all over the world, the currencies are all over the place, so they’ve unified the currency within Astral to Mana.”
“Can’t I use yen?”
I only have 800 yen on me…
“You can’t use yen. That’s why we have this card. These days, Astral has gone mostly cashless too. You can just buy things with this.”
“How much is on it?”
“Dad and I chipped in 20,000 Mana for your enrollment. Ms. La Folle’s grandmother chipped in another 30,000 Mana. Also, there was 50,000 Mana that had been deposited without your knowledge; it was from a French account so it’s probably from Ms. La Folle’s grandfather. Spend it wisely.”
I appreciate it, but since I don’t know the prices, I have no idea if this is a lot or a little. Besides, Nagase’s grandfather should probably contribute since he’s the one who stuck me with that weird bracelet.
Of course, I did put it on without understanding the situation…
“Thanks! I’ll try to call the La Folle household sometime tonight.”
“Good.”
“Well, I’m out,” I said, opened the door to my dorm room.
The room was still empty of belongings, feeling a little lonely.
“Maybe I’ll rearrange it next weekend…” I muttered as I stepped out.
Compared to yesterday, several other male students were walking in the hallway. They were all dressed in their uniforms—they were students at the Magic Academy.
I knocked on Cedric’s room directly ahead.
“Hey! Wake up!”
“I’m already awake!”
“Over here! Over here!”
At that moment, I heard a voice from the side. Turning my head, there was Cedric and Frank sitting in the same uniform in yesterday’s break area.
“Over here,” I said, walking towards the lounge.
“You were supposed to wait here, weren’t you?” Frank laughed. “Still, you managed to wake up properly, I see.”
“Sure, I woke up. But it’s 4:00 in the morning in Japan—are you kidding with the time difference? You never even mentioned it!”
“Why wouldn’t you know that…?”
“Didn’t you also not know anything about Astral?”
They both looked dumbfounded.
“No, I don’t. But I’ll get used to it eventually. Anyways, let’s go to school already—no skipping on the first day.”
“Right, we gotta go!”
As the two stood up, we walked down the stairs to the entrance, where I had properly brought my shoes this time. Once everyone was shod, we left the dormitory and began descending the hill.
Soon, female students came into view—it truly resembled a typical school commute scenery.
“Ah, it feels nostalgic. I saw this every day until two months ago.”
Well, at the time, almost everyone had black hair, so it’s slightly different now. There are a lot more foreigners here now, making it more colorful.
“You were a NEET, weren’t you?”
“Your parents must be crying their eyes out, huh?”
“Mom did cry. Haha,” I replied.
Last night, she hugged me and told me “You are a child who can do good things if they try,”
“Not funny…”
“Even if you fall behind, I’ll help you with your studies, so don’t skip school!”
Frank doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, does he?
“You, despite being such an unlikeable poser, are a good guy. Lend me your notes before tests.”
“Get your own notes, idiot.”
My handwriting is too messy to read anyway.
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