I’m Not Becoming a Graduate Student! – Chapter 6

“…E-eat a lot, okay? Hehe.”

“Yes, you too, Professor…”

A few hours later.

Sion and Lunia found a restaurant located near the academy.

It was a high-end restaurant where students were hardly seen, so naturally, Lunia brought Sion here.

“Today was really th-thank you…! There’s no one who talks to me like this…”

“…That’s obvious. There aren’t students who talk directly to a professor.”

Lunia blinked her eyes.

Her face seemed like a question mark was floating above it.

Sion had become accustomed to her reactions whenever he said something.

“Eh…? But after class, we do submit evaluations of the lectures…”

“……No one seriously writes that. Most students think, ‘I’m busy and nothing will change even if I write it.’…And you could get retaliated against for stating the truth.”

“Oh, I see…”

Lunia, poking at her spaghetti, was probably experiencing a complete overturn of all common sense she had lived by until now.

After all, nothing would dramatically change just because he spoke about it.

People have years of experience behind them, and that can’t change so easily.

“By the way… Professor, how old are you?”

“……It’s a bit rude to ask a lady’s age…”

“Ah, I apologize.”

“Oh, no, it’s alright… I was just joking… So this year, it makes me exactly 190 years old… B-but was my joke not funny…?”

“…”

As they engaged in a serious discussion about ‘funny professors’ jokes,’ time passed by without them realizing it, and food was going in without knowing whether it was by mouth or nose.

In the end, they spent another hour just eating.

“It’s already night… I’m sorry. You said you had urgent matters…”

“…It can’t be helped. I’m glad if it was helpful to you, Professor.”

“Sion….”

There were tears in Lunia’s eyes.

She looked so much like a child, too young for an elf who is 190 years old.

It made one wonder how she had lived until now.

“I’ll see you in class next week. I’ll be going now.”

“Ah… um.”

Lunia grabbed the sleeve of Sion’s outfit as he tried to leave.

She wore a confused expression before finally retrieving something from her pocket.

“T-take this…”

“…What is this?”

“Um… You don’t know this? An academy student should have this…”

What she handed over was a small faculty ID.

It had Lunia’s face, name, and affiliations printed on it.

But why suddenly bring this out?

Just as Sion thought that, the faculty ID started changing on its own.

…No way?

“Is this a smartphone…?”

“Y-yes? This is an original phone magic created by the former principal…”

“…Phone magic?”

The faculty ID transformed into something like a smartphone in an instant.

It was thick, with one side sporting a display.

What the heck is going on?

“Sion, can you show me your student ID?”

“…Here you go.”

Naturally, Sion had his student ID in his wallet.

As he took it out and showed it, Lunia examined it closely.

“It’s not registered yet… Try infusing your mana into it…”

“Mana, huh. Hmmm…”

Sion fished with his student ID.

How do you infuse mana?

Maybe this way will work.

‘Let’s concentrate. Recall the feeling from that time.’

Sion recalled the memory from yesterday.

The Fire magic he crafted while looking at Patrick’s.

It felt like he was directly moving the blood flowing through his body.

It was an unusual sensation he had never felt in his past life, so it remained clear in his memory.

Starting from the heart, going down the arm, and extending out with his hand…

Whoosh!

‘I did it!’

Without reciting a spell, fire erupted from Sion’s hand.

It was his first successful cast without a chant.

The thrill of having succeeded caused his lips to curl upwards.

“…? Why are you lighting a fire…?”

“Oh, right!”

Sion noticed that his student ID was burning in his hand.

He quickly waved his hands to extinguish the fire.

He thought it might be broken, but luckily it was fine.

“D-don’t worry… it won’t get damaged unless it’s a 3rd Circle or higher magic…”

“…Isn’t that a bit too sturdy?”

“The former principal was an amazing person… Of course, I’ve never met him. Ah, done…”

Whoosh!

Sion’s student ID transformed to be just like Lunia’s.

He felt the grip, the weight, and even the academy emblem showing up on the screen.

‘…No matter how you look at it, the former principal must have been a modern-day type like me.’

Not only did he establish the academy, but he even had a blatantly named “phone magic.”

There was no hard evidence, but his instinct told him it was 100% true.

“F-first, I’ll tell you how to set it up…”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to Lunia’s explanations, Sion quickly got used to it.

This device, commonly referred to as ‘student ID’ or ‘phone,’ was similar yet different from a smartphone.

For starters, it could only be properly used in places close to the academy.

It wasn’t a public internet connection; rather, it was akin to an intranet used by specific organizations.

Its main features were contacts, calls, messages, community, and scheduling management.

Especially, they say the community feature was quite popular among both students and professors.

If you could share various bits of information… it might be something akin to the e-xritime from his past life.

“…Alright, now the setup is complete…”

“Yes, thank you.”

Lunia, who had helped with various settings while handling the phone, returned it to Sion.

The moment he looked at the phone screen, Sion doubted his eyes.

[Contacts]

[Current Person: 1]

[Lunia]

[Description]

[Name: Professor Lunia]

[Contact: xxx-xxxx-xxxx]

The contact app displayed Lunia’s contact information.

“…But what is this?”

“Ah, I-I entered my contact into your phone… Of course, I entered it too, so you don’t have to worry!”

“Oh… I see.”

In an instant, Sion felt a chill run down his spine.

Not only did she input her contact into Sion’s phone, but she also wrote down Sion’s contact.

In other words, even if Sion didn’t reach out first, Lunia could contact him first.

While Sion was at a loss in fear, Lunia brightly smiled as she sent him off.

“Before it gets too late… go inside! Sion…”

“Ah, then I’ll go ahead first. Be careful on your way home.”

“I’ll be fine… I’m more worried about you, Sion… Should I walk you back to the dorms?”

“Ah, no. I’ll pass on that. Thank you for your concern!”

Sion bowed slightly and headed to the dormitory.

Fortunately, since this upscale restaurant was mostly occupied by nobles, there weren’t many students.

However, if she walked him back to the dorm, strange rumors might spread within the academy.

‘It’s really dark. Thankfully, there are streetlights.’

There were streetlights powered by light elemental magic installed all over the academy that provided a permanent illumination.

Sion slowly walked towards the dormitory using them as a guide.

“…Sion.”

Lunia stood in front of the upscale restaurant, gazing intently at Sion’s back.

She continued to watch until he had completely faded away into the distance.

*

The next day.

Since there were classes on Wednesday, Patrick and Sion were moving busily.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to go to the mountains like yesterday.

“So what happened yesterday, anyway?”

“I told you, nothing special. You’re persistent…”

“Not giving details makes it even more suspicious, you know?”

“Ugh…”

Patrick asked an ongoing barrage of questions with a cocky expression, while Sion kept completely mum about what had happened yesterday.

He merely mentioned that he had heard a bit about spirit contracts.

Of course, it didn’t seem like Patrick believed him.

After all, Sion had come back to the dorm quite late.

Sion tried to avoid Patrick’s probing questions.

“You’re not sitting in the front row again today, right?”

“This one’s the best seat, isn’t it?”

“…Whatever. It’s not that important.”

“Really? Then I’ll sit here.”

Sitting in the front row just like with Professor Ronda Magret, Sion and Patrick surveyed the scene with many students already seated.

‘…We seem to be the only ones standing out.’

Suddenly Sion realized that there weren’t many people around his seat.

The first year of the Magic Department had about twenty students.

Including the entrance ceremony, today was the 4th morning at the academy.

Already in small groups, they were forming clusters.

‘Especially, Estroja seems to be immensely popular.’

In the central back row of the classroom, fewer than ten students were clustered closely together.

In the center, as expected, was Estroja Perrawell.

“Yesterday’s class was really terrible, wasn’t it, Estroja?”

“That’s not a very nice way to put it. The professor probably had his reasons.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“Of course, Estroja! You’re so kind!!”

No matter what anyone said, Estroja was at the center of the group.

Whenever she spoke, everyone got overly excited.

…With that kind of influence, wouldn’t she be capable of being the representative or even the student council president?

“What are you looking around for?”

“Nothing, I just thought there weren’t many people around.”

“Why are you acting surprised? Plus, this is a conversation meant for us…”

“Hmm?”

Patrick whispered in Sion’s ear.

“Barons and commoners can’t join that group. They’re all in similar circumstances. So you don’t have to feel down about it.”

“Oh…”

“If it bothers you, you could try to get a little closer during the party after the opening ceremony on Friday… but I’m not sure.”

Patrick shrugged his shoulders.

While it was possible to ingratiate himself and squeeze into their midst, was it really worth it?

‘Yeah, I should just be grateful that Patrick is here.’

He felt lucky to have someone to talk to, like Patrick, as Sion had no friends to rely on during his past university life.

Moreover, thanks to the peculiar eyes he gained from the Magic Department, he was currently quite enjoying the learning of magic.

At that moment, as he steadied his mind.

“Excuse me! You’re Sion, right?”

“Uh, you are…?”

A boy with blond hair suddenly appeared in front of Sion.

It was Geivolg, the top newcomer in the Magic Department.

‘He must have had a great time trying to mess with me yesterday…’

Sion’s expression hardened.

Thanks to entering a spirit contract, he just barely avoided being totally humiliated yesterday.

If he hadn’t had the contract, he probably would have been scolded by Professor Lunia, becoming a laughingstock among the other students.

‘Not falling for it twice.’

Sion crossed his arms and watched Geivolg’s reaction.

What kind of trouble was he going to put him through this time?

Sion had no intention of becoming friendly with someone who despised him.

If necessary, he could just unleash Fire magic at him.


Or he could even borrow the power of the spirit currently sleeping in his pocket.

As he was gathering countermeasures, Geivolg spoke.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Sion.”

He suddenly bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle.

It was an expected reaction.

“…Huh?”

“I thought about it when I returned to the dorm last night; I think it was my fault for being so loud during class! You couldn’t focus on your studies because of the spirit contract, right?”

While Sion stood dumbfounded, Geivolg extended his hand.

“I apologize for my rudeness. Will you please accept my apology?”

“……”

With a cheerful smile, Geivolg offered a handshake.

Seeing his sparkling eyes and that perfectly folded bow, Sion thought inwardly.

What kind of character is this guy?