Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Vol. 1 - Ch. 37 - An Episode in the Dormitory

The morning of a certain day, the dining room of the general dormitory — which was also called the Loser's doghouse — was currently filled with the chatter of people. The time was just a bit under a month since Allen enrolled in the Royal Academy.

The said people were mostly Allen's classmates. What were they doing here? The root of the cause could be blamed on his classmates who somehow misunderstood his reason for choosing the general dormitory and as a result, not just Leo and the company, but the other members of Class A also decided to move in as well. Though, as far as Allen was concerned, he just thought 'If there's a place to sleep, why bother with other things' and casually chose to stay.

In fact, there were even some who still decided to move despite having their homes nearby with a private tutor available to them.

If you asked Allen, he would just shake his head and say 'Their actions are out of my understanding', but alas, if they had just moved in, it would have still been fine. At the end of the day, they were the members of Class A, the finest of the gems among the already shining jewels. So the incident of every single member of Class 1-A moving into the general dormitory had caused quite a huge wave.

As if that wasn't enough, rumors started to spread that, apparently, the secret behind Allen Rovenne's stay in the general dormitory was the dorm's breakfast. Rumors begot rumors, and in the blink of an eye, the general dormitory was soon filled up.

Speaking of which, the general dormitory could only sustain 40 people at best.

Normally, as long as they were students of Class D and above, they would be able to pay the same rent as the general dormitory — 1000 rea in short — to stay in the noble dormitory, where they could avail the benefits of other facilities and services.

Class E students could also pay the normal fee of 5000 rea and live in the noble dormitory. There were around 60 students among all three grades of Class E, so as long as it could accommodate the students who couldn't pay the 5000 rea fee for the noble dormitory, having a general dorm with a capacity of 40 people was more than enough.

A majority of the Royal Academy's students were either from prestigious noble families or were the Young Masters and Young Ladies of wealthy families. Economic strength was correlated to literary ability so it was an obvious outcome.

Rarely, there were also prodigies from relatively normal families — like a poor baron household or a commoner origin — that managed to enroll in the Royal Academy through their talent and hard work. However, even for them, with the title of 'Royal Academy Student', they could easily choose one or two part-time jobs like tutoring so 5000 rea wasn't hard to earn. Moreover, that price was already incredibly cheap and it even came with access to plenty of facilities and services.

In the long history of the Academy, with the splendid achievements of its graduates one after another, the budget granted to it by the kingdom was also substantial, to say the least. In addition, there were also donations from graduates as well.

When considering the pay they would be getting after graduation, it was a no-brainer to choose a blessed environment, a life in the noble dormitory, to devote themselves to studying at the expense of taking a bit of a loan.

And that was why the only people who would bother moving to the general dormitory had to be eccentric people like Allen or Riyad, a 1st-year student from a remote countryside like Allen, or maybe those who weren't on friendly terms with the people of the noble dormitory also like Allen.

To begin with, only 5 students were staying in the general dormitory until this happened. Two of the 5 were of course Allen and Riyad. So, when even the 19 students of Class 1-A moved in, excluding Allen, this only left 16 rooms available for the others.

When the supply couldn't meet demand, prices were bound to rise. So it didn't take long for the residential rights of the general dorm to be traded for an exorbitant sum by the students of wealthy families who were late due to their wait-and-see attitude.

And just like that, what was once a neglected dog house in the backwoods, much like a miserable shack in the mountains, suddenly shot up in value, resembling a prime spot in the '4-Chrome Ginza'.

???

"Seriously! The sudden changes are making my head spin, all because of you, boy! Just how did the situation become so hectic? A little moderation wouldn't hurt!"

Sora grumbled out her complaints like usual, but her eyes were gleaming with happiness. 'I bet she must be pondering on the best way to get the most out of her newly arrived guinea pigs.'

'Also, it's not my fault at all.' But in the end, I inevitably found myself helping Sora to serve the food.

The breakfast in the dorm usually hovered between 'failure' and 'utter failure' depending on the day, however, today's menu was enough to make even me, who should have been slightly accustomed to breakfast here, want to run away from the place.

The breakfast consisted of bread, ridiculously oversized fish fillet — which I assumed to be 800g in weight — pan-fried in unsalted butter, and a type of milk that was so unsettlingly sticky and had a repulsive muddy yellow color that I couldn't bring myself to ask what it was. Furthermore, there was a fruit resembling dragon fruit, probably from a plant-based monster or something, with a striking purple color that looked incredibly poisonous included in the meal.

By the way, when the dorm still used to be peaceful, there was just me eating cafeteria food so the menu was centered around the mage aspect following my wishes. But with the sudden explosion in the dorm's occupants, it was impossible to create a menu focused on knights and mages from both the ingredients and time perspective so the current menu was a one-size-fits-all.

"Considering when you manage to learn emission magic, you would want to take the approach of a magic knight, right? So it's not completely in vain either. Also, all of this is happening due to you so just accept it!" or so she had said.

'Again, this isn't my fault.' But leaving that aside, she was right. I would most likely be taking the magic knight route so I reluctantly agreed.

The fish on the menu reeked so bad it wouldn't be strange to think that it was already rotting.

The faces of the tired students, exhausted after their morning training, had looks of despair the moment they stepped into the dining room. Well of course. The smell wasn't just bad, it stank so much that it induced intense nausea the moment they entered the dining room,

After helping out the serving for a while, I finally sat down at a table for six people occupied by Al, Jue, Fey, Leo, and Dol.

Their hands were grasping the cutlery, but none looked ready to eat the incredibly daunting menu.

"Aren't you guys going to eat?"

I stopped my nose, which was already numbed to some extent when I was giving out the dishes, from inhaling the air and mentally prepared myself saying 'This is just a strong smell, nothing more!' I shoved the sliced rotten (or at least that was what its smell suggested) fish into my mouth.

"...Is this what the people of Viscount Rovenne eat culturally?"

Leo inquired, looking as if he had received an intense culture shock.

I swallowed what was in my mouth and waited until the aftertaste faded before answering. If I had spoken in between, the smell would have crept up to my nose and I was sure to vomit out everything in that case.

"Of course not. It's a matter of determination. Schord, my private tutor, used to say 'When the mind is at peace, even the fire is nothing more than a cool breeze'... See, this is why I was saying it's too early for you guys to have this level of discipline. Heed my words, you still have time to escape from here. Yes, run away... With your tails tucked between your legs."

I attributed the saying of my previous world to Schord — at this point, it had completely become a habit — and taunted my classmates.

"I see! So this is also a part of mental training. A peaceful mind, huh…? So as long as my mind is at ease, no matter the predicament, I will not lose to fear or anything at all, is it? What a wise saying!"

Al, with a look of resolution on his face, cut the fish then stuffed a piece into his mouth with a blank look and chewing vigorously.

"Munch, Munch. Hmm, this— Uogggggggggggh!"

He tried to say something while still chewing the fish when he spectacularly threw himself backward and fell to his knees on the spot.

Haa, Haaa, Haa, Haa…

Seeing Al breathing like he had just gone through a 100-man sparring with bloodshot eyes, the other four, who were just about to move, once again paused.

I watched them while taking another bite. After waiting for the fish to disappear from my mouth, I gave some advice to my motionless classmates.

"You can't just jump on the bandwagon of determination without making it clear 'For what reason you are eating this'. I heard from Sora-san earlier that this menu was specifically effective for a mage's emission magic. Leaving aside Fey, who has no plan to be a mage, I think your four should try a little harder."

Fey's expression immediately brightened upon hearing my words, however, it just served to further deepen the color of desperation on the other four's faces.

"You aren't any less evil, you know? You could have given us a hint or two, at least. I'm just going to have bread and fruit for breakfast. Everyone, fight on!"

Fey grinned as she looked at everyone with a triumphant expression while peeling the fruit and taking a large bite out of it.

'Wait,' I was about to warn her but I missed the timing.

"Buhh—!"

Fey spat out the fruit and then, while swaying her head from side to side with a maniacal 'Kyaha, kyahaha' laughter, fell into the plate of rotten fish.

She seemed to have fainted.

"Fey-san!"

Jue hurried to help her out.

"I missed the timing... That fruit is incredibly sour so you better not put too much in your mouth without thinking, alright?"

Though I was late in Fey's case, I still warned the others.

I once had it for breakfast before they moved in so I could still recall that sharp sour taste, like someone had rung a bell right next to my ear.

"Very sour? There's no way just the sourness can make someone faint......"

Dol murmured while looking at the Fey sprawled on the floor as her body spasmed intermittently.

"There is still a pulse..."

Jue reported the survival of Fey, whose face was covered with the fish's sauce, while pinching her nose.

"...Inform us sooner, Allen. Isn't there any sort of guidebook for this?"

Leo asked me for advice. Well, being frank was his virtue.

"There's no perfect strategy. But as I said earlier, the most crucial thing is 'metal preparation'. And as for technique, you can make sure to not inhale the smell when you chew so intensely and don't speak while eating like Al did. If dishes have intense flavor, then you can take a small bite at a time and swallow it without chewing too much.

Also, whatever you do, just never think of using body-strengthening magic to quickly finish it all in one go. You know, gathering mana in your mouth can make your senses sharper, and if you fail in precisely circulating your mana, the heightened senses will cause your movement to go awry— I don't think I need to explain the disaster that will ensue."

It wasn't an empty talk, I had fallen prey to this once. 'Experience speaks, as they say.'

Hearing my explanation, Leo reached out for the fish with a determined expression, and with unhurried movement, he tossed the fish into his mouth and swallowed.

...That was fine. Though I really wish he could stop glaring at me with bloodshot eyes with tears streaming down his face while eating...

Just as I was having breakfast wrapped in such a strange atmosphere, I suddenly recalled something.

Coincidentally, everyone here, excluding Fey who fainted, was talented in emission magic.

"I'm thinking of establishing an Emission Magic Research Club. What do you all think?"