After she was brought to the harbor town by the local elf merchant, Lefiya’s first reaction, like everyone else’s, was awe at the size of the enormous ship floating out in the harbor. Once she got over her initial awe, she adjusted her backpack, steeled herself, and took her next step, walking alongside countless other children toward where applicants were being registered.
The School District’s curriculum differed from places of learning established anywhere else in the world.
Ordinarily, students at various academies and schools would graduate at set times as new students were admitted, taking their place. But there wasn’t a clear progression at the School District.
At most, the triennial return to Orario for an overhaul was the closest thing they had—and it was the busiest time for admissions when people gathered in Orario and Meren hoping to enroll—but even that wasn’t a firm graduation date.
Students who made up their minds could choose at any point to disembark from the ship and leave as a graduate.
Destinations were as varied as the students, including the global powerhouse known simply as the Empire; the nation of magic, Altena; the city of pleasures, Santorio Vega; the land of song and dance, Maelstra; the sea nation, Dizara; the Kaios Desert…and countless other countries and regions. Students who found their dreams or met someone who changed their life could embark on a new journey in any and every land.
“It’s an incredible school custom. It’s so free, some can’t help but be see it as irresponsible.”
“That’s the School District for you. The epitome of laissez-faire.”
Many described it like that, but the goal was not wealth, prestige, or power.
The School District’s calling was showing all the many possibilities to children who did not yet know what path they wanted to take in life and help them set out on their own. It was a place that gave people goals.
Of course, many students who graduated in a rush ended up failing. The school tried to accommodate its students’ desires as best as possible, but there were occasional differences between dreams and reality. However, even for those students who failed, their experience at the School District was by no means wasted. Its ideal was to foster a spirit of inquiry.
That inquiry included self-examination. Learning how to study and live, the students usually became far more tenacious than when they enrolled, learning how to handle most things themselves even when faced with failures.
Students could graduate at any time as long as the deities and instructors agreed there wouldn’t be any problems.
The fastest graduate left after only three months.
Getting back to the subject at hand.
With graduates setting off in every land it visited, the School District usually had open seats, as odd as that may have seemed. Children from all over would travel to the lands and towns it visited, hoping to claim one of those empty seats.
When Lefiya took the admission exam, six spots were available for the twelve hundred applicants—1-in-200 odds.
The sheer number of candidates shocked Lefiya, but the daunting odds did not make her lose her nerve. In the interview that was the admission exam, she expressed her determination frankly.
“I want to know about the outside world. What’s out there, what’s happening, and what I can become. That’s what I want to know.”
The examination ended easily, almost anticlimactically.
And the results were delivered that night.
The School District welcomed Lefiya’s aspirations toward the wider world.
“We approve of your admission, Lefiya Viridis.”
Lefiya would never forget the joy she felt when she was called into the room, and Balder said that with a smile.
At the time, Lefiya was by no means smart or strong. But her desire to know the world and to find herself had been acknowledged.
To an institution of learning that chased after dreams, that desire, that curiosity, and that impatience for self-discovery were the most valued traits of all.
Beneath the gaze of deities who could not be deceived, Lefiya had demonstrated her passion for learning and the strength of her desire. She had won one of a mere handful of open seats for herself.
When she reported the results to the young merchant from her home, he leaped into the air in excitement, and after saying farewell, Lefiya left aboard the floating school.
A white jacket and skirt. A lovely girl’s uniform.
A badge marking her class.
She received these emblems of the school and a falna. With that, she became a student.