FOR the next month, I spent my days working hard in the Garden Plant. Professor Whipp praised me highly, and I was glad I was living up to her expectations. It seemed renovations to the caretaker cabin had stalled for quite a bit, and I wouldn’t be able to enter until school began.
Then, at last, the day of the entrance ceremony arrived—Vizer’s school year began in the fall. In Japan, the new school year began in the spring, so it was a new experience for me as I walked along the school grounds decorated by the reddening leaves. I’d always dreamed of attending a magic school, and I couldn’t help but show my excitement as I took eager steps forward.
The front gates posted classes and where students were assigned. Did Ehr get in? I wondered. I instinctively searched for his name on the poster instead of mine, but with two hundred names, I wasn’t sure if I could find him.
Just then, someone aggressively smacked my shoulder.
“Hey! Misha!” a bright voice called.
“Ehr!” I was elated that he got in, too, and I impulsively drew him in for a hug, unable to contain my excitement. “You got in, too!” I squealed.
“Yep! Thankfully,” Ehr replied. He’d thought that I’d failed the exam since I didn’t show up when the admittees were announced. “I kept regretting not asking for a way to contact you.”
“As did I,” I said.
I guess neither of us thought of our next course of action if we got rejected.
“But hey, we got to see each other again,” he said.
“Truly. I’m so glad!”
I was so happy to hear that he’d been accepted—perhaps more than for my own acceptance. We jumped up and down like excited children as we celebrated our huge win.
“Your school uniform suits you very well!” I praised.
“You think so?” Ehr asked. “I’ve been pretty self-conscious about it. I’ve never worn clothes this nice before.” He lived downtown and usually purchased secondhand clothes. “It was always a pain because I quickly outgrew my clothes,” he said. “But apparently, these can shrink and stretch with magic, so that’ll save me the trouble.”
“Agreed,” I nodded.
“You look good too, Misha!”
“Hee hee, do I?”
I did a little twirl in front of him. I was positively delighted the first time I wore a mantle that only Vizer students were permitted to wear. A frilly blouse, velvet ribbon, and a long dress that went down to my ankles, along with a little jacket, completed my ensemble. The school crest was embroidered in silver thread. It seemed that excellent students or prefects were given special mantles, ribbons, and ties, and many students yearned to wear them.
“Maybe I should aim to be a prefect too…” Ehr muttered.
“You’ve got a loud, strong voice,” I praised. “I think you’re suited to be a prefect!”
“I’m not sure if the loudness of my voice alone will get me selected for the role, but… Oh, and I’ve been meaning to ask…”
“Yes?”
He asked why I wasn’t around when the admittees were announced, and I pulled him over to a more deserted space.
“I’m actually a special case,” I whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m allowed to attend in exchange for helping the potions professor.”
“What the heck?! What dorm are you in?!”
“There’s a little cabin in the garden for its caretaker, and I’ll be living there.”
The building renovations were finished that morning, and I was allowed to move in today. I didn’t have time to move in all of my necessities, so I would have to organize my stuff on my days off.
“What dorm are you in, Ehr?” I asked.
“Flame.”
“Oh, you’re the fire element?”
“Yeah.”
He said he envied me as I lived alone and had more freedom. The Flame dorms were divided into two buildings, one for the boys and one for the girls. They weren’t allowed to head to the other gender’s dorm at night—all the students of the same grade would be punished if the rule was broken. They wouldn’t be served food for a day. They also had a strict curfew, and breaking that rule would subject them to a hundred-page report. If they fought, they weren’t allowed to buy snacks for a year, and if they skipped showering for a day, they had to sing in front of the entire school. It seemed they had some strict regulations to follow.
“Stricter than I thought, really,” Ehr admitted.
“I see…” I replied.
“The prefects watch over the students, but they’re terrifying.”
Every dorm was under the watchful eye of a prefect, and there were special cases where some students were elected to become prefects. There were around two or three of them per grade.
“The head prefect is in charge of all the prefects, and I’ve heard that they’re scarier than anything else in the world,” Ehr said.
There were even rumors that one’s school life was doomed the moment they were targeted by the head prefect.
“There’re rumors that they bring a dragon familiar around with them, and they watch over students like a hawk, ensuring that no one breaks the rules,” Ehr muttered.
“We ought to be careful,” I said.
I’m glad I don’t have to deal with any of that. Still, I don’t want to be hated by the head prefect, so I should lead a normal and diligent life.
“Did you check your classes yet?” I asked.
“Nah, not yet,” Ehr replied.
“Then let’s check our schedule together.”
“I’m down.”
Classes were divided so that students of fire, water, wind, earth, and the other elements would evenly mix with one another. Ehr and I were both in Class 2.
“Misha! We’re in the same class!” Ehr shouted.
“So we are!” I cried.
We held each other’s hands and jumped up and down excitedly.
“Then I hope we can get along for the next year!” he said.
“I hope so as well.”
With a firm handshake, I was elated to find that my first friend was also my precious classmate.