In fact, since the proportion of wizards was only about 30% within the academy, she thought that the first month of the magic department’s opening would not be very crowded.

But when the next month came and the general department’s opening began, she expected people to be bustling around the twomonth mark, but this was a big misconception.

Just because wizards were only 30% of the total, the absolute number of students at Horizon Academy was so large that that 30% was not a small number.

‘There are so many people.’

When she had visited Horizon with Gibnen last time, it was the academy’s vacation period, so there were relatively few people, only those taking seasonal classes or staying in dormitories. Now it was bustling with a tremendous crowd.

The interesting thing was that the senior figures and freshmen were clearly distinguished.

Between those who looked worn out, with extremely tired expressions as if they had lived their whole lives, and those who were neatly dressed, fumbling around naively, or with sparkling eyes filled with anticipation, a strange scene was created.

Of course, Riley was part of the latter group, so she fumbled around to B[Dash]0512 lecture hall, where the lecture “Practical Magic Interaction” was to be held.

In B[Dash]0512, a classroom full of chicklike freshmen, people with clear ‘freshman’ tags were taking their seats and exchanging their stories.

Since Riley knew no one, she sat in the corner as unnoticeably as possible.

Even though they were all freshmen, some seemed to have already made friends, or were already acquainted, as there were groups having friendly conversations.

“Horizon’s wizard master came to the academy, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, a few weeks ago. He brought some girl with him.”

“A new lover?”

“If she was a lover, wouldn’t he have gone directly to a hotel instead of here? Why would he come here?”

“I heard it was a disciple?”

“Pfft, what? A disciple at that age?”

“What does age have to do with it? Look at his age and he’s a wizard master. With those achievements, there must be more than a few wizards wanting to be disciples, right? Maybe he’s cultivating a successor while he’s young instead of struggling to train one when he’s old.”

What to do.

The topic among the freshmen was the ‘Horizon tour’ eyewitness account from 3 weeks ago. Riley bowed her head in surprise. Where did they hear about it, and why were they still excited about the eyewitness account 3 weeks later?

“It must be a disciple, right? There’s one amazing kid among this year’s freshmen.”

“Oh, I’ve heard that too. Unmeasurable. They say it’s a grand wizardlevel talent. Even aced that difficult written test, right?”

“Then the valedictorian?”

“Must be, everyone knows. The rumor has spread.”

“One thing is for sure, it’s not from Prestige. If it were from Prestige, we would have known, right?”

“Right. Who knew such a talent was buried in some rural backwater. Anyway, they say it’s a disciple the wizard master brought.”

“Who knows?”
“It hasn’t been revealed who it is?”

“It’s a very secretive atmosphere, so that’s why. Anyway, we must find out who it is and build a strong relationship.”

So Gibnen’s disciple has also been admitted here.

There was no mention of being the top student; it seems really incredible. I also scored full marks in the written exam, but… the practical exam was a disaster. Everyone else here found the written exam easy, right?

Riley let out a deep sigh.

No matter how I think about it, I seem to be at the bottom here. Can I avoid failing in the upcoming exams? I heard there are many people trapped in the endless cycle of graduation here, as you can’t graduate if you don’t meet the grade requirements.

“Hello?”

Riley lifted her bowed head.

“Is this seat taken?”

Shake shake.

“Then can I sit here?”

Nod nod.

A girl with brown bobbed hair and a cute expression took a seat next to Riley and cautiously extended her hand.

“I’m Hila, Hila Durre.”

“…Ra, Riley Eardalyn.”

“How old are you?”

“…Twentyfive.”

“Really? I’m twentyfive too!”

Is it a big deal that we are the same age? As Riley tilted her head, Hila shyly blushed and said,

“There aren’t many late enrollees like us. Usually, everyone enrolls at the age of twenty.”

That’s right; typically, the regular admission age is right after high school graduation, so enrolling at twentyfive is indeed late. Then everyone here is just kids.

“What subjects are you taking?”

Hila seemed very interested in others at first glance.

Riley didn’t mind her interest and handed over the notebook she was holding. It was a notebook with her class schedule.

Hila checked the notebook and smiled brightly.

“We have a lot of overlapping subjects.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, let’s get along.”

“…Yes, let’s.”

A friend on the first day.

Riley thought she was lucky.

Being extremely shy, she thought it would take a long time to make friends, but she was happy that a cute and affectionate girl approached her first.

“I feel a sense of affinity, maybe because we are the same age.”

“…Really?”