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The academic city of Doctus,
located between the Caem Mountains to the north and the Farthus River to the
south, was originally a fortified city built as a military base in the northern
part of the Caelum Empire.
Initially, the city was
established on a desolate frontier, with only a city center surrounded by a
stone wall one kilometer on each side. However, as the Magicians’ Guild
established its headquarters and the traffic on the Aurella Highway increased,
a new urban area was built around the walls, and the city has now developed
into a city measuring 2 km from north to south and 4 km from east to west.
Doctus has a dual structure
with a New City and an Old City. The Old City, surrounded by the city walls, is
an academic city, while the new town on the outside is a commercial city. It is
a large city with a total of 15,000 inhabitants, 5,000 in the old town and
10,000 in the new town.
Since there is only a simple
fence around the New City, no entry tax is required to enter the new city, but
to enter the old city on the Academy Area, an entry tax of 2 C (about 2,000
yen) is required.
We decided to stay in the New City
for the time being and look for accommodation in the Old City from the next day
onward or stay in the New Town and pay the entry tax one by one.
I thought so, but I realized
it was a mistake when I started looking for lodging in the New Town at around
3:00 p.m. Almost all the inns were already occupied.
When I asked about the
situation at the inn, I was told that many students had gathered for the
entrance examination of the Magic Academy, and therefore, there were no inns
available.
After checking about ten inns,
he finally managed to secure a room for three in a room that had been vacated
due to a cancellation.
“I hadn’t thought about
this situation,” he said. I didn’t think about the number of students who
would take the entrance exam for Magic Academy.” (Zack)
“Yes, I had forgotten
about it, too. I think there were about two hundred students who passed the
entrance exam and about three times that number who took the exam. Some of them
have homes in Doctus, but most of them must have come from elsewhere, and if
you include the families and chaperones, there would be more than a thousand
people staying there.” (Liddy)
I was relieved to hear Liddy’s
explanation that it was expected, but being a three-person room, there was one
bed missing.
I asked if there were any
extra beds, but was told that they were all already out.
Troubled, Guy started to say
that he and Sharon would share one bed, but Sharon looked grossed out when she
heard this. Guy noticed this and looked hurt, and lonely.
Liddy laughed at the situation
and invited Sharon to sleep with her. Sharon nodded broadly, and Guy was even
more crushed.
(I guess she’s a ten-year-old
girl old enough to start getting annoyed about her father… I don’t know
because I didn’t have kids in Japan, but I wonder if I’ll be able to understand
Guy’s feelings when I have kids in this world…) (Zack)
“I don’t know about
today, but this room is too small for me. Maybe we should look for another room
tomorrow.” (Zack)
Liddy shook her head.
“Maybe we won’t even be
able to look for one. Tomorrow the students who were stranded will arrive.”
(Liddy)
“Then maybe they’ll be
fine after the exam?” (Zack)
“The results of the exam will
not come out until the practical exam after the written exam is finished. It
takes ten days at the most for everyone to finish taking the exam and another
five days to get the results, so it will be like this for half a month.”
(Liddy)
The exam at the Tyria Magic
Academy consist of two parts: a written exam on July 22 and a practical exam in
front of the examiner.
The written exam consists of
five subjects: Common Language, Arithmetic, History, Geography, and Magic, and
the written exam itself takes one day.
The practical test is given to
all applicants for the written exam, which means several hundred people. Even
if each person takes 10 minutes, it takes 100 hours for 600 people, so it is
said to take from 10 to 12 days.
If that is the case, I think
it would be better to reduce the number of practical examiners by using a
written exam, but I heard that the result of the practical exam determines
whether a candidate passes or fails the exam, and if the result of the
practical test is good, you will not fail in the written test.
In that case, it would be
better to stop taking the written test, but most of the actual practical test
results show a lot of low-ranking testers, and the result of the written test becomes
the decisive factor in passing or failing. In fact, only about 20% of all
successful applicants pass the exam based on the results of the practical test.
Going back to the topic, the
announcement of passing the exam will be made about five days after everyone’s
exam is completed, so the students will be in town during that time. Although
there are examinees from Doctus and neighboring towns and villages, less than
10% of them will take the exam, and the other examinees and their chaperones
will live in lodgings.
Furthermore, those who do not
pass the entrance examinations often apply to one of the dozen or so private
schools in Doctus, so the entire month of August is filled with students taking
the entrance examinations.
“If so, this situation will
continue for about a month. Come to think of it, Sharon and I are going to be
in the dorms, aren’t we?” (Zack)
Liddy smiles slyly,
“Normally yes… but I have an idea.”
I was uneasy about the idea
and said, “An idea?” I didn’t ask, but I hope it’s not something
weird,” I looked at her quizzically.
“We’re going to rent a
house and live together. Dormitory fees at the Magic Academy are quite
expensive. Well, meals are included, and it is conveniently located near the academy,
but it would be much cheaper to rent a house in New City. I guess you guys can
get the entrance fee waived, but it won’t reduce the cost of tuition and
dormitory fees. As I recall, the dormitory fee alone is about 1,000 C (about 1
million yen) per year. If we rent a house, we can save that amount.”
(Liddy)
“But you will have to pay
for the rent of the house and food expenses. Then the burden won’t change that
much, right?” (Zack)
“I’ll pay for that. I’m
going to rent a house here anyway, and the size of the house won’t change that
much if there are three of us instead of one. The same goes for food. With one
person, I will have to eat out a lot, so I think it will be cheaper for the
three of us. Besides, Sharon is a good cook.” (Liddy)
Sharon’s eyes lit up at
Liddy’s words.
“I’ve heard that it’s
certainly not a boarding school, so I guess that’s not a problem… By the way,
don’t you have to pay the city entry tax to enter the Old City from the New City?
If you think about it…” (Zack)
“It’s okay. Students of
the Magic Academy become associate members of the Magicians’ Guild. So, if
someone related to the Magicians’ Guild passes through the gate, they don’t
need to pay the city tax when they pass through the gate.” (Liddy)
Tyria Magic Academy is a
school run by the Magicians’ Guild, and students are given an orb of the Magicians’
Guild upon entering the school. However, students are not official members of
the guild while they are in school, but become official members upon
graduation.
Private schools other than Tyria
Academy of Magic do not have such a system, and to join the Magicians Guild,
you need to be recommended by a member, be examined for membership, and pay an
admission fee of 1,000 C. I heard that in many cases, private school students
cannot become members of the Magician’s Guild until they graduate.
I was uncomfortable with
Liddy’s explanation.
“When I asked you about
Doctus, you said you had forgotten about it because it happened a long time
ago, but as soon as you got here, you came up with the story in a few words.
You must have been planning this from the beginning.” (Zack)
Liddy’s eyes swim at my words.
“Oh well. If Guy doesn’t
give us permission, we’re not even going to talk about it.” (Zack)
Liddy was surprised,
“What?” Then complains with eyes
wide, “I want to live with you.”
“I can’t live with you. If it
wasn’t for Sharon and the three of us, I’d be in the dorm too.” (Zack)
To be honest, I was quite
attracted to the idea of living with Liddy. However, my admission to the Magic
Academy this time was for the purpose of training, and with cohabitation… I will
forget my purpose.
If Sharon was with me, I could
control myself, and first of all, it would be a pity to leave her out of the
group. If Sharon wants to be independent, that’s fine, but it’s better to keep
her as close as possible, at least until she makes friends.
I ask Guy for his opinion.
“Seriously, though, I think
Sharon should move in with Liddy, even if I don’t. She’s going to grow up now.
There will be things that she’ll want to talk to her mother about. At that
point, I think it would be better for her to have an adult woman she knows
nearby. If you’re not comfortable under the same roof as a man, I’ll move into
the dorm. What do you think, Guy?” (Zack)
Guy looked stunned, as if he
hadn’t expected a situation like this.
“.. something you want to
discuss with your mother? …Oh, I kind of know what you mean. …I trust you, Master
Zack, so I have no problem with you being with her. But it would inconvenience Lydia…”
(Guy)
“I don’t think it’s a
nuisance. It’s probably better for Liddy to have Sharon around. Liddy is quite
slothful after all. If someone doesn’t manage the house, it will become a big problem.
In that respect, Sharon would be a safe bet. She can cook and do the housework.”
(Zack)
Liddy’s mouth twitched at
those words, “I’m doing enough too.”
“Then, have you ever lived
alone, Liddy?” (Zack)
She said, “Umm…” and
looked away.
“That’s what I meant.
Guy, can you lend me Sharon to take care of Liddy?” (Zack)
I tried to convince Guy that she
would take care of Liddy. To tell you the truth, I don’t think Liddy is that
much of a slob. She can cook, and she’s a rather clean person, so it’s not like
she’s going to end with a house full of garbage.
However, I thought that if we
proceeded on Liddy’s financial terms, there was a possibility that Guy might
not agree to it. Guy doesn’t want to cause trouble for me and Liddy. Of course,
he loves his daughter, and it is true that finances are tight. But I didn’t
think he would agree to accept help from Liddy on that basis.
If it meant that Sharon would
be useful to us, it would weaken the conflict in his mind. With this in mind, I
dared to bring Liddy into the story in a way that would undermine him.
Guy thought for a moment,
nodded his head, and turned to Sharon.
“What do you think? You
have to juggle both. This isn’t like home. It’s not like your mother is helping
you. You have to make sure that Master Zack’s health doesn’t suffer under these
circumstances. Are you sure you can do it?” (Guy)
Sharon nodded at Guy’s strong
tone, looking him firmly in the eye.
“I’ll be fine. In the
village, even children smaller than me were doing the housework. If I work
hard, I should be able to do it too.” (Sharon)
Perhaps sensing her strong
will, Guy gave her a small nod. Then he turned to us and bowed deeply.
“Understood. Master Zack,
Lydia, please take care of Sharon.” (Guy)
The three of us were now
renting a house, but it took a lot of effort to get Liddy in the mood to talk.
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