The journey to Axeris Academy wasn't long since it was in the same city, but the campus itself was vast, so entering through the main gate took some time.
There were many lavishly decorated carriages, some twice as long as normal ones, pulled by low-level mana beasts.
"Such a show-off," muttered Elisia as she watched the pompous students confidently step out of the carriages, their adorned weapons signaling that they were either Mages or Knights.
Our carriage was also quite fancy, but only from a commoner's perspective. Compared to the extravagantly decorated carriages of the grand families, ours hardly drew any attention.
"We have arrived, Master Eizan, Master Alex, Lady Elisia." The driver opened the door for us, and we stepped out, both of us taking a deep breath of the campus air.
"Huh... the air tastes the same... I thought it'd be better," said Alex, smacking his lips.
"Don't be silly." I pushed my friend forward as we followed the crowd of students walking along the bright marble pathway.
"Holy..." Alex's jaw dropped as he looked nearly vertically up at the building before us. The massive white structure, covered in engraved runes, was awe-inspiring.
"Let's head inside." I snapped Alex out of his trance, and we walked along with the other new students attending the school for the first time.
Once inside, I winced at the loud noise. Thousands of excited students chatted, some with friends they arrived with, others with people they were meeting for the first time.
"Let's find a seat!" I had to shout for Alex, who was right next to me, to hear. Eventually, we found seats in the middle of the auditorium near the back row.
Looking around more carefully, I was surprised to see so many dwarves, elves, and vampires chatting with the people around them.
"Wow, I've never seen a full elf until now. It's true that all four races can fully attend this academy now," Alex said, excitedly looking around.
"It looks like I'll have to leave you two pretty soon this time, the opening orientation will start soon, so I need to go to the podium now." Elisia left us.
Bored of looking around, I focused my attention on the stage, which was still empty except for one podium. Suddenly, a sharp blur focused into shape, and I saw Director Emilia standing behind the podium. She wasn't wearing the large hat that wizards typically wore, like the last time we met almost four years ago. Instead, she wore an elegant white circlet that matched her white robes, giving her a much more refined appearance than the witch-like impression she gave at our first meeting. Director Emilia closed her eyes, and when she opened them, it seemed like she was peering directly at me, sending chills down my spine. Smiling, she slowly raised her hand while her eyes remained locked on mine.
At this moment, more of the first-years entering noticed her and started talking louder, some cheering, but when Director Emilia's hand reached head level, suddenly, everything went silent.
Looking around, everyone had expressions of shock, as when everyone's lips moved, no sound came from the audience.
"Pardon my rudeness, but I dislike speaking. It's not good for my throat, you see," she said with a pleasant voice that—though soft—was very clear, even from here in the back row.
"I welcome everyone here, future leaders, scholars, and powerhouses of this continent, to this humble academy. I am Emilia Contessa. Please call me Director Emilia and don't be afraid to greet me when I walk around campus. I'm not good with speeches, so I stand before you aspiring wizards today to say hello and introduce the Student Council that represents this academy and takes part in making important decisions alongside me. Please give them a warm welcome." She waved her raised hand, and one by one, council members began to walk out.
First, I saw Toru walk out confidently, looking straight ahead, his handsome boyish face eliciting waves of squeals from the girls in the audience. Behind him, a very cheerful and jovial man came out, waving to the audience and flashing us a bright smile.
"Look, look! There's Elisia! We have to cheer!" Alex stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs, and I followed suit, shouting her name as well. Her shy demeanor was nowhere to be seen as she calmly walked to the center of the stage, where she gave a small bow in each direction. There was no way she could see us or hear our individual cheers, but we still gave our all to cheer on our friend.
Behind her walked out a tall student with long, parted bangs. His face was frozen in what seemed like a hard sneer, with sharp eyes that seemed to look down on everyone, giving him a rather haughty appearance. While the cheers for him weren't as loud as for Jarrod or the cheerful guy, he still stepped gracefully.
Finally, the last arrival truly made the crowd fall silent. Silver hair that reflected the auditorium lights gave her a serene glow as her peachy cream-colored skin made the boys around me gape. She turned to face the audience, her round, turquoise eyes capturing the hearts of every boy in the auditorium.
She's only fifteen... right?
I found it hard to believe the girl who I couldn't see as more than a child had matured enough to catch me off guard. Her face still held a childish innocence, but the way she carried herself made me doubt that this was the same girl I'd known since almost infancy.
Though only slightly taller than Elisia, she was a bit shorter than the serious-looking guy beside her, but her posture made her seem larger and more majestic than anyone else on stage. With a deep bow, she rose back up, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear, her face as emotionless as a doll's.
"My name is Sophia Elara, and I am honored to stand here as the president of this academy's Student Council."
Huh?? S-Sophia is the Student Council president??
Murmurs started as the crowd once again cheered for our beautiful president. Next to me, a skinny boy spoke excitedly to his friend beside him.
"That's the Princess Elara I was talking about. My older brother told me she's been on campus since a day ago, as a direct student under the Director and will officially start attending this year with us!" He leaned into his friend so only he could hear, but his voice's volume betrayed him.
"T-That means she's not the first human to set foot on this campus. Wait… she's only a first year and already the Student Council president? Is that even possible?" His friend, whom I couldn't really see, spoke louder and louder with each word, causing nearby students to overhear as well.
"Yeah, I've heard about her too! She's supposed to be a genius, right?"
"Why is she so beautiful and talented? It's not even fair..."
"I wonder what I'd have to do to get her to notice me?"
The audience was filled with different conversations about Sophia, but while, for the boys, it centered on how much she was an unattainable star, for the girls, it was a mix of admiration and envy.
"Woah..." Alex, whom I had stopped paying attention to, gripped my arm tightly with both hands as if he needed me to support him to avoid fainting.
"Wow," he repeated. For how smart he seemed, he really acted like an idiot at times like this.
"You okay there, Alex?" I lightly nudged his head, but it just bobbed like a bobblehead toy.
"Yeah... I didn't expect Sophia to look that stunning in that noble uniform," he said in awe.
As the crowd quieted enough for Sophia to start speaking again, Director Emilia quietly disappeared.
Sophia spoke fluently enough to surprise me. She was only fifteen, yet she had the ability to command the full attention of the crowd with her unembellished words filled with maturity. She talked about the principles of this academy, how it was a holy ground where students should feel safe to walk freely. Sophia emphasized the discipline one would face if anyone harmed another student outside of agreed duels.
"While I may be a first-year like all of you, being given the privilege to be inside the academy a year longer made it all too clear to me that there is deeply entrenched discrimination against scholarly wizard students by battle wizard students. I, for one, will not tolerate any kind of aggression or bullying based on the trivial fact that someone is a scholarly wizard student." Sophia's voice never wavered as she stood behind the podium.
The crowd grew a bit noisy at this statement, as everyone present had heard rumors about the difficulties one might face as a scholarly wizard student.
"Starting this year, while the upper-class uniforms and required courses may differ, for the first two years, general education, which contains a mix of scholarly wizard classes and battle wizard classes, will be mandatory, for better assimilation between the two types." This last statement invited dissatisfied grumbles from the students present. While both Alex and I didn't need to follow Sophia's rules due to my special relationship with Director Emilia, most students, regardless of background, had to test for either the scholarly wizard or battle wizard positions.
It seems there are a lot of rules to follow at this renowned Academy.