The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 22: Start Of School D-Day

A month passed by in a flash.

I was able to save on lodging expenses because I had stayed at Miss Heerlein’s place during that time. And along with the tip I made from the unexpected friendship with Lady Saliere during my part-time work, my financial situation improved rather quickly.

Today was the last day of my full-time hour job. I told the owner that I’d think about extending my contract once I started at the Academy, since my priority in the weeks after the ceremony was to adjust to school life.

Anyhow, I had bountiful funds in my savings. For someone recently set free, that is.

With my regular pay, overtime, and a bonus for working hard, I was able to pay for tuition, dorm fees, and still have some remaining.

Still, I was sad about the money going out.

“Uwuuh.”

Once I paid for tuition, my mood plunged along with the money in my account. Seeing the money I had worked hard to earn disappear from my savings into someone else’s pocket in real time was bad for my mental health....

A little more and they were going to start taxing me. It was already terrible.

I thought about a few things while I had been working for the past month.

It wouldn’t be that bad to live like this until I graduate as long as there were no other variables. I could make money during breaks and research new magic throughout the semester period.

Although I paid for tuition, there weren’t many things I could learn at first-year level.

It was the same idea as a freshman from a science or gifted high school dominating peers from a regular high school. I had three years of learning from grinding so why would I need a repeat of what I already knew?

Of course, I knew not to neglect the basics. F=ma learned in high school was distinctly different from F=ma learned in graduate school.

I might gain new insight from knowledgeable teachers as I listened to formal lectures.

“Oh right, the hardcover.”

The book that I received from the girl who had been ‘me’ right before being thrown into this world. It was the grimoire that had acted as a guide when I was first learning magic without prior knowledge.

< The Research of Relations Between Magic and Physics >

─ Subtitle : The Magical Guide for Physicists Adventuring Through a Fantasy World (Beginner)

I hadn’t been looking at it as I was preparing for the admissions test. I opened it up for the first time in a while.

[◆ Progress]

[Fire Magic : 842/1048]

[Water Magic : 251/992]

[Earth Magic : 353/1005]

[Air Magic : 152/824]

[Unclassified : 2/149]

[TIP: You cannot return to your world before mastering all magic.]

Good. They all made some progress.

The blanks were filled in by the books I’d studied in preparation for the exam, so I was able to master the basics of all the elements. Looking at the results, enrolling into the Academy had been a three-in-one deal.

My goal was still the same. Finish reviewing the paper of this Goddess person who sent me here and return to my true world. In order to accomplish that, I needed to discover and learn every single magic on this list no matter the cost. The progress should speed up now that I’ve been accepted into Tilette Academy.

Great. Everything was going smoothly.

I tidied up the uniform provided by the school and laid down on the cot that Miss Heerlein had provided.

I now understand the happiness of being under a cotton-filled duvet....

Today was my last day in the mansion as I was to move into the dorms assigned by the school tomorrow.

I bid farewell to today then went back to my home for a bit.

**

[The prologue has been completed.]

[A new application program will be installed to assist the user currently possessing the grimoire starting from episode ‘The Academy Entrance Ceremony’.]

[sudo – ]

[pw ********]

[apt get /]

[─ The Magical Guide for Physicists Adventuring Through a Fantasy World(Intermediate)]

[Download in progress]

[0%]

[10%]

[32%]

[48%]

[57%]

[86%]

[98%]

[100%]

[Installation complete.]

[Speaking(-s) and Writing(-w) have been unlocked upon installation completion.]

[The function ‘mana construction’ has been unlocked within the system. The current level of the grimoire allows storage of up to 100 sieverts of mana.]

[The user also may change settings to prevent another from seeing the grimoire if they wish. Select ‘Advanced settings─Invisibility mode’ in Admin Mode.]

[* (Admin Mode)]

[Caution : This grimoire possesses an ego based on neuromorphic computing technology. The book cannot be viewed by or transferred to anyone other than the one the AI recognizes as its owner. Any violators of this rule will receive a physical penalty so please keep this in mind while using.]

[ROOT Admin mode has now been unlocked.]

[The grimoire’s appearance will be partly altered for smooth running of the program. This will take several hours.]

[.......]

**

[Wake up, Master.]

**

“Ughhh.”

It was the day of the damn entrance ceremony.

Freshmen who’ve been accepted into their desired school usually stayed up the night before out of excitement. Unfortunately, I carried no such emotions.

Because I was a veteran who’d been at Tilette for three years already. I could get to the cultural center with my eyes closed.

I only felt one thing at the moment.

“So annoying.......”

I didn’t want to go to school, already feeling like a ‘stale’man. A person’s nature seemed to be determined by their status, indeed.... I thought about how the world had gotten better since I was now able to complain.

The three years that I lost.... I wasn’t going to get them back nor be compensated for them.......

Unlike my heart which was resisting going to school with all its might, my body was already half-awake.

Everyday I’d wake up automatically at 5 a.m. as if it was routine. It was like having a built-in alarm in my body so my eyes would open as soon as the sun rose.

─ It’s an entrance ceremony but attendance isn’t mandatory. You just go to your designated classroom by eleven to meet your homeroom teacher, then get dismissed after getting a dorm room assigned. There won’t be much in the way of actual lessons for at least a week because of different preparations needing to be done.

So I didn’t need to be up this early today. There’d be no problem with going back to dreamland a second time.

The academies of this world were an education institution that was something between high school and university.

And it was like university in the sense that you were free to choose whether to attend the entrance ceremony or not. I liked this part.

I hadn’t even attended my own entrance or graduation ceremonies, after all.

There wasn’t really a reason. It was simply annoying.

There’d definitely be profanities hissed through my teeth if I had to listen to boring sermons from some higher-up of the school like the principal or president all the way here, too. They droned on and on about supposed life lessons but honestly, no student could relate to it.

When I looked out the window through squinted eyes, the sun was just coming up over the mountain. I shrugged and pulled the covers back over me.

[Master, are you not getting up?]

Come to think of it, I’ve been pushing myself too hard to make money. They say that one could start hearing things if they were too tired so I thought to sleep in a little more before leaving.

[Master! You’ll soon be late for school! Wake up!]

The hell was that.

I must be hearing things. I was seriously contemplating if there might be any psychiatric help in this world, but the constant muttering coming from somewhere had me kicking away the covers in frustration.

[You’re finally up.]

“......!”

Apparently one couldn’t make a sound when they were startled badly, and it was true.

Shocked by the floating, talking book in front of me, I even forgot to make a noise and punched into the air.

[Whoa, that’s harsh. Isn’t this our first conversation? I’ll be upset if you try to hit me on our first meeting.]

After my heart barely calmed down, I narrowed my eyes and asked.

“... What are you?”

[The grimoire you’ve been using.]

“Excuse me?”

[To be exact, I am your full-fledged AI assistant starting from today. I don’t have a name yet. The only thing to note is that there is a root library installed in a Linux-based OS, I believe.... You can think of me as a program created by the Goddess according to the standards of the other world so that you can get accustomed to me as best as possible.]

So this hardcover made up of paper was suddenly going to be an AI. What the heck?

Wait. The design seemed a little different, too. It became darker in color and a pattern looking like a direct circuit was engraved into the cover.

It became SF-ish.

A lot of hypotheses came to mind. And out of those, the most plausible one came out of my mouth.

“Ah, I’m still in dreamland.”

[It’s not a dream. If it was, then you being dragged into this world while reviewing me and having to suffer would also be one, no?]

“Not exactly....”

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

I already rejected the idea that this was a dream long ago. It would’ve been better if this had been a nightmare instead.

“.......”

I pondered for a moment then gave up thinking about it.

Yeah. A flying, talking book wouldn’t be all that strange by this world’s standards.

It was already unrealistic that I was dragged to this world because I had been strict with my reviewing. A caveman would be shocked by a space shuttle, but then if they saw an airplane afterwards, they’d say, “Something like that also exists,” right? It was the same sentiment.

It was easier to just think of it as some apostle sent by the supernatural existence that was the Goddess. Although it might not be the best attitude for a scientist to have....

What could I do? Incredible geniuses like Einstein and Newton had also died without knowing everything about the world. This was a realm beyond my comprehension.

[I’ll be telling you everything you need to do going forward so there’s no need to open me up.]

Anyway, I needed to slowly start getting ready.

It felt awkward trying to put on a school uniform because I hadn’t worn one since high school.

Not only that, it irked me that I had to wear a uniform for female students. Fortunately, there was some relief gained from wearing underpants and covering myself with the robe.

[You’ve been pretty calm for someone who went through a sex change.]

“No, there was nothing to be calm about so go contact the Goddess. I’d really like to see her in person and ask why she took an innocent person and put them in this predicament.”

[Finish reviewing the paper first. You’ll realize why the Goddess did this to you by the time you learn all the magic, anyway.]

Fine, whatever. There wasn’t any point in arguing with some kindling book.

After grabbing the floating hardcover, I went downstairs to the first floor.

Unlike for students, it was customary for most teachers to attend the ceremony every year.

I heard that it was especially expected of the teachers with some status within the faculty meetings under the Academy Board. They were supposed to get to know the students as well as stand guard.

Miss Heerlein was gone already since she was also part of the board. The servants were nowhere to be found. I sensed something off about this but I let it go and checked the time.

The clock told me it was 10 a.m. By this time, the freshmen should be suffering from the principal’s preaching.

In the meanwhile, I could just take my time walking along the campus street and make my way there. I grabbed my bag and opened the front door with leisure.

A dinosaur stood there.