Chapter 18: Preparatory School

Hyrim arrived at the Preparatory School.

At this moment, many boys and girls about the same age as Hyrim were already entering the school gates.

“Morning, Hyrim! Long time no see!”

“Yeah, good morning, everyone!”

After exchanging greetings with a few familiar faces, Hyrim headed toward her classroom.

“Yo! Hyrim, you actually came right on time on the very first day of the new school year? I can’t believe you’ve never been late once!”

Just as she was about to reach the classroom, a blonde girl with two curly ponytails blocked her path. The girl wore a beautiful Gothic dress, and beneath her white over-the-knee socks were a pair of brand-new leather shoes. Her face carried an arrogant expression.

“Unlike me—Miss here arrived ages ago. This kind of punctuality is what a noble should have~!”

“Hmm.”

Hyrim suddenly spoke up.

The blonde girl’s expression froze instantly.

Then, very angrily, she shouted, “Flan! I’m Flan Banton! How could you forget that?!”

“Flan Banton… Oh, right, it’s Flan. Sorry, you changed so much I didn’t recognize you,” Hyrim said in a monotone voice.

But Flan wasn’t fooled.

“Don’t lie! It’s only been a short time since we last met, how could you have changed that much? You just never remembered me before, did you?!”

Hyrim: “……”

“Wait, don’t be silent! Why suddenly quiet? It’s like I hit a nerve! Too much, you definitely didn’t remember me!”

“The students outside, please enter the classroom. Class is starting!”

The teacher’s voice from the hallway temporarily saved Hyrim.

“It’s time to enter the classroom. Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. Um… Flan?”

With that, Hyrim walked past Flan and headed into the classroom.

“Huh? Wait, what’s with that subtle pause? You still haven’t remembered my name?! Hey, don’t walk away—explain yourself!”

Ignoring the voice behind her, Hyrim quickly entered the classroom. Flan clearly didn’t want to let it go so easily and was about to say more.

“That student over there, please enter the classroom quickly.”

“Ugh…”

After being called out by the teacher, Flan had no choice but to give up on bothering Hyrim for now. She glanced angrily at Hyrim’s retreating figure before following her inside.

“Class, congratulations on entering the new school year. You’ve learned quite a lot in the past year, but~ the teacher is curious about how much you remember after a long break, so…”

The teacher on stage smiled gently at everyone, but no one knew that beneath that smile lay something sinister.

He leisurely pulled out a stack of test papers from under the podium and slammed them onto the desk.

“So today, the teacher is going to give you a comprehensive test. How do you feel—happy~?”

“Hey—don’t be so sudden!”

“What should I do? I’ve forgotten most of it!”

“Not on the first day of school, teacher!”

“If I fail, will I get scolded?”

For a moment, the classroom was filled with groans and complaints.

… But none of that stopped the test from proceeding.

The test started quickly and ended just as fast. The teacher immediately began grading, seemingly determined to let the students’ parents know on the very first day just how “hardworking” their children were during the vacation.

Once the results were ready, the teacher announced each student’s score in class.

The top scorer was Hyrim Haielar!

When Hyrim’s name was called, all eyes in the classroom turned toward her. Among them, one gaze burned especially fiercely.

“Damn it, no way, I actually got outscored by Hyrim!”

Several rows behind Hyrim, the blonde girl with twin curly ponytails, Flan, clenched her test paper tightly, staring at Hyrim’s back with gritted teeth.

“This can’t be! I’ve been tutored privately since I was little. I’ve already learned all the material taught at the Preparatory School ahead of time, and I even reviewed it during the break. The Haielar family shouldn’t have the financial means to hire private tutors. Yet I, I lost to Hyrim on the test?”

“Infuriating, absolutely infuriating. I refuse to accept this—there must be something wrong!”

“I have to find out what it is!”

Because of what happened this morning, Flan already bore a grudge against Hyrim. Now that even her confidence was defeated by her, a crushing humiliation welled up inside. Combining these feelings, Flan silently swore to herself that she would reclaim her pride.

Meanwhile, Hyrim remained completely unaware that someone was now glaring fiercely at her, maintaining her usual expressionless demeanor.

On the other hand, the classroom was in an uproar over the test results. Many students worried about how to explain themselves once they returned home and paid little attention to the teacher’s words, which caused the teacher some frustration.

So he chose to announce some news.

“All right, quiet down. Now I have something to announce.”

The classroom finally calmed as the teacher scanned the room and slowly said, “You probably already guessed this, but yes! Starting tomorrow, you will officially begin magic lessons!”

“What? Really!?”

“Oh right, that too!”

“Oh! It’s finally starting—magic lessons!”

The classroom instantly erupted in excitement, and the worries about the test scores were quickly forgotten.

Watching the classroom grow even noisier, the teacher regretted whether he should have waited until after school to announce it…

Magic lessons are the most important part of the Preparatory School’s curriculum.

In fact, the Preparatory School was established precisely to teach magic.

The reason magic education doesn’t start immediately upon admission is because considering the students’ age and level of understanding, it’s unrealistic to have them begin learning magic right away. Therefore, they first undergo general knowledge education.

After all, magic is a truly complex discipline. The knowledge and theories involved are so esoteric that it’s no joke to expect someone who can’t even read to learn it.

Some might wonder why the Preparatory School is capable of teaching magic to such a large number of students.

That brings us to the background of the Preparatory School.

The school was founded solely by the Adventurers’ Guild, an organization spanning the entire world. Funding came from the Seven-Day Church, with various races and nations contributing manpower and resources, resulting in a nearly worldwide public institution.

Its purpose is to mass-produce immediate combat-ready forces that can be summoned at any time, to avoid situations where the world faces annihilation without enough troops or civilian resistance.

Under normal circumstances, an institution of such grand scale and involving so many powers behind it would be impossible to establish.

However, due to the severe lack of mid-to-low level combatants, the continent of Himliel suffered a devastating defeat during the penultimate Demon King invasion war. The whole world nearly fell, and only by the six heroes sacrificing themselves along with the Demon King was victory secured.

The cost of that war was unprecedented in the history of the Himliel world. The world order was almost completely destroyed, civilization nearly interrupted, and even the calendar was changed to the New Era, also called the New God Era.

The painful lessons of that war made the survivors deeply determined to fix Himliel’s weaknesses.

And thus, the Preparatory School was established.

With its emergence, a large number of mid-to-low level fighters appeared, especially among the lower classes.

It’s important to understand that in this world, most people’s magical aptitude is only D or even E rank. Before the New God Era, such people were considered talentless and were not even eligible to receive magic education.

The Preparatory School treats everyone equally, offering the same systematic education to all.

As a result, many low-aptitude individuals who previously couldn’t even touch magic gained magical abilities. Ordinary civilians who used to flee in panic from a single slime or goblin, waiting helplessly for adventurers’ rescue, now possessed self-defense skills.

Although the Preparatory School’s education has brought a series of social issues, after its astonishing results in the last great war, all opposition disappeared.

Today, the Preparatory School has nearly eight hundred years of history and a complete, highly efficient educational system. This method is even more effective than many private magic tutors hired by nobles.

That’s why noble children like Flan, despite their families’ financial means to hire private tutors or magic teachers, still choose to attend the Preparatory School.