I Want to Be a Receptionist of The Magic World Chapter 2

Road to Receptionist
Chapter 2

One week has passed since my entrance to Doran Kingdom's Magic School.

–

Of course, the subjects we're studying are unlike what I've studied before. I'm not learning beginner level magic like making things float or moving them.

We're taught magic for use in battle, such as offence and defence magic and other miscellaneous things. Even though we're first years, we're not starting from the basics. As expected of a first-class cooking school.

Ah, I'm sorry. Magic school.

–

All students must have reached a certain standard of magic before entering this school, but because the village school I attended back at home was a kingdom certified one, those elementary magic spells are really too easy for me.

I won't be here if not for that. In the first place I won't even be able to enter this school.

Because they did have us take an entrance exam.

* * *

Well then.

If you ask me about my first impression after entering this school…… There're a lot of sparkling students, huh. Something like that.

Like, there're a lot more nobles than commoners, and since we have no uniform, the difference between our clothings is more than intense.

I brought a lot of clothes from home, but I chose those that are easy to move around in, and on the other hand I didn't really pay attention to their looks.

Today, I'm wearing a simple blue one-piece dress going down to below my knee, with a brown belt wound around my waist.

This belt has been modified so I can hang small tools on it. Totally practical.

–

Yep, this is what I usually wear for school.

We'll only be learning magic, so even nobles won't wear frilly dresses or expensive shoes for school, right? Or so I thought. We'll sweat, we'll get dirty, so no way, right?

–

Well, honestly.

I underestimated them. Nobles, that is.

–

Noble girls are wearing long dresses of different types and equipped with differing accessories, projecting an aura of nobility. Unlike me, their feet can't be seen. Unlike me.

Their dresses range from cute clothes like a puff sleeve dress with a hood attached, to seductive clothes showing bare shoulders. It once made me wonder confusedly if I wandered into a party or something.

And boys too, wear pants with boots, shirts with vests with long coats on top. Oh wow… gentlemen's clothes…

–

Huh, did I just wander into some kind of party……

Ahem, you're in a classroom, Nanalie, just a classroom……

–

The school buildings feel antiquated in a good way and don't look brand-new. Well, it has existed since a quite a long time ago so no way around it.

There are windows but it's humid, so when the weather's hot, the classroom is cool. But when it gets colder, maybe it'll become freezing.

Even so, the corridors and classrooms have high ceilings, so it kinda feels like a rich man's mansion.

–

If I am to compare it with something, it's similar to the royal castle if the castle's white walls became brownish and its interior and exterior degraded.

–

…… No, maybe that's exaggerating.

It's not that luxurious, but it does feel that luxurious.

Of course, in a good way.

–

I'm being surrounded by all that luxuriousness and gorgeousness, but I definitely cannot forget that other commoner kids like me exist too.

I'm not alone, there're people who are feeling like a pauper too.

I did see a boy wearing a shabby coat, so maybe I should go greet him, and together as comrades, we'll overcome that feeling of being left behind.

–

But here in this class, there're only two commoners including me…

–

"To think that we have to study together with commoners."

"My, there were more in the past, you know. Now almost all of us are nobles."

"But the class next door has around half. There are quite a lot, too."

"Why can't they just make this class all nobles, that'd have been great."

–

Their faint (not) discussion reach my ears. I can clearly hear who's talking what.

It's that group of boys and girls diagonally left ahead of me.

–

"Why are there two unnecessary extras here… Right, everyone?"

–

I can feel gazes piercing me from all sides.

Hmph, that's my line. Why are the numbers so skewed?

The class next to us has commoners for about half of its class, but in my class there're only two. What's with that? Better yet, maybe they can separate nobles and commoners to different classrooms.

What were the teachers thinking when they made this class division?

Thanks to that, I'm now the target of quite a lot of sarcasm.

–

"Those clothes… How pitiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it must be really hard for her to be here."

–

I can hear chuckling sounds.

Dammit, they want me to hear them, these jerks.

But that won't work on me. I won't be depressed or anything. There's no way I'm gonna be discouraged here.

And just you watch. When I reach first place, I'll definitely say, "My, my, there you are, esteemed nobles. Oh my, oh my, your results are worse than mine? Oops, my mistake. Are your grades inferior to this commoner's grades?" [1]

–

Somehow my aim has changed from reaching top ranks to becoming number one, but just as well. Rather than aiming for top ranks only, I feel more excited aiming for first place.

Alright! Let's master that ohoho laugh by graduation time.

–

"Haah."

–

I look around the class, elbows on my desk with my chin resting on my hands.

There's a, "My, what bad manners," coming from somewhere diagonal to me, but ignore it, ignore it.

–

The windows are located at the right side of the classroom, with the tables becoming higher and higher the more you go to the back of the classroom.

On the ceiling I can see floating round lights lining up orderly. Those are the lightings, and at first I thought they were quite strange. I do know some magics to create light, but I've never seen anything like this.

A magic tool, maybe?

–

My seat in this class is located at the twentieth step of the stairs. It's quite high up, which troubled me at first, but now I think it's a good observation spot, since I can gaze at the whole class from here. And it's not conspicuous to boot.

Well, though I say that, my simple clothes still make me the target of those nobles' piercing gaze.

–

"Alwess-sama, umm, could you please have the commoner beside you move, and let me sit beside you?"

"Are you getting ahead of us? You're from a mere baron house, and to think you'd dare speak to Lockmann-sama?!"

"Funny you'd mention that, Maris-sama. Your house is lower in status than Alwess-sama's!"

"Alwess-sama, just ignore both Maris-sama and Narlsama. Would you like to come play to my mansion next time?"

"Hey! Know your place!"

–

I move my hands to cover my ears.

It's break time now, so well, it's totally noisy with shrieks. It did get noisy around break time in my previous school too, but the girls there were squealing more cutely.

It feels like I'm being shown the battle between fellow carnivorous beasts.

It's fine if they're doing this from somewhere further, like the kids before who are standing diagonally to my front left side, but they're actually standing right beside me right now. It's really troubling.

Those bright dresses are actually piercing my eyes and making them hurt. If I could, I'd wear a blindfold.

–

"Alwess-sama!"

–

A girl joined her hands together while gazing at him with shining, red-rimmed eyes.

–

"Please, won't you let me sit beside you?"

"Hold it, Maris-sama!"

–

Well, have you realized it?

These girls are now fighting over a boy, as if they were gathering around a sweet nectar and persistently refusing to leave it.

–

"Come to think of it, I had the pleasure of visiting your mansion before, didn't I, Maris? Thanks for the delicious tea."

"Oh my. It's my pleasure. Please do come visit again."

–

That noble girl named Maris, her cheeks are flushed.

Seeing that, the others start taking out their handkerchiefs from who-knows-where and bite the corners frustratedly while uttering, "Kiiiii!"

I'm really impressed. It's the first time I've seen someone do that ever since coming here.

Their attitudes towards commoners are problematic, but if you pay attention you can see them doing funny things here and there, so it is a bit fun.

Though, if I tell them that, they'll definitely punish me, so no way am I telling.

–

"Narla, is it okay if I visit your place during vacation?"

"Y-you mean me?"

–

And this time, the other girl's cheeks start to redden.

–

"Zelta too, let's talk about it near vacation time."

"Alwess-sama! I'll be looking forward to it."

–

The girl who was looking at that Narla girl with a demon's face then start to become cheerful.

What a fast change. Maybe that's magic too?

–

And the boy waves them off with, "See you then," and they obediently return to their seats.

Those loud ones went back, as though they were hit with a spell, making the clamor before seemed like a lie. And they all went back in such a good mood.

–

I stare at the boy beside me.

–

"……"

"What?"

–

Somehow, I'm really bad with him.

It's not exactly because of his face. Hmm, no, well, perhaps there's a relation because the expression he's showing me now…

The broad smile he showed the girls before is gone. The face he's making now… There's nothing more expressionless and detestable than this. His switch is terrifyingly fast too.

I don't really care though. If he's smiling broadly even to me, that'll be quite disgusting in itself.

–

"What're you looking at me for, that's disgusting. Keep pulling that sullen face, and you'll become ugly someday, y'know."

–

Snap.

–

"……"

–

Let's just ignore that a blood vessel on my face just snapped.

This jerk's face is definitely not bad. Rather than not bad, I do think that going by common opinion, he is quite cool.

Going by common opinion, that is.

–

He's so unnaturally tall that it makes me question if he's also twelve years old, tall enough to make him look at least two years older. He doesn't look my age at all.

His hair that looks smooth to touch is honey coloured, making it look like gold. His eyes are red. Shapely nose, thin lips, white skin.

I think that for humans, it's okay to say that our fates are decided by the positioning of the parts of our faces, like our eyes or nose. As for this guy, all of his parts are put together so perfectly, it's as though someone were drawing a portrait. So he is 'beautiful'. So much so that it were as if a goddess had created him according to her favourite type.

His clothes that have black as their main colour also suit him, and his face is the sweet type which a lot of girls like. Even though he's a boy, he looks a bit like a girl.

But above all else, for me, he's…

–

"Tch, so you're showing your true colours at last."

"My true colours? Others have seen my true colours from way before this, and they come close even after knowing about my attitude. I can't help it, okay, you stupid girl."

"You trashy man."

–

Our gazes meet in a spark. I grind my teeth.

–

Alwess Lockmann.

Ever since I first met him, my fighting spirit is always provoked for some reason. What makes that happen is something I don't really know.

Him sitting beside me is something that can't be helped. It's something our teacher decided, and I never thought that he'll be someone so annoying. My first impression was simply that he was a beautiful boy.

–

But, somehow, the feeling that I definitely don't want to lose to him was born, and even for me it feels quite strange.

Is this the so-called instinct?

Is there something that lets us smell out the difference between a friend and a foe?

And him being him, the first thing he said to me, his neighbour, was,

–

"Rock, paper, scissors."

–

Yeah, that.

–

"……Huh?"

–

What's with this guy, or so I thought, but I didn't have the courage to argue with someone I just met, and accepted honestly. Add to that the clothes he wore showed he was a rich kid, so I really couldn't make him angry.

And the result was—with me bringing out rock and him paper—my loss.

–

"My win."

–

Then he smiled really, really darkly at me, enough to make me wonder when he started bearing a grudge against me. And speaking of which, the parts around his eyes were really black.

It was just a mere rock, paper, scissors, but that mysterious sense of defeat… What's with him?

Ah, totally incomprehensible. Seriously incomprehensible.

For some time after that, I kept challenging him to the game once I reached my seat. And he never refused so we kept on going, but I'm still losing 54-53.

In the first place, why did he challenge me to a hand game that time?

–

But I don't care about anything like that now. I just hate losing.

If I think about it now, maybe half of the reason why my fighting spirit is provoked is because of that game.

In any case, I don't want want to lose to him, be it in studies or anything else. That kind of rivalry is sprouting in me.

There's no way I'm gonna lose.

–

"Aah~, too barbaric. It'll be bad if someone like you gets close to the prince. Well, it's fine either way."

"Which is it!"

–

Who's getting close to the prince!, or so I want to shout, but I look away instead.

Doran's third prince is also in this class. His name is Zenon Val Doran. If Lockmann is a pretty boy, then the prince is perhaps the handsome man type. Black hair and eyes, even his eyebrows are manly. Both are definitely good-looking, but the prince is more my type. His black clothes, resembling a tight-fitting military uniform, make him seem courageous and cool.

And perhaps this is the golden age or something, but in my grade there are a lot of children from families that are powerful even by nobles' standard, to which the girls are all raising up a fuss.

I'm not happy at all.

–

And the most important prince is sitting in front of me. The fans of the prince, compared to Lockmann's fans, usually observe him from a distance. When the target's a prince, it's quite hard to just unthinkingly get close to him. And this blond jerk is perhaps his bodyguard or something, because they're always seen together.

Because I sit beside him, I can always see them joking around with each other even if I don't want to, so objectively they look like they're normal friends.

Well, it doesn't really matter to me.

–

"What's with that kid, talking to Alwess-sama just because she's sitting beside him."

"Know your place, please."

–

Dammit, I'll definitely laugh ohoho at you guys later!

Just wait for it!

I used present tense for this chapter :) Is this better or should I go back to past tense? Oh, and please point out if anything's confusing. This story is surprisingly hard to translate, and I kept reading and rewriting that I'm confused myself, lol.

Translator's notes:

1. ↑ Lol. Okay, I dunno if I managed to translate this well. Basically, she was imitating how nobles (typically girls) speak. The first part was lacking that characteristic, so she changed it to something closer to noble's speak, all the while stressing each and every syllable (LOL). I tried to make the first one sound more casual, while the second one more formal. Critiques and/or suggestions, anyone?

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Chapter end