A transfer student was coming to Fectom Comprehensive Academy.

The rumor spread quickly across the academy district.

In a hurry, Mizuki rushed to the student council room, opening the door without waiting for a response to her knock.

“Hey! I heard, Miroku! A new student is coming to this academy, right?!”

Shaking her red ponytail, Mizuki ran toward the girl who was the only one in the student council room.

The girl, called Miroku, with her bright blue hair, glanced at her and sighed before returning to her paperwork.

“Toa-chan must have told you… sigh. I was planning to tell you at the right moment so you wouldn’t make a fuss.”

“It’s weird to stay quiet about something this important! After all, it’s the fourth student coming to Fectom Comprehensive Academy!”

“Just one person transferring, and this commotion. It’s sad, isn’t it?”

Miroku said that, turning the paper in her hand into a paper airplane and lightly tossing it toward Mizuki.

Mizuki caught it effortlessly, opening the paper that had been turned into an airplane.

It was a transfer application for a student.

“Narou Kei, first year… a boy, huh.”

“Do you mind?”

“Rather, it’s convenient. This academy only has female students right now. If it’s like this, boys might mistakenly think it’s a girls’ school and won’t come in. That would be problematic.”

“I don’t think they’d come even if they didn’t make that mistake. Not with this outdated academy.”

Miroku looked out the window.

The garden, which must have been beautiful once, was in ruins, and the white roof, once pristine, was dirty and cracked.

The Western-style buildings resembling churches scattered everywhere were missing pieces and full of holes.

“Only someone with a peculiar interest would come here. Or maybe… they have a purpose.”

“…Hey, is this Narou person the same as that Narou?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Miroku affirmed while still gazing out the window.

“One of the three founding families of dungeon exploration in Japan. Among them, the Narou family still has a strong influence on the academy city.”

“An elite among elites! Amazing. With this, even the talk of the Senryou Festival a year from now doesn’t seem like a dream.”

“I hope so.”

“What’s wrong with you lately? A new student finally arrived, and it’s from the Narou family… Could there be a problem?”

“No, there’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

Miroku dismissed it with that, but there was still a lingering sense of distrust in her words.

“It’s just… something about his eyes has stuck with me.”

“Eyes?”

“Yes. They looked like someone who’s been burned by a strong light, as if they’re being pushed by something… the eyes of someone rushing toward death. Like our teacher.”

At those words, Mizuki glared at the girl in front of her.

“…That was an accident. The teacher didn’t commit suicide.”

“I know, Mizuki. I’m sorry. I’m just confused. After all, it’s been ten years since the last transfer student according to the records of this academy.”

Miroku smiled as if to brush it off.

Mizuki, who was her childhood friend, could tell that it was a smile hiding something. Yet, she smiled back and accepted it.

“I’m looking forward to it. So, when is he coming?”

“Today.”

“Today!? When did you conduct the entrance exam?”

“It was just an interview with me and Toa-chan.”

“I was left out?!”

While Mizuhi kept complaining, Miroku sighed internally, thinking back to when she first met him.

---

Flashback to the day of the interview.

“—Narou Kei, right?”

“Yes.”

In a relatively clean classroom at Fectom Comprehensive Academy, three young people sat facing each other.

“Now, let’s start the interview. It’s a simple formality, so don’t be too stiff. Ah, this is Toa-chan, one of the interviewers.”

“I-I’m Toa! N-nice to meet you!”

“Toa-chan, calm down, we won’t know who’s being interviewed if you’re like that.”

“Y-yes!”

Miroku inwardly wondered if she made the wrong choice bringing Toa, but immediately denied it. If she had brought Mizuki, it would have turned into a practical exam, with a fight sure to follow.

(By the way, Toa has quite an elegant composure.)

Miroku observed the boy sitting in front of her.

His silver-blue hair and calm, intellectual air suggested a person with a quiet demeanor.

“Narou Kei.”

He was a student who had attended Mikage Academy and apparently left voluntarily due to trouble there.

However, Miroku couldn’t sense any of that trouble from the boy before her.

(Was the trouble a lie to trap him, or is he a trickster who would deceive me? Let’s see.)

Despite her inner thoughts, Miroku smiled and spoke to Kei.

“Let’s start the interview.”

“Thank you very much.”

Just sitting there, Kei had an air of nobility, with refined movements that gave an impression of someone from a prestigious family.

“Straight to the point, why this academy? I’m not boasting, but it’s the worst, you know? Most of the district’s been taken over by other schools, and the student body is down to three. It’ll probably be gone by next year.”

“Mi-Miroku-chan…”

“It’s the truth. If he’s mistaken, it’s better to stop him now, for the sake of his conscience.”

At those words, Kei quietly shook his head.

Then, lowering his gaze as if choosing his words carefully, he eventually looked up and said seriously:

“I have a mission.”

“A mission?”

“Yes. A great cause that I must fulfill, even if it costs me my life.”

His earnest eyes, the blue like the depths of the sea, pierced through Miroku.

Before she knew it, Miroku spoke up.

“Does this mission mean it can only be accomplished at this academy?”

“Yes. For this, I have abandoned everything and come to this place.”

“Can I ask what that mission is?”

“That is…”

Kei closed his mouth.

After a brief silence, he squeezed out the words.

“I can’t say. But I must join this academy. No, I have to join.”

“Why go that far?”

“—Because I don’t have much time.”

Saying that, Kei suddenly shut his mouth, as if he hadn’t meant to say it.

“I see.”

Miroku answered simply, but inside, she was startled.

It was his one particular phrase.

“I don’t have much time.“

(…Those were the words our teacher said before she died. Could it be…)

Miroku, her heart racing, asked one final question.

“Do you know a student named Sakuraba Rakka?”

“!?… Miroku-chan…”

That name had the most meaning at this academy.

It was the name of a girl who had already passed away, the name of the teacher for Miroku and Mizuki.

When Kei heard the name, his eyes widened slightly.

A light of yearning appeared in his eyes, a gleam like a candle burning out, the last flicker of life.

“…Yes. I know her.”

“I see.”

Miroku simply said that, then stood up.

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be a student here. Welcome to Fectom Academy, Narou Kei.”

“Eh, eh? Miroku-chan, is that okay? What about my role…?”

Miroku ignored Toa, who was in a fluster, and walked toward the door.

“Toa-chan, please see him off.”

“Eh?!”

With a bright smile, Miroku left the room, walking away while Toa’s half-screamed words echoed behind her.

She had no destination in mind.

But for now, she just wanted to calm the excitement in her chest.

“Teacher’s will… is still alive!”

She said it out loud, realizing it herself.

What it meant.

“Fectom Comprehensive Academy… is finally going to revive.”

The words of the girl who once led them echoed in her mind.

“Someday, this school will revive. So, believe in me… believe in us.”

It wasn’t a comforting or encouraging word. It was a statement of pure truth.

Miroku clenched her fist tightly.

In her eyes was the light of determination.

■

Congratulations on the transfer!

The interview was ridiculously easy!!

If I had said that I wanted to become a beautiful girl as my reason for transferring, they might have suspected me. So, I answered with vague words like “great cause” or “mission,” and thankfully, I wasn’t caught.

I was a bit confused when I was suddenly asked about characters from the original work, but I managed to answer.

Speaking of Sakuraba Rakka, she is a character in the original story of the mobile game “Lutra” from the Mirror World.

I don’t play it, so I’m not sure, but apparently she’s called things like “The Source of Immortality,” “The Sea’s Proxy of Myth,” and “The Guardian of the Star Tree.”

In this world, she might be quite famous, I guess?

Could she be from Fectom?

…Haha, no way.

“Well, whatever.”

It’s been a week since I arrived at Fectom.

As soon as my transfer was decided, I left my apartment and moved into the Fectom District.

Although it’s called a district, there isn’t a separate city connected to the school like at other schools; it’s just a small dormitory on the school grounds.

It’s a two-story building with sixteen rooms.

Currently, I’m the only one living here.

Apparently, there are about twenty such dormitories, and most of them are empty.

This is beyond sparse!

It seems that the other students all live together in one dorm, but since they’re all girls, I politely declined to stay with them. Having a guy living there would be a grave sin.

Wait for me, once I become a beautiful girl, I’ll live with you all!

“Well, time to go to work.”

Right now, I’m busy working part-time.

Whether asleep or awake, it’s all part-time work… I’m just working to earn money.

Because, frankly, there’s nothing else to do.

This Fectom Academy isn’t functioning as a school.

There are no teachers, and there are only three girls in the student council, which is more of a formality.

Apparently, until two years ago, upperclassmen used to teach classes, but that’s not happening anymore.

So, I’ve gained an abundance of free time.

There aren’t any places around here where I could work, so I had to go to the Central City. Well, with the travel time, I do have a bit of extra time on my hands.

“Kei, off to work again today?”

“Oh, Mizuhi-senpai. Good morning.”

As I left the dorm and reached the entrance of the district, I was called out to.

Looking over, I saw Mizuhi-senpai with her red hair in a ponytail.

She’s the type who loves fighting, a warrior at heart, but she’s also a very caring senpai. She helped me clean my room when I moved in.

“I always head to the Central City for part-time work, but how about we go register for rescue work together? Being from the Narou family, you must have some skill, right?”

“Rescue registration…?”

There’s a system where if you fail to clear a dungeon, you can request help from outside explorers.

There’s a plan where you can contact available explorers from the same school, and another plan where a distress request is randomly sent to registered explorers outside the school.

The latter is obviously cheaper.

“Compared to regular part-time work, it pays better. Plus, you might find holy relics in dungeons now and then. Selling them gives you an extra bonus.”

“Hmm, I guess if it’s just about earning money, that might be better…”

Honestly, I don’t feel like I could fight properly.

I, Narou Kei, come from a prestigious family, but I’m not an elite.

I’ve just been using my family’s power to get by.

I might have potential, but right now, with me involved, I’m just a beginner at best.

“I’ll pass. I want to observe the current state of the school city.”

“I see. I look forward to the day we can dive into a dungeon together.”

“Yes.”

“Well then, let’s both do our best.”

Saying that, Mizuhi-senpai passed through the district gate.

Beyond the massive mechanical gate, her red ponytail vanished.

I followed behind and passed through the gate.

In an instant, a cityscape of buildings spread out before me.

I had been in an old, decaying school until now, but that was no longer the case.

“…As expected, it’s amazing.”

I looked up at the gate I passed through.

It’s a special gate connecting Hinotsuchi’s Central City to the dungeons.

By using this gate, a school was built inside the dungeon, and a vast, nation-like area was created, allowing for free school districts.

The actual world exists on an island floating in the Pacific Ocean, which serves as the public-facing world.

The Central City is for exchanges between schools and for tourists.

I work part-time at a small convenience store in one section of it.

“Time to work the register today!”

It was a bright, beautiful day.