Somewhere near the center of the great gray city, a manarail was speeding, taking its passengers to their daily lives.
One such passenger was a young man with sharp features, black hair, and blue eyes.
Surrounded by the buzz of the crows and enduring the occasional shaking of the cabin, he calmly observed the enrollment letter in his hands.
Ailanthus Academy of Magic. This is the most suitable place after all. It has enough prestige to later become a knight with no hassle, and it's far enough from the city center.
He leaned into the seat, looking around the metal cabin, listening to the hum of magic as it brought it forward along the track.
Certainly far enough to use the manarail to get there. It's not as dirty here as I imagined.
He turned to look at the window behind him. What greeted him were quickly passing gray stone buildings that looked quite small at this height.
If an accident were to happen... Would the passengers survive a crash at this speed, from such a height?
As such a slightly morbid thought passed through his head, a loud screech was heard from all around.
The manarail, making a horrible piercing noise all the while, slowly came to a halt.
Really?
The people around him wore nervous faces but didn't budge from their seats, instead patiently waiting for something.
Seeing this, he relaxed as well.
Is this normal?
Soon a muffled, barely recognizable voice rang out from a metal cone in the corner of the cabin.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay. For your safety, please remain seated while we switch to a backup manavein. Thank you for your patience."
You can barely hear this message. The mage who cast the spell is quite inferior...
With this announcement the people around him soon erupted into heated conversations.
"I can't be late today! What awful luck!" Someone pitifully yelped.
"It must be those Lapis guys doing trouble again! Can't they just give it a rest already!"
"Yeah! How come knights still haven't caught them all? They are usually so arrogant but can't catch a couple of madmen."
Finding comfort in having a common enemy, the people peacefully passed the time complaining.
That's just great. The young man sighed with frustration and leaned back in his seat.
Not a good start to my student life...
Suddenly a beautiful, melodic voice called out to him from the side. "You are going to be late now. That's very unfortunate."
He turned his head in that direction and was immediately shocked.
There sat a young woman wearing a business suit.
Was she always sitting here? How come I didn't notice?
I've never seen anyone this beautiful before, even those nobles enhancing their faces with magic don't hold a candle to her.
Her black hair reached past her shoulders, contrasting well with her pale skin, her nose, smile, brows, everything appeared perfect.
Maybe a bit too perfect... He thought, looking in her bright red eyes.
"Not bad, right?" The woman brushed her hair with a satisfied look, clearly enjoying his reaction.
Even her voice appeared special, like reaching directly into his heart. It finally shook the man from his shock.
"How do you know I am going to Ailanthus?" He blurted out the first thing on his mind.
"Isn't it obvious?" The woman replied with a smile.
With a jolt, he remembered that he was still holding the enrollment letter in his hands.
She must have simply noticed it.
While feeling slight shame for asking a silly question like that, he finally put away the letter in his pocket.
What is wrong with me? I never felt this way before...
He closed his eyes and regained his calm. No girl in his 18 years of life has ever elicited such a reaction from him.
It seems spring has finally arrived?
No, this must be... something different.
Now in a much more stable state, he reopened his eyes and looked at the mysterious woman nearby. Though it took some effort for him to continue to stay calm.
She looks exactly like my type... I didn't even know I had a type. He involuntarily mused.
"What's your name?" He asked what he usually never asks.
"Hmm..." The woman's expression turned contemplative, even unsure.
"What do you want to call me?" She suddenly asked.
Is this her trying to be humorous? Cyril reacted with a blank stare.
"...With your name."
"Alright, then." The woman tapped her chin in thought, until a flash of inspiration lit up her face and she raised her finger in the air.
"Call me Rhamn!" The woman said in a proud voice.
He nodded, remembering this name in his heart.
It sounds good.
"My name is Cyril," Only now did he introduce himself.
"I know, Cyril Thorne. It's a good name." Rhamn smiled sweetly and replied as a matter of fact.
She does? ...Right, she saw the enrollment letter. His brain quickly explained her words in a reasonable manner.
I have to gather myself together and start thinking already...
To take a light break from her hard-to-endure gaze, Cyril moved his eyes away and observed the cabin for a second.
Suddenly a person sitting across grabbed his attention. It was a middle-aged man staring at him with a weird, concerned look.
"Is there something wrong?" Cyril said to him with a frown. He didn't appreciate being stared at like a zoo animal.
"No, no. Don't mind me, please." The man hastily replied with some fear and turned his head to the side, pretending to look at the scenery of countless grey buildings visible from the manarail.
What's wrong with him?
Cyril briefly looked over his appearance. Nothing seemed off.
"Don't mind that nobody. We shouldn't care what an average man like him does. It's beneath us," Rhamn called out, not even pretending to try and lower her voice.
Cyril stiffened, taking note of the reaction of the people around him. Nobody seemed to react to her words, though the people closer had tense faces, similarly refusing to look in this direction.
He shook his head and finally turned back to look at Rhamn.
"You really don't mince your words, I see," Cyril helplessly said.
She is an arrogant one.
Rhamn replied with a shrug, "I am just stating the truth, that's not being arrogant. There is no need to watch my words."
"If you say so." Cyril blankly stared at her, unaccustomed to her manner of speech.
Even at those evening parties, it was rare to meet a noble who spoke like her. I don't dislike this, I suppose...
Cyril was slightly intrigued by her, feeling an attraction he couldn't quite explain.
...
Eventually the manarail started again, though it took a while.
Cyril spent this time talking with Rhamn about all sorts of random topics.
When he asked where she was going, Cyril received an unexpected response.
Turns out she was going to enroll at Ailanthus too.
She is wearing a business suit to the entrance ceremony? It is one thing to dress for the occasion, but we are supposed to wear our uniforms.
With a questioning gaze, he looked her up and down.
"Do you not like it? I think it's stylish." Rhamn twisted her body, letting Cyril take a better view.
It wasn't obvious at first, but she had quite the figure.
"...It looks good," he only replied and moved his eyes away.
"Then it's fine," Rhamn replied with a weird sense of achievement.
Suddenly, through the metal cone in the corner of the cabin, a heavily distorted voice announced the name of the station near Ailanthus.
"It's our stop," Cyril quickly said and prepared to get up.
Even though they didn't have to sit in a carriage to reach their destination like the people in past generations, Ailanthus was quite far from the city center, where the Tower proudly stood.
Coupled with the emergency stop along the way, it was already getting dark outside.
We are definitely late.
In a few moments the manarail gradually came to a stop, and the metal doors of the cabin opened on their own.
Cyril and Rhamn, along with a few other passengers, got up.
After getting out from the cabin, Cyril was greeted with the sights of the academy. The most prominent piece was the ancient-looking castle raised high into the sky.
"This place looks grand. Not everywhere in the Empire can you see something like this," Cyril mumbled out loud and turned to look at his companion, and his face grew shocked immediately.
Not because of her beauty again, during this time he thankfully managed to get used to it.
Another student happened to pass right in the place Rhamn was standing.
And instead of asking her to move or pushing her to the side as some third-rate villain, the student simply walked right through.
Without even noticing her or hitting her in the process, the student passed straight through the red-eyed girl as if she weren't even there.
Then he briefly nodded in confusion to Cyril and sped up, in a hurry to reach the castle.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Rhamn innocently replied.
Then, after a second delay, her red eyes lit up with realization.
"Oh, how did that weak-looking student pass through me?"
"…I don't know."
Remembering the weird looks he was getting on the manarail, Cyril reached out his hand in an attempt to touch Rhamn's shoulder.
As he feared, his hand didn't feel the warmth of flesh but passed straight through.
"Yeah, we can't touch each other. That's a shame," Rhamn replied without acting any different.
Only I can see her? Cyril stood there, frozen on the spot.
As if replying to his thoughts, Rhamn innocently said, "Isn't this quite normal?"
I must be losing my mind...