"Move out fatty! Out of my way!"
Baston was shoved away as soon as the bell rang. Unlike many students at the academy, he was getting bullied more by his classmate. Just because he was fat and his background came from the poor which made everyone thought him lowly of being here. Surely, the academy was fair in its ideology,
but the people inside wasn't the same.
He came to this world a month ago, albeit it was by accident. When he went camping in his previous world, there was a sudden
landslide and he was hit by a big rock, claiming his life quickly as his consciousness faded. He was young and still had many opportunities for the future, yet one accident ended his dream. When he woke up, he thought he would be in afterlife, but he found himself in this strange world.
The setting of this world was medieval, but with a touch of magic. Many technologies in here developed well with the help of magic. One of many examples was his old book which the former one used it as the notes. Every student here used such a good book, even he sometimes found many rich one had the most advanced one. Baston first didn't know why just the book made everyone had a competition between each other until he took a look at inside.
His book might be old, but it worked just like a computer tablet in his previous world. Although the display seemed not clear enough because it was an old one, it still worked so there should be no problem. Right
at the moment, he finally had a clear explanation about his situation.
Baston could see his name and other information he needed at first. He was one of many students at the Prius Academy. It was an average academy, but the education was good enough. Not only it taught about general knowledge, but it also spread the knowledge of magic. The application of it
didn't only focus on becoming a wizard but many more. Even the knight in this world could use one, but the applied magic would be different for each other job.
Magic itself came from manipulated mana which was the energy around the world. This thing could be sensed as long as everyone trained their perceptions. When someone manipulated the mana, they could convert it into something else. Just when the wizard casted a fire magic which the person
converted the mana into the fire element. In this world, magic application was already spread widely. It even brought many benefits in the society.
This world was just a like a dream for Baston, but his background actually limited his reach. Because he came from the poor, it meant he was the lowest caste in this society. Basically, the status of people around consisted of 5 ranks which the lowest was the poor or the slave. It then stepped into commoner, followed by merchant. The higher one was nobles and for the peak one was royalty. The fat kid now transmigrated into this world with doomed fate upon him. Luckily, the academy could accept everyone into it.
The founder of the kingdom had already formulated the compulsory education, meaning that everyone must attend the academy for a certain period. It was an obligation for every person in this kingdom which all people welcomed it. Not only they praised such the law, they even clamored this thing to be one of many advantages in the kingdom. Still, Baston knew it wasn't
simple to begin with.
Even though everyone had the same education, the weight and value they could get was entirely different. The staff and teacher must get their own salary, so it was impossible to let everyone get free education as much as possible. There would be a better treatment as long as you spent money at the academy. One person might get normal treatment from the teacher and the
nobles might get more advices when dealing with complicated knowledge. The surface might say it was fair, but when people entered the inside, they knew what was the meaning of fair. Having money and prestige to trade for better treatment was also a fair thing in this world.
It was a break time and many students went into the cafeteria. The dining room itself consisted of two sections which were for
normal students and noble students. The different on these two sections was a
whole apart. While everyone flocked together to the counter at cafeteria, the
nobles only needed to ask for the menu. They then picked what they wanted to eat and the waiter would soon come again to serve the dish. The noble section even also had a private room if someone wanted to dine personally without being disturbed. Although the normal cafeteria also had waiters, it would only serve if students paid more.
"Damn, it's so crowded again. I wonder when I can get my free lunch…"
Baston helplessly saw everyone flocked together and the line was quite long. There was a free lunch which the food would be distributed one by one when the student came at the counter. They only needed to show their identity card and the worker would scan it with magic instrument before they
gave it. Never expected a full and hearty lunch because as long it was free, it meant the food couldn't make people got full. They either needed to buy more or just accepted it.
"A sandwich and a drink… It really can't satisfy my appetite…" Baston thought.
"Look at them… The line is so long, but they still take it for granted," one student who ordered his own personal meal commented.
"Don't belittle them. It's because they don't have much money. They are unlike you which your father is a successful merchant."
"I'm just fortunate that my father cares much about me. When he saw the cafeteria at first, he frowned and thought someone might get hurt if everybody just went together at the same time. He finally relented to give me
some money to buy my own meal. At least, I don't need to line up and waste my time."
"True… true… By the time they get their own lunches, the break time will be over then."
"Yes, that's why even though it's free, I rather buy it with my own money."
Not far from Baston, he could see some students watched the usual show from their tables. Even though they ate at the same area, the difference of the status was still there. For the poor and commoner, they had
to be frugal. On the other hand, the merchant had money to spent, so they preferred more variety on their meal. Sighing, Baston had no other choice but to line up well as same as the others.
It took 15 minutes before he could get his own lunch. The simple sandwich was simply not enough for his fat body, but he had to be
content with it. His status was the lowest here, even much from the commoner. While
some students still had a little money on their pockets, he had none which was quite miserable. Anyway, he could only take it gladly.
One bite, two bites, three bites, and more bites until the sandwich was gone from his hand. Emptying his drink, he finally stood up and threw it into the trash can. The next bell had already rung which every student
quickly finished their food and caught with others. When everyone had sat down, the teacher then entered the classroom slowly and began the teaching.
The lesson was quite general about the theory of magic application in the world. It didn't explain much from the view point of
fighting like wizard or knight. The teacher only talked about the principle for society application. The old man just explained about their own books who acting like a computer tablet and any other else. This knowledge was average in use and could be accessed by everyone.
In this boring teaching, Baston found many students secretly fell asleep. For this general knowledge, the nobles sat at the furthest backvwhile the poor and the commoner sat at the front. It was really unbearable since the teacher would smack anyone who dared to sleep, even yawning wasvprohibited. Because he was in the front, Baston could only stare at the board dazedly. It would be different if the teacher taught some popular one. The nobles would stay at the forefront while he would be in the back of the class. Yes, it wasn't fair, but everyone didn't have power to complain.
At this time, the teacher found one student yawned at the center of the classroom. The old man flicked a crumple of paper ball with the help of magic, launching itself right at the forehead of the student. It madevthe boy got startled, rubbing his head and looked at the teacher.
"Pay attention, please…"
"Yes, teacher… I'm sorry…"
The whole class laughed out loudly before the old man gave the signal to be quiet. While everyone got back to focus on the class, the boy couldn't calm down because he was getting embarrassed before. He knew it was his own fault, but he felt he needed to vent this to someone. Slowly, his sight fell into Baston at the front of the class. Since he was in a bad mood, hevdecided to take it to the fat kid in this classroom. As soon as the class had finished, the boy rushed ahead to the path before dormitory. At there, he waited for Baston with other students.
"Hey, fatty pig! You dare to laugh at me before in the classroom. It seems you really want to mess with me, huh?" the boy before held his head high while other students snickered.
Everyone suddenly went far away from Baston. He himself knew this boy which was quite troublesome. The name was Panto and he was a son of wealthy merchant. Although he was a timid usually, but he had much confidence since he could get many commoners at his side with the money. Baston was sure this boy wanted to vent to him since he was also timid, but it would be
different since he wasn't him back then. Although he could fight back, he had a plan to do in his head.
"I don't know what are you talking about. Please, don't hurt me!" Baston acted afraid, wanting to quickly run from there.
"Stop lying! I swear you laugh at him!" one of Panto's lackeys exclaimed, "I even heard you said that he was too silly!"
"Yes, I even saw you laughed the loudest back then!"
"Unforgivable! I say let's give him a lesson here!"
The lackeys around soon surrounded Baston. As long as Pantovgave the money for their services, they would do anything for him. The premisevwas they didn't bother with nobles and they would be fine with it. Before all of them could round Baston up, the fat boy suddenly ran away, taking advantage of small gap between them.
"Please, no!!! Save me!!!"
Panto and the others were dumbfounded before laughing out loudly. They never thought they could scary him until he ran ahead while shouting helplessly. In many eyes of them, this act of coward really was humiliating.
"Ha… ha… ha… Did you see that pig?"
"Even with that fat body of him, I'm surprised he can run faster than ordinary kid."
"Hey, his survive instinct finally kicks in which enabling his full potential to run. Have you ever seen the pig will stay in a place when the butcher comes around?"
Panto looked at the disappearing fat kid into the dormitory before forgetting Baston. Just the act before already made him felt good.
Everyone could also see it wasn't him who acted too strong, but Baston was too timid and just ran away. Either way, his heart was finally at ease and he then proceeded his way to the cafeteria. He promised before to treat his lackeys, so he needed to fulfill the promise. Unbeknownst to him, Baston gazed at his movement from the dormitory. There was a glint of light in his eyes before he turned away.