I woke up to the noise outside my room.
Oh, right. I remembered in a sleepy haze that today was the day the other examinees would be arriving.
I got ready for the day and decided to head to the dining hall for breakfast.
I opened my door and walked toward the dining hall.
When I reached the door, I opened it and stepped inside.
There were over 100 people in the dining hall.
Unlike my world, their hair came in a variety of colors, and there was no one with black hair, so I felt out of place.
The moment I entered the dining hall, I felt countless eyes on me.
What's going on? I thought as I walked through the dining hall, looking for an empty seat.
Eyes were on me from every direction.
They seemed to be looking at me with some kind of expectation.
There are no seats left... I was about to turn back when I noticed one empty seat.
My eyes also fell on the person sitting next to that seat.
Long silver hair... It was unmistakably Reina. I decided to sit there.
There were no other empty seats, and more than anything, I felt a little safer with someone I knew.
I walked toward Reina's table.
Reina must have noticed me, because she turned to face me.
When I arrived at her table, I asked,
"Is it okay if I sit here?"
Reina was a little flustered and embarrassed, but she said,
"Y-yeah, it's fine."
Reina nodded at my request.
After getting her approval, I sat next to her and was about to start eating breakfast.
That's when it happened...
"Are you the guy from another world?"
Suddenly, a man on the opposite side of Reina asked. I reacted and turned to face him.
"I knew it! There was a rumor in the city that a transferred person was taking the exam this year!"
He said as he leaned closer. He seemed certain I was a person from another world because I had turned around.
More than that, I was surprised that I was a rumor.
I ignored him for a moment and thought about it.
One thing came to mind.
Dion.
I remembered that Dion had told the shopkeepers about me being a person from another world.
They probably spread the word about what I looked like, and that's how this guy knew I was from another world.
"Well, aren't you?!"
His energy was so intense that I was flustered and nodded.
"Whoa!!!"
The moment I nodded, the man and the people around him all reacted and turned to me.
I don't remember much after that.
As soon as they found out I was a person from another world, most of the people in the dining hall swarmed me with questions, and I couldn't keep up.
Most of them were right next to me, but I noticed a few people on the far side of the dining hall glaring at me. I was busy answering the questions, so I decided to ignore them for now.
It was an hour later when I was finally free from the barrage of questions.
I noticed that Reina, who was sitting next to me, was gone.
She probably went back to her room to avoid the commotion.
As the number of people in the dining hall dwindled, I sighed in relief and ate my breakfast. I was about to leave when I saw a bulletin board on the wall.
On the board, there was a summary of tomorrow's exam and the registration deadline.
It was a close call, but I was relieved that I had checked the meeting time. I left the dining hall.
As I walked down the hallway, I passed the yard where Dion and I had trained.
I walked along the corridor, looking at the yard with a sense of nostalgia, even though it hadn't been that long. I saw two figures ahead.
The two figures were standing there as if to block my way. As I got closer, I could see that both of them were men.
One was a short, round man, and the other was a tall, lanky man who looked fragile.
I remembered these two.
They were two of the people who had been glaring at me from the corner of the dining hall when I was being questioned.
I had a bad feeling, but this was the only way to my room, so I kept walking toward them.
But no matter how close I got, the two men didn't move. Finally, I was standing in front of them.
They were both smirking at me.
From the looks on their faces, I could tell they had no intention of letting me pass.
I felt like this was going to be a hassle, so I tried to walk around them, but they moved with me, blocking my way.
"Um... my room is down this way, so please move."
I was getting impatient and told them to move.
But they didn't budge.
In fact, their smirks only grew wider, and I was getting irritated.
Then, the round man spoke.
"Hey, transferred person, come here for a sec."
The man laughed and pointed to the yard.
It seemed they wanted to talk to me about something. I could guess what it was just by looking at them.
I didn't want to go, but I knew they wouldn't let me pass unless I did. I could force my way through, but the exam was tomorrow.
If I caused a scene and got disqualified, I'd be letting a lot of people down.
I sighed and silently nodded, following the two men into the yard.
They stopped under a large tree.
"Hey, transferred person, are you getting a big head from all the attention you're getting?"
The round man was saying something ridiculous.
The lanky man just glared at me and didn't say anything.
What was I supposed to do with such a ridiculous question?
I wasn't getting a big head at all.
I had to find a way out of this annoying situation.
"No, I'm not. If anything, I'm at a loss because I was suddenly sent here."
"Shut up! It's unforgivable for a person from another world like you to stand out more than us nobles!"
...It's no use. They're not listening.
He suddenly got angry the moment I talked back. He was just smirking a moment ago. Was he emotionally unstable?
Nobles? I hadn't paid attention, but their clothes were different from the other people in the dining hall and the clothing store I went to. They looked a little flashy.
I didn't want to understand their feelings, but I knew why they were bothering me.
They were just attention-seekers, and they were jealous because I was getting more attention than them. That was probably it.
"We'll show you the difference between a commoner like you and us nobles!!"
When the round man said that, the lanky man took out a ring, which I assumed was a Maseirin, and put it on his finger.
"Hey! You, get your Maseirin out, too! We'll teach you a lesson!!"
So they want to fight me here.
These two idiots are making me lose all respect for nobles.
They're not only causing trouble for no reason, but they also want to fight me, two against one. It feels like a bad comedy show.
I wanted to see what I could do after training with Dion, but if I fought them, there's a good chance they would find out I can't use magic.
I don't want the other examinees to know I can't use magic yet. They might use that against me in the exam, and...
I thought they would look down on me if they found out I couldn't use magic.
But they didn't know how I felt, and they were slowly approaching me.
I felt I was in danger and backed away from them.
If I didn't do anything, I would just be a punching bag.
I decided to fight rather than just get beaten up. I took out my Maseirin and was about to put it on my finger.
The two men started running toward me. I put my Maseirin on to summon my Jinki.
"Hey, you're being too loud."
I heard a voice and stopped.
It was a good thing I did, because something that sounded like lightning from the sky fell between me and the two men, and a cloud of dust rose.
My eyes couldn't open properly because of the dust, and I coughed.
The dust cloud covered the area for a few seconds, then it started to clear.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked at what had fallen.
It was a battle axe with a yellow lightning-patterned blade, and it was embedded in the ground.
It had fallen right in front of the two men, who were now terrified and couldn't move.
"I was trying to take a nap. Don't be so loud."
I heard a man's voice again from somewhere.
I looked around, but I couldn't see anyone.
"Where are you looking? I'm over here."
The voice came again, and I finally turned to where it was coming from.
The owner of the voice was relaxing on a tree branch near us.
"Whoa!"
The man jumped from the branch and landed on the ground.
It was a high jump, but he didn't seem to be in pain.
The man with spiky yellow hair walked toward the two men who were on the ground next to the battle axe.
The two men's bodies trembled with fear as the spiky-haired man approached, and their faces turned completely pale.
"Were you the ones making all that noise?"
The man with the yellow hair asked when he reached them.
The two men couldn't speak, so they just nodded their heads vigorously.
"It seems you were picking a fight with this guy, but two against one isn't very honorable. I don't mind fighting you with this guy."
The yellow-haired man said as he grabbed the battle axe that was stuck in the ground.
The two men's faces turned even paler when they heard that.
"N-no... that's okay... We're so sorry!!!"
They screamed and ran away.
I was left alone in the yard with the yellow-haired man.
"Are you okay? Did those guys bother you?"
The yellow-haired man asked with a worried expression.
"Y-yeah, you saved me. Thank you."
I thanked him.
The yellow-haired man stared at me and asked,
"I overheard you guys talking. Is it true that you're a transferred person?"
He asked.
The fact that he didn't know I was a transferred person meant he wasn't in the dining hall earlier.
The other examinees already knew, so there was no point in hiding it. I decided to tell him.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm a transferred person."
When I said that, the yellow-haired man walked around me and looked at me.
Unlike the other two men, this guy didn't seem like he would do anything to me just because I was a transferred person, but I was still a little nervous.
He finally stopped in front of me and opened his mouth.
"I see. My name is Day MacLaughlin. Let's do our best to pass the exam tomorrow."
The man, Day, said, holding out his hand, asking me to do my best with him.
He was probably asking for a handshake.
A transferred person like me should be a problem for the other examinees, but Day didn't seem to care.
"Yeah. My name is Yuto. Let's do our best to pass together."
I replied to Day, reached out, and shook his hand.
After the handshake, we went back to our rooms and studied until night. Then we went to sleep early to get ready for the exam tomorrow.
And the morning of the exam came.
I got out of bed and looked out the window.
A beautiful sky spread outside, and the rising sun's warm light wrapped around me.
Today would be the first major obstacle in my life in another world.
I was worried. But more than that, I felt a strong determination to pass the exam!
Alright, let's do this!