Daily Life At Magic Academy

are you doing, you hag!? ” I said. As if it didn already hurt enough, she made it worse.

”Yup, hes injured for sure. ” The landlord muttered.

At the sight of me groaning and kneeling in pain, she lets out an exasperated sigh.

”Jeez, boys shouldn cry; Its unseemly. ”

She placed her small hand on my back again.

”God of nature, grant these fallen children the strength to fight and the will to stand. Heal. ”

[You are being affected by: Healing lv 2 (Effectiveness+43% due to LUCK)]

I was surrounded by a mystical green light. The pain from earlier died down into fractions of what it once were, as if it was all a fleeting dream. A gentle warmth radiated from her small palm. Even the burn marks all over my skin were gone.

So this is healing magic? Something like this was too good to be real.

Just as magic was capable of bringing me down to my knees, it was just as easily capable of restoring my vitality. Before I knew it, I became a puppet, dancing helplessly to the tune of magic. It irks me to a great degree.

The same thing that killed my mother was the same thing tossing me around as it pleases. Its like a disease, one so repugnant it affects the entire family.

”Stop squirming on the ground, you
e fine now. No need to thank me. ” The landlord said before shooing me away.

Upon closer inspection, the dorm was massive despite how old it is. Quaint and excessively large, It reminded me of the chiefs home back at the village.

There was a door at the back that lead to a garden that was quite massive. The landlord was planting rice, carrots and cabbage. I couldn help but wonder how she could harvest these plants with that frail body of hers, maybe Ill ask to help out one day.

The rooms in the dorm were completely empty, strangely enough. Was I perhaps the only inhabitant?

I found my own room, one that was enclosed by a sliding door. I took out the key the landlord gave me, and remembered that you can lock sliding doors. What was even the point to it then? Maybe one day Ill find the use of this mysterious key.

It was 1 in the afternoon, lunch time. I thought about digging graciously into the funds East Academy provided me as a reward for putting up with all the bullshit it had also thrown at me.

”Are there any good restaurants around here? ” I asked the Landlord, who was eating and listening to the radio in the lobby.

”None that serves commoners, as far as I know. Matsukais place might work, its pretty close to here, too. Tell him that Haruka sent you, hell cook something up. ”

I then set off to meet this Matsukai person.

According to the landlord, Matsukai runs another dormitory in this same area.

Apparently, the area I lived in was called Commoners den by the nobles, often abbreviated to just The den. The two dormitories in this area–Harukasou and Natsusou, were there to take in commoners, or in other words, those whove received the letter. If Hakurasou was empty, that meant I could be the only commoner among the first years.

I arrived at Natsusou. It looks like an old restaurant from the outside, but apparently it was another dorm.

The door was wide opened, so I just walked in nonchalantly again. As I did, a bulky man running the kitchen noticed. I assumed that was Matsukai.

”Are you a customer? ” He asked, very surprised. Maybe he didn get much customers since his restaurant was located at the end of some obscure backwater corner covered with foliage. But that was just my humble guess.

”Yeah, Im a customer. Make me some food. ”

”Understood, please look at our menu! ” He said excitedly.

When I sat down at the counter, Matsukai handed me a fading piece of paper.

-Snow-white noodles

-Thick, white and hot noodles

-Fideos blancos

-Udon

The menu consisted of four items, which Im pretty sure were just four different ways to say the same thing.

”Ill take the Fideos blancos. ”

”Got it. ”

Matsukai went to work on the order. He pulled out some fresh udon noodles and placed them on a bowl, then poured in it a hot, yellow broth. For a restaurant with no customers, there was quite a clear procedure.

”Are you a student? We rarely get students as customers, or customers in general. ” He asked.

I recalled that thing the Landlord told me to say.

”Haruka sent me. ” I said, sounding more ominous than I needed to.

”Whats that? You sound like a spy or something. Oh, does that mean you
e staying at her dorm? ”

”Yeah. ”

He seems like a gentle person, especially when compared to my landlord.

Matsukai placed the the bowl on a tray and served it alongside some tea. The broth was glistened by the ceiling light. Simple white noodles topped with scallions, as well as a deep-fried shrimp known as a tempura.

”This is just udon. ” I said.

”They
e all just udon, this is an udon store. ”

Damn, Ive been played.

”By the way, my name is Matsukai Natsu, but you can just call me Matsukai. ” He said.

”Im Jin Ryuunosuke. ”

It was simple udon. The broth wasn anything special, the noodles were ordinary at best, and the tempura you could find anywhere– but thats probably why it was all so nostalgic. The familiar scent of green tea wafted over me as I took a sip.

Matsukai-san watched me eat with great expectance, waiting for me to make a comment on the food.

”Its good. ”

That was enough to make him happy. He crossed his arms and grinned from ear to ear.

Unless I was a noble, Id have to eat here for the next two years, huh?

Udon everyday, for two years. The future makes me gag.

”Do you make anything other than udon? ”

I slurped some noodles as I spoke.

”Hmm… This is an udon store, so I only make udon. But if you have suggestions, I can make anything happen. ”

Anything?

”Id like some crab tomorrow. ”

”Humph. ” He grunted. ”Is that it? Ill see to it done. ”

I heard footsteps from outside, people were entering the store.

There were three of them, a ragtag trio. One took a seat to my right, one to my left, and the last one would sit behind me if there was a chair there; Perhaps hell even threaten me with a knife.

”Yo Ryuunosuke, Long time no see! ” Manzaki said.

”Its been 4 hours. ”

”Aw cmon, don be so cold. ”

I noticed his two lackeys -Leo and Kanji, I think was what they
e called- weren mummified this time. Apparently theyve somehow made a speedy recovery.

Coincidental as it was, they had tanked the majority of the blow for me back then, so I guess I really owe them.

”Boss, We
e hungry! Ill take the snow-white noodles, extra large. ”

”Udon for me! ”

”Ill slurp up your thick, white and hot noodles! ”

The three ordered their respective meals. But alas, all was udon.

Something the last guy said was concerning me somehow, but I can quite put my fingers on what.

”Three bowls comin right up! ”

I inspected Kanji and Leo, there weren even a single scratch on their bodies. A recovery like this was impossible without healing magic, especially within the span of 4 hours.

”I thought they didn heal commoners. ” I said in an inquiring manner, narrowing my brows in disbelief.

”Ah, it wasn the doctors who healed us, it was Haruka-sama. ” Kanji said. Leo nodded.

Haruka? Who was that?

”Don you know her? Shes an old lady, about this small. ”

The height he described with his hand was like one of an average goblin. The landlord was the only person who would fit that image.

But she didn seem the type to heal people so charitably like that.

Healing costs MANA, and when you get low on that resource you feel a stinging pain in your chest, your head becomes light, and it wasn a pleasant sensation. Thats what mom said.

If Natsusou was ran by someone called Natsu, then it would make sense if Harukasou was run by someone called Haruka. So Haruka was the landlords name?

I couldn care less, I wasn gonna use it anyways. That sounded like the kind of name for young, nubile women; My landlord wasn anything like that.

The sensation of her strike was physically gone, but the pain was still vivid in my mind.

”See you guys. ”

When the bowl of udon was finished, I left without ado.

Matsukai, Kanzaki, Leo, Kanji, and Haruka. They seemed like a very tightly knit group of commoners in this sea of nobles.

I didn think I could become like that.

A memory within me was burning; I hesitated to open my mouth, I couldn search for the words I wanted to say; I didn want to make any more memories with any other person in this world.

No, maybe I just didn want to lose anyone else important to me.

Yes, thats why.