Chapter 13: The level is higher than I expected
Even after the tree was cut down, Maya’s re-education continued. During those days, I also took care of Leaf, who had turned into a small sapling. I was worried when she didn’t respond for the first few days, but after about a week, Leaf, now the size of a bee, suddenly appeared, and I was relieved and happy.
Apparently, the act of giving a name is the same as making a contract, and Leaf was revived by giving her my power.
Next, I realized that I had not completely lost my memory. There are times when I recall memories related to keywords from Maya’s re-education. When I say recall, it is only fragmented, and it feels like I am looking up a dictionary with a video for a few minutes.
Of all the things that surprised me the most, was when I heard the name of this country. The name of this country was ‘Ashral Empire’. So, instead of Rachel’s memories, I remembered Reiko’s.
When I was Reiko, my best friend A-chan used to play an otome game called ‘Ashral Empire Romance Fantasy’. A-chan recommended that I play the game once, and the main character I created was me, Rachel.
The game starts by deciding the name and appearance of the main character, and A-chan told me that my appearance looked a bit like that of the main character in ‘Eva Family’ or ‘Hell Girl’. I named her Rachel after my own Reiko. I had only played the game once, so I had forgotten.
Based on these circumstances, I deduced that perhaps this was the world of that otome game, ‘Ashral Empire Romance Fantasy’.
“Hey, Maya-san, is there a school called ‘Ashral National Academy’ in this country?”
“Yes, there is one in the imperial capital, Nantan, but it’s a difficult school to get into, so you don’t have to push yourself, my lady.”
So, the ‘Ashral National Academy’ where the game is set does exist… And, although it wasn’t explained in the game, it was a difficult school to get into.
That night, I talked to Leaf.
“Hey, Leaf, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it? Rachel.”
A tiny Leaf perches on my shoulder. It’s kind of cute.
“Would you believe me if I told you I saw the future in my dreams?”
“Yeah, I would!”
Her honesty is cute too.
“In that story of the future, I go to school in the imperial capital, and I’m supposed to meet all kinds of people there.”
“Oh, I see.”
“And, if those people stayed the way they were, they would have ended up living unhappy lives, so I want to go to that academy and help them. Is that okay?”
I need to confirm whether this world is exactly like the game. On top of that, if it is exactly like the story, some very unfortunate events should occur. If I knew the future, I would like to help her if I could.
However, to go to the academy, I have to take a test, and I have to live in the imperial capital. Leaf’s main body tree has been cut down, but I asked her if she could leave this place, or if she could leave me.
“Eh? Rachel, you’re going to help some strangers? Well, my main body has been cut down, so it’s fine as long as you take my sapling with you.”
It’s true that Rachel is currently an unknown person, however, I can’t abandon them once we meet at the academy get to know each other.
So I intended to go to the academy, but Leaf said that as long as I brought the sapling, there would be no problem.
Then, the next day, I told Maya-san that I wanted to enroll in Ashral National Academy, the setting for Ashral Empire Romance Fantasy. I had expected her to be against it, but both the master and Maya-san readily agreed. They judged that if I had a goal, I would not think of suicide again.
Then, a week later, Maya-san told me that the master had arranged for a tutor for the entrance exam and that they would be there today. I was nervous about what kind of tutor I would be receiving, but the person who showed up was far beyond my expectations.
“You must be Rachel Rall Stave-jou…” (TN: -jou is Lady or Miss)
There was a large white bird. A heron perhaps… but judging by its long eyelashes, it looks more like a snake-eating eagle. Or rather, is this bird really my tutor?
“Hehe, you seem surprised. Is this your first time seeing a birdman? I’m Secreta Ropira Norn. I’m your tutor.”
The bird introduced itself in a calm, feminine voice. She glanced at Maya-san and nodded. It seemed that she was definitely my tutor.
“I’m Rachel Rall Stave. Nice to meet you…”
I was confused, but I put both hands together in front of my knees and bowed.
“I heard that you had lost your memory, but it seems to be true. But I don’t know if you’ve forgotten everything, so I’m going to take a test to find out, is that okay?”
“Y, yes, please…”
So on the first day of tutoring, I was given a full day of tests. Secreta-san smoothly graded the tests while I was given the next one, and reported the results to me after all the tests were finished.
“Hmm, you’re doing okay in the natural sciences, especially math, and physics and biology are okay too… but history and humanities are a complete mess, magic is a complete mess, but alchemy is a little bit…”
Secreta-san summed up my test results like this. I knew I wouldn’t understand the history or magic here from the start, but honestly, I was underestimating the rest of this world. The historical background is about medieval Europe, so I didn’t think there would be any math or physics, but there was a lot. In math, there was not only differential calculus but even logarithmic calculations. By the way, chemistry is a field of alchemy.
After the tests were over, I was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
“There’s no need to be discouraged, Rachel-chan. No one can do it from the beginning, and that’s why I’m here, so don’t worry, I’ll teach you properly.”
“Will I be able to do it well?”
“Don’t worry, you’re good at math so I think you’re naturally pretty smart. If it’s just math, it’ll be hard to get into a national school, but you’ll get the marks to pass any other school right away.”
Secreta-san replied with a smile. If this level of math is necessary, is it university entrance exam level? Considering that Rachel is only 13 years old, this world may be quite advanced.
And so, I studied hard for the exam from morning until night the next day. Since I had to start studying from the subjects I had done poorly on, I started with history. As I was learning history, I was surprised to come across a few Japanese-sounding names, but what surprised me the most was when the name of one of the great swordsmen, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna1, came up. At the time, I even wondered if we were studying Japanese history.
Aside from studying for the exam, we also had classes on general knowledge and etiquette. There, I was taught that bowing with both hands on the knees, as I had done when I first met Secreta-san, was not allowed, and that a lady should hold her skirt in place and bend her knees slightly in a curtsey.
As I was spending my days studying like this, I suddenly felt someone looking at me, and when I turned towards them, I saw a boy and a girl who looked like elementary school students peeking through the gap in the door. Since they were young, I gave them a smile, and they quickly ran away like a swarm of chicks.
Those two were probably my younger brother and sister. However, my father’s hair is bronze and mine is black, while the two were silver. With her attitude towards me and the fact that my mother has yet to show herself to me, I haven’t really heard from Maya-san personally about her hair color but it must be the same as theirs.
After spending a little over a year like this, when I turned 15, I passed the exam with flying colors and was accepted into my dream school, Ashral National Academy, the setting of the `Ashral Empire Romance Fantasy’.
TN: 1 – Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, (上泉 信綱), born Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Hidetsuna, (c.1508 – 1572/1577) was a samurai in Japan’s Sengoku period famous for creating the Shinkage-ryū school of combat. – wikipedia
