The Princess Sitting Next to Me is a Sweet Girlfriend Only in Front of Me
After the lecture on Archaeological Magic Theory ended, Professor Stra made a request of me.
“I need your help with organizing some materials,” he said.
Of course, I agreed.
At first glance, one might think I was just being given a menial task, but that wasn’t the case. These materials were precious documents related to magic, housed within the academy. By organizing them, I would also have the chance to read through them. Frankly, it was a request with nothing but benefits.
Fia was also asked to help, but she seemed to have some other business to attend to. She always appeared busy, though she wasn’t involved in any clubs or the like. I wondered if she was involved in some kind of activity outside the academy.
“Excuse me,” I said as I used the key Professor Stra had given me to enter his research lab.
The inside was a complete mess, with various documents scattered all over the desk. My task was to sort through them and organize them onto the shelves. No matter how you looked at it, it was a treasure trove!
From there, I immersed myself in sorting the materials. They were all research papers on magic, topics I had never encountered before. Honestly, I was tempted to dive into reading each one from start to finish, but now wasn’t the time for that. First, I needed to finish categorizing everything, and then, if there was time left, I could start reading the ones that interested me most. Just thinking about that order of events was exciting.
Life at the Magic Academy wasn’t exactly fun, to be honest. But being able to directly handle unknown materials and research papers like this was something only this academy could offer, no matter how vast the world might be.
Studying magic was incredibly enjoyable. Even for someone like me, a commoner, the more knowledge I absorbed, the more I could improve my skills. “All are equal before magic” was a phrase often touted in Magipastel, and when it came to honing one’s magical abilities, I believed that was undoubtedly true.
I grew up in an environment where even a commoner like me could study magic. The people around me also refined their magic for their own purposes. Yet, I was the only one invited to the academy as a scholarship student. Despite having the same environment and resources, the difference wasn’t talent, I believed. It was passion. I had the passion to learn magic, and that’s why I was able to continually improve my skills.
Thinking about it that way, the students at this academy were wasting their opportunities. Despite being in an ideal environment, they were held back by their noble status and pride, unable to fully utilize what was available to them. Gourie was a prime example of that.
But at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder about Fia. She always seemed so busy, with little time to dedicate to honing her magical skills. Yet, she was diligent and talented, consistently achieving top grades in magic.
“…I guess she and I just live in different worlds,” I concluded, no matter how much I thought about it.
Eventually, I finished organizing the materials and decided to take the excess documents that wouldn’t fit in the lab to the archive room.
And with that, the timeline returns to the present—
