Chapter 3

　The journey on the shared carriage to the capital city, the second night.

　Adele and the others were camping on a grassy field by the roadside.

　This was not a trip for the wealthy. Those who traveled by shared carriage did not pay for lodging just to sleep.

　The male passengers, all gentlemen, seemed to have decided to let the women use the carriage and sleep in the grass themselves.

　Adele was also told to sleep in the carriage, but she did not want to sleep in the cramped space with others, so she chose to sleep outside and got off the carriage.

　She thought it would be unbearable if there were someone who tossed and turned or snored loudly.

（Oh, that's right, there's an exam...）

　Adele remembered what her father had said.

　Originally, commoners needed to pass an exam to enter the academy, but nobles did not need to take the exam.

　This time, Adele was not allowed to use her family name, so she should have taken the exam. However, her father, either because he found it troublesome to send Adele to the capital for the exam or because he was stingy, made an unreasonable request to the headmaster: "Let her in without an exam because she is a noble's daughter, but keep her nobility and family name secret and treat her as a commoner's child." He forced this through somehow. Perhaps he was worried that if Adele failed the exam, there would be no reason to kick her out of the family.

　In any case, despite being introduced as a commoner, Adele, who had not taken the exam, was scheduled to take a test with the nobles before the start of the school year.

　Of course, this was not an entrance exam but a test to determine class placement.

　If she took the test with the nobles, her ambiguous status would be obvious, Adele thought, but perhaps the adults did not care about such things.

　Since there was no point in thinking about it, Adele decided to practice magic.

　Magic.

　It was an exciting word.

　For Arisa, who had no friends, magic was something she had seen in an anime when she was in elementary school and had played a little in games during middle and high school for a break from studying. In this world, magic actually existed, and she could use it! What an exhilarating word, "magic"!

　...But she knew.

　Indeed, there were people who could use magic like what she had seen in anime, such as court magicians, members of the magic guild, and magicians affiliated with the hunter guild...

　However, she was just a 10-year-old child. According to her memories, her magic was average for a magician, and the "average" for an untrained young girl meant it was quite weak.

　She could produce a small flame to light a fire and a cup of water.

　Still, it was impressive. After all, not having to worry about water on a journey meant a significant reduction in luggage. In a world where most people could not use magic, complaining would bring bad luck. In this regard, her ability seemed slightly above average, but Adele had no intention of complaining to God.

　Perhaps her ability to use a little magic was the average of those who could not use magic and those who could use powerful magic.

　In this world, magic is categorized by names like fire magic and water magic, but there are no distinctions like fire-type or water-type magicians.

　It is not governed by fire spirits or water spirits, which is obvious.

　All magic is caused by the same type of nanomachines.

　Therefore, everything depends on whether one can infuse their will into the nanomachines and make them produce the desired phenomena.

　Whether one can radiate their will as thought waves, whether the nanomachines can receive and recognize them, whether the content of the will is feasible, whether the image of the desired phenomenon is clear, and whether it violates any prohibitions.

　Thus, the ability to learn magic does not depend on the type of magic, but there are differences in proficiency. This is a matter of the practitioner's imagination. It is natural that desert dwellers find it difficult to imagine large amounts of water or ice.

　However, in general, great magicians were great in all types of magic, and weak magicians were weak in all types of magic.

　Adele had only used magic based on her memories as Adele and had not used it since her memories returned. She thought it would be best to try it out once.

　She decided to produce water.

　Using fire at night would be conspicuous and could be dangerous. Water, on the other hand, was safe. Additionally, it would be convenient to wipe her body. This route was far from a river, so the only water available was what was carried for drinking.

　Adele could have produced water for everyone, but due to her lack of social interaction, neither she nor Arisa had thought of it.

　Adele took a towel from the bag she had brought down from the carriage and moved to a slightly shaded area. This area was a slightly steep downhill slope in the opposite direction from where the carriage was parked.

　Adele recalled how she used magic before her memories returned, extended her palm, and recited the spell.

『Water, gather to me! Water ball creation!』

（Nanomachines, please!）

SPLASH!

“AHHHHH!!!”

　It took a while for the other passengers to discover Adele, who had been washed down the hill, and they rushed to her aid.

（That's strange. Why did so much water...）

　After being thoroughly wrung out by the passengers and changing into loose-fitting clothes lent by an older woman, Adele finally calmed down and thought.

（I didn't make any mistakes in the spell. If making a mistake could produce that much water, it would be a new, more powerful magic, not a mistake...

　Then, did I have too much magic power? Did my magic power increase because my memories returned?

　It's possible, but my magic power should be average. Even if I didn't go out much before my memories returned, I read books and studied. Based on my common sense, a typical 10-year-old in this world shouldn't have enough magic power to produce that much water. Even if it was a mistake in the median or mode...）

　This is bad, Adele thought.

　They would arrive in the capital and the academy the next day. There was no more time to practice.

　If she messed up again, the other passengers would be angry.

　She had to investigate the cause through contemplation and go in unprepared.

　The next afternoon, the shared carriage arrived safely in the capital, and Adele headed to the academy with her luggage. The luggage was just one bag, which was light.

　The Ardrey Academy, where Priscilla was supposed to attend, was near the royal castle, in the center of the capital. However, the Exland Academy, where Adele was going, was near the north gate of the outer wall, at the edge of the capital. The main gate of the capital was the south gate, so it was on the backside. The difference in the positions of the two schools was evident.

　After walking a considerable distance from the central square, the final stop of the shared carriage, Adele finally arrived at the Exland Academy. She showed her admission permit, passed through the gate, and headed to the girls' dormitory as directed by the gatekeeper.

　Whether she would be taken care of by a kind dorm mother or a strict dorm supervisor would determine her fate for the next three years.

　...It was the dorm supervisor.

　An elderly woman with glasses and a stern look.

　After Adele greeted her, the supervisor glared at her and then handed her the key to her room.

“Is that all your luggage?”

“Yes, that’s all...”

“What’s inside?”

“Extra underwear, toiletries, and writing materials.”

“Just that?”

“Yes.”

“I see...”

　The dorm supervisor thought for a moment and continued.

“If you want to work on weekends, come to me.”

　Perhaps she was a decent person.

　Thinking this, Adele bowed and headed to the room she was assigned.

　Her room.

　It was about four tatami mats in size. The bed took up about two tatami mats, and the rest was occupied by a desk, chair, and closet, making it quite full.

　Since it was a dorm for 10-13-year-olds, this was to be expected. Adele was satisfied with the room, as having a private room was a blessing. At least, it was much more comfortable than living at home.

　It took her only 40 seconds to unpack.

　She placed the toiletries on top of the closet, put the extra underwear inside, and placed the writing materials on the desk.

　She could probably get ready in 40 seconds if asked.

　The opening ceremony was in four days.

　The day after tomorrow, she would take the aptitude test with the nobles, and the day after that, she would receive her uniform and textbooks and get an explanation about the opening ceremony. Tomorrow was the only free day.

　Adele lay down on the bed and immersed herself in thought.

　What was the cause of that water magic...