There were some minor troubles, but not enough to seriously disrupt the schedule.
The trip went very smoothly, and after about a monthâs journey, we arrived safely in the magic city of Dillashick.
As a city of magic, it is known for its many sorcerers and magic stores.
For Kunon, it was truly a dreamlike place.
I would have liked to explore the city right away, but the formalities came first.
The day we arrived, we went to the hotel early to rest and stay overnight.
In the morning of the next day, we headed to the reception of the magic school.
In a less popular building outside the school, I applied to the receptionist at the counter for the procedure.
AndâŠ
âIâm sorry, but the dormitory is no longer available.â
This was the reply I got from the receptionist when I inquired about admission and dormitory.
The biggest problem of the trip came at the last minute.
As for the admission, his father had already completed the procedures.
After a quick check, Kunon was allowed to take the entrance exam and receive the examination ticket without any problems.
The exam would be held in about a month.
Then came the dormitory problem.
His father couldnât do the procedure here because he wasnât sure if Kunon would go to the magic school or not.
When it turned out that he was going, the school had already been filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
âCanât you do something about it?â insisted Linco, but she assured her that there was nothing she could do.
Linco secretly handed the receptionist a bribe,⊠but she only said, âBribes start at ten thousand. I canât help you even if you hold a hundred Nekka in your hand. I donât like the idea of bribes anyway,â making her a little angry, and the two of them fled to the surface as if they were being driven out.
And nowâŠ
âOh, my God.â
âWhat a mess!â
Linco and Kunon were at a loss.
âYou didnât give me back my hundred bucks, did you?â
âIâm not a big advocate of bribes either, but did you really think you could get away with a hundred Nekka?â
I see.
He was trying to negotiate for a bribe starting at one hundred Nekka.
I think youâre making a mistake when you try to talk at length about something that doesnât sound good on the surface.
And itâs in their office.
Well, I failed anyway, so Iâll let it slide.
If I tell them something strange, the success rate of the next bribe negotiation will increase, so in that sense, Iâll just leave it at that.
In a noblemanâs education, bribery is an effective negotiation technique. As a servant of the nobility, what Linco was trying to do was not that wrong.
However, that was only in the Kingdom of Huglia.
In a magic city, the impression of bribes, under the sleeve payments, and collusion between important people would probably be different.
âYouâre keeping more money in case you canât get into the dorm, right?â
âYes. Even if I stay in a hotel, I can live for a month.â
In the meantime, he could contact his parents and ask them to send him some additional money or tell him what to do.
But as for KunonâŠ
"Since weâre going to be here for a few years and attending a magic school, we could rent a house for a longer stay?â
As for Kunon, he wants to secure a place where he can live on a yearly basis instead of living in an expensive hotel.
As long as we live here, we will have more things.
There will be more and more documents and books related to magic, and they may even start developing magic tools. Of course, there will be a lot of experiments and research on magic.
Life is expensive.
You may waste some money on magic-related things.
But those will not be wasted expenses.
The hotel may be comfortable, but it will probably be a waste of money.
We should save money where we can.
âYou can cook, canât you, Linco?â
âYes, because in the future my fianŃe and I plan to open a restaurant that serves legitimate food.â
âYou can do housework, right?â
âYes, I can. Iâm ready to be a wife.â
âThen letâs rent a little house and live together.â
âWhat?âŠâŠ Youâre not proposingâŠâŠ?â
âIf you and I donât have a fianŃe, you can take that as a yes. If you and I donât have a fianŃe, weâll get married. If you and I donât have a fianŃe, Iâll take care of you forever.â
âYes! Iâd be happy to marry you if you werenât already engaged to me, Master Kunon.â
The two of them laugh at each other.
âUhmâŠâ
And the receptionistâs face is a little reluctant as she saw it without even thinking about it.
âIâve been handing out these things to applicants who couldnât get into the dormitoryâŠâŠ. Iâll also return the hundred Nekka you gave me earlier. I canât stand it when my boss gets mad at me for taking a bribe.â
It seems that the receptionist who kicked Kunon and his friend out earlier was following them because she had been advised to do so.
She waited for a while because they had started a strange conversation and it was hard to talk to them.
Well, itâs a good thing that they seem to be on good terms.
âPaper?â
Receiving it on behalf of Kunon, who couldnât see it, Linco lightly looked over the document that the receptionist had given him.
âYeah. Thatâs the information from the real estate agency. â Does it happen every year that some of the students donât get into the dormitory?â
âItâs highly dependent. There are few magicians in the world, so there are years when there are no applicants.
Also, there are cases where students who enter the school do not graduate, so the availability of dormitories is quite unstable. Thatâs because there arenât many graduates this year.â
âI see.â
Rather than an overabundance of applicants, this yearâs dormitory seemed to be filled by students who did not graduate.
âThe real estate agency listed there can introduce you to some good properties for apprentice sorcerers.â
âThank you for your kindness, and I apologize for my rude attempt to bribe you earlier.â
ââŠâŠBribes start at ten thousand. If someone gives you a hundred bucks, itâs just a tip.â
âIâll keep that in mind.â
The receptionist let out a sigh of relief and walked back into the building.
âSo, Mr. Kunon, if neither of us is engaged, shall we go find our love nest?â
âYes. Itâs the beginning of our life together.â
That is true even without being engaged to each other.
The entrance exam for the magic school is in about a month.
Until then, Kunon had to prepare for the exam.
Even if he fails the exam, he can still be a sorcerer, but Kunon is only thinking about passing the exam.
There are many names of sorcerers that he is interested in, including the immortal witch Gray Lewa.
And most of those people are teachers at the magic school.
The teachers at the magic school have world-class knowledge, experience, and magical talent in their respective fields.
Thereâs no way I come all the way here and not see them.
So Kunon will definitely pass the test.
He was late in applying for the dormitory, but he was quick in finding a house at the real estate agency.
They say that the number of applicants usually starts to increase two weeks in advance.
Kunon, who arrived a month ago, was not able to find a dormitory but was able to take his time choosing a house.
He rented a house that was a little big for two people and started living with Linco.
It took me a week to get used to living here.
It took two weeks to get used to the food culture.
It took three weeks and five days for Kunon to go from one magic-related store to another.
In the remaining two full days, Kunon put on a spurt of seriousness that he hadnât shown yet and studied for the exam.
Now that he has perfected his skills, he is ready to take the entrance exam for the magic school.