《Reborn: I'm still a loser?》


 Chatper 1: I died

    My name is Julia Haste, and this morning I died. I''m sure this will come as a shock, if I''m dead then how are you reading this? Well, let me take you back to this morning to explain myself.


    <u>Flashback:</u>


    It was your typical Tuesday for me, completely uneventful. I woke up at 11:30 in the morning. For most people a late start would be a problem, but I was unemployed. The past 3 years, which is when I graduated high-school; I have been completely living off of my parents support. I liked playing games, in particular I liked playing the game World of Mages, a popular mmorpg. I lived in a one bedroom apartment, and my room was decorated with all of my favorite characters from games. In short: I was a complete loser. Playing games and watching anime were my only hobbies, and I didn''t have any connections in the real world. When I sat down at my computer after making noodles for my breakfast, I was annoyed to see that the internet was down. Great, just what was I to do now that I couldn''t log onto any of my games, or even watch the newest episode of Maxing out my Charisma that had aired last night.


    That''s when it hit me, maybe I should try going on a walk for a change of pace. Now, I wasn''t entirely reclusive like many of the NEETs you hear about in the horror stories, where you hear about people being holed up in their rooms for years on end. I was a frequent visitor to the corner store, thank you very much. How else was I supposed to get my food? Anyways, the corner of my street was the furthest I had ever ventured, I thought that it couldn''t hurt to see more of the city, and I really did have nothing else to do.


    I took a quick shower, got dressed in my new clothes and headed out for my walk. Instantly the sunlight hurt my eyes. Although I went to the corner store frequently, it was always at night, because there were always less people around. I decided that I would just try to look down, because I didn''t really like the sun and because I didn''t really want to look at people, especially in their eyes. That was what sealed my fate; I didn''t get but a few steps before I heard someone shout:


    "Hey! ... Hello?? ... HEY WATCH OUT!".


    This was followed by a terrible grinding noise, and then I felt a painful force behind me, launching me a few feet forward and hitting my head on the pavement, hard. In retrospect, you probably think it''s obvious that they were talking to me. At the moment though, I had no idea that someone was trying to save my life. I mean, they could''ve shown some more urgency, ya know? I can''t really remember what happened after that. Everything was incredibly blurry, and I couldn''t feel anything below my neck. I think someone tried to move me, I felt a sharp pain at the root of my neck, and then black. Black was all that I could see, or feel, or hear for that matter. It felt like I was in that state for years, and at the same time only for seconds.


    After, well like I said I don''t know how long, I heard a voice with no owner, so maybe it was just my thoughts.


    "Time to wake up" is what it said.


    And then I did, slowly my eyes opened, and they started to adjust to the vibrant pink room that I was in. I moved my eyes from the ceiling to the room around me. I was lying in a bed with pink silken sheets, and the bed I was in had curtains, like a rich person''s would. At the foot of the bed I was in was a white stuffed rabbit, and he was missing an eye. It was in a sorry state to be honest, it looked beat up, it must''ve meant a lot to whoever it belonged to for them to keep it.


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    I sat up, pulling the blanket, which was also pink, off of me.


    Then I remembered, I should be dead.


    All the shock and fear of what had happened only hit me then. I vomited all over the silk sheets, the blanket, some even got on the curtains. How am I even alive? That''s all I could think. Not only was I alive, but I didn''t even have any pain. I was seriously starting to freak out, I started sobbing, wondering if I was in a coma, or if this was the afterlife.


    The only thing that stopped my breakdown was knocking.


    I looked up through my sobs towards the noise, and as I did I saw the door across the room open, and in came a girl in a maid''s uniform, looking distraught.


    "Miss Moore! Are you hurt, what is the issue?" .


    The girl couldn''t have been that old, if I had to take a guess she couldn''t be older than sixteen, what was a girl so young doing looking after me.


    Wait a minute; my last name wasn''t even Moore, and you really wouldn''t call someone Miss unless they''re your superior or something.


    "What.. Who...?"


    My voice trailed off, because that''s when I noticed the mirror in the room. It was above the desk in the room, which I also noticed just then. In the mirror I saw: The bed, it had to be at least a queen size. The pink bed curtains draped around it, the pink silken sheets neatly covering the whole bed, and the pink blanket, half fallen to the floor now, all of them were a little dirty from the vomit. There was also a girl sitting up in the bed, some tears were falling down her face, and she looked entirely distraught. She couldn''t have been older than thirteen. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like she had blue eyes. Her hair was black, and had fallen down all around her, it dropped to the middle of her back. She was skinny, and she looked a little weak.


    The maid girl came over and held out her arms. Instinctively I reached out, and she picked me up. And in the mirror, I saw her pick up the unfamiliar girl in the bed. That''s when I fully realized that the girl in the mirror was me, or at least, it should have been me? Nothing was really making sense, and the maid girl started to stroke my hair, as if to calm me down. This must have been a common occurrence for her.


    Another girl came and took the sheets, curtains, and blanket from the bed. Then another girl came to replace them with different ones.


    I managed to mutter to the girl holding me: "I''m ok now".


    "Are you sure Miss, usually it takes you longer too-" she cut herself off. She laid me back down on the bed. "As you wish, would you like me to stay here until you fall back asleep?".


    I absentmindedly nodded, but I was focused on putting it together in my head. After sitting there for what felt like an hour, it finally dawned on me. I was no longer Julia Haste, an unemployed high-school graduate loser. I was instead ____ Moore, a young girl who was presumably meek and born into a rich family. I was reincarnated.


    And then I fell asleep, because I was exhausted.


    <u>Back to present:</u>


    And now you''re all caught up! Really, I''m just as confused as you are about the whole thing. I woke up this morning and now I''m sitting in the same room all by myself, the maid girl nowhere to be seen.


    Well, just what was I to do. I sat up in bed and looked around the room properly this time.This girl seriously must have loved the color pink. I mean, practically everything in the room was pink.


    The paint on the walls: Pink


    The color of the desk: Pink


    Everything on the bed: Pink


    The edges of the mirror: Pink


    The only thing that wasn''t pink was the stuffed bunny perched at the foot of the bed, he was white.


    I got out of the bed and walked over to the mirror, trying to be quiet. This girl, or now me I guess, had a lot of maids.


    Looking in the mirror, I was mostly right about my first glance assessment. I had long black hair that fell down to my back, which was now neatly combed. It must have been done by one of the maids. I had blue eyes and long eyelashes, with a mole under my left eye. I was in pink pajamas, no shock there. I was short, if I had to eyeball it probably around 140cm. Which means I was probably close when I guessed my age earlier. I was incredibly thin, which was a lot like the old me too. As for my face, it looked like I was the type of person who would get their cheeks pinched often; cute and innocent.


    Well then, just how am I supposed to live as this person?

 Chapter 2: The Maid girl

    I wanted to look around the room more, perhaps check the desk and anywhere else for a diary of some sorts, but I didn''t get a chance. It wasn''t but a few minutes before I heard knocking at the door again.


    "Miss Moore, your father would like you to come down for breakfast".


    It sounded like the voice of the maid from earlier. It was stupid, but I had actually felt comforted by her this morning.


    "Ok, I''m already awake". My voice came out much quieter than I anticipated it too. This girl really must have not had the best constitution, everything about her felt weak.


    The girl opened the door, and I was happy to see that I was right about who it belonged to. This girl might be a personal maid of mine, and if that''s the case I would probably just be able to follow their lead.


    "Good morning Miss, let''s get you dressed". Admittedly I had not thought about this, of course a pampered rich kid from another world would have everything taken care of for them.


    "Is something the matter?". My reluctance must have been showing on my face.


    "Oh it''s nothing, I was wondering if you would be able to use my name? I don''t really like the title Miss." I deflected, besides this could be a way for me to finally figure out what my first name was supposed to be.


    "I am honored, however I don''t think your father would approve-"


    "It''s ok! I''ll tell him I asked, so please do use my name" I tried sounding firm. It would probably be unusual for me to make a request like this, so I figured it would take her by surprise.


    It seemed to work how I had planned. The girl paused for a few seconds, clearly thinking about how to respond to me.


    "Very well, I am your maid after all, not the Lord''s". Well, I wonder what that could mean.


    Putting that aside, I stood there looking at her expectantly.


    "Ok fine then, we really must get you dressed Miss Emi-"


    "I said no miss!"


    She let out a sigh "Geez, just what has gotten into you. We really must get you dressed Emily, we should not keep your father waiting."


    I let out a wide smile and nodded. So my name was Emily Moore, now just what type of person was this father of mine. It was subtle, but this girl seemed to put a little venom in her words when talking about him. She also referred to herself as "my maid" and "not the lord''s".


    I sat there as she started to change my clothes, thinking about the type of person who my father could be. I also had another thought, this girl had only mentioned my father, but no mention of my mother. I could think of two reasons for this; Either she wasn''t very influential, or either she wasn''t in the picture at all. My father was clearly a powerful man, even referred to as Lord, and wealthy enough to keep several Maids in a presumably big house.


    I wonder which of the two it was, I hope the former, because a girl this young having to live through the tragedy of losing her mother, that would be awful.


    I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn''t even realized the maid was already finishing. She had already finished dressing me and was now braiding my hair.


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    "I''m finishing up now mi-" she stopped herself for a moment. "Emily, we''re running a bit late on your first day, so let''s be quick now".


    "My first day? What do you mean..." It was just then that I realized what I was wearing.


    Instead of the pink pajamas I had found myself when I woke up, I now had a completely different attire. I was wearing a white blouse with a white bow, with a blazer over it. I had on a blue skirt that fell below my knees, and black socks that went well past my ankles. I realized that I was wearing a school uniform.


    The girl looked at me quizzically before saying, "Are you feeling alright Emily?".


    I nodded and got up. I don''t know why I''m so surprised, it should be obvious that someone at this age would be going to school. Really though, what evil omnipotent power decided to reincarnate me into the body of an anxious teenage girl on her first day of school, that just seems cruel. At least this helped confirm my theory about how old I probably was.


    "One last thing Emily" I stopped and felt the girl reach around my neck behind me. I was relieved to see that it was not to strangle me, but rather to put a necklace around my neck.


    "Since you are allowed to wear jewelry, I thought you might want to wear it."


    I just nodded, not sure what to say; This was clearly something that I was supposed to know, but I didn''t. It was a pretty necklace, a large jewel, which was probably a diamond, was the centerpiece. Squinting my eyes, I also saw that there was a date engraved into it.


    02/26/1661


    The girl slid past me as I looked down at the mysterious necklace, wondering just what these numbers could mean.


    "Let us go Emily, we really can not stall any longer" The girl said as she was turning out of my room down the hall.


    I quickly followed, turning my head to see quite a large hallway. It must have been a hundred feet, or maybe even more. Despite its length, I was only able to count 4 doors in total. There was one directly across from mine, and there were two more at the other end of the hallway, also directly across from each other.


    It was a longer walk than I thought to the dining room, in fact it was in a whole separate building. The "house" that I was staying in was just a two story building. On the first floor was an open room that had almost nothing to offer. There was a bathroom, which had a shower, toilet, and sink. There was a small kitchen, or what I assumed was a kitchen, with a metal container that seemed burned black by fire. A small pile of wood lay in it, and above it was a counter which I guess people would cook on?


    If I''m being completely honest, whatever this world may be, I don''t think it was technologically advanced, go figure.


    There were also some doors, which I had no idea what they could lead to.


    The walk outside however, was much more interesting. The plot of land we were on was gigantic. It was at least a kilometer wide, and it was surrounded on all sides by a wall that was about 20 feet high.


    It reminds me of what I think an old Japanese estate would look like. The main building towered in the distance, much bigger than the one I was staying in.


    We walked over a bridge, stopping in the middle and peering over either side I could see a small stream of water, flowing to what I hoped was a pond. I wonder if it had fish in it too, I wanted to go check but I knew that I probably couldn''t.


    I just kept walking, passing by the freshly cut grass and the trees that towered over me.


    We were only a few more meters away from the big building when it finally hit me, just why was I in such a secluded part of the property. My father must know that even just this walk would have been hard on a body as fragile as mine.


    Before I could think about it further, we were at the front door, and the maid girl slid it open. It was a patterned door with a tiger on it.


    I really needed to know her name. I couldn''t outright ask, the only hope I could have was that my father would call out to her for some reason. Referring to the only person that bore any resemblance of a friend to me so far as "the maid girl" really wasn''t something I liked.


    I followed her closely as I tried to take in the details of the room we just walked into. There was a red carpet going down the middle of the room, and the floor seemed to be some type of wood, no doubt an expensive one. There were white pillars about every 5 meters, and in the middle of the roof there was a crystal chandelier.


    That''s about all I could take in before I followed the girl, but not up the staircase. On either side of the staircase there was a door, and the girl was heading to the left one. My nerves were really starting to get the better of me, and I was breathing hard now.


    The girl knocked once, twice, and then a third time.


    A husky voice called from the other side of the door.


    "Come in" was all that it said.

 Chatper 3: Meeting Mei

    ¡°Are you not hungry, my darling?¡± The man was smiling warmly at me.


    The food did look ok, I mean it was just bread and a couple slices of meat.


    ¡°Sorry I wasn¡¯t feeling very well.¡± I said before picking up a slice of bread and starting to nibble on it. For what it was worth, it was good bread.


    My father had gone on and on about how he was so nervous about my first day at school. He asked me how I slept and how I was feeling. I mean, he seemed like a pretty normal guy.


    He was a shorter man, probably in the 170cm range. He had a freshly shaved beard with a pencil thin mustache. He honestly looked like a cliche villain. He had dark blue eyes and thinning gray hair. He was skinny, but neatly dressed in velvet.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re probably nervous, but Alice will be attending you even at school. I know you¡¯re probably scared after what happened but she will protect you.¡±


    I was starting to get annoyed, not knowing my past was seriously starting to be a problem. Also what does he even mean? I had learned that the ¡°maid girl¡± was actually Alice. I was still pretty sure that she wasn¡¯t much older than me though. How could she exactly protect me?


    I had also confirmed another thing after just being in the room with the two of them for a few minutes. Alice definitely did not like my father.


    She did not say anything directly; but everytime my father mentioned something about me, she glared at him.


    I couldn¡¯t really understand why either, my father really did seem to care about me. I mean he seemed kind of detached, not much unlike my actual parents, but he cared enough to notice I was uneasy.


    ¡°Sir, may I ask how do you plan on getting Emily to school and back. Traditional transportation methods would be very hard on her body.¡± Alice kept her voice calm and steady when talking to my father.


    ¡°Yes well, I did think of this. Is this not something you could take care of, Alice?¡± My father¡¯s tone was quite a bit colder when talking to Alice. The warmth and smile had faded from his face.


    Alice stood there, not able to hide her annoyance at this comment.


    ¡°Sir, you know very well that I can not use my magic unregulated until I turn 17.¡±


    Wait a minute, did she just say magic? Nothing at all that I¡¯ve seen so far would suggest that there was magic in this world.


    Now that I think about it though, it wasn¡¯t particularly warm outside. Yet the room we were in was comfortable, almost the perfect temperature. There was no fire pit, no vents, no heating elements of any kind.


    Did this mean that Alice was a magician? Wait, could I be a magician? Suddenly I had many more questions about this world.


    My father let out a large sigh.


    ¡°Well, you must make an exception today then. Tomorrow I will arrange for a different mage to teleport you two, but we are running out of time.¡± He didn¡¯t seem to be asking a question.


    ¡°I would really prefer not to-¡±


    ¡°Should the commission come after you I will take responsibility, and that will be that.¡±


    Alice looked like she wanted to argue, but she just bit her lip and gave a bow.


    My father looked back at me, and his happy demeanor returned.


    ¡°I wish we had more time to talk, but you really must be getting going dear. I will see you tonight. Alice will lead the way, just follow her.¡±


    I guess that was my que to leave.


    ¡°Ok then, I love you father.¡± I said standing up from the table.


    The warmth seemed to drain from his face, and his smile turned to a frown. He looked at me like I was the most disgusting thing on the planet. Suddenly I couldn¡¯t move, I was frozen in fear looking at his face.


    ¡°Let us be going then Emily.¡± It was Alice¡¯s voice, she sounded strained, and maybe even a little scared.


    And just like that it was over, the color came back to my father¡¯s face as he once again wore his smile.


    Alice was already walking towards the door, so I quickly turned to follow her.


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    ¡°Have a good first day, darling.¡± My father called from behind me. I just kept following Alice, not wanting to look back.


    It wasn¡¯t until we had walked to a different room in the manor that I was able to speak.


    ¡°Alice, did I say something wrong?¡± My voice still felt a little shaky, he really did scare me with that look.


    She looked taken aback, maybe this wasn¡¯t something that I would typically ask.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it Emily, it¡¯s not your fault. Anyways, do you remember how to teleport?¡± I guess I wasn¡¯t going to be getting anything else from her about what just happened.


    I shook my head no


    ¡°Very well, then just step into the circle, and hold on to me tightly.¡±


    I wrapped my arms around her stomach. ¡°Like this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll work fine, yes.¡±


    The room we were in was dimly lit. There were a few bookshelves, and in the middle was a glowing blue circle, with a symbol in the middle that kind of looked like the letter P.


    ¡°I will start on the count of 3, try to remain calm. 1¡­ 2¡­ 3¡±


    The glow from the blue circle glowed brighter and brighter. It was starting to become uncomfortable to my eyes. The bookshelves lining the walls of the room started to become fuzzy, and the room started to spin.


    Tightening my grip on Alice, I closed my eyes. If I kept them open, who knew what would happen. Even with my eyes closed I could still feel my head spinning.


    A tugging sensation started to pull at my back. It felt like I was getting crushed from both sides, like we were stuck in a cliche horror trap with walls closing in all around us. It was getting tighter, and tighter, and then¡­ nothing.


    ¡°You can let go now, Emily.¡± I had not realized it but I was probably hurting Alice with how hard I was hanging on to her, or at least I would have been had I not been so weak.


    Still holding on, I slowly opened my eyes. We were no longer in the dimly lit room in my fathers manor. Instead we were in a large open room with white walls. We were standing in the middle of a circle. It was just like the circle in the other room, but much bigger.


    I finally let go of Alice.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± I wondered out loud.


    ¡°You are in the teleportation room of Meryl High-school.¡± The voice was cold and unattached, and it did not come from Alice.


    Turning around I saw a girl who was slightly taller than me. She was dressed in the same uniform that I was in, but she wore a badge pinned to her Blazer.


    She had black eyes and black hair that fell to her shoulder. Her face looked completely neutral, like she couldn¡¯t care less about being here.


    This was a bad habit of mine, I was always quick to judge people for no reason. It was part of the reason I was so secluded in my old life.


    ¡°Hello! Who are you?¡± I might as well try to be friendly, even though I was awful at talking to people.


    ¡°I am Mei, Mei Araha. I am the head of the first years at Meryl High. I am currently overseeing the new student arrivals that are coming through teleportation.¡±


    Geez, everything about this girl was so plain. She spoke in such a matter of fact tone. Head of the first years huh? That must be what her badge was for. Honestly she is just what you would expect out of a top student.


    ¡°Hi Mei! Nice to meet you!¡± I smiled warmly at her. ¡°My name is Emily Moore, and this is my friend, her name is Alice.¡±


    Alice looked at me, tilting her head slightly. Likely she had not been expecting me to refer to her as my friend, but I didn¡¯t want to call her my maid or my servant, it just felt wrong.


    To my surprise, Mei¡¯s lips turned upwards into a slight smile. Not what I was expecting at all.


    ¡°Well, of course I know who you are, but I must say you are nothing like I expected, Emily Moore.¡± Her voice sounded like it had a little life to it now.


    ¡°What were you expecting?¡± I was genuinely curious what people thought of me. Also I wanted to know just how important I was supposed to be. This girl had basically just said it was obvious what my name was, just by looking at me.


    ¡°If¡­ If I may be honest, I expected you to completely ignore me. People of such high standing would rarely talk to someone who isn¡¯t of noble birth.¡±


    Now I was just confused


    ¡°But you said that you¡¯re the top student? That¡¯s much more impressive than being born well off, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said flatly.


    Mei looked completely taken aback.


    She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Did I say something wrong? I mean I just said what should be obvious to anyone.


    I looked up at Alice, who looked like she was trying not to laugh.


    Alice cleared her throat


    ¡°Forgive me Miss Araha, but I think that you will find Emily is not someone who particularly cares about her status, or anyone else¡¯s for that matter. I wager we are the final ones to come through given what time it is already, so could I entrust Miss Moore to you?¡±


    This must have brought Mei back to reality.


    ¡°Oh.. Of course! Sorry I was really surprised there.¡± She was smiling at me now, it was hard to imagine that this was the girl from a couple of minutes ago.


    ¡°Well then, Emily I must talk to the faculty on your father¡¯s behalf. Do you remember how to contact me in an emergency?¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a problem. There¡¯s no way that the real Emily would have forgotten something like this. As it stood though, I had no idea what Alice was talking about.


    I nodded my head. I mean after all we are just high school students, nothing that bad could happen.


    ¡°Very well, I will leave you two here then, do try to have fun on your first day of school.¡±


    And then she walked towards the tall wooden double doors of the room. Now that I took a look around, the room was quite plain. It had doors that lead to what looked like a hallway, and a desk at the back with a door on the back wall, presumably for staff members.


    ¡°So Mei, would you like to be my friend?¡± I gave her a toothy grin.


    Mei blushed


    ¡°I.. I¡¯ve never really had any friends before. Just my brother really.¡± Geez, just where had the cold exterior gone. Instead of looking calm and collected she was now acting like a nervous schoolgirl.


    Well, in reality she really was just a nervous schoolgirl.


    ¡°Then I get to be your first!¡± I teased her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t- Don¡¯t say it like that!¡± Mei was redder than an apple now. How adorable, she reminded me of myself when I was entering highschool.


    ¡°If you say yes then I¡¯ll stop.¡± I smile again at her.


    ¡°Fine then! I¡¯ll be your friend. It¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t want too anyways.¡±


    I should stop my teasing here.


    ¡°Ok then! That¡¯s settled, lead the way then Mei! I really am hopeless. Please take good care of me.¡± I bowed.


    Her face fell a little, and she looked serious again.


    ¡°What are you thinking!¡± She almost yelled at me.


    I stood there startled, what was she even talking about?


    ¡°Sorry, but what did I do?¡± I asked her.


    Mei let out a sigh before responding.


    ¡°Emily, I am really grateful that you¡¯re so nice. Even if you were doing it as a joke, for someone like you to bow to me, it¡¯s a really bad thing. Even if you don¡¯t acknowledge our social standings, other people will.¡±


    I wonder if she had bad experiences with other ¡°nobles¡± before. Her expression kinda seemed far away, like she wasn¡¯t really focusing on her words.


    ¡°Ok I get it, I won¡¯t do it again. But seriously, please treat me like we¡¯re equals. I feel like most people here probably aren''t going too.¡± If she was acting like this in private, I was starting to get worried. Was I like a princess or something?


    She smiled again.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s fine if you understand. The opening ceremony should be starting in a few minutes. Shall we get going then Emily? I¡¯ll lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Please do!¡±


    Well I guess it was time to go see what this school was all about.


    ¡°By the way, could you call me Emi?¡± I said as we started to make our way to the exit of the room.


    ¡°Absolutely not, we¡¯ve only just met after all.¡±


    Well, baby steps.

 Chapter 4: Magic and friends

    The ¡°opening ceremony¡± as Mei had called it turned out to just be a dull speech by the principal of the school. The principal was a shorter man who was neatly dressed in a black suit with a purple bowtie. He had white hair that fell below his shoulders. He must¡¯ve been an older man because he used a cane to walk to the podium. His speech concluded in around half an hour, and the only interesting thing I learned was that the school was a school for ¡°three types of students¡±.


    <ol>


    <li> Students of outstanding academic achievement.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="2">


    <li> Students of noble birth.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="3">


    <li> Students with powerful mages in their family.</li>


    </ol>


    I knew for a fact that I was the second option. I also knew that Mei was the first.


    I got up, stretching my legs after what felt like hours, but was actually only minutes.


    ¡°Where are we off to now, Miss Mei?¡± I said in a patronizing voice.


    She rolled her eyes, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know, I have to go to Math first, check your own schedule.¡±


    Wow, so even in this fantasy world they still had to attend math class.


    ¡°Ok, and where would I find that?¡±


    She stared at me with an exasperated face for a few seconds. ¡°How would I know that? Probably somewhere in your bag if I had to imagine.¡±


    I felt my face turn slightly red in embarrassment. That should have been obvious, I don¡¯t know why I expected her to have my class schedule too. I rummaged through the bag that Alice had left for me until finally finding a scroll.


    In neat handwriting it listed my schedule for the day. Each block of time was an hour long, starting with math and ending with science. There was an hour in the middle of the day that was just labeled ¡°break¡±. I wonder if that means we can do anything during that time.


    ¡°Lucky me, guess I have math with you!.¡± I smiled at Mei.


    ¡°Lucky me.¡± She said, rolling her eyes and starting down the hallway. I followed her, ready to attend my first class in years.


    Well, I don¡¯t know what I was expecting. I was sitting in a room lined with desks, a notebook and pen in front of me. The teacher, a tall woman with a pointed nose and wrinkled skin, was writing down on the chalkboard that spread across the front of the room. Around me were dozens of kids that I had to assume were my age, some of them paying close attention, and others sneaking whispers to those next to them. In other words, it was a completely normal class.


    I am bored out of my mind. I tried poking Mei in the back of the head, but she finally turned around at me and glared like she was about to kill me, so I stopped doing that. I took some notes absentmindedly, but it really was just introductory algebra. I mean don¡¯t get me wrong, I had trouble learning it for the first time too, but I don¡¯t forget things very easily.


    Just when I thought I couldn¡¯t take it anymore, the teacher cleared her voice to bring attention to the class.


    ¡°Well seeing how it is your first day, I am going to give you the rest of the time to become acquainted with each other. Please refrain from doing anything violent, I really do not wish to have a repeat of last year.¡±


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    Well now I really wanted to know what happened last year.


    I thought about just talking to Mei, but it would be nice to meet some new people.


    There were a group of girls in the back of the room that pushed their desks together and started talking to each other instantly. They were a no-go, I really didn¡¯t want to introduce myself to a group right now. Instead I set my eyes on two girls who were in the corner of the room, talking to each other and laughing.


    I was never one to initiate making friends, but I guess it never hurt to try and change. With all the courage I could muster I walked up to them.


    ¡°Hi there! I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t have very many friends that are also attending school here, could I maybe join you two?¡±


    The girl who was facing the front of the room stopped mid sentence to look at me, looking slightly taken aback.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ surprisingly honest.¡±She had red hair and a freckled face.


    The other girl turned to look at me as well.


    ¡°Oh my, aren¡¯t you Emily Moore?¡± the girl said, smiling at me.


    ¡°Yep! That¡¯s me, what¡¯s your name?¡± I said, returning the smile.


    The girl clicked her tongue. I wonder if I had struck a nerve, was I supposed to know who she was?


    ¡°My name is Aubrey Deli, it¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±


    Aubrey reminded me of the popular girls in highschool. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was always smiling when she talked.


    ¡°And my name is Erica! Erica Haste.¡± said the girl with red hair.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you Aubrey and Erica, so what were you talking about?¡± I said, pulling up a desk to join them.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± said Erica, looking slightly hesitant.


    I wonder, maybe they were talking about something personal? Or maybe they were talking badly about the other students already.


    ¡°Sorry, but we were talking about something personal, I don¡¯t think Erica would like to share it.¡± Aubrey looked at Erica, still smiling, but this time it seemed playful.


    Erica blushed. Now that was not a reaction I was expecting, maybe they were talking about crushes? But this was an all girls school.


    ¡°No, let¡¯s change the topic then shall we? Are you two nervous about the aptitude test?¡± Erica said with a slightly higher voice than a few minutes ago, she must have been nervous.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I said before even thinking.


    They both stared at me blankly for a minute. I felt my face grow slightly red.


    ¡°That¡¯s another thing that¡¯s supposed to be super obvious, isn''t it?¡± I said shyly. I was growing increasingly embarrassed at my lack of knowledge.


    Aubrey laughed, but not in a mean way. Erica just kept staring.


    ¡°Well putting that aside for now, the aptitude test is what tests the incoming students on their magical abilities.¡± Aubrey said.


    That¡¯s interesting, I looked at her expectantly.


    ¡°The students each test to see if they resonate with a certain property, or element of magic. The four properties are spirit, dark, water, and stone.¡± Aubrey continued.


    Those were not the ¡°elements¡± I had expected to hear. Most RPGs had the classic elements like fire and wind. What the heck was Spirit and dark magic, and not earth but stone?


    ¡°There¡¯s only those four? And how do they test you on them?¡± I was nervous , I hope they weren¡¯t about to drop me into combat or something.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s actually five elements but don¡¯t worry about the last one, they say a student hasn¡¯t possessed affinity for it in over two hundred years. Anyways the test is simple enough, you just place your hand on the enchanted gemstones they have, and they measure your affinity to each property.¡± She finally finished.


    Well, that didn¡¯t seem too bad. I could at least handle putting my hand on a stone, but did I even have any magical abilities?


    ¡°Also don¡¯t forget to tell her-¡± Erica was cut off by a high pitch ringing.


    ¡°Ok students! I will be seeing you all tomorrow. Have a good day, and remember, stay out of trouble.¡±


    I guess that was the bell then. I looked back and saw Mei staring at me, she quickly turned away when our eyes met, she must have spent the time alone.


    ¡°It was nice talking to you two, I hope to see you both again.¡± I almost gave a bow before I remembered what happened with Mei, so I just smiled and walked towards my stuff.


    ¡°Miss me Mei?¡± I said teasingly.


    Her face turned a little red.


    ¡°As if¡± she said, rolling her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be spending all day with you, don''t worry, I really am lucky that we have such a similar schedule.¡± I started to pick up my things.


    ¡°I already told you that I don¡¯t care.¡± she couldn¡¯t hide the slight smile across her face.


    ¡°Well, after you then Miss Mei.¡± I said keeping my tone playful.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m going,¡± she said standing up. ¡°I guess you would get lost without me after all.¡± She stood up to leave.


    I smiled to myself and got up to follow her.


    Magic huh, honestly I don¡¯t really care about that. I hope I can just live a normal highschool life again.

 Chatper 5: Breaking the "rules"

    Well, the first day of school ended up being pretty boring. The other teachers were not as generous as my first one, so I wasn¡¯t able to talk to many people. The subjects themselves were pretty boring as well, all except history. I figured out quickly that history would be the only interesting class I would have that year, well unless I had some hidden magical capabilities, then I would join a class ¡°relating to proper use of magic and regulations of it¡±, whatever that meant. I also learned that the aptitude test that Aubrey was talking about would happen next week during the one hour period we currently had unassigned in our schedules at the end.


    Despite all that, I still found school to be pretty fun actually. Like I said, the classes were boring, but I was growing very fond of Mei. I spent over half of my day with her, well next to her at least, she wasn¡¯t the type to respond to my teasing in the middle of class. I even managed to get her to eat lunch with Aubrey and Erica as well. At first she seemed very reluctant to join them, but she warmed up to the idea, well she probably just wanted me to shut up but same result either way.


    Now I was sitting in my room alone, waiting until I felt tired enough to go asleep. I was given very little schoolwork to do. I still skimmed through the first chapter of the history textbook we were given. I realized how weak I was after getting through a few classes when I could barely carry my bag around anymore. I started putting my textbooks in my locker, but even just walking to my locker and then my next class was taxing on my body. My body was skin and bones and it felt like I had no energy.


    That was another thing, it almost felt like I was imprisoned in my room, or rather the building I was in. Despite having a makeshift kitchen, when I asked Alice when I was eating dinner, she said that we would eat when my father called for me. That¡¯s the thing though, he never did. All I had eaten was a light salad and bread for lunch at school. I felt like I was starving, well not felt like it, I was starving. Alice had brought me bread an hour ago, but it was just one measly roll. When she came I asked her if we could take a walk outside, I wanted to at least see more of the property, I wanted to walk by the stream I had seen earlier. She just told me that it would be dangerous for me. When I insisted she looked taken aback, and told me that she would try and convince my father. I wanted to come out and ask her if my father hated me, it started to feel like I was a princess trapped in a tower. I didn¡¯t ask though, part of me was scared to hear the answer. I was starting to appreciate the parents I had in my previous life.


    Anyways now you''re all caught up!


    What to do, what to do¡­ part of me wants to go outside anyways. I learned that Alice lived in the room across from me, but I also learned that she went to bed early as she wished me goodnight when she left my room.


    Well, I don¡¯t want to get her in trouble. She seemed like she was responsible for me, weirdly enough I think it was by her choice too. Apparently she¡¯s a very talented mage, and at such a young age there¡¯s no doubt that she could live somewhere else if she chose too. It didn¡¯t even seem like my father particularly liked her either, so I don¡¯t know why he kept her around.


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    I guess I¡¯ll settle for exploring the building a bit more then, and hope that I get permission to leave it soon.


    I opened the door gingerly and poked my head outside it. It was quite dark, only illuminated by the candles placed sparingly down the hallway. I stepped quietly over to Alice¡¯s door and listened for any sound.


    I waited for what felt like a few minutes, breathing as quietly as I could. I heard nothing in response. I stepped softly away from her door and turned my head to face the empty hallway and began my midnight excursion.


    There was no sound, and my footsteps were barely audible on the red carpet that spanned the hallway. I felt like I was in a horror movie, like any second a ghostly hand would reach out from behind me and place its hand on my shoulder.


    My objective was simple; get to the other side of the hallway and see what the other two doors at the end were. I wanted to familiarize myself with where I lived at least. When I got to the midpoint of the hallway I glanced over the staircase that led downstairs. To my surprise, it wasn¡¯t dark like I had expected, it was dimly lit.


    I couldn¡¯t see anyone downstairs though, I wondered why the lights might be on. I stepped down the stairs one at a time, as slowly as I could. It didn¡¯t take long to get to the bottom. The stairs themselves were placed in the middle of the room, and led directly to the second floor. Now that I think about it, they were a bit weird, why put stairs directly in the middle of the room. Different world, different idea of design I guess.


    Anyways I stepped into the middle of the first floor and looked around, I still couldn¡¯t see anyone. At this point I couldn¡¯t tell if that was good or bad. I looked aimlessly around for a few seconds before setting my eyes on one of the doors that piqued my interest earlier. It was the only part of the first floor that wasn¡¯t out in the open, even the bathroom just had a curtain that I assume you would sling shut when you were occupying it.


    This door, or should I say room, was in the right corner of the back of the building. It was small, not unlike the size of a bedroom. I walked over to it, excitement starting to build in my stomach. I held my ear up to the door, listening for any sign of life. There was none, no snoring, no hushed voices.


    Gingerly I tried the handle, and to my surprise it turned fully, opening the door. The room was dark, only illuminated by the small amount of light leaking in from the main room. There were two white bunk beds, and three of the four beds were taken, two women and one man, the women bunked together.


    I held in my surprise, careful not to make any noise. How absolutely stupid of me, this must be the room where the other servants slept. Calling them servants feels wrong, so I¡¯ll call them staff from now on.


    I guess they all were very quiet sleepers. I shut the door as quickly as I could while keeping the sound to a minimum.


    The door finished with a click and I stepped a few feet back. I was sweating. Wait why was i even that worried, I really wasn¡¯t doing anything terrible, was I?


    I let out a breath that I was holding in during the whole ordeal.


    ¡°Emily?¡± I basically jumped out of my clothes. The voice scared me so bad.


    It came from behind me.


    I didn¡¯t know this voice. It wasn¡¯t Alice, and it wasn¡¯t my father. I turned around to face whoever it was, panic rising in me.