Autumn of Year 531 in the New Calendar, first day of the term at Stashier Comprehensive Academy of Magic.

  The academy ran on a two-term system and had five grades. Students in each faculty had to earn enough credits in their own specialty, and also pick up credits from shared public courses taught across faculties.

  So aside from the closed, faculty-only classes, it was normal to see students from different faculties and different years sitting in the same classroom.

  That morning, every staff member and student gathered in the main hall on the first floor of the central city tower.

  Teaching staff like assistants, lecturers, and professors sat facing the doors at a massive semicircular table on the inner side of the hall. Enid was there too, seated in the Nature Faculty section. From the front entrance, Nature sat at the far right end of the table.

  In truth, the seating wasn’t fixed.

  Competition inside the academy was brutal. After the year-end comprehensive evaluation, the top-ranked faculty earned the central seat at the semicircle. The rest were arranged from left to right, the better your faculty performed, the closer you sat to the center.

  Nature, with its consistently awful results, had practically made a tradition out of owning the far-left seat. People from other faculties sometimes had to pause and think before choosing where to sit. Nature staff didn’t even need to glance around. They just went straight to the far left.

  The students’ seating followed the same logic.

  Enid had visited the hall several times already, but it still hit her every time.

  The place was enormous. It could easily hold the entire school, over thirty thousand people, and still have space to spare. Several stone pillars, each roughly the height of a ten-story building, held up the ceiling. The interior décor followed the Empire’s beloved maximalist taste, sacred, ornate, and grand.

  Student seating was built like a theater, stacked into six tiers. The higher your grade, the higher you sat. The sixth tier was for students who had finished the fifth year but chose to stay on to continue their studies.

  While Enid was still taking everything in, the staff member beside her struck up a conversation.

  "Nice to meet you. Are you the new assistant assigned to the Nature Faculty this term?"

  The man’s tone was polite. Enid returned a gentle smile.

  "Nice to meet you too. Yes, I’m new, but not an assistant. I’m the professor in charge of Nature Magic theory and practical instruction."

  A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but the moment his eyes registered her long, unmistakable ears, his expression smoothed right out again.

  "Oh, my apologies. You look so young I assumed you were an assistant. I didn’t realize you were a new professor. It’s an honor."

  He offered his hand, and Enid shook it.

  "Ah, I haven’t introduced myself properly, have I? That’s on me. I saw a beautiful lady and forgot my manners. I’m Kasim Sagreis. I’m a lecturer for the Nature Faculty’s Dream studies. I’m human, from the southwestern port city of Mirorland. And you are?"

  Kasim was a handsome young man with blond hair cut neat and clean, a carefully groomed face, and a tall build, around six feet. He wore the Empire’s traditional gentleman’s attire with a long robe over it, the kind of look that tried very hard to be effortless.

  After he finished, Enid introduced herself, using her cover identity.

  "I’m Enis Florand. High elf. I’m from a small border town in the north. I look forward to working with you."

  "Likewise. Since you’re new here, and we’re both in Nature, if you run into anything you’re unsure about, feel free to come to me. I’ll do what I can to help you settle in."

  "That’s very kind. Thank you."

  Enid maintained a calm, composed manner the entire time, warm but measured. Kasim’s first impression of her was excellent, and with her flawless looks and that faintly mysterious elven air, an impulsive thought flickered in his mind.

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  They kept up light conversation until the headmaster, Antonio, seated at the central chair behind them, lifted one hand slightly and spoke in a firm voice.

  "Quiet."

  His voice wasn’t loud, but magic carried it through the entire hall. Even the students in the farthest corners startled at the sudden severity.

  In moments, the hall fell completely silent, waiting for the headmaster to speak.

  Antonio began the opening address. He delivered the welcome and the usual reminders with practiced ease, keeping it short, then moved on to introduce the new staff for the term.

  Most of the new hires were lecturers, followed by assistants. There was only one new professor.

  "And last, joining the Nature Faculty, professor responsible for Nature Magic theory and practical training, Professor Enis Florand. Please give her a warm welcome."

  Unexpectedly, the hall slipped into an awkward mood.

  The applause that had been steady for everyone else turned thin and uneven. Even at the staff table, only a handful bothered to clap for Enid.

  Right after that, whispers rippled through the hall.

  Heads leaned together. Voices traded quick opinions. With her sharp hearing, Enid caught bits from all directions.

  "Is she the so-called parachute hire? She looks young. Is this really going to work?"

  "I heard her background and accomplishments are a total mystery. And she’s with Nature, of all places."

  "She’s definitely pretty."

  "Don’t judge elves by their faces. Who knows, she could be a few hundred years old."

  "Or maybe she’s all looks, got in through connections. Otherwise why hide her background? Feels sketchy if you think about it."

  "You mean the Duke of Rolgiska? No way. Antonio’s famous for being fair and clean."

  Enid listened to the suspicion swirling around her, some of it dismissive, some doubtful, some openly hostile or nasty. She didn’t feel much of anything.

  She was a nature elf. As a long-lived race, her emotions didn’t spike easily. Besides, she’d lived through this kind of thing more than once. Her old memories were still hazy, but she knew the pattern. Her instincts had always been reliable.

  So she sat there calmly, posture straight, face unreadable.

  Kasim did not take it the same way.

  Nature already sat at the bottom of the academy’s hierarchy. They barely had any professors to begin with. Now, after years, Nature finally got a professor. Even if her background and strength were unclear, she still deserved the basic respect that came with the title, not this obvious, targeted snub.

  And Kasim, being the sort of man who took pride in acting like a gentleman, didn’t like the idea of a beautiful woman being treated that way.

  Maybe it was loyalty to his faculty, maybe it was manners, or maybe he simply wanted to show a little backbone in front of Enis.

  Either way, he moved.

  Kasim stood up suddenly, clapping hard and fast, and called out in a loud voice.

  "Whatever your doubts, Enis is a professor. The headmaster clearly has his reasons. And you, as members of this academy, are choosing to insult a new professor to her face instead of welcoming her. That’s not gentlemanly, and it’s not how anyone here should carry themselves."

  For a moment, the hall went quiet.

  Then the other Nature staff stood and began to clap as well.

  After them came Nature’s painfully small number of students.

  Then some teachers from other faculties, then more students, until the applause finally swelled into something worthy of the title.

  Enid received the kind of welcome a professor was supposed to receive, and the little incident ended without any real harm done.

  She noticed Antonio looking in her direction. He wore a satisfied smile, then stood to speak again.

  "Thank you, Mr. Sagreis, for speaking up."

  "I know many of you are confused by Professor Enis’s sudden appointment. I admit it goes against the usual process, but"

  Antonio cleared his throat in that familiar way of his.

  "Anyone who makes it to Stashier Comprehensive Academy of Magic is recognized by the Empire as talent. I believe that with all my heart. The founding purpose of this academy was to gather talent, provide systematic education, and improve the Empire, and even the world. That purpose has not changed. It did not change in the past, it does not change now, and it will not change in the future."

  "So when you find yourselves doubting, questioning, or even slandering someone, ask yourselves this. When you unconsciously treat others with hostility and contempt, what does that look like to an outsider. Does it reflect the character expected of an academy member."

  "That’s all I want to say. As for Professor Enis, I hope you’ll be patient. Wait until she has had the chance to show her knowledge and ability, then decide whether she deserves her position."

  Applause rose again.

  Antonio motioned for silence, then formally declared.

  "With that, I announce the 331st Autumn Term, second half of the academic year, is now officially in session."

  The opening ceremony ended.

  Many of Nature’s staff came over to introduce themselves to Enid, exchanging brief greetings.

  Before she left, Enid sought Kasim out privately. He had stepped in because he misunderstood her emotional state, but the help he gave her was real all the same.

  This time, Enid thanked him with a sincerity that went beyond polite courtesy.

  Kasim waved it off, saying it was only right for colleagues to support each other. If he ever needed help, she could return the favor someday.

  He answered with a brisk, confident air, but Enid could still sense a thread of excitement and embarrassment under the surface. It was almost comical next to the way he tried so hard to look unaffected.

  The contrast amused her.

  In her eyes, a young man working that hard to look mature was no different from a kid.

  Age-wise, that was true too.

  "Looks like teaching here won’t be too miserable," Enid thought as she headed toward her first class.

  "If everyone were as cute as Kasim, it’d be even better."

  What Enid didn’t know was that she was about to meet someone even cuter very soon.