After holding a funeral for those sacrificed to the orcs, we once again boarded the carriage bound for the capital. How much longer did we travel like that? The hellish rocking of the carriage finally stopped.
A paved road, at last. From now on, I'd be able to enjoy the scenery without worrying about motion sickness. Just as I was about to look out the carriage window, the driver spoke.
"We've arrived. Mage sir, the capital starts from over there."
"... Already?"
"Huh? What do you mean already? It took us a week..."
Just when I was thinking I could finally relax and enjoy the view... what a shame. I paid the driver the fare for two people.
"Oh, thank you... wait a moment, sir!"
"Why? Is it not enough?"
"Of course not! I... I can't accept this!"
"It's fine. Just take it."
"Absolutely not!"
The driver and I passed 'something' back and forth between us. Hans asked me.
"What is it? Sir, what did you give him?"
"It's nothing much, just this."
"... A jewel?"
"Yes."
I didn't major in mineralogy, so I didn't know what kind of jewel it was, but it looked like it would fetch a good price if sold.
"I found it while preparing for the funeral."
It felt a bit wrong, like taking someone else's money, but what could I do? The living must go on living.
"You're... giving that to the driver?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I'll explain in a moment."
I said to the driver.
"There was no driver's corpse in the merchant carriage the orcs destroyed."
"......"
The driver's eyes widened.
I continued.
"That person probably ran away as soon as he saw the orcs. Leaving the carriage behind, of course."
"......"
His work ethic was terrible, but it was a rather clever choice. I had no intention of blaming him, since he did it to survive. The driver's mouth opened.
"There are people like that sometimes... I didn't say anything because I was worried you would misunderstand, sir, but you knew all along."
"I'm not trying to blame you. Rather, I'm trying to show my gratitude."
"Huh?"
I looked straight into the driver's brown eyes and said.
"Thank you for not running away like the other driver. This is a small tip as a token of my gratitude."
I once again handed the pouch containing the jewel to the driver.
"My name is Isaac, and my surname is Upperhills. And you are?"
"I am... Duncan. I have no surname."
"I'll remember that, Duncan. I hope to see you again."
"... Yes. Thank you, Sir Upperhills."
And so, I parted ways with the driver. Watching the carriage recede into the distance, Hans spoke.
"Sir... you're still as warm-hearted as ever."
"Warm-hearted? I'm just sharp when it comes to profit."
A person who prioritizes their work ethic over their own life is rare. A single jewel is a cheap price to pay to make such a person my ally.
"... Besides, that wasn't the only jewel I recovered from the corpses."
"What?"
"Let's split the rest between the two of us."
"Farewell, Hans."
"You too, sir!"
After arriving in the capital, I parted with Hans. It seems he went to the mercenary guild, so perhaps our paths will cross again someday.
"Well. What now."
The Imperial capital, where countless people and carriages came and went. The sweet smell of food mixed with the stench of the sewers in the air.
"It's chaotic."
I walked towards my destination. There was no need to find the way. Because it was visible from anywhere in the capital.
Commonly known as the 'Magic Tower'.
"Wow, it's really tall."
In my past life's terms, it was a tall stone tower combining a 'research institute, graduate school, and professors' apartments'. To think the professors' apartments and the research institute are in the same building. Theoretically, a professor could return while you're working late.
Horrifying. That aside...
"To think they could build a skyscraper dozens of stories high in a place without reinforced concrete."
How did they do it? Is the secret magic, after all? I gazed blankly up at the tower.
Within that tall tower, there must be a school for me to join. 'Normally, I'd go into the Magic Tower myself, grab some graduate students, and ask about the atmosphere of each school...' But there's no way I'd get a proper answer that way.
Even in another world, a graduate school is a graduate school. If you report poor treatment and your path to a doctorate is blocked, no one will take responsibility for you. That's why what I should trust here isn't 'people', but 'numbers'.
I immediately headed for the 'Imperial Central Library'.
The scent of old parchment quietly greeted me. It had been a long time since I'd been to a library, so a silly grin spread across my face. A moment later, I reached the library's central lobby.
"How may I help you?"
A librarian wearing thick glasses asked.
"I plan to enter graduate school and would like some help selecting a school."
I channeled mana to my fingertips to reveal that I was a mage.
"I was wondering how a commoner got in here, but you're a mage. We're of the same kind."
"Then you are too?"
"Yes. I'm a graduate student in the scroll-making department, and I somehow ended up working as a librarian too."
"Ah..."
I held a moment of silence in my heart for the graduate student librarian.
"But if you want help selecting a school, wouldn't it be better to go to the Magic Tower?"
"Are you serious?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Then let me ask you something. How is the atmosphere in your school, Ms. Librarian?"
"It's not bad."
"... Really?"
I stared into the librarian's eyes.
"......"
The librarian's pupils quivered as if an earthquake had struck.
Proof complete.
A graduate student in another world is still a graduate student, after all.
"Now you understand what I mean, right?"
"Yes... I'll pick out something that might help with your school selection. Follow me."
I followed her to the 'General Magic' stacks.
"... General? Is there perhaps a Special section too?"
"Yes. The special section doesn't have theory books, but 'grimoires' that are imbued with magic themselves."
"I see. I thought the special section only had books applicable to situations with zero acceleration, but I guess that's not the case."
"Huh?"
"... It's nothing."
It seems I'm the only one in this world who can laugh at a relativity joke. Yes, just me. For some reason, I felt relieved by that fact.
"The one I read before enrolling was around here somewhere... Ah, found it. 'History of the Magic Tower', it should be quite helpful."
"Let me take a look."
I quickly scanned the book.
Hmm. I see.
This book neatly summarized the hidden ambitions that each school pursued. It's a good book.
Rejected.
"Do you have anything more practical than this?"
"What kind of thing are you looking for?"
"Something like the 'annual budget reports by school' or 'graduate career outcome statistics'."
The librarian's eyes widened at my request.
"For an undergraduate... you want some very... practical materials. I'll look for them."
A moment later, she appeared with a heavy file folder. I spread the bundle of documents I received from her on a table. The librarian said to me.
"If you need any more materials, come over here. I'll be organizing books there."
"Yes. Thank you."
I began reading through the reports. First, the [School of Fire Element Magic]. Too many high-ranking nobles here.
I hate political squabbles.
Rejected.
Next, the [School of Classical Alchemy]. They have a lot of money, but the work will be tough.
Rejected.
Next... they recruit too many people for how little money they have. They should at least pay proper labor costs.
Rejected. Rejected. Rejected...
After skipping over dozens of schools like that, I finally found my ideal place.
[School of Magical Surveying].
The budget was at the lowest level. For the entire statistical period, there were virtually no new students. It seemed like the worst possible conditions, but not in my eyes.
"I've found it, my paradise."
I took the documents and approached the librarian.
"Excuse me, do you happen to know anything about the 'School of Magical Surveying'?"
She answered my question, horrified.
"What? The School of Surveying? Why there?"
"I'm planning to apply."
"Are you crazy? That place only gets the basic imperial budget."
"If there's no budget, there's no work. If I go there, I'll probably just study, won't I?"
I prefer studying over labor. So, the small budget was actually more of a merit.
"That's true, but... it's been ages since they've produced a doctorate. You'll be in big trouble if you go there!"
She genuinely tried to dissuade me. Her words made a certain amount of sense. Because being under a professor who can't produce doctorates is a waste of a life.
"And you still want to go to the School of Surveying, knowing that?"
"Yes."
"But why?"
"The reason that school hasn't produced any doctorates is because there were no new students to begin with."
"Really...? No way, even so, there's no way they've had no new students for several years in a row..."
I shoved the evidence in front of the librarian's eyes. School of Magical Surveying. No new students in the last five years.
"It's... it's real."
The librarian's pupils quivered as if an earthquake had struck.
"In a graduate school with no money and no people, the professor's personality decides everything. Do you know what the professor of this school is like?"
At my question, she paused for a moment as if in thought.
"Hmm..."
"It's a school that has nothing to do with you anyway, Ms. Librarian. Just tell me any rumors you've heard."
"Professor Doloren... the rumors say he's a truly wonderful person. Good character, profound knowledge, and never treats his students poorly..."
"Oh..."
"... However, the problem is that his research topic is 'How to Survey the End of the World'."
Chasing clouds.
Research that doesn't make money. To my ears, it sounded like the highest praise.
"By any chance, were there any rumors about him stealing his students' theses?"
"What? No, no ominous rumors like that at all..."
"Then that's settled."
I smiled, filled with conviction. My criteria for evaluating a graduate school professor were clear. As long as a graduate student doesn't call their professor a "son of a bitch," they're a decent person.
There are just so many trash professors in the world. But for rumors of his 'good character' to be so widespread... Mr. Doloren is practically the Jesus or Buddha of the professorial world.
"Thank you. You've been a great help."
"W-wait a minute! I told you, there's no money or future there!"
"But there will be freedom."
I headed for the exit without hesitation.
In this world, graduate students become graduate students by taking an 'individual university entrance exam'. In other words, I can only avoid enlistment after I pass the Magic Tower's exam.
"Why is there an exam for recruiting slaves..."
I muttered, looking at the tightly packed desks. This was an examination hall inside the Magic Tower. To be more precise, it was the graduate school entrance examination hall.
The place was packed to the brim with crowds that had flocked from all over the Empire. I didn't expect there to be so many applicants for the Magic Tower.
"Oh, heavenly gods, please don't let there be any element spell design questions!"
There were mages who didn't study as they should have, instead entrusting their bodies to faith, "I heard the dean wrote the exam this year... is that true?"
"Yeah."
"... It's going to be dog-hard. Dammit." and there were also mages who were more preoccupied with analyzing the test-maker than the questions.
Besides them, voices mixed with anxiety and impatience could be heard from all over. -"The exam begins!" With the proctor's booming voice, a coarse parchment exam paper landed on my desk. I picked up the exam paper and scanned the first page.
[Question 1. A 'meteor-fall spell' with a diameter of 30m has been activated 10m above David's head. Devise a spell to preserve David's life with the minimum amount of mana. (Note: Disregard differences in element affinity among mages.)]
'Hmm?'
I rubbed my eyes for a moment. And looked at the question again. 'What is this...'
What on earth did this David fellow do to get a meteor dropped on him? 'Is the graduate school entrance exam normally like this?' I discreetly looked around.
"This is..."
"How in the world..."
Seeing the other applicants flustered too, it seemed the question was indeed a bit unusual. 'Still, the difficulty is easy.' It seems the people who said it would be difficult because the dean made it were wrong.
I picked up my quill and began writing the answer on the parchment.