Chapter 9: The First Step

Dragon Era 511

「So, our three exchange students: Luka, Rin, and Sig.」

With their preparations complete, the three exchange students came to Hiiro Village.
Luka, the Lycos Centaur girl whose worrywart father Tauro had loaded her down with a mountain of baggage.
Rin, the mermaid girl who has already destroyed three wheelchairs through hard use.
Sig, the lizardman boy who left his homeland with nothing but the clothes on his back.

「…It’s nothing but kids.」

Eyeing the lineup, Nina spoke in a disgruntled tone.

「Well, you could say that means they’ve got potential. And I do have a reason, sort of.」
「A reason?」

I nodded to Nina as she gave me a suspicious, half‑lidded look.

「Eventually I want to open trade with their homelands—exchanging what each side can gather.」

The merfolk can easily catch fish in the sea, and even if they can’t eat nuts or vegetables themselves, if those could be traded for meat then even Lycos children who can’t hunt yet could contribute to their households. As for the lizardmen, the prospects are slim… but it’s not like they live on thin air, so it isn’t as if there’s zero room to negotiate.

「So first, I want the people here to get used to seeing them. Kids aren’t that scary, and they’re easier to warm up to.」

Unlike elves, whose appearance is very close to humans, all three exchange students are visibly non‑human. The villagers may be used to my dragon form, so the resistance might not be that strong, but they’ll still find them odd. I wanted to shave down that sort of race‑based prejudice as much as possible.

「Hmph. Sounds like a slapped‑on reason, but whatever.」

I stiffened at Nina’s disinterested reply. What I’d just said was my true intent, but I only thought of it after deciding to take Rin in. As for Sig, it was simply that no other lizardman wanted to come—an accident of circumstance, really.

「In any case! I intend to accept these three—and Violet-san as well—together as exchange students into our Hiiro Magic School.」

I cleared my throat and made the declaration with due solemnity.

「I look forward to working with you.」
「Nice to meetcha!」
「Ah, yes, um… pleased to be in your care.」

Smiling warmly, Violet‑san offered her greeting; Rin answered by waving her arm furiously, and Luka gave a small bow, a little overawed.

「…I’m not planning on getting friendly with anyone.」

But Sig pursed his lips into a line and said that.

「What’s with this cheeky brat?」

Nina’s eyes narrowed; her elegant brows arched in anger.

「What? I came here to get strong. I’m not listening to weaklings. Or are you saying you’re a dragon too?」
「Well, no, she isn’t a dragon, but…」

While I was hemming and hawing, Nina said, “Come,” grabbed Sig by the back of the neck, and marched him out of the classroom.

「She’s stronger than a dragon, so be careful—ah, too late. Anyway…」

I turned to the remaining three.

「He doesn’t have any luggage, so he can wait. Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms.」

Doing my best to ignore the screams coming from outside, I said as much.


* * *

The next day.

「All right. Let’s begin our first lesson.」

Looking over the four exchange students lined up in the newly built small classroom, I began.
This school teaches two broad subjects: general knowledge and how to use magic.

We’ll treat characters and language, and things like basic arithmetic, as general education, and teach those jointly with the other students in Hiiro Village. As for magic, because it has a strong experimental aspect, I decided to set aside a separate time for it.
Since this is the first session, Nina is sitting in as assistant teacher, but basically I handle this side. The general track is Nina and Violet‑san’s responsibility.

「If you have a question, raise your hand and call out “Yes.”」

The exchange students nodded one by one—there weren’t even chairs or desks yet.
That was because—Violet‑san aside—we couldn’t prepare furniture to fit the other three’s bodies.

There was no helping Rin, who couldn’t move at all once taken out of her wheelchair; Sig couldn’t sit properly in an ordinary chair because his tail got in the way; and as for Luka, whose lower half was a four‑legged wolf, I couldn’t even picture what kind of chair would work for her.

So, apologies to Violet‑san, but except for Rin I had everyone sit on the floor equally. Many students can’t write yet anyway, so you could say we don’t need desks.

「The first thing you need to learn is this: magic is made of names.」
「Me, me!」

As soon as I voiced the most basic, most important point about magic, Rin shot her hand up.

「What’s a name?」
「Huh?」

That was so far outside my expectations I was left speechless.

「You don’t even know that? Your name is Rin.」

Sig cut in, sounding fed up.

「I know that. But why am I Rin?」
「Because your parents named you that.」

Faced with Rin’s oddly philosophical question, Sig lost some steam and answered that.

「Then if I say you’re Neteske, you’re Neteske, right?」
「No way! Don’t go slapping some weird name on me!」
「But the name ‘Rin’ was slapped on me, you know?」

Rin’s words left not only Sig but me at a loss for words.

「…Does that mean the first name you’re given is what matters?」
「Not necessarily. A true name can be changed later.」

Violet‑san tilted her head; Nina crossed her arms with a grave look.
It’s true that we can cast magic on plants, minerals, and animals even with names humans made up on their own. By contrast, people can’t be affected unless it’s the true name they themselves acknowledge. I’d never thought about it before. What is this difference, exactly…?

「Um… Sensei, the rest…」
「Ah, right.」

I’d drifted off into thought, and Luka’s timid question snapped me back to myself.

「Anyway, even if you don’t know what a ‘name’ is, if you look at a thing you can usually tell what its name is, right?」

At that, everyone nodded, and I let out a breath of relief.

「That ability to know the name is what matters. If you don’t know the name, you can’t cast magic on it.」

I held my index finger straight up.

「O fire, my friend. Kindle tiny, tiny at my fingertip.」

I chanted, and a flame bloomed on my fingertip like a candle.
In the past, if I used an incantation to summon flame, we’d have a conflagration big enough to burn this schoolhouse to the ground, but over these five hundred years I’ve learned a bit about magic. The power of an incantation can be spent on control, not just on raw output.

It’s pitiful to spend two verses just to get a candle’s flame, though.

「This is ‘fire.’ Fire is…」
「What kind of fire?」

Just as I was about to explain—remembering the first time I’d taught magic—Sig cut in to ask.

「What do you mean?」
「There’s fire for roasting meat, fire to warm your body, fire that burns the trees—lots of kinds, right?」

Ah, right. The lizardmen’s original language, since they live at the foot of a volcano, is oddly rich in fire terms.

「Is fire not fire?」

While I was debating how to explain, Violet‑san asked that,

「Hey, hey, what’s ‘fire’?」

Rin cocked her head,

「Yes, Sensei. Um, does that fire have a name?」

Hearing Luka ask that so earnestly, hand raised, I couldn’t help but cradle my head.
Each of them recognized the thing called fire far too differently.

To Sig the lizardman, fire is a close friend always at hand—so familiar they distinguish it by use.

Meanwhile Rin the mermaid, born and raised in the sea and only just having come onto land, doesn’t know the very existence called fire.

To Violet‑san the elf, who lives in the forest, fire is like a symbol of danger that could wipe out her home.

But to Luka of the wandering grasslands, it’s nothing more than a tool for heat and cooking.

…Trying to teach all the exchange students at once may have been a mistake. I glanced to Nina for help—only to find she had vanished.
S‑She ran for it!?

「Teach me a way to get stronger than messing with fire.」
「If possible, I’d prefer something other than fire as well.」
「Um, um, uh…」
「Hey, hey! What is fire? Why is that glowing?」

It was only four students, but with all of them chattering at once, there was no way to bring order to it.

Ah, Ai. I thought back to my very first student.

When I think about it, how patient, how earnest—what an ideal student she was.
She studied her heart out without a single complaint about my clumsy, inexperienced teaching.

How blessed I had been, without realizing it.
Only now, five hundred years later, did I finally understand.