Chapter 4 - Past History

POV: Amagi Souma

“This is a good school.”

I can honestly say that.

The school is located in a port town in the southernmost part of the Republic, which is known as the frontier of the continent, so I was expecting to see old, rundown school buildings and a dilapidated schoolyard.

However, unlike my expectations, the school looked beautiful.

I had heard rumors that the whole country was suffering from financial difficulties, so I expected some problems.

The actual school I visited was more than clean and well-kept.

And the atmosphere was so solemn that it was hard to believe that it was a small, remote country.

“The environment is better than I expected.”

It’s not exactly luxurious,

But you can sense the effort that has gone into making it as simple as possible.

If the street from the school gate to the school building was in this condition, then the entire school was probably being cleaned as well.

If so, the cafeteria and dormitory might be less unpleasant.

In terms of the environment, it seems that we can expect more than enough for our school life.

It’s the largest school in the Republic, should I say?

It may not be the largest school in the world due to various factors such as the size of the site, the size of the school buildings, and the population density, but it is definitely the largest school I have seen so far.

The distance between the school gate and the school building alone is quite far.

It’s probably about a kilometer long.

It was my first time walking inside the school.

Basking in the warm spring sunshine,

I slowly make my way along the sidewalk where countless students are passing by, looking at the scenery.

I’m currently standing on a path lined with cherry blossom trees that connects the school gate to the school building.

From the outside, it looks more like a tourist attraction than a school, but it’s a carefully maintained path.

But right now, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, just as they should be in April.

The light pink petals swayed by the occasional breeze were quietly falling to the ground.

It’s just a peaceful and restful scene.

If I didn’t have any particular plans, I could watch it for hours.

This kind of atmosphere is not bad.

I walked along the tree-lined street, feeling comfortable in the mild weather.

When I reached the school building, I looked up at it.

I wondered how big it was.

Up close, it looks tremendous.

The school building towering in front of me was nothing short of breathtaking.

It’s as big as a castle, and it’s like a fortress.

It seemed to give off an intimidating presence that seemed to awe all who saw it.

“So this is the school building.”

I looked at the school building I had just visited for the first time.

Although there is nothing to think about the school building itself.

I was surprised at the overwhelming size of the school building.

I don’t know how they managed to build a school building of this scale.

I can honestly say that the effort is amazing.

How much money did they spend to complete the school building?

And how many years did it take to complete it?

Just looking at the towering school building in front of me, I feel like I can catch a glimpse of the hard work of our predecessors.

…That said.

It’s not like I’m interested in what happened in the past.

We should first think about the future.

I decided to think about the current situation for a while.

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My name is Souma Amagi.

I think I’m 19 years old.

The reason I’m not sure is because I don’t know my birth date.

It’s not that I don’t remember, but rather that I lost track of it before I knew it.

My parents died when I was very young and I was orphaned, so I know almost nothing about myself.

That’s why I don’t know my blood type.

I’ve never looked it up, so it remains unknown.

The most important part of the story is how I became an orphan. That’s my past.

Due to circumstances that I don’t want to explain too much, it has been treated as erased.

Of course, the fact that it has been erased does not mean that it was intentionally hidden for any special reason.

It’s just a consequence.

There is also the fact that I was not originally born in this country, so I could not prove my past.

There are no family registers or anything like that.

There is no way for such a person to prove his or her identity.

That’s why the information disappeared.

Depending on the circumstances, he might be considered a suspicious person.

However, it seems that unidentified persons are rather common in this country.

The Republic is made up of many refugees from various countries.

Naturally, it seems that only a few of them have anything to prove their identity.

In such a situation, there’s no end to what you can do if you worry about your past history.

It would be a waste of time to worry about it.

That is why it is not so difficult to cover up the past.

It is said that there are countless unidentified people in the world.

Unless you provide the information yourself,

It’s unlikely that anyone will pry into your past unless you provide information.

Unless you know someone in this country,

We are the only ones who can prove the past of those who migrated from other countries.

That’s exactly why.

Even those who were priests in some church,

Even those who are guilty of murder in some villages,

They can hide their past equally well.

That is the reality of Republic,

And because of this internal situation, my past has naturally disappeared.

No one knows me, and no one can testify to anything.

The information will never be leaked unless you tell them yourself.

Of course, this means that if someone tries to find out something, there is no way to find out.

That’s why my past is completely gone.

Still, the school seemed to have some reservations about the results of my entrance exam,

It seems that they were secretly conducting a background check on me.

Although I hadn’t met them face to face.

I had noticed that some unknown people were secretly following me at the inn where I had stayed until yesterday, and at the magician’s guild where I had visited to check on the situation.

However, even though I was aware they were tailing me, I didn’t pay attention to it.

The reason why I’m being followed is still unknown, but it’s too much trouble to get involved.

And more importantly, there’s nothing to worry about being investigated.

So although I was aware that I was being followed, I continued to ignore it.

The truth is that I didn’t really care.

I don’t know what the result of that was, of course.

Maybe they thought I was good enough to not notice the tail.

Well, I guess that’s okay.

I don’t know if that’s actually true, because the surveillance on me in the school is currently low key.

There is no doubt that the surveillance has loosened since I joined the academy.

…Although.

It seems that it hasn’t completely disappeared.

I can still fill someone’s eyes on me.

It’s hard to tell for sure, but it’s probably just one person.

Are they cutting back on extra manpower because it’s easier to monitor the school as opposed to the town?

Or there may be another reason, but I don’t really know.

I don’t know what the purpose of their surveillance is, but they seem to be a little more capable than those who have been hiding in the town.

I feel like it’s different from before.

There would be a difference in ability from the tailgaters around town, who could not hide their discomfort.

Right now.

I don’t think I would have realized that there was someone lurking somewhere, watching me, unless I had kept a very careful eye on my surroundings.

It’s that hard to tell.

I could feel the unpleasant atmosphere of being watched, but I couldn’t catch any sign of it.

I can’t figure out where they are hiding.

They seem to have that level of ability.

But at the same time, I also think.

Either way, they weren’t much of a person if I could notice them.

There is no doubt that they’re a better person than before.

But that doesn’t mean that I should be afraid of them.

Even though the identity of the person who was following me is unknown, it’s only because they’re hiding in a faraway place.

If the other side approaches me.

I can say with certainty that there is no chance that I won’t notice.

Although I haven’t been able to pinpoint their whereabouts or appearance yet due to the fact that their spying ability is reasonably high.

But I’m pretty sure someone’s watching me.

It’s hard for me to check the fact, but I can feel that I’m being watched.

That’s why I’m confident that I can respond immediately if my opponent comes close to me.

I don’t know what they’re planning to do, but if they don’t plan to come in contact with me, I don’t see any problem in ignoring them.

What do you think?

It’s a difficult decision to make.

The only possibility I can think of at the moment is that they may be watching me to get information about me.

But I don’t think it’s possible to find out if they’re sneaking around in secret.

We’re too far away from each other.

Even if I were to say something, they wouldn’t be able to hear it.

At the very least, I can say that there is no way they could get even the smallest fragment of information that would lead to the past.

It’s not that I hid my past for any reason that I can’t tell the others.

Because of a single “incident” and a series of coincidences, I’ve lost all records of my past.

There’s no way you can look into my past now.

After an incident in the past, I was almost forced to live alone.

I was orphaned when I was just five years old, and I have been struggling to survive on my own for more than ten years.

Not needed by anyone,

I lived all by myself, without any help.

That’s why I don’t think anyone knows I exist.

I’ve been living a solitary life, hiding in the dark.

Of course, an ordinary child would starve to death, unable to do anything on his own.

There’s only so much a 5 year old can do.

But fortunately or unfortunately, I had talent as a mage.

I wasn’t an ordinary child.

I think it allowed me to solve the problems I needed to live on my own.

I was fortunate to have awakened as a mage at the same time I was orphaned.

I could create flames to keep out the cold,

I produced water, that quenched my thirst,

Sometimes the wind would drop nuts,

And sometimes I used the power of earth to catch prey and live.

After some growth, I have been able to raise direct funds in other ways, but I fully understand that information in this area cannot be leaked.

I’m aware that I’ve done things that can’t be made too public.

I have been attacking bandits, stealing and robbing, and doing other things that are tantamount to crimes.

I’ve never attacked a civilian before but,

As long as I stole what was stolen, what I was doing was the same.

However, there is no point in thinking about what has passed.

I can’t change the past now.

The flow of time that has passed can never be reversed.

I have to let go of the past,

And the only thing I can do is live my life thinking about the future.

“It took me a long time, but let’s start from here.”

As I put the past behind me,

I decided to move forward to the front of the school building.