Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 1 Read online

  ***

  Now, however, only three days of that life remained.

  Perhaps to wash their hands of her, the Viscount and his new wife had decided to send Adele away to a boarding school in the capital. She was scheduled to depart in three days, and for Misato—or rather, for Adele—this was an enormous relief.

  The three days passed, and without so much as a word of farewell from her family, Adele boarded a carriage bound for the capital.

  True to form, the Viscount hadn’t even provided one of his own carriages. Thus, Adele carried little luggage: only a few changes of clothes, some toiletries, and a few other scant personal items.

  She was on her way to Eckland Academy. It was a school primarily for the children of lesser-ranking nobility and middle-class merchants—though exceptionally talented commoners occasionally attended on scholarship. There was another academy in the capital as well, but this school was attended by only the very upper classes: royals and other aristocrats, the heirs to the wealthiest merchants, and the like.

  Of course, her stepsister—or, in truth, her half-sister—was set to attend this more prestigious academy. Prissy would arrive there the following week, no doubt in one of the Viscount’s stately carriages, accompanied by both their parents. And even once she began at school, Adele knew, Prissy would return home often.

  With nothing else to do, Adele passed the long carriage ride thinking about her situation, how eager her family had been to sweep her under the rug. It seemed now that she was nothing but a bother to them, an awkward reminder of her mother, with no place in her father’s new life.

  It made sense, after all. With Adele around, people couldn’t help but deduce that any daughter of her same age must have been born out of wedlock. But with her gone, they could call Prissy a stepdaughter, with no connection to the Viscount’s bloodline. That way, there could be no scandal, and Prissy might be adopted by the Viscount, thus becoming his heir.

  For them, Adele thought, it’s simple. They have to send me away so that Prissy can take my place. Even when enrolling at the academy, Adele’s parents forbade her from using the Ascham name.

  It was possible, she supposed, that they would have a son at some point, and he might inherit. But either way, Adele would have no part in any of it.

  She told herself it could have been worse. At least she wouldn’t be killed—she’d just been set aside. Perhaps someday, she would be called back on a rainy day, when her father might marry her off for money or power. Or perhaps they simply think that killing me would attract too much attention.

  In any event, Adele had her own plans: she would spend the next three years at the academy, learning about the world, and then, on the day of her graduation, she would vanish in the dark of night. It was clear already that she had no future in the Viscount’s household, where the best possible outcome would be a political marriage: human trafficking under the guise of society matchmaking.

  So she made her decision. Somehow or other, she would gather her wits, amass some funds, and escape. That would be her true goal for the next three years, regardless of her father’s wishes.

  Why? Adele asked herself. Why did I have to be born into a noble family? I asked for my abilities and appearance and everything to be average, so why… why this?

  That was the question Adele had kept returning to over the last three days, ever since her memories had returned, and finally, in the carriage, the answer came to her.

  Royalty, Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount.

  Slave, Peasant, Knight, Baron, Viscount.

  The fifth from the bottom. The fifth from the top. Her family was exactly in the middle.

  But something wasn’t right, for that didn’t account for the numbers—for the fact that there were many more peasants than there were dukes.

  Not only was Adele’s status not the average, it wasn’t even the median. The median, she remembered, was derived by taking the center point of all available items, not simply the center category.

  And even if that had not been true, it really should have been the mode, or most commonly occurring value, that was used.

  By all accounts, whether you looked for the mean, median, or mode, Misato should have been a commoner! There was no reason that this should have ever been her position.

  Eventually, she grew weary of thinking about all of it, and on the second day of her travels, Adele found other ways to occupy herself, such as carving dolls out of twigs. In her previous life, she had been quite dexterous and had thus acquired many such hobbies.

  The knife she used was a tiny thing, the sort that a nobleman’s daughter might be expected to keep on her person. In other words, it was a knife that might be used to end one’s own life, should one come under attack from a robber—or some other man—and face the threat of defilement.

  That’s ridiculous, she thought to herself as she carved. Rather than killing one’s self, would it not be preferable to use the knife to attack one’s assailant, even if the blade in question was not truly suited to such things?

  It was strange, she observed, that a knife like this cut wood as easily as if it were butter. Was it a particularly good knife? Or a particularly soft wood?

  Stranger still, the doll that she was carving had an uncanny quality to it. It was less like a rustic toy and more like a figurine.

  The other passengers in the carriage were uneasy, watching the little girl with the knife, worried, with every cut, that she might cut off one of her own fingers.

  ***

  It was the second night of the journey to the capital.

  The carriage ride wasn’t exactly a luxurious way to travel. The sort of people who took a shared carriage ride were not the sort who could afford to shell out more money just for a place to sleep, and so, Adele and the others were resting in a meadow by the side of the highway.

  As a gentlemanly act, the male passengers had offered the carriage to the women, while they themselves slept out on the grass. They indicated to Adele that she, too, should sleep inside the carriage, but after a long day squished like a sardine inside the tiny interior, she disembarked to join them in the meadow, instead. She knew that, if any of the women were restless sleepers or heavy snorers, such cramped quarters would be unbearable.

  Lying there in the meadow, Adele suddenly recalled something that her father had told her. The exam.

  In order for commoners to enroll in the academy, they had to pass an entrance exam. Nobles were not required to do this; however, as Adele currently was unable to carry her family name, she typically would have needed to take the exam as a commoner. Yet, perhaps to save money or avoid the extra bother of an additional trip to the capital, her father had made alternative arrangements. He’d written to the dean, revealing her nobility to guarantee her position, but demanding the school’s discretion:

  “The fact that she is a noble, as well as her family name, must be kept a secret. She must be treated the same as the commoners’ children.” Her father’s plan ensured that Adele could not use failing the exam as a reason to return home.

  The noble students also took an exam, a placement test to assess students’ current abilities. Thus, although the academy had agreed that she was to be treated as a commoner, Adele nonetheless had a test she would have to take upon her arrival at the school.

  Adele worried that, if she took this assessment along with the other nobles, her fellow students would be able to determine her status. However, none of the adults seemed particularly worried.

  In any event, thinking about it would not do her much good. Adele decided to focus instead on practicing her magic.

  Magic.

  The word itself was exciting.

  For Misato, who’d never had any friends, magic was something that appeared in the cartoons she watched as a child, and in the games that she would play, every now and then, while taking a break from her studies. In the world she was now in, magic was a reality—and she could use it. Just the sound of the word made her heart race! Magic!r />
  But of course, she had known all that.

  In this world, there were plenty of people who could use magic, just like the kind she had seen in cartoons so long ago. There were court magicians, magical societies, and casters associated with the wizards’ guild and hunters’ guild both…

  However, she was but a child of ten years old.

  According to Adele’s memories from the time before knowledge of her past life had returned to her, her own magical abilities were average—or at least, she had an “average” aptitude for a ten-year-old girl, which was to say that her talents were fairly underwhelming.

  Currently, she could only make enough of a spark to light a campfire and produce enough water to fill a single basin.

  Still, this was actually quite useful. The fact that she would never have to worry about water while traveling meant that she could get away with carrying far less luggage than most. Complaining of her abilities among those who could not use magic at all would have been downright sinful.

  Strictly speaking, she could be considered slightly above average in magical ability, but Adele wasn’t about to issue a complaint to God in that regard.

  Besides, she supposed, the average between “people who can use magic” and “people who cannot,” someone who can use magic a little bit would be right in the middle.

  ***

  While the world’s magic could generally be divided up into categories such as “water magic” and “fire magic,” typically speaking, magicians themselves weren’t classified according to such distinctions: one would never hear of a “fire-user” or “water-user.”

  This made sense, as the different kinds of magic were not derived from a “spirit of fire” or “spirit of water.” Instead, all magic found its origins in a singular type of nanomachine. Thus, using it was dependent on whether or not one could assert one’s own will onto the nanomachines in order to create a magical phenomenon.

  This talent depended on a variety of factors: whether or not one’s will could be concentrated into a pulse, whether or not that pulse could be received and interpreted by a nanomachine, and whether or not the contents of that pulse were something that could be made reality. Also, the image of what one hoped to create had to be clear in one’s imagination. Whether or not the intended effect was something that would be classified as “forbidden interference” was another factor

  As a result, it was impossible to break magic up into separate areas of study by type, though it was entirely possible to have strengths and weaknesses. Problems arose most often around the “image” portion of the magical equation. After all, people living in the desert would be hard-pressed to visualize the image of water or lakes.

  Yet, in general, skilled magicians were skilled in every type of magic. Magicians whose abilities were less impressive—well, that remained true no matter what type of magic they used.

  As the means to use magic resided solely within Adele’s memories, Misato—now Adele—hadn’t used magic once since the memories of her past life had returned. In order to avoid any accidents, she’d been forbidden to use magic within the family’s mansion. So, she thought, it would be wise to practice at least once before she reached the capital.

  With that in mind, Adele decided to try producing water. She settled against using fire at night, as that would draw too much attention and—in the event that something unexpected happened—it could be dangerous, as well. Water, at least, would be safe. Not only that, but it could be used to wash up, so it was quite handy, too. Their route was far from the river, and the small quantity of water the carriage was able to carry was intended for drinking, not bathing.

  It would have been kind to offer water to the others, but as she had few attachments to people, as either Adele or Misato, the thought did not so much as occur to her.

  Adele took a towel out of her bag, which she’d brought down from the carriage, and moved into the tree line, just a short way away and up a mild incline.

  It was the first time she’d used magic since recovering her memories of her life as Misato, so Adele decided to try appealing the nanomachines, which she had heard about from God. She thought back to the times when she had used magic, before her memories returned, and stretched out her palms, reciting an incantation.

  “Gather, oh water, and come to me! Aqua Ball Generation!”

  Nanomachines, she thought, don’t let me down!

  …UNDERSTOOD.

  “Huh? I swear I just heard somethi…”

  Splash!

  “Gaaaahh!!”

  A great flood of water came pouring out of the sky in a single mass, washing Adele down the slope.

  “Ugh! Ubb-glugg! Grk ugh blugg… I’m drowniiing!”

  Adele flailed, swallowed up by the sudden torrent, fighting for her life as water rushed into her lungs.

  It was not until sometime after that she was discovered face down at the bottom of the slope by some of the other passengers, who had rushed over to see what was happening.

  I don’t understand. Why did all that water…?

  Once she had a chance to calm herself, Adele sat pondering this question. The other passengers helped her change and wring out her clothes; one older woman even lent her a baggy garment to wear until her own garments were dry enough to put back on again.

  Adele knew that she had said the words correctly. But clearly, something had gone wrong. Was that really a problem, though? After all, she had been able to summon a huge amount of water from a botched spell. Or was what had just happened an indication of a new, powerful magic that she had somehow uncovered?

  Have my magical abilities increased? Did regaining my memories impact my magic?

  It certainly seemed that this was the case; however, that didn’t change the fact that Adele’s magical ability was supposed to be “average.” Up until her current journey, Adele had rarely left the mansion, but she had read books and studied a great deal. From what she knew, there was no way that a ten-year-old child could possess the magical strength to produce the amount of water she had. Even if it were just another confusion of terminology, between “median” and “mode”…

  This is bad, she thought.

  Tomorrow she would arrive in the capital, and then, the academy. There was no more time to practice, and even if there had been, it would have been unfair to upset the other passengers again.

  Later, she could determine the cause of all this. For now, she would simply have to see what happened.

  Chapter 2:

  Eckland Academy

  T

  he following afternoon, when the carriage arrived in the Kingdom of Brandel’s royal capital, Adele collected her luggage and headed straight for the academy. She carried only one bag, and it wasn’t heavy.

  Ardleigh Academy, the school Prissy was to attend, was located near the King’s castle in the center of the capital. Eckland Academy, Adele’s school, was located on the outskirts near the capital’s northern gates. The main gates of the city were to the south, and the difference between the two school locations would have been clear to anyone.

  The carriage station was located in the central square, but after a long walk, Adele reached Eckland Academy. She showed her entrance permit at the gate and then followed the gatekeeper’s directions to the girls’ dormitory.

  Would their matron be kind? Or would they be more like a strict warden? For the next three years, Adele’s fate would be determined by this individual. Grimly, she knocked on the caretaker’s door.

  A bespectacled elderly woman answered, her eyes harsh. A warden.

  At Adele’s greeting, she simply glared, then handed over the keys to the girl’s room.

  “Is that your only luggage?”

  “Y-yes…”

  “What’s inside?”

  “A change of underclothes, some toiletries, and writing implements.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see…”

  After a long pause, the warden continued
.

  “If you should like to do any work on the weekend, come and speak to me.”

  Well, Adele thought, perhaps she’s not such a bad person after all. With this thought, Adele climbed the stairs to the second floor in search of the room assigned to her.

  Upon opening the door, she found herself in a private room: her very own little palace for the next three years. The room was about eight feet square. The bed took up roughly half the space, and the rest was filled to capacity with a desk, chair, and armoire.

  It was, Adele supposed, a typical school dormitory. She was fortunate enough to have her own room, so she could not say she was dissatisfied. At the very least, it would be far more pleasant than living back at home.

  Unpacking her things took her all of forty seconds. She placed her toiletries on top of the armoire, her spare undergarments inside, her stationery on the desk, and was then done unpacking.

  If she ever had to flee in an emergency, and was given only forty seconds to gather her belongings, she could more than likely manage it with ease.

  The entrance ceremony was in four days. In two, she would take her placement test along with the other nobles, and in three, she would receive her uniform and other supplies and begin to prepare for the entrance ceremony. The next day would be her last day of freedom.

  Adele lay flat on her bed and fell deep into thought once again.

  What was the source of that water magic?

  Where could so much water have come from?

  Adele pondered this as she rested.

  If she thought about what she knew of how the world worked, if she thought about God’s explanations of magic—what conclusions could she draw?

  Option one: Her own magical ability had grown, and accordingly, the intensity of the pulse she generated had been greater…