Village Daughter of a Potato Farmer, Until She Was Praised as a Sword God

Chapter 2: Meeting the princess

My intention was to go sightseeing, but I ended up enrolling in the academy with Cepharis. At the age of 9, it felt like I was watching my whole life plan collapse before my very eyes.

Beyond the gate, there was an unbelievable sight.

"It's a city. There's a city within the walls and it's bigger than the royal capital." I said joyfully to Cepharis.

"This is the fortress city of Konegarde, the guardian city of the kingdom. In addition to the academy, there are various things such as the knights' headquarters, lodgings, training facilities, and magic research institutes. Almost everything in the royal capital can also be found here. The only thing missing is the castle. Be it a student or a merchant, anyone who comes in and out of the city has a duty of confidentiality, so I'll explain later."

While listening to the guide, I thought to myself; ‘I've come to a difficult place.’

Kornegarde Academy was a four-year school and there were about a thousand students in each grade. Students came from all over the country. Ages varied and many of the first-year students were in their early teens. Cepharis and I were quite young.

　Students were paid the same salary as those who worked in government institutions. At the ages of 9 and 10, we earned 170,000 Noah a month.

　Noah is the unified currency of the world. The French fries I bought in the royal capital was 200 Noah.

　I had no choice but to say this to Cepharis, who had already ran off to do some shopping with her extra allowance.

“Onee-chan, you look like a nouveau riche.”

　Classes at the school were roughly divided into four categories: Age-specific liberal arts classes, specialized classes to learn tactics and mana, various practical skills and alchemy practice.

　Alchemy is the art of manipulating mana, the source of life and power. We spent almost a year on it, since we were at the stage of recognizing mana.

　This was the hardest thing for the first year students. After all, it was just a form of meditation and most children fell asleep quite easily.

"Haa, if you don't take this seriously, you'll repeat it again next year." The teacher said to me and this bothered me.

　More than that, it was more difficult for me to practice than to meditate. No matter what I did, I couldn’t beat anyone. Whether it was a match using a wooden sword, a race or a long throw, I was completely outmatched by students of the same age, let alone the older ones. At first, I tried not to be conscious of it, but after a month or two, it became more and more unbearable.

　One night, I left my room with as much luggage as I could carry, which I expected not to be surprising to anyone.

　My classmates all aspired to be knights, so they were much more active than me and some of them had been training independently like my sister. In the first place, I didn't want to enter this school and I had no intention of becoming a knight even after graduating.

　Only excuses came to my mind, to deceive the feelings that I could not erase, which was regret.

　It was the first time I had felt it.

　I was supposed to be heading for the gate, but I got stuck thinking as I sat on one of the city’s bench.

"Are you okay?" I had heard from someone who had snuck up on me and stood next to me.

　When I looked up, there was the white-haired girl I had seen on my first day here.

　She sat next to me and started introducing herself to me. To my surprise, she said that she was the princess of this country and that she often came to Kornegarde.

　Then, before I could stop myself, I realized I was also telling her about myself and how I got here.

“Wait a minute." The princess had said and left the place. Soon, she returned with something in hand.

"I bought French fries. Potatoes are mainly grown in your hometown, aren’t they?"

　I received it from her with a nod and stared at it dumbfounded.

　Surely, the princess had already given me the answer to my problems without knowing it.

"I'll try my best. I’ll work hard." I said with renewed confidence.

"Huh? Yes, you can do it.” The princess said with obvious confusion. “I just wanted you to remember your hometown and rouse yourself.”

　The princess seemed to be trying to swallow something by force, like she had wanted to tell me something important, but eventually, she recovered.

"I'll tell you one good thing. I'm very sure you have a talent for alchemy. That I know."

"I don’t have any talent. I'm easygoing in everything." I replied.

"That's exactly what your talent is. If my judgment is correct, your mind is extraordinarily strong. That is very important in alchemy. The world around you will change completely in your second year. I know this. By the way, my name is Lizteles. See you sooner or later, Tremina-san." 

With that, Princess Lizteles left.

‘Will the world change?’ I asked myself.

 It was hard to believe... but I wanted to believe it.

I then decided to go back to the dormitory for the time being.

　I came home long past the curfew but the whole building was awfully noisy.

　A ferocious beast had entered the building and things were scattered and the windows were broken with glass shattered. The dormitory mother’s shouts were heard over the running students; "Someone do something about that beast!"

　Then, Cepharis kicked open the door next to me.

　As soon as she saw me, she hugged me with tears in her eyes.

"How can you leave your sister behind? Never again! Do you understand?"

"Yes I do." I replied to her.

Her love and warmth gave me another reason to want to stay in the academy.