The Campus was a giant island shaped like a semi-circle that could be reached by sailing for an hour from the Empire’s capital, Gavelin. At the centre of the island was the College, the most prestigious school of the campus while other schools were spread across the entire island.
The Campus held many schools such as magic, military, sailing, finance, art, technology and others. It was designed to enrol talented individuals into a specific school with the goal of producing the finest professionals into the Empire, and only those whose talents had been approved by the Empire could enrol into the Campus.
The Campus was sometimes called the Duchy of Campus due to their independence and isolation from the outside world, to make sure their students would focus on education and education alone. In fact, the Campus was run by a Committee made up of the Student Council members and the professors and lecturers of the Campus.
“So this is the Campus.”
After the short cruise across the ocean, Isaac disembarked onto the empty port. It was different from what he expected. The port was empty, containing only the necessities such as the docks, a few warehouses and lodges. There was a wall separating inner and outer port and the only way into the Campus was through a gate atop a gentle slope. The sailors who were busy unloading the goods looked at Isaac who stood alone.
“You lot! Stop wasting time and get back to work!”
The loud and rugged voice prompted the sailors back to work, and the sailors began to move faster than before.
“Hm? What’s this? Did no one come to see you? Well, don’t worry. I’m sure someone will come to check the unloading of the supplies.”
“Thank you Mr Gonzales, for letting me know.”
Isaac gave his gratitude to the middle aged sailor who comforted him. Mr. Gonzales scratched his beard, unaccustomed to words of gratitude from a noble.
“Are you really a noble? I guess I’m weird too, talking so casually to a noble like this.”
The first monster attack in 10 years had gathered much attention from the Empire. Isaac who was the sole survivor became famous as well, along with the current situation he was in with his family.
“Well, none of that will matter since you’re set for life after you graduate from the Campus, so perk up you hear. Ah! There he is.”
Gonzales gave his encouragement as he patted Isaac’s shoulder. Isaac turned to look where Gonzales was looking and he saw a car slowly approaching them.
‘It’s so strange to see them every time. Using mana… It’s basically the cleanest fuel imaginable.’
A familiar object in an unfamiliar world. Isaac was dumbfounded when he saw it for the first time, but soon accepted it. If the social infrastructure is at a modern level, so too must their transportation.
“Oh! Is that the new automobile that everyone’s so noisy about? Heard they were planning on selling them to the nobles but seems like they’re already up and running in the Campus.”
While Gonzales couldn’t stop his excitement, the car gently stopped in front of Isaac and Gonzales.
“Hello. You’ve arrived early today.”
A handsome young man with a blonde hair stepped out of the car and greeted Gonzales.
“Yes. We were blessed by lady luck with a good wind.”
“That’s good to hear. I assume the supplies are fine?”
“You can bet on it sir. We checked them before we sailed here. We’re currently unloading them into one of the warehouses, would you like to observe?”
“I’ll deal with the documents first. But who is this young man? This isn’t enrolment season and I believe no one left the Campus to my knowledge.”
Gonzales was perplexed at the boy’s question, and replied.
“He was supposed to enrol into the Campus, was he not?”
“Huh? I’ve never received report on a transfer student.”
“Hello, my name is Isaac Rondart. Nice to meet you.”
“Rondart? From the Baron Rondart family?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, so you must be Kainen’s little brother.”
“… I’m his older brother.”
According to Isaac’s memories his two younger brothers were Kainen and Kaizen. Among the two, Kainen had already entered the Campus through normal procedures and was now enrolled in the College. If this man in front of Isaac knew Kainen, he must be from the College as well.
Confused, the young man tilted his head and replied.
“Older brother? I’ve never heard that he had an older brother?”
“Uh, Master Mazelan, just a moment.”
Gonzales couldn’t stand how the conversation was heading and took Mazelan into a corner. He began to whisper into his ear, letting Mazelan know of what situation Isaac was in.
After the explanation, Mazelan brought a deep sigh and approached Isaac.
“You did well in making all the way here.”
“It was nothing.”
“Just wait a moment. I need to find out about something.”
Mazelan excused himself and entered one of the buildings in the port. He soon came out with a serious expression as he talked to Isaac and Gonzales.
“Come with me for now. This isn’t something I can handle alone. Ah! Mr. Gonzales, tell the captain I’m sorry. I’ll also leave the documents to you.”
“Don’t worry sir. I’ll have it ready. Kid… I mean, farewell, Master Isaac.”
Despite how casually Gonzales treated Isaac, he was still a noble. Gonzales couldn’t treat him as he usually did when Mazelan was watching. He bowed toward them and then headed for the warehouse.
“We should get going too. Get in.”
Mazelan got on the driver’s seat and opened the passenger seat for Isaac. As Isaac hesitated to get in, Mazelan smiled.
“You don’t have to be so scared. This is the newest invention from the Empire’s Institute of Technology. It’s still in its testing phase but there haven’t been any accidents yet.”
“…”
Isaac reluctantly entered the car. As he watched the trees pass by him through the window, Mazelan began to talk.
“I think you should know about this. From what I know, we’ve never had a case like this before.”
“What…”
“I know it might sound cruel but the Campus teaches their students that you can only make the best decisions when you have a firm grasp on the situation you’re in. So I’ll be straight about this.”
“… Yes.”
“In truth you aren’t the only person to be in a situation like this. Seeing how Kainen never mentioned about an older brother, I can suspect what’s happening. Schemes and plots for the inheritance is a common thing in nobility. Especially since the number of nobles who have an estate have dropped significantly in the recent years. The profit that comes with it is incredible.”
“So I’m just an unavoidable casualty.”
“No. When you have neither support nor any protection for your claim as the heir, you’re just shit out of luck.”
What a straight forward, almost a cruel way to teach the reality.
Isaac thought to himself with a bitter smile. If his consciousness was Isaac’s not Joon-young’s, he would have been crying his eyes out at this point.
Mazelan glimpsed at Isaac. He was surprised at how calmly Isaac was accepting it all.
“The real problem right now is that the Rondart family brought their family feud into the Campus. I’m guessing they’ve tried to keep you as secret for as long as they could, and you’re only here now because they couldn’t handle the interrogations anymore.”
‘An amaizing analysis.’
Isaac mumbled to himself as he watched the streets outside. They had passed many buildings, schools, plazas and fields. They were now on a road leading up a mountain.
“Where are we going?”
“Uh…. Well. It’s weird to say this but you can take it as an honour. It’s not common for someone who isn’t associated with the College to enter it.”
College… Isaac’s eyes brightened with curiosity as the building came into view. The college stood like a castle on top of the mountain. Its imposing figure matched its reputation as the pinnacle of education in the Empire.
But in Isaac’s eyes, the College seemed like a complete waste. You could learn any kind of art or skills in the College. The same applied for the Campus. Separating the greatest geniuses from others and placing them in a separately run institute would only end up increasing the maintenance required to run the Campus as a whole.
“Here we are.”
Passing through the magnificent gate, Mazelan lead Isaac to the building in the centre. Isaac was very close to whistling in admiration when he entered the building. The ground floor was full of artistic wonders. He almost couldn’t tell if this place was a school or an art gallery.
“Beautiful, right? These are all the graduation projects made by the College students in the school of Art. Some say if we sold all of the works here, we would easily make profit equal to 5 years of the Empire’s total revenue.”
Even Isaac who knew nothing of art could tell each and every piece was a treasure on its own. There were brilliant paintings, elegant statues and beautifully crafted sets of swords and armour.
“I’d love to give you a tour but sadly we don’t have much time. There’s someone waiting for you.”
“Who would that be?”
“The Headmaster would like to see you.”