The Slippery Mage

My destination is decided. I miss my family but I have skipped the entrance exam and need to wait a few months until the next one so I can attend Dahlia Academy. Though before becoming a student, I should make a contact with Cornelia first. At least I know now where she is now since she should already be a student there.

Dahlia Academy is considered as the best academy in this world in the past. People from all over the world go there to learn. And those who manage to graduate can get higher status in the job they apply to. At least that's what they used to say.

Now that I live in this world and know that there are people with talents that most people here discriminate against, I doubt those with such talent will have high position at all. Though they should at least have enough knowledge to succeed in life, right? The academy should teach something like that.

Because it's a game, most of the studying time is skipped unless it's part of an event. Which means that other than knowledge that was told in the game, I know almost next to nothing about what they will teach.

But one thing that is most important is practical lesson. The academy guides the students to get stronger with the talent they have.

What about the ones without any combat related talent? They will probably be ignored or laughed at.

The academy accepts three hundred students every year. I doubt all of them have great talents. Most of them must have difficult time staying there.

Well, that doesn't matter. With my strength, graduating should be easy even if they laugh at my talent. What's more important is to survive in this world and the fact that I know many events that will happen if I attend Dahlia Academy. That's the only reason I want to attend the academy.

Maybe things have changed. I don't know. But I will only try my best to survive and keep everyone I care about live until the demons are no more.

The title of the game is Kill All Demons. And Asdis, the Goddess herself, admits that demons should be killed. So until all demons die, I won't feel at ease.

Sure there are dangerous humans as well. But I'll think about them later. It's not like they will suddenly start a war with each other for no reason.

…They won't, right?

Sliding to Dahlia, I arrive in no time at all. My speed has increased a lot thanks to the training I went through. And I quickly stop by at the library there where Felix and Sabine have already waiting.

The three Holy Knights who said that they're non-combatant said they can help me with things in Dahlia if I need their help. Felix was already there. He was even in the game if he's always in the library. As for Sabine, she moved from the guild she was working in another location and she officially becomes a receptionist of the guild in Dahlia. As for Duchess Johanna, she already has influences with this place through many people under her. Though this place is not affiliated with any country so there's a limit of what she can do.

Dahlia is a place that no country should have influence in it. The motto of the academy is equal opportunity for all so everyone can be accepted as long as they pass the entrance exam. But that was when it was first built so many corruption happened. There are still gaps between commoners and nobles, and students from conflicting countries often caused problems.

But through it all, it's still considered as a favorite academy in this continent. Well, maybe not anymore. Because I know from the game that other academies in other places are better now. In fact, some students attended this academy because they failed at those better academies.

The reputation of this academy has dropped with many new and better academies out there controlled by some countries. But Dahlia is still neutral and doesn't belong to any country. That doesn't mean it's impossible for a force to have greater influence in Dahlia Academy compared to other forces though.

"Here are everything we have investigated about Dahlia, Roland, Cornelia, and other things you mentioned," Sabine says as she offered a huge stack of paper on the table between Felix and me.

"Thanks. You sure you don't want to know everything?" I ask.

All the Holy Knights I know somehow didn't want me to tell them everything like what will happen in the future. They only want to know important things and agreed that I should be the one deciding what and when to tell anything important. It could be helpful for them to know but they all refused to know for some reason.

"You know what will happen and if it's something really bad you will tell us anyway since you will ask for our help. Well, maybe if it is something connected to any of us, you should inform us before it happens. Other than that, we don't need to know everything about the future. You were reincarnated to change that future after all. Even if you don't actively try to change the future, knowing how cowardly you are, you will probably try your best to make the problem simpler or get rid of the problem right away. We'll just handle what we can do," Felix says.

I guess that's true. Although half a year has already passed, none of the events passed is anything that I needed to get involved in. It should be okay.

"Then about Cornelia. How can you convince her that you're an ally?" Sabine asks as she sits next to me on the sofa.

"There are many things I can say to her that will convince her that I'm from the same world. You don't need to worry. There are many things in our previous world that don't exist in this world. Though I just hope that she was in that era and from the same world to know those things," I say.

The game was released in the early 2010s I think. That's when I first started playing it. Maybe it's in the late 200s.

If Cornelia died around that time, she might not know much about social media because it wasn't so mainstream at the time. But there are many things I can use as a code.

"Maybe saying something in English?" Sabine suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. But I don't know if Cornelia learned English well or not. We might be from different countries back then. But I can say some phrases that she should understand."

I don't know where Cornelia was born, raised and grew, and died. Just that she is reincarnated and she read the novel.

Reading the report, there are many things I already knew because of the game. Like how Cornelia has a younger brother.

"Her family worked hard because they knew that Cornelia wished to go to Dahlia Academy. The tuition is not expensive but the cost of living here is expensive. They're just farmers and had to owe debts from—"

"That's enough. I know about it in the game," I stop Felix from explaining more.

I don't know the reason why her family has financial problem. I just know that they're farmers and were in debt. And it's in the side story I could play to help Cornelia's family.

In the game, the protagonist can end up with female characters as his romantic partner. But it's impossible with Cornelia for some reason. At least if you do this mission, Cornelia will have a more positive impression toward the protagonist.

Though it won't be the protagonist she will have good impression for. It will be me. Not because I want to impress her. But because I know the future that she doesn't.

"When is the last time these reports were updated?" I ask Felix.

"Two weeks ago. Sharing news can't be done as quickly as you travel with your slip magic," Felix says.

In the game, Cornelia's parents have so much hope for Cornelia because she has shown her talent in magic since she was young not knowing that she's a reincarnator. So they put everything they had for her growth. It's to the point that they even ignored their other child, Cornelia's brother.

In the game, they even sold Cornelia's brother and told Cornelia that he went missing. Cornelia who heard that quickly left the academy for a while to look for her brother only to find that her own parents sold her brother to a slave merchant for money. That's when she learned that her parents were horrible people.

Well, not really horrible. Just picky and prioritizing someone over another. So they're just choosing Cornelia over her brother because they put everything for Cornelia.

Cornelia then realized the effect of her desire to attending the academy to her family. If not for the help of the protagonist, she will have to look for her brother for months. But even without anyone's help, she will eventually discover the truth by herself. It will just take longer.

"I'm going to visit Cornelia's home. Soon her parents must be thinking of selling her brother. It's something Cornelia will know eventually but since I know about this already I should intervene," I say.

"Is that how it is in the video game you mentioned? If the brother hasn't been sold, you can contact Duchess Johanna's people to keep watch of the family. Over the last one and half year when she's not busy with her duty, she created her own information guild in secret. She has informed the people there to follow your order if you need them," Felix says.

Damn! I finally have the cheat codes on for this game. Well, it's reality now. But this is still great.

I will make sure that Cornelia's brother will be safe. Then I can get close to Cornelia. Her magic, even though they're weaker than the protagonist's, will be useful to me. Or maybe I can get her to improve even further. That would be nice.