CH 9.1

With Noah’s help, I was able to write down the address and successfully sent the letter.

Then I left the post office with her and walked around the academy while chatting about various things.

“Ian. What kind of summons do you have?”

“Anna? Well, she’s a half-angel paladin, useful for both offense and defense.”

“What? Ahahaha, I didn’t ask about that. How many stars is she?”

“Three stars.”

“Eh…three stars!? Isn’t that amazing?”

Noah showed an excessively loud reaction and started to praise my summon. 

If I didn’t know that this world used to be a game, and if I was the same age as my body, I would have reacted like her as well. But I was just too old to act like that.

“Haha, isn’t it…”

So, I could only respond with a fake laugh at her reaction. I also made sure that my nose was raised up, so that it would look like I was very proud of my achievement.

“It is. As expected, Ian is…”

“What?”

“To summon a 3-star summon, aren’t you very lucky?”

“Lucky…”

I looked at Noah. 

This person, she was destined to be the protagonist. And, she was destined to summon a 4-star and even a 5-star summon in the future.

If I thought about it like that, it felt quite great to be the target of her admiration with only a 3-star summon.

She’ll eventually get a 5-star summon just because she has the luck of a protagonist.

‘Well, that might seem like the case, but…’

This world was real, so it was unknown what the future would hold in store. 

I sat down on a nearby bench and continued my conversation with Noah.

“Um, so… did you come here after discovering your talent?”

“Yes!”

“How did you find out about that talent?”

“Uh… how?”

The protagonist’s past, which was not revealed even in the game, could be very interesting, but unfortunately, Noah couldn’t give much information.

“Well… an old man wearing a fedora hat came and told me about it…”

“A man with a fedora hat?”

“Yes. He gave me the recommendation letter, and said that I will definitely be able to pass because I have talent. Then I actually passed the academy admission test and could become a summoner… who the hell was that man?”

“A McGuffin.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

Well, it was one of the most widely used plot devices.

A McGuffin, an object or device in a story which serves merely as a trigger for the plot

I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to find out who gave her the letter of recommendation even if I went through her personal information in the academy’s archive. Not that it mattered anyways.

And Noah, who finished telling her story, seems to be curious about my story as well.

“Uh… Ian.”

“Yes?”

“How did you get here?”

“Me?”

As soon as I heard that, I fell into silence. 

Needless to say, when I came to this world, I was already in the academy, and I didn’t know exactly how I got into it.

But I did know something about this world. Most nobles were summoners, and talent was an inherited trait.

“Hmm… just like everyone else.”

“Like everyone else?”

“Yeah, it’s a duty, not a privilege. If you are born as an aristocrat and you have to enter the academy.”

“Duty… does that mean that all the cadets were forced to enter the academy?”

“Forced? Why would you think that?”

“Why? If everyone is obligated to join… won’t there be people who don’t like it?”

“Well, it’s a matter of honor.”

Summoners were heroes. 

At least that was the common belief. Although titles and positions changed depending on the grade of the summoned beings, all summoners were regarded as heroes.

It was an honorable profession which was admired by all. 

No one found it painful.

Moreover, the easiest way to advance in life and become a nobleman was to be a summoner.