I followed Kiori while mentally repeating the name I heard the Dark Chocolate-haired student say. Eventually, we found ourselves in a classroom with Mr. Blonde standing behind a podium.
The layout is what you'd expect in a classroom setting, a chalkboard and desks spaced by 2 lanes for students to walk through and choose their seats. Compared to the flat classrooms I've attended in my past life, it was more elevated here.
Below the chalkboard was a raised platform the podium stood on. Each row of desks had its own elevation similar to what you'd see in college classes.
"Kiori" I heard the nth confirmation of my summoner's name.
Mr. Blonde pointed toward the front desks at his right. Kiori complied and I followed, sitting in the provided chairs. He then produced a stack of sheets and placed them in front of me, then opened an ink pad next to it. It was written in foreign characters.
I flipped through the document, despite my illiteracy.
This looks like a contract. Do they know I can't read?
I've barely used my power as a means of communication, and the one time I did was in Mr. Blonde's office. I suspected his golden dragon was summoned from the three-obelisk, so I tried saying that by recreating a miniature altar and a tiny rubber version of his dragon sitting on it. I never got a clear confirmation of if he did get this dragon from the altar, but I can't exactly ask him now with my language barrier.
I looked at Kiori's face to gauge his reaction to the paper presented to me. He wasn't looking.
I waved my hand in front of his face. When that got his attention, I pointed to the paper I couldn't read.
Please tell me this is a normal contract.
I paid attention to his face as he read it. A second later, he pointed to a few of the blank spots before turning to Mr. Blonde and speaking to him.
He spoke a few words before leaving the room.
Huh, why did he leave?
Kiori waved a hand in front of my face. When he got my attention, he pointed to the ink pad before tapping on the same blank spots on the contract.
Seeing that the inkpad didn't come with a stamp, I guessed they wanted my fingerprints as an alternative to a signature.
I looked at the characters next to the line and guessed it was the written equivalent of "sign here" or "your name here."
But if that's the case, why did Mr. Blonde leave?
As soon as I thought that, Mr. Blonde came in with a pen in an ink well. He placed it next to Kiori before speaking to him.
I looked at the expressions of the two in the room. It seemed they eagerly wanted me to sign with my fingerprints.
I hope I won't regret this.
Not wanting to stall further, I pressed my thumb into the red ink pad and pressed it again in the spots Kiori had pointed to. Kiori then took the feather pen and began writing in the remaining blank spots.
If I knew I'd be reincarnated with a language barrier, I would've asked god for fluency in this world's language.
Hmm. Perhaps it's a trade-off for being granted power.
I observed Kiori's writing as he navigated the contract I had to sign with my fingerprints. The precision and speed he wrote characters I couldn't read were somewhat mesmerizing.
I heard Mr. Blonde speak more syllables and Kiori replying to them, with the former occasionally speaking my summoner's name. Once again I became a witness to a conversation I couldn't make heads or tails of.
The conversation ended and Kiori silently got up and headed for the door. I moved to follow him but was stopped when Mr. Blonde placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
Huh?
Though I couldn't understand what Mr. Blonde wanted, I could tell he still wanted something from me.
Golden particles appeared, forming the shape of his chair and desk. After that, I followed close behind him.
—
Once again, I was back in his office, with Mr. Blonde sitting in front of the paper I twice stamped with my thumb. We sat there in silence, with him silently observing and me trying to discern the intentions of his unusual behavior.
He moved, bending down to get something on his desk. It sounded like a drawer opening, with him taking out a different sheet of paper with the school's emblem on it. Then he tapped his breast, exactly on the spot where the uniform's emblem would be.
I recalled the room Kiori unlocked with his key.
I created the same miniature door I saw, complete with the door knob and number in the font I remembered. The miniature door was 7 inches in height, and the frame and hinges were about as functional as I could make it with its side. They weren't difficult to make since I had seen the mechanism thousands of times over.
I created the miniature box my uniform came in, and moved it through the open miniature door, before closing it.
It was at that moment I realized something.
Hang on. This place is clearly a school. Those clothes are obviously uniforms. That paper I had to sign… was that my enrollment form?
Maybe he was simply giving Kiori another spare uniform? But why would be go through all that trouble showing all of that to me?
The first time we were alone in his office, he used those golden particles to create a miniature replica of that three-obelisk altar and spoke much fewer words to me compared to my summoner.
The more dots I connected, the more I dreaded the idea. I've been through and graduated from every grade of school from kindergarten to high school and then college. To have to go through that again…
But what other choices do I have? I barely know a thing about this world, and the only option I have to learn more about it is at this school.
I looked at the emblem, then to the miniature uniform box, then to Mr. Blonde.
His demeanor, the way Kiori easily obeyed him… he has some level of authority here. A teacher perhaps? I wouldn't know unless I see how other teachers react to his presence. But if he presented me with an enrollment form, maybe he has duties beyond teaching.
Mr. Blonde spoke more indecipherable syllables, though I believe I had a decent idea of what he just said at that moment.
His voice sounded higher pitch at the end. Most of the time, it sounded like he was countering my summoner's words with objective truths, but this time it sounded like a question.
I had three guesses as to what he asked me as I met his gaze.
They were either "Is something wrong?", "Do you need something?", or "Have you made a decision?"
I gulped a breath I didn't know I was holding as I could brace myself for the uncertain future of my new life.