I tilted my head slightly and looked out the window.
Outside lay the port city of Sydney, one of the largest harbor cities on the entire southern continent. Beneath the still-faint light of early morning, the whole city looked as though it had only just awakened. Rows of buildings stretched all the way toward the docks, their rooftops still damp with lingering moisture. Masts rose in thin, tall lines, and from a distance they looked like dark brushstrokes driven straight into the pale morning sky.
Beyond the city was the sea.
An ocean so vast that simply looking at it was enough to make one's heart sink a little. The surface reflected the first light of the day, spreading pale silver patches across the water. Along the horizon, where a thin layer of mist still lingered, the sky and the sea almost blended together, so vaguely that it was hard to tell where the water ended and the clouds began.
It really was a beautiful sight.
But that was not where I was heading.
I lifted my eyes and looked ahead. Floating in the air right in the middle of the train car was a line of text.
It did not look like an electronic display.
If anything, it looked more like words fixed directly into the air.
6:53 AM — The train will arrive at Imperial Academy Station in two hours
I stared at the words for a few seconds, then let out a quiet breath.
No matter how many times I saw things like this, I still could not stop feeling amazed by them.
"Seriously... this world is incredible."
I muttered under my breath.
Magic, monsters, blessings, and all sorts of other things that sounded impossible. Honestly, this world was not much different from the fantasy novels I had spent most of my school days reading in my previous life.
It would have been a lot better if I were the protagonist.
At the very least, protagonists in stories usually did not have to worry about annoyingly realistic things like living expenses, a place to stay, or how exactly they were going to survive after getting off the train.
I did.
And sadly enough, those issues were pretty urgent
Fourteen years ago.
People often say that children do not really begin to form true awareness of the world until they are around four years old.
Everything before that is more like some vague data-loading phase. It exists, sure, but not clearly enough to become actual memories.
I used to believe that.
And even now, I still think it is true.
Because when I was four, the very first thing I truly remembered was not my parents, not a home, and not any kind of ordinary childhood.
It was the memories of my previous life.
Even now, I still do not know why I ended up here, or how it happened in the first place. I cannot remember how I died, and I have even less idea why, when I opened my eyes, I had become... this.
All I know is that by the time my awareness became clear, I was already in this world.
Around me was a dark alley.
No father. No mother. No relatives. No family. No friends.
I did not even know who I was supposed to be.
Aside from one rather absurd detail—this body happened to have the same name I had in my previous life.
Rain.
That was it.
In a completely unfamiliar world, the fact that I at least still had one familiar name turned out to be the only real comfort I had.
After that, with a mind a little more mature than an ordinary child's, I did my best to survive in this world.
It was not pleasant.
But at least I survived.
Until about three years ago.
That was when my blessing awakened.
To be honest, even now I am still not sure I completely understand what that thing really is. All I know is that something happened that day, and then a man appeared. He stared at me for a long time, as if he had just confirmed something important.
After that, he handed me a sheet of paper and said,
"When you turn eighteen, come to the Imperial Academy."
That was all.
Then he left.
No name. No explanation. Not even a shred of useful information for my life going forward.
Very much the usual style of mysterious old men.
They always love talking like everyone is somehow supposed to understand the rest on their own.
Crazy old bastard.
And as a result, here I am now, sitting on a train headed for Astral Academy, the most prestigious academy in the Empire.
Just hearing that already makes it sound like the kind of place that does not suit me at all.
As far as I know, there are only two ways to get into this academy.
The first is to spend an absurd amount of money.
Not the kind of money that is merely "comfortable," but the kind that makes people temporarily forget poverty even exists.
The second is to have enough talent to receive a letter of admission.
I fall into the second category.
Probably.
Then again, there is also the possibility that that old man just shoved some random piece of paper into my hand that day and walked off.
It sounds ridiculous, but for some reason, that still feels way more likely than me actually having talent.
Either way, putting that aside, getting into the academy is still a huge opportunity.
At the very least, I heard they provide free dorm rooms.
That piece of information alone was already enough to make this academy seem far more respectable in my eyes.
I raised a hand and ran it lightly through my hair before leaning back in my seat and turning my gaze toward the window again.
Strands of black hair fell over my forehead, and mixed among them were a few dark blue ones. They had started appearing after my blessing awakened. At first, there were so few that hardly anyone noticed, but over the past few years, they had become more and more obvious.
The good thing was that, at the very least, it did not look too bad.
If I was going to be forced to undergo some kind of physical change after awakening a power, then I was honestly pretty grateful it had only been a few strands of hair changing color, instead of horns, scales, or an extra eyeball growing somewhere it absolutely had no business growing.
The view outside the window was no longer the port city of Sydney.
The sea had disappeared from sight at some point as well.
In its place was an enormous forest stretching out without end. Layers of treetops overlapped in deep shades of green beneath the morning light, occasionally broken by an open patch of land or a narrow path vanishing into the depths of the woods. Everything passed slowly through my field of vision, and yet at the same time, too quickly for me to hold on to any of it.
"Beautiful..."
The words slipped out under my breath.
It was not the kind of beauty that stunned you at first glance. It was simply vast, still, and deep. The longer I looked at it, the more it felt like my thoughts were slowing down with it.
Anyway, there were still more than two hours left before we reached the academy.
I stayed quiet for a while, resting my head against the seat as I considered whether I should keep watching the scenery or take the chance to get some sleep.
After thinking it over, the second option seemed more reasonable.
"Guess I'll sleep for a bit," I murmured. "Still more than two hours left, anyway."
I adjusted my posture to make myself more comfortable, folded my arms in front of my chest, and tilted my head slightly to one side.
The train continued gliding steadily forward.
Outside the window, the forest kept flowing past in an endless stream.
And I slowly close my eyes.