Chapter 3: Convenient housing arrangement

Alright, I packed up my things… not a whole lot now that I’m looking at all of it, just 3 measly cardboard boxes and 1 backpack… You could say I live frugal? Yeah that sounds better than poor.

I take all my stuff with me on the bullet train heading towards Tokyo, it’s only a 30 minutes ride. I sit down in economy class next to a plain looking foreign guy with blonde hair and glasses. Looks like he’s also moving to Tokyo judging from the 3 suitcases he has with him. He suddenly taps me on the shoulder:

“Hey man, is this the bullet train heading towards Tokyo?”

“Uuh, yeah. It stops in Tokyo Central.”

*PHEW* “Thank god, I was never that good at using public transportation, even when they changed all the kanji to English ha-ha.”

“Yeah no worries man.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of us… I can’t bear this any longer:

“S-So anyways, where are you heading to? You look to be about the same age as me. I’m Reo by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Reo, I’m Lance. I’m actually heading towards the ‘Machia college of Tokyo’ if you can believe that, I know you’re probably thinking that I don’t look like a Machia. I get that a lot actually ha-ha.”

“What a coincidence! I’m heading there too, which class are you in?”

“I’m nothing special or anything, they’re putting me in Wood [II]. I wonder if we’re going to be classmates?”

“Yup, I’m also in Wood, although I’m even less special than you. they put me in Wood [I].”

“W-Wait are you seriously in Wood [I]?”

Here it is. Just like those recruiters… once people notice they’re better than you, they won’t give you the time of day…

“Yeah, pretty low righ-”

“Sweet! I was actually afraid I would be a couple of classes below you. Now you have to address me as your big brother mhuaha.”

“You don’t mind that I have an abysmal mana-pool?”

“Why would I? This big bro would never mistreat his junior!”

He actually seems like a fun guy to hang out with…

“big bro my ass, I’m probably still older than you right? Or are you also 21?”

“W-Well age doesn’t matter now does it… alright I’ll compromise, we’ll just be equals then, since I’m one year younger or whatever.”

“Don’t worry, this big bro would never mistreat his junior!”

We both started laughing and then continued talking some more. Before we knew it, we arrived in Tokyo.

“I’ll see you in class Reo! I have to check out my new apartment first!”

Lance huh? What an interesting character, guess he doesn’t live on-campus though.

I head towards the orientation and sit down in a big gymnasium on one of the provided chairs. I can only see around 20 students here, but there’s room for at least a thousand.

“Alright, we’ll begin the orientation of wood class [I]! I’m the homeroom teacher of the wood class, Mr. Ito. You are the worst class of our school, but you probably already knew that, this placement can be temporary if you work hard enough and prove your worth or whatever. As long as you don’t expect too much of me, I’ll also try not to expect too much from you guys.”

What a downer, can’t he have some more enthusiasm? Although I guess it does fit his image, he has huge bags under his eyes with scruffy black hair and is wearing an all-black suit.

“Alright, I’ll now explain the new experimental housing arrangements for the dorms to you guys. We noticed the teamwork between support-Machias and combat-Machias after graduation leaves a lot to be desired. To combat this, you’ll randomly be assigned a roommate with a different affinity from yourself, and yes this arrangement will be co-ed and will also span across different classes since you can’t always choose your teammates on the battlefield.”

A nerdy looking guy next to me raises his hand.

“Yes the skinny guy with glasses in the back.”

“Euuhm… what is this affinity and how do you discover your own?”

I was actually wondering that myself…

*SIGH* “I’m sorry, I forgot this was wood class [I], I’ll explain it: Machias can have one of two affinities, combat or support. Your affinity will largely determine which random magics you can reveal from unknown cartridges. You can determine your own affinity by looking at your gift-cartridge, if the magic within is focused on fighting you have an affinity for combat.”

I awkwardly raise my hand.

*SIGH* “Yes the tall guy with the red shirt in the back.”

“What if you didn’t get a gift-cartridge?”

“Didn’t get a gift- aah right, you must be… Reo v-von D-D-Dik?“

“Yeah, Reo van Dijck, that’s me.”

“Right, they told me you could house with both a combat-Machia and a support-Machia for this school-year. We’ll change it next year if you ever reveal an unknown cartridge and discover your affinity. You’ll be provided with a larger room to accommodate this arrangement.”

I can hear some student gossiping in front of me:

“Hey, did he really just say the dorms are shared and co-ed?”

“Yeah, sounds great! I have a combat affinity and I heard 70% of support-Machias are girls! I hope my roommate is hot, not one of those butch looking types.”

Looks like the professor heard the gossiping:

*Aghmm* “Since some rooms will be co-ed, sexual-contact between the opposite sexes will be inevitable. This is even encouraged in a way since you’ll get scored on how well you and your roommate get along. However, you must remember to always ask for consent and wear protection, an AI will monitor the rooms so don’t try anything funny either.”

This housing arrangement, how should I put it… it sounds rather convenient for my current goal no?