002 卒業できた!
王立錬金術師養成学校。
それはこの国で唯一、錬金術師の国家資格が取得できる学校である。
この学校を卒業し、錬金術師の資格さえ取得出来れば、その人の人生はもう安泰。
左うちわの生活が約束される。
だが、それだけに競争率も高く、入学はもちろん、無事に卒業を迎えることも非常に難しい。
そんな超難関校が王立錬金術師養成学校なのだ。
そもそも錬金術師とはエリートの代名詞である。
を作れる能力を持つ上に、それらの供給は、需要に対して常に不足気味。
国家による価格統制もあり、過剰な値引きも認められていない。
つまり、簡単に言えば、利益率が非常に高く、商品さえ選べば売れ残りの心配が無い。
そのため、錬金術師になれれば一生食いっぱぐれがない――どころか、必死で働かなくても十分に稼ぐことができる。
また、王立錬金術師養成学校の特徴として、努力すれば誰でも――平民はもちろん、孤児ですら入学できることが挙げられる。
入試で必要な知識は教本で学ぶことができ、それは申請すると無料で貸し出される。
その上、受験に費用は必要ない。
さすがに文字すら読めない場合はどうしようもないのだが、孤児院であっても望めば文字の勉強程度は可能なので、そこも個人の努力でカバーできる。
また、成績優秀者には学費免除のほか、奨学金の支給、試験ごとの報奨金授与があり、ある意味で“勉強さえしていれば良い”環境が整えられている。
だが、そんな恵まれた環境であるからこそ、その門戸は非常に狭い。
平民や孤児にとっては、ほぼ唯一の成り上がりが可能な職業だけに入学希望者は多く、当然試験も難しい。
更に、優秀な家庭教師を付けた貴族も同様に受験するため、
そして、何とか入学試験をくぐり抜けても安心はできない。
四ヶ月ごとに行われる試験の成績が一定水準に達しなければ、容赦なく退学処分を受けるのだ。
当然、再試験なんてものはなく、これは貴族であっても同様。
結果的に五年後の卒業式に出席できるのは、入学時の一〇分の一以下と言われている。
そんな学校を私、サラサ・フィードは今日、卒業する。
いやー、大変だったね!
卒業の感慨?
そんなの感じる暇も無かったよ。
なんと言っても、昨日まで卒業試験があったんだから。
そして、その試験結果の発表は、今朝。
万が一、それで不合格なら、今日学校に来ても卒業式には出られないという悪夢なんだよ!?
誰が考えたのか知らないけど、さすがにこの日程は無いと思う。
まあ、これまでに卒業試験を落ちた人は、さすがにいないらしいけど。
それまでに十分ふるいに掛けられているのだから、成績的に問題がある人なんて残っていない。
気を抜けば落第する可能性はあるけど、卒業式の日に一人だけ教室に取り残されるという状況を想像すれば、普段の試験以上に気合いを入れるのは当たり前。
危険なのは病気ぐらい? もちろんみんなそれは解っているので、体調の維持には懸命になるし、不安があればしばらく前から学校を休んででも体調を整える。
もちろん私も、必死で頑張りましたとも!
その甲斐もあり、卒業証書と共に最後の試験報奨金もいただけました。
ええ、ありがたいことに。
思えば八歳の時に事故で両親を亡くし、孤児院に入れられてからは現実逃避するかのように、最低限の仕事以外はひたすら勉強。
そのため孤児院のみんなには迷惑を掛けたが、錬金術師養成学校を目指す子はみんなで応援するという暗黙の了解があるため、特に非難されることはなかった。
その代わり上手く錬金術師になれたなら、お返しとして寄付金を送ることもまた暗黙の了解なんだけどね。
現に孤児院出身の錬金術師が定期的に寄付金を送ってきてくれているので、私たちも爪に火を灯すような生活はせずに済んでいたのだから。
けど、そんなガリ勉の甲斐もあり、平民としてはかなり優秀な成績で入学に成功し、学費無料、奨学金の支給資格と入寮資格を得られ、一〇歳で孤児院を出ることができた。
それからはひたすらバイトと勉強に明け暮れた。
幸いな事に、錬金術師のお店でのバイトに採用されたため、店長に弟子入りすることもできた。
そのおかげで、それ自体が勉強にもなり、バイトに時間が取られても学力は試験報奨金が貰える水準をキープできたのだ。
残念ながらトップを取ることはほとんど無かったけど、幸いなことに、私より上の人たちがみんな貴族だったんだよね。
なぜ“幸い”かって? それは報奨金に関する慣例? 伝統? そんな物があったから。
通常、試験報奨金は上位三名までに支給される。
これが厳密に適用されていれば、たぶん私が貰えた報奨金は今の半分ぐらい?
でも、貴族が上位に入った場合、これを辞退するのが“貴族の義務”みたいな風潮があるのだ。
そして辞退された報奨金は、下位の順位に繰り下がって支給される。
私が大半の試験で報奨金をもらえたのは、この制度のおかげ。
もちろん強制ではないけど、そこは貴族の誇りとか見栄があるらしい。
下級貴族の場合、下手すると裕福な平民よりもお金が無い事もあるので大変だとは思う。
私にはすっごくありがたい伝統だけどね。
そのおかげで、卒業した現時点で私の貯金は五〇〇万レアを越えていた。
普通の平民は一年に五〇万レアも稼げないので、実に年収の一〇倍以上!
うん、がんばった! 私っ!
半分以上は奨学金と報奨金だけど、あとはバイトで稼いだお金だもの!
寮のおかげで宿泊費と食費が無料とはいえ、学校の授業や勉強の時間の合間を利用してこれだけ稼ぐのは、本当に、
ありがたい事に、私のバイトの日給は平民の丸一日の稼ぎに匹敵したけど、これにしたって、普通はバイトで稼げるような金額じゃない。
私が錬金術師見習いで、師匠のお店でバイトできたからこその金額である。
見習いのバイトでこれだけ稼げるんだから、本職の錬金術師が
薄い金属のような、それでいて非常に軽く柔軟性がある不思議な物質。
そこに錬金術師のマークと私の名前、王立錬金術師養成学校の卒業証明が刻印されている。
更には私自身の魔力紋も記録されていて、私以外が触ると表示が消える仕組みまで仕込まれている。これ自体がある意味、錬金術の傑作とも言えるのだ。
一人、門の前でにやけていたら不審だからね。
そう、一人なんです。
卒業式も無事に終わり、新たなる門出。
でも私は、学校の門の前でポツリと一人。
いやぁ、この五年間、ホント、バイトと勉強以外しなかったからね!
おかげで、こうして学校から出ようとしているのに、挨拶に来てくれる人すらいない。
そして挨拶に行く相手もいない。
周りでは後輩との別れを惜しむ卒業生や、迎えに来た人と笑顔で会話している人がいるというのに、私の周りは空気がひと味違う。
誰も近寄ってこないんだから。
べ、別に、さ、寂しくはないけどねっ!
――いえ、本当は少し寂しいです。
私、友達がほぼいなかったからなぁ。
自分が原因だから、仕方ないんだけど。
やっぱり、ひたすら勉強していて、会話すらほとんどしないんじゃ、友達はできないよね?
去年までは、こんな私を気に掛けてくれて、仲良くなってくれた先輩が二人いたんだ。
そして、その先輩の繋がりで仲良くなった後輩が一人。
でも、去年無事に卒業したお二人は、今は別の町で働いているので、王都にはいない。
今でも文通はしてるけど、さすがに私の卒業式のために王都に来られるほど、一年目の錬金術師は甘くない。交通費も掛かるしね。
......そういえば、文通の費用くらいかなぁ、私が必需品以外にお金を使ったのって。
そして後輩の方はと言えば、運悪く数日前から体調を崩して卒業式には不参加。
万が一にでも不合格にさせるわけにはいかないので、「絶対に来ちゃダメ、身体を治すように!」と強く言っておいたのだ。
シャレにならないくらい人生に関わるからねぇ、試験に失敗すると。
「うん、......早く行こう」
この空気の中、一人立っているのは少々辛い。
時々私に送られる
私は一度振り返り、五年間を過ごした学舎を見上げる。
いろんな事があった。
ほとんどは勉強の記憶しか無いけど、それでも楽しいこともあった。
でも、これからは一人で歩いて行かないといけない。
私は決意を胸に、校門に背を向けて歩き出した。
2 002 I Could Graduate!
Royal Alchemist Training School.
It is the only school in this country where the national qualification of alchemist can be obtained.
If you can graduate from this school and even qualify as an alchemist, the person's life is already safe.
The life of our left is promised.
But it's also very competitive, and it's very difficult to enroll, as well as graduate safely.
Such a super difficult school is the Royal Alchemist Training School.
Alchemists are synonymous with elites in the first place.
Having the ability to create essential smelters (potions) and smelter artifacts, their supply is always scarce to demand.
There is also price control by the state, and excessive discounts are not allowed.
In other words, simply put, the profit margin is very high and you don't have to worry about remaining sold as long as you choose the product.
For this reason, if you can be an alchemist, you won't have a lifetime full of food - on the contrary, you don't have to work desperately to make enough money.
Also a hallmark of the Royal Alchemist Training School is that anyone who strives - civilians, of course, even orphans - can enrol in school.
Knowledge required in entrance exams can be learned in textbooks, which are lent free of charge upon application.
Besides, there is no cost to take the exam.
There's nothing I can do if I can't even read the letters, but even in an orphanage, it's possible to study the letters to the extent I want, so I can cover them there with my personal efforts as well.
In addition to tuition waivers, there are also scholarship payments and exam-by-exam bonus awards for the best performers, which in a sense creates a "good as long as they are studying" environment.
But because it is such a privileged environment, its gateway is very narrow.
For civilians and orphans, there are many who wish to enroll only in a profession that is almost the only one capable of development, and naturally the exams are difficult.
Furthermore, nobles with excellent tutors take the exams as well, so there is no way they can beat the competition with their raw "naked" efforts.
And I can't feel safe if I manage to pass the entrance exam.
If the results of the exams that take place every four months do not reach a certain level, you will be relentlessly expelled.
Naturally, there is no such thing as retesting, as is this even for nobility.
As a result, it is said that less than a tenth of the graduation ceremony at the time of enrolment can be attended five years later.
I, Sarasa Feed, graduate from such a school today.
No, that was tough!
Graduation emotions?
I didn't even have time to feel that way.
Whatever you say, I had my graduation exam until yesterday.
And the announcement of that test result, this morning.
In case you fail with that, it's a nightmare that you can't go to graduation even if you come to school today!?
I don't know who thought about it, but I don't think we have exactly this date.
Well, it seems that no one has ever missed a graduation exam before.
There's no one left with a grade problem because they're hung up on a sieve long enough by then.
It's possible to fall off if you get out of your mind, but if you imagine a situation where only one person is left in the classroom on graduation day, it's natural to get more tempered than usual exams.
Is it about sickness that's dangerous? Of course we all know that, so we'll work hard to stay fit, and if we have anxiety, we'll be out of school for a while. But we'll get better.
Of course I did, desperately!
It was also worth it, and I got my last exam bounty along with my diploma.
Yeah, thankfully.
I think I lost my parents in an accident when I was eight, and since I was put in an orphanage, I even study except for the minimum job, as if I were going to escape reality.
For this reason it annoyed everyone in the orphanage, but it was not particularly reprehensible because of the implicit understanding that all children who aspire to an alchemist training school will support them.
If you succeed in becoming an alchemist instead, sending a donation in return is another implicit understanding.
The alchemist from the orphanage now sends us donations on a regular basis, so we didn't have to live like lighting a fire on our nails either.
But it was also worth such a gallery study, and as a civilian, I succeeded in enrolling in school with a pretty good grade, earned free tuition, eligibility to pay scholarships and residency, and was able to leave the orphanage at the age of ten.
After that, it even dawned on part-time work and study.
Fortunately, he was hired to work part-time at an alchemist's shop, so he could also be apprenticed to the store manager.
Thanks to this, I was able to study myself and keep my academic achievement at the level where I can get exam rewards even if I get time for part-time work.
Unfortunately, I rarely took the top, but fortunately, all the people above me were aristocrats, right?
Why "lucky"? Is that customary about bounty money? Tradition? Because there was such a thing.
Typically, exam bonuses are paid up to the top three.
If this is strictly applied, maybe the reward I got is about half of what it is now?
But if nobility comes to the top, there's a "duty of nobility" trend to resign.
The declined bounty is then rolled down to the lower ranking.
It is thanks to this system that I was awarded a bounty for the majority of my exams.
Of course it's not compulsory, but they have noble pride and other looks there.
In the case of lower nobles, I think it's hard because sometimes when you're bad, you don't have more money than wealthy civilians.
Though it's a very thankful tradition for me.
Thanks to this, my savings were over Rs 5 million at the time of graduation.
Ordinary civilians don't earn half a million rare a year, so they actually earn more than ten times what they earn a year!
Yeah, good luck! Me!
More than half of them are scholarships and bounty money, but the rest is money earned part-time!
Even though accommodation and food are free thanks to the dorm, it was really, really hard (...) to make this much money using between school classes and study time.
Thankfully, my part-time daily wage was comparable to the full day's earnings of the civilian population, but for this, it's not usually the kind of amount you can earn on a part-time basis.
It is an amount because I am an alchemist apprentice and I was able to work part-time in my master's shop.
That's all you can earn from your apprenticeship part time, so how can a real alchemist earn money?
A strange substance, like a thin metal, then very light and flexible.
There is engraved Mark the Alchemist and my name, the diploma of the Royal Alchemist Training School.
Furthermore, my own magic prints have been recorded, and even the mechanism by which the display disappears when anyone but me touches it. In a sense, this is a masterpiece of alchemy.
It would be suspicious if one person was snorting in front of the gate.
Yes, I'm alone.
The graduation ceremony is over safely, and a new doorstep.
But I'm alone in front of the school gate.
Hey, I really haven't done anything but part-time and study in the last five years!
Thanks to you, I'm trying to get out of school like this, but no one even comes to say hi.
And there's no one to go say hello to.
The air tastes different around me, even though there are graduates around who spare their juniors their goodbyes and people who are smiling and talking to the people who pick them up.
No one comes near me.
Beh, nothing, I don't miss you, but heh!
- No, I really miss you a little bit.
I don't know, because I hardly had any friends.
Because it's my fault, I can't help it.
After all, you're even studying and you barely even have a conversation, you can't make friends, can you?
Until last year, there were two seniors who cared about me like this and got along.
And there's one junior who got along because of that senior connection.
But the two of you who graduated safely last year are not in the Wang Capital because you now work in another town.
I still do the correspondence, but the first year alchemist isn't sweet enough to come to Wang Du for my graduation ceremony. It costs a lot of transportation.
... Speaking of which, I was wondering if it was about the cost of the correspondence that I spent money on besides the essentials.
And speaking of juniors, I've been ill for a few days unluckily and I don't attend graduation.
You can't let them fail in case, "Never come, let your body heal!" I told him so strongly.
Because it involves life enough not to be stylish. Hey, if you fail the exam.
"Yeah,... let's go quick"
Standing alone in this air is a little hard.
Sometimes the surprise "a lot" of shivering gaze sent to me must not be my fault.
I look back once and look up at the school building where I spent five years.
A lot happened.
Most of them have only memories of studying, but still some fun.
But from now on, I have to walk away by myself.
I walked out with determination in my chest and my back to the school gate.
The Novice Alchemist’s Store
[Web版] 新米錬金術師の店舗経営
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-novice-alchemists-store/
Adventure Comedy Fantasy Shoujo Ai Slice of Life Supernatural
Adapted to Anime Adapted to Manga Alchemy Artifact Crafting Artifacts Business Management Carefree Protagonist Crafting Cute Story Fantasy World Heartwarming Herbalist Jack of All Trades Marriage of Convenience Orphans Protagonist Strong from the Start R-15 Store Owner Sword And Magic
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3174fc/
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