The Last Magic Chapter 5

05 Sato 1

The middle school I attended had students coming mainly from two areas. Most lived in apartments or maisonette-style houses near Shin-Urayasu Station, while the smaller group of students lived in apartments on a slightly distant landfill site.

Actually, the area I lived in was also originally reclaimed land, and between our neighborhood and the newer landfill where the minority students lived, there was an old embankment—remnants of the past—stretching like train tracks, creating a clear boundary.

The middle school had been built for our area, so it was a bit far for those from the landfill side to commute. In short, this school wasn’t theirs.

I’d heard that in a few years, a new middle school would be built on their side, so the people from the landfill felt like outsiders. If they hadn’t come here, we could’ve kept the same social circles we had in elementary school.

After the entrance ceremony, I stepped into my new classroom and glanced around at my new classmates.

This was the moment to quickly slip into the circle of people I’d been even slightly close to in elementary school—to establish the foundation for my future social life.

But then, my eyes were caught by her.

A girl who wasn’t trying to mingle with anyone—no, it was more like she was actively rejecting them—sitting perfectly straight in her chair, her gaze fixed on the book in her hands.

Her long, black hair was so beautiful it could rival a celebrity’s. Her pale, strong-willed profile looked less like a person and more like a work of art. I had no idea what she ate to look like that.

(What the… That’s not just an outsider. She’s practically an alien.)

I was stunned.

"Hey hey, Sato-chan, already mesmerized by Nagumo-san?"

The one who called out to me—while I was gawking at the black-haired girl—was Kobayashi-san, from my elementary school. She always had a boyish haircut and was popular for being both athletic and smart.

Kobayashi-san and I had been in the same class a few times in elementary school, but we weren’t exactly close. Still, she had a way of instantly closing the distance with people, so she casually talked to anyone like this. That’s why she had so many connections and was always in the know.

(Worst case, maybe I can get into Kobayashi-san’s group?)

I thought a little strategically.

But right now, 90% of my brain was fixated on that black-haired girl.

"That girl… Her name is Nagumo-san?"

"Yep, yep. She’s like… Takarazuka material, y’know?"

Kobayashi-san compared Nagumo-san’s unique aura to the Takarazuka Revue. Her dignified, almost artificial beauty did give off that kind of vibe.

"She’s from the landfill side, right?"

"What’s with that phrasing? Sato-chan, you’ve got a funny way of putting things."

Kobayashi-san smirked and raised an index finger.

"Nagumo-san’s grandmother lives near Urayasu Station, so she’s actually been here longer than us."

Urayasu Station was in the old part of town. So in the eyes of those from the original district, we were the newcomers, since we lived on reclaimed land too.

"How do you even know about Nagumo-san’s grandmother?"

"Oh, her Grandmother’s kind of a local celebrity. She’s a sorcerer and a fortune-teller—appeared on TV back in the day, too."

"A sorcerer? We had one of those in Urayasu?"

This was the first I’d heard of a sorcerer in our town.

sorcereres sometimes appeared on TV, but they were far from common. They existed all over the world, but their numbers were small—pretty rare. The best way to describe them would be like "a minority preserving ancient traditions." Besides, it was common knowledge that magic itself was useless, so they were basically harmless oddities.

sorcerers on TV often mocked them with lines like, "See how amazing this is? A sorcerer could never pull this off! By the time she finished chanting her spell, the trick would be over!"

Sure, there were a few celebrities who were sorcereres, but they were rare, and their title was more of a convenient label than anything else.

"Of course there are. sorcereres live in separate territories so they don’t step on each other’s toes. If anything, they’re everywhere."

That was also news to me. Kobayashi-san really knew everything. For someone the same age as me, she had the knowledge of an adult.

"Huh… So, is Nagumo-san training to be a sorcerer too?"

"Seems like it. A friend from her elementary school told me, ‘Nagumo-san’s always reading magic books at school.’"

Of course Kobayashi-san had friends from the landfill-side school too. Just how far did her network go?

"Magic’s pretty pointless nowadays, though. Why even bother studying it?"

I couldn’t help but say it.

"Not cool, Sato-chan. Not cool. You shouldn’t mock someone’s passion like that."

Her light tone made me freeze. When I met her eyes, there was a flicker of seriousness in them.

"Well, we’re classmates now, so let’s all get along, okay?"

With that, Kobayashi-san fluttered her hand and merged into another group.

Thanks to that, I fell behind in building my new social circle.  

----  

Somehow, I managed to slip into the same group as my elementary school friends, but I spent my days observing Nagumo-san from a distance. It was impossible for me to ignore her striking presence and just live a normal school life.

Whenever she had free time, she’d be reading a book with a black leather binding. Technically, we weren’t supposed to bring books unrelated to school, but Nagumo-san had apparently gotten permission from the teachers in advance. Rumor had it she’d had this arrangement since elementary school—she was clearly treated as special.

But she wasn’t completely closed off. If you talked to her, she’d respond properly. She just made it very clear:

"I want to dedicate my breaks to studying magic."

And thus, she showed no interest in socializing.

(As expected of a sorcerer.)

I was impressed. Normally, this wouldn’t fly. For girls, there was an unspoken rule that you had to belong to some group—you couldn’t be isolated. A girl who strayed from the herd would face who-knows-what kind of treatment.

Nagumo-san did have a close friend from her elementary school—Shiba-san—in another class, and they walked to school together. But friends in other classes weren’t reliable. Even I, who wanted to stay close to my elementary school friends, knew that in school, a distant relative was less useful than a nearby stranger.

In fact, some people already looked at Nagumo-san with malice, calling her "that pretentious girl." There’s always someone who hates others for no good reason.

Still, I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of person Nagumo-san really was.

She read magic books all the time, but she was also good at both academics and sports. That was impressive, but to me, it also felt like armor—"I can do anything, so becoming a sorcerer is fine."

According to Kobayashi-san, Nagumo-san’s parents weren’t too happy about her becoming a sorcerer. I wondered if she was just stubbornly pushing forward out of spite.

Plus, even if you were talented, lacking social skills in a girls’ society meant you’d be ostracized. So really, she should’ve been smarter about it… But at the same time, part of me admired that solitary confidence. It was kind of cool.

And then, the incident happened.

Nagumo-san’s black leather-bound book—vanished.