Chapter 2: The Fox

My eyes go wide. I only hear it continue in that sharp voice: "Hello, I'm the courier from the Magic Academy. Congratulations, you've been accepted to the Magic Academy. This is your acceptance letter."

I stand there frozen, like I've been hit with a spell, my mind completely blank.

The Magic Academy! The most famous magic school on the entire continent. Only people who actually have magic or magical abilities can get in.

It's a world that non-magical people can barely even enter. And not every magical person can enroll either. The selection process is super strict. I've heard the waiting list can go back several generations.

How could I possibly get accepted? And how can I understand fox language?

Maybe Emily has played too many pranks on me. I'm suspicious.

I crouch down and stare at this little creature in front of me. It's only about fifty centimeters tall. Its eyes are different from regular human eyes—almond-shaped and attractive, with honey-colored pupils that have faint reddish-brown rings around the edges.

My heart is racing. I carefully ask: "Which kid are you? Where'd you get that costume? I never even applied to the Magic Academy."

The little fox lowers its eyes slightly and actually lets out a soft laugh. Then it steps forward and puts the acceptance letter on top of my shoe.

When it looks up again, it glares at me. Those cunning eyes seem to say: "Idiot!"

It's basically become a living spirit!

Right then, two small birds fly past low. One of them chirps: "Fly faster, there are bugs in that tree."

I feel like I'm hallucinating. When I look down again, the little fox has already disappeared without a trace.

And those two little birds are still chirping away, but I can't understand what they're saying anymore.

I push down the chaos inside me and shakily pick up the acceptance letter. I open it. Inside is a stiff, thick piece of paper.

At the bottom of the envelope is also a metal key decorated with a snow-white swan feather. I've heard before that Wharton Magic Academy has a thousand-year history and still keeps the medieval tradition of decorating small items with swan feathers.

I read the text on the letter over and over in disbelief. Besides the acceptance details, it says my mother enrolled me many years ago.

My mother...

The thing I've imagined countless times has actually come true?!

A gentle breeze brushes my face. After calming down, I finally realize this acceptance letter is real.

My occasional ability to understand animal language is real too. It's just that this ability comes and goes.

So it's all real! A huge wave of joy completely floods my mind. Have the gods seen my suffering and come to save me?

I, who have lived among humans for twenty-two years, have received an acceptance letter from the Magic Academy!

It's like an impossible dream. But the acceptance letter in my hand tells me that everything just now actually happened.

The magical races include wolf people, dragon people, snake people, and many other species. They live in their own communities, originally separate from humans, each keeping to themselves. Human GPS systems can't detect their locations.

But strangely, in recent decades, some individuals among them can transform into human form during certain periods and wander around the human world. This is one of the reasons humans have been able to learn some information about the magical races.

If you're human, it's impossible to enter that world unless you have magical blood running through your veins.

In other words, I really am a descendant of the magical races!

But the acceptance letter doesn't say which race I belong to. If I go there, will I be able to find out?

Could it be that my dear mother is waiting for me there?

My whole heart is pounding like crazy. Could this be the moment that changes my fate? It's just unbelievable!

Should I go? The answer is yes.

But if this is real and I tell Margaret and the others, they'll probably do everything they can to stop me.

If this is fake, or if it's a prank by Margaret and Emily, who knows what awful things are waiting for me.

After thinking it through, I decide to keep quiet. Tomorrow I'll go to school like normal to request leave, then leave them a note and go.

Whether it's real or fake, instead of being trapped under their control and tortured, I might as well go find out.

It can't get any worse than it already is.

...

When I leave the Johnson house, I don't feel even a little bit sad. I look back at the house where I've lived for over twenty years, relieved that I might have finally escaped my cage.

On enrollment day, I take a taxi from school and have the driver follow the address on the acceptance letter to a thick forest.

The driver kindly warns me: "Miss, this place is pretty remote. Best not to stay too long."

My heart feels warm. See, even a stranger can be kind to me, while my so-called family...

I smile slightly: "Thank you for caring. It's okay. I'm just taking a walk. I'll leave soon."

The trees are thick and the air is fresh, like a natural oxygen bar, but it's no different from any ordinary forest.

After the car leaves, I look around to make sure no one's nearby, walk to a big tree at the edge of the forest, and take out the swan-feather metal key.

The moment I insert it toward the tree hollow, a huge curtain of thick fog suddenly flashes before my eyes. As the mist gradually clears, a grand castle stands across the drawbridge.

This is a world that truly exists, and also a world I know nothing about.

Crossing the drawbridge and approaching the castle, the four-meter-high black carved archway gate slowly opens automatically, as if opening its arms to welcome me.

I carry my somewhat heavy backpack and walk into the legendary castle of the magical races. Inside are iron towers reaching into the clouds and a white palace with an unusual roof.

My heart is pounding wildly with both nervousness and excitement, but I pretend to look calm and composed.

I thought I would see all kinds of magical beings, like witches, beast people, and so on. But it turns out the few people walking around sparsely in the castle... are humans.

It's kind of similar to the atmosphere at my old school.

I'm confused. Did I come to the wrong place?

Lost in thought, a mechanical voice sounds behind me: "Hello, please close the door!" "Hello, please close the door!"

It draws the attention of passersby toward me.

I turn back awkwardly and see the gate is still wide open. I don't know where those voices are coming from, repeating over and over.

This... is asking me to close the door? I look around. I don't see any switch.

Oh my god! This four-meter-high, ten-meter-wide heavy metal gate—are they seriously expecting me to push it closed by hand?

I don't even know magic yet.