A few days have passed since Michi acquired the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll. After returning to Neverwinter, she has experimented with it a lot, and she did learn a few things.

  First of all, the Youkai sealed within the book no longer have any personality. Instead, they are more like AI, simir to Ironman’s Jarvis.

  They are perfectly loyal to her, the owner of the Picture Scroll, and can act independently. They also retain the powerful abilities that they possessed in the past. The Tanuki Youkai are masters of disguise and transformation, the Crow Tengu can still control the wind, and the Baku can dwell into people’s dreams.

  However, to summon them, Michi needs to provide them with energy herself. Which is why she can only summon weaker Youkai for now. An Oni, for example, is out of the question, and she can’t even get one out of the Scroll.

  Unless… Youkai feeds on people’s fear, and if she can provide that, the Youkai will be able to function without her energy, and can even grow stronger.

  But that is a matter for the future. She can’t really do anything to achieve that at the moment. Plus, there is a much more important matter that requires her attention.

  Tomorrow is Michi’s first day of school at the Qualia Academy! As one would expect, there will be a grand ceremony to welcome the freshmen, and of course, the usual speech from the teaching staff to start a new school year.

  She has already prepared everything, from her stationeries to course materials. And, she has already moved her things into her dorm room, where she’ll be staying for the next 4 years.

  “Though, each student gets their own room, huh? This Academy sure has a lot of money to spare.”

  The dormitory room is actually nicer than most of the hotel rooms she has stayed in. Granted, it’s not 5-star material, but it does give a very down-to-earth feeling. Michi likes it, since it makes the pce feel more like a home than some fancy lodging.

  “Since the dormitory is this good, other facilities must be no worse. I am so looking forward to tomorrow!”

  “Don’t you think?” She then turns to a girl who’s sitting on the ground with a tablet on her p.

  “I have no clue what you are talking about.”

  This girl, despite her eye-pleasing appearance, is in fact not a human at all. She is a Tsukumogami. Tsukumogami is defined as an object which has gained a spirit, or consciousness.

  And she isn’t just any Tsukumogami. This girl is in fact, the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll itself, in the flesh. Michi, being her owner, has been trying to come up with a good name for the girl, but she keeps drawing bnk.

  “Really, the world has changed a lot since I was sealed away. All these new technologies and magic… And the Youkai are nothing like what I remember…” The Youkai mutters, keeping her eyes glued to the tablet.

  “Why are you so eager to read about everything? Just take it slow and experience things by yourself.”

  “It’s just my nature, I guess? Many Youkai have strange natural instincts too, based on what legend created them. For me, I desire knowledge.”

  “I see.” Michi mulls over the answer. A Youkai of knowledge, huh? Since she’s a Tsukumogami born from a Scroll, it isn’t that surprising.

  After staying quiet for a minute or so, she opens her mouth again.

  “Aya. I’ll call you Aya. What do you think?”

  As she finishes, her finger draws up the Kanji for ‘Aya’ in the air for some dramatic effect.

  “Sounds good. That’ll be my name then.” The Youkai girl gives a ckluster response, her eyes not even moving away from the tablet.

  Seeing that the girl, now named Aya, is still so absorbed in reading, Michi leaves her alone and takes out something to read herself.

  There isn’t much she can do to prepare for tomorrow. After reading for a while, she goes to sleep, leaving Aya to do her things.

  As she prepares her bed, she remembers one more matter.

  “Hey, Aya. Can you turn yourself into something different from a scroll? Like a notebook? Then I can carry you around easier.”

  “No problem.”

  “I see. Then, good night.”

  “Good night, Michi.” The girl responds in a barely audible voice. Although, looking at how focused she is on reading, she isn’t sleeping anytime soon.

  ‘Well, at least Youkai’s eyes won’t go bad.’ Michi thinks to herself as she turns the light off.

  …

  The next morning, Michi, with the Picture Scroll, or should she say, Picture Notebook, tucked inside her uniform pocket, is on the way to the main campus.

  One good thing about staying at the Academy’s dormitory is how convenient commuting is. It’s only a 5-minute walk from there to the Academy, and soon enough, Michi joins the stream of fellow students that are headed to the Main Hall, where major events and ceremonies take pce.

  ‘These students… They are all Tier 0 just like me.’

  ‘Tier 0? That’s the current strength cssification, right?’ Aya’s voice sounds in her mind.

  Since Michi is the owner of the Picture Scroll, both physically and spiritually, telepathy with Aya is as simple as breathing.

  ‘Yeah. You didn’t have those in your time?’

  ‘No. Things were hectic back then. Humans and Youkai aren’t as united as they are now, so each group has their own system.’

  That is certainly something interesting. Though, it’s nothing more than a trivia that Michi can use to show off her own knowledge.

  On the way to the Main Hall, Michi manages to spot a few interesting students. First, there is a student who is already at Tier 1. This means that they are already a qualified individual of their css. In the outside world, Tier 1 is a high enough qualification to get a stable job.

  Achieving that at the age of 19 is a big accomplishment, and said person is definitely not ordinary. Well, it’s a given, since this student is part of Leonard’s harem. A typical kuudere ojou-sama type, Amanise Karya is the heiress of the Karya Corporation, a huge company that dabbles in many fields, but most well-known for artificing.

  Looking at the slender and tall Amanise, Michi must say that she is a true beauty. The silver hair and deep blue eyes really stand out among the crowd.

  ‘What’s so special about her?’

  ‘She’s a Knight. And a Fencer, at that. Look at her rapier. Barely anyone uses that weapon nowadays.’

  A rapier, which relies a lot on thrusting, and isn’t as sharp as a katana, is not exactly an ideal weapon when dealing with rge enemies. And, most of the demons invading human territories are nothing but small.

  Well, Michi doesn’t tell Aya that according to her knowledge, she’s going to advance to Tier 8 ter, and will become one of the strongest Knights on the pnet.

  With her here, the future is uncertain. But Amanise’s talent is undoubtedly one of the best.

  ‘Should I interact with the heroines in the future?’ Michi starts to think, but she realizes that she has already arrived at the Main Hall.

  She quickly finds her seat according to her major, which is Enchanting and Inscription, and settles down. The ceremony is starting in a few minutes, and taking a peek at the Magician faculty, more specifically, the Esper department, it seems like Leonard is having his first event with one of the heroines.

  Michi can’t tell which one it is, since her view is blocked. In the game, there are some RNG elements to the events too, and who Leonard meets is never fixed.

  Though, she does manage to get a clear view of this protagonist, and she has to admit, this guy looks really good. The ingame portrait does not do his appearance justice. Sure, he isn’t at the level of a K-pop idol, but he can definitely get a girlfriend with his face alone.

  Her only issue is that while he’s pleasing to the eye, it is still the cssic harem protagonist tempte of a Japanese guy with bck hair.

  ‘Why are you looking at him? Love at first sight?’ Aya says in a perfectly ft voice.

  ‘No… He is handsome, but I don’t like guys.’

  ‘Is that so?’

  ’… In any case, his Esper Ability is strange. According to my information, he can steal away other people’s abilities.’

  ‘How do you know that? It doesn’t seem like you even know him.’

  ‘Oh, well,…’

  It actually totally slipped her mind that she hasn’t told Aya about the transmigration. She isn’t reluctant to do so at all, since she can make sure Aya doesn’t tell anyone.

  “The school opening ceremony will begin shortly. Please settle down and keep quiet.”

  The conversation is cut short by the announcement. Just a moment ter, the principal steps on stage and begins his lengthy speech.

  ‘I’ll tell you ter.’ Michi quickly says before refocusing on the stage, where a very important character currently stands.

  The Headmaster of the Qualia Academy, Professor Will Austin, is a Tier 8 Magician, of which only two exist in the entire world. He is hailed by countless people as the Throne of Magical Arcana.

  Just his mere appearance in the hall causes everyone to quiet down.

  Though, as is the case with most opening speeches, this one is anything but inspiring. The only one who seems to be paying attention is Aya, who hungers for just about any knowledge of the modern world.

  After the speech is the introduction of various faculties and their members, as well as the teaching staffs and student leaders.

  First is the faculty of Schors, headed by the Knowledge Emperor, Professor Bernard Gustav. Despite only being a Tier 6 Magician, he has made many world-changing inventions. He is also the owner of the number one energy distribution company in the world, the Paragon Corporation. Besides him are other professors of various fields that make up the teaching staff of the faculty.

  For the Knight faculty, there is Professor Markus Twain, a Tier 8 Knight with the title of Twilight Giant, and also the vice principal of the Academy. Following him are various Tier 6 and 7 Knights, who are in charge of individual subjects.

  And finally, the leader of the Magician faculty is Professor Saya Crawlford, also known as the Starry Raven, a Tier 7 Mage. She’s the only female faculty head, and as one would expect with her impeccable appearance, the male students are all excited when she comes on stage with the other Magician faculty professors.

  ‘Ahh, humans never change.’ Aya makes an off-handed comment.

  ‘You don’t understand the charm of a mature woman!’

  ‘I am a mature woman myself, Michi. What do you say?’

  She isn’t wrong, the Picture Scroll has existed for centuries. But…

  ‘You have only been around for 2 days, ok? Plus, who gets excited by a literal piece of paper?’

  ‘I remember very clearly what you did in the bookstore.’

  Yep, Michi is, in fact, someone who would get excited by a piece of paper. There’s no denying it, even if it’s because of her Esper Abilities. Well, in the first pce, innate Esper Abilities are tailored towards the awakener’s personality.

  ‘Wait, you remember what happens in the bookstore?’

  ‘Objects have memories too. Tsukumogami can remember things since our creation, even if we aren’t conscious.’

  ‘Speaking of the bookstore, I am surprised you left behind the most valuable book there.’ She also adds on this bit, which puzzles Michi.

  ‘The most valuable book?’ There wasn’t anything more valuable than the Picture Scroll, was there?

  ‘You didn’t see it? It’s the one pced on the big table in the middle of the shop. Well, to be fair, you wouldn’t feel any special energy from it.’

  Now that Aya mentions it, Michi finally remembers. How come she hasn’t checked that book out? It is clearly pced in such a special pce.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. Maybe there will be a chance for us to go back there.’

  Michi still has some questions, mostly about the owner of the Bibliophilia Gensou store, but Aya herself doesn’t know much. It seems like whenever the owner took out the Picture Scroll, they always covered it with some mysterious power. Probably to make sure the sealed Youkai doesn’t escape.

  ‘Something must have happened, since there is a big bnk in my memory that occurred just before you picked me up.’

  Michi does have some guesses herself. People remember the Hyakki Yakou Picture Scroll, but it’s likely that the vilge it is sealed within has long been forgotten.

  ‘That might be true. After all, if our existence isn't remembered by humans, we will disappear. The bnk in my memory should correspond with the time between when the vilge was abandoned and when you found me.’

  The conversation certainly cleared up things, but it has also taken Michi’s attention away from the ceremony. The ceremony is already finished, and the school staff are already dismissing the students. Michi realizes with a start that she has just been sitting there.

  She hurriedly gets up, and finds her css before joining them on the way to their cssroom. There are more administrative matters to be done for the first day of school.

  Author's Yapping: These will be talking about simir things every chapters. If you read one and think it's all BS, just skip.

  SpoilerI barely remember all the names and supposed "important" character I typed out here. I was just throwing out names left and right, and maybe I'll use some in the future, maybe not. Some supposedly important characters might just appear in one sentence and never to make a return. Such is the reality of writing unpnned.

  Tsukumogami is written as 付喪神 or 九十九神. Let's go through each one. First, 付喪神. 付 means 'to be attached to'. I looked up 喪 and it seems to mean 'to lose something' or 'to miss something (like an opportunity)'. The st kanji 神 should be familiar, it means 'god', 'soul' or 'spirit'. I am more familiar with the 九十九神. 九十九 means '99', as in the number. This writing is there because of the myth that tools that have been around for 100 years will gain consciousness.

  Let's talk about the youkai itself. Tsukumogami are objects that has gained consciousness, either by gaining sentience or getting occupied by a spirit. These objects are often tools like brooms, books, umbrels, etc. Basically, human tools. There are a lot of these in a certain work... Well, it's Touhou. We have Kogasa from Seirensen, the Tsukumo Sisters and Raiko from Kishinjou, and many unnamed Tsukumogami from Suzunaan. So, I want to use this youkai too.

  Next is Aya. Her name is written with the character 文. In this case, it means 'literature'. Her design is a girl with short bck hair, a small stature, and red eyes. She wears a white kimono by default, not pure white but simir to the color of the paper used for the Scroll.

  Next is Amanise. Funnily enough, she'll probably be an abandonded character, I just don't feel attracted by her design. So I won't talk about her. But who knows, I might use her in the future.

  Next is our """protagonist""", Leonard Morell. To be honest, I needed to check back for his surname when writing this A/N. As described, he has really good features, but is still the cssic lean and clean anime protagonist with bck hair. Think... I can't believe I am saying this, but think of his appearance as a very good-looking Kirito (from Sword Art Online)

  Let's go with the faculty heads next. I only did them casually, but I do have something in mind. For Schor, Bernard Gustav has more of an inventor look than schor. Think Walter White, but he's actually a bit muscur and has a big figure, more beard and less bald. He wears a white b coat.For Knight, Markus Twain. I picture him as a more refined Knight that can calmly do violent smashing acts with his strength without all that screaming of a typical warrior. Dark hair, has a more slender figure, and he also wears dark clothes.For Magician, Saya Crawlford is created with Saya (from Rabbit & Steel) as a basis. She has white curly hair (but no hat), and she wears a smooth feathered coat that's dark purple like a raven.

  That's all.

  [colpse]