[20]

When she arrived at the school gate, it started to drizzle again.

Aoko looked up. Most of the sunlight was hidden behind the clouds, with only a few faint rays sneaking through barely perceptible gaps, bringing a hint of vitality to this gloomy Wednesday.

"Hey! You there, student! Riding motorcycles to school is not allowed!"

A brown-haired girl with slightly wavy hair stormed over and questioned Aoko aggressively.

Aoko looked down and chuckled. Wasn't this the adorable Kojika Kumari from the student council? Had she forgotten who Aoko was after just a few days of absence?

Back when she attended Asagami middle school, Aoko was chauffeured by her family's car. But after entering high school, she bought a motorcycle for herself and relished the thrill of riding each day, barely skirting the edge of driving without a license.

Aoko took off her helmet, revealing her long, fiery red hair, and looked at Kojika Kumari with a half-smile.

"Huh?! President Aoko?!"

The cute and petite girl stared at the biker, wearing a jacket over a pleated school skirt, momentarily stunned and speechless.

"What? You don't recognize me after just a few days?"

Aoko teased.

"If you can't even recognize your president, I might have to reconsider your position as treasurer, Kumari."

"You're one to talk!"

Kumari huffed.

"Do you even know how hard it's been for me and Vice President Tsukiji while you've been absent?! He's practically on the verge of dying from overwork, like a corporate slave!"

"Is it that bad?"

Aoko asked, surprised.

"It's just a high school student council. How much work can there be?"

"That's only when everyone's present!"

Kumari pointed an accusing finger.

"Our student council is already short-staffed, and with the president disappearing randomly, even I, the treasurer, have been dragged out to guard the gate!"

"Isn't that fine?"

Aoko replied nonchalantly.

"Tsukiji loves having power, doesn't he? Me not being around should be a good thing for him"

"Power is great and all, but you need to survive to enjoy it!"

Kumari sighed dramatically. "You'll understand when you see the vice president. Oh, by the way, President, why did you dye your hair? Students aren't allowed to dye their hair!"

"Dye? What dye?"

Aoko pushed her motorcycle into the campus parking lot and feigned ignorance.

"This is my natural hair color. I haven't dyed it."

"Who are you trying to fool?"

Kumari's expression turned into something straight out of a comic strip. "Don't treat me like an idiot. Wasn't your hair originally... huh?"

The student council treasurer fell into confusion. She couldn't quite recall what color Aoko's hair used to be. It wasn't red... or was it?

Seeing this, Aoko chuckled. The change in her hair color was a side effect of activating the Fifth Magic. In the original timeline, Aoko's hair only turned this color when she used the Fifth Magic. But now, after diving into the Root and fully mastering the Fifth Magic, her hair had permanently stayed red.

This change was due to what was called the First Mover Effect, a phenomenon where causality itself adapts. Kumari's current surprise at Aoko's hair color was simply because the memetic effect hadn't fully altered her memories yet. In a few days, if asked again, Kumari would probably just say, "President, are you crazy? Your hair has always been red, hasn't it?"

Of course, powerful magi like Touko and Alice could still remember Aoko's former hair color, as they were strong enough to resist the memory-altering effects of such a memetic infection.

While listening to Kumari's incessant chatter, Aoko made her way to her classroom.

She opened the door and glanced at her teacher and classmates, whom she hadn't seen in several days.

Since class hadn't officially started yet, the teacher was still preparing for homeroom, and the students were chatting. But as soon as they noticed Aoko's return, the room fell silent, even the teacher on the podium momentarily lost for words.

Aoko didn't feel awkward at all. She confidently walked into the room, nodded toward the teacher, and then made her way to her usual seat—second to last by the window.

Yes, this was the throne of destiny for many protagonists across the multiverse (laugh).

The teacher didn't comment on Aoko's hair color or her extended absence and simply continued with the usual rhythm of the homeroom session.

"Today we'll be having our monthly exams, so everyone, make sure you're prepared," the young teacher, Yamashiro, reminded the class. A chorus of groans erupted from the students, many of whom had completely forgotten about the exams.

Aoko didn't care in the slightest. After all, the difficulty level of the material taught at a private high school was meaningless to her. If she wanted, she could have already gone off to college.

In this world, Misaki Town was located on the outskirts of Tokyo, which was why Aoko could attend Asagami Girls' Academy nearby. The famed Root of All Things was located in Fuyuki City, deep within Tokyo.

Once she dealt with the messy affairs back home in Misaki, Aoko planned to apply for university entrance exams. The University of Tokyo seemed like a good choice. With her current knowledge base, plus the intelligence boost from being a magus, acing the entrance exams would be a piece of cake.

Competing with regular students at this point felt like cheating.

Around 9:30 AM, Aoko began the exam.

Since Misaki High School was a private school, they completely ignored the Ministry of Education's policies on reducing academic pressure. As a result, the students faced a heavy workload.

Aoko glanced at the schedule written on the blackboard and saw that there were at least six exams to take today.

In the morning, she'd be tested on Modern Japanese, Mathematics, and Chemistry. After a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon exams would cover Physics, English, and Physical Education.

Courses like Health, Home Economics, and Aoko's elective subjects of German and Latin were scheduled for tomorrow.

After receiving the exam papers from the teacher, Aoko quickly skimmed through them. Without waiting for the teacher to finish explaining the rules, she began answering.

Her pen danced elegantly across the paper, each answer forming perfectly in one go. Aoko's responses were flawless, and even her handwriting could be used as a model for calligraphy practice.

Naturally, Aoko completed the exam far ahead of time. She confidently handed in her paper, and the teacher, already familiar with Aoko's capabilities, simply reminded her not to make noise in the hallway and disturb her classmates still taking the exam.

With time to spare before the next test, Aoko left the classroom and strolled through the campus, her steps light and carefree.