Chapter 53

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Frey hurried up the stairs.

She already knew which dorm room Lucia used since Alice had often visited there.

Suppressing her growing anxiety, she knocked on the door. 

Knock, knock. 

The dry sound echoed faintly.

There was no response.

Frey knocked again.

Knock, knock. 

Still, there was no answer.

Was she not in? Frey frowned, flexing her bandaged fingers.

Where could she have gone? After going through such a terrible ordeal, she should be resting quietly in her room, not wandering around… Oh.

A belated realization made Frey sigh.

She had forgotten. Earlier today, the class president had visited to ask if she was planning to check on Lucia.

Lucia was currently hospitalized in the academy’s affiliated hospital. It made sense that she wasn’t in her room.

“Then I’ll just head straight to the hospital… No, wait.”

Frey pressed her ear to the door.

There was a sound. Faint, but unmistakably, someone was inside.

Someone was there. But wasn’t Lucia still in the hospital? Could she have already been discharged?

Well, considering her supernatural ability, she’d recover quickly.

She was the kind of woman who could reattach her own severed head.

But if Lucia was still hospitalized, and the presence beyond the door wasn’t her…

“Did a thief break in?”

A surge of heat flickered in Frey’s eyes.

No answer came despite her knocking, and now there were faint sounds of movement. It was unlikely for a thief to target the academy dormitory, but who could ever be certain?

I’ll break the door.

It was an extreme thought she wouldn’t have considered under normal circumstances, but Frey didn’t even realize it.

She was that desperate.

Alice’s absence had stripped Frey of her composure and restraint.

If she truly unleashed her thermal rays, it wouldn’t just destroy the door—it’d obliterate the entire dormitory.

So, she needed to control her power. Her plan was to reduce the intensity of the thermal rays to simply melt through the door.

But before the crimson light could be released, the firmly shut door creaked open slowly, its hinges groaning.

“…What are you doing here? This is Lucia’s room, isn’t it? Did I come to the wrong place?”

Impossible.

No matter how flustered she was, she wouldn’t mistake the room like this.

Frey glared at the two people who stepped out of Lucia’s room.

One of them she recognized—the student from Class D who had sat next to Alice during the field practice.

The other was a stranger. They seemed to be a student, but definitely not from Class A. Was this person also from Class D?

“You… Your name was Alice, right? We meet again.”

“Why are you coming out of Lucia’s room?”

Ignoring Regina’s casual remark, Frey got straight to the point. Lucia’s social circle was as small as Alice’s. In fact, Alice was practically her only friend.

There was no way she had any connection significant enough for students from another class to visit her dorm. Especially now, with Lucia hospitalized, seeing the troublemaker from Class D emerging from her room was beyond suspicious.

Had they failed to curb their bad habits and come here to steal? She should have figured it out earlier, back when they tried to extort chocolates from Lucia.

Ah, right. Some people are like that.

The type who enjoy harassing those they look down upon, stealing their valuables.

“I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but calm down a little, okay?”

Seeing Frey’s eyes flash dangerously, Regina raised her hands in a placating gesture.

Perhaps remembering the thermal rays that had incinerated several monsters in an instant during field practice, her tone carried a hint of urgency.

“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? You came out of an empty room. What’s there to misunderstand?”

“Ah, so that’s how you see it?”

Regina shrugged.

She gestured toward the room with her chin.

“Come inside. Let’s talk in there.”

“…”

Frey hesitated for a moment but eventually followed her in.

Do they have some kind of leverage? Their confident attitude was bothering her.

For a moment, she wondered if it truly was a misunderstanding.

If it wasn’t, someone here was going to leave with a broken limb.

◈

“So, what you’re saying is that you’re here to help treat Lucia’s drug addiction?”

Frey sat on the bed, arms crossed.

Next to her, Lucia—whom she had thought was still hospitalized—lay fast asleep.

Regina had informed her that Lucia had been discharged today. If Frey had gone straight to the hospital, she would have missed her entirely.

“Even though I was trying to help, I was the one who caused the addiction, so I wanted to resolve it myself.”

“But Regina, while she could induce addiction, couldn’t treat its symptoms. So, she came to me for help.”

Seri spoke confidently, tapping her chest with pride.

She added that Lucia’s current sleep was a side effect of the treatment and that she probably wouldn’t wake up today.

Frey fell into deep thought.

There didn’t seem to be anything strange about their explanation.

If there were any trouble, it would be Class D that would face the consequences. They were already known as delinquents, and if they wanted to avoid being expelled from the academy, they’d tread carefully.

Besides, if they were truly beyond redemption, they wouldn’t have been admitted to the academy in the first place.

No matter how rare people with supernatural abilities were, there had to be limits.

The fact that they had been allowed into the academy was proof enough that they weren’t completely hopeless.

‘Was I being overly sensitive?’

Alice’s disappearance had left Frey feeling frazzled and on edge.

Even small things were being blown out of proportion in her mind, painting a negative picture of everything.

Was I really that desperate…

Frey sniffed the air. A sweet aroma had been lingering since earlier.

‘But still, something feels off. Their abilities are unsettling…’

She didn’t have any concrete reason to feel that way—just a gut feeling.

It wasn’t logical judgment but an instinctive intuition.

“Fine. You two can leave now. I’ll take care of Lucia.”

At Frey’s firm dismissal, Seri clasped her hands together and covered her mouth with them, feigning a soft smile.

Her eyes slanted downward, and she spoke gently.

“Are you okay, though? You don’t look so good. Those dark circles under your eyes… You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“What are you talking about out of nowhere?”

“The field practice. It was really dangerous, wasn’t it? Regina told me all about it. She said you were amazing.”

What is she getting at? Can’t she just leave?

Frey stayed silent, and Seri’s voice grew brighter.

“Have you been sleeping properly? No, I can tell just by looking at you that you haven’t. It must’ve been hard, right? I can imagine how you feel, going from a routine exercise to suddenly facing a life-threatening situation. Anyone would feel the same.”

“So, what’s your point? Stop beating around the bush and just say it. I don’t like people who talk in circles.”

“I want to help you, too! With my ability, I can relieve all your fatigue and worries!”

Seri’s crimson eyes shimmered eerily.

The sweet smell in the air became more intense.

Frey frowned as a sudden headache throbbed in her temples.

“You seem troubled, don’t you? You looked so anxious and tense earlier. Why don’t you talk to me about it? I’ll listen to everything.”

Seri leaned forward slightly, her face drawing closer to Frey.

The room seemed to fill entirely with the cloying scent of honey.

Frey’s head began to ache from the sweetness lingering on the tip of her tongue.

“And we can solve it together. Difficult things are always easier when you share them. If you try to handle everything alone, even solvable problems become impossible.”

Before she realized it, Seri was right in front of her, their noses almost touching.

Those ruby-red eyes filled her vision, swallowing her whole.

“Of course, it’s hard to share deeply buried worries with others. That’s why I promise—everything you say today will stay between us.”

“My worries…”

Frey’s head felt foggy.

It was as if the sleep she’d been postponing for so long had finally caught up to her all at once, draining the strength from her body.

“Take your time. No need to rush. Relax. Now, Alice…”

Seri reached out her arms and lightly stroked Frey’s back, almost as if pulling her into an embrace.

The sweet aroma overwhelmed Frey’s senses, making her nose feel numb.

Her sleepy eyes blinked heavily. If she closed them now, she felt like she’d plunge into deep slumber.

The crimson eyes in front of her drew her in like a vortex.

Beyond the swirling vision, Seri’s smiling face lingered.

“Ah…”

What was I thinking just now?

That’s right… I was here to see Lucia…

A sharp pain pricked her fingertips.

Frey’s mouth opened, as if entranced.

That’s right.

I…

What was I about to say?

Frey stared at Seri.

Unconsciously, she reached out toward her.

Red eyes. That was all she could see.

Her consciousness was being sucked into that crimson glow.

Ah…

So…

What I wanted to say right now is…

“Cut the nonsense.”

“Guh?!”

Frey’s hand shot out, gripping Seri’s slender neck.

Her fingers tightened with enough force to snap a bone at any moment.

Seri choked, her hands clawing at Frey’s arm. But the more she struggled, the tighter Frey’s grip became.

The dizziness that had clouded Frey’s mind moments ago vanished instantly.

Even the cloying sweet scent dissipated, leaving only clarity.

“I let you speak because I was listening, but… there’s a limit to how far you can push me.”

“Let go of her. She’s going to die.”

Frey’s burning gaze shifted toward Regina.

“A co-conspirator, huh? Did you drug me? Trying to cloud my judgment?”

“….”

“Are you really here to help Lucia?”

You better choose your words wisely.

Unless you’re fine with a hole in your head.

Frey’s growling threat filled the room as her glare bore down on Regina.

With a sigh of exasperation, Regina muttered under her breath.

“The last time I saw you, I thought you were just a gentle lamb… Turns out you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

How the hell are we supposed to clean up this mess?

 

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Stop moving.

Are you trying to play tricks on me? 

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Seri attempted an Academy Counselor (check out the novel if you haven’t)

Spoiler: it didn’t work!!!