Ch.5047 – The Way Home from School

One of the reasons I considered attending Cephiron Academy positively was that academy students could receive mana tax reductions or exemptions even outside school grounds.

The tax credit exemption for 2nd Circle magic included not only low-income households but also academy faculty and students.

It was suffocating how even using minor spells would cost me 10,000 or 100,000 won each time.

Just like our ancestors couldn’t imagine a time when people would buy water, I often forgot that I had to pay money every time I used magic.

At this rate, will they start charging for the air we breathe in the future?

I always paid the mana tax myself, keeping it secret from Professor Cheon who was already covering my potion costs – asking him to pay for that too would make me seem too childish.

Of course, I planned to pay back the outstanding 120,000 won whenever I got the money.

The five stages of magic: Recording-Injection-Activation-Storage-Casting.

The tax payment structure occurs during the “Storage” stage.

When a magic circle activates, the national protocol immediately transmits the position and phase information of the injected mana to the nearest mana power plant.

The power plant, which holds refined mana, substitutes an equal amount of mana at that location and casts the spell on your behalf.

This is how the modern magic operation system works.

I’ve tried the old method before, but casting magic without the storage stage was nearly impossible.

Without developing “wand” types like Professor Cheon’s portable synthesis circle writer, or special mana integrated circuits, magic wouldn’t function properly.

By rough calculation, forcibly casting a 6th Circle Hellfire-grade spell without the storage stage would produce just enough power to light a cigarette.

Not that I’ve tried casting 6th Circle magic.

If it actually activated, I’d need months of recovery from mana depletion.

So I was planning to research various spells while on campus to find a treatment for my mana addiction, but according to Manager Kim, the portable mana detector can observe mana wavelengths in real-time.

I got goosebumps when she mentioned it could even accurately identify the spell caster if they wanted to.

I thought it was a rather lax system since students were only verbally told not to use magic without permission with no apparent enforcement, but it made sense that the academy would have at least one reliable measure in place.

While they respected students’ autonomy, they couldn’t let them escape responsibility.

In that sense, I was lucky to have received special consideration.

Well, I was prepared to pay anyway since the spell was used for Yuna’s sake.

I noticed that the 2nd Circle “Tissue Regeneration” spell I used on Yuna previously wasn’t detected.

In contrast, today’s 4th Circle “Irreversible Reduction” was immediately caught, suggesting there must be a specific detection threshold.

Given Manager Kim’s personality, she definitely wouldn’t turn a blind eye even if she knew.

‘Should I experiment a few more times and risk getting caught?’

I decided against it since my actions might cause them to lower the detection threshold, making it impossible for anyone to use magic secretly.

“Do you have something to say?”

I asked Yuna, who was trudging along far behind me. She seemed startled that I spoke to her first.

Her constant sighing was getting on my nerves.

I slowed my pace to match hers.

“Come here.”

Seo Yu-na was truly a pitiful child.

Usually sharp-clawed like a cat, but when dejected like this, she resembled a puppy that had done something wrong.

Her red hair reminded me of the detestable mage from the hero party, Remilia Acephite, making my blood boil, but I decided to set aside my unpleasant feelings for now.

“You, you…”

Yuna’s words caught in her throat and went back down.

She tried to appear calm, but her pupils trembled uncontrollably.

“Are you heading home?”

“Huh? Y-yeah.”

“Then let’s go together.”

For a while, we walked along the main road without conversation.

The scenery hadn’t changed much from when I lived in my first life.

There were still old apartment buildings that looked like they were built in the early 2000s, and cars still rolled rather than flew.

But seeing outdoor advertisements projected in the sky without screens, or public transportation operating without drivers, I realized that technology develops asymmetrically.

“I’m running late today, so my younger brother will be worried. I’ll just take the bus. About the potion cost… I’ll pay you back as soon as possible. Sorry.”

Yuna said goodbye as she spotted an approaching bus.

She probably felt uncomfortable with me continuing to accompany her.

I was planning to see her all the way home if necessary, but if she didn’t want that, there was nothing I could do.

[Beep! Insufficient balance.]

[Beep! Insufficient balance.]

“Huh? That can’t be right?”

A troubled expression crossed Yuna’s face.

She hurriedly opened her bag and took out her wallet to check for cash.

But only a lonely 500 won coin tumbled down the bus steps and rolled toward me.

Public transportation doesn’t accept bills or coins anyway.

With no other choice, I boarded the bus and handed her the coin.

“Two people.”

[Beep! Children fare. (2)]

“Let’s go.”

This actually worked out well.

I wanted to talk to her about today’s events, and sitting comfortably on the way would be perfect.

“Why are you paying for me?”

“Just get on. The bus is empty. Let’s sit in the back.”

As soon as we paid, the bus doors closed and it departed immediately with a honk.

Even with AI drivers, the impatient nature remained the same.

Standing was dangerous, so I took Yuna’s hand and we sat in the back window seats.

“How long does it take to get to your house from here?”

“About 20 minutes. Actually, I don’t take the bus often, so I’m not sure.”

“I see.”

“…”

Yuna said that after getting off at the stop, she had to walk through back alleys for quite a while.

Was she walking 45 minutes to save just 1,050 won in bus fare?

That’s an hour and a half round trip.

“Why are you being nice to me?”

Yuna abruptly asked in a blunt tone.

“After all that thinking, that’s your first question? Do you dislike me, Yuna?”

“No! That’s not what I meant!”

“Then what?”

“Being with me is just a waste of your time…”

“Not at all.”

“I’m not popular with the other kids, I’m not fun, and I say mean things so everyone dislikes me.”

“I don’t dislike you. I like you and want to be friends. Let me ask you instead – do you like me?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“I’ll wait until you answer.”

I prevented Yuna from turning her head away and made her look me in the eyes.

Dealing with negative and dishonest children is easy.

You push them until they properly face their emotions.

The human brain might seem like a well-organized logic circuit at first glance, but it’s actually more like complex spaghetti code.

People often don’t even realize what emotions they’re feeling or what they’re thinking.

They can’t explain why they’re depressed or angry, and sometimes there isn’t just one cause.

That’s why we need to learn how to properly face our emotions.

Otherwise, we end up becoming irreparably broken personalities like Klaus, Sylvia, or Remilia.

“You know… attending the academy is really hard for me. I always go to bed late but have to wake up early for school.

Yesterday, I slipped going down the hill stairs, and even though my ankle hurt, I just kept walking.

But no one in our class talks to me. When I’m in pain, I don’t have any friends to tell.”

“So you sprained your ankle. Is that why you were limping during dodgeball in PE class?”

“Yeah… And at first, I didn’t like you. I didn’t like it when Seo-ri bragged about you in our class, or when you pretended to be close with Si-hoo.”

“Why didn’t you like it?”

“Well… I think I wanted to be friends with them too…

But they like you. Because you’re pretty, cute, smart, and mature. That’s natural.

It’s natural, but… *sob*… I was so jealous.

I wanted to be like you, so I took your medicine without knowing it was important…

You must have been angry with me… *sob*… *sniff*.

But now you act like nothing happened.

I hate you… but I also really like you.”

Yuna poured out her feelings as if relieved.

That’s good.

If she had kept hiding it, I wouldn’t have known she was such a crybaby.

I wiped away her continuously flowing tears with my thumb so she could finish speaking, but now it was like a broken faucet that couldn’t be controlled.

“I’m so sorry for eating your potion… *sniff*… I really didn’t know. I really didn’t. You’re not going to die because of me, are you?”

“Why are you so upset? And what’s this about dying?”

I hugged Yuna to calm her down.

She was such a small child, but with my even smaller frame, it was somewhat challenging to hold her. Still, I wanted to give her space to cry freely.

“*sniff*… I heard what they were talking about earlier. About having limited time. Doesn’t that mean you’re going to die soon?”

“Who said that?”

“At the school main building, a scary-looking man.”

“Did he say that? No, that’s a misunderstanding. I’m not going to die, so don’t worry. They said I’ll get better if I keep drinking the potion.”

“But… *waaah*… that means you’re in pain every day.”

She seemed to be making assumptions based on her painful experience with the potion, so I calmly explained my condition.

“The potion isn’t meant to be taken all at once like that – it should be mixed slightly with air. Have you ever tried wasabi, Yuna?”

“Yeah… it was served once in the school lunch when I was in first grade.”

“How was it?”

“Super super spicy. My head hurt.”

“But what about when mixed with soy sauce?”

“It was bearable.”

“That’s the principle. Understand?”

I’ve lived with worse mana addiction before, so a daily prescription of potions without side effects is nothing.

And while researching magic, I might luckily discover a cure.

I understood Yuna’s concerns.

“My mom is very sick too. *sob*… I was so scared when they said you had limited time. I thought I did something wrong again… I’m always causing trouble for everyone.”

“Your mother must be very ill. Is she in the hospital?”

“No, at home. While I’m at the academy, my younger brother stops by to take care of her… I don’t know.

What if I go home one day and mom suddenly disappears? I get so scared whenever I think about that.

Mom can’t see, and she can’t move by herself. It’s all my fault. My mom is sick because of me. I’m really a bad kid. A bad kid.”

I couldn’t probe further into the details.

What difference would it make to tell Yuna to stop blaming herself?

An outsider who can’t take responsibility should normally be careful with their words.

But unfortunately, my personality wouldn’t allow that.

“Yuna, have you ever introduced your friends to your mother?”

“Why ask that…? Never. Nobody wants to come to our house.”

“Can I visit your home? I’ll consider this as payment for today’s incident.”