Ch.56Blue Sky 3

“—.”

The sound of a washing machine fills Seah’s dormitory.

We decided to tour the academy while waiting for the drying to finish.

Before leaving, Seah handed me white socks since I was in my school uniform.

I took them without much thought.

But… something feels off.

Why are these socks so long?

“You look so pretty, unni!”

In the end, I ended up wearing knee-high socks.

The bit of thigh flesh peeking out above the socks really bothers me.

I tried to take off the knee-high socks, disturbed by memories of garter belts from my past.

But Seah insisted that according to school rules, I had to wear socks that cover the calves.

Though something felt off, I decided to listen to the girl for now.

“R-really?”

Either way, she knows this place better than I do.

I should follow the school rules…

But wait a minute.

I’m not even a student here, so do I really need to dress according to their rules?

I wanted to point out this oddity, but we had already reached the campus.

It was too late to go back and change.

I walked slowly behind Seah with my crossbody bag.

She linked her arm with mine and introduced me to various places.

“This is the elite class, and that’s the remedial class. Sometimes the two classes have joint lessons.”

“I see… got it.”

Since I had longed for the academy so much, I was enjoying the tour.

The visual resemblance to a renovated high school brought back memories of my teenage years.

“Ah, just a moment.”

Seah’s phone rings.

She unlinks her arm from mine, looking a bit troubled as she answers.

She steps away slightly to take the call carefully.

The girl’s expression turns quite serious.

Soon, Seah hangs up and looks at me with a gloomy expression.

“Unni… a professor called for me, so I’ll be back shortly.”

“Sure. I’ll look around by myself.”

I nodded with a gentle smile.

Seah points to her phone and reminds me:

“I’ll be back soon, so make sure to keep your phone with you. Okay?”

She’s like a mother dealing with her daughter.

I gestured for her to go ahead, saying it’s fine.

“Phew…”

So I’m finally left alone.

My shoulders feel stiff, probably from walking around arm-in-arm all day.

Hanging out with young girls… it really drains your energy.

Now I can explore the academy by myself.

With my bag slung over my shoulder, I feel excited as if I’ve really become a student.

Even though I’m wearing a skirt…

I unconsciously kept pulling down the hem of my skirt.

My sneakers make squeaking sounds.

I walked through the school corridors, letting that sound spread freely.

“Come to think of it… I don’t see any students.”

Is it class time?

I strolled leisurely down the remedial class corridor.

Outside the corridor, warm noon sunlight was falling.

Plants bathed in that sunlight sparkled.

It’s incredibly peaceful.

I feel nostalgic, as if I’ve returned to my younger days.

I stood with my hands behind my back, looking at a flowerpot.

An unknown flower was blooming in that pot.

That flower, not knowing where it grew or who it was, shone alone in solitude.

“—.”

After staring at the flower for a while, I suddenly turned my head.

I heard a voice from the remedial class corridor.

I slowly headed toward the classroom, following the voice.

Then I peeked inside to see what was happening.

“Alchemy Practice” was written on the classroom blackboard.

Students were gathered in groups of three at large lab tables, listening to the teacher’s explanation.

Various potion ingredients were placed on the students’ lab tables.

From herbs like mint to water, milk, and even alcohol.

“Today we’ll be making intermediate health potions. Everyone brought their ingredients, right?”

“Yes~.”

The students answered the teacher’s question in unison.

They had prepared various ingredients and were showing off what they had brought.

But not everyone was confidently displaying their prepared materials.

A girl sitting alone in the corner of a lab table.

She had messy black short hair and a gloomy impression.

She even had bandages wrapped around her arm, suggesting she might be injured.

Perhaps she couldn’t prepare the ingredients in time?

I absentmindedly stared at the gloomy girl.

While looking at her, I quickly averted my gaze.

Someone was addressing me.

“Student over there?”

I came to my senses and looked toward the source of the voice.

It was the professor who had been explaining the practical test.

Wearing glasses with her hair neatly tied back, she smiled while looking at the corridor window.

“You’re late. How can a remedial class student be late for class too?”

My drowsy eyes snapped open at her words.

I pointed at myself and asked:

“M-me?”

“Come in quickly. Since practice hasn’t started yet, I’ll let it slide this time.”

The professor opened the classroom door with just a gesture.

She seems to have telekinetic abilities.

I entered the classroom in a daze.

Well, now that I’m in, I should properly explain that I’m not a student.

I approached the professor slowly.

And after calmly organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth.

“Your student is late, and Jiyoon almost had to do the practice alone.”

But before I could finish speaking, the professor cut me off.

The teacher scolded me while looking back and forth between me and the gloomy student.

“Please take your seat.”

All the students are looking at me.

With my bag on, I must really look like a late student.

The male students in particular seemed very interested in my crossbody bag.

They were staring blankly at the strap crossing diagonally over my chest.

“But I’m not a student here…”

“Save your excuses for the faculty office later.”

The professor adjusted her glasses with a serious expression.

She points to the clock placed in the middle of the blackboard.

“We’re wasting other students’ time because of a candidate.”

The practice had already begun.

I scratched the back of my head in this awkward situation.

Looking around, most of the female students were already staring at me with displeased expressions.

Unable to withstand those piercing gazes, I slowly headed toward the lab table.

There sat Jiyoon with her head bowed low.

I hesitantly sat down next to her.

Jiyoon fidgeted with her fingers while glancing at me.

I wanted to tell her the truth, for her sake too.

If she ended up paired with someone like me who didn’t know the lesson content, she’d surely fail the practice.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak to her.

But…

“H-hello?”

Jiyoon greeted me first.

She spoke with a stuttering voice, as if gathering courage was difficult.

“Um… hi.”

I had no choice but to return her greeting.

Jiyoon clasped her hands together, not knowing what to do.

“Thank you for being my partner. No one would pair with me, so it was hard…”

She mumbled as if happy to finally have a partner.

She looks like a small animal delighted to have made a new friend.

I couldn’t help but cover my mouth at her appearance.

She’s cute.

With this kind of reaction, I can’t bring myself to refuse…

If I reject her now, I’ll just seem like the bad guy.

I don’t understand why such a cute girl is practicing alone.

She seems like someone who would be popular at school…

“L-let’s start practicing. I’ll try my best to do everything.”

Jiyoon moved her small hands like a restless hamster.

She placed flasks on the table and began gathering ingredients like collecting sunflower seeds.

“Is that okay? Won’t it be hard by yourself?”

I looked at her with concern.

Everyone else was working in groups of three, but she was doing all this alone.

It obviously looks very difficult.

“It’s okay… I usually did everything by myself even when paired with others.”

She smiled at me.

The girl had bruises here and there on her forehead.

Though she tried to cover them with her hair, up close, it wasn’t enough to hide all the blue marks.

My mouth fell open at the sight.

This child.

She’s being bullied.

My lips twitch.

Even in these dark times, is school violence still happening?

Anger rises within me.

Who would…

I turned my head to look around at the students focused on their practice.

The elite class students and remedial class students were divided in half.

Among them, three female students who appeared to be from the elite class caught my eye.

Their lab table had far more ingredients than the other students.

They seemed to have no interest in the practice and were playing around with flasks.

One was even just looking at her phone with her chin resting on her hand.

“Don’t look over there… they’re from the elite class.”

Jiyoon murmured as if worried about me.

It seems this academy has discrimination based on rank.

I finally turned my head and decided to focus on the practice for now.

Since things have come to this, let’s help Jiyoon complete the class safely.

Mixing potions should be similar to mixing cocktails.

“How’s the practice going?”

I asked, looking at the glasses and flasks on her table.

Jiyoon slowly shook her head.

“No… I think it’ll be hard because we don’t have enough ingredients.”

Indeed, our lab table had noticeably fewer ingredients.

We barely had any alcohol or drinks that most other students had.

“Why does only our table have so few ingredients?”

When I asked, Jiyoon replied with a bitter expression.

“The elite class students took them. I buy their ingredients too.”

“Why would you?”

I don’t understand.

Why would she buy supplies for students from a completely different class?

“Well… because I’m a remedial class student. My abilities are the most worthless…”

She smiled bitterly as if such class discrimination was familiar to her.

Seeing that smile, my face momentarily hardened.

I know the meaning behind that smile.

It’s the face of a weak person accustomed to pain.

How could I not recognize that emotion? I lived with that smile my entire life as an F-rank healer.

Those of us with ambiguous abilities always tried to avoid contempt.

We’d get up early to prepare for raids, cook, and take care of weapon cleaning.

It’s true that in raids, people with lesser abilities should help with these menial tasks.

But…

These are just kids.

Do they need to learn this even at school?

They should study under equal conditions.

That’s what school is for.

My lips twitch.

Soon, the sense of kinship I felt toward her began to transform into anger.

That anger quickly leads to action.

“Can you tell me about the intermediate potion’s effects?”

I asked in a husky voice.

When my previously kind and feminine voice changed, Jiyoon asked in confusion:

“Huh…?”

“I’ll help you. With that potion.”

I promise Jiyoon with a serious look.

She stared at me blankly, as if pierced by my unusual gaze.

But soon she collected herself and recited the potion’s effects to me.

<Intermediate Potion>

Rank: ★★

Effect: Recovers 20% of health over 10 seconds.

Information: A blue potion. Usually made by mixing powder medicine, energy drinks, etc., supplied by the academy. There’s no fixed recipe, so students can make it freely.

Powder medicine… energy drinks… recipes I’ve never heard of before.

But since the other students took them, we don’t have these ingredients anyway.

Then let’s make another drink with the same effect.

All that matters is the recovery effect, right?

“So we just need something that can restore health?”

“I guess…?”

Jiyoon looks at me with a dumbfounded expression.

She seems curious about how I’ll overcome this with no ingredients.

“Don’t worry.”

I took off my crossbody bag from my shoulder.

And confidently placed it on the lab table.

The sound of glass bottles clinking comes from inside.

These are cocktail ingredients I prepared for tomorrow’s academy lecture.

“I’ll make you the top student in this practice.”