Ch.57Blue Sky 4

“W-what is all this…?”

Jiyun stared blankly at the glass bottles spilling out of the bag.

Seeing her reaction, I smiled softly.

“What do you mean? These are our potion ingredients.”

The mole under my eye dances cheerfully.

Making cocktails is always enjoyable.

“Actually, I’m a magician.”

From blue Curaçao…

To chocolate-colored Baileys.

The unfamiliar ingredients drew the attention of other students.

The expressions of the elite class girls were particularly amusing.

They looked flustered that a variable had appeared in Jiyun’s practice that was supposed to fail.

Seeing my bag full of liquor bottles, they began to regard me like a witch.

Surprised by just this much?

This will be on a completely different level from those tasteless mass-produced potions.

What cocktail should I make?

Red Eye would be perfect for increasing stamina…

But I don’t have tomatoes right now.

I wonder if any of the other students might have some.

I slowly looked around at the other experiment tables.

Suddenly, I made eye contact with one of the elite class girls.

A student with an indifferent expression who had been looking at her phone.

She stared at me intensely with sharp eyes.

“You.”

What… what’s this?

Suddenly, the girl’s voice echoed in my head.

“Who do you think you are, helping that bitch?”

I soon realized the voice belonged to the student I’d made eye contact with.

Every time she moved her lips, the girl’s voice played in my head.

“Do you even know what her ability is?”

How would I know?

She’s just been diligently attending classes without using any abilities so far.

I slowly shook my head at her.

In response, the elite student made a horn shape with her fingers against her head.

“Monster transformation.”

Monster transformation?

My eyebrows twitched.

It’s an ability I’ve never heard of before.

“She can turn into a wolf monster at will.”

I carefully turned my head.

Jiyun was looking at me with an anxious expression.

She must have noticed that I was communicating with the elite girl via telepathy.

“She stinks when she transforms, and sometimes she even sheds fur—a total nuisance.”

“And recently, she suddenly transformed and even injured a surprised student.”

I looked down at the girl.

Jiyun, with her head bowed, mumbled.

“Sohee told you, right? About my ability…”

“Yeah. She was chattering away telepathically.”

I shook my head as if it was no big deal.

“It’s true. I can transform like a werewolf.”

Jiyun slowly raised her head.

Unlike before, her eyes had changed to yellow.

“Sometimes only my ears and tail come out, but when I get excited, I can transform completely…”

The girl’s pupils were cloudy like the monster species I’d seen in past raids.

But I wasn’t particularly surprised by her appearance.

I just stared blankly at those beautiful colors.

“Aren’t you scared…?”

Jiyun asks, seemingly unfamiliar with my calm reaction.

I responded with a slight smile.

“Not at all. It’s a pretty yellow color, isn’t it?”

I smiled lazily with my eyes narrowed.

The wolf girl, as if hearing such a compliment for the first time, blushed.

How could I be scared?

I’ve already seen countless eyes more grotesque than wolf eyes.

From the Red Snake Eyes of Death…

To Anna’s corpse-like white eyes.

Compared to those two, Jiyun is at the level of cuteness.

Like an adorable puppy.

“Even though I could hurt you if I get excited?”

The cute wolf girl mumbled with her hands tightly clenched.

I slowly approached her and whispered.

With my eyes narrowed.

“So, are you excited right now?”

Jiyun froze as if she had malfunctioned.

She covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she suddenly started hiccupping.

“N-no…”

Jiyun, with her reddened face, covered it with both hands as if embarrassed.

I chuckled at the sight and patted her head.

“You’re trying to control it somehow, right?”

As I asked, I felt a small irregularity under my palm.

Wolf ears had slightly protruded from Jiyun’s crown as she hiccupped.

“Y-yeah… I’ve been taking medicine regularly and training every day.”

Contrary to her words, the wolf ears were gradually emerging.

I forced a smile and slowly removed my hand from her head.

The medicine must have worn off already.

“That’s good then. Being able to transform into a wolf—it’s really a cool ability.”

“But if you hang out with me, you might get ostracized too…”

How thoughtful, worrying about me first.

I can’t believe this child would hurt another student.

“It’s fine. What can they do anyway?”

I’m not even a student here anyway.

I loosened my shoulders, which had been stiff from the telepathy.

Then I slowly laid out the cocktail ingredients I had prepared.

Seeing this, the elite female student began to chatter angrily again.

“Hey. Are you ignoring me? I said don’t help her! How dare a remedial class girl…!”

I looked at that girl from a distance.

Her face was contorted, cursing me with her expression.

I ignored her chattering.

I just lightly rubbed my ear.

“You’ll see after this is over. You’re really going to die!”

Go ahead.

I’m going to leave the school after this practice anyway.

I calmly turned my head.

And looked at the anxious Jiyun.

She was clutching her head as if in pain.

“I’m sorry, because of me…”

Jiyun is clearly the victim.

But for some reason, she was apologizing to me.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because you got marked along with a problem child like me.”

Jiyun sighed as if tired of all the self-blame.

I looked at her.

And raised her head so the girl would face me.

The wolf girl’s beautiful eyes soon met mine.

“Jiyun.”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t be intimidated. People can’t all be the same.”

I cleared away the flask on the experiment table.

Then I took out the shot glass I had prepared.

“We were all born different. Just because we wear the same uniform doesn’t mean our abilities have to be the same.”

I calmly told her.

“…”

But despite my words, Jiyun’s expression still looked gloomy.

It seems that the contempt and ostracism she had experienced couldn’t be easily overcome with just words.

I held her hand tightly.

And spoke softly.

“I’ll make you a cocktail.”

“A cocktail…?”

Jiyun repeated my words blankly.

“Yes. A cocktail just for you.”

I gently released her hand.

And slowly selected four cocktail ingredients.

Because I had decided what cocktail to make for her.

In a small shot glass…

Fragrant and clear Peach Tree, 1/2 ounce. (15ml)

On top of that, Vodka, 1/3 ounce. (10ml)

Beautiful blue liqueur, Blue Curaçao, 1/3 ounce. (10ml)

Pour these three ingredients slowly in order.

Soon, a blue color layer formed on top of the clear liquor.

“Wow… that’s amazing.”

Jiyun marvels at the alcohol that remains separated by color instead of mixing.

“Right? Because of the density difference, they float on top without mixing.”

The wolf girl stared blankly at the beautiful blue color.

Certainly, just looking at this visual, it’s pretty enough to be called “Blue Sky.”

But…

“Would you like to try doing it yourself now?”

I hand her a dropper from the experiment table.

Taking it, the girl stammered as if flustered.

“M-me? How do I do it?”

Finding her cute, I point to the milk on the experiment table.

“You’re saying I should sprinkle milk on this beautiful sky?”

Jiyun asked as if she couldn’t understand.

Her expression showed she couldn’t imagine adding milk to alcohol.

“Won’t it ruin it if I add milk here…? It looks like it might splash a lot…”

Jiyun cautiously asked me.

For her sake, I slowly held the hand of the girl with the dropper.

“It might.”

The two girls’ hands gradually move toward the blue sky.

Soon, the dropper containing milk arrives above the Blue Sky.

“If something mixes into this harmonious picture, it might look bad.”

I slowly pressed the dropper.

Drops of milk gently fall onto the surface.

“But sometimes…”

The cloudy milk slowly seeps below the surface.

Jiyun watches anxiously.

“Thanks to that one unique person, everyone can shine.”

The blue sky neither became cloudy by mixing with the milk, nor did it sink weakly.

Eventually…

Milk droplets float up above the sky.

And slowly dissolve to become beautiful clouds.

“Like this Blue Sky…”

It was finally complete.

A blue sky adorned with clouds.

<Blue Sky>

Grade: ★★★★★ (Legendary)

Effect: Instantly recovers 70% of health.

Information: Clear alcohol at the bottom of the glass, with blue sky and clouds blooming on top. This cocktail, presented by a Korean bartender, won a major competition in London.

All of this was completed with a few drops of milk, not expensive alcohol.

“That’s not the end.”

I took a pinch of sugar.

And slowly rubbed it between my fingers, sprinkling it over the Blue Sky.

Soon, it began to snow in the sky.

Beautiful sugar powder slowly sinks to the bottom of the glass.

“Ah…”

The young wolf girl’s eyes sparkle.

Like a puppy delighted at seeing the first snow.

At that face full of childlike wonder, I smiled gently.

“I’ll cheer for you, Jiyun. You’ll become a hunter more amazing than anyone.”

“…”

Jiyun’s mouth opened slightly at my words.

Unlike when I first saw her, the corners of her mouth, which had been turned down, were slowly rising.

“And with ‘that ability’ your friends dislike, you’ll save many people.”

I slowly pushed the completed Blue Sky toward the girl.

“Believe me.”

“I’m a magician, after all.”

Soon, the beautiful blue sky was placed on the examination table.

Numerous potions were displayed, and the most eye-catching among them was definitely our Blue Sky.

Compared to the potions that were about 1L in size, ours was just a 50ml shot glass.

“Now, shall we begin the evaluation?”

The professor prepared paper and pen.

And begins to taste the potions and grade them.

Jiyun seemed somewhat tense, clasping her hands together.

I stood close beside her for support.

“Hmm, well made according to the recipe.”

The professor took small sips of ordinary intermediate potions.

Just a little bit at a time.

Soon, she reached the turn right before us.

The elite class girls’ potion.

“Oh.”

She tasted that particularly intense white potion.

And nods with satisfaction.

“You’ve added a lot of ingredients. The effect is excellent, and the taste isn’t bad.”

The elite class girls crossed their arms and smirked as if it was expected.

As expected of top students, they seem to think they’ll be first in this practice too.

Despite not preparing a single ingredient themselves.

I watched them with narrowed eyes.

Soon, I made eye contact with another male student standing nearby.

Seeing the mole under my eye, the boy quickly averted his gaze.

What’s with him…

“However…”

The professor put down the elite girls’ glass.

And says while writing the grade on paper.

“The cost-effectiveness is too poor. Pouring in ingredients might improve the effect, but it’s too expensive to be practical.”

At the professor’s cold evaluation, the telepath’s face contorted.

Pursuing perfection, she gnawed on her lip.

“Now, let’s taste this ‘pretty potion’ that catches the eye.”

Our cocktail, with its distinctively small glass, captures attention.

The professor slowly held the glass and appreciated it like a work of art.

“Jiyun and… what was the name of that student who was late earlier?”

“Siho, ma’am.”

I raised my hand with a smile.

Other students whispered my name.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a potion with such a small volume. What are the ingredients?”

“Peach Tree, vodka, Blue Curaçao, and milk.”

I recited ingredients that ordinary students wouldn’t understand.

The professor also looked confused by the unfamiliar names.

“Except for milk, all the ingredients are alcohol?”

“Yes, but in this potion, ‘milk’ is the protagonist.”

The unnamed female student placed her hand on the wolf girl’s shoulder.

With newfound confidence, Jiyun also spoke proudly.

“That’s right. Milk is the protagonist!”

Seeing Jiyun’s brightened demeanor, the professor tilted her head for a moment.

Then slowly took a sip from the glass.

The elite girls watched.

Jiyun and I watched, and all the students in the practice room anxiously watched.