Episode 66. Magic Thesis Research

“Lucy. Do you perhaps… like Hoyeon-ssi?”

At Lumi’s voice, Lucy’s thoughts momentarily froze.

“W-what??? Wh-wh-what are you talking about! Why are you suddenly asking something like that?”

Lucy stammered, trying to play dumb.

But Lumi wasn’t going to let it slide so easily.

“Lucy. Listen carefully.”

Lucy was taken aback by her younger sister’s serious expression, something she’d never seen before, but she fell silent, overwhelmed by it.

“If it’s now.”

Lee Hoyeon lingered in Lumi’s mind. Various fun memories surfaced, along with some secret relationships.

A faint blush crept onto Lumi’s face.

“Lumi…?”

Lucy sensed the slight tremble in Lumi’s hand gripping her shoulder.

“If it’s now… I can yield.”

“Lumi?! What are you suddenly…!”

“But, I can’t be sure about tomorrow… and if this week passes, it’ll be too late.”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

“Really… you’re not interested in Hoyeon-ssi?”

Lucy was confused.

It wasn’t just Lumi’s sudden seriousness; her feelings for Lee Hoyeon were also complicated.

Honestly, Lucy thought she did have feelings for Lee Hoyeon.

The time Felix saved her, the times he cheered her on, and his promise to stand by her side. He was a truly grateful and precious friend.

But if asked whether it was love… Lucy couldn’t definitively say yes.

The words ‘man’ and ‘love’ had never existed in Lucy’s life.

Having lived through men who approached her for her body, adults demanding sponsorship, and peers who leered at her chest, the feeling of loving a man just didn’t resonate with her yet.

‘Could this be love? I like Lumi. I like Lee Hoyeon too. So, does that mean I love Lumi and I love Lee Hoyeon as well?’

Lucy pondered deeply but couldn’t find an answer.

In the end, Lucy could only give an answer based on her limited experience.

“…Yeah. Hoyeon-ssi is a really good friend. I don’t think of him as anything more.”

Only then did Lumi smile brightly and hug Lucy.

“Okay. Lucy. I like you the most.”

Pat pat.

“Yeah. I like Lumi the most too.”

Lucy hugged Lumi’s shoulders tightly as well.

However, Lucy tried hard to ignore the aching feeling in a corner of her heart, even while hugging Lumi.

*

“Hoyeon-ah, I’m sorry.”

Moon Surin suddenly apologized to me.

“Why are you saying that? Surin noona.”

“You must be tired already, and I ended up causing you trouble because of the scrutiny directed at me. This will never happen again.”

“…”

I’m sure it included scrutiny directed at me, not just at Moon Surin.

Shin Dongmin’s hostile gaze couldn’t be explained solely by scrutiny towards Moon Surin.

“Anyway, I’m truly sorry. Go get some rest. I’m tired too, so I need to rest.”

Moon Surin left those words and turned to head towards the chairman’s office.

Seeing her back, I felt an uncalled-for sense of pity.

“Surin noona.”

“Yeah? Why, do you have something to say?”

Although she had worried about me being tired, dark circles were clearly visible under her own eyes.

Her pupils, visible behind her glasses, were sunken due to extreme fatigue.

“I’m on Surin noona’s side, you know. I don’t feel offended or bothered by this, so don’t worry.”

“Hmph. Thank you.”

Moon Surin offered a faint smile, seemingly amused by my sudden words of encouragement.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m a capable man. You saw it too, noona. You must tell me if anything difficult comes up. Okay?”

“Pfft. Alright, alright. How many times are you going to say that? Thanks for the support.”

You have to repeat things multiple times for them to stick in your head.

Moon Surin entered the chairman’s office with a slightly more relaxed expression than before.

My favorability probably went up a bit more with this, right? So reassuring, so reassuring.

Since I had no more business with the student council, I turned around to take the elevator.

“Hello.”

“…”

Alice emerged from behind the corner, having overheard my conversation with Moon Surin.

Whoa, startled me. Why didn’t you leave and eavesdrop on my conversation? Huh?

“You seem quite close with the president.”

“Huh? Yeah. We are. Sort of.”

“Hmph.”

Alice slowly nodded and got into the elevator.

And then, until the doors completely closed, she met my eyes before disappearing.

“Uh… This isn’t good.”

I got caught wagging my tail.

*

“Help me out here.”

These were the first words I heard after finishing the meeting at the student council and visiting Professor Im Sol’s laboratory.

“How difficult must it be for you to ask for help, Professor?”

It felt like quite some time since I last visited Im Sol, but it actually wasn’t.

The commendation ceremony was on Wednesday, so it’s only been two days. It’s just that a lot happened in between.

“I was writing a thesis to present at the Magic Association, could you help me write it?”

“A thesis?”

I’m really not confident about that kind of thing. Just the word sounds difficult. A thesis.

“Yeah. I tried researching it alone, but finding the core of the magic circles is incredibly difficult. It’s brute force labor. Trying to find and organize them one by one feels endless.”

As she said this, Im Sol handed me the organized materials on magic circles.

“Just help me with this task. You’re the only one who knows the concept of ‘core formations,’ so you’re the only one I can ask for help… Please.”

Wearing a tight pink knit top, she leaned in slightly, making it hard to refuse. This person is definitely using her body. It’s impossible she’s bending over at such a suggestive angle unintentionally.

“Okay. Thanks to you, Professor, I even received an award, so this is nothing. But is this all the material?”

“Huh? Ah, I only printed out today’s portion. It’s too much to print all at once.”

“No, this much should only take about 30 minutes.”

“…”?

Im Sol frowned and looked at me. Her expression clearly said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’

“To use each and every magic circle, channeling mana to find the core formation, even if you’re fast, it takes at least 5 minutes per circle?”

“…”?

“…”?

We both looked at each other, puzzled.

“Ah.”

I finally realized the significant difference in our perspectives.

After all, I haven’t lived as a mage without [Mana Sensitivity], so how could I know what others see?

“Watch closely.”

I pointed a finger at the magic circle at the very top of the page.

“Explosion is an explosion magic, right?”

“That’s right? It’s an advanced spell, so the magic circle is complex too.”

“Anyway, the important part of Explosion is the explosion itself. So, to imbue the magic circle with intent and enhance the spell, you need to strengthen the stroke responsible for the explosion. That becomes the core formation, and it’s precisely here.”

I pointed to the stroke drawn slightly to the right of the magic circle’s center.

“Huh…?”

As expected of a genius mage, Im Sol seemed to be catching on now that I’d given her a hint.

“I’ll show you another one. The location of the core formation also depends on the attribute. For example, fire-attribute spells have it here. The formation that ignites the flame is the core formation.”

I don’t know the theory well, but I can ‘understand’ the structural composition of magic circles.

Even without knowing the principles of why it works this way, I can read what’s visually apparent.

That much should be enough. Even if I just point out the result with my finger, Im Sol is someone who can deduce the cause on her own.

“Hmm… Huh… Hmmm? Aha… I see!”

Im Sol looked at the magic circles I pointed to, then scanned the printouts in her hand, and even unfolded magic circles in her palm, making strange interjections.

Then, pressing both my cheeks with her hands, she said.

“Why didn’t you tell me something this useful sooner!”

“Gahk… Ahh, let go.”

Does she think I’m a baby?

Ignoring my reaction, Im Sol took a bite out of a slice of cake on the table.

“Wow~! Thanks to you, the time needed will be drastically reduced. It’s a relatively simple concept, why couldn’t I think of it?”

“Geniuses tend to overlook these basic things. And it’s only been a few days. If about a week had passed, you probably would have figured it out on your own, Professor.”

This is the truth.

Core formations are just a new concept, not a difficult one, so if Im Sol had brute-forced her way through various magic circles, she would have found the commonalities eventually.

“Maybe so. But it’s true you saved me a week.”

Im Sol made a happy expression, humming ‘hmmm~’. I wasn’t sure if that happy look was because of me or the chocolate cake.

“Speaking of which, do you know someone named Shin Dongmin?”

“Shin Dongmin? Who’s that?”

“The student council’s vice president.”

“Ah~ That half-baked kid?”

“… Yeah.”

He does look a bit strange. Hmm. There’s a reason Moon Surin dislikes him.

“But why about that ugly kid? Since he’s in the student council too, you should know him better, right?”

“Actually, it seems I might spar with Shin Dongmin. But I don’t know how strong he is.”

“How would I know how strong he is? I barely remember his name. Ah, I do remember he’s a mage.”

“Well, yeah, right?”

I didn’t expect much, so it doesn’t matter, but I can’t help feeling a slight sense of unease.

“You’ll win anyway, so what does it matter?”

“Huh?”

Im Sol said this while sipping her instant coffee.

“Where is there a mage stronger than you among the cadets? Except maybe Moon Surin, you could probably beat everyone up to the third year.”

“Really?”

“Isn’t that obvious? You dismembered two ogres by yourself, what strange talk is this? Could a mere cadet possibly match up to you?”

“I didn’t dismember them… Anyway, thank you.”

What the heck, I worried for nothing. I’m damn strong, wasn’t I?

---

• [Lee Hoyeon]

▶ Strength: 42

▶ Stamina: 48

▶ Agility: 43

▶ Endurance: 42

▶ Magic Power: 50

• Unique Authority: Combat Sense

• Skills: Eye Opener, Cotton Guard, Acceleration…

• ???: ???

---

Then again, just looking at the stats, I have become damn strong.

An average stat over 40 puts you in the upper ranks among cadets, so someone like me is considered strong.

“Phew. So, shall we start now?”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to? This. Thanks to you, I saved a lot of time, so I should give you a reward too.”

Im Sol opened her mouth, stuck out her tongue slightly, and moved her balled-up fist back and forth in front of her mouth.

Hmm, actually, thanks to Im Sol, I got a magic book and an artifact, so I was planning to let this slide this time… but when she makes such a lewd gesture, I can’t resist.

“Please take good care of me.”

Im Sol knelt down in front of the sofa where I was sitting, and I lowered my pants and took out my cock.

“Slurp. Lick….”

Her scarlet tongue traced up the shaft, stimulating my glans bit by bit. Im Sol, making lewd sounds, swallowed my glans and then stroked the remaining shaft with her hand.

“Kuhh….”

I barely managed to hold back the groans threatening to escape. How is it that her skills improve every day?

“Mmm… You know.”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, Im Sol pulled her mouth away from my cock. It was good, what a shame.

“Actually, last time I thought I was mistaken… but why is that… place of yours sweet…?”

“… Ah.”

I wondered what she meant, but it must be because of the reward ‘Sweet Body’ I obtained after conquering Lumi.

Since then, Liliana also said my body had a sweet scent, and Lumi mentioned my semen tasted good, so it seems Im Sol noticed it too.

“So there really is something to it! It wasn’t my imagination! I thought my taste buds were ruined by chocolate once and cut back, but it still tastes sweet here! Did you do something weird!”

“Aah! No, it’s a skill. I obtained a skill.”

Im Sol tightly gripped my precious part and moved it back and forth. I hated how good it felt despite the discomfort from the friction with her soft hands.

“A skill?”

“Yeah… I got a strange magic book from the black market and tried using it, and after that, my body became sweet.”

“… Then it’s not something weird.”

Buying or selling things on the black market was a common occurrence in this world.

Im Sol stuck out her tongue again and licked the precum from my glans.

“It’s delicious….”

Lick.

Im Sol’s eyes, looking at my cock, were the same as her eyes when she looked at the chocolate cake.