episode_0113

“Ha… ha… !”

Jin Ye-seo was spending time in the training room again today.

The corners of my eyes were puffy and my white skin was all shiny with sweat, but I continued training without stopping.

Jin Ye-seo, standing in the very center of the training room, operates the particle array.

Points are delicately designated and lines of a given shape are drawn with particles.

-Tick… Tidig…

Then, a friction sound was heard from somewhere, and soon a ring of blazing flames began to engrave in the air around her.

The pitch-black flames create a very unique atmosphere.

She soon expanded the diameter of the ring and spread it in all directions.

The ring of black flame spread at a very fast speed, and was about to reach her target point.

-Pachang!

However, this time too, the flames do not reach the target point and scatter into the air.

When Jin Ye-seo sees him, her face is distorted with disappointment.

“… ”

She stood there with a helpless expression on her face.

Her mother succeeded in putting the family’s tilted family back on track, but the family’s unique magic, Black Flame, still remained unfinished.

And now the ball has passed to Jin Ye-seo.

From his innate magical talent to his sincerity in putting forth effort after effort.

Because she was a talented person who would lead the Black Flame that finally appeared, Jin Ye-seo was always followed by expectations that felt like a burden from a young age.

And although he has faithfully lived up to those expectations so far, Jin Ye-seo’s skills have been stagnant recently.

Even after repeated rigorous training, I could not advance beyond a certain point.

The achievement of singularity, which at first glance seemed so close to reach, was still far away.

“Ha… ”

Jin Ye-seo sighed in frustration.

Then suddenly. As she looks around the training room, an old wooden practice sword is caught in her eyes.

“… ”

Jin Ye-seo, seeing him, started walking without realizing it, and then immediately stretched out her arms and lifted up the wooden sword that was lying on the floor.

After hesitating for a moment, Jin Ye-seo lightly waved her arm a couple of times. It was clearly an unsightly, cheap wooden sword, but it cut through the air lightly and gracefully.

Jin Ye-seo then took a nose-dive as if possessed.

Although I majored in emission systems, I had at least some basic skills in the circulatory system in mind.

She immediately continues with several simple, continuous movements.

The movements are as smooth as one body, and a small smile is suddenly engraved on my lips.

It was a natural sense of achievement and achievement that I had never felt when I was half-forced to practice black flame.

But the next moment. Jin Ye-seo stands tall and stops moving.

Then, with a dark expression, he weakly throws the wooden sword back to the floor of the training room.

-Blubber!

The wooden sword that had powerfully cut through the air was once again scattered among dust and debris.

I didn’t have time to waste time on toys like this.

It had already been a long time since the student council executive informed her of the duel schedule.

It is a duel for the position of first-year student council representative, and of course the opponent is the masked male student.

Before I knew it, Jin Ye-seo was making an angry expression.

He is the most vicious obstacle that stands in his way.

Making up for past humiliation. Yeon Myeong-ha’s faction is hostile to Baek Seo-yeon.

Even if it wasn’t for the student council, there were plenty of reasons to duel with him.

Her immediate task was to somehow overcome him.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Jin Ye-seo concentrates on training again.

It was clear that she was a difficult opponent, but there was no place for her to retreat now.

“This time… I will win no matter what.”

***

The whole time, an excited and chaotic atmosphere filled the cradle.

Even though it was the Nakseong Day festival, nothing changed. Going out on weekdays is of course prohibited. The lecture will proceed as usual, and the only event will be a simple dinner held at Hwayang Hall that evening.

However, even that seemed to be too much to excite the students.

Even the Nakseong Day festival is not the only event scheduled for this week.

Before we knew it, the time for the second ranked match was approaching.

Moreover, before that, I have to fight with Jin Ye-seo for the first-year representative position.

I could instinctively sense that it was going to be a hectic week one way or another.

“So how many people?”

“First of all, I’m sure there are five people. If you do well, up to ten people… ”

Magic combat lecture time.

Behind me, as I sit waiting for my turn, I hear two male students chatting.

They were betting on who would get more candy.

The conversations held by other students around them were not much different from theirs.

The word ‘candy’ is thrown around a lot here and there.

I learned this fact late, but it is said that there is a custom for women to give candy to men during the Nakseong Day festival.

Some people, such as Muyoung, raised their voices saying that it was a commercial ploy by a large company… Most students, who always lacked things to do, didn’t pay much attention to that fact.

“Puhup… you? What nonsense is that… ”

“It’s real. It feels really good. If you do well, you get the whole basket of candy… ”

A person’s voice is heard, heedless of the ridicule, still proclaiming grand aspirations.

“… ”

Clearly, I thought I had no interest in this type of topic.

But for some reason, I feel uneasy.

It is said that the candy received during the Nakseong Day festival has two meanings. Dear, or something more.

Maybe I can get it from both of them. Out of pity, he asked me outright if I liked candy, and I think what Yena said was roughly in the same vein.

So what is disturbing my composure is the other side of the story.

My eyes turn to my left hand without realizing it.

The fourth finger feels particularly empty.

Someone might give a gift not out of affection, but out of deeper affection.

And she said she definitely had a fiancé…

-Quaang!

The car was about to sink into sticky, gloomy thoughts. A loud noise coming from somewhere instantly pulls me back to reality.

When I look up, I see a male student with an innocent look stuck upside down on the wall of the sparring hall.

“Big!”

The male student trembles his limbs and lets out a groan full of pain.

In front of him, a woman wearing a short training uniform stood tall and shook her head.

“Student Jaeryong Guk. No matter how much I think about it, I think you’re better suited for the emission field.”

Short, flowing hair, and a healthy body with defined abdominal muscles. He looks quite young compared to his position as a professor.

Shin Jae-yu, professor in charge of magic combat at Cradle.

“Isn’t it a bit harsh to not be able to last even 5 seconds? huh? It’s already been a few weeks since I entered school… ”

“Professor… Bones, it looks like my bones are broken… ”

“Extreme death… Rest assured. Because I controlled my strength properly to prevent that from happening. Assistant?”

She cuts off Guk Jae-ryong’s words with a single sword and waves her hand.

Then, the instructors carefully picked him up and dragged him out of the training room.

In the rest area next door, dozens of students were already lying in pain.

Even though she was sparring alone with more than fifteen people, the female professor did not look even out of breath.

There is only a light amount of sweat on the abs exposed next to the navel.

Aren’t students supposed to have greater physical ability? The wizard said it was most powerful right after flowering.

Once again, its strength and fighting sense feel amazing.

“How come this rider is young… Ugh, this is why I’m always getting pushed around by the emission-related kids… ”

She shakes her head as if she is dissatisfied with something and draws lines in her file.

“Okay, next!”

At her name, the male student who was just making a bet behind me walks out with a scared look on his face.

And in less than a minute, a familiar roar is heard, and the teaching assistants once again move the student who has fallen out to the side of the sparring room.

However, I didn’t particularly attach much importance to this class.

Rather, I had business to do with a man named Shin Jae-yu, not Professor Yoram.

***

After a long baktu-sul class. I approached Professor Shin Jae-yu, who was organizing tools with his teaching assistants.

“Me, Professor.”

Then she sensed my presence and turned her head.

“Huh? Why? Maybe because of class scores? I’m sorry, but I don’t accept requests.”

“… ”

As I was pondering over the lack of a suitable answer, the female professor soon sighed and grumbled.

“Ugh, just kidding. It’s not fun.”

Although we only exchanged words for a moment, I could immediately tell that there was something strange about the way he treated me.

Although he was originally famous among students as a person with a good personality… Should I say it feels more friendly than that?

If you think about it, it’s been like that since the first class.

They ask you to demonstrate various things for no reason, and if you do it well, they give you the highest score as if they knew you would do it…

It was only recently that I was able to infer a little bit about the basis for that strange sense of trust.

Professor Kwon Chan-yeol is said to have received support from the Black Lotus as a motivation for the leader.

And Professor Shin Jae-yu, who showed off his informal and open relationship with him.

In the public eye, the director was almost recognized as an idiot, but I remember Professor Kwon actually showing his support for him.

In that case, wouldn’t it be possible that Professor Shin Jae-yu, who is close to him, may also have a close relationship with the director?

They said that the two are cradle-senior-juniors, so if that is the case, then they are also cradle-juniors to the leader.

If that’s true, I can understand to some extent the source of that favor toward me.

And maybe… I wonder if I know something about the woman in my dream.

“So, why did our ‘Prince of Black Lotus’ come looking for me?”

She continued speaking in a teasing tone as expected.

“Do you want to get some advice to prepare for the duel?”

“Isn’t that a violation of the school rules? Rather, I would like to get some advice from the other side… ”

“Consultation… ?”

She tilted her head for a moment and then nodded.

“Okay. I understand first. Just wait a moment. I’ll just finish cleaning up here and leave.”

***

I followed her to the office in the faculty building.

As soon as you open the door, you immediately see an office littered with documents and miscellaneous items.

I was able to get a rough idea of her personality just by capturing that scene.

She stopped me and started cleaning busily.

“Do you want to stay there for a moment? I need to do some organizing… Wow!”

“… ”

Then, he steps on a can lying on the floor and stumbles.

How on earth do you find food and lodging in a place like this?

While I was waiting and looking around. Suddenly, an object on top of a pile of documents as high as my height catches my eye.

It was something that felt free-spirited and unsuitable for the office space.

Black fabric as soft as silk. Ribbons and lace fluttered everywhere, and there were two small holes and one large hole.

This must be underwear…

“Oh my! Why is this here?”

And the female professor, who let out a single scream, snatches the object at the speed of light.