episode_0169

“Haam… Huh?”

A fresh-looking female student yawned slightly in a state of lethargy. Then, she suddenly turned her head at the sound of a commotion outside the window.

“Hey guys. Look over there.”

Kwon Yuri, who noticed strangers walking along the street, gestured to her friends.

“Are you 3rd year seniors?”

Then, a female student wearing round glasses and with her hair in pigtails approaches and looks at me.

“Wait a minute… That means… ”

She made a face that seemed to be greatly disappointed after realizing something. The third-year students of the cradle were almost like half-actives. They spent more time outside the academy than inside.

The cradle would occasionally stop by to make regular reports or deliver supplies. Or it would occasionally attend a major event.

“I guess it’s already mating season. Time really flies… ”

When Kwon Yuri uttered words that did not match her innocent impression, Choi Ire spoke in a displeased tone.

“Hey. Be careful with your expressions. What kind of animals are we?”

Kwon Yuri didn’t even pay attention to Choi Ire’s nagging.

“Everyone else is like that too. Ire is upset because she doesn’t have a mate~”

“You really… ! Ugh… ”

Choi I-re, who had been glaring at Kwon Yu-ri with a spiteful look, groaned as if her stomach was hurting. It seemed like she was under a lot of stress due to the pressure she was receiving from her family.

“Why? Did you hear that again?”

“… If you don’t get engaged by the end of this year, don’t even dream of inheriting.”

Choi I-re grumbled in a voice full of complaints.

“Oh, really! What should I do if there’s no guy I like!”

“That’s right. Even I think it’s too much… Huh?”

Kwon Yuri suddenly saw something and looked slightly surprised.

“Isn’t that senior Garam? But he’s missing one hand?”

“What?”

A tall, muscular male student stands at the head of the group that returned. Where his left hand should be, a metallic, mechanical prosthetic hand appears instead.

“Where did that senior work?”

“Barrier. Did you end up like that after fighting the demons…?”

Kwon Yuri, who had been mumbling, turned her head to another female student who was not participating in the conversation.

“But seeing as you came back, I guess you didn’t lose your magic. That’s fortunate. Right?”

“… Okay.”

Hair that flows down like pitch-black. Two eyes that sparkle like gold.

Baek Seo-yeon was concentrating on student council work without paying any attention to those coming in.

‘I don’t think that’s the person…’

Kwon Yuri, who saw him, crossed out one candidate in her mind. Everyone already knew about Baek Seo-yeon’s love for her fiancé.

If someone like that came back with a serious injury, he wouldn’t be able to sit there so calmly, Kwon Yuri thought.

But the senior who just came in is from the principal’s collateral family and has impeccable skills. He is considered one of the most promising men in the current school.

If not that person, then who else could it be?

‘There aren’t any good candidates among the recent graduating class… but I don’t think they’d be a very old-fashioned type either…’

Then there is only one thing left. The possibility that the fiance’s very existence is a lie.

But Kwon Yuri soon shook her head as she remembered the sincere affection she had shown him throughout.

“… ”

Kwon Yuri, who had been silently lost in thought, suddenly threw out a topic.

“That’s right. Did I visit you in the hospital last time?”

“Sick visit? Who?”

“Our stylish mask junior.”

“What? Hey! Why are you visiting him in the hospital!”

Choi I-re, who immediately knew who he was referring to, shouted in displeasure.

“Ouch, be quiet… My junior got hurt, can’t you go? This is too heartless.”

Kwon Yuri grumbled, pretending to cover her ears. But she turned her gaze to look at Baek Seo-yeon.

“But he was still completely fine. He was almost completely healed? Now that I think about it, I think he said he would be discharged today… ”

Eyes that still appear calm, but their movements are still.

Relief, joy. And… jealousy? Anger?

‘I told you it’s really amazing…’

It was almost certain that the direction of her anger and jealousy was none other than Kwon Yuri herself. How could she react like that to something as simple as a visit to the hospital?

But her wicked imagination continued to roam her mind. Forbidden love, or an affair? What was certain was that she could not even dare to guess the depth of that affection.

“Seo Yeon-ah.”

“Huh…? Why…?”

But no negative emotion could be found on her innocent face as she turned her head.

Kwon Yuri continued speaking, once again impressed by his control.

“Have you thought about compensation?”

It was about a just reward for saving the successor of Heukryeon. However, Baek Seo-yeon shook her head with a troubled expression.

“No… Not yet… ”

“We definitely need to get it. That should be enough to rip off at least a few businesses. If you want, I’ll lend you my legal team too… ”

As Choi I-re spoke passionately, Kwon Yu-ri also added a word.

“That’s right. Seoyeon is too soft. In these cases, you have to be more certain.”

“Oh… Why do you say all the right things?”

“When else will we have the chance to shake up the successor of the Black Lotus like this? Right? I think it would be better to take him out with your body rather than with the business… ”

“Hey! If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, just get out!!”

Choi I-re, who had been making a surprised expression, shouted as if he had known this would happen.

“Why do you always yell at me! Seoyeon-ah. Demand it confidently!”

Kwon Yuri fought back with a look of injustice on her face.

“How about calling me your partner during social gatherings? Or your dedicated slave for a week…!”

“I told you to stop! Anyway, your head is a flower garden! It’s not helping!”

“It’s not a flower garden! And stop being so angry! That’s why you get dumped by guys all the time!”

The empty classroom was filled with loud voices. Kwon Yuri protested fiercely, but also glanced at Baek Seo-yeon. She had already lowered her head and was muttering something. Her earlobes were slightly flushed.

“Body, body… ”

At this, a smile appeared on Kwon Yuri’s lips.

She knew from the moment she first saw Baek Seo-yeon. Even though she pretended to be kind, she treated her as less than a friend.

‘It seems that the foolish Ire doesn’t know…’

More precisely, it could be said that it was a treatment close to indifference. Of course, that didn’t mean that I was particularly angry or resentful. Baek Seo-yeon was treating not only herself but all things in the world like that.

I just wanted to know more about the being that made Baek Seo-yeon so shaken up.

I also pushed the back of my friend who was hesitating in an unusual way.

‘…But Seoyeon is my friend.’

Of course, it wasn’t that difficult.

“Hey! I said it wasn’t me who got the car, I said I got it!”

***

-Bam!

The sound of a wooden blade breaking under the strain. It was a signal that the duel was over.

“Ugh… Huh… ”

A blonde schoolgirl wearing a tight-fitting training uniform collapsed to the floor with a thud, groaning harshly.

Today, it was especially bad. Her arms and legs were dyed bright red. Her hair, which had been tied tightly, was all messed up. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

“Haa… Haa… ”

The masked boy looked relatively unharmed, but he was still breathing heavily. The sparring had been so intense that more than ten broken wooden blades were scattered around the ground.

“… Okay.”

Anyway, it is always the winner’s right to console the loser. Lee Hyun, who approached Jin Ye-seo, hands her a dry towel and a small bottle as usual.

“Ha… Hehe… Go, thank you… ”

Jinyeseo was still unable to catch her breath. She barely nodded and accepted the things she was handing her.

The warmth of the fingertips that is felt immediately, and the hot sensation.

But this time, too, I didn’t feel any of that peculiar discomfort, just like I did that night in the ward.

Lee Hyun still found that fact strange. He couldn’t figure out how Jin Ye Seo had stopped feeling that way.

The only thing that’s certain is that dealing with her has become more comfortable than before.

Meanwhile.

Jin Ye-seo, who had been tilting her head at the unusual appearance of the bottle, soon opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Oh, this is… ”

She, like Choi Woo-jin, seemed to immediately recognize the true nature of the disease.

“It’s Blaine’s nectar…!”

Jin Ye-seo quickly turned her head towards Lee Hyeon. Before she knew it, her eyes were sparkling brightly.

“Why is something this good all of a sudden…?”

“Just drink it.”

Lee Hyeon answered nonchalantly, as if it was nothing.

“I brought it because I found it by chance.”

The energizer that Kwon Yuri brought. After hearing its identity from Choi Woojin, I just couldn’t get it down my throat.

He thought that sharing it with others might relieve some of that burden, but Jin Ye-seo had no way of knowing.

“Well, still… ”

Contrary to her hesitant words, Jin Ye-seo’s face was filled with unexpected joy. Things are things, but she seemed to place more meaning on something else than the value of the thing itself.

However, Jin Ye-seo soon realized that she was making a fool of herself and tried to control her emotions.

“… Ahem.”

Then she gave him a look of extreme caution.

“What are you planning? You can tell right away that you’re being sarcastic… ”

“What are your intentions? If you don’t want to drink it, just give it to me. Even if I give it to you… ”

“No, no… How can you give and take away?”

Jin Ye-seo carefully wrapped the bottle like a hen brooding over her eggs. Then, as if she was afraid it would be stolen, she opened the lid and gulped down the liquid.

The effects were self-evident. She could immediately feel her fatigue recovering and her sense of pain dulling.

Only then did Jin Ye-seo look at the masked male student with an embarrassed face.

“… Thank you. It’s really good… ”

“… Yeah.”

The masked boy just nodded curtly. The two sat there chatting about this and that.

A landscape that we have come to accept naturally.

Jin Ye-seo thought that this training room was just like a cozy haven for the two of them.

“… So, the colors and scents were expressed in the first city?”

“Yeah.”

Jin Ye-seo lifted her finger and manipulated the particle array. Soon, a small, black spark appeared from her fingertips.

Then, the scent from before spread out again, centering around her. It was quite sweet and quite addictive.

Lee Hyun looked around. The particles in the air scattered the sunlight pouring in through the window, causing it to flicker with a soft green light. It was the same color as Jin Ye-seo’s eyes.

“It’s so sweet. And it smells good. What is this smell…?”

“I don’t know yet. I guess I’ll have to look it up in the Pokedex later.”

“But this is… ”

Lee Hyun made a puzzled expression. Among the people he knew, there were a few who had manifested scent and color.

They each gave off scents to mark their respective territories throughout their daily lives. However, it was a bit odd that Jinyeseo’s scent was only emitted when she was writing magic.

“Maybe it’s because I found my aptitude too late. I’m probably the first one to express color and scent at this age. No, I’m almost certain. Others said they showed signs before flowering.”

Jin Ye-seo’s voice was excited. It seemed as if she was okay with such trivial things.

“What does that matter? I finally reached Category 1. That’s good. I can hide my true abilities until the next ranking round.”

The color and scent were clear evidence that he had surpassed the singularity as a wizard.

“I. I plan to use circulatory magic in this ranking match.”

Jin Ye-seo finally jumped up from her seat. Then, meeting the eyes behind the mask, she shouted with a voice full of joy.

“No matter who my opponent is, I will win unconditionally. Then everyone there will know. That I have reached Category 1 with Circular Magic.”

It was a very strange thing to say, considering that Jinyeseo had kept her training in circulatory magic a secret until now. However, she shook her head at Lee Hyeon’s question.

“Then my mother won’t be able to interfere with me anymore. That’s enough. Now I can have complete freedom… ! Really… ”

Jin Ye-seo was revealing her true feelings to Lee Hyeon without any filter. Lee Hyeon looked at her silently.

Just a brief training session. And just one real fight.

But I could tell from the conversation just now.

With just that level of experience, Jin Ye-seo was able to catch up with Lee Hyeon by two years in an instant.

It was a natural talent, a gift from heaven. It was a realm that he, who was nothing more than a shell, could never reach.

But I didn’t feel any shallow jealousy at all. Rather, I just unconsciously smiled faintly at the contagious joy.

“… Congratulations.”

Lee Hyun gave her heartfelt words. It was a fitting tribute to a friend and comrade who had saved his life.

“You deserve to be free.”

“Uh, uh… ?”

Jin Ye-seo looked noticeably flustered. She seemed to have never expected Lee Hyeon to say something like that.

“Thank you…”

I twist my fingers and avoid eye contact without realizing it, feeling embarrassed.

“Thanks to you. Thanks to you helping me train… I was able to become like this.”

Then, in the end, Jin Ye-seo expressed her gratitude, though she hesitated.

Even this was a very different experience, since she was always in a position to receive gratitude.

I always grumbled and looked at him with unnecessary suspicion, but I actually knew.

That men have had several opportunities to completely destroy themselves so far.

But he never once made that choice.

In fact, he was… far from the villain he had thought he was.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d still be chasing after empty dreams. And I’d be wasting my time, obsessing over impossible things.”

“It’s not because of me. It’s because you didn’t give up and tried hard. You don’t have to be so humble… ”

“That, stop…!”

Jin Ye-seo shook her face fiercely, which had turned red like an apple.

“Stop it! Are you doing this on purpose? Are you trying to embarrass me… !”

“I told the truth… ”

“Ugh… Stop it, I said… !”

Jin Ye-seo screamed. Then she sat down with a thud and quickly changed the subject.

As if trying hard to forget the shame.

“… So, why did you hit me so hard today?”

“Huh?”

“I really thought I was going to die from pain. Look at this.”

Jin Ye-seo stroked the area around her belly button. The handprints were now starting to turn into bruises.

She said, glaring at the boy in the turban-mask.

“Why did you hit me so hard? Are you angry or upset? Tell me quickly. If you tell me now, I’ll forgive you.”

“… ”

The masked boy remained silent, as if embarrassed. After a moment of silence, he finally opened his mouth.

“Just… trying to make you feel better… ?”

***

Jin Ye-seo sat alone for a long time after the man left.

“… ”

Jin Ye-seo stared intently at the empty bottle in her hand.

It was a strange thing. The worries and anxiety that would not go away even after torturing myself for hours alone disappeared with just one sparring session with him.

-congratulations.

-You deserve to be free.

“… So that kid knows how to speak so kindly.”

Jin Ye-seo’s mouth suddenly formed a faint smile as she recalled the man’s words.

“… Ugh.”

Then suddenly.

Jin Ye-seo groaned involuntarily at the tingling sensation in her lower abdomen.

She deliberately grumbled more as she came up with that ridiculous excuse.

“… Your taste is really weird. Aren’t you a pervert…?”

And then he muttered to himself again.

“I feel good… ”