episode_0007

Yerena’s skin was surprisingly rough for a noble lady. Her fingers were filled with calloused skin as if to prove the kind of life she had lived. I carefully wrapped my hands around hers.

“Thank you.”

Yerena Frost was no longer just bits of data beyond the screen. Once I saw the real face of the girl hidden behind her expressionless facade, I couldn’t treat her as mere data fragments anymore.

I gazed at Yerena, who always had an emotionless expression, and spoke.

“Please feel free to call me Cyan. There’s no need for formalities between friends.”

“Okay. Cyan.”

“Hehe…”

Yerena’s reflexive laughter at my words was a natural response for a gamer who had spent thousands of hours in Arcana Academy.

I couldn’t bear it when my favorite character called me with a gentle voice. I couldn’t resist.

Unintentionally, I found myself smiling widely, unable to contain my emotions.

Seeing me like that, Yerena, for some reason, softened her expression slightly and muttered softly.

“…Help me up now. I must be tired, feeling so weak.”

“Uh, oh. Yes!”

Yerena, who had been training for nearly twenty hours without eating anything, seemed quite exhausted at the moment, a fact I had forgotten.

“Oops?!”

“Ugh…!”

Two girls falling over with a scream. However, perhaps due to getting used to Yerena’s surreal appearance, this time I reacted quickly.

The scars under the gloves gleamed with a dark light. Teleporting two or more people with a blink consumed too much magic power, but I had my sword now.

Closing my eyes tightly, I gathered magic into the scars and pulled Yerena close.

“Just a moment?!”

“Make sure to hold on tight!”

Surely, Yerena must have been exhausted after training for so long without eating. Despite trying to ignore the soft feeling of fat under her chest, I held Yerena’s hand tightly, feeling her sweet scent through our touching skin.

[Activating the scar ‘Teleport’.]

Before my head could spin any further, I quickly activated the scar, surrounding us with dark particles.

“It might feel a bit dizzy!”

At the same time, the two girls’ sights were flipped.

The distance to the entrance of the training ground compressed suddenly. With a strange floating sensation behind every half-beat, we landed on the ground lightly.

I leaned on Yerena as we landed, feeling a sense of inertia.

“Uh… I didn’t want to use the scar together…”

“…Huh?”

Yerena, along with a bewildered groan, seemed to be experiencing teleportation using the scar for the first time. That might explain why her heartbeat was gradually getting faster.

I remembered feeling the same way when I first gained the ability to teleport. The sensation of space compressing, floating momentarily in the air, then being pulled back down to the ground.

It took nearly a year for me to get used to that feeling and start using teleportation in combat effectively.

“I’m sorry. It might feel a bit dizzy at first.”

However, Yerena remained unresponsive. It would take some time to understand why she was acting that way.

In the current situation where I was clinging to Yerena, it was completely unfamiliar to her.

“Oh, I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable…!”

I tried to apologize as I quickly tried to pull away from Yerena. Well, I tried until Yerena’s arms wrapped around me.

“…No. It’s okay to stay like this. You seem quite dizzy.”

“Huh?”

At Yerena’s oddly gentle voice, I couldn’t help but shudder involuntarily.

Yerena, who never showed emotions in the game, or if she did, it was just a fake smile, seemed like a different person in front of me. I couldn’t help but wonder why she was acting this way.

In response to Yerena’s warm words, I found her gaze quite charming and looked at her with a dazed expression.

“Well, I just thought you looked tired, so I let you lean on me. I didn’t have any other thoughts.”

Yerena unexpectedly became more talkative, making me feel more embarrassed. An awkward silence fell between us, and the sound of our racing hearts became unusually loud.

Not knowing what to say to each other, we stood still in an awkward posture for a while, with me constantly conscious of Yerena’s touch.

“It’s almost time for the training ground to be cleaned up. Could you both come out for a moment…”

And just as we were struggling to find the right words to say to each other, a savior appeared to break the awkward tension.

As Ellen walked around the training ground, she saw us in an awkward embrace.

“Oh, sorry. Should I come back later?”

No, she wasn’t a savior. She was a bomb, a huge bomb. And I, without even thinking about hiding my burning cheeks, quickly jumped out of Yerena’s embrace.

“Oh, no! It’s not what the teacher thinks, I was just trying to catch you as you were falling…!”

“Hehe, Cyan is indeed an interesting one.”

“Oh.”

As I frantically tried to explain myself, I froze as I saw Ellen looking at me like I was some cute creature.

So, Ellen wasn’t a savior after all. She was a bomb, and a huge one at that. And I had yelled for no reason, feeling pricked by her casual remark.

I silently raised my magic power and quickly activated the scar. Despite feeling a bit dizzy from using teleportation with Yerena earlier, I could still use the scar a couple more times.

“Uh, ah…”

“Cyan, are you okay?”

At Yerena’s emotionless voice from behind, I involuntarily activated the scar and ran away.

Ellen muttered as she watched Cyan disappear.

“Oh, was that too much? I should apologize next time.”

“…?”

Yerena, with a puzzled expression, looked at Ellen mumbling with a strange expression. Not understanding Ellen’s joke, Yerena couldn’t figure out why Cyan suddenly blushed and ran away.

Despite the awkward situation, Yerena found Cyan’s stumbling quite cute. With a warm feeling towards the good things, Yerena looked at Ellen.

“Instead, were you with Cyan?”

“Yes. I wanted to talk about the parts I lacked during the sparring.”

“Heh, I see. I was actually worried about what might happen between you guys, so I came back. Maybe I was just being nosy?”

“…It’s hard to hate someone like Cyan.”

Every time she looked at Cyan, a corner of Yerena’s heart felt at peace. Was this what people commonly called cute?

With no distance between them, it was hard to maintain composure, feeling cozy and then getting embarrassed and pulling away.

Quite an intriguing child.

Thinking so, Yerena slowly moved her steps.

The next day, 7 a.m.

Unlike usual, where I would go out for training as soon as I woke up, I took a deep breath of the morning air and headed to the field.

The third day of the academy’s class assignment test was all about evaluating survival skills. It was a battle royale-style test held in the northern forest of the academy, using large-scale magic circles for simulated combat.

Hundreds of students would be teleported randomly into the forest, fighting until the last one standing.

As someone with memories from a past life, this test format was quite familiar to me. After all, the creators of Arcana Academy were likely people who had lived in the 21st century like me.

“…I need to move as quickly as possible.”

In the school’s northern forest where the third day’s test would take place, there was something essential for me.

My magic stat was at D-. Without my sword, I couldn’t fully utilize my scar, Teleport 5 times. The scar was a monster that consumed magic.

If I kept carrying a sword, the problem would be solved. However, this was the Empire’s top academy, Arcana Academy. Naturally, students weren’t allowed to wander around with real swords.

I looked at my sword on my waist and muttered to myself.

“Even if I look at today alone, the item provided in the test is a special sword engraved with magic.”

The enemies wouldn’t attack me only when I had a sword. So, it would be wise to have a backup plan.

As I organized my thoughts, I approached the field.

Students stood in front of a large-scale teleportation magic circle. I quickly found the temporary Class A group.

“The third day of the academy’s class assignment test will take place in the northern forest. You will be teleported to random locations…”

Listening to the instructions pouring in through one ear, I checked my physical condition one last time.

My physical condition was good as always. Scar users rarely suffered from minor illnesses.

Although everyone seemed to be looking for friends to team up with, I wasn’t interested in that. After all, to obtain Hidden Pieces, I had to move alone.

[Training Sword for Academy 1st-year students][2☆] [Special Ability: Sturdy]

“My sword is in good condition…”

As the instructions were coming to an end, the bright, large-scale teleportation magic circle made a humming sound.

Having prepared for battle as usual, I stepped into the teleportation magic circle. No, I tried to step into it.

“Hey, there, commoner girl!”

“…?”

Before a noble-looking guy with third-rate villain vibes, accompanied by his entourage, could surround me.