“I’m done for.”
Yuna patted her tangled hair while washing her face.
It was important to look good in front of the homeroom teacher for good grades, but what would they think of her suddenly running out of the classroom? The thoughts made her feel dizzy.
If she got points deducted because of this… she didn’t even want to think about it.
Plus, she had promised herself not to cry embarrassingly again, but looking in the mirror, her eyes were really red.
She firmly believed that all of this was because of the rumored transfer student, NoName.
Si-hoo got an 84, and she got an 82. Although it made her frustrated, it was something to hold onto for the future.
But after seeing the transfer student who arrogantly scored a perfect 100, Yuna felt her remaining self-esteem crumble down.
How on earth had they lived,
What kind of great home environment did they come from,
What amazing teacher had they learned from,
that they could perform magic so overwhelmingly well?
She gasped for breath as a tight pain gripped her chest.
She envied the other kids.
She wanted to learn magic without any deficiencies in a wealthy family capable of using wealth for a lifetime.
She wanted to worry about the distant future, not the immediate worries of today or tomorrow.
But she couldn’t do that because she was the only hope of her family.
How had she even gotten into the academy? So, Yuna couldn’t stop writing even late at night.
Her reflection in the washbasin showed her distorted image.
Dark circles formed heavily beneath her eyes.
It was the result of several sleepless nights preparing for the aptitude assessment.
She thought about just banging her head like this…
“Are you okay?”
“Who are you! Ah…”
Yuna turned around, startled.
At first, she thought it was a ghost, but lowering her sight a bit, she saw a small girl staring up at her.
“Get lost.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I told you to get lost!”
“I came to get medicine too. You’re not the only one using the bathroom, you know?”
Yuna thought, “What is this situation?”
But whether she liked it or not, Na-me entered the bathroom and dumped several empty potion bottles she had gathered into the washbasin.
Then, the only bottle that had liquid in it, Na-me uncapped and drank in one gulp.
Gulp.
Then nonchalantly, she went to the adjacent washbasin and rinsed the glass bottles thoroughly.
Black sludge bubbled down the drain.
“You.”
“What now! If you’re done, get out.”
“Your forehead is bleeding. Come here.”
When Yuna had come into the bathroom, she had accidentally bumped her head hard against the mirror.
Na-me grabbed Yuna’s head with both hands and forced her down to her eye level.
“What are you doing?”
“Stop squirming and hold still.”
[2nd Circle Cast: Tissue Regeneration]
When…?
A warm sensation from Na-me’s hands transferred to Yuna’s forehead.
Yuna didn’t even notice Na-me was casting magic, let alone recording it.
It wasn’t even a recording spell; it was direct casting.
It was magic she had never seen before.
From the green color, she vaguely guessed it was related to life activities. But that was just a vague assumption.
While Yuna was flustered, Na-me seemed completely calm from the beginning.
As if she thought this was something she naturally had to do.
Yuna squinted to check Na-me’s appearance.
She hadn’t seen her face properly because she was so small, but now she saw Na-me had really long and beautiful eyelashes.
How could all those features fit so neatly on her small face?
Especially her eyes, with their alluring upward slant, reminded Yuna of her old Siamese cat.
“Don’t get hurt.”
“Are you bragging that you can use magic on me now?”
Her long-harbored intention to say thank you slipped out first due to her old habits.
“Then do you want to learn? Come here.”
“Huh?”
Na-me’s hand overlapped over Yuna’s hand.
Trying to push her away in surprise, Yuna found that they were already interlocked.
“Do you know up to the 2nd Circle runes? Then I’ll just teach you how to draw them. Remember this well.”
Na-me’s mana flowed into Yuna’s hand.
A strange energy.
Yuna felt a bit dizzy, like her body was heating up.
“You must never draw the external circle first for the tissue regeneration spell. If you do, you’ll have to adjust all the control formulas to the external circle’s size, which is tricky. Start by drawing the triangle first.”
Slowly, but kindly, the two hands that were overlapped moved.
In addition, Na-me kindly explained each detailed element of the magic circle.
Every time she spoke, her exhalation brushed against Yuna’s shoulder, making it tickle.
“If you want to maintain the magic circle, using just a quarter of the mana for the first infusion stage is enough.”
“Got it…”
“Then, do you want to try?”
“Me? Try this? Now?”
Did everyone think they were a genius like her?
But Yuna couldn’t afford to be underestimated like this, so she desperately recalled the knowledge Na-me had taught her.
“Draw the triangle first… three ‘Mabeon’ at each vertex, no, two… one ‘El’… Then, calculate the area and draw the circle, and this is how I write the control rune, right?”
“Yep, that’s all good.”
Yuna carefully infused her mana into the completed magic circle.
It vibrated just like the magic circle Na-me had made earlier.
“You’re a genius too.”
“Of course! Not that I’m bragging, but why are you teaching this to me?”
“Being hurt as a child stays with you for a lifetime. So use it well.”
Na-me left a cryptic remark, causing Yuna to tilt her head for a moment, but she quickly figured out the cause.
“Why do you talk like you’re an adult even though you’re so young?”
“I’m an adult.”
“What are you talking about?”
When she carefully examined the mirror, Yuna’s wound was healed cleanly without any scars.
Realizing the mystery of healing magic firsthand, Yuna asked Na-me where she learned the magic.
“Who taught you this magic?”
“Taught?”
“There must have been someone who taught you. Like your parents, or a tutor.”
“I learned it all by myself.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Magic should originally be learned alone from the start to improve quickly.”
“Still, your parents must have helped you, right?”
“Neither of them are here.”
“Don’t tell me you’re lying again…?”
“No. I’m not lying.”
“…”
Yuna suddenly ran out of things to say and just fidgeted her fingers.
Who would have thought that her parents weren’t around?
After all, Yuna hadn’t considered that wealthy young ladies with smooth life trajectories would be everywhere at the academy.
In the end, the only thing she could think of was:
“I’m sorry… I also don’t have a dad, so let’s be even.”
*
“Oh no…!”
Na-me had already been gone for 15 minutes looking for Yuna.
As time passed, Si-hoo grew increasingly anxious.
It was no wonder, as he had come to realize that the people behind Na-me were not ordinary folks, and Yuna had provoked them.
He even wondered if they were locking her up in some storage room for a beating instead of simply bringing her back.
‘Should I go check now?’
But for Yoon Si-hoo, he had no justification to bring them back.
Of course, it made perfect sense; which teacher would believe that their student was a spy?
Si-hoo decided to lightly brush it off as an absurd thought.
But what if,
What if by some slim chance,
Even if Na-me wasn’t a spy, it was still enough for her to harbor bad feelings toward Yuna.
As Seori said, if Na-me truly had the power to take down senior students with just a wave of her hand, it would only take a moment for even Seo Yu-na to be overpowered.
She could be the one with her head shoved into the washbasin filled with water in the last stall.
Creek
“…!”
Contrary to Si-hoo’s worries, their appearance seemed fine.
Na-me came in through the back door first, followed by Yuna.
But unlike before, Yuna seemed unusually obedient this time.
What on earth had happened in the bathroom?
“I’m sorry, Si-hoo, Johan. We couldn’t do the group activity because of us, right?”
Na-me offered an apology.
“That’s okay! Are you fine, Seo Yu-na?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine…”
Was it really her who had just shouted some unmentionable curses moments ago?
Not only Si-hoo but Johan also seemed to feel the sweat dripping down his face.
The Korean language class, which wasn’t that significant at Sephiron Academy, eventually drifted to an end without much happening.
As Yuna feared, it wasn’t a subject with a grade for attitudes; it was enough just to perform well in the midterms and finals.
“NoName!”
As break time arrived, Seo Yu-na scampered over to Na-me’s desk and called her.
“Can you teach me that again? I forgot how to do it.”
“Come here.”
“Okay.”
“Hand.”
“Here.”
Yuna knelt beside Na-me’s desk and placed a hand on top.
It was no different from a trainer teaching a puppy.
Si-hoo wished he could just faint right there and then.
