“Today, the teacher has a meeting with someone from the foundation, so the fourth period will be replaced with free time. Instead, I’m going to hand out a questionnaire, so make sure to fill out all the questions and place it face down on my desk when you’re done. Don’t forget to write your names! Until you’re finished, you can’t leave your seats, okay?”
““Yeeesss!””
“Oh, one more thing: on the last page, you have to answer by yourself, so if someone asks to see your answers, you can’t let them. Then, enjoy your lunch after you’re done!”
Teacher Jacqueline hurried out of the class after handing a stack of papers to Han-gyeol, who was sitting in the front row.
“Wow, free time is awesome!”
The number of questionnaires given out was roughly three double-sided A4 pages long.
Since the questions didn’t seem too many, the class was buzzing with excitement, thinking about finishing quickly and then playing.
Yuna poked my back, prompting me to turn around.
“Let’s write the questionnaire while talking!”
“Sure, it’ll be boring alone, right?”
“Yep!”
Si-hoo glanced at us disapprovingly from the side, but what could we do if Yuna suggested it?
Wait, maybe I was oblivious? Just in case, I tried inviting Si-hoo too.
“Si-hoo, do you want to join us?”
“No. And questionnaires are meant to be filled out alone, you know?”
“But everyone else is doing it together! Is it because you don’t want to be with Yuna and me?”
“Uh… no…!”
“Why wouldn’t Si-hoo want to be with me?”
When Yuna innocently asked, Si-hoo looked flustered.
“I won’t interfere, so you two go ahead and work hard!”
“I was going to do that anyway.”
I turned my chair completely to face Yuna.
“Should I switch seats with you?”
My friend Johan, sitting next to me, asked.
“No. The teacher told us not to leave our seats until we finish. We have to follow the rules.”
After all, it’s important to be a law-abiding citizen. Adults should set an example in front of kids.
“It looks like there will be a lot to write in essay format, so it might take longer than I thought…!”
“Yeah! It’ll probably take about 15 minutes.”
“Right. Let’s finish quickly and then we can play together.”
We wrote our names on the first page and flipped it over to check the first question.
[1. What is your favorite subject?]
Without hesitation, I checked the box for ‘Magic Infusion’.
“Wow, you picked already?”
“What about you, Yuna? Is it a tough question?”
Why wouldn’t she choose magic?
These kids seemed to have never experienced a world without magic, so they might not understand how amazing it really is.
Magic undeniably follows cosmic physical laws, but that’s just a theory; honestly, magic is still an unknown entity to me.
In a world without mana, firing a missile requires numerous scholars running around, brainstorming, writing formulas, and going through thousands of tests.
Otherwise, it could explode right there instead of functioning.
Yet, with magic, as long as you maintain the basic framework, you can cast spells in the desired direction.
Of course, the greater your scientific knowledge when solidifying the magic circle, the more powerful and accurate the spell becomes, but even at this level, it’s remarkable.
In the end, overwhelmed by my insistence, Yuna also circled ‘Magic Infusion’.
What could she do? I was determined to make her love it.
“Let’s quickly answer the next question.”
“Least favorite subject? Mine is PE.”
I never liked using my body for pointless things like dodgeball.
My body was weak, and I simply didn’t enjoy moving around by nature.
“I figured you’d say that since you sleep through PE every time. For me, it’s art.”
“Art? That’s a surprise; usually, everyone likes it.”
“My older brother is really good at drawing. He always laughs at my drawings, so I don’t like it much…”
“Haha… I can see why.”
Crushing a child’s innocent spirit is a cruel thing. So this is what sibling rivalry is like—I understand it now.
When you live under the same roof as someone your age, it naturally makes you want to tease them.
[4. How would you introduce your family?]
I hesitated, thinking about whether to write Professor Chun’s name on the line, deciding that wasn’t the intention of the question. So, I simply wrote two characters.
‘Dad.’
It felt a bit strange to finally have a family that felt family-like.
[5. How would you describe your personality?]
It was a question I had never thought about, so my pen hesitated for a moment.
[…Seriously, how can someone be so self-centered?]
“Hmmm… Yuna, what do you think of my personality?”
“I think you have an angelic personality!”
“If I write that myself, it’ll be way too embarrassing!”
“But it’s the truth. You’re totally like an angel.”
An angel? Come on, that’s a bit much. Writing that I’m kind would look way too insincere.
I turned to the girls chattering next to us.
“Hey, what do you think of my personality?”
I honestly was curious about how I appeared to others.
In the past, I stressed too much over such things and had long since stopped thinking about it.
I was somewhat intrigued.
“Umm… I don’t know! Haru, what about you?”
“Uh… well…”
Nuri said she didn’t know, and Haru hesitated to answer.
“If you don’t know, I’ll just write something random.”
“I think you’re like a mom!”
“…?”
What’s that supposed to mean?
Haru’s totally random comment left me speechless.
“No, no, that’s not it!… I mean you’re kind and cool like a mom…”
Haru waved her hands to backtrack.
“That’s a new way of expressing it! I’ll write that!”
“Why not an angel…!”
“Still, an angel for my personality is too much.”
Yuna puffed her cheeks in protest. Some things just aren’t possible.
After that, easier questions followed.
Questions about my habits, interests, what I do in my free time, books or movies that left an impression, and recent joy or sadness.
I answered each one carefully.
When asked who has had the most significant influence on me, I paused for a moment but eventually wrote the name of my beloved teacher.
[Maria Euphrasia Terarubi]
The last page had to be completed alone, so I thought it must be important, but it ended up being nothing much.
Suggestions to friends, things I want to tell the teacher privately, and messages to the academy, etc.
I quickly jotted down answers to the dull questions and finished the questionnaire.
“Are you not done yet?”
Yuna was struggling with the last page for several minutes.
“But… but… it’s too hard…”
“Why?”
“The third question from the bottom…”
[Who are the three friends you get along with best in class?]
With a deep sigh, Yuna collapsed onto her desk.
—
Teacher Jacqueline Carroll’s job continues even after the kids have gone home.
She had just finished grading a mountain of reports from the magic infusion performance assessment over a span of three hours.
Of course, if she hadn’t watched V-tube in between, she could have wrapped it up in under two hours.
When a new school year starts, parent-teacher consultations always occur. After one ends, another parent is waiting.
“Let’s see who’s next… ah, it’s Yuna and Johan.”
Scheduling consultations at the beginning of the semester was a real hassle.
Since the academy mandatorily conducts parent consultations, she had to unashamedly recruit busy parents into the academy somehow.
She explained precisely where the children excelled based on aptitude evaluations, along with a brief insight into their school life from a teacher’s perspective.
Additionally, Jacqueline conducted a survey to understand how the class was functioning overall and what the children were thinking.
It was already the second day of parent consultations, but she hadn’t even begun compiling the questionnaire results. Today, she vowed to make it happen and placed a stack of papers in front of herself.
The questions on the questionnaire varied.
They started with simple queries about who their closest friends were and what concerns were troubling them.
As she entered each response into a data cell, she grumbled about how, in this day and age, they still had to process things analogously.
The primary concern among Sephiron Academy students was grades at 65%, followed by friendship issues, lack of free time, and family relationships.
Compiling the question asking for the three closest friends proved even more complex.
However, as she sorted through each response mechanically, dozens of arrows appeared on the screen.
The more arrows clustered together, the more it indicated a central figure in the class.
‘Han Seori’ received the most arrows, followed by ‘Lee Ha-ru’ and ‘Kim Han-gyeol’.
After examining what parents wished to hear or avoid, their usual study time, and suggestions they had for the academy, the last question caught Jacqueline’s eye.
If there was a student in class whose behavior she wanted to improve, who would it be and why.
Typically, kids who are popular with same-sex peers often receive disdain from the opposite sex.
To validate this, Kim Han-gyeol had received complaints from three girls for being too playful.
Lee Ha-ru also faced criticism from four boys for being too bossy.
While such issues weren’t particularly problematic, Jacqueline’s attention was drawn to another student.
Yuna, who received only two arrows from her classmates, was disliked by a majority of her peers.
Because she acted condescending, was selfish, cursed, and didn’t share her homework.
She was isolated in Class A for various reasons.
Only then did Jacqueline recognize the seriousness of the situation and looked over Yuna’s questionnaire again.
Noticing when asked to name three friends she got along with, she had written the same name in all three boxes.
[NoName / NoName / NoName]
The girl thought to be the best student in class ranked first ahead of Yoon Si-hoo.
Moreover, she was also selected as the student others wanted to befriend the most.
Jacqueline quickly found Na-me’s questionnaire to check whom she named as friends.
[Seo Yu-na / Han Seori / Yoon Si-hoo]
“Looks like Na-me has been looking out for her. But who is the last person?”
