“You’re saying my common sense is… lacking?”
Ariel had a very displeased expression on her face.
“Uh… huh?”
As I hesitated, Ariel approached me with quick steps.
“This is the first time I’m hearing that my common sense is lacking.”
“Ah…”
…I might have made a mistake.
Ariel is one of those commonly referred to as a genius.
It’s not for nothing that she will later reach the level of a grand sorcerer.
Saying that she lacks basic knowledge must have been quite an insult, to be honest.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Ariel, I didn’t mean to-”
“You need to teach me.”
I stared blankly at her for a moment.
“Huh?”
When I cautiously looked at her, instead of an angry face, she was blushing as she looked at me.
“I’m going to be a grand sorcerer someday. If there’s something I don’t know, that’s unacceptable… so teach me.”
“Uh…?”
While I was hesitating, Ariel pulled me into her arms.
smack-
She briefly pressed her lips to mine.
“I… I said a kiss is natural, right?”
Dazed, I stared at her and placed my fingers to my lips.
Ariel’s face turned bright red, and she suddenly jumped back.
“I… I’ll see you tomorrow, Sera!”
I could only watch her hurriedly run away for quite a while.
After a moment, the words that slipped from my mouth were:
“…is this… a kiss?”
*
“I’m crazy..! I’m crazy, Ariel!!”
My face felt like it was on fire.
After running in a daze, I finally arrived at my dormitory.
I jumped under the covers and hid my body under the blanket.
I was definitely losing my mind.
I just kissed a girl.
And that too, someone I just met today.
“I haven’t even kissed my dad… but I kissed Sera…”
“Ugh…”
I kicked the blanket in an attempt to shake off my embarrassment, but my face was still flushed.
What if Sera hated me…?
For some reason, I didn’t think that would happen.
Rather…
“…Isn’t it okay?”
Sera herself said a kiss was natural.
Surely she’d brush it off lightly, right?
I hoped so.
For some reason, I didn’t want to feel awkward with Sera.
As time passed slowly.
As my heart gradually calmed down.
The sensations from earlier resurfaced.
I carefully placed my fingers where her lips had touched.
‘Sera’s lips… were really soft…’
…I want to do it again.
“Ugh…”
I don’t know.
I just can’t figure out what’s right or wrong.
After all, tomorrow, I would get to see her again.
I could think it through then.
So I forced myself to sleep, suppressing the feelings of excitement that tickled my heart.
*
As I said before.
I’m not that bright.
During my school years, I was quite distant from academics, and I was actually more interested in soccer and art.
That’s why I always spent class time dozing off.
Yeah.
That’s why.
It was inevitable. I couldn’t help but feel sleepy in class.
“Sleeping from the very first day of school? How lazy, Sera.”
“Ugh…”
Ariel scolded me with a pouty face.
But I felt a little wronged.
I knew it was wrong to sleep in class, but…
‘What do you expect me to do when I don’t understand anything…?’
I, who had distanced myself from academics in South Korea, couldn’t possibly understand the high-level academy education in this world.
Naturally, it was just boring.
All I could do was try to keep my eyes wide open and fight off the drowsiness.
Of course, I was scolded by the professor for dozing off in the middle…
“Sera. You entered late, so you’re behind everyone else. That’s why you absolutely can’t sleep.”
“Ehh….”
“The content of the academy’s classes is crucial to survival-”
While I was growing weary from Ariel’s continued scolding…
“Would you like me to cast a revitalizing spell on you?”
Someone said as they sat down across from me.
“Iris.”
When Ariel spoke, I looked at her.
The girl sitting across from me had pure white hair and ocean-blue eyes, a beautiful girl.
It was Iris.
“Hello, Ariel. And it’s nice to meet you, Sera. This is our first time facing each other.”
She smiled brightly and extended her hand to me in greeting.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen her like this before.
“It’s… nice to meet you.”
As I accepted her handshake.
Iris looked at me with a strange expression.
“Just as I thought…”
Iris whispered something quietly and then quickly smiled at me.
“We’re in the same class, so you can speak casually to me, Sera.”
Though she spoke politely, knowing her personality, I accepted Iris’s suggestion without much burden.
“Okay… I will, Iris.”
Iris smiled beautifully at my response.
Then she carefully leaned towards my ear and whispered in a barely audible voice.
“Are you perhaps trying to keep a secret?”
thump-
Her words made my heart skip a beat.
“Secret?”
When I asked back in a trembling voice, Iris whispered again.
“Yes. I was just wondering if you were trying to hide something.”
Her words made my mind go blank.
Wait… Did she notice my disguise?
No way.
It was a level of disguise that even Athena couldn’t detect.
Could even a student like Iris recognize such a high-level disguise…?
“What… what are you talking about?”
“Hehe… I know.”
A cold sweat trickled down my back, and my heart raced wildly.
As I looked at Iris with trembling eyes, she smiled playfully and whispered, “Sera, you have special abilities, right?”
“Ah…”
But what returned was an unexpected response.
A huge sigh of relief washed over me.
It seemed she didn’t notice my disguise.
She must have sensed that as a Saintess, I possessed unique abilities.
With a sigh of relief, I whispered back to Iris.
“Yeah… please keep it a secret.”
“Hehe… I will, Sera.”
“…Aren’t you two too close?”
While Iris and I were whispering to each other, Ariel jumped between us, looking sulky.
Her expression looked like she was glaring at Iris.
Iris blinked in surprise at Ariel.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ariel. I was just happy to meet a new classmate.”
Feeling that Ariel was increasingly getting clingy to me, I turned to Iris and asked.
“Iris, do you have any worries or troubles lately?”
At my question, she tilted her head in confusion, then shook her head.
“No? Not at all.”
Iris smiled brightly as she continued.
“Actually, I’m just full of happiness these days.”
I could see that Iris’s face truly wore a happy smile.
“The class bell will ring soon. I’m going to return to my seat now.”
As I watched Iris turn and head back to her seat, I murmured softly.
“…I’m glad.”
I had been worried a lot. But it seemed Iris was doing fine after all.
There were no signs that she would engage in self-harm, so I felt a little relieved.
While I was thinking about that, Ariel tugged at my sleeve.
“…Looks like you have a lot of interest in Iris?”
She pouted, as if feeling a little jealous.
She clung even closer to me and continued speaking.
“More than that, when are you going to tell me?”
“Huh? What about?”
“You promised to teach me the common sense things I don’t know!”
She spoke shyly, squinting her eyes at me.
“…Ah.”
That’s right.
In my enthusiasm for magic, I had promised to teach Ariel the knowledge she lacked.
Hmm…
‘But how should I explain?’
It would be quite difficult to just point things out verbally.
However, I could find the answer to my dilemma quite easily.
I could teach her just like Lily taught me.
Lily was a pretty good teacher in that regard.
Thanks to her, I was able to learn quickly.
“Okay, sounds good, Ariel.”
I smiled at her and spoke.
“Will you stay a bit after class?”
Her face turned bright red again at my words.
*
“Will you stay a bit after class?”
With just that one line from Sera, I completely lost track of all classes today.
My heart felt like it was about to burst, and I couldn’t focus on the lesson at all.
I earnestly waited for the class to end.
Before I knew it, school dismissal time had come.
While everyone packed their bags and headed back to the dormitory.
I stayed seated, waiting for everyone to leave.
Ten minutes passed.
Eventually, only Sera and I remained in the classroom.
As Sera approached my seat, holding a notebook she had been diligently writing in.
“Here you go, Ariel.”
I took the notebook she handed me in a daze.
“What is this…?”
“It’s knowledge for you, Ariel! I wrote down expressions that girls can and can’t use.”
Sera smiled brightly as she responded to me.
I stared at the notebook with trembling anticipation.
I wanted to open it immediately.
But as Sera had come near me, I found it hard to concentrate on the notebook anymore.
“By the way, Ariel… about the kiss we had yesterday?”
At her words, my voice shot up higher than I intended.
“Oh?! You mean the… kiss? Why?! D-did it make you feel bad?”
Sera shook her head several times.
“Umm. It didn’t feel bad. But I think Ariel might be misunderstanding.”
“Huh…? What do you mean…?”
“They usually don’t call that a kiss.”
“Huh…? Then what do they call it…?”
“Well… just a light greeting?”
“…Huh?”
A light greeting?
Isn’t that just a little peck?
Once again, my common sense was threatened by Sera’s words.
I looked at her with trembling eyes and asked, “W-What is a kiss then?”
After my question, Sera thought for a moment, then approached me with a mysterious expression.
“Well… a kiss is…”
As she spoke, she lifted her leg and sat on my lap.
I could feel her soft thighs against my legs.
“Yikes…?!”
Feeling her warm body temperature, a soft groan escaped my lips and my heart raced uncontrollably.
Looking at Sera with trembling eyes, she gazed back at me with a captivating look that could mesmerize anyone.
As I was entranced by her strange yet alluring gaze…
Sera cupped my face with her hands, leaned closer, and…
smack-
Her soft lips were again against mine.
“?!”
thump-thump-thump-
I felt her soft lips again.
It felt like my heart was going to explode.
But Sera didn’t stop there.
She quietly closed her eyes and gently parted her lips, opening my lips that had tightly closed from nervousness.
Then…
Her tongue slipped in between.
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