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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Knock, knock.
“Ahem, inspection. Lord Lockstryn.”
Gone was the voice that had been ringing through the hallway just moments ago; a polite and dignified voice now flowed from beyond the door. Having experienced this a few times, I was used to it.
I opened the door naturally.
“Hello, Mrs. Melida.”
“Oh-hoho, as I mentioned last time, I have yet to find a partner, so I am not married.”
“Oh, my apologies. Melida. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Of course, it is for you, my lord.”
“Haha, you have a mischievous sense of humor.”
This was a prime example of Lockstryn’s aggressive good looks working in a negative way. This woman couldn’t understand subtle hints.
What I meant was that I didn’t want to remember.
“Your beauty seems to have no end to its brilliance today as well, my lord. How is everything, are there any inconveniences?”
“None.”
“Ahem, let’s see. For someone who had a cold before, the room seems a bit chilly… Could the heater be broken!”
“The heater is fine. I’m used to the cold, so I lowered the temperature for a moment.”
“Ah, is that so! It must be magic that requires a considerable level even within the water attribute… Indeed, your shining talent is beyond doubt—”
Thud!
At that moment, a sound came from inside the room.
The sound of something like a book falling to the floor. Melida poked her head through the door.
“Is someone inside?”
She’s not even a very active person, yet she causes trouble at times like this. What did she touch?
“…I picked up a cat and am raising it.”
“My, a stray cat? I ordered them to be caught and killed on sight, but it seems one was left. They are so dirty, and what if your noble body were to be scratched!”
“Melida.”
I said, pressing my hand to my head.
“I’m very tired right now, so I would appreciate it if you would leave.”
“But still—”
“I have less patience than I look.”
Only after I explicitly put on a stern face did Melida’s relaxed expression harden slightly. At this point, she seemed to get the hint.
“We will be seeing each other often in the future.”
After a few seconds, Melida bowed her head.
“…I understand.”
In Somerbadge, the authority of a dorm supervisor is immense. They are also institutional nobles.
As long as it wasn’t at a truly rude hour, even if they entered a student’s room at will, there were no official grounds for reprimand. The same would apply even if it were Ainim’s room.
Still, the reason Melida backed down was, as expected, because I am Lockstryn. Because he easily gains favor with anyone.
“You must be, careful. There are many eyes watching besides mine.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
Thump.
What are you staring blankly at, don’t you see the dust in that corner over there. As soon as the door closed, Melida’s irritated voice once again filled the hallway.
Should I consider that a form of courtesy?
I locked the doorknob and turned back. Euria was frozen, crouched under the desk where the book had fallen.
Weren’t you not supposed to freeze your own body?
“Aah, ah…”
“I think I know what you want to say. I hinted for her to leave, so she should back off soon.”
I returned the fallen and overturned ‘Understanding of Representative Forms’ to its original place. Only then did Euria’s stiffened limbs move.
“It went over smoothly, so don’t worry about it. I just have to be careful. It’s not like I have anyone else to bring over.”
It didn’t seem to help much; she clamped her mouth shut and buried her face deep under her scarf.
For me, I just have to send her back a little later, but it seems Euria has something to feel guilty about.
“…Why am I always.”
“Always?”
“Just causing trouble.”
“I know, right.”
Now I think I understand a little.
I have a debt, so I must repay it. That is Euria’s motivation.
The reason she overlooked my stubbornness at the training grounds, and why she had to lend me her scarf in exchange for getting hurt.
So she must have wanted to end it now. Because she has only ever been hurt by such things.
—Says who.
“You know, people can be a bit calculating.”
I’m in a situation where I’m about to fall off a cliff and need to grasp at straws, and I can’t afford not to hold on to the thick rope that is Euria.
To survive, I desperately need her power.
“For instance, this scarf. Do you know how much it costs?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either. But you lent it to me for quite a while. How much would that be in money?”
“…I don’t know.”
“You can’t live by calculating every little thing like that. It might look like an exchange, but someone is bound to give more. Whether they’re kind or dull, anyway, there’s always someone who loses out.”
I held out the rolled-up scarf.
In this case, the one losing out is obviously Euria. In the progression of the episode, the value Lockstryn holds is incomparable to Euria’s.
The key is to cleverly hide that fact.
To make Euria feel like she is always indebted to me.
“Then what do I do?”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
Just stay quiet, that’s what I’m saying.
With a slightly apologetic heart, unable to return the small favors you received from me.
“In this world, you know. There’s a phrase that is sometimes cowardly and irresponsible, but incredibly warm, and it’s a shame you don’t know it, Euria.”
“What is it?”
“‘Help me.'”
Euria looked up from her crouched position.
“There’s no such thing.”
I had finally made eye contact with her since that day, but her expression was full of anger. It seems she couldn’t accept it.
I just shrugged my shoulders.
“There’s no such…”
Help me.
Father had already cried out countless times.
No one listened.
And things will be different now?
“…It’s too late.”
Euria stood up without taking the scarf. I remained seated and asked the departing Euria.
“You’re not taking it? I don’t think I’ll take it out again until winter.”
“You keep it.”
Oops. As expected, it’s not easy.
It was a declaration of her will to settle the debt no matter what. Of course, it was just one scarf, and Euria likely had spares.
Still, seeing her reaction, it won’t be long.
Before leaving the room, Euria left one last remark. For me, who isn’t properly accumulating levels or anything, it’s my only achievement.
“Still, thank you.”
Thump. The door closed.
As for me.
I am a body that can’t help but become a villain.
“From now on, we will have personal free practice sessions twice a week.”
The use of offensive magic within the school grounds is strictly controlled.
However, most magic—the ones referred to by star-levels—are based on offensive magic. Therefore, students periodically need a space to check their magical achievements.
“Sometimes the time will overlap with other grades, and observing the magic of your seniors can be a good study. Unfortunately, it seems we don’t overlap for now.”
Despite being underground, the interior, filled with lights, is bright and spacious. It looked like a soccer field could easily fit inside.
“That kind of wall can withstand up to 4-star?”
“I heard they just did new repairs.”
“They said Mage Kanin personally led the construction…”
Although a terrible incident had occurred here just a few weeks ago, the practice room had been completely rebuilt.
Even for freshmen, after just a month, they are assigned time to use the practice room regularly like this.
At this time, they can finally practice and train by actually using offensive magic.
“Most of the seats are open, but there may be magic you are embarrassed to show others or are secretly researching. For that, you can use the rooms over there with the barriers. Of course, we can’t see either, so no corrections.”
The class time is a total of 3 hours.
Four professors, one for each of the four major attributes, walk around the practice room, observing and correcting each student’s magic with their own eyes.
This large-scale corrective guidance, possible only at Somaturgy, is the essence of magical academy education.
While it’s said that there is no right answer in magic, the existence of wrong answers is a separate matter. Thanks to this, it’s no exaggeration to say that the students’ magic levels up with almost every breath.
So I.
“Lord Lockstryn…?”
“He went inside a barrier, of course.”
“We wouldn’t understand even if we watched.”
“I’m still curious!”
Hid.
Magic practice? Of course, I have to do it too. Getting used to it definitely has great meaning.
‘「Will · Tro · Tas」’
But I can only use 1-star magic.
And I can’t let anyone find that out. So I could only speak in a voice as quiet as a whisper.
Whoosh! Thud!
A single gust of wind that hit the wall scatters helplessly. At times like these, I feel a renewed sense of powerlessness. The comparison is also clear.
‘The magic that Baeller used…’
I remember the formula.
It’s the same attribute, but much more complex, as befitting 4-star magic.
Magic using a Quadruple Chain Form (Compression, Consecutive, Overlap, Rotation) and a Dual Independent Solution (Deployment, Advancement). The name given in the 2nd Archive of the Magical Society,
「Blade Vortex」.
“「Will · Tro Le Rife Lute—」”
“Waaah, stop, Lockstryn!”
A hand suddenly shot out and covered my eyes.
Blocking one’s vision was a classic way to neutralize a mage. It prevents them from performing the ‘solution,’ one of the three elements of a magic formula.
“…You scared me.”
“It’ll be a disaster! If you use something like that!”
Ainim, who had wildly waved her arms to disrupt the mana, was standing confidently in front of me.
What’s the point of the barrier then?
“I was just trying to imitate it.”
“Even while raising your mana?”
“I heard it could withstand up to 4-star magic.”
“Still, if someone like you uses it, it will wear out quickly! It’s an asset of the Empire, you know.”
She was saying that it was made using precious materials, so we need to be careful.
But isn’t that putting the cart before the horse? Though, I doubt a day will come when my magic can even scratch this wall.
“Were you next to me?”
“Yep. I just happened to be nearby!”
“I deliberately came to a corner where no one was around—”
“Yep! Coincidence!”
“Riiight.”
Ah, of course you were.
Her interest in me is excessively deep.
Of course, since Ainim is a major character I need to befriend at some point, it’s definitely a good thing that she’s trying to be friendly first.
But it was still too early for Lockstryn’s pathetic magical talent to be revealed.
“Are you not going back?”
“I don’t have anything to practice.”
“I do.”
That’s subtly annoying.
The practice room wasn’t small, but Ainim was definitely not a suitable person to be alone with in a closed space.
“But it’s the same for you, Lockstryn, right? Just controlling your power in a place like this isn’t fun.”
Tap, tap.
Every time Ainim snapped her fingers, a small fireball was created and flew off.
Even though it looks like that, it’s 2-star magic, so it explodes with a loud bang every time it hits the wall. That’s magic with its power halved because the incantation wasn’t chanted.
Just in case, I checked her status.
“Hah.”
It’s absurd.
Her Wind attribute, which was 3-star, had already become 4-star.
Her Spirit and Mana stats, which I designed to be the hardest to raise, have also gone up by one level. In just a month.
It’s enough to make me jealous.
“I only see what is visible to the eye.”
“What’s visible to the eye?”
“Your Highness is surely working hard where I cannot see. But honestly, I wouldn’t know.”
I’m wracking my brain where you can’t see me, but you wouldn’t know.
Of course, because even if I wrack my brain like that, there’s no visible change.
“I have one wish. I wish that even if I eat to my heart’s content and sleep all day, a better tomorrow than yesterday would be waiting for me when I wake up.”
“You’re too greedy, Lockstryn.”
“Then I start to compromise from there. Sometimes eating tasteless food, or doing boring studies, or cutting back on sleep.”
Do you know that there might not even be room for compromise?
“But if tomorrow is still the same, what would you do, Your Highness?”
“That’s horrible. I’d rather die.”
“Is that so.”
I smiled brightly.
Ainim, with her excellent imagination, would never be in such a situation, but it seems she understood what I was saying.
Enough to decide on suicide without hesitation.
“I’m glad.”
So I’m glad.
That it’s me here in this position, and not you.
“You do all the leveling up, you punk…”
“You’re saying a lot of strange things lately, Lockstryn. Who are you talking to?”
“I have a disease that makes me spout nonsense sometimes. Don’t mind me. Gangdong-gu, Cheonho-dong 568, Gangdong River Park Ville, Seoul…”
Because I still have the confidence to endure.
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