Chapter 15

Inside the Magic Arts classroom.

Finally, after decimating the red bean buns, Sharine was cradling her forehead.

“You really hit me!”

“You kind of asked for it.”

I genuinely punched Sharine. It was the price she paid for not knowing when to stop messing around.

Sniffling, Sharine gently rubbed her forehead and shot me a glance.

“You’re going to keep this a secret, right?”

Now we were finally communicating.

“Sure.”

Hearing my response, Sharine flopped back on her desk.

“So, who are you?”

Ah, here we go.

Her eyes, twinkling like a galaxy, bore into me.

I couldn’t figure out what those lazy eyes were thinking.

One thing was certain: it wasn’t friendly.

‘Sharine is Isabel’s close friend.’

Sharine had been friends with Isabel for a long time.

I was the person Isabel disliked the most.

Sharine probably didn’t think much of me either.

“Recently, Isabel always talks about you.”

“Gossip? That’s a bad hobby.”

“Well, technically, she just gets mad at me about you.”

Sharine started to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger.

“Since Lucas died, Isabel has always looked so down. And it’s gotten worse as days go by.”

Isabel was falling apart.

Lucas’s death had left an irreplaceable void and pain in her life.

In a world without Lucas, Isabel couldn’t find the meaning of life.

“Every day she regrets, cries, and barely sleeps. At some point, she stopped talking to me.”

It hit me then just how serious Isabel’s state was.

“She seemed to lose interest in everything around her.”

As she recalled that day, sadness clouded Sharine’s eyes.

It seemed to sadden her that she couldn’t help her friend at all.

“But then you showed up, and Isabel changed a little.”

Sharine’s gaze turned back to me.

“Now she’s always angry, and she won’t let you ignore Lucas, doing whatever it takes.”

Anger consumes the most energy.

To stay angry, you need to eat three meals a day, sleep, and move your body.

Without that, it’s hard to sustain anger normally.

Isabel was living just to lash out at me.

I had filled the void in her meaningless life with anger.

“That’s something I couldn’t do.”

No matter how it manifested.

Sharine hadn’t become the meaning of Isabel’s life.

“But you’ve done that.”

Now I understood why Sharine had called me to be alone together.

“I didn’t plan it. All I did was bad-mouth Lucas.”

“Yeah, and that’s what’s keeping Isabel alive.”

Sharine stood up from her seat.

“Honestly, I don’t care who you are.”

She leaned in right in front of me.

“Isabel was slowly sinking because she couldn’t find a new meaning in life. But then you came along, and she started rising again.”

Sharine pressed in closer.

The jasmine scent she carried tickled my nose.

Before I knew it, her soft, delicate hand was overlapping with mine.

“I hope you’ll stay in that place until Isabel finds a different meaning in life.”

“…Anger doesn’t last forever.”

“I know. So I’m asking you to do that until then. If you do, I’ll do anything you want.”

I silently gazed at Sharine.

She wasn’t much shorter than me in my Hanon form.

That made her small face more distinct.

A beautifully shaped face overall, with a hint of drowsiness in her gaze.

I had no clue what she was thinking, but her gaze had an odd feminine allure.

And I’m sorry, but recently I ran into a woman with a much stronger allure right in front of me.

“So, that request is the condition for keeping my secret, huh.”

I had picked up on that much already.

“…Ah.”

At that moment, a sound escaped Sharine’s lips.

She rolled her eyes as if realizing that.

“…Did you really plan to do anything?”

Sharine pulled away from me.

As the jasmine scent drifted away from her, I felt a pang of disappointment.

A woman who knows she’s pretty and uses it is dangerous.

I made a mental note of that.

“A promise?”

Sharine, looking a bit shy, extended her pinky finger.

I watched it for a moment before speaking up.

“Sharine, I need to place in the top ranks in this mock battle.”

Sharine tilted her head, clearly confused about why I brought that up.

“To sustain Isabel’s anger, I need to outperform her, don’t you think?”

Sharine’s eyes widened.

Seeing that got my lips curling up.

Finally, I had grasped the upper hand in this conversation.

“You’re pretty good at magic, huh.”

“Yeah, I’m the best.”

How arrogant.

But she was right.

Sharine bore a natural talent and an innate characteristic for it.

Her eyes sparkled like the Milky Way with every glint of light.

When it comes to magic, she had a knack for grasping logic and principles.

Thanks to that talent, Sharine claimed the top student position among second-year magic arts students.

I couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

“Then what about the Magic Seals?”

Sharine blinked at me.

Her head gradually tilted as if considering that.

“…That’s an ancient magic technique, very outdated.”

She was correct about that.

Magic seals were a technique that existed before the concept of sorcerers was ever established.

They were found sporadically within the Magung Academy.

“So you can use them. Don’t tell me you can’t?”

Sharine slowly folded her arms in front of her.

Then she raised her eyes dramatically.

“I can do it.”

Her undeniable confidence in magic was quintessentially her.

I really believed that if anyone could do it, it would be Sharine.

“But magic seals aren’t very efficient.”

As she said, the efficiency of magic seals was lacking.

Out of the original magic, they only produced about one-tenth of its effect.

Furthermore, most spells usable were of low tier.

“On the bright side, beginners can use them. Plus, they can be inscribed by someone else.”

I didn’t know how to use magic.

Magic is a skill based on knowledge.

There’s no way I, with zero knowledge, could wield any magic.

Moreover, the Bickamon I had possessed had hopelessly no talent in magic.

I had realized that and focused on physical training with Aisha instead.

‘Under normal circumstances, I would completely disregard magic.’

But magic seals were different.

As long as a beginner learns how to channel mana and inscribe them, they could use magic seals.

Bickamon had been studying magic for a long time.

With that, he had at least the bare minimum skills to perform magic seals.

‘This world has more variables than I expected.’

To deal with such variables, it’s good to have at least one means at your disposal.

“Are you planning to learn it yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Just bring me a weapon. I’ll inscribe it for you.”

“Sorry, but it’s not a weapon.”

Her head tilted in confusion.

Not a weapon? What on earth does she mean? That was the look she gave.

While glancing at her, I smirked suspiciously.

“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you after I let you watch my mock battle later.”

I was going to show her something she never expected.

“Huh? What, Sharine and Wang Non?”

At that moment, a familiar voice chimed in.

Looking towards the door, I spotted Card coming in.

He still looked like he didn’t belong in the Magic Arts department at all.

“What brings you here? Trying to charm Sharine after Isabel?”

“Yep, I’ve almost got them all hooked, but you ruined it.”

When I replied casually, Card whistled.

How frivolous.

“Why Wang Non?”

Sharine seemed more curious about the nickname Card called me than my joke.

Card briefly glanced at me before breaking into a grin.

“Hanon has something incredible!”

Sharine shot me a sideways glance.

“What is it? I want to see.”

No way was I showing her.

“Sharine, come to the self-study room after dinner. I’ll teach you there.”

I relayed my message to Sharine before I left.

If I stayed any longer, I felt like I would get swept up in the banter between Sharine and Card.

Secret weapons were starting to get ready.

‘Mock battle.’

Get ready.

I was going to cause quite a stir.

* * *

Time flew by.

After adding the schedule for magic seal practice with Sharine to my day,

I found myself living a slightly more intense life than before.

I also praised Bickamon’s endurance to no end.

Endurance is national strength.

On one of those ordinary lunch days,

I was busy working on paperwork with Nikita in the Student Council room.

Usually, would there be this much work for the Student Council?

Well, especially with the first years coming in, there was plenty to do in the Student Council.

In about a month, things should lighten up.

Nikita told me that from then on, she could take it a bit easier in her Student Council activities.

“Thanks, junior. You helped me out again today.”

“Not at all. Senior Nikita, you’re the one working every day. I respect you for that.”

“You really know how to flatter.”

Genuine compliments are always appreciated.

At that moment, a commotion erupted outside the Student Council room.

“Are we moving this to Building A?”

“Uh, yeah, there are a few more back here. Let’s hurry up before lunch hour’s over.”

The voices belonged to the teaching assistants and Student Council members.

They were preparing for the upcoming mock battle.

Nikita usually worked more than the other members of the Student Council,

So while everyone else took a break, they shoved her back into the Student Council room to help out.

I had simply won a game of rock-paper-scissors to get out of it.

Men are all about the fist.

“It’s almost time.”

Nikita’s eyes sparkled with anticipation for the mock battle.

The mock battle is the time to showcase one’s efforts.

For someone like Nikita, the embodiment of effort, it was naturally an event to look forward to.

“It’s your first mock battle, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I had just transferred this year.

So naturally, it was my first mock battle.

“Have you prepared well? You seemed to be doing a lot of things.”

When she said that, I couldn’t help but smirk slightly.

Nikita gasped in astonishment.

“Oh, so you’re pretty confident, huh?”

“Well, those who prepare daily tend to do well in exams.”

“Yep, I know you’re putting in the effort every day.”

Nikita said that while tapping the table with her finger.

It was a little habit of hers when she was thinking.

“Hmm, the effort deserves some reward. How about this.”

Nikita looked at me with a bright smile as if she had just thought of something.

What a pretty smile it was.

“If you score in the top ranks this time, I’ll give you a prize.”

“What? Like a marriage proposal?”

“I’ll make sure to come in first.”

“Haha, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Are you really offering me marriage as a prize? Guess I have to get first place then.”

“Huh? W-wait, that’s not the prize I was talking about.”

“For our honeymoon, let’s go to a southern resort.”

“Junior!?”

While I momentarily enjoyed her surprise, she shot me a slightly annoyed look.

“You’re taking this too far.”

“But this kind of teasing is exclusive to you, Senior Nikita.”

Nikita’s annoyance faded away upon hearing that.

“I’ll be competing too, so you better win.”

With her robust support,

I had to go out and win.

The highly anticipated mock battle was about to begin.