Chapter 354

After getting a good scolding from Kara, I didn’t exactly stop fooling around…

To be honest, calling it fooling around is a stretch. The targets of my pranks were always those blissfully unaware.

They skipped practice and just slacked off. A prime example would be the troublemaker duo.

While the other students remained tense and retaliated adequately, those two were a law unto themselves.

So, I just decided to create a bit of fear to give them some real-life education. I threw in a touch of mischief for good measure.

‘It’s about time the sun comes up, so maybe I should stop messing around.’

I’ve had enough fun, so it was time to proceed normally.

With quite a few dropouts, there were hardly any students left. I checked the compass.

Two students were not far off. The distance wasn’t great from here.

‘Isn’t this the lake?’

Right in the middle of it, too. I put my questions aside and headed toward the lake.

The lake exuded a gloomy atmosphere, devoid of even moonlight. In its center floated a small boat.

In this pitch-black darkness, I could see perfectly, so it was easy enough to spot who was there.

‘What are they doing here?’

Surprisingly, it was Reina and Diana in the boat. I wondered how those two ended up together.

Pushing my curiosity aside, I decided to focus on what needed to be done. First up: getting into the lake.

Looking around, unfortunately, there were no boats in sight. I was left with no option but to swim.

‘But I’m not good at swimming…’

While there was a river in the Chaos Forest, it didn’t really have any deep spots. Hence, I never felt the need to swim.

However, just staying put wasn’t an option. After a moment of deep thought, I had a brilliant idea.

‘Is there really any need to swim?’

I could just hold my breath and walk along the bottom. At least I was confident in my lung capacity.

After gauging where the two were, I jumped into the lake.

Not knowing how to swim, I only made sure to keep water out of my nose.

‘There they are.’

Even though I couldn’t see anything, once I walked toward the little boat, it definitely came into view. It was much darker than the surrounding area.

I jumped a bit to confirm it was the boat, and touched the bottom with my hand.

It felt solid; definitely the boat. Honestly, I could flip it over if I wanted to.

‘I’ve never heard that Reina could swim well.’

Since I couldn’t swim at all, I was just walking on the bottom. An accident wouldn’t be a good idea.

So, I just decided to scare them a bit so they could escape. I kicked off the bottom with force and shot up to the surface.

“Surprise!”

-Splash!

My punch landed right on my jaw, and I mean right.

It wasn’t Rize’s fist. Not even Kara’s.

It was Reina’s punch, and I felt my brain shake for a moment. That’s how much power she packed.

‘Ouch. My head.’

As expected, just like in the stories. Even if her language skills were rough, her physicality was on par with or even better than Kara.

Our protagonist, Luna, was pure talent, so if Kara was a perfected warrior, Reina was right up there.

With outstanding innate talent and strength, she was definitely a promising prospect for the future.

Even though she dropped out of school in the Soul World due to bullying issues, I couldn’t let my guard down. She was indeed strong.

-Wham!

“Phew!”

I overcame the dizziness from the punch to my jaw and burst out of the water again.

When I resurfaced, I saw the little boat quickly drifting away. Reina was furiously rowing.

‘Using a battle axe for rowing?’

What a ridiculous sight. It was like she was steering a boat made of steel.

I could probably do it too, but I knew just how hard it was to actually row. It’s the pinnacle of inefficiency.

Anyway, seeing it drift further away made it seem like they would reach the shore soon. I decided to dive back down and walk along the bottom again.

‘I should learn to swim later.’

With such a great body, it’d be a waste not to be able to swim.

Finally, I reached the shore where the little boat had landed.

Looking at the spot, it was already gone. Walking in the water was slow, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Haah.”

I tossed my soaked bangs back. My clothes were all damp, making me feel a bit weighed down.

If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should’ve learned Drying Magic or something. I squeezed my top in disappointment.

‘No, wait. If I’d used Drying Magic, it would’ve turned to sand instead.’

My magic doesn’t have a middle ground. It’s no wonder Godin asked me not to use magic if I could help it, claiming my output was too strong.

Godin was one of the professors who encouraged the use of magic, yet he specifically told me not to do it.

Since I had no intention of abusing a power I couldn’t control, I agreed with him.

‘Anyway, let’s go look for them.’

I roughly dried myself off and took out the compass. Practice wasn’t over yet.

But what on earth was going on? Could it be because I just entered the lake?

“Huh?”

The state of the compass was weird. It was buzzing with noise and sometimes flickering on and off.

Could it really lack waterproofing? I felt a bit flustered and tapped on the compass.

When that didn’t help, I slapped it hard. Machines are usually obedient only when you hit them.

-Thud!

“Oh?”

But this compass wasn’t any ordinary machine. It was a magical machine.

When I banged it, the compass suddenly shut off. I shook it all around.

Even shaking it didn’t make it come back. Seeing this made one thought pop into my head.

‘What do I do now?’

Friday the 13th ended in a hilariously anticlimactic way.

*****

As the morning sun rose, practice came to an end. It had been quite an eventful session in many ways.

Students who had fainted gradually awakened from their protective spells, and professors gathered those students together.

As time passed, the expressions of the students grouped together were diverse. The Eastern students mostly wore discontented faces.

And rightly so, considering they had fought among themselves and ruined everything before even getting a proper practice in. The assistants didn’t even need to step in.

Next was the reaction of Leo, one of the troublemaker siblings. He huffed and puffed as he protested to the professors.

“How dare you conduct it like this?! I almost…”

“Almost? That’s your fault for being careless.”

“Even so, this kind of ambush is…!”

“Who told you to camp out during practice? If you don’t want your honor tarnished, then keep your mouth shut.”

“….”

Of course, the professors, especially Dis, sunk him with their logic. If he protested any further, he would just humiliate himself.

It wasn’t just Leo, either. The students who had their souls nearly sucked out by Sivar during the camping were also silent.

Most of them wore expressions that showed they knew exactly what they had done wrong. Some looked like they were drenched in shame.

What would be the reaction of Diana, one of the biggest victims and survivors from the practice?

Did she expose Sivar’s true nature like she swore during the session?

“Hey, brother?”

“Hello, Diana.”

“Uh, how… there’s no way that savage would—!”

Diana stammered while pointing at Sivar, the savage.

Currently, Sivar was talking with a professor, who appeared to be in distress, holding his head.

At this, Karas nodded as if he understood what was going on and replied with his signature bright smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s all a joke. Diana.”

“A j-joke? Really?”

“Yeah. It was just Sivar messing around, and I joined in a little.”

“….”

Diana’s expression upon hearing ‘joke’ was quite the sight to see. Her eyes trembled, as if she was denying reality.

And understandably so; the terror of that night was deeply engraved in her mind. She probably recalled that incident night after night.

But to just label it as a prank? That would infuriate her even more.

“Why would you help that uncultured savage?!”

“….”

Diana fell silent mid-sentence. Karas was staring silently at her with a bright smile, without a hint of response.

Karas was quite the talkative type, always quick to respond to questions.

For someone like him to remain quiet and just stare? That was a silent threat to be quiet.

If she didn’t keep quiet, who knew what might happen? Diana’s complexion turned pale.

“So it really was a joke. Sivar wouldn’t do something like that.”

Certainly, Reina, right next to her, didn’t care much for it. She nodded and spoke in her native language.

Karas glanced at her before turning his attention back to Diana.

Then he approached her and whispered, not in the common tongue but in the Matra Empire language.

“Diana.”

“….Speak, brother.”

“I don’t care how you live your life. Just don’t disrupt my entertainment.”

“….I will keep that in mind.”

“Good. My good sister.”

Karas smiled satisfactorily at Diana’s answer.

He then turned to Reina, flashing his characteristic friendly smile as he spoke.

“I heard your name is Reina? I was informed you’re a princess from Frozen.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s correct.”

Reina appeared flustered but responded earnestly as Karas focused on her.

Her grammar was still a bit off, but it was understandable.

“Today, Sivar and I pulled a little too much of a prank. I apologize for that.”

“No, no. It was fun.”

“It was fun, huh…”

Karas murmured that, looking at Diana, who wore a slightly tense expression.

Finally, he chuckled before saying something significant to Reina.

“There will be many more interesting times ahead.”

Meanwhile, Sivar, who had broken the compass, said:

“It’s all a prank, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Let’s be good about it.”

Surprisingly, he passed through without being reprimanded.

The chaotic Friday the 13th ended, and it was time to return to ordinary life again.

“Come on, apologize quickly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no. It’s okay. It’s my fault for messing around at that time.”

Oh, and of course, following Karas’s orders, Sivar didn’t forget to bow his head and apologize to Diana.

Diana, too, accepted Sivar’s apology while being cautious of Karas’s presence.

“Now that this has happened, how about we all have breakfast together?”

“Are you buying?”

“I’ll get something expensive.”

“Let’s go!”

“Go where? We need to wash up first before going!”

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