Chapter 43

“I’m done for.”

Yuna washed her face and gently stroked her messy hair.

To achieve good grades, it was also important to be in the teachers’ good graces, but she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed thinking about how they would perceive her after suddenly running out of class.

If she ended up losing points because of this… she didn’t even want to imagine it.

Plus, she had promised herself not to cry again, yet looking in the mirror, her eyes were undeniably red.

She firmly believed that all of this was the fault of the new transfer student, Noname.

Shin Si Hoo got an 84, and she scored 82; it was frustrating, but it was a battle for another day.

However, seeing the transfer student get a perfect score made Yuna feel like her remaining self-esteem was crumbling.

Just what kind of life had that girl lived,

What kind of great family environment did she come from,

Which incredible teacher had she learned from,

That she could wield magic so overwhelmingly well?

Yuna gasped as a pain tightened in her chest.

She envied the other kids.

She wanted to learn magic without any shortcomings, coming from a wealthy family that could provide more than a lifetime’s worth of riches.

She wanted to worry about the distant future rather than the immediate today and tomorrow.

But she couldn’t do that because she was the only hope for her family.

How could she possibly get into the Academy… That’s why Yuna couldn’t put down her pen even in the middle of the night.

Her reflection was visible in the stagnant sink.

Dark circles under her eyes had formed thickly.

It was the result of several nights of barely sleeping while preparing for the aptitude assessment.

If only she could just bang her head against the wall like this…

“Are you okay?”

“Who are you! Ah…”

Yuna was startled and turned around.

At first, she thought it was a ghost, but looking down a bit, she saw a little girl staring up at her.

“Go away.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I said go away!”

“I came to take my medicine too. You’re not the only one who uses the bathroom, right?”

Yuna thought what kind of nonsense was this.

But regardless, Noname walked into the bathroom and poured a bunch of empty potion bottles she had brought into the sink.

Then, the only bottle with liquid in it was opened by Noname, who downed it in one shot.

A clean one-shot.

Afterward, she proceeded to rinse the glass bottles neatly at the side sink.

Black sludge bubbled down the drain.

“You.”

“What now! If you’re done, you should leave.”

“You’re bleeding from your forehead. Come here.”

When Yuna had entered the bathroom, she had banged her head hard on the mirror, causing the injury.

Noname grabbed Yuna’s head with both hands and forcibly lowered it to her eye level.

“What are you doing?”

“Stop squirming and hold still.”

[2nd Circle Casting: Tissue Regeneration]

‘When did…?’

Warmth from Noname’s hands transferred to Yuna’s forehead.

Yuna didn’t even realize that Noname was casting a spell.

It wasn’t even a spell that was previously recorded, but an immediate casting.

It was magic she had never seen before.

From the green color, she could vaguely guess it was related to life activities, but even that was not accurate.

Meanwhile, while Yuna was in a state of panic, Noname remained calm from the beginning.

As if she were just doing what needed to be done.

Yuna squinted her eyes to check Noname’s appearance.

She couldn’t see her face well because of her small height, but upon closer inspection, her eyelashes were long and beautiful.

How could such delicate features fit into such a small face?

The upward curve of her eyes reminded Yuna of the Siamese cat she had raised when she was younger.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“Are you bragging that you can use magic on me now?”

Despite her initial intention to express gratitude, her sharp reply slipped out first, an old habit of Yuna.

“Then do you want to learn? Come here.”

“Huh?”

Noname’s hand overlapped over Yuna’s hand.

Startled by the sudden physical contact, Yuna tried to pull away, but it was too late; her fingers were already interlocked.

“You know how to draw all the 2nd Circle runes, right? Then I’ll just teach you how to draw them. Remember it well.”

Noname’s mana flowed into Yuna’s hand.

An unfamiliar energy.

Yuna felt a bit dizzy, and her body suddenly felt warm.

“The tissue regeneration magic should never start with the outer circle. If you do, you have to adjust all the control formulas to match the outer circle’s size, which is complicated. So you start with the triangle first.”

Slowly yet gently, their overlapping hands moved together.

Additionally, Noname kindly explained the detailed elements of the magic circle.

With every breath she took, the warmth brushed against Yuna’s shoulder, tickling her.

“If you want to keep the magic circle intact, using only a quarter of the mana in the first infusion stage will suffice.”

“Okay… I understand.”

“Then, want to give it a try?”

“You want me to try? Now? This?!”

Did everyone think they were geniuses like her?

But Yuna couldn’t let herself be underestimated, so she desperately recalled the knowledge Noname had shared with her.

“First, draw a triangle… three ‘Mavens’ at each vertex, no, two… one ‘El’… then calculate the area and draw the circle, and the control rune is written like this, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve got it all.”

Yuna cautiously infused mana into the completed magic circle.

It vibrated, just like the one Noname had created earlier.

“You’re a genius too.”

“Of course…! Wait, why are you telling me this?”

“Getting hurt when you’re young lasts a lifetime. So use it well normally.”

Noname left a meaningful statement that left Yuna tilting her head for a moment, but she quickly found the reasoning behind it.

“Why do you sound so mature when you’re so young?”

“I’m an adult.”

“What?”

When she looked closely in the mirror, Yuna’s injury had healed cleanly without a single scar.

Experiencing the wonder of healing magic firsthand, Yuna asked Noname about its origin.

“Who did you learn this magic from?”

“What do you mean learned?”

“There must have been someone who taught you. Like your parents or a tutor.”

“I learned it all by myself.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Magic is originally something you have to learn alone from the start to gain the techniques.”

“But your parents must have helped you, right?”

“Neither of them is around.”

“You’re not lying… are you?”

“Yeah. It’s not a lie.”

“…”

Yuna suddenly found herself at a loss for words, fidgeting with her fingers.

Who would have thought that her parents were gone?

Considering how there were plenty of rich kids at the academy whose lives had no slight bumps, she had failed to consider the possibility.

Finally, with no other words left, she said:

“I’m sorry… I don’t have a dad either, so let’s call it even.”

* * *

“This is bad…!”

Noname had been gone looking for Yuna for 15 minutes already and hadn’t returned.

As time passed, Si Hoo grew increasingly anxious.

It was only natural because he had come to realize that Noname had ties to some dangerous individuals, and Yuna had provoked her.

It was more than just bringing Yuna back; it felt like they might have been locking her in some storage room and beating her.

“Should I go check now?”

But Shin Si Hoo had no reason to go bring her back.

That was an obvious thought, as which teacher would believe that his student was a spy?

He tried to dismiss the notion as an absurd idea.

No, but what if,

There was a slim chance that it was true.

Even if Noname wasn’t a spy, it was more than enough for her to harbor ill feelings towards Yuna.

If Noname truly had the power to knock down older students with just a wave, it would take no time at all for even Seoyuna to be subdued.

Yuna might be stuck in the last stall with her head stuffed in a sink full of water.

Creak.

“…!”

Contrary to Si Hoo’s worries, their appearance seemed fine.

Noname entered through the back door first, followed closely by Yuna.

However, the Yuna he encountered this time was much more compliant than before.

“What happened in the bathroom?”

“I’m sorry, Si Hoo, Johann. We didn’t get to do the group activity because of us, right?”

Noname offered her apologies.

“It’s okay! Are you alright, Seoyuna?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine…”

Was this really the same Yuna who had been spewing curses just moments ago?

Not only Si Hoo, but Johann was sweating profusely as if he felt the same way.

The Korean language class, which wasn’t particularly important at Seviron Academy, ended without incident.

As Yuna had feared, it wasn’t a subject with a grading score, and as long as they performed well in the midterms and finals, that was all that mattered.

“Noname!”

Once the break started, Seoyuna rushed over to Noname’s seat and called her.

“Can you teach me that thing again? I forgot how to do it.”

“Come here.”

“Okay.”

“Hand.”

“Here.”

Yuna kneeled next to Noname’s desk and placed one hand on it.

She looked just like a trainer teaching a puppy.

Si Hoo wanted nothing more than to faint right there.