Chapter 54

While Barcob was suffering the pain of unrequited love,

Hania suddenly pushed me aside.

Hania and I were almost nose to nose.

Well, if it was Hania’s original face, maybe I’d be okay,

but since Hania looked like Hanon right now, I quickly backed off.

I had no hobby of getting up close and personal with a guy’s face.

“I was wondering why Iris called for you—talk about timing,”

Hania sighed with an annoyed expression.

It seemed that Iris was the one who sent Hania here.

I was thankful to Iris.

I nearly had to deal with a corpse today.

“So Hania, Barcob has been stalking you this whole time,”

I asked, and Hania glanced at me with a sidelong look.

“Yep. And pretty persistent too.”

With a professor and a plush family background,

Barcob Debliju was a tricky opponent, even for Hania.

“He was just waiting for an excuse. What a guy with the worst timing.”

Hania shook her head with a grim expression.

“But now we’re kind of dating. What do you plan to do about that?”

Things have been so dynamic lately—

before confessing, we ended up dating. How thrilling.

“…Barcob may look like he does, but he’s annoyingly persistent.”

“So if he knows we’re not dating anymore, he’ll switch back to being a stalker, huh?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

I understood the situation.

Having been attacked by Barcob’s confession,

I sympathized with how painful it must be to be chased by a creep like him.

“How long do you think it’ll take for Barcob to understand and give up?”

“…Probably a few months.”

“Then let’s just pretend to date for a few months.”

Hania’s eyes lit up.

“It’s already spilled milk, so I might as well make use of it.”

“…You don’t just want to date me, do you?”

I asked seriously.

“Just kidding.”

It felt like she tried to lighten up the mood with that joke.

“It’s a mess, but I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

Hania offered a surprisingly honest apology.

She was just a bit prickly because of the group project with Iris; she wasn’t a bad person at heart.

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”

Ultimately, it was Barcob’s fault.

There was no need for Hania to apologize.

“Hanon Irey, you’re a pretty decent guy, aren’t you?

Must be a bit because you’re related to Iris, huh?”

“I feel like my opinion of you just dropped with that comment.”

“I wonder how low it can go. By the way, wouldn’t it be awkward if rumors spread about us dating?”

“Do you think it would be awkward if I had a new rumor added to mine?”

Hania pondered for a moment and then understood.

I’m known as the ‘Lightning Bastard’.

If word got out that I was dating Hania, it would only create sympathy for her.

It wouldn’t hit me hard, now or ever.

“Anyway, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s return to our respective teams.”

“Right.”

As Hania turned to leave, she said to me,

“Please take good care of Iris.”

My lips curled up.

“Sure, leave it to me.”

“Ha, I can’t believe you think I’d trust anyone with Iris!”

What the heck?

Hania chuckled lightly as she headed back to her team.

It seemed I made a good impression on Hania after this whole ordeal.

“I can’t hurt to get close to the Martial Arts Deputy.”

I only had one bad apple, Isabel, to deal with.

As I stepped out of the forest, I spotted a bunch of people gathered around Iris.

She was standing with her arms crossed, and as soon as our eyes met, she reacted.

“Hania.”

“I’m back.”

As I stood beside Iris, she looked around before bending down towards me.

“What happened?”

“Hanon sorted it out fine.”

Iris breathed a sigh of relief.

But then her crimson eyes gleamed ominously.

“…Guess it’s time to cut someone loose.”

…I assume that’s about cutting Barcob from his position?

A chill ran down my spine, and I shrank back.

“Oh, Hania.”

Just then, a familiar voice called out to me.

Recognizing the voice, I looked over.

Short brown hair and rings dangling from its fingers.

That sight instantly filled my eyes with disdain.

Second-year Magic Arts Deputy. Dorara Korajin.

He, a rear guard of Iris’ team, stood there.

“I just saw that jerk Hanon coming out of the woods. Were you with him?”

“Yeah, what’s it to you?”

As I answered, Dorara’s face scrunched up in disgust.

His teeth clenched tightly.

“Hania, I’m advising you not to hang with that guy. He’s worthless.”

Dorara had just been defeated by me recently.

He looked like he was gnashing his teeth out of spite over that incident.

“Hahaha, guess you really caught it worse than I thought!”

Then a hefty guy standing behind Dorara burst out laughing.

With dark skin and thick lips,

the man gripping a Bible in his thick hands was

Holy Studies Deputy Yoachim.

His bulging muscles were a far cry from what one would expect from Holy Studies.

Of course, that made perfect sense.

He’s a combat priest, after all.

“Can you believe he’s younger than me when he’s a total brick wall?”

Yoachim’s face was indistinguishable from the hardened veteran mercenary look.

Even the professors couldn’t help but bow their heads when they saw Yoachim.

He was definitely born with good looks.

“Ugh, speaking poorly of others brings bad luck.”

Just then, a face peeked out from behind Yoachim.

Unlike the massive Yoachim, this one was scarily small.

With a hood pulled down over her head, her gray hair covered her eyes, making them invisible.

The seemingly weak appearance was deceiving if one knew her true nature.

Special Studies Deputy. The Curse Sorceress. Valentina Kays.

In a nutshell, these were the members of Iris’s team.

“Looking again, they sure have a gathering of strong talents.”

With others lacking such outrageously unfair abilities like Saints and Sharine,

it was clear Iris had formed the best team she could muster.

At the center of it all stood Iris herself.

“You all have no idea! Once you see how crazy that guy is, you’ll be speechless!”

Dorara looked like he couldn’t handle just imagining it, nearly twitching.

His face was like it was about to bubble over.

“Just recently, he couldn’t leave Sharine alone, and now it’s Hanon. Truly, the Dorara Brothers are like a broken record.”

“That jerk is many times worse than Sharine!”

This was the first time I ever received higher praise than Sharine.

I felt a bit smug about it.

“Ahem, cough.”

In the meantime, Iris turned her head slightly and covered her mouth.

It seemed seeing Dorara cursing in front of him was hard for her to manage her expression.

“Iris, this isn’t a laughing matter.”

I poked Iris’s arm.

She gave a brief smile, as if to say sorry.

It was a captivating smile that charmed everyone.

“Tsk, if I had gone at him right, he’d be a bloody mess now. I was too careless at first.”

Dorara began grumbling.

Clearly, he had forgotten that I was the one who knocked him out.

“Well then,”

I decided I needed to remind him at the right occasion.

I quietly clenched my fist.

“Team Iris.”

Just then, it seemed that all the third-years had gathered, and Iris’s team was called.

Even if they placed second in the team competition,

overall, Iris’s team was ahead of everyone else.

As Iris stepped forward at her call,

both Dorara and the other two who were whiny just a moment ago fell silent.

Instead, they walked alongside her with confidence.

As Iris advanced, a gaze of envy flowed from the children surrounding her.

They walked beside her and felt the heavy stares they had never experienced before.

The weight of their gazes hung in the air.

Envy, jealousy, admiration, resignation.

A myriad of complicated emotions dripped from the children’s eyes.

Now I understood why Iris’s team always walked with such confidence.

To shake off the gazes of the children, they had to grow stronger.

And that was directly tied to their confidence.

The utmost confidence that they could achieve anything.

“This is the current strongest team, Iris.”

The aura radiating from Iris, standing at the front, was something that no one dared to approach.

“Team Iris.”

The exhausted Professor Veganon scanned everyone.

“Come back in one piece.”

He didn’t fuss over it.

What the strongest team needs is faith rather than advice.

Soon after, Team Iris entered Magung Academy.

The unique unsettling sensation of Magung brushed against our bodies.

A moment later, my head slowly lifted.

“Looks like it’s the Iron Dust Desert today.”

First floor of Magung.

The Iron Dust Desert.

A barren iron desert unfolded before my eyes.

I smacked my lips, feeling a vague metallic taste in my mouth.

It meant the iron dust was mixed in the air too.

At that moment, wind began to swirl around us.

The iron dust, which had been pouring in through the air, clothes, and airways, was suddenly blown away by the gusts.

“From the gray forest straight to the Iron Dust Desert. I wish the upperclassmen had cleaned up a bit before leaving.”

This was a spell from Dorara, who held a staff in his hand.

“Ugh, upperclassmen are in a rush to get down a level, you know.”

Valentina, the Curse Sorceress, spoke while holding onto her bangs.

And she was right.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Under the Iron Dust Desert, a massive rumble began to resonate.

BOOM!

Soon after, piercing through the iron dust, a giant serpent emerged.

Bearing blades of steel all over it, this creature was a sight to behold.

This was a monster that the Apostle commanded.

A being that could never be a dragon.

ROAR—

Before I knew it, Iris had drawn her sword.

The upperclassmen must have decided to avoid wasting time battling a creature that couldn’t be a dragon,

but that didn’t mean a thing to the strongest royal bloodline.

“Team Iris.”

With Iris’s call, a red aura bloomed from her sword.

Like a rose, the aura was beautiful enough to draw everyone’s attention.

Iris strode forward through the iron dust.

Her commanding steps felt like mighty giants’ footsteps.

“It’s a large monster hunt.”

The team leader declared.

“Yes.”

And so, everyone followed suit.