The mont I pushed open the store’s door and rushed inside, I saw two figures locked in a standoff.
iling and Zen stood in the middle of the shop, glaring at each other.
The first thing I did was check their hands.
Both of them were holding their wands.
“iling!”
My voice echoed through the shop, and both pairs of eyes snapped toward .
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I stepped between them, ready to block either one the mont they made a move to attack.
“Before you misunderstand, I didn’t do anything wrong.” Zen spoke first. “She picked a fight with .”
I turned to iling.
“Is that true?”
“You’re doubting instead of that brat?”
“Who are you calling a brat? You look like an elentary schooler yourself.”
“Yein, step aside. I’m going to kill him.”
“Like I’d let you. Who’s dying for you, huh?”
I rubbed my forehead.
Not because of their threats—because this really felt like watching a couple of grade schoolers fighting.
“iling.”
“What!”
“Did you forget the HAUT rules?”
“……”
iling bit her lip.
“Are you really going to throw away Lumina and Seo Yui’s hard work like this?”
Right then, Lumina and Seo Yui walked into the shop.
iling’s gaze flicked in their direction. Lumina was watching her with a worried expression, and though Seo Yui wasn’t as obvious, her eyes carried concern too.
“……”
I turned my back on iling, who couldn’t answer, and faced Zen instead.
“Zen-senior.”
“W-what is it?”
When I looked straight at him, Zen instinctively leaned back.
“Put your wand away and calm down. You know the smartwatch will detect any attempt at an attack, right? Teacher Abel will be here in seconds, and you’ll be expelled on the spot.”
I wasn’t even sure such tech actually existed.
But I rembered how Zen and Rio had been penalized instantly just for entering the girls’ dorm last ti and sent straight back to their rooms. That was enough to bluff with.
And it worked.
I saw his face stiffen visibly.
I added one more thing.
“I ran into Rune-senior earlier. She said she was looking forward to tomorrow’s duels.”
“……”
For just a mont, fear flickered across Zen’s face.
“Tch.”
The wand in his hand vanished back into his inventory. I finally relaxed.
“iling. You too. Put it away.”
She glanced at , clicked her tongue, but followed my words.
With that, Zen left the shop. I stood there, watching iling silently.
“…Well, I’ll be going then. Haha.”
Maria, who had been standing awkwardly near the door the whole ti, gave a nervous laugh before leaving as well.
Since Ucheon still couldn’t use the shop, she’d probably been checking in through the window. I’d have to sneak her so snacks later.
“Uh, um… well…”
Lumina looked between iling and , hesitating, while Seo Yui stood quietly, as if waiting for sothing.
“iling.”
At the sound of her na, iling’s shoulders gave a little tremor. It seed she knew she was in the wrong.
“If you ever feel like you’re losing your temper or your body’s about to move on its own, just once—just once is enough—picture Lumina’s or Seo Yui-senior’s face.”
I spoke in a calm tone.
iling’s eyes widened.
“Think about what expression they’d make if you did what you wanted. That’ll help, in more ways than one.”
With that, I turned to the vending machine to buy so snacks and drinks for Maria and Zen.
“Why are you just standing there? Didn’t you co here to buy sothing?”
“…Yeah.”
iling admitted and stepped closer to .
“Senior, since you’re here, pick whatever you want too. Lumina, you as well. I’ll pay for it.”
At my words, both of them smiled with relief.
“What about mine?” iling asked from beside .
“Of course you’re paying for your own.”
Her face soured.
“…So stingy.”
“I’m kidding. I’ll get yours too. Pick sothing.”
I let out a small laugh, and iling nodded.
Later, ice cream in hand, we walked behind the dorms, chatting as we went.
“iling, you know the duels start tomorrow.”
“Why? What lecture are you about to give now?”
She eyed warily, licking her ice cream.
“The individual duels are split into lee and magic battles, and the team matches are organized by academy. Both brackets are drawn randomly on the day.”
“So… we don’t know when we’ll face Magicka.”
I nodded.
“Doesn’t matter. Whenever it happens, I’ll crush them. They’ll never act so cocky again after that day.”
The “that day” she referred to was when we’d run into the Magicka students inside the dungeon.
Zen had kicked things off by sneering about why Gwangcheon was on the dungeon’s fourth floor, provoking iling.
Then Rune and Zen had mocked her for looking like a tiny first-year, while iling had been taunted for being a spoiled rich girl with nothing to fear—Chen Kai’s na had even been dragged into it.
‘Yeah… looking back, both sides were at fault.’
But if I had to choose who started it, my bias was obvious.
After all, it began with Zen’s careless words.
“Still, when you crush them, don’t overdo it.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? How do you half-crush soone?”
“I an leave the head and limbs intact.”
At that, iling froze mid-step. Lumina and Seo Yui stopped too, all three staring at .
“What? Why are you looking at like that? I didn’t say anything weird.”
I fixed my gaze on iling.
“Rember right before HAUT started, you asked in front of everyone what would happen if soone got killed during a duel?”
“Ugh!?”
iling’s face turned scarlet.
Oh.
So she finally realized how embarrassing that question had been.
She’d grown since then. Truly moving.
“You’re definitely going to win against Magicka. I just want you to be cautious, that’s all.”
“...Hmph.”
iling snorted after staring at for a mont.
“And another thing,” I said with a faint smile.
“Nothing humiliates a serious opponent more than losing to soone who’s holding back.”
At those words, iling’s gaze shifted.
Telling her “don’t do this” or “don’t do that” would only get so far.
It was far easier to guide her with, ‘If you do it this way, you’ll benefit more.’
After returning to the dorm, I went straight to my room.
Zen was sitting on my bed.
I handed him the snacks I had bought at the shop.
“Please let what happened earlier slide. You’re older than us, Zen-senior, so I trust you’ll be understanding.”
The corner of Zen’s mouth twitched as he tried to keep up a cold expression, but in the end it curved upward.
“Of course. I wasn’t very mature myself. Thanks, I’ll enjoy this.”
The words “Mature, my ass” almost slipped out, but I kept my smile.
If you want a team to run smoothly, you need to keep it well-oiled.
Afterward, I headed to Room 4 where Maria was.
“Maria-senior. Thanks for the warning earlier. This is my thanks.”
“Oh? Really? You didn’t have to!”
Despite her cheerful protest, Maria accepted the snacks.
“By the way, that was a close call.”
“Excuse ?”
I looked at her as she tore open the bag.
“When I ca out of the main building earlier, Teacher Abel was nearby.”
I froze for a mont.
“If he’d seen them, both would’ve been expelled on the spot. The timing was really close, don’t you think?”
Maria popped a chocolate biscuit into her mouth as she said this.
Was it coincidence? Or…
I thought back to Abel, who had noticed the students returning from the mountains while sitting in the cafeteria.
I dug through the bag again.
“Here, take this too.”
“Oh? Thanks~.”
Since Maria had practically saved the situation, I handed her a pack of jelly as well.
The next morning marked the start of HAUT’s second half.
“I have so sad news to share first thing in the morning.”
Abel was grinning as always while he spoke.
“From today onward, there will be no free ti in the evenings. Mornings and afternoons will be filled with duels or field training, and evenings will be spent in theory classes. Your sleep ti will also be cut by two hours.”
“What!? Seriously!?”
“Aaagh~!”
Zen’s face twisted in disbelief, while Rio let out a wail of despair.
“But there’s good news too. Starting today, the al ticket race is over. You can all eat normally again.”
The only ones who cheered were Ucheon and Dai.
For the rest of us, including the other four academies, the al ticket race had already ended.
And even for Ucheon and Dai, it wasn’t necessarily good news.
Why end the race so suddenly?
Because starting today, we’ll face training so brutal that missing a single al would make it impossible to endure.
Thinking about what lay ahead made want to go ho.
But to go ho, I had to clear the scenario. And if it really took two years… I wanted to die just thinking about it.
“Well then, let’s assign duel opponents.”
Abel lifted his tablet.
“lee specialists on my left, magic specialists on my right. Line up.”
The students quickly divided into lines.
I joined the lee line.
Not that lee or magic was my specialty.
With Strength F and Energy F, Nam Yein had no specialty at all.
Still, it’s better than magic, where I can’t even put out proper power. At least in lee, I can rely on items.
Not that I had any intention of placing in the top ranks.
The duels would be handled by the three I’d raised so carefully. My plan was to surrender imdiately.
That was my plan…
“……”
I couldn’t take my eyes off my smartwatch.
“Pfft!”
Iris looked over at and burst into laughter.
“Well, this will be a dull opening match. If it were anyone else from Gwangcheon I might worry, but you?”
Her arrogant smirk made mutter to myself.
She wasn’t wrong.
Nam Yein simply wasn’t suited for combat. That’s why I’d poured everything into raising the others instead.
The HAUT duels weren’t about —they were about seeing the results of their growth.
No matter who I faced, I was planning to forfeit imdiately.
Pride doesn’t fill your stomach.
With my strength, there was no defeating Iris.
There was no reason to suffer for nothing.
Right.
I easily convinced myself. That had always been my way of thinking.
But why does my very first opponent have to be Iris…
And that was the problem.
Haven’t I been looking forward to seeing that arrogant, insufferable smile wiped off her face more than anyone?
Yes.
That was one of the reasons I had looked forward to HAUT.
That too, was part of my way of thinking.
“Alright, we’ll start with the lee duels today,” Abel said with his usual smile.
“But before that, let explain the rules.”
The rules were as follows:
“No protective belts?”
It was Jin Yuyeon of Martial God, her hair tied in twin tails as always.
“Correct. We’ll make this as close to real combat as possible,” Abel replied with a grin.
“Protective belts deactivate after a few hits, so you can lose even with HP remaining. That’s unfair. More importantly, only when your actual life force drops do you feel real danger. And it’s in those monts that you can experience or learn things you otherwise couldn’t.”
I raised my hand.
“Oh? What is it, Yein?” Abel looked at with interest.
“Would it be alright if I used the restroom before my duel?”
“Haha!”
Iris burst into loud laughter.
“Nervous, are you? Even if you don’t co back, I’ll understand.”
I ignored her and kept my eyes on Abel.
“Hmm. Very well. It’s disrespectful to your opponent if sothing is bothering you during a duel. Go quickly.”
With Abel’s permission, I headed straight back to the dorm.
I retrieved my personal inventory from my locker and carried it into the bathroom.
Summoning my hamr, I opened the inventory.
Inside were all the materials I had gathered—just in case.
As I pictured Iris’s smug, smiling face, I struck the material icons with my hamr.
One by one, the icons burst into radiant light and transford into items.
(End of Chapter)
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