Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Blue Pine Festival (12)
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Have you ever poured hot water onto a pile of snow on a snowy day?
The sight of that thick mound melting away in an instant is quite the spectacle.
In truth, what I was doing right now wasn't all that different. It was like dumping hot water over a snow woman's head.
It wasn't anything grand. I just wanted to strip away the disguise of this wicked(?) snow woman who was hiding her true form.
"Wh-what are you doing, disciple...?!"
Of course, the person in question might not see it that way. Seol Ha-yeon—my teacher—had flinched in shock at the sudden hot water baptism, dropping to her knees and curling into a ball.
I answered inwardly. I'm in the process of inheriting the title of Grand Archmage, Teacher.
"Haven't I told you time and again? Every time I see you like that, it just doesn't suit you at all. It makes my toes curl in embarrassment."
I let out a sigh-mixed mutter as I shook out every last drop from the PET bottle of hot water I'd brought.
Plip plip! The very last drop hit her silver hair and burst. Teacher convulsed.
"Kyaaah!"
"Your voice is as piercing as ever, Teacher."
My ears rang, but I was used to it by now. I tossed the empty bottle lightly, landing it perfectly in a distant trash can.
Sizzle... Like meat hitting a hot grill, Teacher finally melted away completely.
Goodbye to the superior figure of a twenty-five-year-old woman. Now before my eyes was just a girl who looked like a high school student.
I nodded in satisfaction. Yes.
This is how Teacher should look.
Whoosh!
Icicles shot toward me in arrow form. With enough force to pierce my skull, I yelped and dodged in panic.
"Tch, trying to kill me...!"
Teacher held out her palm toward me, tears glistening in her eyes. Her shrunken frame made her clothes hang loose and oversized by comparison.
On any other day, I might've taken off my outer jacket to drape over her. But not today.
I froze for a moment, focusing on Teacher's face.
Tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.
"...Ah."
Did she notice my gaze on her eyes? Teacher flinched and turned her head aside.
Of course, as a particularly persistent disciple, I ignored the gaze aversion and shoved my face right in.
And harbored a question.
She's crying...?
Crying. Shedding tears? Who? Teacher? Seol Ha-yeon? The Ice Empress?
It was the kind of thing that would baffle anyone normally, but as her favorite disciple, I knew her various hidden sides.
Even accounting for that, a teary-eyed Seol Ha-yeon was an exceedingly rare sight.
Half amazement, half bewilderment, I scratched my cheek in a daze.
"Are you crying?"
"...What nonsense is that?"
"I can see tears."
"Sweat can come from your eyes too..."
Even her excuses were lame. I made a subtle expression, my lips twisting bitterly, and sorted through my thoughts.
Truth be told, it was confusing, but a certain premonition was nagging at me.
So, what was the reason Seol Ha-yeon was shedding pathetic tears right here, right now?
It was probably something no one but the culprit herself could guess.
...Hmm.
But I thought differently. Based on multiple experiences, my view had to shift a bit.
Maybe it was self-indulgent overthinking, but no. Think about it.
What was common among those who'd burst into tears or rage with emotions I couldn't easily comprehend in front of me?
One, they were all women. Two, they all harbored some feelings for me.
Cheon So-yul right after school started, Baek A-yun after the rankings match. And somehow, Teacher now looked similar to them.
So, to put it bluntly...
...No way...
For some inexplicable reason, a bout of unfounded confidence(?)—or self-absorbed delusion—sprang to mind.
Something I wouldn't have even considered a few months ago. Way too presumptuous a guess.
I put on a deliberately serious face and looked at Teacher. She was still avoiding my eyes, but she was definitely aware of them.
She was my teacher. Older, superior.
But the age gap was at most five years... Personally, I didn't think we were all that distant.
If anything, we were as close as family, as affectionate as lovers?
So, inevitably, I treated her differently from others. Whether in speech or attitude.
"Teacher."
Right now, blurting out unfiltered, direct words to her was part of that.
I tilted my head.
"Have you been seeing me as a man all this time?"
"..."
And all of Teacher's movements stopped.
Not just a flinch—it was a full freeze.
Everything shook unnaturally, like it had iced over. Her eyes lost their light and life, going dead.
At that point, embarrassed, I tried to add something, but...
"Haha."
Fortunately, Teacher responded promptly enough.
A hollow short laugh accompanied her blue gaze shifting over.
Her pale blue eyes moved toward me, trailing a long path with her sharp glare, filled with something terribly intimidating for some reason.
To put it simply: embarrassment and resentment.
Her coldly blazing eyes scolded me fiercely, as if demanding how I could say such a thing.
She parted her lips.
"Disciple."
I nodded right away.
"Yes."
"Want to die?"
And received a death threat. I blinked blankly for a moment.
...Well, words like that weren't new, but...
The context threw me off. Why exactly was she telling me to drop dead?
No need to ask. Teacher's follow-up explanation continued.
"What was the catchphrase I always used around you?"
With double irises blazing in her eyes, she planted hands on her hips and glared up at me. She was trying hard to look menacing, but given her current apparent age, maybe I should've pointed that out.
It felt like a baby bird weakly flapping its wings, not all that threatening.
"...Hmm, catchphrase-wise."
Separate from that, I had to answer. I pondered briefly. Teacher had a few verbal tics, of course.
But in this situation, only a few fit. The options narrowed.
And my instincts told me.
There was surely only one right answer.
I met Teacher's eyes with a hesitant expression. She stood there arms crossed, sternly awaiting my reply.
I rolled my eyes. Up once, down once. Left and right once each.
Back to center for intense eye contact...
With complicated feelings, I scratched the back of my head and mumbled.
"So, um."
It was what I figured was the most likely answer to her question. Seol Ha-yeon's catchphrase.
I recited it straight.
"'Disciple, want to have sex with me...?'"
"..."
"...Uh, is that it?"
I glanced at her uncertainly even after saying it. She didn't nod right away.
But she didn't deny it either. Just stared at me seriously with the same look as before. Blink.
A short silence flowed.
"Disciple."
Soon, Teacher spoke.
Her voice and tone much calmer now.
An awkward smile trembled faintly at her lips.
"Why do you think I said that to you in the first place? Because I'm some lust-crazed woman?"
Wasn't it?
The thought flashed, but of course, I didn't mean it. More like half-joking internally, but I held back reading the mood.
Thankfully, Teacher—who couldn't read minds—continued.
"It was to pass my trait on to you easily. As I said repeatedly, if you acquire my 'Frozen Core,' you could surpass me handily."
"Ah."
"Seeing you resist my temptations despite that fraudulent trait—do you have any idea what I've been thinking these past five years...?"
And around then, I was at a loss for words. My jaw clenched. I wanted to retort. To speak.
No, Teacher.
But.
I was a minor back then, you know.
Wasn't it the early-twenties Seol Ha-yeon who said that insane stuff to a minor who was the crazy one?
Such thoughts were inevitable. Even if I couldn't voice them...
With lingering complicated feelings, I chewed my lip. Awkward timing to say anything, so I gazed at distant mountains instead.
Teacher's next words followed then.
"But, disciple."
A bit.
Colder voice.
"If I had even a shred of feeling for you, do you think I'd spout crazy woman talk like that every night? Dressed in nothing but flimsy, revealing clothes?"
"..."
I shuddered involuntarily, and Teacher stepped closer.
Heavy footsteps brought her signature pleasant chill wafting over.
Her blue eyes stared straight at me. From below up. No escaping.
Grind! Lightly grinding her teeth, she spat out a suppressed voice.
"As if. You fucking disciple."
"..."
"You trampled my pure heart."
Teacher's voice changed. She glared at me with suddenly sharpened eyes and began gathering mana.
It was—yeah—completely unexpected. My reaction lagged unavoidably.
......
......
......
Moving mana?
Ah.
"Coincidentally, today's meeting is our first disciple-teacher reunion since you became an adult. Right?"
"...Teacher, wait. What are you saying?"
"Oh, don't worry. As you know, I don't like beating around the bush."
Whoosh! She summoned cold air, and before I realized, one of my legs had fused with the ground.
My amateur cold resistance was useless against the pinnacle of ice magic.
With my retreat cut off so easily, Teacher closed in right under my chin.
A light smile. So casual.
And the most chilling words followed.
"I'm going to fuck you today."
"..."
"Go ahead and report me if you want. The scandal of a teacher-disciple affair will be hilarious. Ahaha..."
To explain pointlessly,
it was around the time the moon was rising high.
......Deep night would soon fall.