Yeomhwa (2)
I explained what had happened earlier and told her about my body.
How, whenever someone came too close, I’d fall into a sickly panic, and even if I kept trying to back away, my whole body would keep trembling while my stomach turned over.
When I told Han Riae about my fear of people, her expression became one I had never seen before.
"...What... Huh? Really?"
She didn’t look shocked, or disbelieving, or angry at me.
"That’s... way too much..."
She wore the face of someone looking at one of the worst possible outcomes.
Without saying anything else, she lowered her head and held me tight.
"It’s okay... It feels better when Riae hugs me."
I didn’t know about anyone else, but I didn’t have a single panic response with Han Riae.
I had thought it strange from the beginning, and even now it still made no sense.
Why was I reacting like this only to her when I couldn’t tolerate anyone else?
I couldn’t say. But as long as I was with her, I felt far more comfortable, warm, and safe than I had during the two weeks at the treatment center.
"So Paran is only okay with me?"
She kept her head lowered as she asked me quietly.
"Y-yes... Riae is okay..."
Since she really was okay, I answered her with an awkward smile I normally never made, speaking the words as they rose to my lips.
"I’m glad..."
Then she looked at me smiling, smiled back, and gave me one of the smiles she’d shown me so many times already.
"Huh... so that kind of illness exists..."
Oh, right.
I’d almost forgotten there was someone else here.
Yoon Hwayeon, who had been quietly listening to everything about me, let out a long breath of relief and spoke to me.
"Thank goodness it doesn’t seem to be because of me. I suppose I nearly would’ve spent the rest of my life awkwardly tiptoeing around Riae. Still, I’m sure it happened because I suddenly came too close, so I do apologize for that much."
She said that and offered me an apology.
I knew it wasn’t because of her, but still, she probably wouldn’t have felt at ease after unintentionally creating a situation that could trigger a panic attack in me.
Han Riae had once popped her head in unexpectedly and triggered one of my attacks, too...
At this rate, it seemed like it would be a mandatory threshold whenever I met new people in the future.
"Come to think of it, even though you’re with me right now, you’re not shaking all that much?"
Come to think of it, she was right. Before, even if someone came just a little close, I’d start showing symptoms, but now, while I was in Han Riae’s arms, there wasn’t much of anything.
Even in this banquet hall, with all these eyes on me and so many people around, I was only trembling a little.
If Han Riae weren’t here, like she hadn’t been this morning, I’d probably have already blacked out and be watching the entrance ceremony from my dorm room.
At this point, I could feel through my body just how overwhelmingly grateful I should be to Han Riae.
"It’s thanks to Riae... Thank you."
I’d stopped thinking altogether and was just blurting out whatever came into my head.
"Mm... really? Then let’s stay like this a little longer."
"Yes..."
Perhaps she liked what I’d said, because Han Riae hugged me again and patted my head.
"Whoa..."
Seeing that, Yoon Hwayeon stared at the scene with her mouth hanging open, still looking like she couldn’t quite get used to it, even while watching her being patted.
"Still... Paran is rather small, isn’t he? And his voice does sound a bit younger compared to boys his age..."
"Why don’t you just say I’m cute?"
"N-no, I’m not!"
The two of them were bickering again, arguing over whether one was right and the other wrong.
Anyone could see at a glance just how close they were.
"Oh, right. Paran, you’re a special admission student, aren’t you? Is there any reason you can think of for why you were chosen?"
Yoon Hwayeon looked at me again and asked why I had become a special admission student.
At least one clear reason was known to me.
You are currently in a state of mana erosion, Lim Paran.
I was in a state of mana erosion.
For an ordinary person, high-density mana would have surged backward through the body, made them cough up blood, and killed them.
Yet somehow, even though I had the same condition, I hadn’t died in agony.
Of course, I was still in pain now.
The academy was apparently planning to observe someone with a constitution as unusual as mine and study the disease.
But that couldn’t be the only reason.
Because the founder, now a star in the universe, had personally chosen me as a special admission student by his own will.
It was absurd to think I’d come all the way to Sielm Academy on the strength of something as small as mana erosion alone, carrying such an enormous title.
That was probably why Vice Principal Mahiel had looked so displeased when he first saw me.
Research into mana erosion served as a justification for my coming to Sielm Academy.
If that were the real reason, they would have brought me in through a recommendation in the first place.
And since no one told me anything beyond the fact that I had become a special admission student for some reason or another...
"I don’t really know either..."
That was the only answer I could give Yoon Hwayeon.
"Hmm... then maybe you’ve got some kind of unique ability?"
Combat was one thing, but when I tried to think of anything combat-related, nothing came to mind for someone who had just woken up in the treatment center after losing his memory.
I needed something to remember first...
Because I’d been shut away in the treatment center doing nothing, even moving my body still felt awkward.
Even when I came to the banquet hall, I had walked slowly while clutching Han Riae’s jacket sleeve, hadn’t I?
Since I was afraid of people, I hadn’t even gone out for walks.
But.
"There is one thing I’m specialized in."
That one thing was my state of mana erosion.
Mana erosion was, by definition, a condition in which the body produced pristine mana without any high-density impurities.
People died because that high-density pure mana simply could not be adapted to by the human body.
But I, who somehow hadn’t died even in a state of mana erosion, could use that pure mana as my own.
High density meant magic power of tremendous destructive force, while pure mana meant I could use any kind of magic at all.
Because the human body naturally produced mana it was accustomed to, it was impossible to use magic that was in a completely opposite element, like water from fire.
But in my case, with mana erosion stripping away all impurities, I could use any magic as long as I learned how to cast it.
What was more, because my mana was so pure, I could sense the mana spread throughout my surroundings with exceptional clarity, making me especially suited to detection-type abilities.
I could perceive them several times more broadly and sharply than others with detection-based unique abilities.
It was a massive advantage, but as with everything, what you gain, you also lose something else.
The fact that my mana never became dirty meant that no familiar formation could ever truly settle into it.
Others could use their main unique abilities in less than ten seconds, but I had to rewrite each formation from scratch every single time.
Others could fire off rapid barrages, but while mine had tremendous output, I couldn’t spray it out in a flood.
Most people who couldn’t barrage would make up for it with their bodies, but I wasn’t sure I could do that.
"I specialize in detection-type abilities and high-output magic."
"Huh? You did?"
"Oh~ High output is impressive enough, but detection too... For a raid leader, that’s a truly essential piece, and in a raid, it’s exactly the kind of unique ability you always want to bring along."
Yoon Hwayeon marveled at my unique ability and listed off its strengths.
"You’re more sharply specialized than I expected. So it really is a special admission, then? Ah, and if that sounded rude, I’m sorry."
"Ah, no, it’s fine. It is special admission, and it is specialized in this kind of thing."
She smiled softly, saying she was glad I wasn’t offended and apologizing once more.
On the surface, she seemed elegant and lofty, with impeccable manners.
That was probably because she was also the heir to the Yeomhwa family and had received a great deal of classical education.
Every word she said carried twice the weight of intelligence.
"As is well known, our Yeomhwa family fights by kindling flames. We forge weapons out of those fires and settle things with overwhelming firepower. Of course, the actual weapons we use vary wildly."
The fighting style of the Yeomhwa family, one of the three great families of the eastern region where the Republic of Korea once existed, was famous.
They could forge flaming blades and carve through monsters in a blaze of heat, or create spear of fire and thrust with careful precision.
Because they were such an old and powerful family, their combat style took countless forms.
That set them apart from the Meliton family, whose weapons were brute force combat built purely on extreme mana circulation.
Among the three great families, they were also known for being the hardest to face, since they handled flames that could change forms at will.
And the mana unique to their fire, so fiercely burning by nature, was especially suited to continuously inflicting damage through an enemy’s wounds.
It would be foolish to talk about firepower in front of Yoon Hwayeon of the Yeomhwa family.
"Anyway, a special admission student specialized in detection-type abilities... I’m looking forward to it. If we meet again, I’d love for us to end up on the same party~"
"Goodbye."
"Riae, you come quickly too."
"Okay. I will."
Yoon Hwayeon said her farewells to Han Riae and me before heading back to the table where the rest of her group was waiting.
With only Han Riae and me left at the table—
"Paran got a big surprise just now, didn’t he? Here, ah~"
"...Ah—"
I turned back into a baby bird and opened my mouth to be fed again.
How many minutes passed like that?
Dong— dong—
The large bell at the very top of the banquet hall rang out, and then—
"Are you all enjoying the entrance ceremony, new students?"
Vice Principal Mahiel of Sielm Academy soon appeared before us.