Something Like Another Day
It had been an ordinary day, more or less.
"Which bastard was it?"
No.
"What the hell kind of bastard did this?"
Was it really the same as usual...?
After my special lesson with Professor Seres ended yesterday, I went straight back to the dormitory.
I hadn’t even felt like wandering around anywhere, and with my whole body covered in blue-black bruises, I’d taken the bus home immediately.
Even now, I still remembered how my skin stung when I thought about showering.
After washing up, I’d reviewed the morning theory lecture and quietly fallen asleep.
My body had simply dumped out all its fatigue, and before I knew it, I was out cold.
When I woke up in the morning, I honestly didn’t feel all that much pain.
I wondered whether my recovery was faster because of mana erosion, or whether my body had grown stronger thanks to the Authority of Growth—I couldn’t tell.
So I left early, just like always, and arrived at the classroom.
And there I met Han Riae, her face frozen stiff as though it had been carved out of ice.
* * *
Han Riae, who had entered Sielm as the second-highest-ranked student, had chosen the penthouse at the very top floor of the dormitory as her room, unlike the other top students.
"Young lady, please wake up... huh?"
As always, Kairel went to wake her so she wouldn’t be late for Sielm.
"Oh? Kaie, why are you calling me?"
But Han Riae had already finished doing her hair and was straightening her Sielm uniform.
"...Young lady, when did you wake up?"
"Hm? Around seven-thirty, I guess?"
Kairel, who always kept his poker face under control, briefly let it slip and showed a rare moment of bewilderment.
"What? No, young lady, you usually don’t get up until around eight because I wake you up."
Waking Han Riae, who always slept in, was the start of Kairel’s day.
But today, the young lady who loved her sleep had gotten up thirty minutes early and was already getting ready without being woken.
"Aren’t you leaving way too early today?"
"Huh? I-I’m just leaving early..."
Normally she would have barked at him, but today she didn’t. Instead, she blushed and slowly averted her eyes.
"You’re not rushing off because you want to see student Lim Paran, are you..."
"Cough..."
He noticed...
These days, all sorts of articles were showing up in Sielm’s breaking news feed.
Which new professor had joined, which professor was in charge of which classroom, that sort of thing.
And then there was one breaking story that drew the hottest reaction of all.
If it were anyone else, the second-highest-ranked student in the school appearing alone with someone at the entrance ceremony would naturally draw attention.
And the problem was that the person beside her was none other than special admission student Lim Paran.
"Young lady—"
"W-what, what is it?"
"If you’re seeing someone, please tell us as soon as possible. We’ll need to inform the head of the household."
No matter how slim the odds were of Han Riae ever becoming the head of the Melitton family, she was still the second daughter, so he had to give warning.
Han Riae’s reaction to those words was...
"W-what are you talking about!? I’m not dating Paran! For now, I’m just..."
Her face flushed bright red as she shouted in flustered outrage.
"Yes, yes, that’s all I’m saying~"
"Ugh..."
Looking sulky, Han Riae quietly packed her things.
"Young lady, don’t cause any trouble today."
"I’m not causing trouble lately!"
Bang.
Normally when she was alone, Han Riae acted coldly with a blank expression, but the moment Lim Paran came up in conversation, her entire demeanor changed.
Han Riae, who usually played solo even at the Melitton clan party, treated Lim Paran with unusual tenderness and care.
Kairel, who could plainly see the emotions written all over her face, smiled softly and looked toward the door she had just left through.
"Hmph. Who knew the young lady had such a cute side to her."
Humming to himself, he went off to do the housework.
* * *
"Ugh... how is she so sharp?"
After a brief conversation with Kairel, I bolted out and slammed the door behind me as if I were running away.
As expected of Kairel, who had always been the one to predict when I was about to cause trouble and stop it before it happened, his intuition was terrifyingly good.
There was only one reason I’d gotten up early, just as he’d guessed.
Paran.
Because I’d been so happy sitting beside Paran and listening to the lecture from the very first class, I was planning to sit next to him and listen again today as well.
Honestly, yesterday had been a little dangerous.
There had been some female student sitting right next to Lim Paran, and I’d nearly lost my mind—but after I glared at her once, she yelped and moved to another seat.
And the reason, simply put, was that Paran had a strange constitution that made him panic whenever anyone other than me touched him or came too close.
And the other reason was just that I wanted to sit next to Paran.
That was all.
.....
Come to think of it, was I being too much?
Thinking about it, I could understand the female student’s feelings to some extent. No—actually, I understood them so well that it made me uneasy.
Paran’s appearance alone... if you walked around outside, nine out of ten people would turn back to look at him. He had that fairy-like beauty.
His voice was also very soft, enough to trigger anyone’s protective instincts.
Every little thing he did was so innocent it made you want to pull him into a hug, and he never, ever said anything mean.
Even yesterday, he didn’t like spicy food, but when I said I wanted to eat it, he readily agreed and ate it for me.
When it was too spicy, he’d stuck out his tongue and fanned his flushed face with his hand to cool the sweat running down his cheeks, and that sight was...
"Good God, what the hell."
Smack.
The moment I remembered that scene, I’d had some filthy, absolutely unforgivable thoughts about Paran.
Honestly, that expression alone was enough to make even a man imagine things he shouldn’t.
To stop my impure thoughts, I slapped myself hard across the cheek.
"Ow... that hurts..."
Feeling the stinging pain in my cheek, I headed to the classroom.
I arrived earlier than usual, and the classroom wasn’t very full yet.
And what I saw there was...
Paran, his face completely plastered with blue-black bruises.
The instant I saw him, I didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to tear someone apart.
My mind simply went colder than usual, several dozen times colder, filled with the thought that I’d drag the bastard who did this through the mud and make him look as close to Paran’s condition as possible.
The only thing I could think was that I wanted to kill him.
"Who did this?"
I asked Paran to find out which bastard had done this to him.
"P-pardon...?"
"No, seriously, which bastard did this to you..."
Usually, I tried my best to hold back my swearing in front of Paran. Part of it was because I was worried that innocent Paran might be harmed by hearing bad language, and part of it was because I always tried to act as gently as possible in front of him.
But the moment I saw Paran’s bruised face, all the profanity I’d been holding back came pouring out.
I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about sounding well-mannered right now just to look good in front of Paran.
"Hahaha..."
I could only laugh in disbelief.
* * *
"Hahaha..."
Han Riae kept her face rigid, but the laughter spilling out of her sounded hollow, filled only with anger and a chilling coldness, as though all the air had gone out of it.
The moment I saw that, I couldn’t help but be frightened.
I already knew that Han Riae treated only me with unusual gentleness and kindness. I knew she was cold and sharp with everyone else, but not with me, and that—though I didn’t know the exact reason—she seemed strangely worried about me.
So I had guessed she’d react strongly if she saw my face covered in bruises, but I hadn’t thought she’d worry this much.
"Who did this... huh?"
But I never expected her reaction to be this intense.
Feeling the mana leaking out of Han Riae through mana erosion, I saw it clearly with my own eyes.
It wasn’t the warm, gently rippling mana she usually gave off. This one was jagged and cold, surging upward in sharp spikes.
Even though her expression was frozen and she seemed completely still, I could hear the grinding sound between her tightly clenched teeth, and mana was pouring fiercely from her tightly curled fist.
I could feel the Melitton family’s distinctive, rapid mana circulation moving through her body.
Her gaze was like the dead eyes of someone who no longer had any light in them, and she stared at me with a crushing intensity.
"Ugh..."
In an instant, searing pain twisted through my whole body and I collapsed to the floor.
My vision went black as if someone had painted over it with ink, and the tinnitus I’d barely been hearing lately screamed in my ears.
Whenever I felt Han Riae’s mana before, it had only been warm. But now, with that mana circulating, it was terrifying and painful.
Because this wasn’t just any circulation—it was the Melitton family’s circulation, and it stood out sharply.
The moment my body sensed that mana moving, it reacted with fierce rejection and I went into a seizure.
The pain started in my arm, then spread to my chest, my stomach, my legs, my head.
—It’ll hurt a little.
Huh?
Suddenly, something from my nightmares surfaced in my head.
—Aaaagh!
The substance from the syringe spread through my arm and into my body.
And then it stirred up mana circulation I didn’t even know how to control, racing all through me.
As it ran through my body, every part of me twisted and warped in agony.
It hurts.
Pain I hadn’t even been able to fully endure in the nightmare now crashed over my body.
Severe agony came for my whole body through my arm.
Why was this pain coming to me now?
Why was I the one spreading that pain through my body by forcing mana circulation?
It was nothing but a memory of pain, leaving behind only questions.
Paran!
"Ghk!"
And this time, the moment I heard that familiar voice, I was able to wake from the nightmare-like memory.
Han Riae had wrapped her arms tightly around me.
And at the corners of Han Riae’s eyes, there were traces of tears.