A New Connection

The road to Sielm Academy was generally not a difficult one.

Because it was a prestigious academy with three centuries of tradition behind it, most of the routes had been carved out so students from any kind of environment could make their way there and receive an education.

It was a meaningful wish left behind by the academy's founding hunter: that anyone, so long as they had talent, passion, and effort, could become a student of Sielm Academy.

But that was exactly why the road had been made so broad.

And as a result, it was only a matter of time before shops began to spring up all along its sides.

Of course, for people who got hungry or tired along the long road to Sielm, it was an excellent environment...

"Ugh..."

For me, it was nothing short of hell.

This road, packed with people and lined with restaurants and convenience facilities, was a place even ordinary civilians used lightly, not just students.

Especially since it was one of the main routes to Sielm Academy, having plenty of good places to eat was, in a way, only natural.

I pulled the zip-up hood over my school uniform as high as it would go and buried my face beneath the brim of my cap.

Just having people nearby was hard enough, but

I had to do this much, or my attacks would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at least lessen a little.

As I said before, even if I put all that effort into being careful, there was no way to avoid the seizures entirely...

"Ahh..."

Sometimes they burst out anyway.

It wasn't as though I'd never had danger like this before.

There had been times when I accidentally bumped into someone on the street, trembled all over while apologizing as best I could, then sat on a bench nearby for a few minutes to catch my breath before moving again.

Back then, I had only just come out of the treatment center, so there weren't many people around...

"Are you all right?!"

"Oh dear, what's wrong, honey?"

"Hey! Isn't that blue hair?"

But now that I'd come to the main road, the place was swarming with people.

And the result was...

"Ughhghghghhngh..."

My worst seizure began.

The ringing in my ears swelled to twice what I'd imagined it could be, and the dry, barren ache in my eyes spilled over like a dam bursting.

Every symptom in my entire body was going haywire.

"My, my! Are you okay?"

"Wait... his hair is blue, isn't it?"

"Do you need help?"

"Mom! That big brother looks sick."

And then more and more people began crowding around me.

The fact that my hair was blue only drew even more attention.

Good intentions, curiosity, pity, and all sorts of other reasons tangled together, pulling people toward me.

And of course, for someone like me, that was pure poison.

It was agony beyond words.

"Ugh... ple... please... l-leave..."

I pleaded, trembling so badly that my voice barely came out at all.

My head spun, my chest pounded like mad, and the endless ringing kept tightening around me.

The world in front of me went black, and my breathing, which had been steady, kept catching and stuttering as I gasped.

'I didn't get on the warp train because I knew this would happen...'

I clenched my teeth and tried to hold on, but the fear of humans, buried deep in my unconscious like a thorn, kept tearing at my body and mind without mercy.

And then, just as I was about to lose consciousness,

"Everyone! I'm very sorry, but could you all please step away from him!"

Just in front of where I had collapsed, I heard a voice as clear as seawater, bright and pure and yet somehow firm and beautiful.

I could feel mana woven through the voice, which meant she had probably used a spreading spell.

With so many people gathered here, it would have been hard to make herself heard otherwise, so that spell was less of a convenience and more of a necessity.

Thanks to that spreading spell, her voice reached everyone, and the crowd that had surrounded me dispersed in an instant.

"Phew-"

Then she came to a stop about three steps away from me, who was still trembling with terror, and continued speaking.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Since the people who had kept swelling around me had finally disappeared, I managed to make a sound at all.

"...Y-yes..."

With the pain from before still clinging to my body, I answered in a strange little groan.

"From your clothes, I thought you were a new student at Sielm. Is it all right if I butted in like that? Did it bother you or make you uncomfortable?"

"N-no!"

I was absolutely not uncomfortable.

No, if she hadn't been there, I would have blacked out and been hauled off somewhere.

I straightened my already-shrunken body as much as I could to show my gratitude.

"Hahaha."

And she, I didn't know exactly how I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked to her, but she was smiling in relief.

* * *

After my seizure and the other symptoms had eased a little, I was finally able to look at her properly.

Long, straight hair the color of pale yellow sunlight, shining brightly like a sunflower, and contrasting with it, eyes that held a seductive red glow were gazing gently at me.

Her face, softly framed by that long hair, was so strikingly beautiful it was almost enough to make my mouth fall open.

Long eyelashes, a prettily lifted nose, and lips the color of healthy cherries.

If I were to compare her to an animal, she had the face of a seductive cat.

She had a body with curves so sensual that there was no mistaking she was a woman at a glance.

One look was enough to tell she took excellent care of herself.

And then...

'She's... tall.'

Very tall.

Much taller than me.

No matter how much of a superhuman someone might be, born with high-quality mana...

Ugh.

I was probably just disgustingly small.

Damn it.

"Oh, why are you staring so intently like that~"

"Eep!"

She pushed her sculpted face closer to mine and asked me for an answer.

Of course, for someone suffering from anthropophobia, it was utterly lethal.

And I was forced to spend several more minutes making those breathless little choking sounds...

"S-sorry, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went too far with the joke... I forgot for a moment that you were just having a seizure."

She, who had seemed full of mischief only moments ago, now looked deflated, the way a lock of fool's hair drooped on her head, and she apologized to me.

"I-It's okay... It wasn't on purpose, after all..."

My body had finally calmed down enough for me to accept her apology, though my pronunciation still came out awkward and clumsy.

"Hmm..."

She kept thinking while looking at me, and then soon after said,

"Oh, right! We don't even know each other's names yet!"

"Huh?... Ah!"

Come to think of it, after she helped me earlier and I thanked her, we had never exchanged names.

"I'm Han Riae, Riae Melitton! Just call me Riae!"

"I'm a Sielm Academy new student just like you."

The moment I saw those personal details, I was shocked enough to doubt my own eyes.

The Melitton Family...

The Melitton Family was one of the few bloodlines that had survived to the present day from among those born in the incident three hundred years ago.

Unlike most people, who poured magic into weapons or spells, they were a family that used the Melitton Family Mana Circulation method, strengthening the body by taking extreme advantage of mana circulation alone.

Ordinary martial artists who used conventional mana simply circulated mana through their bodies to cast spells a little faster or move a little more freely.

But the Melitton Family's Mana Circulation fought in a slightly different way from normal mana circulation.

The Melitton Family's Mana Circulation did not bother much with magic or curses; it focused solely on bodily reinforcement, circulating mana to the extreme and pushing movement balance, power, and speed to their limits.

They reinforced their entire bodies with mana continuously, then drove the family’s distinctive mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into the other person's body, striking through every vulnerable place.

With that stylish yet simply overwhelming fighting style, and with generations of excellent clan heads who had fostered good relations with many other families,

it was no exaggeration to say that if you asked people to name ten famous families, most of them would choose the Melitton Family.

And one of that family’s children was standing right beside me.

The fact that she was the one who had just saved me from writhing in pain because of my anthropophobia...

'A daughter of the Melitton Family...'

I shut my eyes and sank into my thoughts, not even noticing that she was staring at me from right beside me.

"Hmm~ shouldn't our cute blue-haired boy introduce himself too?"

"Uh... ah! Yes, ma'am!"

"Hahaha, don't be so nervous~"

She tossed me a light joke as she watched me keep trembling.

"A-ah..."

Of course, for me, who kept shaking involuntarily because of my unconscious illness, it was a deeply rude thing to say.

"I'm sorry."

"O-oh, no, it's fine;;"

Still, since she had helped me earlier, that more than made up for it.

"Ah... ah! Um... here..."

"Ah."

Right.

I was supposed to keep my height and weight private...

"Huh!?"

But she, as if none of that mattered at all, was staring fixedly at just one of the lines in my profile.

"You're the rumored special-admission student?"

"Yes..."

Honestly, I was a little startled.

I never would have imagined that a child of the Melitton Family would react so strongly to a single word like "special."

"Wow... when they said the first special-admission student was coming, I thought some burly hero type was going to show up..."

"Ah... I see..."

Thinking she seemed disappointed, I looked at her face again.

"And you turned out to be such a cute boy!"

She said that and hugged me tightly.

And there, my vision cut out.