Cute Paran
"Ah! I get it! I’ll go quietly! Seriously, quit it already!"
Light golden hair, clearly styled at great expense, and a pair of seductive red eyes.
Han Riae had just...
"Ah! I said I’m not going to run while using magic! I’m really going quietly, okay?"
stormed out of the house for Sielm Academy, looking like she was running away.
Ha... she’s always like that...
Ever since I was little, I’d had trouble circulating or controlling mana properly.
My older sister had already turned toward politics thanks to her natural gift for dealing with people, and my older brother was a veteran among veterans, already challenging the Class 1 Hunter exam.
By contrast, I was the sort who, the moment I got careless, would end up using far more mana than I should and exhausting myself.
The very thing that made my family, the [Melliton Family], strongest in long battles had become my greatest weakness.
Of course, in short engagements, I could still quickly knock down my classmates and always ranked near the top in the middle academy.
It was a problem that my brother was always first, though...
Even in daily life, I’d been scolded more than once by my mother for running around, overusing mana, and passing out.
Just a little while ago...
- Riae! If you get too excited and run again and your mana runs out and you collapse, what then? Just take the warp train quietly!
- Ah! I said I won’t do that this time! I told you I’m walking quietly!
- I can’t even count how many days you said that right before you passed out.
- Ugh... whatever!
After all that, she’d flown out of the house in a fit of irritation.
Normally, I didn’t get that worked up, and there usually wasn’t a situation where I’d need to burn through mana so carelessly.
But my mother’s overprotectiveness was extreme.
Unlike my sister, who had already become independent, and my brother, who was steadily growing on his own, I must have seemed like an unstable bomb that couldn’t be left alone without causing an incident.
Even after I’d been careful for months and finally won admission to the prestigious academy, Sielm, she still couldn’t shake her worry and kept her eyes on me.
I’d wanted to walk proudly into the long-awaited Sielm entrance ceremony on my own, but my mother kept stopping me, saying that if I used mana recklessly and exploded again, what would happen?
That was how this fight had broken out.
It was irritating, because I felt wronged, and yet I couldn’t help understanding my mother’s side of it.
As I walked along, determined not to cause anything strange, I noticed people gathered on the street, all of them murmuring.
I know it’s a bit much for me to say this, but I’m nosy.
So whenever trouble broke out between friends or something big happened, I’d fly over like a streak of light.
I’d messed things up because of that more than once.
Still, when I pushed my way into the crowd and looked at what was going on, I found a boy crouched there, trembling like a rain-soaked kitten, begging in a tiny voice for everyone to stay away.
I watched him pityingly, and then I noticed something.
The blue hair that could no longer be found anywhere...
And the Sielm Academy uniform he was wearing under his hoodie...
That was when my nosiness kicked in.
"Everyone! I’m very sorry, but could you please step away from him!"
Using mana expansion, I broadcast my voice to the people around us, relaying the plea he’d made in his tiny, shaking voice.
Only then did people back away from the boy, and I kept a little distance too, guiding him to a nearby bench and sitting him down so he could calm down.
Deep, rich blue hair, like the sea.
It was the hair color that had supposedly disappeared a hundred years ago...
His delicate face held every feature a human should have, in perfect proportion.
His eyes were soft and drooping, and his mouth opened and closed cutely as he panted shallowly.
That slender, frail body kept trembling, which set off every protective instinct I had.
His sapphire-colored pupils were slowly looking at me.
His cheeks were flushed, and he kept drawing short, unsteady breaths.
Seen like this, I could only think he was an absurdly cute pretty boy.
"T-thank you..."
The boy finally seemed to have calmed down enough to thank me.
The way he bowed while still trembling and managed to express his gratitude was just too adorable for words.
I couldn’t stop smiling as I looked at him.
Ah, this isn’t good.
Would I end up being treated like a pervert if I kept this up?
Thinking that, I forced my expression into shape and spoke again.
"It’s okay, it’s okay. Helping people is just what you do, right~"
I’d even used a flippant tone of voice, something I normally never did.
Did that come off weird...?
After mulling it over for a moment, I looked back at the boy.
He was still staring at me blankly.
The little lips he had parted so cutely, the bright, sparkling eyes fixed on me...
And then...
I want to see how he reacts when I startle him!
that became the thought that took over my head.
"My, my, why are you looking at me like that?"
As I said that, I suddenly leaned my face forward.
Just as I was thinking this distance should be fine...
"Hyee!"
He let out a little sound and wore an expression of utter shock.
Worse, he was on the verge of tears, clutching his chest and hunching in on himself as he groaned...
Ah...
I’m fucked.
With my guilt sinking like a weight in my chest, I had no choice but to watch the boy wheeze and groan for several minutes.
"S-sorry, I went too far with the joke... I forgot for a second that you’d just had a seizure..."
"I-it’s okay... I know you didn’t do it on purpose..."
How could he be this kind?
Someone who had seen with his own eyes the person who’d watched him seize up, then deliberately startled him into another one, and yet could forgive me so easily...
Even the slightly clumsy way he spoke made me feel even worse.
Come to think of it...
Hmm...
What was this boy’s name again...
Ah!
"Oh, right! We still don’t even know each other’s names!"
Come to think of it, we hadn’t properly introduced ourselves at all.
"I’m Riae, Riae Melliton! Just call me Riae. Ah, and my name in this eastern region is Han Riae."
With that, I showed him the personal information registered on my bracelet.
"I’m a Sielm student too, just like you."
As soon as I introduced myself that way, the boy’s eyes widened dramatically.
It seemed like he was thinking something over carefully.
He closed his eyes quietly, and I kept watching him, wondering if he’d fainted again.
"Hmm, shouldn’t our blue-haired boy introduce himself too?"
Seeing his eyes slowly open again, I asked for his introduction.
I wanted to know his name and information as quickly as possible.
The boy, flustered, held out his bracelet with a cute little gesture.
"Ah... ah! Um... here..."
-----------------------------------
Name: Lim Paran
Sex: Male
Height: 160.2
Weight: 50.1
Position: Special Admission Student of Sielm Academy
Special Note: Mana Erosion State
Innate Ability: None
Hmm...
Lim Paran.
Paran...
Just like his appearance, it was a blue, mysterious name.
Blue hair was so rare that it was practically nonexistent.
In this world, blue hair was almost as good as extinct.
That was probably a big part of why people had gathered around this boy just now.
The last person with blue hair had died a hundred years ago...
And, just as he looked, he was rather petite.
And his position...
"Huh?"
That word, Special, on his position line.
The first special admission student in 500 years, the one that had been burning up the internet for the past week.
The special admission student whose personal information had still not been revealed, shrouded in mystery, was sitting right in front of my eyes.
"So the first special admission student isn't some legendary hero descended from the heavens..."
"Ah... I see..."
I could see Lim Paran looking dejected, as if disappointed by my reaction.
Too...
Too, too
cute!
"I had no idea he’d be such a cute boy!"
Unable to contain my excitement, I went ahead and
pulled Lim Paran into a tight hug, even though he had a seizure just from someone getting close.
The moment I saw his face, I knew at once that he had fainted.
But because that delicate, adorable face was in my arms, I felt a rather improper urge to enjoy it just a little longer.
"Ah... ah!"
I snapped back to my senses, set Lim Paran back in his seat, and called my mother.
"Pick up... pick up...!"
- Hmm? Who is this? Could it be our Han Riae?
"Mom!!!"
Unable to hide my relief, I called out to her at the top of my lungs.
- Goodness! Oh my, what happened for you to call your mother, whom you never call unless it’s urgent?
"Mom."
- Yes?
"I’m fucked."
- Huh?
"U... uuh... where am I..."
After blacking out in Han Riae’s arms just now, I came to in a moving car.
And beside me...
"Huh? You’re awake! Whew, thank goodness~"
Han Riae, the one who had hugged me and made me faint, was sitting next to me.
"Are you okay? Is anything hurting? I’m really sorry, honestly..."
She was babbling at me in a rush, apologizing over and over now that I’d woken up.
"Y-yes... I’m okay... I think..."
Right after waking up, I was still a little dazed, and honestly, I was fine now.
I was still embarrassed by how slurred my speech was.
"Really? I’m sorry, really..."
Seeing tears gather at the corners of her eyes, I panicked and answered again.
"N-no, it’s really okay..."
This time I managed to pronounce it properly.
Yay.
Then a voice I’d never heard before came from the front.
"That’s why I told you, miss, not to go causing trouble outside..."
"Ahem..."
It was a feminine voice, hard and cool from the very first sound.
"Hello. Lim Paran, right? I’m Han Riae’s full-time bodyguard and secretary, Kairell. You can just call me Kei."
The secretary, who was driving from the front, finished introducing herself and then put both hands back on the wheel.
It was a flying car that normally drove itself, so it felt strange seeing someone actually holding the wheel.
"We’re heading straight to Sielm. Since miss here knocked you out, please understand that we had no choice but to give you a ride."
"Ah... yes, thank you."
"Think nothing of it."
I was glad I wouldn’t have to keep walking through crowded places anymore.
And then...
"Ugh..."
Right. I figured this would happen.
Being in an enclosed space like this with another person, there was no way my reaction wouldn’t come.
"Huh? Huh? Are you okay? Paran?"
"Ah... yes... I can hold on..."
"Kei! Full speed!"
"Sigh. Understood."
And just like that, we reached Sielm in less than ten minutes on what should have been a two-hour trip.