The Taker and the Taken
The Taker and the Taken
Hero Academy is, literally, a school that raises heroes.
Heroes.
Those who oppose the traitors of humanity who sold their bodies to villains and demons.
Hero Academy is one of the arrangements prepared step-by-step by heroes and other races to stop the Demon King, who will soon be resurrected.
Usually, they only accept students, but it's not like there's no way to get in at all.
"A beastkin, I see."
The ash-haired woman spoke calmly.
Grande Hill, the aide to Titania, the Queen who leads the Fairy Race, said calmly.
"And a bloodline of the Divine Beast lineage, which is incredibly rare at that..."
Grande Hill looked at Kim Si-yeon's silver hair, then glanced at me. It was a look that asked where on earth I had picked up something like this.
Kim Si-yeon wagged her tail, looking anxious. When I placed my hand on her head, she smiled brightly and leaned into my touch. Her fur was so thick it felt like petting a puppy I used to raise when I was young.
"She was being targeted by villains. So I brought her here."
"Well done. With a little polishing, she'll make an excellent combatant."
-And her family relations...?"
A voice that felt like it was being etched into my mind echoed. It was the use of magic. When I shook my head, Grande Hill nodded calmly. Cases like Kim Si-yeon's were not one or two.
"Then I will guide her to the Queen."
Saying that, Grande Hill turned and left. I thought about following, but she's 20, so she'll figure it out on her own. I turned around and headed for the training grounds.
I intended to, that is. If Kim Si-yeon hadn't been holding onto my hem.
Kim Si-yeon tugged on my hem. I looked at her face and saw her pupils trembling. She must be anxious. Come to think of it, she had trauma from losing her family, so she used to cling to the protagonist.
"Siwoo, aren't you going?"
"Yeah, Titania-nim is someone you can't just meet whenever you want."
At my words, Grande Hill bowed her head in agreement. Seeing the corner of her mouth lift slightly, she seemed to be in a good mood. The grip on my hem weakened a little at my words.
I chuckled and said.
"Don't worry. I'm a student here too. If you want to see me, you can see me anytime."
"H-huh, a student? R-really?"
I could see the look of bewilderment in Kim Si-yeon's eyes at my words. Well, she's 20, so maybe she feels bad about having her head patted.
"Yes. Lee Si-woo-nim is a student. And a tremendously promising one at that."
"So if you want to meet, you can meet me anytime... Ah, is that rude? You're older than me."
"No, it's fine. O-actually, I like it. Call me Si-yeon."
She's 3 years older, and she wants me to call her by her name?
"......Sure."
She seems a bit more proactive than in the original work. I nodded, feeling a bit awkward.
"Then, we shall go to have an audience with the Queen."
Saying that, Grande Hill stuck to Kim Si-yeon, brushed off the dust, straightened her clothes, and took her away.
-Oh, right, and.......
Grande Hill looked back at me and conveyed a message via magic.
Calmly, as if she had just remembered something she forgot.
-Contraception is mandatory during sexual intercourse. If it weren't for Lee Ji-ah-ssi's trait, Karma of Magic, she would have been pregnant.
She dropped a bombshell.
-Do you want to meet up for a bit?
[Lee Ji-ah]-Hm? Why?
A reply came immediately after I sent the message.
-I wanted to see your face.
[Lee Ji-ah]-Rabbit emoji blushing
[Lee Ji-ah]-Then where should we meet?
-Shall we meet at a cafe?
[Lee Ji-ah]-A cafe? Sure. I'll be there right away.
Right away...? I was a bit flustered. I thought it would take some time since she's a girl. Anyway, I walked toward the cafe.
I grabbed a seat, ordered a fruit shaved ice for Lee Ji-ah, and since it'd be boring just eating, I ordered two Americanos to drink. Not long after, Lee Ji-ah arrived. Rich brown hair with a slight wave. When did she even get a perm?
She was wearing a brown cardigan the same color as her hair, a black skirt that came down about halfway down her thighs, and a t-shirt with a bear on it.
Lee Ji-ah looked around for a moment, spotted me, and waved with a bright smile. When I welcomed her, gasps flowed from the surroundings.
"Sorry, I'm a bit late, right?"
"No, you're not late at all. I just got here."
When I said that with a smile, Lee Ji-ah's expression brightened even more.
I sat her down and was asking how she was doing when the waiting ticket glowed red.
"Wait a second, I'll go pick up what I ordered."
"What you ordered? You ordered already? Should I go with you?"
"No, I can handle it alone."
I was being considerate, meaning for her to sit since she had just been in the heat, but Lee Ji-ah made a pouty face. Why?
I headed to the counter. The female employee at the counter looked at me with honey-dripping eyes.
On the brown wooden tray were the fruit shaved ice topped with melon and grapes, and two iced Americanos. That was as ordered, but there was one extra slice of cake. I looked around; there was only one tray. It must be mine.
'Again?'
"I didn't order that slice of cake."
"I-it's on the house. Please come to the cafe more often... hehe."
"Thank you. I'll come often."
I replied appropriately and turned around, hearing small squeals of "Kyaa-". As I headed to the table, Lee Ji-ah stood up and took the tray.
"As expected, Siwoo has good sense. I wanted to eat fruit shaved ice. But do you like cheesecake, Siwoo?"
"Hm? No, they said it was on the house. Do you want to try it?"
"......No, I'll eat the shaved ice."
Lee Ji-ah said, shaking her head slightly. Her brown hair fluttered. She scooped a large spoonful of the shaved ice, which was packed with condensed milk and fruit, opened her mouth wide, and put it in.
"Nom."
She put it in her mouth and shivered. Seeing her eat so deliciously, I asked without thinking.
"Is it good?"
"Yeah, it's delicious. You try some too, Siwoo. Here, ah."
She scooped up some shaved ice with melon and condensed milk with her spoon and gave it to me. I took a bite.
'It's just fruit shaved ice.'
There was no particularly special taste. It just felt tasty because of the condensed milk and the fruit.
I replied appropriately to Lee Ji-ah, who was looking at me with expectant eyes.
"It's good."
"Right, right?"
Saying that, she ate another spoonful of shaved ice.
As she shivered, I could see her white t-shirt shaking. The dignity of an E-cup.
More than that.
'She's gotten incredibly strong.'
The density of her mana had changed to the extent that I could tell without looking at her status window. At this rate, in two weeks... even if it takes a month, she could really defeat Im Na-yeon... Han Jong-woo is tough. Han Jong-woo's ability is the natural enemy of mages and ability users.
"Now that I think about it, you've gotten incredibly strong."
"Yeah. The principal helped me a lot. Professor Song Rahui helped me too. Oh, come to think of it, Professor Song Rahui asked if I wanted to become her disciple..."
"Really?"
"Yeah, so I've been learning from the principal and Professor Song Rahui lately, but I don't know who I should choose."
Is she asking me to choose a master for her?
I thought while cutting the slice of cake in front of me into bite-sized pieces with a fork and putting it in my mouth.
The talent Lee Ji-ah possesses is Karma of Magic. When using magic, the framework is different from ordinary mages. While ordinary mages block all kinds of variables to use magic stably, Lee Ji-ah's magic utilizes magic in an 'unstable' state.
Unlike mages who use 'mana' as is, which is called the Power of Defying Heaven, she has to go through a process of overload and maximize explosive power in an unstable state to manifest magic.
Rather than the magic taught by Titania, who is close to a natural state, the magic formula taught by Song Rahui is more suitable for her.
In reality, Lee Ji-ah on the route of becoming Song Rahui's disciple was stronger than on the route of becoming Titania's disciple.
'If we're comparing just the two, that is.'
Song Rahui's destructive magic formula is excellent enough that most mages would want to receive it, but it doesn't suit her. There is something else that suits her. I glanced at Laplace's Staff. There was no reaction.
"For now, just learn a certain amount from both of them."
"...Just a certain amount?"
Lee Ji-ah tilted her head for a moment, then nodded. And she started eating the shaved ice again with a bashful smile.
Is it because she's kind? She doesn't doubt me at all. If things go wrong, the connection with the Fairy Queen and Song Rahui could be severed.
"Don't you have any doubts?"
"But... everything you've said so far has been right."
I stared at Lee Ji-ah blankly for a moment. I was a bit touched. I had paid some attention to her, but I had been neglecting her compared to Im Na-yeon or Nam Da-yoon, yet she trusted me this much.
"Oh, right. Is your midterm exam preparation going well, Siwoo?"
"......As for me, I'm preparing well."
Honestly, I had no confidence in failing the written exams because of my trait.
The practical exams were fine as long as I didn't meet the protagonists. Eun Sua too... that would be a bit tough right now.
"How about you, Ji-ah? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think the practicals will be better than I thought. The written exams are a bit difficult, though..."
As we talked like that, she glanced at me every now and then.
I could help if there was something I could help with, but since I was using a kind of cheat, it was awkward to readily offer help.
Bzzzt.
Just in time, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and saw Nam Da-yoon had sent a KakaoTalk message.
I sent a quick reply, and the KakaoTalk notifications rang in succession.
"Is it a girl?"
"Yeah."
"......Siwoo, you know a lot of girls."
Lee Ji-ah said in a slightly gloomy voice, unlike her usual self. I shook my head, feeling awkward at that gloomy voice.
"No. I don't really."
The answer came out reflexively. Do I... not have many? I thought about my relationships with women for a moment. The women I've had relations with are Lee Ji-ah, Im Na-yeon, and Nam Da-yoon.
And Eun Sua, whom I'm currently targeting.
When we did the dungeon experience last time, I was quite covetous of the ability of Ayane, who was in my group. Ayane's ability is Severance.
If she grows later, it's an ability that can even cut through concepts. Ayane also has quite a bit of affection for me, so if I seduce her a little, she might come over.
Yoon Chae-rin... her unique ability didn't match well with other abilities, so it was ambiguous.
I also coveted Kim Ha-rin's Mad Wings. It boasts the fastest ability among supernatural powers, has the advantage of being able to fly, immunity to lightning and light-attribute attacks, and the light-attribute attacks fired from the Mad Wings are something I can't easily give up.
On top of that, Kim Si-yeon's blessing to manipulate wind as she pleases, Wind and Wave, is also good. I also covet the Purple Witch Song Rahui's ability. The ability to see the structure of magic formulas is not an ability that can be easily obtained. I also covet Grande Hill's space-related abilities...
Xiao-mei's Gaze of Greed, which pierces the value of objects, wasn't bad, but... I didn't necessarily have to collect Xiao-mei's ability. It's enough to be able to build a cooperative relationship with her out of necessity.
There were many other women with abilities I coveted.
I also coveted the 'Seal' ability of the 'Dancer' who defeated one of the monsters called Great Evils, and I also coveted 'Lightning's' 'Raigwang'. No, Raigwang was a necessary ability for my martial arts characteristics. If combined with the Wind-Thunder Sprint Step, the fastest movement technique of the Thunder Spirit Heart Method, an invincible escape technique would be born.
I also coveted the ability of the 'Princess' who will enter the academy next year.
"But why did you ask to see me?"
"Yeah, I have something to tell you..."
"......A, a word to say?"
Lee Ji-ah swallowed. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked at me with expectant eyes.
"Actually......."