Shutra Magic Academy (2-2)
The professor's words left me momentarily blank, nothing but empty noise packing itself into my eardrums.
"Even though you're only first-years and haven't learned much yet, your exam scores will change the course of your lives."
This was a world where even a commoner who enrolled at Shutra and posted decent grades could become a court mage. The professor was hammering home the importance of scores with manic intensity, insisting that top graduates were appointed without regard to social rank.
So, yeah — I got how important grades were. The problem was that to earn those precious grades, you had to review everything you'd learned so far…
I've barely learned anything. How the hell am I supposed to take an exam…?
…?
Armonia advised me not to stress over the exam.
As long as nothing unforeseen happened to me, the exam would be a free ride. I cheered inwardly.
Hell yes! Then I can just mess around starting today!
You know what the most fun game in the world is? The one you play during exam season. This world didn't have games, sure — but during exam period, anything that isn't studying is pure joy.
The professor went on to carefully explain the exam format. We'd be taking it in two weeks, and of course everything covered between now and then would be on the test as well.
"From today onward, only morning classes will be held, so don't waste your afternoons — study hard. And one more important point."
His expression hardened further as he continued.
"Starting today, the campus library will remain open twenty-four hours a day until the exams are over. I hope this gives all of you the time you need to fasten that first button properly."
He added that the practice rooms usable as shops, along with other key facilities, would also stay open around the clock.
"However — when using any facility, you must obtain permission from a teaching assistant first! That is all!"
"Yes, sir."
Having finished his explanation, the professor stepped down from the podium, muttered something to the teaching assistant, and left the lecture hall. The assistant — sporting dark circles like black icicles under her eyes — climbed onto the podium and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
"All right, everyone, please head to your primary attribute classrooms."
The moment she said it, Luna stood up, shot me a glance, and sent a look my way. Come with me, it said.
But life rarely unfolds that easily.
"Luna."
"…"
Luna kept her composure as she turned toward the owner of the voice.
"What?"
"…Can we talk for a second?"
"Fine."
Luna… she'd grown. The girl who used to make her displeasure screamingly obvious now answered gently, careful not to stir up unnecessary trouble, and followed Louis. As she went, she gave me a little nod — go on ahead without me.
Chaotic from day one… Well, might as well head over.
I got up from my seat and made my way alone to the wind attribute classroom.
Louis led Luna somewhere with fewer people and started talking.
"…Luna, what the hell is going on with you?"
"About what?"
"…"
At her feigned ignorance, Louis closed his eyes and twitched his brow. He wasn't angry. He simply couldn't understand.
It's weird. She's so different from before…
Luna had never been fond of social gatherings. Her family had fallen under charges of treason, but she alone had survived. Even with Louis's house backing her, she was still a ruined noble, and social events meant nothing but excessive scorn and harassment. And yet, after coming to Shutra, she had started mingling with the other students.
Fine… that much I can understand. It's a good thing…
Louis would have preferred to be the one guiding her change, but remembering everything she'd suffered, he decided to accept it. What he couldn't accept was how her personality shifted more noticeably with each passing day. The clearest example: Luna, who had always smiled for him, had at some point started radiating pure irritation. And the turning point was…
That bastard…
At first, Louis hadn't taken Sung Suho seriously either. Some guy from an unknown foreign land — a commoner, no less. Louis had even approached him, thinking he'd be useful. School regulations forbade personal attendants, so the plan had been to rope in some awkward nobody and make campus life easier. Instead, Sung Suho had started threatening Louis's position.
From the very first class he'd earned a major reward. When Luna was being sexually harassed, he'd hurled insults and saved her. Professor Sonya had begun openly favoring him. It was a far cry from a certain someone who couldn't even get noticed, failed to protect the girl he liked, and got slapped for creeping on her. And of all those things, the one that didn't just rankle Louis but set him burning like a fuse was Luna.
"Luna… did I do something wrong?"
"I already told you no."
"Then why? Why are you covering for a guy like that?"
"I told you before. Fighting him doesn't do anyone any good."
"…"
At first, Louis hadn't even considered the possibility that Luna might like Sung Suho. Help or no help, the guy was still a commoner. If a commoner wiped the mud off your shoes on the street, you might show gratitude — but there was zero reason to feel affection. That was how Louis saw Sung Suho. From his perspective, Luna liking him was simply impossible by any reasonable standard. Until now, Louis had trusted her.
"…Luna, let me ask you again. You're not in some weird relationship with that guy, are you?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?"
Back then, Luna had shown a flash of anger she never displayed in ordinary life. But now the unease was creeping in. From the day of his suspension onward, Luna's behavior had changed dramatically.
She never used to refuse my requests. No matter how I look at it, that bastard is the cause…
For nearly a month, Louis had clung to Luna, trying every angle of conversation — from joining a new club to weekend outings. She hadn't accepted a single one of his requests-disguised-as-suggestions. She simply left him behind and slipped off somewhere alone every day.
"Luna… you're not in some weird relationship with that guy, are you?"
"…"
Her silence made Louis's heart drop like a stone.
No… if I just ask one more time…
He opened his mouth again, carefully.
"You're not involved with him at all, right? Right? There's no way you'd get close to a guy like that…"
"If I said we weren't anything, that would be a lie."
"…What the hell does that—!"
Louis was about to explode when she cut him off.
"I just…"
"…?"
"I like capable people. And I want to be close to people like that. That's all."
Luna said nothing more, falling into quiet silence. Louis stared at her hard, then smiled faintly.
"Got it. We'll be late for class. Let's go."
"…"
Watching Louis suddenly back down left Luna uneasy, but she was also relieved the situation could end quickly, and she headed for the wind attribute classroom. As he watched her go, Louis wore a cold, mocking smile.
"Skill… so I just have to show her the difference, is that it?"
With that, Louis turned and made for his own primary attribute classroom.
Of all the classes at Shutra, wind attribute is my second favorite. The reason is simple.
Moving classes mean you can sit wherever you want. Love that.
For the record, my absolute favorite is lightning attribute class — because you can just lie on the floor.
The moment I entered the lecture hall, I planted myself by the window in the corner and waited for Luna. Students chattered among themselves, glancing my way now and then. Back when I'd yelled at Professor Paris, I'd left a decent impression. But the second the suspension label stuck to me, everyone started keeping their distance. The fact that it happened at the start of the term was probably the biggest factor. While everyone else was busy making friends, I'd been left floating alone. By now, they all had their groups locked in.
Honestly, this suits me fine — but I'm worried my reputation will tank even further if it keeps up.
Armonia immediately voiced her confusion.
Why?
Yeah… I've changed a lot, haven't I. But I'm not fretting just to make life easier for myself.
Right now, my objective was Luna. And the one who'd handed me that objective was Louis. Among the first-years, he sat at the absolute top in looks, family, and grades. If a guy like that started badmouthing me to everyone around him, people would swallow it whole and nod along. And the longer that agreement lasted, the less they'd believe the truth even if they eventually learned Louis had been lying — because they themselves would have been spreading the lie. Anyone who'd been peddling falsehood as fact would force themselves to keep calling it truth, just to erase their own guilt. Especially after I'd come back from a suspension, any slander about me would be that much easier to believe.
If word of my relationship with Luna ever spreads, my reputation could end up hurting her.
Getting cursed out on my own still didn't bother me much. But I had no intention of letting a situation arise where my woman got cursed out too.
I was sitting alone by the window, staring blankly at the sky, when someone slipped up beside me, dragged a chair over, and spoke.
"Feeling disoriented after being gone so long?"
"Ah…"
Luna sat down with perfect posture, back straight, and smiled. The already eye-catching Luna planting herself next to me — alone in the corner — made the students who'd been glancing my way stir even more. We'd sat together a few times before, but back then neither of us had much of a profile, so no one cared. Now the looks were different. Luna had become famous in her own right, and so had I. On one side, a girl whose looks crushed every other female student flat. On the other, a guy who'd gotten suspended the moment he enrolled. Anyone could see how unbalanced that pairing looked.
But those stares only lasted a moment.
Rrrrk.
"Good morning. We will now begin wind attribute class."
The class was no different from the ones I'd taken before. Even previously, wind attribute lectures had been difficult enough that I struggled to follow. Roughly speaking, it felt like a foreign language had mutated into an alien one. My vacant expression must have shown, because Luna beside me started looking worried.
"Are you all right?"
"Hm? About what?"
"You've missed so much material — I was worried it would be hard to understand."
It wasn't hard because I'd missed material. It had always been hard. But a man nodding along here would lose all face.
"It was a fantastic lecture, actually."
"…"
"The professor's words just sank right in."
"…"
Luna fixed me with a long, skeptical stare. Then she sighed and shook her head.
"Well, there are no afternoon classes starting today, so I'll go over everything covered in class with you."
"I'm really fine, though."
"…Do you not want to be around me?"
Luna furrowed her brow slightly and started grumbling. The sight of it made me laugh, and I answered carefully.
"The opposite, actually. If I'm with you, I don't think I'll be able to concentrate. That's the problem."
"…"
Luna went blank for a moment at that, then smiled.
"You should stay a little tense when you're learning from me. I may not look it, but I'm scary."
"Hahahaha."
"Are you laughing at me right now?"
Luna pressed her lips together and started throwing a little tantrum my way. Even after class ended, neither of us left the lecture hall — we just kept whispering to each other. It was like a scene from a beautiful romance film.
Until now, at least…
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Footsteps cut through the noisy throng of students moving about, and the sound alone turned everyone around us into stone statues. The presence that had created that silence walked right up to us and spoke.
"You two have gotten pretty close, huh?"
"…"
"Louis…"
Louis looked down at me as if he owned the suddenly quiet classroom.
"So? Think you'll do well on the exam?"
"Well… I figure I'll do fine."
"Hahaha…. With nothing in that head of yours, how exactly are you going to do well?"
It wasn't me who took the bait — it was Luna. She shot to her feet and shouted at him.
"Louis!"
"Luna! Stay out of this!"
"What…?"
Luna stared at him, mouth working in stunned little half-sounds. Even her flustered stammering looked elegant. Louis checked the eyes on him, then turned a sneering smile on me.
"Well? Tell me. How are you going to do well?"
"Eh… explaining the process would be a bit much…"
I smirked and threw it right back at him.
"But I'm confident I'll do better than you, at least."
"…What?"
I could feel a crack form in Louis's mask. His true face hadn't fully broken through, but for a second I glimpsed what lay beneath the fracture. The mask repaired itself almost immediately, and Louis smiled with renewed swagger.
"If you're that confident, how about we settle it with exam scores?"