More Than a Month
The days at the academy were like the sea. Sometimes calm, sometimes fierce. The one thing they shared was that both were wet. Puerto Rico’s climate meant rain fell constantly, often without warning. You’d head to a lecture for note-taking only to return looking like a drowned rat. That was why I usually carried an umbrella—except on the days it never rained, when the damn thing became dead weight. A truly shitty climate.
Maybe the weather stirred something in people’s hearts. The academy before and after a downpour was always thick with passion and rage. The perfect example was the duel-obsessed romantics who challenged anyone they laid eyes on. They kept the campus in a state of lively chaos, charging into fights with furious energy. They looked terrifying, but they weren’t genuine villains. There was order to their madness, and their bouts made for decent free entertainment while walking to class.
“Twin-sword fanatic versus dagger thief… looks like a pretty even match.”
“I honestly can’t call it. If I had to bet, maybe the duel-crazed side has a tiny edge…”
“Quiet, all of you. The duel’s starting.”
This was entertainment you could only enjoy at Palaestra Academy. The high educational standard helped, but moments like these were a big reason many of us had enrolled in the first place.
“Hmm. Better get to the classroom.”
Of course, that kind of fun never lasted long. Lectures and duel-watching hours often overlapped, so I could only catch one or two rounds at most. It was a shame, but that was that. I shook off the temptation and headed off like a good student.
“Sian~ Let’s just watch this one~ It looks like it’s gonna be absolutely hilarious~”
“No. I’m not interested. Hurry up and follow me.”
There were, admittedly, a few problems. But they were everyday occurrences by now, so I didn’t pay them much mind.
“Another new week begins.”
When I reached the lecture hall, the exact same scene from last week greeted me. The familiar faces, ending up seated between the same two women, even the notebook I opened—it was all identical. For the first lecture of every week, Hunter Studies 101, I took notes even though I already knew the material. It was boring as hell, but I couldn’t risk missing a potential exam question. By the time my hand had moved like it was on fire, the lecture finally ended and the next one waited.
“Ugh… This is annoying. How about we all just do it over the weekend?”
“Shall we?”
“Oh, I’m in.”
But that was all they ever did—wait. The basic hunting lecture was so lax that the future version of myself always ended up saddled with the work. Some might call it irresponsible, but college students are irresponsible by nature. And when a convenient future version of yourself exists, there’s even less reason to refuse.
The three of us would wander all over Arecibo, and the next day would arrive before we knew it. The aftermath of drinking while roaming, however, was no joke. My body felt heavy as lead, and I’d slept so poorly that my mind kept flickering in and out. Alcohol and sleep usually got along fine, but the environment I passed out in every Monday was the real problem.
“If we head that way, we’ll reach the house where I’m staying…”
“Oh, really?”
After wandering all over the city, we arrived at our usual destination. Shannon’s house, conveniently close to the commercial district, always became the final stop. People might wonder why Cheon Mari and I kept ending up there, but honestly, I wasn’t exactly choosing to visit while drunk.
“Ehehe… Would you guys like to stay at my place for a while?”
“Really?”
“Hehe~ Why would I lie~ You can all hang out as long as you want~ Sian, you can even sleep over. I won’t say a word~”
“Wait, hold on. We have lectures tomorrow, so we should really just break up here for our own good—mmph!”
“Look, even Sian says we should~”
When two drunk women dragged me along, I had no choice but to go. We drank more in her small house, played around until we dropped, and eventually passed out there. The house was tiny, so not everyone could fit on the bed. Naturally, the owner Shannon took the bed while the rest of us slept on the floor.
Yet every time I woke from an odd feeling, a bizarre scene awaited me. Cheon Mari would be on the bed, while Shannon and I were on the floor—with her tail wrapped tightly around me in a full-body hug. It might have sounded pleasant, but reality was nothing like that.
“Uung… So warm…”
“Gehk.”
Instead of pleasant sensations, I felt like I was being crushed, suffocating to the point of death. Trying to escape was nearly impossible; her tail strength was absurd. In the end, my only options were screaming or fainting. Thanks to that, the next day I suffered the consequences of never getting proper sleep.
“Uh… uhm… S-sorry…!”
“Isn’t your tail a little too strong…?”
But what could I do? It was my own fault for passing out at someone else’s house. After barely enduring the theory portion of basic combat class, the next day had somehow arrived. Thankfully, Wednesday meant Sua noona’s lecture.
The content was… well, just ice magic theory and some basic demonstrations. It wasn’t particularly practical and the power was low, but most of it was still material I already knew. I sat through the lecture in relief, then it was time to help Sua noona. I cleaned up the lab, and if there was nothing else to do, we simply chatted. It wasn’t bad at all. The occasional way she touched my body was a little awkward, though.
Once another day slipped by like that, the grand finale of the week waited for me: Beginner Survival Cooking.
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
It really was an excellent class. So excellent that I got to hear every kind of discrimination and insult from a single person.
“You despicable bastard! After what you pulled last time, you have the nerve to show up here?!”
“Anyway, the treatment worked, didn’t it? What exactly are you complaining about?”
The protagonist truly showed remarkable willpower. The way she ground her teeth at me even after getting beaten senseless was impressive in its own way. It looked like we’d have to fight before the lecture even started, but I wasn’t so shameless that I’d skip class entirely. No matter how badly I planned to thrash her, I at least had the manners to let her attend the lesson properly. So the fight was postponed until after class ended.
“A-agh…!”
“I told you to watch that filthy mouth, didn’t I?”
The moment class ended, we moved to an alley and began our bout. Though calling it a “bout” felt embarrassing. It was closer to me simply pummeling her one-sidedly.
“Hurk!”
After a blow to the abdomen robbed Ines of her combat ability, she had to drag herself home looking like a rag. She wasn’t alone, of course. I followed right behind her. Ines desperately tried to keep me from entering her house. It was pointless. Only after a second round did I finally subdue her. I sometimes wondered if this was really necessary. The more she resisted, the more she was the one losing.
I fed the unconscious Ines an elixir. Watching her gulp down medicine made by the very race she despised was rather amusing.
“Tsk tsk.”
“Th-this is only because you forced it down my throat! I had no choice!”
“The bottle right next to you was a choice, though. You drank the whole thing and still have the nerve to complain?”
I clicked my tongue while Ines continued her pathetic excuses. Her stubborn refusal to abandon her beliefs faintly reminded me of the game’s protagonist. Why does she have to be so damn stubborn about exactly these things…?
Unfortunately, the more she acted this way, the lower her chances became of ever walking the true protagonist’s path. After more than a month with zero improvement—nothing but the same events repeating—I was starting to question her very nature. One could argue that my forceful approach made her dig in her heels, but the one who kept causing problems first was always her. Whether it was racial slurs, species discrimination, plain insults, or physical provocation, Ines always started it. I was simply responding in kind. I kept telling her not to do it again, or at the very least not to pick fights with me.
“F-f… fu… ck…”
“Fuck? After I generously healed you with an expensive elixir, you’ve got nothing nice to say?”
“You’re the one who barged in and treated me without permission! I never asked for any of this!”
“Then should I stop treating you from now on? Even if you get beaten like a dog, I should just leave you?”
“Th-that’s…”
She hesitated badly. I could see her convictions wavering. This was different from when she’d thrown around words like “forced.” Her illogical beliefs were impossible to pin down. I let out a sigh, set the elixir down, and stood up. As always, I was about to leave.
Ines stared at me with her usual glare. But where it normally burned, today it seemed somewhat subdued. It was the kind of look you’d see on someone lost in thought or exhausted.
“Hey! Fuck!”
“My name isn’t Fuck.”
“No, Kang… whatever!”
It was an unexpected remark. After more than a month of beating her, she had finally used my family name for the first time. I wondered if she’d had a change of heart, but her expression suggested otherwise. Sure enough, she looked like she was about to spout more nonsense.
“You may be a vile, disgusting bastard… but I did accept your elixir. Therefore, I shall repay you for it.”
“Repay me?”
“Yes! I will treat you to dinner as compensation!”
I was an idiot for expecting anything from the word “compensation.” Was she seriously presenting that as repayment? She was probably just trying to mess with me or set me up somehow. For someone with zero real power, she was admirably persistent.
“What, planning to feed me burnt food or poison?”
I snorted. The tactic was so obvious in this situation that the reaction was automatic.
“No! What kind of person interferes with someone while they’re eating?!”
“People like you Dixies.”
“You— This bastard! What exactly do you take me for?!”
A pathetic idiot. A pathetic idiot who I wished would show at least some signs of reform. Her near-scream of a question flew out, but I didn’t answer. I was practicing selective mutism. I simply waved lightly and walked away, letting Ines’s shouts from behind wash over me with one ear. After a full month of listening to her shrieking, I was starting to get used to it.
I never imagined the day would come when I’d have to test exactly how long I could endure those screams.