Disciple (1)
Disciple (1)
The student cafeteria.
Baek Ha-na, having devoured a salmon rice bowl tinged with a deep crimson hue, set down her spoon and blinked.
"It ended well, so why are you so down?"
"Well, ended...?"
Idni, who had been barely picking at her food, snapped her head up like she was possessed.
"We acted in self-defense...!!"
Idni shouted, clutching at her own hair. Normally, Maria, seated beside her, would have smacked her back out of sheer embarrassment.
"Why me, too... ha, haha..."
But Maria seemed too preoccupied calming her own racing heart to do anything.
"Demerits! Fine, demerits are okay. We just have to do better from now on! Off-campus and overnight bans? Those are bearable! But..."
Idni, who was shouting as if about to explode, cupped her face in the hands that had been messing up her hair and muttered quietly.
"A gaming ban is way too much..."
The two of them had been ordered to cease all electronic gaming, including 'The Guild'. The person who gave them such punishment was their superior, Lee Ye-sol, and the collaborator was none other than the god they served, Vuar.
Baek Ha-na popped a marshmallow she had brought for dessert into her mouth and spoke.
"Yesterday, you were happy that big sis was punishing you instead."
"...That was just a fleeting thrill of surviving."
Idni let out a deep sigh and lifted her head again.
"But you seem strangely in a good mood since yesterday? You were dazed about the off-campus and overnight ban."
"Mmm."
Baek Ha-na chewed the marshmallow and briefly recalled yesterday.
The sensation that suddenly covered her forehead. Normally, her body would have reacted before she could even think, but this time, it didn't.
The warm touch and the affectionate hand that slowly moved up to stroke her hair. That warmth, engraved deep in her heart beyond the physical, made her body and mind perfectly docile.
The touch she felt without seeing it. It stroked her head repeatedly, comforting her with affection.
Just that was enough to erase the pressing gloom. And that empty space was filled to the brim with a sense of emotional fulfillment that nothing else could substitute.
Just a brief recollection made her heart flutter again. Baek Ha-na suppressed the corners of her lips that threatened to rise and answered.
"Even if I can't sleep over, I can still stop by home."
"...Unfair."
Idni pouted and grumbled.
"Professor Baek is only generous to Ha-n—"
Whack-!!
"...?!"
With a resounding smack, Idni fell silent and grabbed her back, her head dropping forward.
Looking down at Idni's slumped head, Maria sighed.
"Just how many times do I have to tell you to watch that mouth of yours? Hmm?"
Especially since a notice about yesterday's incident had been posted by the Disciplinary Committee that morning and was drawing everyone's attention, and here she was, on the verge of making a public comment about Baek Ha-na's relationship with Baek Woo-jin.
Idni rubbed her sore back vigorously and straightened up.
"Ah, whatever. Since even my games are blocked until the end of the second year, I'm just gonna live at the mansion this vacation, so be prepared for that!!"
"...I refuse?"
Baek Ha-na answered seriously, something she rarely did.
The fact that she had to share with her older sister Claire was still a bit uncomfortable. And now someone else was trying to intrude? That was absolutely unacceptable.
"Wow, look at that. She used to jump for joy and ask us to come over."
"I know. That answer just now hurt me a little, too."
Even Maria chimed in, but Baek Ha-na remained firm.
"It's still no. And my sister will be there too, are you still coming?"
"Yep. I'm going. It's not like she'll even care about us anyway."
Through their experience, Maria and Idni had discovered the astonishing fact that their superior Claire, when with Baek Woo-jin, never scolded or punished them.
So, they concluded that spending the break in a pleasant, quiet, and cozy mansion was infinitely better than being with Lee Ye-sol, who would nag them all vacation.
However, seeing Baek Ha-na's absolutely resolute refusal, Maria thought for a moment before raising a hand to her mouth and whispering softly.
"Do you think you can play in the pool with the professor without us?"
"......"
Pool, water play, swimsuits. Those three keywords flashed rapidly through Baek Ha-na's mind.
"Two days."
"Four days."
"...Fine."
As Baek Ha-na nodded, Maria smiled with satisfaction, and Idni next to her also began giggling, as if shaking off her previous gloom.
"Um..."
Just then, Nam Seo-hee, occupying the seat on Baek Ha-na's other side, spoke up.
"Can I come too?"
Spending time with Baek Ha-na during the break was important, but what Maria had just suggested was far too tempting.
"Ah, you're banned from off-campus and overnight stays too."
Idni said, as if she had forgotten for a moment, and Nam Seo-hee nodded, waiting for Baek Ha-na's answer.
"You're coming to see me, right?"
"Huh? Y-yeah."
Baek Ha-na's eyes narrowed for a split second, but they quickly returned to her usual emotionless expression as she nodded. Then.
"Na-young, do you want to come too?"
"Huh? M-me too?"
"You don't have to."
"No, no. I want to go. I do. Yeah."
She had planned to continue her research over the break, but Lee Na-young nodded without hesitation, thinking she could see that little fairy again if she visited Baek Ha-na's house.
"Alright, let's get going."
Idni said after confirming everyone was done eating, and they all got up. On their way back after returning their trays.
"Um, Ha-na..."
"Yeah?"
Baek Ha-na, who was heading to the practical combat class taught by Professor Kang Han-na with Nam Seo-hee, stopped briefly.
"Did you want to say something?"
"Oh, ah, no... just, see you later."
"......?"
Baek Ha-na tilted her head for a moment, then nodded toward Lee Na-young, who was smiling awkwardly.
"Okay. See you later."
The group split up for their respective classes, and Baek Ha-na arrived at the sparring arena with Nam Seo-hee.
Since there was still time before class started, the students were gathered in groups, chatting about various things.
-Did you see the notice today?
-What, the expulsion?
-Honestly, I thought they'd bury it.
-I heard both Jaden and Professor Lee Hyeok attended.
Baek Ha-na was listening to the surrounding chatter with her keen hearing and warming up briefly.
"Baek Ha-na."
Kang Seok-ho, her sparring partner again today, walked over.
The murmuring around them instantly died down. It was a meeting that normally wouldn't have drawn much attention, but the notice posted that morning had shifted the focus of everyone's interest.
"Ahem, shall we move somewhere else for a moment?"
"Fine."
As Baek Ha-na stood up, Nam Seo-hee quickly stuck to her side and said.
"I'm coming too."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
Kang Seok-ho shrugged nonchalantly and led the two out of the sparring arena. They moved to a shaded corner, and after confirming they were alone, he spoke.
"...First off, I'm really sorry about what happened over the weekend."
Kang Seok-ho bowed his head slightly in apology.
"This might sound like an excuse, but if we had known, we never would have covered it up. And... I'm not asking you to understand, but Joo-hee has that kind of personality."
"She's trash, though."
"...Isn't that a bit harsh?"
Kang Seok-ho, who was subtly trying to defend his fiancée, immediately averted his gaze upon meeting Nam Seo-hee's cold stare.
"Ahem, I'm sorry you suffered because of us."
"It's fine."
The one who held the ill will had already been punished, so she held no special feelings for the other students.
"Is that all you wanted to say?"
"No, Ha-na, there's actually something else. It's..."
Kang Seok-ho trailed off and leaned in slightly.
"You know, that alchemist who made the potion last time."
Kang Seok-ho, who had been forced by Baek Ha-na to evaluate Lee Na-young's self-recovery potion and had personally experienced its effects more than anyone else.
"Lee Na-young, was it?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I was hoping you could introduce me."
"......"
"......"
The moment Kang Seok-ho finished speaking, Baek Ha-na's and Nam Seo-hee's eyes turned vicious. They glared at him like he was garbage and said.
"Even though you have a fiancée..."
"You piece of trash."
At their scathing insults, Kang Seok-ho panicked and waved his hands.
"Wait, I don't know what you're misunderstanding, but it's not like that!!"
"What do you mean not like that. Trash."
"A dog in heat."
"No..."
More flabbergasted than panicked, Kang Seok-ho explained.
"I have no idea what kind of misunderstanding this is, but it's because of the notice that went up yesterday?"
He then pulled out his smartphone and showed them a page.
[ Title : First-Year Grade Evaluation Addition. ]
We are informing you of an event being added to the evaluation.
The new event is a 'Rift Raid,' which will proceed with teams composed of ability, enhancement, and non-combat classes.
Each team will consist of 4 members and must be composed of a melee guard, a melee dealer, a ranged dealer or supporter, and finally, a non-combat class...
"Did you read it all?"
"......"
"......"
As the two of them looked sheepish, Kang Seok-ho put his smartphone back in his pocket and said.
"They said we can form teams in advance. So I was asking if you hadn't already teamed up with that alchemist Lee Na-young, because I wanted to form a team with her."
Hearing that, Baek Ha-na realized why Lee Na-young had called out to her in the cafeteria earlier.
"So. Can you introduce us?"
At Kang Seok-ho's question, Baek Ha-na pulled out her own smartphone and shook her head.
"No."
She might consider it for another classmate.
"But not you."
She had no intention of entrusting her friend to a weak man whose only ability was getting a little tougher.
**
Late evening.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, Master."
It was only after getting smacked by his master that Jaden realized Baek Woo-jin had not specified an exact time.
Thanks to that, he had only managed to arrange a proper meeting time after getting two lumps on his head. And now, he had arrived on time with his master in front of the 'old' Alchemy Workshop building.
[Confirmed.]
As Jaden held his ring to it, the closed door swung wide open.
"Let's go up."
"Hoho, yes. See you later."
The boy, Sean, left Jaden behind and stepped into the building alone.
"I feel nothing at all."
He tried spreading out his mana to trace the presence of his host, but perhaps he hadn't arrived yet, as he could detect no traces of mana anywhere in the building.
"I heard he looked quite young."
It was hard to guess his exact age due to the strange glasses obscuring his eyes, but based on the visible skin, he had been told the man looked at most in his late twenties.
He couldn't possibly be that actual age, and just as Claire, who was in her late thirties, maintained the youth of a woman fresh out of twenty, this man must also possess exceptionally refined mana in his body.
"It feels like my heart is beating for the first time in a long while."
Sean genuinely looked forward to meeting the person who had ignited his thirst for inquiry for the first time in a decade as he opened the door to the warehouse on the top floor.
"Oh?"
He was certain nothing had appeared when he spread his mana.
Yet, at the far end of the warehouse.
In front of the only window shining with moonlight stood a massive man with his back turned, plainly visible.
He spread his mana once more, but still felt nothing. This unfamiliar sensation of looking at a mirage, even though it was clearly visible to his eyes.
'Yes, the one who created that barrier must never be ordinary!!'
A client who had reignited his thirst for knowledge from their very first meeting.
As Sean took in the appearance of this client, his eyes began to take on a golden hue.
The moment the gently spreading light had dyed every part of his eyes.
【......】
【―――!!】
"Huaagh?!"
With a grotesque cry, the boy's knees slammed against the floor.
Drip, drip-drip.
Dark red droplets of blood streaming down from beneath the hands pressing against his eyes.
Terrible pain surged through him. Yet not a single scream escaped his wide-open mouth.
A pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen. Within that abyss, a figure possessing a complete form.
"Urrrgh..."
The hunched-over Sean forced his body upright with great difficulty.
Blood ceaselessly dripped from his hands, stained with dark red gore.
As the boy, his face smeared with blood, barely managed to stammer out his words like someone shivering from the cold.
"I believe I specifically told you to do only what I asked."
A voice tinged with subtle anger.
The alchemist swallowed the desire that had risen to his throat and let his body, which he had barely managed to raise, crumple back to the floor.
'...I'm utterly fucked.'
Unable to immediately find a way to resolve his client's anger, he opted to faint for the moment.