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The Tower of Growth, midterm evaluations, the tournament—every major event of the first semester was over.
The general and major lectures had also nearly wrapped up their first-semester material, which meant free time had opened up from several angles.
So during the short Blank Period that arrived before vacation, cadets tended to sprawl out and relax.
They met up with friends they'd been too busy to see, or they poked around the Commercial District's facilities—places they'd half-ignored for the sake of academics—and dipped their toes in.
"Ugh... this one's way too sweet. The last one was just right."
"That last one was already sweet enough to ruin your palate. How does anyone actually drink that whole line?"
Shin Seo-yul's brow furrowed as she sucked a mouthful of the drink through her straw. The sweetness was so intense it made her head ache.
Yang Yoon-ha, sitting beside her, shot her a jab.
"Hey, ever heard of respecting other people's tastes? You gotta acknowledge diversity, you know? And for a superhuman—where uniqueness is everything—to have that kind of mindset... tsk, tsk."
"That's a hell of an extrapolation from one little comment."
"Aha! Someone with barely any expansion abilities dares to talk back!"
"And what does that make you, getting your ass kicked by someone like that?"
"Guhk—"
Shin Seo-yul, having picked a fight only to get flattened by objective reality, set her barely-touched drink down on the table.
The cool air against her skin, the cloying sweetness still coating the inside of her mouth... and the friends seated around the table, including Yang Yoon-ha, who'd just been needling her.
It was the first friend gathering in a long while.
They'd all been so busy that they hadn't managed to meet up since the Dungeon Practice at the start of the semester.
And, in part, because using that time to just hang out and goof off had felt like a waste in so many ways.
Siyoram, with its jumbled educational system, goes all the way up to fourth year.
A cadet's Siyoram status grants the Blessing of Growth for four years. After that, even if you join the faculty, you don't receive any special blessing.
After graduation, your growth rate returns to normal.
And superhumans already have long lifespans to begin with.
Spending any of those four years—the only window in which that uniquely potent blessing applies—on idle leisure, even briefly, felt wasteful no matter how you looked at it.
Devoting all four years to training and squeezing out maximum efficiency was the right call. Outsiders thought so. The cadets themselves thought so.
In theory, sure. Cram all four years full of training and you'd extract peak efficiency. Who wouldn't know that? But theory and reality are different things.
Humans aren't machines.
You can't polish rust away. You can't oil a creaking body and expect it to run smoothly. Add fuel and it won't perform exactly to spec—and it'll never deliver identical output every time.
If something breaks, you can't swap it out like a part.
Superhumans, who've transcended humanity, are no different in that respect. Sturdier than ordinary humans, sure—but their foundation is still human.
That's why a person needs more attentive harmonization than a machine ever would.
The body requires periodic rest. So does the mind that drives it.
The mental aspect, especially, needs even more generous downtime. The body can be patched up a little, speaking loosely. The mind, once it's frayed and shattered, has no fix at all.
And so, for the sake of rest, Shin Seo-yul and her friends had finally gotten together.
Granted, a "gathering" just meant sitting in a café and chattering, swapping recent updates and gripes. That was about it.
It had been a while. They had plenty of stories piled up. Since they weren't awkward with each other, there was no shortage of things to talk about.
"......"
"......"
But after that, no one spoke. They were all pretending otherwise while stealing glances at each other, mouths firmly shut.
The truth was, there hadn't been much conversation even before that.
It was because of the atmosphere created by two of the six people present.
Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin.
The two who were normally noisy, always bickering—they were quiet.
Baek A-rin, who under normal circumstances would've been needling Hong Yeon-hwa and churning out every topic under the sun.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who normally would have snapped back at Baek A-rin's teasing with flustered reactions and laughter, who'd grumble but still play along.
Both of them sat in a deeply subdued mood. The friends who'd gathered after so long were all rolling their eyes around, trying to read the room.
Shin Seo-yul rolled her own eyes around before tapping at the hologram she'd pulled up under the table.
[Group Chat: Hong-Baek-Free Room (4)]
▶Shin Seo-yul: What's up with those two?
▶Lee Si-eun: Dunno, they've been a mess since we got here
▶Shin Seo-yul: Are they insane or what
▶Yang Yoon-ha: Ask them why
▶Shin Seo-yul: And get murdered? You feel that mood?
▶Yang Yoon-ha: That's exactly why you should
▶Shin Seo-yul: ?
Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin fought so often that the friends had a playful nickname for it: the "Hong-Baek Battle," a periodic event.
But judging from Shin Seo-yul's read of the room, this didn't feel like a battle—more like a war of annihilation.
Not so bloodthirsty that either of them was about to draw a blade and lunge, but there was an ominous undercurrent beneath the surface...
'What is that woman up to?'
That was, in fact, the case. Hong Yeon-hwa wasn't so agitated that she'd draw a blade and charge, but she was certainly mired deep enough in troubled thoughts for foreboding to fill the air.
Hong Yeon-hwa glared at her coffee, ice cubes floating in it, and thought.
She knew full well that Baek A-rin was voracious when it came to talented people.
Baek A-rin had entered social circles at a young age, broadening her reach and building connections here and there.
It wasn't as if Hong Yeon-hwa couldn't understand Baek A-rin showing interest in Lee Ha-yul.
Even putting aside Hong Yeon-hwa's own rose-colored glasses, there wasn't a person alive who didn't know about Lee Ha-yul's potential.
Naturally, Baek A-rin—whose eye for people was sharp—wouldn't have been ignorant about him either.
Hadn't she actually made an effort to get friendly and build rapport with him at the start of the semester?
Hong Yeon-hwa understood. Baek A-rin craved talented people and valued connections. She could see the logic—befriending Lee Ha-yul now for future benefit.
'......'
But lately, Baek A-rin's behavior had been excessive. Calling it mere talent-hunting felt too weak to explain the intensity...
What exactly was her angle?
Hong Yeon-hwa lifted her head and fixed her gaze on Baek A-rin.
"So, what's everyone doing over break?"
Then it happened. Baek A-rin, who'd been silently nursing her drink while staring at a hologram, spoke up.
"I'm planning to spend it doing mana training at my family's main estate's spirit vein."
"Ah... I'll probably go back to the main estate too, rest a bit, then hit some dungeons."
"I'm scheduled to patrol the Demon Realm border with the Subjugation Force..."
"Oh, rough. I'll pray for your soul in advance."
"Fuck you."
Shin Seo-yul, who'd been glancing back and forth between the two, got put on the spot and stammered out a reply; the other friends followed suit and opened up.
"What about you, Yeon-hwa?"
Only Hong Yeon-hwa was left. Feeling the eyes converging on her, she stayed silent for a moment, then gulped down her coffee and spoke.
"I'm heading straight up to the main estate."
"Right, the family's Regular Gathering is coming up. You have to attend that."
"Yeah. The heir can't exactly skip it."
This year's Regular Gathering of the Calamity Flame Family was a large assembly, with branch-family members attending alongside the main house. It wasn't the kind of event the heir, Hong Yeon-hwa, could be absent from.
"......"
And.
She hadn't told anyone except Baek A-rin and Ellia—who'd been there at the time—but during the break, there were plans to bring Lee Ha-yul to the main estate for a Calamity Flame examination.
That being the case, for this reason or that, Lee Ha-yul's visit and the Regular Gathering might end up overlapping slightly.
A visit from a precious guest. If the gathering overlapped with his schedule, simply sending the guest away would be a serious breach of courtesy, wouldn't it?
So, through truly unavoidable circumstances, Lee Ha-yul might end up attending the gathering. Only as a guest, of course...
It hadn't been intentional, but things could somehow work out that way.
Listening to the conversation gradually loosen up, starting with Baek A-rin's opener, Hong Yeon-hwa picked her coffee back up and sucked down a few mouthfuls through her straw.
Her stomach felt lighter than before.
* * *
The Blank Period had arrived, but I had no intention of goofing off.
I'd already rested plenty during midterms, and having free time simply meant I could devote myself to other things.
It was a short window, but long enough to consolidate what I'd learned so far. I was also scheduled to receive intensive spirit arts instruction from Professor Liana, and I planned to hang around the Craft Major grounds, track down that person, and get a foot in the door with crafting techniques.
"Buuu..."
All those plans got shot down by the sudden appearance of a baby.
Because fairy or not, the baby was literally a newborn. I couldn't exactly leave a child that young alone and go roaming around outside.
I skipped Monday morning's general lecture. Maybe because it was the Blank Period, that turned out to be easier than I'd expected.
I spent the morning in the dormitory, focusing entirely on caring for the baby.
And all the while, I racked my brain.
'...There's no way around it.'
A despairing answer came almost immediately. The bottom line was that I simply didn't have the time to look after a child.
I was a cadet in the first place. Someone shouldering an academic workload was never going to have ample childcare hours.
Second semester would be a little more forgiving, but...
I thought desperately. The solution I arrived at... well, if someone called me a lousy guardian and threw stones, I'd have nothing to say in my defense.
Monday afternoon.
Instead of my teacher's major lecture, I visited Professor Liana's lab for a spirit arts lesson.
"The baby is so cute! Aside from the wings, she looks just like a person..."
"Buuuu...!"
"That's right, that's right... aren't you a good girl?"
Ellia, cradling the baby in her arms, smiled softly. The way she carefully supported the baby's head and stroked her hair practically radiated maternal affection.
Her posture came naturally. She'd said she was used to caring for younger siblings, and that seemed to be the truth.
The baby herself, however, looked unsatisfied. Her cheeks puffed up round and she let out fussy little sounds. Anyone could see she was voicing displeasure. She'd been like that from the start. Even when Ellia had first reached out to hold her, she'd sulked like a puffed-up blowfish.
Then she turned her eyes toward me.
"......"
Those eyes, brimming with earnest longing, threatened to crush me under the weight of my own guilt.
But I had no choice.
I could skip all my lectures during the Blank Period. I'd have to shoulder the consequences myself, but it was doable.
Over the break, though... I had things I needed to do.
I had to visit Hong Yeon-hwa's family for the Calamity Flame examination. That part was fine. With some careful maneuvering, I could even bring the baby along.
'...But after that, no.'
The next stop on my itinerary wouldn't work. The place I'd be visiting after the Calamity Flame Family wasn't somewhere I could bring a baby.
It was dangerous. Even I wouldn't be heading there now if I hadn't secured insurance to preserve my life.
But skipping that schedule wasn't an option either.
I had to get stronger. I had to break my curses. I had to become strong enough that the people around me could stay safe.
If I settled for complacency right now, for the baby's sake... I'd die from my curses in short order, and the world itself would come to an end.
...Which is to say, it was nothing but excuses.
Armed with those excuses, I'd asked Ellia—and Ellia's family—if they could look after the baby during the break.
There were a few reasons I'd specifically asked Ellia's family.
They'd told me they owed me a debt and to reach out whenever I needed help... and weren't Ellia's parents, in fact, deeply experienced with childcare?
Professor Liana had also said that while the baby was a fairy and not human, the basics of childcare would be fairly similar.
"It's a request from Ha-yul. There's no way our family turns down a request from our benefactor."
[Thank you so much]
[You saved me]
"Because I can't just stand by and silently watch a baby raise a baby. If Ha-yul hadn't asked, I would've been the one to speak up first and ask if you needed help."
[I'm not a child...]
There'd been an odd remark mixed in there, but thankfully, the answer was positive.
Ellia, with practiced ease, soothed the sulky baby and demonstrated a veteran's knack for settling her snugly in her arms in no time.
"It's really amazing, though. To think a fairy was born from that egg..."
Ellia, who'd been there when I obtained the Origin Egg, found the fairy's birth deeply wondrous.
'Come to think of it, didn't Ellia tease me about frying up the Origin Egg and eating it?'
...Realizing that the egg she'd joked about had now hatched into a baby cradled in her arms left me feeling a little strange. Almost as if I could somehow guess why the baby was so disgruntled...
"What's her name? Did you already pick one?"
That was when Ellia, still soothing the thoroughly pouty baby, asked.
I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. I couldn't just keep calling her "baby" forever, so I'd stayed up all night deciding on a name.
[Lee Seo-yul]
[It's Lee Seo-yul]
Lee Seo-yul.
The name was more than the baby deserved, and I was the one who'd given it.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Ellia Srade
●●●●●●●○○○(73▷75/100)
｢Affection｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Little Chick｣ ｢Sorry｣
...
Lee Ha-yul → Lee Seo-yul
●●●●●●●●○○(89/100)
｢?｣ ｢Guilt｣ ｢Sense of Guilt｣ ｢Self-Blame｣ ｢Sorry｣ ｢Embarrassment｣ ｢Unease｣ ｢Worry｣ ｢Anguish｣ ｢Bitterness｣ ... ... ... ... ...
...
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Silence｣ have not been met]
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Solitude｣ have not been met]