I Like the Professor (2)
I Like the Professor (2)
"Ah-ha? Our little one got a bit hurt, did they? Why don't you tell me just how big a scratch this 'bit' is?"
"Really, really, just a bit..."
"Ah-ah, stop. You're supposed to answer properly when you're asked a question, aren't you?"
"Euuung..."
The moment his nose was pinched, Lee Ha-yul's face crumpled into a pout. But Liana didn't feel much guilt.
After all, she hadn't put any real strength into her fingers.
It had always been like this, but recently—ever since the catastrophe known as the Reverse Side had unfolded—it had grown worse.
Whenever Lee Ha-yul found himself in a situation where he was about to get scolded, he had started blatantly weaponizing his whining as a shield, just as he was doing now.
"Hnng... I'm sorry..."
...The problem was that it was quite effective.
She knew full well it was a transparent act of fussing, but the moment she saw Lee Ha-yul's teary face, her stern thoughts crumbled on their own.
'This kid is really working all his tricks.'
Flustered, the corners of Liana's eyes drooped.
She had bragged to Atra that she would give Lee Ha-yul a serious scolding for recklessly shoving his head into danger without a word, yet she, the one who'd made the declaration, couldn't even follow through.
"......."
She could see Lee Ha-yul, now subtly gauging her reaction, pressing his face firmly into her chest.
Self-conscious of anyone watching, Liana swallowed a sigh and stroked his white hair. The warm breath nuzzling against her burrowed even deeper.
'What in the world did he do that involved the Vice Headmaster's arrangements...'
Given that he was fiercely guarding not only his mouth but even his necklace, it did seem like he had been hurt somehow.
'I really do need to scold him for that, though.'
It might be overstepping. Lee Ha-yul was, strictly speaking, a superhuman, a cadet of Siyoram.
But in Liana's opinion—and in everyone's opinion—Lee Ha-yul's case was a little different.
'The little one is insensitive to injury.'
He felt pain. If anything, he was more sensitive. Lee Ha-yul's senses were tremendously amplified, even by superhuman standards, and the same went for his sense of pain.
But he didn't pay it any mind.
If necessary, he would endure the pain. He thought nothing of training until his own arms split apart from side to side, accepting it as a matter of course.
And if you let him be? Later on, he might very well reach the point of using his own body for human experimentation.
It wasn't as if there were no precedents.
There were countless cases of excessive will being devoured by madness. On the frontlines of the Demon Realm, Liana had witnessed such cases firsthand.
She had seen just how horrifying a state a person could voluntarily reduce themselves to.
And the insane idea of using one's own circuits as a magic formula, in particular, hit a sore spot because she had seen similar horrors among those cases.
That was why she couldn't help but worry whenever Lee Ha-yul treated injuries and danger like nothing.
"Hoo..."
"Hik."
Memories for which the phrase "hardship" felt woefully inadequate. The sigh escaped her reflexively.
At the sound, Lee Ha-yul's body, which had been squirming its way into her arms, froze on the spot.
"Ah, this sigh wasn't because of you, little one, so don't worry. Pay it no mind, you're good..."
Realizing her mistake, she patted his back to reassure him. And then, a beat later, she realized another mistake. She'd soothed him before she'd even interrogated or scolded him.
'...Ah, well.'
She'd blown it. Shaking her head, Liana gently tilted Lee Ha-yul's head up from where it was buried against her.
His face emerged from its hiding place, peeking up at her. Liana pressed her lips to the bridge of the nose she had been pinching just moments before.
— Smack
A shy, soft sound resonated against her lips, and those gentle, pure white eyes flew wide open.
"Don't whine too much. Everything I say is out of worry for you, little one... Hm, saying it like that makes it sound a little odd. Anyway, it means you absolutely, absolutely must take care of your own body. Understood?"
"...Yes!"
He blinked for a moment. Then a sunny smile spread across Lee Ha-yul's face as he answered with bright energy.
"Euhyu, you sure answer well."
"Heehee..."
The moment Liana abandoned the idea of scolding him, he caught on like a ghost and started beaming.
Amused by how adorably cunning he was being, she shook her head and tapped at the hologram.
"You came out far earlier than expected. Can you explain what happened in there?"
The hologram floating above the desk shifted.
It was the information she'd just received about Group 1 of the Ipha Class's Dungeon Practice.
Half of the groups that had arrived so far had been forced to make emergency escapes during their practice.
The other half had returned, but they either had clear point-deduction factors or were groups that had entered a Grade 3 Dungeon.
In other words, so far, Lee Ha-yul's group was the only one that had completed its assignment in a Grade 2 Dungeon and returned safely.
"Normally, cadets use up a full five days and barely manage to get out."
Since they'd been given an assignment concerning the inner core of a Grade 2 Dungeon, just traveling from the entrance to the inner core and back should have taken about four days.
Lee Ha-yul himself could have flipped the dungeon upside down and come out in half a day, but considering the others' capabilities, he would have paced himself to match them.
"We encountered an Upper Spirit inside. It was serving as the dungeon's Alpha Individual, so it attacked us. We resolved the assignment before we even entered the inner core."
"...A spirit, as an Alpha?"
But the answer that came back was truly puzzling. Tilting her head in confusion, Liana shifted her gaze to Lee Ha-yul's wings.
Three pairs, six wings in total—and among them, one wing was especially thick with a dark brown hue. The presence emanating from that wing was unmistakably that of an Upper Spirit.
— Wow, how long has it been since we got a rookie?
When Liana's gaze fell upon them, the spirits that had been quietly chattering among themselves while Lee Ha-yul was being scolded revealed themselves.
All of them were in human form. Upper Spirits whose innate talents and egos had been completely established. They flocked around Lee Ha-yul's wings, their eyes sparkling.
— But it's not under Liana's contract, so can we really call it a rookie?
— Since they're going to marry, aren't they going to be family anyway? If that's the case, then as the youngest, it's definitely a rookie.
— The King's kids are also growing crazy fast, you know. If dozens of the ones who are around now emerge as Upper Spirits... ooh-wah. How many rookies would that be? A totally huge family...
"Euhum!"
Her cheeks flushing at the whispering that drilled rapidly into her ears, Liana cleared her throat. At her signal, the spirits laughed mischievously and backed off a bit.
"Ahaha... They've been getting a lot more mischievous lately..."
That wasn't a lie. When Liana retired, the spirits lost their work alongside her, and in all that idle time, they began to search for various things to enjoy.
After that, the spirits grew more teasing.
The reason was obvious. No matter how much the Association's control had made things cleaner than in the distant past, the pure spirits had been tainted by the civilization known as the internet...
"...It's definitely an Upper Rank, but its energy feels a little weak."
Stroking Lee Ha-yul's head as he looked up at her with wide, bright eyes from within her arms, Liana steered the subject back.
Trusting his head to Liana's touch, Lee Ha-yul nodded as if spellbound.
"I don't think it became an Alpha through a normal procedure. Something probably happened to it before that, injuring it, and I suspect it inevitably ended up as the Alpha Individual."
"Hmm... The situation is awfully peculiar."
Liana tilted her head with a complicated expression.
"According to a report we received a few days ago, there was no Alpha Individual in the Cave Maze Dungeon. And of course, no mention of any Upper Spirit, either."
"Could it have sensed the power disparity and hidden itself?"
"That's possible. Or maybe the cadet's combat power was below its threshold, so it decided to fight them off..."
That wasn't the only question. Shrugging, Liana tucked her hair behind her ear.
"To begin with, how did an Upper Spirit even appear in a dungeon, and how did it take that kind of damage in an environment perfectly suited to its attribute?"
"When I Observed it, the damage was semi-permanent, the kind that's hard to recover from."
"...? Ah, I see. Then it's even stranger. The surrounding area would have been saturated with suitable energy, so even if it hated it, the damage should have healed. For a spirit, a spiritual body, to sustain that degree of harm..."
It was deeply puzzling. Liana narrowed her eyes and stared at the wings.
Was this spirit born in the dungeon? Did an external entity get swept into the dungeon? When? And what kind of damage could reduce such a high-ranking being to such a state?
"Hmm... I think we'll only know for sure once the spirit wakes up."
In the end, they didn't reach a conclusion.
There was already a spirit who would explain everything once she came to her senses, so there was no point racking their brains over it.
"Right. She kept healing her wounds when I fed her my mana, but she passed out again just a little later."
"Ah, that's..."
—Wow, it held on that long after its first taste? That freshman's mental strength is insane.
"?"
Force-feeding that much mana to a spirit encountering it for the first time. Liana and the spirits shook their heads in unison. There was more than one reason she wouldn't wake.
"So, little one, do you want to go home first?"
Liana met Lee Ha-yul's eyes as he nestled in her arms, slowly stroking his back.
"I still have things to do. A few small tasks, and the other cadets haven't finished their practice."
"Weren't you holding a drink just now?"
"...They're small tasks. Unlike you, little one, most cadets will need at least three more days before they start trickling back out."
The small tasks could be handled alone, just tapping away at holograms and documents.
The truly busy time would start from the fifth day, when cadets came swarming out.
Until then, she could work at a leisurely pace while sipping a drink...
"Mm... Then can I stay with you for a bit?"
Lee Ha-yul squirmed in her arms and propped his chin on Liana's chest, sinking into its softness. A sparkling gaze shot up at her.
"Of course. You're always welcome."
'I should greet the others too...'
What came out of her mouth was different from her thoughts. Honestly, wouldn't it be fine to hold him in her arms for a few hours...
"Hehe."
Lee Ha-yul let out a beaming smile and fidgeted in her arms. Liana smiled back, her hands slipping from their embrace around him.
—Swoosh.
Instead, the pale green winged garment coiled around Lee Ha-yul's lower back and waist, keeping him from slipping down.
A gift she'd received from Lee Ha-yul. The more she thought about it, the better the armament.
Its free form-shifting was a perfect example. It didn't sacrifice durability, either, and recovered quickly. To think this wasn't even an artifact...
'Hm...?'
It was an absent-minded action. But as Liana wrapped Lee Ha-yul in the winged garment, her expression turned strangely wry.
The sight felt familiar. Back when Lee Ha-yul had bound Liana. And back when Lee Ha-yul carried a very young Lee Seo-yul wrapped like a swaddled baby...
The latter image overlaid itself onto the present.
"...Pft, pff-haha. Little one, you really look like a baby wrapped in a swaddle right now."
"...Don't tease me."
"Yet you've stopped telling me not to call you a baby."
"That, that's... because even if I asked you not to, you'd still say it..."
"Oh, did it bother you? Should I stop calling you that, then?"
"...No, not to that extent..."
Pursing his lips, Lee Ha-yul dodged the conversation. Meaning he buried his face straight into her chest.
Liana burst into laughter at the blatant evasion and tapped at a hologram with both hands.
"...You're not drinking?"
"Hm?"
A moment later, the voice vibrated from within her chest. Even as a brief shiver ran through her, Liana's eyes rounded.
She looked down. Lee Ha-yul, again with only his eyes peeking out, blinked at her.
"You were just drinking while you worked."
"Ah... It's fine right now. I already had some, and you're here..."
The first half was a lie. Liana wouldn't get drunk even if she had twice that amount.
The second half was the real reason. She still felt reluctant to drink in front of Lee Ha-yul.
Thinking that, Liana subtly sniffed the air around her.
The strongest scent was Lee Ha-yul's, rising from her embrace. Overwhelmingly sweet, yet not overbearing—like honey.
Next, her own faint personal scent... That was it. Any smell of alcohol had long since faded.
But Lee Ha-yul had picked up on it. That was how sensitive he was to alcohol, how uncomfortable it made him...
"I'm fine."
Having read her thoughts, Lee Ha-yul shook his head. He held Liana's waist tight and confidently met her gaze.
"I told you before. If it's you, Professor Liana, I'm fine. I don't mind now either. Please don't worry about it."
"......."
He made a sincere confession sound so lovely.
The whiny, playfully pouting act he'd put on moments ago to avoid a scolding had vanished.
Liana, who had been deliberating with a strange expression, soon made up her mind and glanced sideways.
—What, why, what now...
Aurora. The high-rank water spirit arched an eyebrow. There was no need to share will-thought; the intention conveyed through the look alone made the corner of her eye lift higher.
—You're telling me to do it again? Haa...
"Ahaha, thanks as always."
Still, she came closer, shoulders slumping. Laughing awkwardly, Liana pulled a bottle from under the desk and handed it over.
—...I really didn't become a high-rank spirit to do this kind of thing...
Aurora waved her hand. In an instant, the bottle opened, and a glass swirled over, enveloped in water.
At the same time, other ingredients flew in from a storage cabinet across the research lab.
The liquor and the ingredients mixed themselves neatly into the glass.
Liana liked drinking straight liquor well enough, but she absolutely loved mixed drinks blended from multiple ingredients.
—Well, it can't be helped. Aurora's skill is really something else.
The taste of a mixed drink differed entirely based on the maker's skill, and the finest mixed-drink artisan Liana knew was none other than Aurora.
Because she was a water spirit. Most of the liquor and ingredients were liquids, and Aurora could blend them with breathtaking finesse.
Even when the ingredients weren't liquid, Aurora proved freakishly good at making drinks.
—Well, obviously, because I'm a high-rank water spirit...
A single glass of mixed drink, finished in an instant. Transparent ice coalesced in midair and plopped into the liquor. Liana picked up the glass resting on the desk and smiled brightly.
"Thank you. I'll enjoy it."
—Yeah, drink up, you milk-drunk boy.
At Liana's thanks, Aurora shrugged, punctuated by a sigh.
She wasn't genuinely bothered, of course. Aurora was the spirit who had been with Liana almost from the very beginning. Fixing her a drink was something she'd do any day.
Still, it felt unbefitting of a high-rank spirit, so she was just nursing a little petty annoyance.
"Hm?"
As she pressed Lee Ha-yul's head into the warmth of her chest and carefully inspected her glass, Liana blinked.
Aurora, who had been grumbling a moment ago, was looking at her with an extremely odd gaze.
Like the sort of gaze leveled at a sketchy adult. Liana tilted her head.
—What's with you?
—Do you realize you look really weird right now? Look at it objectively.
A silent conversation passed through will-thought between contractor and spirit. Objectively. Liana turned the word over in her mind.
Her own research lab.
She'd called a cadet in, sat him in her lap, wrapped him up with a cloth, buried his face in her chest, was drinking alcohol herself, and whenever she got bored she stroked his head or his back...
—...Th-that's completely different from this.
—I know that. I'm just saying that's how it looks.
—......
Liana's expression turned awkwardly sour.
Aurora shrugged. Her face looked thoroughly satisfied. It was absolutely not payback for being used as a drink-making machine.
"...Sniff, sniff."
[Intoxication]
At the faint sensation seeping past the scent of skin, Lee Ha-yul, nestled in her arms, fidgeted.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Liana Bellus
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡(90▷91/100)
｢Love｣ ｢Milk Cow?｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Gentle Adult｣ ｢Soft｣ ｢Voluptuous｣