A Boy Full of Mysteries
After returning to the dorm, Haley flopped onto her bed with a freshly washed body. Haa… Finally, she could rest properly.
It was fun. For the first time.
How long had it been since she’d found something that made her heart race like this? It was the first time since entering the academy.
Haley, who had once been an ordinary girl from a remote mountain village, had been filled with dreams the moment she realized she could use magic. It felt like an endless new world had unfolded before her eyes—one she had never known existed. After that, she applied to the academy, received her acceptance, and spent her days wrapped in sky-high expectations. Would she meet friends like herself? What would it feel like to study alongside them? That excitement had reached its peak right before the entrance ceremony.
Too eager to wait, Haley had left home early and stayed in a village at the foot of the mountain not far from the academy. That was when she first encountered a boy who climbed Bingryong Mountain every single day with a staff in hand.
Is he a mage like me?
His small frame and youthful face made her wonder if he was a new student at the academy, just like her. As always, curiosity drove her forward. She began climbing the mountain too, practicing her magic against the monsters there. Up until then, she hadn’t deliberately followed him.
How many days had passed? Just when she was thinking about striking up a conversation with him—
BOOM—!
A dazzling white light bloomed in the distance accompanied by a tremendous roar.
So this… is real magic?
Compared to that, the spells she had cast until now felt like child’s play.
This was the Golden Academy, where the empire’s most talented individuals gathered. So at the time, she simply assumed there could be new students with monstrous talent like that. Just thinking about attending the academy alongside such people made her heart pound uncontrollably.
Unfortunately, she never saw the boy again after that. But it didn’t matter. She would meet him at the academy soon enough.
Yet the soaring expectations that had swelled inside her like clouds burst and vanished like smoke within just a few days of enrollment.
She had entered the academy with a heart as light as air, but what she felt was nothing but disappointment after disappointment. She simply hadn’t realized how advanced her own skills already were.
The classes were far too easy. They were so boring she couldn’t help but yawn. There was almost nothing she didn’t already know, and even the few things she didn’t were solved so effortlessly that they felt utterly dull.
The students in her class were the same. Even though she had been placed in the Upper Class, she couldn’t find a single mage impressive enough to spark her interest. It was nothing more than a gathering of young noble lords and ladies from respectable families. Unlike her, they didn’t seem interested in the boundless world of magic at all.
And strangely, the boy she had seen before the entrance ceremony was nowhere to be found in her class. She figured she must have mistaken a senior for a new student because of his youthful appearance. Someone with that much skill couldn’t possibly be in anything but the Upper Class.
When neither the classes nor the other students held any interest for her, she turned to the library. It was a desperate attempt to find something—anything—entertaining among the countless books she had never even seen in her rural village. But even that didn’t last long. A few books managed to pique her curiosity at first, but that spark quickly faded as well.
There was nothing fun. It was boring. So boring, so boring…
That was the phrase that left her lips every single day.
Then, by pure chance, she spotted the boy from Bingryong Mountain again. He seemed to be about to spar with other boys in the training grounds. Whatever was happening around her didn’t matter. The only thing she cared about was the boy himself.
From his uniform, she could tell he was a new student just like her. After all, the training ground was reserved exclusively for freshmen. She checked his name tag.
Kael.
She also learned that he was in the Lower Class.
It was far too strange. She knew exactly how skilled the Upper Class mages were. Yet here was a boy who had cast such incredible magic even before entering the academy—placed in the Lower Class?
Unlike her other curiosities, this one refused to be easily resolved. The light that had been fading from her eyes due to boredom suddenly returned.
Whenever she had the chance, she watched Kael from afar, observing him carefully. Of course, she had been extremely cautious so he wouldn’t notice.
Why is he following me?
She had been tailing him outside the academy and got caught red-handed. And meeting Kael in person turned out to be far more interesting and entertaining than simply watching from a distance.
What kind of power did he possess? What was he trying to do? What was he thinking? Every single question felt like a puzzle that refused to be solved easily.
Yes. This was it. This was exactly what she had been searching for all this time.
Her entire body, which had been limp and lifeless, felt alive again. The time she spent with him in the Shadow Forest was a continuous stream of mysterious and thrilling experiences.
His actions were always completely unpredictable. From the moment he approached her with questions, to casually grabbing her hand, pinning her down on the dirt floor, pretending to support her while linking arms with her—nothing she predicted ever came true.
And there was no need to even mention the overwhelming magic she had witnessed once again.
She even liked that he refused to teach her anything. It felt like he was throwing difficult problems at her on purpose, challenging her to solve them herself.
Hehe.
Lying quietly in the middle of her silent dorm bed, Haley let out a small laugh. A boy who was a walking mystery. The dull, colorless days at the academy suddenly felt like they would be full of life from now on.
With her eyes gently closed, the corners of her mouth stayed lifted until she finally drifted off to sleep. Haley fell into a long-awaited dream filled with excitement.
The day after going out.
“Kael!”
Warren came looking for me during lunch.
“Do you have time during lunch today?”
“Why?”
“I want to buy you something delicious.”
“Me? Why?”
“Thanks to you, I got my money back from Glover last time. I’ll treat you.”
“You really don’t have to go that far.”
“What are you talking about? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have earned this money at all. I even received some allowance from the blacksmith uncle yesterday, so I’m rich now. At least let me buy you a meal.”
When Warren insisted like that, it felt awkward to keep refusing. I nodded willingly and walked with him.
“Oh, by the way, Lucian didn’t show up for class today.”
Warren, who had been chatting about random things, suddenly spoke up as if he had just remembered. It made sense. The night we returned from the Shadow Forest, I had thoroughly crushed Lucian. Just like how he had treated Warren, I beat him half to death while force-feeding him expensive healing potions. I realized beating someone up was actually pretty exhausting, but the fact that I had to spend all night swinging my fists and staff because of a guy like him made me so angry that I kept hitting him even more.
When I thought about everything Warren had suffered and how Lucian had tried to kill me, even turning him into dust with stacked Magic Missiles wouldn’t have been enough. But actually killing him would cause all sorts of headaches, so instead I beat him so badly that I almost wished he really would turn into powder. By the end, he was completely terrified—shaking in fear even if I just raised my hand. Even I had to admit I tormented him mercilessly all night long. After threatening him like I had extracted a confession from the contractor, I made sure he would keep his mouth shut. From now on, he wouldn’t dare make a sound and would just live quietly, breathing as little as possible.
“Maybe something happened while he was out?”
“Who knows.”
I played dumb. There was no need to tell Warren what had happened that night.
“Kael.”
As the two of us were walking toward the cafeteria, someone called my name. I turned around. This voice…
It was Ophelia. And of course, Blair was standing right beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world. When she saw me, instead of her usual stiff expression, she gave a small nod in greeting.
“Ah, Lady Ophelia!”
Warren, startled by Ophelia’s appearance, hurriedly bowed. Ophelia accepted his greeting politely and looked back at me.
“Are you with your friend? I hope I’m not interrupting.”
At Ophelia’s words, Warren waved his hands frantically, insisting it was fine. Even though I was with Warren, we weren’t strangers, and it was perfectly normal to greet someone you passed by. As always, Ophelia was incredibly polite.
“What’s up?”
She seemed to have business with me, so I asked lightly.
“I went to the blacksmith with Blair over the weekend.”
“Thanks to you, we were able to place the request properly. Thank you.”
Ophelia started, and Blair continued.
“As thanks, I’d like to treat you to a meal sometime…”
At that moment, a loud voice suddenly cut Ophelia off from behind.
“Kael—!”
Why were so many people looking for me today? And that unnecessarily cheerful voice…
I heard rapid footsteps—tap tap tap—running up from behind, and soon the owner of the voice appeared. It was Haley with her bright red hair. She suddenly popped out, slapped my shoulder, and stood right next to me.
What’s with her?
I stared at her in disbelief. Haley looked up at me with that familiar, cheeky grin I had seen far too many times.
“Want to eat with me today?”
You… too?