Chapter 201: Humiliation Play
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 201: Humiliation Play
Waist-length brown hair, gray eyes reminiscent of the Tower Lord, and a venomous look on her face.
Han Seoah.
She was a direct descendant of the Jinryu Han family—one of the three great magic noble families, along with the Seongbuk Choi family—and the only younger sister of the Tower Lord, Han Lael.
“...Kang Hyun-woo.”
Sprawled on the floor, Han Seoah glared daggers at me. She glanced at my outstretched hand, then pointedly ignored it and got up on her own.
As if to say she didn't need my help.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“That's none of your business.”
With a sharp, edged voice, Han Seoah brushed past me.
Left alone in the hallway, I watched her retreating back for a moment before turning to walk toward the library again.
As you can see, she and I don't get along.
Of course, I held no ill will toward Han Seoah, but the same couldn't be said for her. In our brief encounter, I felt her blatant hostility.
It was probably because I had rejected her offer before.
Is she petty or just foolish?
Even if I were to give her information on the Tower Lord, the chances of a mere 1st Circle mage like her becoming the family head were practically zero.
The Tower Lord, Han Lael, was a genius the likes of which the Jinryu Han family hadn't seen in centuries, while Han Seoah's talent for magic was barely average.
The eldest daughter, a 7th Circle mage at twenty-nine, and the second daughter, a 1st Circle mage at twenty.
That gap was impossible to bridge.
What a tiring way to live.
It wasn't my problem, so I quickly lost interest.
It wasn't like I was going to get close to Han Seoah, nor was I in any position to have to walk on eggshells around her.
*
Arriving at the Grand Library, I stared blankly at my surroundings.
An expanse that seemed like several soccer fields stitched together stretched far into the distance.
I'd heard that space magic made the interior much larger than it appeared from the outside, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.
Bookshelves packed with books floated through the air, swimming alongside fish made of mana.
Here and there, students of the Magic Tower were leisurely reading or flying through the air to browse the shelves.
It wasn't the 6th Circle magic, 'Fly.' They were simply being assisted by the magic stones installed within the Grand Library.
As I looked around, I channeled mana into my ID card. It began to glow faintly.
A moment later, a small, pure-white being with little horns approached me.
“How may I help you?”
It was a spirit in the form of a small woman, with a clear and refreshing voice.
I'd heard it was a spirit contracted to the Head Librarian, tasked with assisting in the Magic Tower's library.
“Where are the books on space magic?”
I'd been told that the Gray Magic Tower's library held roughly one million books related to magic.
It would be convenient to search on a computer, but some books were enchanted to evade electronic detection.
More importantly, there were many sealed forbidden books, so having a spirit manage them was the safest option.
“I will show you a list of books available for viewing at your current grade, Mr. Kang Hyun-woo.”
A piece of paper and a quill pen flew over from somewhere.
The quill pen, held by no one, began to move on its own, writing something down on the paper.
Soon after, the paper, densely filled with book titles, flew over to me.
“There are a total of 127 books on space magic available for you to view at your current grade.”
“More than I thought.”
“Among them, 11 are verified texts.”
The number suddenly plummeted.
It couldn't be helped.
After all, there was a limit to the books a mere 5th-grade Elementalist like me could access.
“Where are the books?”
“I can bring them to you if you wish.”
I nodded, and the spirit quietly departed.
Not long after, the spirit returned, levitating a stack of books that looked taller than itself.
I hadn't thought 12 books would be that many, but they looked surprisingly thick.
I didn't pay it much mind, though. It wasn't like I was the one who was going to read them.
If anything, Iris would surely be pleased with the large volume of material.
“How many can I check out?”
“Mr. Kang Hyun-woo, you may borrow up to 20 books for one week.”
Fewer than I expected.
Then again, 5th grade was the lowest rank, so it was only natural there would be various restrictions.
“You know those unverified books from before? Pick out your recommendations from those to make a total of twenty, and check them out for me.”
“Yes, understood.”
For a moment, the spirit's voice seemed to rise slightly, as if it were excited.
No way.
It was a spirit that acted strictly according to its contract. Just because it looked human didn't mean it felt human emotions.
I dismissed it as a simple misunderstanding.
A short while later, after checking out a total of twenty books, including the ones the spirit had brought, I leisurely walked back to the classroom.
“Student Kang Hyun-woo, unexcused tardiness will result in a deduction of points.”
A professor who looked quite old glared at me.
He was strangely hostile.
He might have just been annoyed that a first-year student was disrespecting him, but I had a different idea.
There were some professors who were displeased that I had skipped the training institute's program on Grandma Choi Young-ok's recommendation.
This professor was probably one of them.
Well, it didn't matter. I had no intention of caring about my attendance score anyway.
I already had plans to go somewhere with Noel tomorrow.
Anyway, I spent the morning classes secretly reading the books I'd checked out. There was a lot of surprisingly interesting content.
Of course, there were also many parts I couldn't understand at all.
This should make for a great surprise gift.
I could already picture Iris's happy face. As I thought about what else I could bring her now that I was back on Earth, time flew by.
And then, it was lunchtime.
I had planned to eat with Lumina, but she said she had a prior engagement and left first.
Just as it seemed I'd be eating alone, Choi Hyena showed up at the classroom.
I hadn't contacted her on purpose, thinking she'd be busy as a graduating student.
The appearance of Choi Hyena, one of the most famous students in the Magic Tower, caused a stir not only in the classroom but also in the hallway.
I approached her before a larger crowd could gather. Waiting at the door with her arms crossed was just like her.
“What's up?”
“...”
“Hyena?”
But something seemed off about her.
When I spoke to her, she didn't answer, just stared intently at me. Even when I waved a hand in front of her face, there was no reaction.
Is she tired?
I grabbed the wrist of the dazed-looking Choi Hyena and led her away.
The moment we stepped out of the classroom, countless eyes fell on us.
Considering our respective reputations and what had happened in the cafeteria last week, the attention was only natural.
At most, they'll probably just think we're dating.
It seemed no one suspected we were engaged.
We walked down a less crowded hallway, escaping the flood of gazes and attention, when suddenly...
“...You.”
Choi Hyena, who had been following me quietly, stopped.
“Did your grandmother happen to give you an elixir or something?”
Her purple eyes, carrying a distinctly different air than usual, were fixed on me.
Out of nowhere, she was spouting nonsense and staring at me just as she had before.
“An elixir? What for?”
“...”
After staring at me for a while longer, Choi Hyena turned without a word and headed for the cafeteria.
Left standing alone in the hallway, I watched her back with a strange sense of déjà vu.
What's with her all of a sudden?
She must be exhausted from all the stress of being in the graduating class.
There was no other explanation.
·
·
·
However, I would soon learn that the reason for her strange behavior was not simple fatigue.
“Here.”
“?”
After arriving at the cafeteria, I had just started my meal amidst countless stares and whispers when I was struck with a shock, as if I'd been hit on the back of the head.
Choi Hyena had casually sat down next to me and was now offering me a piece of a side dish with her chopsticks.
She looked too serious for it to be a joke.
“...Are you serious?”
“Hurry.”
I'm always happy to receive affection, but I wasn't thick-skinned enough to do it in front of over a hundred Magic Tower students.
I wanted to refuse, but when I seemed to hesitate, Choi Hyena put on a hurt expression.
Sigh...
I had no choice but to accept the food she offered. I couldn't taste a thing.
-Gasp!
-No way, so she and Senior Choi Hyena are really dating...
-Public displays of affection in the sacred Magic Tower! That's against the rules!
-...Is that really a rule?
-He's just jealous.
The stares and reactions grew even more intense.
For a moment, I felt like a celebrity on a live dating show.
Thank god no one's filming this.
For the record, leaking internal Magic Tower affairs to the outside was grounds for severe disciplinary action.
“Try this, too.”
“...”
I seemed to be the only one bothered by the reactions. Choi Hyena offered her chopsticks again as if nothing was wrong.
No, it wasn't that nothing was wrong.
The faint smile playing on her lips revealed exactly what she was feeling.
In the end, I half-gave up and ate whatever she fed me, like a baby bird. Just then, I felt a murderous gaze from somewhere.
It was possible someone disapproved of this kind of behavior in a public place. I figured as much and ignored it.
“Want to try this one now?”
Besides, it was no concern of mine; I was already half-resigned to my fate.
*
After a lunch stained with humiliation, Professor Shin Minha's 'Basics and Application of Summoning' class began.
The class itself was nothing special. We submitted the homework from last week and received feedback on it.
After that, a basic theory lecture followed.
“Professor.”
I had something to ask after class, so I approached Professor Shin Minha.
“What is it?”
“I have a quick question, if you have a moment.”
Professor Shin Minha stared at me intently for a moment before nodding.
I followed her to her workshop.
“Here you go.”
Just like last time, Professor Shin Minha served me a drink.
Thankfully, it wasn't the bizarre tea that reminded me of something from the underworld.
“What are you curious about?”
“Professor, you mentioned before that support magic can't be cast on others.”
“Yes.”
“Is it really impossible?”
When we were assassinating the lord in Wavel, I had cast support magic on Sylvia.
I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but seeing Professor Shin Minha today reminded me of what she had said at the gate.
“First, I should correct one thing.”
Flutter. A single sheet of paper flew from somewhere and landed on the table.
“Hyun-woo, there's no such thing as 'impossible' in magic. The moment you decide something is impossible, all progress stops.”
The moment Professor Shin Minha lifted the paper with her slender fingers, I had to doubt my own eyes.
Shhhk-
Hand Qi began to rise from her hand.
“Was that just...”
“Magic.”
“What?”
“To your eyes, it may have looked like the Qi that hunters use, but this is nothing more than forcefully condensing mana and solidifying it into a form of magic. Its power is inferior to actual Hand Qi, and the mana consumption is considerable. But for a moment, you mistook it for Hand Qi, didn't you?”
I finally understood what she was trying to say.
“Just as what you see on the surface isn't everything, the theories built by our predecessors are not the only truth. Of course, it's true that support magic fundamentally cannot be cast on others. Perhaps it was possible because a special condition was met?”
“A special condition...”
Come to think of it, there was one thing that bothered me.
The divine power of the World Tree.
Elves are a race personally crafted by the god known as the World Tree. It was possible that I could cast support magic on Sylvia because the World Tree's divine power was mixed in with my mana.
It wasn't certain, of course, but it was something I could test again next time.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, my question has been answered.”
“I'm glad.”
I tilted my teacup and glanced at Professor Shin Minha.
With her short black hair and clear blue eyes, she was undeniably a beauty.
But her expression changed so little it was impossible to know what she was thinking.
Not to the extent of Tia, of course, but she was clearly a person of faint emotions. Either that, or she was just bad at expressing them.
“Hyun-woo.”
“Yes?”
“I have something I'd like to ask as well, if that's alright.”
I nodded.
As long as she wasn't asking me to change my major or become her assistant, anything was fine.
“Do you remember what happened in the cafeteria during lunch today?”
“...”
Correction.
I'd rather she didn't bring that up, either.
“Hyun-woo, is that... something you like?”
“Excuse me? What do you...”
At that moment, Professor Shin Minha suddenly moved to sit next to me.
After staring at me with an indifferent face for a moment, she offered me a cookie.
“Ah.”
As if telling me to eat it.