Weekend

I ignored Liliana, who was still on her knees sniffling, and played with Daehee instead.

"Daehee, don't you want to go out and have some fun?"

"I wanna go out and play!"

The kid had barely woken up and was still yawning, but the second I mentioned going out, she snapped right to attention.

"Let's go out together. Think about where you want to go."

"Whoa… okay! Just a second!"

Nam Daehee immediately squeezed her eyes shut and sank into thought.

I'd already slept with Nam Da-eun, so the order was a little out of sequence… but getting close to Daehee was still essential for the conquest. And after being locked away for years, of course she'd love going outside to play.

"Play with me too…"

Liliana finally gave up pretending to cry and latched onto me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She'd missed her chance at sex, so now she was going to grab a chance to play instead.

"You think about it too."

"Okay!"

The tear stains were still vivid on her face, but there she was, giggling as she plotted an outing with Nam Daehee. It was a little unsettling — but still better than listening to her cry. I left Nam Daehee in Liliana's arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world and stood up.

"Scarlet."

"Yes, Ho-yeon."

"Can you leak some information to the intel brokers?"

"What kind of information are you referring to?"

"Nam Da-eun and Nam Daehee's whereabouts. Just spreading a rumor that they're connected to Lee Ho-yeon should be enough. There's also some information that needs to reach the Buyer Guild's leader and no one else. Can you handle that?"

"Yes. If you draft something like a letter, I can deliver it in secret."

The plan was roughly this. Get close to Nam Daehee, raise Nam Da-eun's affection, and give Park Min-gyu — the Buyer Guild's leader — a chance at revenge while I conquered her. Simple enough on paper. Not nearly as simple in practice.

"Ah…"

A rustling sound came from beside me. Nam Da-eun, who'd been lying next to me, was coming around. She stared blankly at Liliana and Nam Daehee sitting in front of her with their eyes closed in some bizarre pose, still too dazed to process any of it. She turned her head this way and that, then her eyes met mine. She flinched — and immediately checked her own body. Then she laid a hand on her chest.

She probably couldn't make sense of a situation so completely different from her last memory.

Just how hard did she climax for her memory to get wiped like that?

"You're up? You're not hurting, are you?"

I spoke first to Nam Da-eun, who still looked dizzy.

"…"

The moment I addressed her, Nam Da-eun seemed to roughly piece together what had happened. Her face flushed faintly — she was embarrassed.

"…It hurt."

"Liar. You liked it."

"…"

Nam Da-eun's face went even redder as she ducked her head. Teasing a virgin who'd just finished her first time never got old.

Capable young women were bound to attract envy and jealousy. Especially among mages — a breed strangely packed with old men. And if the one standing out the most happened to be a young woman? That went without saying.

Naturally, Lim Sol had a hard time making friends. Of course, Baek A-young — the finest healer around — and Min Yeji — the most successful hunter of her generation — weren't any different. Which was why, once the three of them had gotten close, they met up often.

"A-young's been looking pretty happy lately, hasn't she?"

"She looks the same as always."

"Come on. That's just because you've been glued to Cadet Lee Ho-yeon with all that one-on-one treatment stuff."

"…No, I have not."

Today's meetup was at Lim Sol's lab. When Lim Sol said she couldn't spare the time because her research was in its final stretch, the other two had come all the way to the laboratory themselves.

"Oh? Suit yourself~. But Sol, you're still researching? Have you ever spent this long on a single topic before?"

Before Lee Ho-yeon, Lim Sol had been the one they called a genius mage. And it wasn't for just one or two reasons. An absurd talent that let her wield magic of every element. And a brilliance that let her crack, in an instant, the unsolved problems other mages had been stuck on for years. Those two things together meant that whatever research she set her mind to, she finished within a month. That was why they called her a genius mage.

"This paper's the most complicated one I've ever worked on. I'm researching it together with Ho-yeon."

"Huh? If even two genius mages together are taking this long, just how incredible is it?"

"You can look forward to it. It's really something."

Lim Sol was confident about this research. She was certain it would turn the entire world of magical academia on its head. The concept of imbuing a magic formula with will had never existed before — most of the research mages had piled up until now would be reduced to scrap paper.

Ho-yeon, discovering this all on his own… just what is he…

Every time she progressed through the research, Lim Sol felt a thrill at Lee Ho-yeon, who'd uncovered a concept like this by himself. And on the other side of that thrill, she felt joy. She'd thought she would be lonely for the rest of her life.

A monster like you will never be born again.

A genius who appears once in a thousand years.

A mage like Lim Sol won't be born for at least several generations.

Lim Sol had lived with those words ringing in her ears. And then a mage like Lee Ho-yeon had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠appeared in her own generation. She was genuinely grateful.

Min Yeji, listening in, looked at Lim Sol with curiosity about just how incredible this research could be. But Baek A-young, sipping her tea, was thinking something else entirely.

Researching together with Ho-yeon…?

In that instant, Lim Sol became a potential rival inside Baek A-young's head. Baek A-young swallowed and studied Lim Sol's expression. Nothing showed on the surface.

Surely a professor wouldn't lay a hand on a cadet.

She herself wasn't a professor, so that was fine — but Lim Sol was. She knew Lim Sol was a decent person as an educator, which eased her suspicion a little… but then Baek A-young snapped herself back to attention. She had to suspect everything. Because her darling was that dangerous a man.

"Ahem. So, uh, Ho-yeon's hospitalized, so researching together must be hard, right…? I check on him every day, and it looks like he'll need more time to recover."

Baek A-young used the acting skills she'd honed as a healer to casually probe Lim Sol.

"…I suppose so?"

Lim Sol tilted her head slightly. Listening to Baek A-young, she'd felt a strange emotion. It was an ordinary remark, and yet it put her in a weirdly bad mood. Looking at Baek A-young's innocent eyes, it was obvious she was just worried, with no other intent — and yet that was how it felt.

"…But once he's discharged, I have a lot of plans with him. So it's fine."

"Plans…?"

This was the first Baek A-young had heard of Lim Sol having a lot of plans with her darling.

"Yeah. We have to research together, and we have to go to the expo… and once the paper's done, we have to present it."

"Ah… I see."

"…What are you two doing? Let's just go to a café."

Min Yeji cut in to break up the strange current flowing between the two of them.

"No. I still have a lot of research left. I want to get as far as I can before Ho-yeon is discharged."

"I need to go see Ho-yeon too."

Lim Sol lowered her gaze to her documents, and Baek A-young started packing her things.

"Ahaha… then let's head out. A-young. Come on, come on. Let's go. Sol, we'll take off first! See you next time!"

In the end, Min Yeji dragged Baek A-young out by force, and the war of nerves between the two of them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠came to a close.

Saturday morning.

After burning through Friday night at the dorm, Liliana and Nam Daehee still hadn't decided where to go, so I told them to figure it out over the weekend and headed back to the hospital.

"Come to think of it, we can't just go out right away anyway."

The information guilds would be investigating Nam Da-eun and Nam Daehee, so I couldn't let their faces be seen carelessly. My mana hadn't returned yet, so I couldn't even put up a Rune Barrier — which, honestly, worked out fine for me. We could go next week, once I'd recovered.

I'd also told Scarlet to sit tight until I gave her the signal. I wanted to move after my body had recovered. Still, giving her a heads-up now would let her prepare.

Knock, knock.

A knock came at the door.

"Yeah, come in."

The one who opened the door and walked in was Rumi. I'd told them to just let in anyone who'd already visited once, and it looked like they were actually doing that. I'd felt bad about bothering the nurses every time someone came to visit, so this was a relief.

But the Rumi who walked through the door looked off. Her face was flushed, and she was wearing a cute pink mask over her chin.

"Rumi, what's wrong?"

"Ho-yeon… hello… I think I caught Lucy's cold. Hwaaah…"

Et… hee! She let out a peculiar, adorable sneeze and sniffled.

"Hey, then why are you coming for a hospital visit? You should be resting at home."

"Well… I dropped my smartwatch while sneezing and it broke… and it's the weekend, so I couldn't get it fixed."

"…Tsk. So you came in person?"

"Yeees…"

She'd made something like a promise to come see me every day. Technically it was more of an announcement than a promise… but same difference.

"Haa. Don't do that, I worry about you. I'm grateful you came, but I've seen your face, so go rest now."

"You're worried about me? Hehe… thank you."

Even as she sniffled, Rumi gave me a faint, smiling glance.

"…I said go rest already."

I didn't know why she treated me so well. Tch. When she acted like that, I ended up feeling guilty for no reason.

"I'm okay. I'll get better soon. Ugh, my head's spinning."

"This won't do. Want to get checked out here at the hospital?"

If I asked Baek A-young to treat her, it'd be gone in one shot. Asking her to treat another woman was a little awkward, sure… but it couldn't be helped.

"No, it's fine. I'll just rest at home."

Rumi stood up and staggered toward the door. She looked so wobbly I got out of bed and supported her.

"Don't come close… you'll catch it…"

"Okay, okay. Take a taxi home. I'll call one for you."

"Thank you…"

I called a taxi for Rumi and only relaxed once I'd confirmed she was in it and on her way.

I went back to my hospital room, rested for a bit, then received Baek A-young's regular checkup. She didn't seem to be in the mood today — she didn't try to take my clothes off, just checked my condition.

"You'll be better soon… probably in a few days."

A warm light poured from Baek A-young's hands and wrapped around my body. A spell that boosted natural healing, apparently. Mana circuits had to recover through natural healing to avoid aftereffects, which was why it took so long.

"Thank you. Always."

"…Yeah."

Why is she in a bad mood today?

"…"

I didn't know what it was, but just looking at it made me uneasy.

"Darling."

I had no choice but to pull out the magic word, reaching a hand toward Baek A-young.

"…Haaa."

Baek A-young let out a weak sigh and melted into my arms. With the warm white light still wrapping around my body, Baek A-young coming closer made it feel like an angel was embracing me.

"You really do look like an angel."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even threw in a compliment, but Baek A-young didn't so much as acknowledge it. She just locked eyes with me. It was a slightly overwhelming gaze.

"Of course."

I answered without a moment's hesitation and pulled Baek A-young in tight. If I dragged this out, something really bad was going to happen.

"I love you, darling…"

Thankfully, Baek A-young burrowed even deeper into my chest.

…

I looked at Baek A-young nestled in my arms and wondered how long the magic word darling would keep working.