Academy (3)
"This is definitely going to need a different approach."
"Yeah. I've been thinking about that too."
Professor Lim Sol and I sat with our coffee and talked through the problem of the magic circles. We had to take a concept only the two of us had grasped and explain it so that other people could actually understand it, and that was proving far from easy.
"What if we explain it in terms of mana flow? Even if it's only a little, the mana does pull toward the core circuit."
"Ordinary people can't feel that."
"They can't?"
"No. That's something only geniuses pick up on."
"Geniuses like you, Professor?"
"You're the same, you know." She gave a little laugh. "Hehe."
Talking magic with Professor Lim Sol really did feel like speaking the same language. It was the same reason academy lectures bored me to tears. From where I sat, they spent a full hour explaining something I could have understood in five minutes, and the whole thing was maddening.
Conversations with her were comfortable. We were both geniuses, after all. I was cheating a little, sure — but even theft isn't a crime if nobody catches you.
Fortunately, Lim Sol seemed to enjoy talking with me just as much. Her expression said everything.
"Or we could just tell them to memorize it."
"That would be easier, yeah. Slap the word 'irregular' on it and you've got an invincible shield."
The strange ones here were us, hunting for rules inside irregular magic circles. A normal mage would have shrugged and moved on. But this was Lim Sol, and she refused to leave anything less than perfect.
That's why the research never ends.
If we treated every magic circle this way, we would never get anywhere.
"Look at this one next."
Lim Sol held out another circle. The one in her hand was an explosion type. In an explosion magic circle, the core circuit sat where the mana gathered at the very end.
"This is an explosion one?"
"Yeah. Explosion magic — but the core circuit is somewhere else."
"Ah… you're right. Though I think that's because this one generates the blast through pure pressure."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes. So this one…"
We talked magic and papers and paid no attention at all to our coffee going cold. About an hour later, Lim Sol finally finished unraveling every circle she had been working through. She crossed her legs and smiled, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
"It's so much faster with you here. Come by more often."
"I come by plenty. Isn't that a little harsh to ask of someone who just got discharged today?"
"Sorry."
She said it, but the smile never left her mouth. It was the smile of someone doing the thing they loved most in the world.
"Professor. Did you know?"
"Know what?"
She had been flipping through the finished circles, stacking them neatly as she went, and at my question her eyes flicked up, the corners lifting just slightly.
"Your whole face changes the moment you start talking about magic. You really are serious about it."
"Hmm… Yeah. There's nothing embarrassing about loving magic, is there?"
"I meant it as a compliment. You take real pride in it."
"I do. And it's because I'm talking with you."
"With me?"
"Yeah. You're the only person I can talk about magic with for over an hour."
"Is that so?"
"Why do you think I have the entire second floor to myself? I can't hold a conversation with the other professors at all, so they gave it to me so I could research in peace."
Lim Sol tidied the desk with a faintly bitter look.
"I suppose that tracks…"
Of the Magic Hall's seventeen floors, the entire second belonged to Lim Sol as her laboratory. The other floors averaged three or four professors each. It was an enormous privilege — proof that her mastery of magic was recognized — but it also meant she was lonely. There was simply no mage at her level.
"I'll say it again… I'm really glad I met you. Thanks to you, I even wrote a paper of this caliber."
The paper we had written together fluttered loosely in her hand. The contents were finished. All that remained was to clean it up.
"I'm glad I met you too, Professor. You've helped me a lot."
Just having someone I knew at the academy was a bigger advantage than it sounded. She had connections I didn't, and she had bailed me out more than once — when rewards were being handed down, when public opinion started to swing.
"Why are you getting all sentimental all of a sudden…. Ah, right. I booked the Magic Expo."
Lim Sol pulled a ticket from her pocket and held it out.
"Next week?"
The expo ran through the weekdays. We just had to pick a day and go together.
"Yeah. The earliest one they had."
"Understood. I'll make sure to keep that day clear."
We had agreed to go after I scored a perfect on the midterms, and we were only now setting the date. I checked the time on my smartwatch.
Seven-thirty in the evening.
I was supposed to meet Elise at her place, but between the student council and Professor Lim Sol, the hour had gotten away from me. I knocked back the last of the instant coffee in one swallow and started getting ready to leave.
"I should get going. I have an appointment."
"Is it A-young?"
Lim Sol glanced over at me as she organized the desk.
Baek A-young? Where had that come from?
"No. Just a classmate."
"Aha… That's a relief. Have fun."
"Why do you ask?"
"It's nothing. Ah — but is this friend a girl?"
She was full of questions today. There was no real reason to lie about it, though. I had been lying so much lately I was starting to feel like a worse person than I already was.
"Yes. She's a girl."
"…Come to think of it, you helped me a lot today. I should give you a reward."
"Pardon?"
"We researched together. We should do it today too."
Before I knew it she had risen from the sofa and walked right up to me. Then she made a circle with her hand and pumped it slowly up and down. It was an unmistakably obscene gesture.
"Uh… I mean, I'm not complaining. But wasn't the mood more like we weren't doing that today?"
I had been enjoying the conversation, actually. The atmosphere had been good, and I was pretty sure her affection had gone up.
"No. I need a sugar supplement."
…Her expression was a little frightening.
What's gotten into her all of a sudden?
Affection69
Lust65
Appetite35
Fatigue45
Affection had gone up, just as I thought.
What's she trying to drain my stamina for…? Is this her way of keeping me in check?
While I was still reading the status window, Lim Sol had already started tugging my pants down.
"Professor. Hold on. I, uh… all right."
Why were her eyes that scary? The way she was looking at me was enough to make me quietly lower my pants myself.
Lim Sol sank to her knees at the foot of the sofa, putting herself at the right height to take me in her mouth. She set her hands on my thighs, her fingers brushing along my groin, and guided my already-hard cock between her lips.
"Hahp. Chup. Shlurp. Chup."
The moist inner flesh of her mouth closed around me. It felt good. Unfairly good.
"Professor. Today you're… ah — your teeth. That hurts."
"Mmmp. Mmph! Chup."
"…Okay. I'll be quiet."
Lim Sol's blowjob today felt… somehow more passionate than usual.
Elise's mansion.
In her room, Elise stood before the mirror, fussing with her hair, and checked the time.
Seven in the evening. The sun had almost gone.
"…Why isn't he here?"
Academy classes would have ended ages ago. When she had overheard him talking with Lucy and Rumi, he had clearly said he was only stopping by the student council and Professor Lim Sol.
Just say a quick hello and come. How long is he planning to stay?
Elise tapped her foot against the floor, waiting for Lee Ho-yeon.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened and Sebas Chan stepped inside.
"Miss. The preparations are complete. …But are you truly all right with this?"
"I told you I'm fine. You think I'd fall for a scam? I've already confirmed the effects."
She meant the Mana Massage. Sebas Chan had been worried ever since Lee Ho-yeon had offered to give her one.
"Well. Even if it isn't a scam… I am concerned. I suppose I've grown conservative with age."
"Don't worry. What you're imagining isn't going to happen."
Sebas Chan was being as roundabout as he could manage, but Elise knew exactly what he meant. And what was she supposed to do about it? This was a treatment.
It's a treatment. Yes…
She nodded to herself and pressed on.
"Ahem. Come to think of it — still nothing from Dad?"
"No, miss. I was told he has yet to return to headquarters."
"…Because of that Centaur?"
"Yes. Precisely. Since the request for assistance came at the government level, it appears the Guild Leader is committing his full strength."
"Dad never takes calls when he's working… All right."
The leader of the Iris Guild was the type who refused every other call during work, all in the name of handling things perfectly. Elise knew that. She nodded and stretched her arms over her head.
"Haa. Just leave the preparations as they are. I already told him to come."
"Yes. Understood."
Sebas Chan bowed and withdrew. The moment the door closed, Elise threw herself onto the bed.
"…Should I send a message?"
Asking when he planned to arrive wasn't unreasonable. This was a contract. He wouldn't think she was some clingy girl just for hurrying him along. And it wasn't a small sum of money, either…
"The student council and Professor Lim Sol…"
The people Lee Ho-yeon had gone to see. Lim Sol needed no explanation, and the student council's real purpose was almost certainly a visit to Mun Su-rin.
"Why are there so many women."
The twins, Lucy and Rumi. That strange woman living with him. Baek A-young. Lim Sol. Mun Su-rin. Even granting that he was capable, her own father — the leader of the Iris Guild — would not have been chasing six women around at that age.
"Playing around with other girls and not even keeping the contract…"
Elise was in a foul mood. She didn't care if he played with other women. But being late to her contract because of it was another matter entirely.
When he messages me, I should say something.
Yes. That was the way. She would make it sting.
The thought had barely settled when her smartwatch chimed — Lee Ho-yeon's dedicated alert.
"Hah — he's coming."
She started to type a reply, then froze.
"No. If I answer right away, it'll look like I was waiting."
Elise set the smartwatch down and looked at the wall.
"Scarlet?"
"Yes, miss."
The moment Elise said the name, Scarlet dropped from the ceiling with a soft rustle.
"…So you were on the ceiling."
"Yes. What do you need?"
"Um. Lee Ho-yeon is coming soon. Could you send Sebas Chan out?"
"Ah… I'll see that it's handled."
It was convenient, talking to Scarlet. You could sketch the idea in the vaguest terms and she would already know what you meant.
"Yeah. Thanks."
Scarlet vanished again. Elise picked the smartwatch back up.
"…It should be fine to reply now."
There. She had played it off perfectly — as if she hadn't been waiting at all.
Elise smiled, satisfied, and spritzed perfume across her skin in preparation for Lee Ho-yeon's arrival.