Chapter 18

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 18

Chapter Title: Paper Bird (4)

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……In my life, it feels like I've been hit with a ton of injustices I never even knew about. Stuff that was beyond my control, whether I regressed or not—those kinds of unavoidable disasters.

My mother, whose face I can't even remember, was neglected to death in a hospital. My father was betrayed and killed by the family he served his whole life. And I got brain cancer, leukemia, and dantian cancer one after another.

It was like the world was telling me:

You shouldn't be alive. You're a mistake.

This goddamn world.

"……Let's see."

Even so, here I was, stubbornly clinging to life and sitting in Endex's library.

[Mana Studies for Mana Dropouts: Even Middle Schoolers Can Understand It]

[From Mana Studies to Mana Formulas]

Mana Studies.

I planned to study it again—the foundation of mana formulas and mana spells.

Back then or now, I'd basically been a mana dropout.

I'd aced the theory with "Notebook" cheating, bombed the practical, and scraped by with a perfect D balance.

"Hoo."

I borrowed four or five books from the first floor and headed up to the third, taking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a seat.

I wasn't going to use "Notebook."

Capacity was low anyway, and I wanted to see the difference between studying myself and memorizing via "Notebook."

I opened the first Mana Studies textbook.

——[Mana Studies Even Middle Schoolers Can Understand: Introduction]——

Mana Studies is the study of mana. It's the discipline of calculating, analyzing, and comparing mana. No need to overthink it. Think of it as 'mathematics that quantifies mana and derives answers through various formulas'…….

————————

I was reading intently, or as intently as I could manage.

Then, a pleasant fragrance wafted in from somewhere.

It tickled my nose like blooming flowers, but instead of flowers, someone sat down across from me.

She appeared without a sound and set down a book first thing.

Propping her chin on one hand, she flipped pages and muttered to herself.

"Mana Studies Even Middle Schoolers Can Understand…… What trash. For monkeys?"

I looked at her. She oozed luxury and class from every pore. Her face screamed, I'm nobility, peasant.

"Congrats on failing. Time to drop out."

Her calm voice urged me to quit. Her name was Elise Petra.

The pampered princess of the Petra mana university and hospital conglomerate—a private education and medical empire with a bunch of top-tier hospitals—and second-term congressman Varesi Petra.

"Pass."

I really, really disliked and despised this woman. She was largely responsible for my bullying, after all.

She said flatly,

"Fine. Think you can handle it?"

Her eyes stayed fixed on her own book—a curt warning tossed my way.

A glance showed it was a college-level major text: Mana Studies Algorithms.

I shot back shortly.

"Handle what? Your endless bullshit?"

Elise's hand froze mid-motion. She let out a small laugh and looked up.

One hand still propping her chin, the other resting on the page, she glared at me.

"You do know why you're getting rolled, right?"

What did this question mean? Did I know why she hated me? Or why she'd tormented me?

Probably a bit of both. Guys with lives as screwed up as mine aren't that common.

I answered.

"Yeah."

"As if trash like you……?"

"I know."

The reason Elise had hated me from the start.

I knew it.

"……What?"

I'd gotten leukemia treatment at Petra University Hospital when I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was thirteen.

But 'someone' had 'accidentally' let me learn about the hospital's corruption, and I'd passed it to a reporter.

I hadn't even known it was corruption at first.

I was thirteen, after all.

I'd just innocently asked the reporter in the next bed why they were testing an experimental drug on me when there was a perfect standard treatment for leukemia.

It blew up into a kickback scandal special report.

The whole continent buzzed with the news.

Elise's father lost his congressional seat.

Was that my fault?

……No way.

"That's why I know."

I glanced around the library. Luckily, it was early semester—almost empty.

I leaned toward Elise. She furrowed her brow, clearly annoyed by the proximity.

"Listen up."

Elise Petra.

Just as twisted as me, whether before or after regression—a person I really disliked.

For her sake, I whispered each word carefully, enunciating like I was chewing them out.

"Before. I rip. Your fucking. Mouth. Shut it."

Elise's face froze terrifyingly cold in an instant. Her lips and chin trembled faintly.

"……Ha."

Soon, she laughed like it was ridiculous, brushing her hair back with her fingers.

"You…… got four or five lives or something?"

"Dunno. At least two, maybe three. Haven't checked."

"……Psycho."

I stood up. Elise jumped up immediately, blocking my path.

Our eye levels were about even—for now.

By the time we met again after she graduated, I'd grown a lot taller.

I said,

"Move."

"Or what? You'll fight me? Think I can't handle trash like you?"

"Nah. Not hitting you. Not yet."

"……'Not yet'?"

Too bad—a real fight would just get me expelled, and the Petra family was still a heavy burden.

They only ranked below Libra, but still top 14 on the continent at minimum.

"Here, have this instead."

I shoved my finger in her face. Middle finger extended long and proud.

"……You!"

Her blank expression cracked. Her eyes shot up like 11:10 on a clock. She lunged to grab my finger, but I yanked it back quick.

I spun around and headed for the library exit.

"Oh, right. Your hospital needs better management. Service was dogshit."

"……."

Elise said nothing. She stood rigid like a snowman, just glaring.

The vein bulging on her neck looked scary.

"Later."

I bolted out of the library.

Stepping down the stairs onto the campus asphalt.

Whiiiish───.

The night wind was cold. I buttoned my collar as I walked.

"Damn, it's freezing."

Saying it out loud cleared my chest a bit, but a corner of my heart felt lonely.

Each step crunching on the pavement echoed in my ears, stirring up some old memory.

"……Haa."

It wasn't my memory.

It was something I'd heard from someone else.

But it was very important.

According to that memory, my mother had been neglected to death in a hospital.

It was a stormy night, they'd said.

She'd gotten into a car accident while driving and been rushed to a small nearby hospital with the perpetrator.

She was the victim; the perp was driving a car with a pregnant woman in late term.

Both badly hurt, and the raging storm made transfer impossible.

Did that hospital and its doctors have no choice but to save only one? Was the situation that dire?

I don't know that far.

But the pregnant woman's secretary had threatened the hospital, name-dropping her family. The hospital eagerly focused on the 'more important' patient.

My mother was left to rot.

——That's what I'd heard.

Only one nurse had cared for the woman dying alone in her bed.

——That was the nurse's testimony.

Well, she'd refused to testify in court, so it was just confided to me.

"……Oh, right."

A late thought popped up.

I pulled the Secret Santa card from my inner pocket and checked the name.

[Elise Petra]

Suddenly, I stopped and looked back.

The library's glass windows, too bright against the night sky. A woman there looked down at me.

That was her.

The life that survived instead of my mother, whom I couldn't even remember.

"……Ah~ when will I finish."

Late at night. Asilen was grading papers in the University Association office.

As grader, it was the most annoying task. And Endex had as many answer sheets as students. Other mana high schools only had 50-60.

"Sigh."

Asilen skimmed the sheets, marking scores.

Grading criteria:

1. Observe the paper bird and outline the mana spell's 'broad structure': 0.5 points.

2. Correctly depict even part of the spell's 'mana circuits': 1 point.

3. Up to 1 point for overall completion.

4. Spot the cleverly hidden 'rune': 0.5 points.

Total: 3 points.

The assignment was tough; continent-wide, perfect scores would be about 1%.

"Elise, Soliet, Gerkken…… Six-star prospects, huh. They really are."

Endex had three of them. The elite trio with perfect scores.

Asilen kept grading.

127 answer sheets, flipped mechanically—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

"……Huh?"

She paused. Frowned, body leaning in automatically.

"What the hell."

Her eyes widened as she peered close.

It was a fist-sized mana spell.

Small, but packed tight with high-density mana circuits.

Eighteen shapes, 199 line segments, seven rune letters.

The geometric structure of the spell and the intricate dynamics of its circuits were depicted with perfect clarity on this paper bird answer sheet.

She picked it up, turning it this way and that.

No errors. No mistakes.

Even the tiniest details, the rune shapes—precise as if viewed under a microscope.

"Who?"

She checked the name hurriedly.

Sion Askal.

"……Who?"

Didn't ring a bell.

She searched the University Association database.

More eye-catching than the abysmal D- was the bright yellow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠buzzcut.

"Him?"

Didn't know the name, but remembered the face.

Rumors were already flying in the Association. The guy who said he wanted to be Libra's guardian knight but smashed a prism with a golf club like an idiot.

Libra hated unrefined, vulgar types the most.

"……."

Asilen looked back at the sheet.

Sion Askal, Period 1: 0 CP.

He hadn't caught the paper bird.

Meaning he'd peeked at someone else's paper bird to draw this. And submitted such a perfect sheet anyway.

In just 15 minutes after Period 2 started.

"What? Makes no sense. Body that tough?"

A natural powerhouse could do it. They said sturdier bodies had better "Mana Body" efficiency.

To perfectly observe and memorize such a tiny spell with just a 'glance' would be super high-efficiency, rivaling a decent "Spectrum."

So why was he D- in years 1-3?

No—how could someone with eyes like that fail to catch a paper bird?

Anyway.

Asilen marked Sion Askal's sheet.

Max for Period 2 was 3 CP, but College Board allowed 'grader discretion.'

This was the standout among all Endex sheets, so +0.5 discretion points.

Of course, approving discretion meant submitting paperwork to an Association professor for sign-off, but even that young stickler would approve this.

Asilen messaged via Association chat.

Report to Edshila National University's tenured professor Theia Esil.

They were the same age, but she was a distant senior—way above.

"……Yeesh."

Asilen went to close the chat.

Typical long-winded young boss move.

Asilen skimmed and replied.