Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Ominous Signs
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It was said that on that day, strange things happened one after another, as if it were an omen.
Dong—
The clock bell atop the main building tolled once.
It wasn't even one o'clock yet, and the sound was quieter than usual.
Most people checked their own watches and figured it was a mistake, but a few lost their focus to the sound and peered out the windows.
Outside the windows stood the sacred White Tower, Repitelips Academy's famous landmark.
It was the usual scenery, but that day, something felt off.
In that instant, the academy broadcast rang out.
[This is an announcement. The bell that just rang was caused by a bird collision. It is not yet one o'clock, so faculty please continue classes, and students, please focus diligently for the remaining time.]
However, what was drawing the students' attention one by one was no longer that past bell toll.
A faint, desaturated purple light was dimly reflecting off the transparent glass enveloping the White Tower.
No one noticed it at the time, but that was none other than the color of the curse light emanating from the device.
The second magic lab, where the weirdos had been experimenting, was already filled with poisonous smoke, turning the windows a thick, dense purple.
That boxy poison container, waiting only for the moment to explode, had been reflected in the White Tower and caught in a few people's eyes.
No, absolutely not!
I let out a silent scream at my reflection in the powder room mirror.
What should I do?
Of course, I had to prevent the accident... but what could I possibly do with my own power?
I patted my bag. Should I drink that potion?
...No, asking Mayches' friends for help was the wisest choice.
But how?
I pictured Mayches' friends waiting for me.
They had said they'd wait for me in the lounge at the end of the right corridor in the adjacent building until I came out of the powder room.
If I made an excuse about wanting to sightsee, I could lead them near the second magic lab, but even that posed a problem.
Class time was a full hour—how was I supposed to know the exact timing and loiter suspiciously in front?
If I dawdled in front of that classroom, Mayches' friends would definitely think something was off.
Should I just go near that classroom and then suddenly collapse, saying I felt weak?
Then they'd send me home or take me somewhere to rest...
This was driving me crazy.
No good ideas came to mind right away.
"Ah, no. Calm down. There's no guarantee the incident happens today, right?"
I muttered to my reflection in the powder room mirror.
"Because... that doesn't happen until about five years from now..."
That was when it happened.
Dong—
A small bell toll rang out, as if struck off-pitch somewhere.
A chilling unease spread up the back of my neck.
I cautiously approached the small window in the powder room.
I gazed at Repitelips Academy's famous landmark, the sacred White Tower.
"......"
Then, with a click, the sound of the broadcast device activating reached my ears.
[This is an announcement. The bell that just rang was caused by a bird collision. It is not yet one o'clock, so faculty please continue classes, and students, please focus diligently for the remaining time.]
My head felt frozen from the tension.
It was as cold as if all the blood had drained from it. For some reason, my vision was blurring...
Right... too much stress makes me faint...
"Don't mess with me!"
I immediately smacked my head with my clenched fist.
The equal pain in my head and hand snapped me back to alertness effectively.
I'd worked so hard on my health management precisely so I wouldn't faint at crucial moments like this.
"Whew, calm down. There has to be a way."
I glared at the White Tower again.
After a moment of agonizing thought, I opened my bag.
Whoosh—
Calipan, summoned while holding a dog grass toy, wore a dazed expression.
"Mayches hyung... Hyung's little sister knows how to divide and conquer too—she's no pushover. Can I really refuse when she's isolated me like this?"
In front of the powder room, Aiel held Jedkaizer's ring with a resolute expression.
A note dangled from the ring.
Artifact ring that can summon me once. Press the gem hard and I'll come. Call me in danger and I'll fight with you. But don't use it between seven and eight, that's bath time. —Hyung
The red gem on the ring, which had shimmered mysteriously just moments ago, had lost its luster like it was dead.
Originally, it was Aiel's last bargaining chip for a letter of recommendation.
That's right.
She had planned to trade the summoning ring, the Baltan Catric mobilization rights, the imperial first-class library access, the Jayhan usage rights—
All of them for recommendation letters if needed, like swapping snacks.
But right now, who cared about recommendation letters.
Aiel had entered the academy to prevent Mayches' friends from turning dark in the first place.
Aiel shook the note attached to the ring.
"Calipan! Please fight with me!"
"...The headmaster...?"
"Huh?"
"N-no."
Calipan's pupils shook.
Calipan thought Aiel had summoned him separately to persuade him.
Aiel couldn't figure out why he was reacting so strangely, but there was no time to watch.
Aiel extended the hand holding the ring closer to Calipan.
Naturally, Calipan desperately tried to dodge.
"W-wait, I'm kind of busy right now...!"
"Please come with me to the second magic lab."
Calipan's shaking black eyes stopped dead. They fixed straight on Aiel's gray ones.
"...Second magic lab? Why there?"
Looking closely, there was a fear on Aiel's face that wouldn't be noticeable at a glance.
Calipan waited curiously for Aiel's words.
This time, Aiel's gaze darted away.
She stammered.
"S-someone passing by told me... they heard something dangerous from the second magic lab. It's not certain, but it wouldn't hurt to check..."
"......"
Calipan absently took the ring Aiel offered.
Aiel couldn't tell if that was acceptance or not, so she sneakily gauged his expression.
In that moment, the corner of Calipan's mouth twitched.
"...Ah, asking me to help someone else..."
Calipan looked down at the ring he'd taken.
He gently rubbed the wide vertical surface with his thumb.
Faintly, Mayches' voice seemed to echo.
"Soon Aiel will attend the academy... I want you all to be her good friends."
On the way out of the cafeteria, that's what Mayches had said.
Calipan had been quite surprised.
"Really? I thought you'd sabotage every relationship so no one was fit to be your sister's friend and you'd be the only one by her side."
"Not that I don't want to."
"What are you trying to say, hyung?"
Mayches frowned as he sent the books in his hands to a pocket dimension with magic.
Mayches opened his mouth casually to his reluctant-looking friends.
"You all know how I used to be, right?"
"...Why bring that up?"
Even without context, his friends knew exactly when the "past" Mayches mentioned was.
Long ago, when the one called "Illeaneias's Future" alongside them for his genius magic talent suffered a tragic accident.
Back when Mayches had gone mad, baring his teeth everywhere.
"Then do you know how Aiel was?"
No one had an immediate answer to that.
Mayches didn't seem to expect one, continuing to walk without urging.
His voice drifted over from a few steps away.
"She was always lying in the deepest, darkest corner of the isolated annex."
Half out of his mind, he'd poured malice on his young sister and turned away, but Mayches actually knew.
He hadn't been the truly alone one.
If there was someone barely enduring after being abandoned by life itself, it was the sister they'd all shoved aside like an unwanted eyesore.
Piling up images of his sister was part of Mayches' ordinary daily life, but among them, the ones seared into him like deep scars were of Aiel.
'I'm sorry... for leaving you alone... I want to... be with you...'
That Saturday afternoon, sitting on his dorm bed clutching a pebble, Mayches had revisited that memory after a long time.
Was he keeping the vow he'd made upon seeing Aiel that day?
Was Aiel smiling now? Was she happy?
"Daluh, you asked me once why I entered the academy. I came because Aiel pushed me to go."
Daluh smiled faintly.
"I know... I should've just let it go without an answer? I still regret asking just to see that beaming smile of yours."
"Aiel wanted to make me friends."
Not just Daluh, but the others looked surprised too.
Mayches gave a wry smile to his friends.
"You'll learn once you spend time with her. Aiel sometimes does completely unexpected things. And how much that makes people squirm."
Like in his childhood, Mayches clenched and unclenched his fist briefly.
"But Aiel only had the Rudelriz household servants as friends. She told me she hoped I had hobbies, favorite foods, goals, friends... Looking back, the fact she could consider those one by one means she needed them too. Stupid me realized it way too late again."
"......"
"She hasn't properly seen or heard anything yet. Everything will be new to her. We planted hydrangeas in the garden last weekend... and she keeps peeking at the buds that haven't bloomed yet."
Calipan glanced around, as if gauging Aiel's actions.
Green conifer needles dotted with melting dew sparkled in the sunlight.
"Be good friends to Aiel. Show her lots of new sights together. Not right now, but once her health improves, take her to eat delicious things... Help her grow into a happy child. Please."
Mayches' friends knew he was truly trying to support Aiel.
That he was pushing aside mountain-like worries to trust her.
That this resolve was what it meant to be her brother.
Mayches looked up at the sky and muttered.
"...Someday Aiel will grow up beyond recognition, living well without my magic potions. She'll make precious things outside the estate too, and eventually get a lover... Ah, seriously, don't make me mad."
"Why are you doing this to us?"
"Haha, consistent as ever."
"Hyung, just buy a worry doll."