Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Flying Sofa Rescue
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[Dear students of Repitelips Academy, an accident has occurred in which an experimental device exploded in the school's practical building. Please evacuate outside the building immediately and follow the instructions of the faculty and staff. We apologize for the inconvenience. This is a reminder. In the school's practical building...]
Calipan thrust his fist toward the magic barrier installed in place of windows in the main building hallway.
Peng-! The magic barrier burst with a pop under his infused punch. Calipan hurled the sofa through the perfectly sized hole it created, then leaped onto the flying sofa himself, landing cross-legged atop it. The small breach in the magic barrier regenerated smoothly, once again enveloping the main building. Thud! The sofa crashed into the lounge area, letting out a massive sound as it slid to a stylish stop. Daluh, who had locked eyes with Calipan on the suddenly arriving sofa, spoke slowly.
“There’s plenty of seats...”
“These are all single-person sofas.”
Bamper accepted the situation flexibly.
“Oh, right... That one looks like it seats at least eight. Were you that eager to all squeeze onto one sofa?”
“Tears. Next time, let’s exchange friendship rings.”
Unlike Daluh, who was so shocked he didn’t show it, Yan—only slightly less surprised and thus visibly startled—finally opened his mouth.
“You bastard, trying to kill me with a heart attack...!”
“Wait a second, brothers! This isn’t the time for this!”
As he spoke, Calipan glanced at Jayhan. Jayhan was listening to his friends’ banter with his usual inscrutable expression. ‘If even Jayhan hyung isn’t saying anything, it probably won’t turn into a big disaster, right?’ Calipan relaxed a bit. But to keep Yan quiet, he kept up the urgent act.
“Bamper hyung, Daluh hyung. Come with me to the annex. You heard the situation from the broadcast, right? ‘From Mayches Rudelriz, with utmost respect’ exploded. Bamper hyung, block the poison from spreading. Daluh hyung, be our insurance in case things get dangerous.”
Calipan hopped off the sofa and lifted the very one he’d just been sitting on.
“Oh... We’re riding that?”
“Mayches hyung’s little sister rode it too.”
If Aiel had heard that, Calipan would have been recorded in her diary for the next twenty days as a wicked man who brought her shame. Calipan tilted his wrist at an angle to make it easy for his friends to board. Amid Bamper’s cheerful laughter, Daluh reluctantly fiddled with the curtain hem. After some hesitation, Daluh decided to follow the example of the sofa pioneer, Aiel, who had already gone ahead. Daluh boarded the sofa first.
“Forget insurance—let’s prevent it beforehand. If holy water’s needed, I’ll make some.”
“Huh? You need to conserve your holy power, hyung.”
“This much is fine. ...Probably?”
“It’s fine?!”
“If it’s fine, then it’s a problem.”
Calipan felt a pang of betrayal at Daluh’s words. If he was going to act like this anyway, then why had Mayches hyung’s little sister... Leaving Calipan’s incomprehensible reaction behind, Daluh turned to Bamper.
“I need water to make the holy water. Bamper, can you make some right now?”
Bamper grinned.
“Of course. Spirits are everywhere.”
Tiny sparkling grains began to flicker into existence around Bamper, one by one. In an instant, they shone with a crisp blue light—zing!—and transformed into streams of water like golden veins, gently encircling the boys. Calipan twisted his wrist lightly, offering the sofa to Bamper as if presenting champagne on a tray. Daluh scooted over a bit and spoke to Jayhan as well.
“You board too, Jayhan.”
“Why Jayhan hyung?”
“He’s our prayer totem.”
With Jayhan aboard as well, Yan was left standing alone, awkwardly crossing his arms.
“What about me?”
Daluh gave an answer to the lost soul.
“You... design some shoes.”
Yan, for the first time in ages, let loose with some harsh language.
“Shut up. I’m contacting Baltan Catric to supply relief goods.”
“Oh, the infirmary’s got everything already—do we really need to?”
“He wants to, so let’s just cheer him on.”
“Everyone get the hell out quick.”
Buoyed by Yan’s encouragement, the sofa—driven by Calipan—set off once more toward the Second Magic Lab. Splash- No one knew how far the curse smoke had spread, but that wasn’t an issue for Bamper or Daluh. The water streams Bamper conjured gradually spread across the entire Repitelips Academy grounds. Students evacuating after hearing the broadcast looked up to see the spirits’ spray flowing upside down, from below to above. The water streams slid softly through the ceiling. It was a gift from the spirits, brimming with vitality and splashing powerfully. Paat- Through Bamper’s water streams, a bluish-white light spread intensely. The saint’s blessing caressed every gap between the droplets without fail. The mingling light was fair and radiant, like the merciful fingers of a god bestowing grace. It transformed all who beheld it into devout believers, sprinkling delicate mercy upon them. Shoooo! Evacuating students stared in awe at the ceiling twinkling like the Milky Way. The holy water created by the crown prince and the saint surged powerfully, as if to flood Repitelips Academy.
“...Wow.”
“We probably don’t need to evacuate, right?”
“Yeah. It looks like Bamper nim and Daluh nim have it handled. And Jayhan nim’s there too.”
“Right. If it was going to be a big deal, Jayhan nim would’ve warned us.”
“But what if this broadcast is Jayhan nim’s warning?”
“......”
The complacency was swiftly resolved. The students began filing out of the building in orderly fashion. They trusted the crown prince’s spirit arts, the saint’s blessings, and Calipan’s superhuman physical prowess. But they trusted Jayhan’s abilities just as much. After all, Jayhan Rohawa—Ileneias’s paramount beauty—had never once been wrong in his disaster prophecies.
[Dear students of Repitelips Academy, state inspection magic devices procured from Baltan Catric have been deployed across the campus grounds. Please promptly undergo inspection as directed and receive the appropriate grade of detox magic stones provided by Baltan Catric.]
Baltan Catric had gathered and sent the necessary supplies in under five minutes after Yan’s call.
It was the guild whose reach extended to every untouched corner of the continent.
[This is a reminder: across the campus grounds...]
[Wait a moment.]
[Gasp! Mayches nim!]
“Oh? It’s Mayches hyung.”
The long-absent figure joined at just the right moment.
Mayches issued clear instructions in a slightly breathless voice.
[It’s not just a simple poison—it’s fused with a curse. Curse-lifting magic stones are needed too. Yan, I need supply support. Grades A through D. Multiple curses are the most dangerous, so if anyone’s afflicted with two or more, use an A-grade stone regardless of their rating. ...But where are you all right now?]
Calipan, who had halted upon hearing Mayches’s voice, punched a hole in the main building’s magic barrier again.
Poof!
[Ah, got it.]
Shuk- Detecting the destroyed magic, Mayches teleported directly in front of his friends.
“What the hell have you been doing until now?”
“Aiel?”
“Hm, guess she can’t hear.”
“Front of the Second Magic Lab.”
“What? Why is Aiel there?”
“It’s complicated... but she’s fine for now. She’s holding holy water in her mouth.”
Mayches realized Calipan had given his emergency holy water to Aiel. He was grateful to Calipan, but he couldn’t relax.
“Quickly.”
Mayches urgently extended his hand toward Calipan. He looked like a guardian who had lost their child—but also like a child who had lost their protector. A golden glow from the teleport magic circle enveloped Mayches and the others. The interrupted broadcast resumed after a brief pause.
[...Dear students of Repitelips Academy. The faculty and staff of Repitelips pledge to prioritize your safety above all in handling this situation. And do not worry. We have the future of Ileneias!]
The faculty member’s impassioned voice boomed across the campus.
The morale of Ileneias’s diligently working “futures” dipped just a little.
Yan, heading to the grounds, snapped his head up and quickened his pace.
But to Repitelips students, the faculty’s cry was a great source of strength.
Ileneias’s futures—the very name symbolized the continent’s peace and prosperity.
And they were gathered here right now.
That alone made people feel protected and easily shake off their anxiety.
No one still knew how Ileneias’s futures had ended up together like this.
Shuk- The moment Mayches’s feet touched the ground, he shouted.
“Aiel!”
The atmosphere in front of the Second Magic Lab was somehow different from when Calipan had briefly stepped away. It wasn’t just that the poses of the students rescued outside the lab had shifted slightly. Rosiana was pounding her own legs—thwack! thwack!—to shake off the paralysis while staring at the lab. Spotting the newly arrived Mayches and his friends, she cried out urgently.
“Mayches nim! The lady went inside!”
At first, Calipan didn’t realize which “lady” Rosiana was screaming about. But looking around, Aiel was nowhere to be seen—and there was a presence inside the Second Magic Lab, where no one should have been. A chilling intuition struck. Apparently, Calipan wasn’t the only one who felt it. The color of Mayches’s eyes, already looking anxious, deepened in an instant. Rumble rumble boom—kwakwakwa! The door to the Second Magic Lab—along with the entire hallway wall in a straight line—was torn clean off. Ignoring Repitelips Academy’s magic suppression barrier, Mayches’s spell clawed through the building like the talons of a ferocious beast. Plop plop drip... Debris like crumbs rained down. The purple smoke pooled inside the lab began pouring into the hallway. And even before that, someone burst through the smoke. It was Aiel.