The Principal's Errand
The phone line crackled with the squad leader's voice, suddenly laced with clear displeasure.
What? The principal came to pick you up herself?
“Yeah. She said she was curious about who I was.”
Has that old bat finally lost her mind…? What kind of nonsense is she trying to pull…?
So? What happened?
“Huh?”
What do you mean, ‘huh’? There’s no way the principal would ask to see you without some kind of scheme. Did she make you do anything weird?
“Well…”
I almost blurted out the entire conversation without thinking, but a sudden thought made me swallow my words. Judging by the squad leader’s usual attitude and his current reaction, he definitely wouldn’t like it if I told him exactly what we’d talked about. Still, I had already made my decision long ago. Hadn’t the squad leader himself said it? From now on, I had to think for myself and make my own judgments. If I kept consulting them about everything like before, I would never be able to carry out the squad leader’s orders.
“…It was nothing. She just rambled on about random stuff. I guess she needed someone to talk to.”
In the end, I chose to gloss things over. It pricked my conscience a little, but strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie. Hae Wolhwa really had spent dozens of minutes talking by herself about completely pointless personal anecdotes. And the way she specifically invited me to visit her greenhouse suggested she really did need someone to talk to.
What? What kind of nonsense is that? Be honest with me… Hey! Move! Get out of the way…!
Why are you the only one… *crackle* …so long…!!
*crackle* …Come out here…!
Me too…!
The squad leader had been pressing me in a tone that clearly showed he didn’t believe a word I was saying. Then suddenly, a commotion erupted on the other end of the line—shouts mixed with heavy static that made it almost impossible to understand. Several voices overlapped at once.
In the end, it was my older sisters who seized control of the call, replacing the squad leader. Seohwa-noona’s voice, heavy with worry, rang out clearly through the receiver.
“Really, nothing happened. She actually seemed like a nice person. She even booked the hotel I’m staying at right now…”
What? She booked you a hotel? What about the place we originally reserved?
Hotel? What are you talking about?
Seohwa-noona’s voice had grown unusually sharp. In the background, I could hear Chaewon-noona asking questions as well.
“She said this place would be better than the original one, so it felt awkward to refuse. And it really is a nice place, so you don’t have to worry. This is the first time in my life I’ve stayed somewhere this luxurious…”
Suddenly, Jin-noona joined in with a grave tone, offering serious advice. I couldn’t understand why my sisters were suddenly acting like this. Were they upset that I hadn’t gone to the pre-booked accommodation…?
“…Yes?”
I let my guard down… Even though she’s old, she still has that kind of energy…
Hyun-ah. You have to be careful. Do you know what her nickname was back in our day? She’s really…
Hey! I told you to stop! To everyone else, you all look way weirder! Just stop…!
You stay quiet… *crackle*…!
I told you to get out… *crackle*…!
You people are seriously no help at all…!
The voices of the squad leader and my sisters tangled together, turning the other end of the line into complete chaos once again. After chasing the squad leader away, my sisters continued exchanging words I couldn’t even begin to understand. I had to listen to their endless mix of lectures and worries for a long time before I was finally released.
Oh my, it’s already this late. Sorry, Hyun-ah. We kept you too long, didn’t we?
You should go to bed soon. Sleep well, Hyun-ah. We can’t call, but letters are fine, so make sure you write to us regularly!
Sleep tight~
“I will. You should all get some rest too.”
Hyun, sleep well! Don’t forget that your sisters are always cheering for you!
*click*
“…”
Once the noisy chatter cut off, I suddenly felt as if I had been thrown alone into the silent depths of the ocean. The squad leader and my sisters said they would rest for a bit before heading east. Not only would the physical distance between us grow even greater since I was in the western capital, but most of the east was undeveloped land without telephone lines. That meant direct conversations like this would be impossible for a while. Realizing that made the fact that I was truly alone sink in completely.
It had already been nearly two years since I met them and started living together. The pain of losing the people I loved first still tormented me, but thanks to the squad leader and my sisters’ care, I had managed to stand back up, at least to some extent. I was still deeply grateful to them and wanted to repay them somehow, no matter what.
Yet there were still far too many things I didn’t properly understand. First and foremost was the squad leader’s true identity. When I first learned his surname while picking up basic common sense from my sisters, I had been quite shocked. No one would ever imagine that the rough, fierce-looking squad leader was a member of a prestigious family—one of the Five Founding Families, the Black Lotus Sa clan, no less—and its direct heir.
Once I learned that, the strange incidents that had happened around the squad leader finally made sense. Things like how the captain of a high-ranking unit would cower in front of him, how he could so easily obtain an ID card stamped with the highest-grade purple seal for me, or how he could confidently declare that he could cover up any trouble I caused at the academy…
But even knowing all that, I still couldn’t understand why such an incredible person would willingly take on dangerous work patrolling the remote frontiers. Above all, I was most curious about why the squad leader—who had no connection to me whatsoever—had chosen to take me in.
I suspected it had something to do with the true nature of that Authority of mine and how someone judged as a non-sensitive could use magic, but the squad leader stubbornly kept his mouth shut until the very end. He had even sternly warned me that it must never be revealed to anyone else, so I couldn’t exactly go digging for answers on my own.
Even though he had said my Authority was tempting and clearly seemed to know what it was, the squad leader had never once asked me to use it for his sake. The decision to follow them onto the battlefield had been entirely my own stubborn choice; the squad leader and my sisters had tried to stop me until the end.
There were so many other unanswered questions too—the grudge the head of the Baek family held against the squad leader, the events in the principal’s past… But I had no intention of prying into those matters. Everyone had parts of their past they didn’t want to talk about. I was the same. For example, the trauma related to the ring that had slipped from my finger that day, or the scars it left behind. Yet the squad leader and my sisters had never asked me about any of it. So it was only right that I did the same for them.
In the end, the only thing I needed to do right now was faithfully attend the academy as they had asked and do my best to ensure they suffered no harm because of me. If I could just endure these three years, graduate, and return, then surely the squad leader would have no choice but to tell me the truth.
“…”
When my thoughts reached that point, my gaze naturally drifted to the envelope the principal had given me earlier. Although my sisters had told me to sleep early, the loneliness had instead woken me up. I opened the envelope and checked its contents. The papers inside were a detailed student record.
I wondered if it was even allowed for one student to read another’s records, but I decided to just think of it as part of the job… With that in mind, I began reading through the documents.
The first thing I saw was a frontal photograph of a female student. When I first heard her personality described, I had been nervous that it might be someone I already knew, but thankfully it was clearly a completely different person. She had a slender, delicate face, large and distinct eyes, and pale lips. An elegantly straight nose and flawless, porcelain skin. Her bewitching and haughty appearance was striking enough that it was easy to see how her looks alone could draw people in.
At the same time, however, the arrogance and insolence hidden within her were also very apparent. I continued reading the various pieces of information listed below the photo.
Name: Yeon Minha
Current Year: Second-year
Age: 17
Major: Emission-Type Spirit Magic
Family: Red Fire Yeon Clan
First-year Final Overall Rank: 2nd
A spirit mage, huh. Come to think of it, the Yeon family was indeed renowned as one of the most prestigious spirit mage clans. One of the first five mages to awaken during the Dawn Era had established the foundations of spirit magic, and his descendants, the Yeon family, had since drawn other spirit mages to their side or exerted influence over them as pioneers.
But whether or not she was a spirit mage wasn’t particularly important right now. What caught my eye more was the additional notes written below.
Holds the record for receiving the most duel challenges during her first year (undefeated).
Suspected of being one of the masterminds behind the large-scale riot that occurred on March 4th of her first year, but disciplinary review was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
On July 12th of the same year, she inflicted serious injuries requiring ten weeks of recovery on a classmate after a sudden quarrel. She claims the classmate attacked first. Conflicting evidence was found, but disciplinary review was still dismissed.
On August 23rd of the same year, she used severe verbal abuse toward a close friend who merely greeted her, causing mental trauma…
On September 12th and 17th respectively…
“…”
Despite the tiny handwriting, the list of offenses was so extensive it nearly filled an entire page. What stood out even more was that every single incident had either been completely dismissed or had resulted in only the lightest possible punishment.
This student is believed to have inherited the violent temperament unique to the Yeon bloodline—commonly known as the Spirit Mage’s Curse—to an unusually severe degree. While this appears to be an extreme manifestation of the chronic side effects suffered by spirit mages, a lack of historical records makes it impossible to draw a definitive conclusion at this time.
The final paragraph suddenly gave me something to think about. Chronic side effects unique to spirit mages. Had there been something like that? Spirit mages were among the rarest and most valuable types of mages. Moreover, since I had always been stationed in remote areas, I had only encountered a spirit mage once or twice and possessed almost no proper information on them. It seemed I would need to look into this properly.
If I could learn what the chronic side effects of spirit mages were and what exactly this “Spirit Mage’s Curse” entailed, it might prove helpful for my own situation…
“Huu…”
I hadn’t even started yet, but I could already feel the wall standing in my way. Even though the principal had said she would lend me her strength, it was obvious the girl herself would reject me. Besides, even though I hadn’t met her yet, her impression didn’t sit well with me at all. That insolence and arrogance reminded me of something from the past—something I’d rather forget.
Was it really possible for someone like me to form a close relationship with a person like her?
“…”
Suddenly, a conversation I once had with Jin-noona came to mind.
Her self-mocking tone and bitter expression were still vivid in my memory. I hadn’t pressed further, but those words alone had been enough for me to guess the nature of their relationship. It was painfully obvious who the ghost was and who the prisoners were.
Yet I had actually envied them. Because there had once been someone like that for me too. There had been happy, dreamlike days that felt like they would last forever. But now, all of that had been brutally trampled into nothing more than a fragment of the past. My heart had already been torn to shreds long ago.
Once a thought rose to the surface, it kept spawning more and more. The squad leader had said it. My sisters had said it. Even Hae Wolhwa had said it.
“…”
No matter which one it was, I could confidently say that such worries were utterly useless to me now. That kind of time would never come for me again.