Even I Don't Know Myself That Well (4)
“This duel match is…” I yawned and looked up at the sky. The clear blue sky seemed to have a magic that turned all boredom into peace. I wasn’t sure if I could call them juniors, but it was nice to see the young magical girls giving it their all. How much effort had they put in to pour everything they had for their opponent and for us spectators, including the teachers? But regardless of all the sweat they’d poured out, I had no interest in this duel exam.
“Hwaaaam.”
“Jihye, are you sleepy?”
“A little… no, a lot.”
“Maybe the fatigue from yesterday still… hasn’t worn off yet?”
It seemed Miju’s friend was right. Even though I’d slept plenty, the tiredness hadn’t properly lifted. They say if you sleep too long, you end up drowsy and no matter how much you sleep, you don’t feel refreshed and just get more tired. Was that why? Yawning nonstop while trying to watch was fine for one or two matches, but keeping my focus going was incredibly difficult.
“That senior is amazing.”
“Yeah. Isn’t that senior famous as an Elementalist?”
“Their elemental magic is definitely on a different level from ours…”
Whenever my classmates’ evaluations reached their peak, I’d glance over for a moment before getting bored again and looking back at the sky. When I couldn’t fight off the drowsiness, I’d yawn or stretch. If it got too hard, I’d doze off for a bit while still holding my seat in the stands.
“That person… is incredible.”
“Y-yeah. Their magic flows so smoothly…!”
When I heard the kids praising someone, I turned my head away from the sky. There stood a girl with striking purple hair casting magic with a stubby wand. Hmm. So that’s the Elementalist the kids were cheering for. I watched her magic a few more times before giving a short comment.
“You guys are better than her.”
“Huh?”
“By the end of the first semester, you’ll probably surpass her in skill. Even if you’re about the same right now.”
“But Jihye, she’s a… senior?”
I spoke confidently to the kids who didn’t believe me.
“Of course, your understanding of elemental magic might be lower. But that’s something you can catch up on quickly, and your overall understanding of magic is higher. Look over there. See how the alignment of her magic is a bit messy?”
Only then did the class president let out a gasp, as if she finally saw it.
“…Now that you mention it, you’re right. The direction of the flames isn’t consistent.”
“In what way?”
Miju answered my question instead.
“It’s not shooting straight toward the opponent… It just looks like it’s scattering in front!”
“Oh. You got it right? I should give you a praise sticker.”
“Y-yay! Two praise stickers… Hehe.”
With that, Miju’s friend now had two praise stickers. Seeing how genuinely happy she was, I figured I’d have to do something nice for her later.
“…Class president. Jealous?”
“No way.”
On the other hand, the class president, who hadn’t answered in time, looked a bit sulky at missing out on a praise sticker. I wanted to tease her about it, but remembering my earlier talk with Salbyeol, I held back.
“Then, class president. Want to explain why that phenomenon happens?”
“It seems like her alignment is still immature. The mana alignment logic provided by the basic Kernel can’t guarantee quick speed, so she probably modified it herself. That might’ve improved the speed, but it tanked the stability.”
“Correct. Sacrificing stability just to boost speed leads to exactly that result. Mana that doesn’t align in the desired direction only gets a rough sense of direction before scattering randomly.”
The class president, who had given a perfect answer full of enthusiasm, looked at me expectantly. As if she was hoping for something.
“What about my praise sticker?”
“Huh?”
“I got it right. So shouldn’t I get a praise sticker too?”
Why were these kids so obsessed with praise stickers? Collecting a bunch of them wouldn’t get them anything.
“Hwaam… I never said that.”
“What?”
“I never said I’d give praise stickers if you got it right.”
“Hey, Kim Jihye. Are you really going to be that petty?”
“But Seyeol… Jihye did say that, though.”
“Miju, are you tattling on Jihye just because you got one?”
“N-no! It’s not that… I just thought we should clear this up properly…”
“Baek~ Miju!”
“Kyaa!”
The class president, apparently annoyed by Miju’s friend, launched a surprise tickle attack. Her body had already resigned itself, familiar with the class president’s tickling, while her face showed the opposite reaction. It was impressive. They must play like this when I wasn’t around. If guys did that, people would call them gay. Back in the day, when my friends acted like that, some guy once asked me if they were gay. I just explained they were playing around, but those two, who seemed especially close, kept causing misunderstandings afterward. In that sense, it was funny how I found myself thinking skinship-filled pranks between girls looked nice.
…Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted to join in.
“You can do it!”
“Don’t lose, Eunji!”
Cheers came from the opposite stands. That was definitely… the second-year spectator section. Who was Eunji? I looked more closely at the dueling grounds.
“Is that person Eunji?”
“Yeah. Senior Lee Eunji. She’s the rival of Senior Jang Hayeon, the Elementalist.”
There was a girl stubbornly holding her ground against Jang Hayeon’s flame magic. With her two-handed sword planted in the ground as she focused on shield magic, she almost looked majestic.
“So she’s a martial artist type.”
“She’s famous as the second-year Master of the Greatsword…”
Master of the Greatsword? That nickname was pretty grand. After holding out well, the Elementalist’s attack was nullified. Now it was the martial artist’s turn. Knowing it was her chance, the greatsword girl drew her sword without hesitation and charged. I watched her movements calmly. The stability of her footing. Weight transfer. Upper body movement. And the movement of her other muscles. Then the conclusion came.
“That person… no matter how I look at it, isn’t cut out to be a martial artist.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
She swung her sword. The greatsword accelerated at a certain point mid-swing through the air. And it reached her opponent at an even faster speed. The opponent deployed a shield, but it seemed insufficient. Giving distance to a martial artist—that was a fatal mistake for a magic user. The shield shattered, and though she barely dodged, it was clear another hit was coming. The greatsword master had won. The moment I thought that, a reversal happened.
“Huh?”
Someone shouted. It was an unexpected outcome. Everyone had assumed the greatsword girl would win, but for some reason, her follow-up attack missed, giving the Elementalist another chance. And unlike the greatsword master, she had the ability to fully capitalize on that opportunity.
Kwaaaang.
A blazing flame spell erupted, and the greatsword master was defeated just like that.
“The winner of this duel is Student Jang Hayeon. Congratulations.”
The arena grew noisy, probably because of the unexpected result.
“Senior must’ve been nervous. What a shame.”
“Y-yeah. I get it… Honestly, it’s so nerve-wracking.”
The kids said that, but it wasn’t because of nerves. It wasn’t a mistake or an error either. It was an inevitable outcome. Anyway, Salbyeol, why wasn’t that guy coming? An hour had already passed. When was he bringing what I asked for?
✮✮✮
“So you heard everything, yoyo?”
“Yeah. You and… Jihye unni talking.”
Outside the outdoor training grounds, in an empty lot, Yun Yuri was talking with her mascot, Salbyeol.
“Sigh… I’m going to get a huge scolding from Cosmo-nim again, yoyo.”
“So what exactly is your relationship with her? And what’s this place called Magica?”
“Yuri-nim. I know you must have a lot of questions, but I can’t tell you everything, yoyo. I couldn’t help what you already overheard, but I can’t just say more recklessly, yoyo. You understand, yoyo?”
“Yeah. I know it’s not a simple story.”
“I can give light answers, but anything beyond that, you’ll have to ask Cosmo-nim directly, yoyo. That’s the right thing to do, and it’s polite, yoyo.”
Yun Yuri finally understood what Salbyeol meant. Asking about how Kim Jihye had gotten stronger was no different from digging into her private life. And not just her present, but her past. Some people felt uncomfortable or avoided talking about their past. For Yun Yuri, memories like wetting the bed as a child were like that. Secrets that made her feel embarrassed and ashamed just thinking about them. …And there were also dark memories locked deep in her heart that she could never speak of. The former she could still talk about, but the latter was something she absolutely couldn’t. Yun Yuri knew there were people whose memories were so painful that just recalling them made their chest ache and brought forth sobs and screams. If Kim Jihye had gone through something similar, she understood why Salbyeol had said, “Go ask Kim Jihye directly.” The thought of someone else’s past being revealed against their will was horrifying. That was why Yun Yuri decided not to ask Salbyeol about everything.
“Light answers are enough.”
Reading something from Yun Yuri’s expression as she said that, Salbyeol relaxed his guard, unlike before, and answered.
“…Understood, yoyo. If Yuri-nim has made up her mind like that, then I have no right to stop you anymore, yoyo.”
But she couldn’t ask nothing at all. To ask someone for the truth, she needed to have the proper qualifications. Asking without knowing anything was an insult to the other person. She needed at least some background knowledge. At the very least, what the world of Magica was, and who Kim Jihye’s younger sister was.
“By the way, what exactly are those earplugs?”
Before getting into the story, Yun Yuri asked about the thing that had been making noise for a while. She’d tried to ignore it, but it had been bothering her too much to bear.
“These, yoyo? Cosmo-nim asked me to get them, yoyo?”
Rustle. The sound of the earplug packaging’s plastic wrap being crumpled under Salbyeol’s feet rang out.