A Debt to Repay

Punch. Blood sprayed through the air. His fist slammed squarely into the face of the noble who had been tormenting me.

"This isn't the mainland. This is the Academy. I've told you multiple times, yet you show no intention of fixing your behavior."

Crunch. His fist grew increasingly stained with blood.

"You laid your hands on Elisha ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before, and now it seems you think I'm some kind of joke."

Bruises bloomed around the eyes. The lips split open. Teeth must have broken too, because several of the noble's teeth were scattered across the ground.

"I don't waste words. Have you forgotten who I am?"

"P-please… s-stop… I was w-wrong. I won't t-touch her again. Please…"

Habel, the noble, begged for mercy in a slurred voice, his missing teeth making him sound ridiculous. Honestly, it felt pretty satisfying. After a whole year of relentless harassment, it was about time he got what he deserved. Still, I couldn't help but worry that this incident would give him even more reason to target me later.

"Then get lost. There won't be a next time, Habel."

The black-haired man, Vern Flame, casually wiped his hands with a handkerchief. Then he summoned blue flames over his left hand and issued a final warning to the noble who had been bullying me.

"And if I catch you harassing this pink-haired girl again, I'll deal with you personally."

At those words, Habel and his group fled as if their lives depended on it.

"I warned them so many times. Seems they were harassing a commoner again while I wasn't paying attention," Vern muttered quietly to himself.

He tossed me a few gold coins.

"That's 100,000 coins. Use it to buy medicine or bandages. And let me be clear, from now on, handle your own problems."

"Don't expect another stroke of luck like this one."

Having said his piece, the man turned and walked away.

"I didn't even get to thank him yet…"

Still, he was such a strange person. Were the rumors wrong? The titles of scoundrel, problem child, and delinquent didn't suit him at all. Did he really not care if his family clashed with Habel's household? Everyone else had been too afraid of noble retaliation to help me, but Vern was different.

He had saved me.

It had been a living hell of a year filled with bullying, but somehow, receiving even that small act of salvation made me feel lighter. Maybe that was why my left cheek, which had been stinging from Habel's slap, didn't hurt as much anymore.

Yeah, the rumors must be mistaken. There's no way someone like him could be a scoundrel!

After that, thanks to Vern's intervention, the harassment from Habel and his group completely stopped. However, my relationships with the friends who had stood by and watched while I was bullied for an entire year had grown awkward, so I ended up alone again, just like before.

But that was fine. I owed him a debt.

To repay that debt, I needed to advance to Class B, where Vern Flame was. Besides, I still hadn't managed to tell him thank you. If you owe someone, you must repay them. That was my rule.

I searched for him everywhere to express my gratitude, but I couldn't find him. Then I heard the news by chance.

He had been suspended for fifteen days and demoted to Class C for assaulting a student.

Was… was it because of me? Did he get punished for beating up another student just to help me?

I hadn't even gotten to thank him, yet he'd helped me and ended up disciplined. The next time I saw him, I decided, I would start by saying thank you. That was what Elin had resolved.

So when the practical exam day arrived and I ended up in the same group as him, the words wouldn't come out easily. The timid personality I'd developed from a year of bullying, combined with the sudden encounter in the same group, left me too nervous to calm down.

Once all the group members had gathered and everyone began introducing themselves, she kept staring at Vern.

Should I greet him first? Or should I say thank you first? What should I do? What do I do?

While she was lost in these thoughts, staring at him, it became her turn. She introduced herself in a slightly trembling, nervous voice, but it didn't matter.

She had finally met him again.

Maybe Vern will remember me too? How should I say it? she thought.

However…

"Do I know you?"

Vern didn't remember her at all.

R-right… I guess that makes sense. He's a noble and I'm just a commoner…

Still, it hurt. Disappointment was disappointment. He might have been nothing more than a passing figure in her life, but to not remember her at all… It dealt Elin a small—no, a rather significant shock.

....

"Elin."

"Y-yes?"

"Stop spacing out. We're already far behind. Have you detected anything with your search magic?"

"U-um… it seems like there's nothing around us…"

We were running. Or rather, I was the one running. I had Elin on my back as I cut across the forest. While entering the woods, she'd twisted her ankle trying to dodge a stray spell from another student, so I ended up carrying her while crossing the forest.

I handled movement while she used her mana to scan the surroundings. This was possible thanks to my skills and accessories.

The new skill I'd coincidentally obtained today after all that training was Grit.

------------

The hidden skill Grit could only be obtained by repeating certain special actions. It was the kind of overpowered hidden skill that most people didn't even know existed, let alone how to acquire it. I'd learned about it by chance while playing minigames at the fitness club.

In the game, it could only be used once per day, but its performance was real. It fully restored all health and mana! On top of that, when combined with the Grace of Nature that gave an extra 30% ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠buff in forest fields, I was able to sprint through the woods at incredible speed.

Even if my stamina ran out, I could just use Grit to recover, so I'd been running with her on my back for dozens of minutes straight. I had no choice but to carry her after she injured her leg, but strangely, I didn't feel tired at all. My body was reinforced with mana, and Elin was as light as a feather, so it wasn't that difficult.

"I see. It doesn't matter. What we're after is the golden object."

"I-I'm sorry, but at my level…"

"It doesn't matter. We probably won't be able to find the golden object anyway."

"What do you…?"

Elin, with her pink hair, looked puzzled. That was only natural. It would be strange not to be curious.

This was the largest academy in the world. Every student who entered was quite talented. Even if their mana was weak, someone would definitely find it. There was no way the professors would hide it using ordinary methods.

In the game, artificial golems created by the Academy faculty carried the objects while attacking students. They were literally both guardians and hunters.

Therefore, we shouldn't be looking for the object itself. We needed to find something artificial that wasn't the object—the golem.

The golem was slightly larger than an average person and equipped with a magic tool that disrupted the flow of mana. It might seem like it would be easy to spot due to its size, but that wasn't the case. Disrupting the flow of mana meant sealing mana itself.

That's exactly what we'll use.

If it disrupted the flow of mana, there would surely be an anomaly detectable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by search magic. Search magic spread the user's mana widely to detect objects, humans, or creatures.

In a world where mana exists everywhere, if there's a place where detection is impossible, there's only one answer.

"We're looking for artificial locations using search magic."

"What does that mean?"

"Everyone attending the Academy has real skill. Do you think they'd hide an object in a normal way against students like that?"

"Then… what exactly is an artificial location?"

Ancient technique of the high-level players: conversation skipping!

After giving her the information, I continued running. After running for quite some time, I finally felt a bit tired. I carefully set Elin down and sat on a small rock to rest.

"Elin, you should rest a bit too for now."

"…Haa… Yes…"

Maybe it was because she'd been using search magic continuously. She looked somewhat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exhausted. That made sense—she'd injured her leg and had been draining her mana the whole time. I felt a little guilty for being too careless.

Her pink hair was covered in dust, and her sprained ankle seemed even more swollen than before. Since I couldn't use ice-attribute magic, there was nothing I could do to help. It would have been nice if Elisha were here… Hmm.

Since Elin looked tired, I'd have to slow the pace a little after she rested. The sun was still up, but night would fall soon. The golems only became active right after sunset, so it didn't matter. And even if we found one, most students wouldn't be able to defeat it without knowing its weakness.

"Um… Sorry for bothering you while you're resting, Elin, but I'd like to finish the conversation we couldn't have earlier."

I felt bad for the resting Elin, but I couldn't hold back my curiosity. Just what had happened between her and Vern?