Moon's Shadow
Arena was there.
Her body wrapped tightly in bandages, connected to a respirator, she lay motionless with her eyes closed like a mouse that had died.
"I heard her ribs were broken in quite a few places and her organs sustained damage," Seohee said. "Plus every single one of her fingers is fractured, and both elbows and knees are broken."
The condition was far more serious than Chayeon had imagined.
"Is she going to be alright?"
"Thankfully, there's no issue with her life. The surgery went smoothly too."
At those words, Chayeon secretly let out a long breath.
"Compared to Arena, I didn't get hurt at all."
"Uh-huh. Chayeon, you were in a serious state too."
Seohee corrected her.
"On the contrary, Chayeon, you were probably even worse. You suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed. How startled we were."
"I did that?"
She knew she had lost consciousness, but she hadn't expected her condition to be as severe as Arena's.
"She's fine now."
Chayeon looked down at her own body.
Apart from the arm getting an IV drip, it looked exactly the same as before.
"People who just lend power to a spirit and those whose bodies are inhabited by a spirit have different immune systems and recovery rates. Chayeon, since the spirit is directly dwelling inside your body, unlike that girl."
But she continued.
"Even so, Chayeon's recovery power is abnormal. You can still communicate, and you're a nine-tailed fox spirit with this level of healing ability. It's getting more and more interesting what your true nature is."
Come to think of it, since she had woken up, Heokgu hadn't said a word.
'Yah, Heokgu.'
Leaving Seohee muttering to herself in her own world, Chayeon spoke inside her mind.
But there was no reply.
'Yah, answer me.'
She called out again, but he still remained silent.
'Usually you only talk nonsense, but when it's necessary, you don't say a word. Yah, you little fox. Where did you go?'
But no matter how she called, she only heard an empty echo.
Where had he gone?
Could it be...?
<>
A sound that seemed to echo through the cave entered her head.
The familiar voice made Chayeon's tensed body suddenly relax.
'Wait, shit. Why was I so tense?'
<>
'Stop bullshitting.'
Even the foxes called dogs when they barked. That was just his usual self.
'You don't even sleep, do you?'
He had always seemed awake.
<>
'Even after just that once, it was that hard for you. How can you be the strongest spirit?'
While saying that, Chayeon felt an odd sensation inside.
Really?
'Did I live because of Heokgu?'
<>
'...shit.'
For a moment, Chayeon forgot that Heokgu had read her deep thoughts inside and her face grew hot.
Thinking about it, Heokgu had been suffering because of her.
It was stupid of her to think that.
<>
'Yeah, poor thing.'
<>
With those words, Heokgu fell silent again.
He was probably going back to sleep.
"...Then, the most likely scenario is that the energy fragments of the Seven Divine Positions have taken on a self as spirits? If that entered Chayeon... oh my, look at my mind!"
Seohee, who had been muttering, suddenly snapped back to herself.
"I was thinking all by myself again. Sorry, Chayeon."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
Chayeon turned her head and looked at Arena.
The young girl, connected to all kinds of medical devices, tugged at her heartstrings.
'Us too, me too.'
Would they face such monstrous bastards and threaten their lives in the future?
Chayeon's mind flashed back to that memory again.
If things had been a little different, he might have become a critical patient like Arena and been lying there.
He might even have died.
"Don't worry. The doctors at Jindal are excellent. She'll wake up soon."
Seohee stroked Chayeon's head.
Chayeon let herself be gently touched without moving.
***
A week later.
Chayeon, who had received discharge permission, headed out of the hospital.
She had undergone several detailed examinations the day before, and the doctor had judged her fully recovered.
[I'm discharged.]
After texting Seohee, she went down to the first floor. There she found her standing in front of the pillar beside the main gate.
"Congratulations on discharge. How does it feel to come outside after a week?"
"When did you get here?"
"Just after I saw the chat from Chayeon."
A teleportation ability user.
"Here, a discharge gift."
Seohee handed her something.
Chayeon's expression twisted when she received it.
A set of headbands.
"I don't need it."
"You don't need it? Chayeon, your hair is pretty long, isn't it? If you don't tie it up, it'll get in the way someday."
The 'someday' she meant was probably like last time, when she encountered a demon and fought.
Listening to that, it made sense that it had felt uncomfortable when it got whipped around during fights.
"Then I'll cut it."
"Don't!"
Seohee suddenly raised her voice.
"If you cut it once, it'll take a long time to grow back. I want to see short-haired Chayeon too, but I want you to try different styles with long hair as well!"
She had said it was bothersome, but in the end her true feelings had come out.
Chayeon hadn't intended to become Seohee's doll, but she took the headbands anyway, since returning a gift felt awkward.
"Next time, come to my room. I'll teach you how to tie it."
It seemed best to avoid Seohee for a while.
"Out of the blue, but can you go somewhere with me for a bit?"
"Where?"
As she said it, she realized where her thoughts were going.
"Could you be going to find Heokgu the Nine-tailed Fox?"
Nine days ago, the original appointment had gone by the wayside because of an attack by a demon.
The only place that came to mind when she was discharged was there.
"I'm sorry if I seemed to have guessed right, but that's not it. The Heokgu the Nine-tailed Fox isn't at the academy right now. He had some business and went far away."
"Then where are we going?"
There was nothing Chayeon could guess, and she tilted her head.
"Starting now, I'm going to meet the head of this Jindal Academy."
"The head?"
It wasn't like some 80s gangster.
"Yeah, to be precise, I'm going to meet the academy's principal."
***
"The view is nice."
Chayeon looked around and spoke.
It was only natural. The corridor on both sides was lined with large glass windows, so the outside scenery was clearly visible.
The place where Chayeon and Seohee were located was the top floor of the education building where the academy teachers gathered outside of class hours.
At the end of the corridor was a huge door, and above it was a sign that read 'Principal's Office.'
"How grand."
It felt like the CEO's office of some large corporation.
The two of them approached the door.
A man who looked like a secretary knocked on it from the side.
"Principal, Ms. Jeong Seohee has arrived. And student Jeon Chayeon is with her too."
"Come in."
It seemed they had already discussed it, because he knew Chayeon's name and face.
The door opened and the interior was revealed.
It felt more like the private room of a corporate president in a drama than an office.
"Principal, I've brought student Chayeon."
"Thank you, Ms. Jeong."
A woman with white hair was leaning back in a luxurious chair.
Compared to her title as principal, she looked young.
She was probably in her early thirties or late twenties.
Her hanbok was neat. Black gloves on both hands and drop earrings with blue flower petals on both ears caught the eye.
Beside her stood a young man.
He looked even younger than the woman with white hair.
He might have just turned twenty.
A tall man with blond hair and sharp features, but with a very soft impression.
He was incredibly handsome. And because of that, he felt extremely familiar...
Familiar...
"You? Why are you here?"
It was Jo Namyeon.
"Hello, are you feeling better now?"
Namyeon waved his hand with a completely casual expression.
He had suddenly appeared in the hospital room and startled her, and now he was boldly sticking his face into the principal's office.
"Darling, do you know him?"
The woman with white hair turned to Namyeon and asked.
What? Darling? Dary~ing?
"Yeah, my wife. The friend who came in with me, remember? That's Chayeon."
Namyeon answered with a gentle smile.
Shit, just listening made Chayeon want to throw up.
"Hmm, I didn't know that friend was a girl."
The woman with white hair looked at Chayeon.
Her gaze was different from when she had looked at Namyeon.
"Hello, Chayeon. I'm Lee Yeongyeong, the principal of Jindal Academy."
The woman smiled as she greeted.
The mouth smiled, but the eyes didn't.
'I was suspicious.'
This woman was probably the big boss of the Jindal Academy.
Something had to be seriously twisted.
"Darling, can you step out for a bit?"
"Yeah, see you later, honey."
Namyeon gently kissed the forehead of the woman, Yeongyeong, and headed toward the door.
On his way out, he glanced at Chayeon with a faint smile and whispered into her ear.
"See you later, Chayeon."
Go ahead, see you later, asshole. Your honey's eyes aren't going to flip, right?
This bastard was definitely doing it on purpose.
The moment Namyeon left and the door closed, only Yeongyeong, Seohee, and Chayeon remained in the room.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
Chayeon answered hesitantly.
Somehow she felt deflated.
"I heard about it, but your recovery power is amazing. Being able to hold Rubrum-Luna down with Seohee alone is proof of it. The academy is happy to have such a talented student. Thanks to you, the damage was minimized."
"No. If it weren't for Ms. Seohee, I would have died."
Chayeon truly thought so.
She had been stupidly manipulated by a mind control at the end and nearly lost her life.
It was fortunate that Seohee had come in time.
"Modest as always. But simply holding a second-class demon for twenty minutes is an enormous achievement. To put it mildly, you'd already be at a level beyond a student's."
'Was that guy really that strong?'
Chayeon was secretly surprised at Yeongyeong's words. It had been easy to understand her point.
Thinking about the atmosphere when she had faced that demon, her joints still ached even now.
Could it be that Heokgu really was a stronger spirit than she thought?
According to him, he was the strongest being and could easily chew up demons.
<<...>>
Heokgu still hadn't woken up.
There was no way.
If he were really that strong, he wouldn't have been sleeping for this long after using his power just once.
He seemed like a spirit with more power than she had thought, but calling him the strongest was probably just boasting.
"Anyway, the academy has a proposal they'd like to make to you, Chayeon."
Yeongyeong handed a sheet of paper. It floated in the air and spun in circles before flying toward Chayeon.
From the side, Seohee's finger was spinning, so it seemed she had moved the paper with telekinesis.
It felt like deja vu.
[Monthly Rotation Guide]
"What is this?"
"It's a detailed guide about the monthly rotation system. In Jindal, we perform monthly rotations where outstanding students can skip curriculum and advance to a higher grade. I think outstanding students should receive training and lessons suited to their level."
The paper detailed how the monthly rotation system worked and how each grade's curriculum and assignments were handled.
"Despite being first-years, both you and Arena possess surprising talent to handle a second-class demon. Arena doesn't seem fully recovered yet, so I've decided to propose advancing Chayeon to third year. What do you think?"
Advancing two grades in one year.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"If you refuse, there's nothing special. You can just continue with first-year classes. You don't want to rotate?"
"No, that's not it."
She had only asked out of pure curiosity.
There was no reason to refuse the proposal.
"Okay. Then I'll accept it."
With a gesture from Seohee, more sheets of paper flew toward Chayeon.
"If there's anything you want to know or need, talk to Ms. Jeong. This year is unprecedented for three first-years to be rotated."
"Three of them?"
The other two were Chayeon and Arena.
Was there a third? Chayeon tilted her head.
"I thought it was a famous story, but apparently not."
Knock knock.
'Student Ju Jihyo has arrived.'
"It seems he's come at a good time. Let him in."
Yeongyeong answered in the voice of the secretary who had guided Seohee and Chayeon earlier.
Soon the huge door opened and a man entered.
"Come in. Ju Jihyo."
"Hello, Principal."
The corners of his mouth lifted as he looked up at the man who was over 190cm tall and made Chayeon have to crane her neck.
Um...
Unlucky.
That was Jihyo's first impression.
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