A Date? (4)
The students stared at Yusoha standing alone in the center of the training center. Some saw this situation as an opportunity. Others seemed to simply enjoy the fact that such a situation had arisen, with smiles spreading across their faces. After all, the current situation was bound to be entertaining to anyone. Yusoha, who was already gaining popularity, was personally visiting the school and offering to spar with the students—there was no way this wouldn't be fun. It was a topic that could draw attention just by mentioning it to others. Moreover, if anyone caught Yusoha's eye here, their own reputation might skyrocket in an instant. In any case, because of that, there were plenty of students who wanted to spar with Yusoha.
"Alright, then, would the students who wish to spar raise their hands?"
Most of the students filling the vast training center raised their hands. Moreover, graduation exams were approaching soon. Some students nearing graduation seemed eager to showcase their skills before the exams, stretching their hands even more desperately toward the sky.
"Oh, um. There are too many."
Yusoha looked at the students in the training center with slight bewilderment. There were far too many. Originally, she had planned to see about five of them and leave casually, but... in this situation, she couldn't just leave abruptly. If she left without accomplishing anything, the image she had worked so hard to improve might revert to how it was before.
"Hmm... If I say I'll only see a few of you, everyone will be dissatisfied, right?"
"Yes!"
Yusoha crossed her arms and tapped her index finger against her arm, as if pondering for a moment. After a brief pause, she suddenly lifted her head as if a good idea had come to her.
"Then let's do it this way. We'll do it as a group spar."
"A group spar?"
At first glance, it might have sounded like she was looking down on the students, but they nodded as if that was better. Honestly, it was only natural. After all, she was currently Korea's fourteenth S-class Awakened.
"And as soon as the spar ends, I'll call up the students who made threatening attacks on me one by one and give them some simple advice."
"Sounds good!"
"Then let's prepare. Since quite a lot of people have come, it will take quite some time to get ready."
The preparations were completed in an instant. The training center had instantly transformed into a sparring ground where the numerous students would face Yusoha. The few students who weren't participating watched Yusoha with excited eyes, anticipating what kind of performance she would show.
"Alright, let's begin."
The students, each equipped with their own weapons, began targeting Yusoha in their own ways. Fireballs, lightning, and ice poured toward her. Some took advantage of the opening to charge at her with weapons in hand. Amidst the countless attacks, Yusoha took a light step forward. As she extended one foot ahead, a fierce current of mana surged like a storm, blocking all the mana approaching her. Yusoha had already faced the mana storm of the Orc King, Terta. Compared to that experience, these attacks weren't threatening in the slightest. The flames died down, the lightning vanished, and the chunks of ice shattered and embedded into the ground. But the students' attacks weren't over yet. The students wielding weapons imbued their weapons with mana and thrust them at Yusoha. Swords, spears, blades, and all sorts of unique weapons rushed toward her. Yusoha raised her hand and formed a sword out of mana. Holding the sword, she began swiftly deflecting the attacks surging toward her. Normally, when mana clashed with mana, a loud noise should have erupted, since weapons imbued with mana carried considerable power. But even as mana collided with mana, no such noise rang out. It was because a sharp golden mana had newly overlaid the sword formed from Yusoha's mana, slicing through the opponents' mana as it was. The mana split apart, and the students' weapons, revealed between the split mana, began to be cut down helplessly. Clang. The sound of weapons falling to the floor was particularly noisy. Yusoha looked at the scene and scanned her surroundings again. The spar wasn't over yet. As expected, some desperate students began squeezing out their mana to reach Yusoha somehow. Amidst the fiercely swirling magic, Yusoha's eyes gleamed. It was because among the magic directly targeting her, there was a girl running toward her desperately, holding a severed weapon in her hand. The girl holding the severed sword activated her mana as she stepped forward, then began drawing out a chilling mana from the sword in streams. Yusoha liked the girl's tenacious appearance. She activated her mana again to extinguish the surrounding magic all at once, then grabbed the girl's sword charging at her with her bare hand. Perhaps because it was surrounded by mana, the girl's chilling mana couldn't touch Yusoha's skin... and in that state, when Yusoha clenched her hand, the girl's mana lost its form and dissipated.
"Let's end the spar here."
After extinguishing the surrounding mana, she spoke to the students. The students wore slightly intimidated expressions. Even after pouring out so much mana, she was completely fine. No, it wasn't just that she was fine. The students in the front line had their weapons cut clean off, and the mana of the students who had been casting magic from the rear had all vanished upon hitting the mana wave.
"You all did quite well. Still, it seems you have a long way to go. Keep working hard."
"...Yes!"
It wasn't mere lip service. Even in Yusoha's eyes, there were quite a few sharp spells lined up. In that short moment, she had checked how the magic surrounding her was composed, and in her view, that level of magic skill wouldn't be strange if they joined any guild right away. There were a few standout students, but it was still too early to judge. Having made her assessment at that level, Yusoha opened her mouth and spoke to the students.
"If you polish your skills a bit more, you should be able to join the guild you want. Keep striving, and when you someday judge that you've become qualified, knock on Hwanryeong's door. Hwanryeong doesn't turn away qualified people."
Of course, there were students who fell short of the level, but saying unnecessary things would be worse than not saying anything. They hadn't expressed any ambition to join Hwanryeong right now, and it was only a light spar after all.
"Yes!"
'At this rate, there seem to be quite a few students who might come to Hwanryeong later. And...'
Yusoha gazed intently at the girl who was still standing there blankly with her hand held by Yusoha. Her eyes, as if she had discovered something, captured the girl in front of her like a beast spotting its prey.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"...Yes? M-me?"
"Yes."
"Kwon I-hyeon... sir."
"Are you taking the graduation exam this time?"
"Y-yes."
Yusoha began rummaging through her clothes. What came out of her hand was a business card with her contact information written on it.
"Alright. Student Kwon I-hyeon. This is my business card. Contact me after the graduation exam is over."
"...Yes?"
Kwon I-hyeon looked at Yusoha as if he might have misheard something.
"The way you didn't give up when your weapon was cut and charged at me again was impressive. Of course, there are still some shortcomings... but that's something we can fix later. You seem to have enough talent. Contact me if you think of it later."
"Y-yes! Th-thank you!"
Kwon I-hyeon, still in disbelief, accepted Yusoha's business card with trembling hands, looking dazed.
"Well then, that's it for today. See you at the graduation exam later."
With that, Yusoha turned her back.
While Yusoha was sparring with the students, Eclipse found himself in a slightly awkward situation. It was because he could feel the students' gazes constantly fixed on his face alone. Some students who had been watching the spar had initially kept exclaiming in admiration at Yusoha's appearance, but at some point, their gazes had shifted to Eclipse. And the owners of those gazes were all female students. The female students looked at Eclipse with boundless interest. How could someone look like that? Even though sunglasses covered half his face, his innate appearance hadn't gone anywhere, so just looking at him was enough to leave the female students in ecstasy. They even began gradually approaching Eclipse and asking him various questions.
"Um, Eclipse-nim?"
"What is it?"
"Kyaaah!"
Whenever Eclipse said anything to the questioning female students, they began making all sorts of fuss and rejoicing.
"Um, do you perhaps have someone you're dating... or anything?"
"No. I wasn't interested in that sort of thing to begin with."
At Eclipse's words, the female students' expressions brightened instantly. This Guardian Star didn't have an owner yet. As soon as they realized that fact, the female students began questioning Eclipse more actively about this and that. However, their enjoyable question time didn't last long.
"Eclipse. What are you doing?"
It was because Yusoha had approached at some point and was looking at Eclipse with a cold gaze. Eclipse could tell that Yusoha was quite angry. It was because all emotion had completely disappeared from her face. When Yusoha was angry, all emotion vanished from her face. Eclipse knew that fact very well, and so he couldn't understand. Why?
"So-ha. Did something bad happen?"
"...Haa."
Yusoha let out a sigh and, with a complicated expression, took Eclipse's hand and led him outside the training center. However, outside the training center was also a problem. Numerous students had gathered outside the training center based on the news posted on the community. But upon noticing Yusoha's cold, expressionless face, the students had no choice but to make way on their own. How far had they walked? In a place where no people were in sight, Yusoha unconsciously asked Eclipse.
"What were you talking about with those girls earlier?"
"We didn't talk about anything special."
"You seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit for that?"
"...Where exactly?"
Eclipse asked back in bewilderment. Yusoha also knew that she was being unreasonably stubborn right now. She just felt a surge of anger. She couldn't understand herself. Why was she getting angry in this situation? They had only exchanged a few words. But emotions were sometimes uncontrollable. She began snapping at Eclipse.
"Was it nice talking to those girls with pretty faces?"
"...?"
Eclipse still looked at Yusoha with an expression that said he didn't understand at all, and Yusoha began getting even angrier at Eclipse's reaction and the unpleasant feeling of her emotions fluctuating. But just as Yusoha was about to snap...
"Well. I didn't think they were particularly pretty."
"...What?"
"The face I see every day is yours, So-ha. Since coming to Earth, I haven't seen anyone with a more beautiful appearance than you. No, not just on Earth, but throughout my previous world either. So I don't understand why you're angry."
"..."
In an instant, Yusoha's face, which had been consumed by anger, began turning explosively red, just like before. At that sight, Eclipse's expression began to turn slightly strange. He retraced his past memories. There seemed to be a memory of something like this. It was because when the princess who had been interested in him had driven away the noblewomen around him, she had shown a similar reaction to Yusoha. At that time, Eclipse remembered hearing that the princess had been jealous of the women around him. He unconsciously opened his mouth and asked Yusoha back.
"Don't tell me, is it jealousy?"
"...Wh-what are you saying!"
Yusoha shouted at Eclipse's sudden words.
"Wh-who said I was jealous?"
"There was someone in the previous world who showed a similar reaction to you. At that time, the people around clearly said that person was jealous of the people around me. Perhaps you're similar."
"...N-no."
"So-ha. You don't need to worry too much. I'm your Guardian Star. I have no intention of being swayed by other women."
"...Aah."
In an instant, Yusoha's expression melted, and... she momentarily lost her composure out of embarrassment that her inner thoughts had been exposed.
"...So-ha!"
Eclipse caught Yusoha as she staggered and collapsed.
"Are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine, so let go. I can go by myself."
"Enough. In that state? You seem to have overexerted yourself today, so rest comfortably."
"...Haa."
Yusoha, held in Eclipse's arms, covered her face in extreme embarrassment.