The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

"Mm."

Minerva, who had been sitting on a rock as if in meditation, let out a small, excited breath.

Her tail, which had been jutting out and swaying in a steady rhythm only moments ago, was now quivering.

Her tightly shut eyes opened, and her crimson pupils — flecked with a mix of colors — narrowed into bewitching curves.

She let out one deep breath, then murmured,

"…You've finally woken at last, my dear."

Her tail traced a soft curve as it swayed through the air.

"Your Minerva shall come to you at once."

And Minerva wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

Lee Ye-eun, seated at a makeshift desk processing documents, gave a sudden start and set down the pen she was holding.

Then she took off the glasses she'd been wearing, set them down neatly beside the pen, and pulled a jacket over her shoulders.

It was a secret forest that only members of the World Tree clan's main family — a mere handful, even among the clan itself — were permitted to enter.

The forest's vegetation, the spirits, the wind, every part of it was rushing to deliver the news to her, the head of the clan.

That the person she had waited and waited for had finally opened his eyes.

"…Ah."

Jin Ye-seul, who had been lying on a bed sleeping like the dead, suddenly snapped her eyes open without any warning at all.

She hadn't let on to anyone, but she had hidden the dragon-form Yu Ji-hyeok inside Henir's Shadow to transport him, spent nearly half a day carefully bathing him, and even poured massive amounts of mana into him to accelerate his awakening.

It was only because she possessed a mana capacity that far outstripped even Han Su-yeong and Lee Ye-eun that this had been possible — any ordinary mage would have died from mana depletion a hundred times over.

Like a wounded predator sinking into deep sleep to recover, Jin Ye-seul had lain there like a corpse ever since it all ended, never once stirring.

Lee Yu-na had even gotten so worried that she'd come by several times to check on her.

But now, the same person who hadn't budged no matter what woke up as if she'd been faking the whole time. She calmly sat up, quietly put on her shoes, and started getting ready to head out.

"You're awake."

That was the only thing she muttered, with a smile.

"……"

Choi Hyun-woo, who had been meditating quietly with a broken sword resting on his knees, slowly opened his eyes.

He'd thought maybe an hour at most had passed, but the sun had gone down a long time ago. A little caught off guard, he cracked his stiff body and rose to his feet.

…He'd promised to talk with Nam Hyun-hwa again at a later date.

She had sworn she would never again deceive him or disappear without a word, and she had left saying she would recover the remains of their fallen comrades and hold a funeral for them.

Reminded of all that, Choi Hyun-woo drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and broke into a wide grin.

"Alright, let's see, then."

Guess I'll go take a look at the face of the friend who got me into the unforeseen business of dragon cleanup.

As if conscious of something, he made a point of saying it out loud in a cheerful voice, then carefully secured the sheath holding his broken sword.

"Huh?"

Lee Yu-na, who had been taking a short walk because she couldn't sleep, blinked at the sensation brushing against her skin.

She immediately grasped what had happened, and her expression softened with relief as she murmured,

"Thank goodness…"

Minerva had told her there was nothing to worry about, but the heart didn't always listen to what it was told.

And to be honest, since Minerva had been wrong once already, her trust in her had taken a hit.

She was just about to head straight for Yu Ji-hyeok when she stopped at the sound of small, crumbling noises.

Within those rustling sounds, she felt something oddly familiar.

Could it be…

Struck by a strange premonition, Lee Yu-na immediately made for the source of the sound.

And when she spotted what was in the bushes, the sight was so shocking that a short scream escaped her before she could stop it.

"M-Master?!"

"……"

The one making the noise was, of all things, the mandrake — Rauné.

It had tied a handkerchief into a bundle hanging from its neck like a little knapsack, and was clutching what looked like a walking stick made from a branch it had picked up somewhere. With its body trembling, it was looking up at Lee Yu-na.

It looked a little thinner than usual. Its face was as unreadable as ever, but exhaustion clearly hung over it.

"……"

"A-Ah! Master, hang in there!"

The instant it saw Lee Yu-na, the tension seemed to drain out of it, and it slumped over on the spot.

Lee Yu-na frantically scooped Rauné up with both hands.

"Master, what on earth—! You should've just stayed quietly in Ji-hyeok's tank. Why did you come all this way? Wait, don't tell me… you walked here all the way from the Academy?!"

"……"

Rauné silently raised the walking stick it had been clutching.

The trembling tip of the stick was pointing toward where Yu Ji-hyeok was.

"…Thank goodness you woke up the way you should have."

Han Su-yeong said, sitting beside me.

I quietly nodded and answered,

"Sorry. Feels like I just put you all through a lot of trouble for nothing."

"Sorry for what. We all know things would've been way harder for the rest of us if it hadn't been for you."

Han Su-yeong let out a small laugh, like she'd just heard something ridiculous.

Then she started swinging her legs, tapping out a quiet sound — but for some reason, an awkwardness settled over us, and we wound up staring silently into the empty air.

Only the chirping of insects rang out from all around us.

Han Su-yeong, who would usually have piped up by now, was — for whatever reason — just sitting there with her head down, silent.

I shot her a quick sideways glance, then muttered,

"At this rate, we're all gonna flunk the year together. You guys keep getting the short end of the stick because of me."

"Hm? Oh, right. Yeah, that's true."

She'd seemed deep in thought, but she nodded in agreement at what I said.

Then she giggled playfully and answered,

"In that case, I'll just sue you for damages."

"What? Hey, come on. That's a low blow between friends."

"Hmph, you don't know? Friends are supposed to settle these things even more clearly between themselves, Mr. Yu Ji-hyeok. Besides, you've got plenty of money, mister — you're World Tree clan."

She let out a small sigh as she stared intently at one particular spot.

There, the scales I'd been gathering sat in a heap like a small mountain.

"…If push comes to shove, you can just pull off scales like those and sell them."

Once she'd said that much, she let out another small sigh.

"Scales. Dragon scales…"

And then, out of nowhere, a single tear welled up and fell from her eye.

I caught my breath, startled, and Han Su-yeong herself looked just as taken aback to find she was crying.

"Wh-what? Why am I crying…?"

She wiped at the tears.

But the more she wiped, the more the tears kept spilling, and her breathing grew increasingly ragged with panic.

"Ji-hyeok. Wh-why am I like this? Why do I keep…?"

She was practically sobbing by this point.

Worried by her quavering voice and twisted expression, I reached out and took her trembling hand—

—when, out of nowhere, she crashed into me in a fierce hug, hard enough that there was an audible thump.

I was caught off guard for a moment, but seeing her face buried against me and her body trembling like a frightened animal's, I quietly held her back.

"I-I was scared."

Han Su-yeong panted the words out like a confession at the altar.

"I was scared you wouldn't change back, that you'd keep on living like that…"

She started mumbling, her voice barely above a whisper.

"If that had happened, that's worse than dying, isn't it… Everyone in the world would've come after you. The state, the other guilds, all of them would've come for you. Because a dragon is worth that much. And then — then I'm weak, so I definitely wouldn't have been able to help you. And one day, I would've lost you. Right in front of me. Helpless."

Her arms tightened around me with a fierce squeeze.

I didn't do the same.

After taking Minerva's heart and awakening Dragon Blood, a careless squeeze on my part could end up hurting her.

"And on top of that, on top of thaat…"

Each time she sobbed, I could feel my shirt growing more soaked.

After hesitating for a moment, I carefully raised a hand and stroked her hair.

"That someday, you — that you wouldn't even recognize me anymore…!"

It was the very same worry I'd had myself.

Watching her cry and tremble, I made my voice as gentle as I could.

"Su-yeong, look. I'm fine. So stop crying."

"But I doon't…"

"I'm the one this is all about, and even I'm not crying. How can you?"

"……"

"There, see, it's okay now… yeah?"

When I said that with a deliberate touch of cheer, the arms wrapped around me gradually tightened.

It took a long while before she finally spoke to me, her voice small.

She was hiccuping with sobs as she spoke, and her voice was so quiet I had to lean my head in close.

"…Shu, ut."

"Hm?"

"Shut, up! You idiot!"

Startled at her sudden outburst, I froze speechless. Seeing me like that, she looked exasperated and shouted again,

"At — times — like — this — hic! Just keep your mouth shut and — sniff, just hold me, you idiot! Just. Just… just hold me without saying anything…!"

At her words, I reflexively tightened my arms around her a little.

"More — harder."

A little harder.

"More."

I held her a little tighter.

The angle was awkward enough that I had to drag myself closer to her.

"Harder. Don't go easy. Hard enough to crush me to death. Come on."

At that, I locked her tight against my chest, as if to trap her inside my arms.

Only then did she seem satisfied, and she silently rubbed her head against my chest.

We stayed like that, holding each other in silence for a long, long time.

"…Sorry."

Having calmed down a little, Han Su-yeong drew back from me slightly and said in a small voice,

"Sorry for what. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"No… You must've been pretty shaken yourself, and I just kept pushing my own feelings on you…"

She wiped her tears away with her fingers and, while murmuring, snuck a glance at my clothes.

I had to turn slightly to the side so she wouldn't see the shirt drenched in both her tears and… other things.

"…But still, you were the first one to figure it out and come to me."

I spoke carefully, not wanting to embarrass her.

"Hm?"

"Were you nearby this whole time, by any chance?"

"Uh, no. No way. Nothing like that."

When I asked just to be sure, she waved her hand and told me,

"It's just… I somehow had a feeling that you'd be around by about now. So I figured I'd try my luck and see if I was right…"

She trailed off, her lips moving as if she had more to say.

And then, all of a sudden, we both noticed a strange light shining down between us.

It was the crystal.

"Oh, right. There's something I had to tell you as soon as I could."

With those words, Han Su-yeong plucked the crystal out of the air.

Then she pulled something out from inside her clothes — none other than the Nameless Book.

At the sight of it, I felt my eyes tighten without meaning to.

"You might already know this, Ji-hyeok, but this is what's left of the other me — the one we ran into in Margo's dungeon, who died."

When she tapped the crystal, it spun slowly, like a planet turning on its axis.

"While I was waiting for you over the past few days, I did some looking into it… but I couldn't find any trace."

"You couldn't find any trace? Trace of what, exactly?"

"Yeah. Her memories, her abilities, fragments of her magic — anything like that. I figured that since she and I are the same person, just from different worlds, maybe I'd be able to sense something…"

She gave a small shake of her head.

"Just like what happened with that lich, my mana got amplified and putting together spell formulas got easier. But that's about it. There wasn't much time, so I couldn't really do a proper investigation… I'll have to take a proper look once we get back."

Then she pushed the Nameless Book toward me.

The book that had declared I had no qualifications, but had told Han Su-yeong that she did.

She gingerly opened the book and held it out for me.

"That day, this book suddenly showed up in my hand, and when I checked it afterward, this line had appeared inside."

In the originally empty, blank book, a single line of text had surfaced.

"Hold on a second…"

"Oh, here."

The text was so small I had to lean closer to her to make it out.

She held the book open and adjusted it so I could see better.

The line was written in a script I didn't recognize.

"What in the world does this mean?"

"'Do not forget that you are the key to this world, you who have heard the call and been chosen.' That's what it says."

"……"

Only one phrase came to mind when she said that.

Playable Character.

And I'd long had a hunch that, among those playable characters, Han Su-yeong was the one who would become "the protagonist of this world."

It was, effectively, evidence backing up my suspicion — but I couldn't bring myself to be entirely happy about it.

"……"

What on earth did this mean?

Or rather, why did something like this even exist in the first place?

A book whose reason for existing I couldn't even guess at was trying to convey something to Han Su-yeong — not me.

And to the one who could be called the protagonist of this world, at that.

For what reason, and what was it trying to get across to her?

If that was the case, who on earth could have made this book?

Don't tell me it was, as always, the same one who was behind every single thing—

"Ngh…"

Without warning, a flash from the crystal stole my vision for an instant.

As I blinked reflexively, I caught sight of Han Su-yeong, right beside me, gazing blankly at my face.

"…Ah."

Realizing she'd been caught staring at me while I was lost in thought, and that our eyes had met, she let out a small, soft gasp.

She hesitated for a moment, then leaned a little closer.

She tilted her face slightly forward and gently closed her eyes.

"……"

Normally, I would've come up with some weird excuse, or at the very least pretended not to notice.

But somehow — I'm not even sure how — before I realized it, I'd carefully placed my hand on her cheek.

She gave a small jolt, and I could see now that her eyes were screwed shut hard enough to make her whole face tremble.

I couldn't help letting out a small laugh.

At that, I could see her lips pressing tightly together.

I want to look at her a little closer.

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

Crun…ch.

It was a faint sound, like someone trying to muffle it, but I didn't miss it.

I whipped my head around — and my eyes met the eyes of someone watching us from a distance.

"…Belluna?"

The wind spirit whose eyes had locked with mine was frozen stiff, her hand stopped halfway in the act of putting a snack into her mouth.

A single piece of popcorn slipped from her mouth and rolled across the ground.

"Uhh…"

In a rare show of fluster, she put on an awkward smile.

"It — it wasn't intentional, I promise."

I really mean it.

At her sheepish "hehe" of a laugh, someone let out a sigh heavy with disappointment.

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