With the training camp already halfway over, it was the evening of the second week.
The students gathered in groups, busy talking about what they’d accomplished in today’s training.
“Look! I can cast faster now!”
Eliana said in an excited voice.
As she stretched out her hand, her specialty—light magic—activated.
“Heh heh. At this rate, I might even overcome my weakness—my slow chant speed.”
Watching Eliana smugly rub her chin, Chelsea looked at her like she was pathetic.
“Eliana, the reason your chant speed was slow is because you were just lazy about studying theory.”
“No, it isn’t! Do you have any idea how hard it is for a magic swordsman to move fast while chanting? Do you even know the hardship of using Aura and mana at the same time?!”
“You were lazy about theory. That’s a fact.”
At Chelsea’s flat response, Eliana flinched—then suddenly went, “Aha!” and sprang to her feet.
With her arms crossed grandly, she said,
“You’re scared I’ll catch up to your specialty, high-speed chanting, aren’t you? Heh heh! Jealous, are you.”
Whoosh-!
“Kyaaaah!”
“What are you even saying?”
A gale spell activated without warning, and Eliana went flying.
Watching that, Carr chewed on jerky and muttered,
“Chelsea, you look like your chant speed got even faster.”
“Yeah, I think it’s because I trained under Instructor Arkan-nim!”
Nella tilted her head at Chelsea’s proud smile.
“I heard that person’s basically a complete novice when it comes to magic.”
“Yeah. Arkan-nim doesn’t really know magic. But things like combat know-how, how to improve focus, and stuff like that! I learned a lot.”
Nella smiled softly at Chelsea’s excited chatter and patted her head.
Watching that, Tide muttered,
“The Knight Department kids are gonna be miserable. They already fear Chelsea and call her the ‘Knight Hunter.’”
Chelsea, who had the best close-combat ability in the second-year Magic Department, had basically become the Knight Department’s natural enemy.
That was why, among Knight Department students, Chelsea was called the ‘Knight Hunter.’
Chelsea flashed a V sign.
That was when—
“Ah! It’s Instructor Arkan-nim!”
“Instructor Arkan-nim! Did you eat dinner?!”
A commotion broke out in the camp.
When the students turned their heads, Arkan was there.
“Popular, huh.”
“Compared to the graduated seniors, he’s practically an angel.”
At Nella’s murmur, Eliana—who’d gotten blown away and come back—answered,
“And he’s handsome, too!”
“Anyway, you just lose your mind when someone’s good-looking.”
“Gah!”
When Tide sniped at her, Eliana stomped hard on his foot.
Eliana cleanly ignored Tide rolling on the ground clutching his foot, and rubbed her chin.
“It’s like… he’s got this strange charm.”
“Yeah. Unlike most other beastkin who are rough and wild, Instructor Arkan-nim is gentle.”
“And I heard his ability is insane, too? They say he wasn’t even an Azonia graduate, so I kind of want him to become our academy’s professor.”
Nella and Eliana kept chatting away while looking at Arron.
Meanwhile—
Surrounded by female students, Arron wore a gentle smile.
The girls let out delighted gasps.
“At first, I thought it was kind of meh—he looks like Arron-nim, but somehow he seemed weak.”
“You thought that too? Me too. But… I don’t know. This kind of vibe is nice too.”
“Yeah. He’s charming. Like… it makes me want to protect him.”
Azonia’s female students murmured with dreamy eyes.
“Heh!”
Borman stepped between two of them.
“Heh, Instructor Arkan-nim is definitely a strong man. But a beastkin male should be tough and feral by nature!”
With his eyes wide, Borman glanced to the side.
“Right, Dion?”
“Tough and feral only applies to Dion.”
“You’re just a muscle idiot.”
The Azonia girls snapped back sharply.
Borman shouted confidently anyway.
“Isn’t my bold look in battle cool?!”
“It is kind of impressive.”
“Yeah, because you’re stupid. The cool one is our boss cat!”
“Right! Ar is way bolder and cooler than you!”
“That thing?”
Borman narrowed his eyes and pointed at Ar.
“Water scary. Water scary. Water scary.”
Ar was hugging her knees, shivering by the bonfire.
That looked nothing like bold or cool.
Watching Ar’s strange behavior lately, Azonia students wore baffled expressions.
Two Azonia girls looked at each other’s faces, then shouted,
“That’s cute too!”
“She’s like a broken cat!”
Seeing his classmates react even more passionately, Borman grumbled,
“I’ll never understand women’s hearts.”
“No matter who you compare, they’ll say they’re cooler than you, since you’re so stupid.”
“And why are you picking a fight? Fox.”
While Azonia students bickered—
Arron headed toward where the Seiren students were.
Overall, Arron was popular with female students, but Seiren students didn’t like making a big fuss, so they weren’t especially interested in him.
“Eiran.”
Arron smiled and pulled a snack from his pocket.
“Here.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Eiran, who’d been quietly reading a book in the corner, smiled brightly as she looked at Arron handing her the snack.
“What are you reading?”
“A book.”
“Wow, just like her. She liked books too.”
Eiran, who knew exactly who Arron meant, smiled shyly.
“By the way, what’s it about? She never showed me what she was reading, no matter what.”
“I-it’s just a grimoire! A grimoire! It’s a Seiren magic class textbook!”
Eiran shut the book and laughed awkwardly.
Lunia, passing by, checked the cover and narrowed her eyes.
“[A Study on the Constellations of the Night Sky and Star Magic]? That’s the first-year textbook. Why are you reading that? Are you doing something weird agai—mmph?!”
“R-review! It’s review, Lunia-yang! Review is important, right?”
With her mouth covered, Lunia hurriedly tapped at Eiran’s arm.
“Too bad it’s magic. If it were martial arts, I’d help.”
“No! Arkan-nim’s teachings have been a huge help!”
“Yeah?”
Arron smiled and patted Eiran’s head once before leaving.
Seiren’s female students immediately asked in a rush,
“Eiran-yang, it feels like Instructor Arkan-nim has been taking extra care of you.”
“Are you two… something?”
Eiran smiled at her classmates’ shining eyes.
“I think he’s just fond of me.”
“Gasp! No way—!”
“He’s got a noble air, unlike other beastkin, but—”
“It’s not like that.”
The reason Arron took care of Eiran was simple.
She was a descendant of Velkia, his disciple.
Since Arron had doted on Velkia, he couldn’t help but pay more attention to Eiran.
As Seiren’s girls crowded around Eiran, Aris said,
“Eiran, at this rate, Lunia’s going to die.”
“Huh? Ah! Lunia-yang! Please wake up!”
Eiran screamed at the sight of Lunia passed out with her eyes rolled back.
While the usually quiet Seiren students grew noisy—
The next place Arron headed was Chen Xia, who had her eyes closed and was deep in meditation despite the lively atmosphere.
After watching her from a short distance, Arron said,
“Diving in isn’t a good choice, is it?”
Chen Xia slowly opened her eyes.
She blinked her large eyes a few times, then looked genuinely amazed.
“How did you know?”
“I felt killing intent. I could see what kind of move you were thinking.”
“You’re incredible.”
Chen Xia clicked her tongue at Arron’s words.
As a shadow, Chen Xia had learned to hide her killing intent.
Even in the moment of killing someone, she could conceal it.
It was impressive enough that he sensed the faintest trace of killing intent from her meditation, but he’d even predicted her movement based on it.
'Just how high is his martial prowess?'
Chen Xia marveled.
Arron pulled a snack from his pocket and handed it to her.
Receiving it politely with both hands, Chen Xia asked,
“Thank you for looking after me. But why are you paying attention to me?”
Chen Xia knew Arkan, as an instructor, took care of other students too.
But compared to the others, he seemed to take extra care of her, and she wanted to know why.
“Because you resemble someone I know.”
Arron smiled.
Since she’d been Kyle’s disciple, Arron knew Vihar as well.
And he also knew the truth—that she had been staining her hands with blood in the darkness, in place of everyone else.
'That kid truly respected Kyle.'
Arron had wanted Vihar to live while dreaming of a bright future.
So when he heard she’d lived behind history, in the dark, for the sake of her talent, his heart had ached.
There must have been reasons, but it wasn’t the future Arron wanted.
“If you’re guarding someone’s back…”
“…?”
“Don’t go thinking you have to sacrifice yourself in someone else’s place.”
Chen Xia blinked at Arron’s words.
“Don’t give up. Keep moving forward.”
Hearing that, Chen Xia realized what Arron meant.
Just a moment ago, while fighting an imaginary enemy in her meditation—
When she imagined diving into the enemy’s guard,
Chen Xia had assumed her own death.
At Arron’s advice, Chen Xia gave a bitter smile.
“The person I follow is an incredible person. But the path he wants to walk is far too harsh.”
Chen Xia closed her eyes.
“So I want to stand behind him and protect him. I owe him a great debt.”
'Because when he reached out his hand and told me I could become a hero, my world filled with light.'
“I’m willing to prepare myself to sacrifice for him. So don’t pity me.”
“I’m not pitying you.”
Arron smiled.
“Because that person wouldn’t want you to die.”
Meeting Chen Xia’s eyes, Arron spoke firmly.
“The person you want to stand behind would get angry if you sacrifice yourself for him. That’s the kind of person he is.”
“Do you know Leo-nim well?”
“I do.”
Arron smiled.
“He’ll never give up, no matter what. If you want to be his strength, then you can’t ever give up either.”
“……”
Chen Xia’s eyes widened.
“Arkan-nim… did you ever have a situation like that?”
“I did.”
“Did you not give up?”
“……”
Arron closed his eyes.
Then he smiled bitterly.
“I gave up. I was a coward.”
Chen Xia blinked.
“Don’t ever do that.”
Arron patted Chen Xia’s head and said,
“Don’t become a bad friend… a bad younger sibling.”
***
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