“Um, Hyulim!”
Collette suddenly brought her face extremely close, gripping both of Hyulim’s hands tightly in hers.
Faced with her hands being held so firmly, and Collette’s intense gaze, Hyulim felt anxious for a moment.
“Collette-sensei?”
“Would you let me visit your estate to pay my respects to your ancestral heirloom?!”
Hyulim: “…Eh?”
Hyulim was completely stunned; she felt she wasn’t used to this new teacher’s eccentric personality.
“Aiya~! I feel a bit embarrassed saying it out loud~!”
Collette released her right hand, scratching her head with a sheepish expression.
“But honestly, I’m a huge fan of your ancestor, Lord Orubet. When I was in the royal capital, I often read Lord Orubet’s biographies. I even wanted to visit his former domain, but it seems that decades ago, his descendants left their homeland. Now, there’s no trace of the Hayerral family left there at all. Even after some investigation, I couldn’t find any information in that vast empire. I never expected that after being assigned to this small town by chance, I’d actually meet the long-lost Hayerral line! Is this truly the guidance of the gods…?”
Collette’s words buzzed in Hyulim’s ears like a swarm of bees, making her mind nearly go blank.
“Um, I get it, Collette-sensei, we’ll invite you over, so can you please stop talking…”
“Really?! It’s settled, then! How about this weekend?”
Collette looked so excited that her reliable teacherly demeanor from class was nowhere to be found—right now, she was just a fangirl, completely starstruck.
“No problem… Of course, I’ll go home and tell my parents. They’ll definitely welcome you, Collette-sensei.”
“Hehehe~! Really~? Then this teacher will look forward to it~!”
Collette still had an embarrassed look, but Hyulim really wanted to say, your behavior doesn’t show a trace of embarrassment at all.
After agreeing on a time to visit the magic tool shop with Collette, Hyulim left the school.
But as soon as she stepped out of the gate, someone blocked her way.
“You’re so slow! Making me wait this long—did it really take you that much time to leave the school, Hyulim Hayerral!”
Looking at the blonde twin-tailed girl blocking her way for who-knows-what reason, Hyulim couldn’t help but wonder, I don’t recall making any appointment with you, so why are you acting like I stood you up?
“Fran, what do you want?”
“Hmph, what’s with that attitude? You make it sound like you’re the one who’s annoyed here!”
Hyulim: “…”
“Today, I only lost to you because I wasn’t at my best, but I, Fran Bandon, won’t just let it go! Just wait, I—Fran Bandon—will keep my eye on you, and I’ll definitely beat you. Don’t you forget it!!!”
After tossing out her threat, Fran immediately turned and ran off, not even giving Hyulim a chance to reply.
Hyulim stood there watching her back as she ran off—ah, she fell…
Hyulim genuinely wondered if Fran Bandon might really have some kind of problem.
“You listen up, Hyulim!”
Fran struck a pose, full of momentum.
“Don’t think that this means you’ve won!”
…?
…So what is she even doing? Did she really just wait for me outside the school gate all this time just to throw some random lines at me?
“Ah, Ojou-sama, aren’t you taking the carriage today?”
At the street corner, a butler was waiting for Fran.
“Not today! And tomorrow, and the day after! Starting today, I’m not taking the carriage anymore. You don’t need to pick me up either!”
“Huh? Why?! Wait, Ojou-sama, did you fall and hurt yourself?”
“What nonsense, I didn’t fall at all!”
Fran shouted angrily at the butler, then brushed past him, heading straight ahead.
Bang!
“Yah!”
“Oh no, Ojou-sama fell down!”
“Ojou-sama, are you alright?!” Fran lay sprawled on the ground, eyes brimming with tears, clutching her reddened nose.
She whimpered, “Ugh~, damn it, even the ground is bullying me! Cursed ground, cursed Hyulim, just you wait! Ugh~…”
In the forest,
“Sigh, so that’s what kind of teacher she is. She sounds quite interesting, that person.”
Listening to Hyulim recount her first day in magic class, Semilis seemed deeply interested.
“But really, that Collette person, she’s right you know. Since you’ve always practiced against monsters, I almost forgot. I should teach you some magic control techniques; it’ll be useful for you in the future.”
Sitting beside the freshly defeated monster to recover her mana, Hyulim looked at Semilis, who was floating in the air, and for some reason, asked on a whim, “Hey, Semilis, have you ever heard of Orubet?”
“Orubet? Who’s that? What about them?”
Semilis replied absentmindedly.
Well, of course. How could Semilis know about my ancestor? After all, Semilis only descends once every five hundred years, and my ancestor lived three hundred years ago. Semilis wouldn’t have even been in this world at that time. If their timelines had overlapped, then maybe Semilis would have heard of him.
Hyulim felt she had asked a stupid question.
It was probably Collette-sensei’s odd reaction that made her curious about her ancestor’s life, so she’d instinctively wanted to ask Semilis, this living history book.
However, just as Hyulim was thinking this, Semilis suddenly put on a thoughtful expression.
“Wait, Orubet… That’s strange, why does it feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere? Where could it have been?”
“Ah! Right, I remember that in Ravenrem there are a few S-ranked magic wands made from the World Tree’s core, you could…”
Hyulim: “…”
Hyulim stared silently at Semilis.
World Tree? S-ranked? Why do you think those are even remotely within my reach? And I was only asking for your advice—why are you acting like you’re about to fetch a wand for me?
“Uh… That might not suit you right now, haha~, haha~.”
Semilis laughed awkwardly.
“Oh, I just remembered, under the Northern Mountains, there’s a sealed—uh, that one’s even less suitable.”
“Hmm, the White Tower has… Or maybe borrow one from Tilamxuin… No, maybe Milnabis’s would work, but that one can’t be used now…”
“No, no need! Semilis, you don’t have to worry about wands for me!”
Watching Semilis get more and more outrageous, Hyulim really feared she’d go fetch a wand that couldn’t even be used in public, so she quickly stopped her.
“I’m fine with an ordinary magic wand right now. I can’t handle anything stronger anyway, and I’ve already arranged things with Collette-sensei. So really, Semilis, don’t trouble yourself about it!”
“Eh, really don’t need me to help find you a wand? I could get you a really amazing one, you know!”
That’s exactly the problem! Even you, the mightiest Fairy King below the gods themselves, call those wands “amazing”—how am I supposed to use that in public? It’d be the death of me.
“Really, I don’t need it!”
“Ugh, what a shame…”
Semilis looked genuinely disappointed. From her expression, it seemed she had actually been ready to take action. Hyulim broke out in a cold sweat.
“Ahem, um, Semilis, it’s getting late. Can you teach me the magic control technique now?”
“Oh, right, sure. Anyway, the key to mana control lies in your mental strength. You have to imagine mana as a river, then use your willpower to build dams along it to regulate the flow…”
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