“Ugh… Where is this?”
Amid the blur, Su Ling’s vision slowly returned.
The first thing she saw was a petite black-haired girl holding a short sword and gesturing at her own body.
“Boss?” Su Ling shook her head, still a bit dizzy and throbbing with pain.
Sensing that Su Ling was awake, the black-haired girl stopped her dangerous actions and looked up with a bright smile.
“You’re awake. The surgery was a success. Congratulations, you’re a boy now.”
“Huh?”
At first, Su Ling didn’t process it, but seeing the black-haired girl’s sincere expression, her eyes shot wide open.
“Huh—?!”
Startled, Su Ling sat up. As she moved, her chest bumped into the black-haired girl’s head.
The strong resilience sent the girl tumbling backward, sword and all.
But Su Ling didn’t care at all—she immediately reached into her skirt to confirm something.
After repeatedly coming up empty, she realized she’d been tricked again. Her lips pouted in a pitiful pout as she whined,
“Little Sevi, you lied again! I really thought I grew a penis! You got my hopes up for nothing.”
Sevitis, who had taken a blow to the head, rubbed her sore scalp and got up from the ground, putting the short sword back into the Space Pouch. She rolled her eyes and retorted,
“How could that thing just grow out of nowhere? And why do you look so disappointed, you horny cow?”
“Ehehe, I was just a little curious.” Su Ling scratched her head awkwardly, then remembered the important matter and nervously looked Sevitis over.
“Oh, right! How did the exam go, Boss? Did you get hurt at the end? I don’t feel good leaving a little girl like you to fight that Demon Spider alone.”
“Don’t worry. Thanks to you drawing its attention, I took care of that Demon Spider smoothly. The exam ended perfectly.”
Seeing that the dumb cow had finally gotten back on track, Sevitis picked up a fruit she had just peeled and took a crunchy bite.
“As for me… well, you see—crunch, crunch—” She chewed the fruit while rolling her eyes. “Since I can still stand up after you smashed me with those weapons of yours, I’m obviously fine.”
“Oh, good.” Su Ling finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Oh, right.” Sevitis took another bite and added vaguely, “When things got urgent back there, I had to hand you over to the exam staff to save your life.”
“Huh? If the examiner dragged me out, then I lost the right to continue the exam, didn’t I?” Su Ling’s cow ears instantly drooped. “But I didn’t even collect a single Magic Core…”
“Who told you to just focus on eating as soon as you entered the exam hall…” Sevitis swallowed the fruit with a gulp and changed the subject. “But considering you performed pretty well this time, I’ll reluctantly grant you one request as compensation.”
“Really? Then can I grow a—”
“Only if it’s something I can actually do!” Sevitis’s face darkened as she hurriedly cut off the horny cow’s delusional and perverted idea.
If she had that kind of power, she’d definitely reattach her own first.
Su Ling scrunched up her face, racking her brains, but couldn’t think of anything to ask for right away.
“Forget it, no need to decide now…” Sevitis started to console her.
Grrrrr—
A loud protest echoed through the infirmary. Su Ling rubbed her empty stomach and stared straight at the half-eaten fruit in Sevitis’s hand.
“Um, actually…”
But before she could finish, Sevitis quickly devoured the rest of the fruit, even the core.
“Sorry, you’re too late. It’s gone.”
“Then could you…”
“By the way, these are expensive fruits that cost two gold coins each.” Sevitis licked her fingertips leisurely. “If you really want to eat, I can go get one for you.”
“…Then forget it.”
At the sound of “gold coins,” Su Ling immediately backed down and closed her mouth weakly.
“But I do have some Black Bread. Want some?”
Seeing the black bread in Sevitis’s hand, Su Ling was starving and nodded quickly.
But just as she reached out to take it, Sevitis’s head got a thump from a knock.
“You little girl, stop picking on the honest one.” A woman in a white robe walked over and scolded her helplessly. “I told you to peel that fruit for the injured patient, but you ended up eating it all yourself?”
Then she pulled out an identical fruit and handed it to Su Ling.
“Here, eat this. Don’t go gnawing on that brick with no nutrition.”
“Who’s picking on her? She bullied me first.” Someone massaged her head and complained.
“Oh, thank you. Who are you…?” Su Ling took the fruit dazedly.
“I’m a medical staff member stationed outside the exam hall by the Academy, specifically assigned to look after injured examinees like you.” The woman in white smiled warmly.
“Don’t worry, your injuries aren’t serious—just some superficial wounds. You fainted because your Magic Power ran out and you were exhausted.”
“But from the way you were acting earlier, you should still have some headaches, right? That’s a symptom of mild poisoning.”
“Poisoning? Ah… I think I remember accidentally taking a bite of a wild green mushroom in the forest. That’s probably it.” Su Ling scratched her cheek embarrassedly.
“Mushroom?” The female doctor frowned in confusion. “But you were clearly—”
“Ow! That reminds me—that mushroom really was poisonous!” Sevitis quickly interrupted, afraid she’d let something slip.
The female doctor gave the guilty little girl a meaningful glance but didn’t pursue it. She wisely dropped the subject and changed the topic.
“But don’t listen to this little girl’s nonsense. It wasn’t an examiner who brought you out—she carried you all the way to the medical station herself.” The woman unhesitatingly exposed Sevitis’s lie.
Sevitis froze, then silently turned her face toward the window.
‘I didn’t lie… Medical staff counts as staff too, right…?’
“According to Academy rules, if a companion brings you out, you haven’t actually lost your exam qualification. So, this little girl is all talk and soft heart. You still need to thank her properly.”
With that, the female doctor chuckled and left, leaving the two girls in the room.
After hearing the doctor’s words, Su Ling’s face turned red.
Eyes welling up, she stared at Sevitis, who was trying to tiptoe away, then suddenly pounced and hugged her tightly.
“Boo-hoo~ Boss! I knew you were the best boss ever!”
The two overwhelmingly soft and oppressive mounds buried Sevitis’s petite head, suffocating her.
“Mmph…! Let go! I’m suffocating!” Sevitis struggled desperately, finally pulling her face out of the abyss of suffocation and cursing aloud.
This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to tell the dumb cow the truth—she knew how she’d react!
“I’ve decided—my request is that we stay best sisters forever!” Su Ling showed no sign of letting go; instead, she clung tighter like an octopus.
Hearing that cheesy declaration, Sevitis felt a chill run down her spine.
She really regretted it now—she should have been ruthless and left this dumb cow to fend for herself in the cave!
She’d definitely keep her distance from now on! But then she thought, once she entered the Academy, she probably wouldn’t run into this stupid cow anyway.
With that clear, stupid brain of hers, her score on the first Cultural Written Exam would be disastrous.
How could she possibly get into Kantaier?
“Let go now! If you don’t, I swear I’ll bite those lumps of fat off!”
Hearing the threat, Su Ling reluctantly let go, freeing Sevitis, who was nearly rolling her eyes back.
Then she happily took the fruit the doctor had given her and took a crunchy bite.
‘So sweet. No wonder Little Sevi was so protective of it earlier—she wouldn’t even share a bite.’
“By the way, there are plenty more of these fruits in the basket over there. Help yourself if you’re still hungry.” The female doctor’s voice came from outside again.
“Mm-hmm!” Su Ling nodded joyfully. She was about to open her mouth wide and wolf down the remaining half of the fruit, but then she froze.
‘That doctor… never refuted Little Sevi’s claim that these fruits cost “two gold coins each,” did she?’
She gulped. She glanced warily at Sevitis, then nervously at the pile of tempting fruits in the basket—as if she wasn’t seeing food, but a small golden mountain.
“Eat up. Why are you looking at me? Kantaier Academy is rich; they won’t miss a few measly fruits.” Sevitis rolled her eyes.
“O-oh, right…”
With permission, Su Ling dared to lower her head and nibble on the fruit again.
But her original ravenous manner was completely gone.
She held the fruit carefully, taking only tiny, mouse-like bites.