SRS 104

Even for Yohan, the origin of these bizarre rumors was impossible to ignore. This happened the very next day after Tramashu received his blessing, so it was only natural to suspect the senior from the day before.

Yohan swallowed dryly as seniors crowded the entrance and eventually entered the classroom.

“Whoa, they’re upperclassmen.”

“Looking at the color of their gems, I think they’re fourth-years. Does anyone here know any fourth-years?”

“No, aren’t there very few people who are close with upperclassmen to begin with? At most…”

The whispering first-years immediately turned their gaze toward Yohan and Mikael’s seats. Everyone knew that among the new students, only the duo from Room 304, who belonged to the guard squad, had ties to the upperclassmen.

Yohan sighed and hid his face behind his textbook.

“…I told you not to give the blessing because I knew this would happen.”

Mikael looked pained as he spoke.

“I wish you told me a little sooner.”

“…I couldn’t just ignore your wishes.”

“…I appreciate that, at least.”

Yohan bitterly thanked him and looked behind him. The seniors had noticed where the first-years were looking. Their gazes weighed down on him. Right then, one of the seniors exclaimed in surprise and walked over.

“Isn’t that Mikael?”

“Mikael? Is that guy still a first year?”

“Wow, he’s really persistent.”

“Don’t you have any plans to drop out?”

The seniors, who had been waiting quietly at the back of the room as if they were testing the waters, swarmed Mikael’s desk. Yohan, who was sitting right next to him, was naturally surrounded as well.

Yohan felt a of deja vu. He felt like this had happened once before.

He really needed to pick a day to ask Mikael what he actually did during his last three years at the academy. He couldn’t just keep guessing based on Mikael’s personality. He had a feeling he’d be dealing with seniors very often from now on.

“Hmm…”

The seniors tried to force a conversation with Mikael, who kept his mouth shut. Then, their eyes turned toward Yohan. It was right around the time other first-years, having heard the news, began crowding into the Divine Studies classroom.

“Wait, if Mikael is here, doesn’t that mean the ‘Ability Recovery Potion’ is someone else?”

“True. If Mikael were the potion, Tramashu would’ve said so long ago.”

“Which means…”

“……”

Sweat ran down Yohan’s spine. The moment a drop hit the floor, he bolted from his seat and ran.

“Oh? He’s running!”

“Catch him!”

“Kaden!”

The seniors reacted instantly to Yohan’s sudden move. It might have been his imagination, but Yohan felt they were actually enjoying this. If their excited voices weren’t an illusion, they probably were.

“Help me!”

Yohan shouted to the crowd of friends as he fled the classroom. His friends blinked in confusion at first, but when they saw his desperate face, their expressions turned resolute.

“Let’s help him!”

“Yohan is being chased!”

“The upperclassmen are bullying Yohan!”

“Block them! Have a conscience and stop them, you jerks!”

“Run, Yohan!”

The first-years, who owed Yohan many favors, immediately took his side. Even though their opponents were fourth-years, they didn’t hesitate to block the way. Yohan was moved by their actions.

Give something, get something.

The unwritten rule of Fantasiademia that Tramashu mentioned was actually working among the new students. Yohan took advantage of the moment his friends blocked the seniors’ view and quickly escaped the building.

“Oh, Yohan. Why are you running?”

“Help me!”

“……?”

“Hey! Protect Yohan! The seniors are trying to take him away!”

“What?”

“They want Yohan for themselves! If you want to protect your assignment grades, stop them!”

“……!”

The first-years inside the building leaned out of the windows and shouted to the students outside who didn’t know what was happening yet. The friends outside quickly moved behind Yohan and drew their weapons.

“We’ll cover you! Get back to the dormitory, Yohan!”

“Yes. The dormitory’s protective barrier stops even seniors from entering! Run!”

“Thank you…!”

Yohan found it absurd that rumors about seniors kidnapping him were already spreading, but he didn’t have time to overthink it. He just accepted the help.

“Ha, haaa…”

He ran at full speed, using his friends’ kindness as a shield. As sweat soaked his forehead, he wondered for a moment if he really needed to run this desperately. However, he remembered these people came here because they believed Tramashu. That thought renewed his sense of danger.

They were friends of that crazy senior, so they couldn’t be sane themselves. He’d be lucky if they didn’t try to cut off his hair or nails to make potions out of his abilities.

Terrified, Yohan ran with all his might.

“Yohan! Take my hand!”

“Lisa…!”

Perhaps she heard the news, because Lisa appeared on a griffon and reached out to Yohan. He grabbed her hand without a second thought and climbed onto the beast’s back, feeling immense relief.

“I didn’t see you in the first period. How did you get here?”

“I was resting in the infirmary because I overdid it yesterday, but I heard a commotion outside. I went out to see what was happening, and the other students said you were about to be kidnapped by upperclassmen, so I came to help.”

Overdid it?

Yohan was surprised to hear about the infirmary, but then he remembered the gossip he heard during class yesterday. He had ignored it at the time, but thinking back on it now, people were saying Lisa had engaged in a sacred duel with someone.

“Now it’s my turn to ask. What on earth did you do to end up in danger of being kidnapped by upperclassmen?”

“…I happened to give a blessing to a fourth-year senior, but it seems like the rumors got a bit distorted.”

“Your blessing? Doesn’t that just help the body recover a little?”

“The rumor says it restores the resources used for abilities.”

“Ah… now that I think about it, I can see why people would say that.”

Lisa nodded, mentioning that she also felt her divine power recover after receiving Yohan’s blessing before.

“I just thought my divine power recovered because your power is also divine. I didn’t know it helped restore ability resources in general. If that’s the case, I understand why the upperclassmen are acting like this.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’re just first-years, so our absolute resource pools are small. Your blessing might not feel like much to us, but it’s different for the seniors. The more resources they have, the greater the effect of your blessing will be.”

“Oh.”

Lisa’s explanation finally made the seniors’ frantic behavior make sense. Yohan didn’t know exactly how much resource his blessing restored, but if people called him an “Ability Recovery Potion,” the amount certainly wasn’t small.

“…I think I need to see Mikael.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll go bring him back too.”

“Could you do that?”

“It’s no big deal. Considering how much you’ve helped us, you could give me an order instead of asking for a favor, Yohan.”

Lisa spoke with a smile and dropped Yohan off in front of the dormitory.

“See you later, then!”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Lisa flew away on her griffon. Yohan watched her leave from within the dormitory barrier, took a deep breath, and entered Room 304.

Kylus and Suhyeok were already inside. The two were busy maintaining their swords, but they looked up when Yohan entered.

“Yohan. What were you doing to end up looking like that? Did you run into a typhoon?”

“A typhoon?”

“I’m asking if you got hit by a violent wind.”

“…I just ran a bit.”

“You ran? You? You barely ever run unless your life is in danger. Even during breaks, you’re always studying or lying down.”

“……”

It wasn’t a lie, but hearing Suhyeok put it that way made Yohan feel like he was incredibly out of shape. He felt a bit wronged and sat on his bed. He leaned against the wall and told them about the upperclassmen, and the two exchanged a glance.

“Did Yohan’s blessing really restore ability resources?”

“…It helped me recover my stamina, but I’m not sure about abilities. My power isn’t exactly an ‘ability’ to begin with.”

“I’m the same. The resources we use are just stamina or mental strength, so I didn’t know your blessing could cause such a huge stir.”

Suhyeok shrugged, then added as something occurred to him.

“But wouldn’t Mikael have known? He uses magic.”

“…I think so.”

Yohan finally understood why Mikael told him not to use the blessing on Tramashu. Since Mikael had received the blessing several times, he must have known exactly what it restored and by how much.

That made it even more shocking.

“…Why didn’t he tell me?”

Yohan felt a little betrayed and leaned his head on his hand. Suhyeok replied with an exasperated tone.

“He probably did it because if you knew the truth, you would have gone around giving blessings to every kid who collapsed from resource depletion. You have a habit of giving everything away. Mikael hates that.”

“……”

Yohan couldn’t really argue with that. He remained silent out of embarrassment, and Suhyeok advised him to let go of some of that altruism for once. Yohan knew his friend was worried and shook his head with a smile.

“…I still have to do my duty.”

“And what is your duty?”

“To fulfill my obligations as a priest.”

“So that priestly duty… no, never mind. I think I know without you telling me.”

Just as Suhyeok waved his hand, the door opened and Mikael returned. Yohan was stunned to see the student, whose hair was uncharacteristically disheveled.

“…Are you alright?”

Yohan whispered, feeling guilty because he felt responsible. Mikael looked at Yohan, whose hair was also a mess. He sighed and brushed the leaves and debris from his white hair.

“I’m fine. More importantly… what are you going to do now? This doesn’t seem like something that will last a day or two.”

“…I know.”

He didn’t have an immediate solution. Yohan wiped his face in worry. Mikael looked down at the troubled student and suggested a clever idea.

“How about asking the headmaster for help?”

…I should take that back.

Mikael was suggesting a terrible idea.