SRS 117

“When should we go to the commercial district?”

“…After the lecture, I have to spar with the Phantom Sword Master, so it’d be best to drop by briefly during breaks after the third period each day.”

“Ah, right. You said you’re still being held captive by the professor.”

Even after becoming a guard, his friend still couldn’t escape being a direct disciple of the Phantom Sword Master, suffering every evening. Suhyeok felt sympathy for him.

“But aren’t you also stuck with the Hunter Studies professor?”

Suhyeok’s expression darkened at Kylus’s innocent retort. Yohan pitied the two students.

“Yohan, you shouldn’t be looking at them like that.”

“Right, you’re under the headmaster.”

“…….”

“Sorry, but why are you even having this conversation? To hurt each other?”

After exchanging a few meaningless remarks, silence fell. Unable to bear the scene any longer, Mikael criticized the conversation that only inflicted mental and emotional damage. Only then did the three students realized the purpose of this conversation wasn’t to pity each other, but to decide when to visit the commercial district.

“Right. Let’s stop torturing ourselves and decide when to go to the commercial district. Since I’m also busy after my general studies class, it’s probably better to go before then. What do you think?”

“Hmm… We could go on the weekend and stay longer.”

“There’s only half a month left. If we only go on the weekend, it might be too tight.”

“That’s true. So should we go on a weekday after all?”

Suhyeok, Mikael, and Kylus actively exchanged opinions. Yohan, who had been nodding along to each suggestion, suddenly felt something odd and stopped nodding.

“You are coming too?”

Though he was the one asked by Professor Will to persuade his the craftsman, the three were now deliberating together. The scene felt so natural that Yohan nearly failed to notice what was wrong. His bewildered expression prompted them to look at him as if he were stating the obvious.

“Of course we’re going together. That’s why we came together in the first place.”

“We don’t know what might happen in the commercial district, and it’s not reassuring to send you alone, Yohan.”

“A swordsman knows how to keep faith with comrades.”

“…Ah.”

“Are you uncomfortable with that?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Yohan stroked the mandrake to calm his tingling nerves. He felt so grateful to his friends for sharing his worries, from finding the pot to the professor’s mission, that he actually felt embarrassed.

He hadn’t felt this dependent on a group back at the temple.

“…Thanks, everyone. I’ll always step in for your problems like they’re my own.”

“What’s with the obvious statement?Honestly, seven out of ten problems we have are yours, Yohan. Two out of ten are Mikael’s, and one out of ten is me and Kylus combined. So we’re used to it by now.”

Suhyeok replied casually. Even though it was just stating the obvious, Yohan still took damage and closed his mouth.

Meanwhile, after discussion, the time slot for visiting the commercial district was set.

“So, after third period tomorrow, we’ll stop by to assess the mission difficulty and decide whether to go over the weekend too? Let’s head back now.”

Yohan and his friends, still huddled in front of the professor’s office, returned to the dormitory with that flimsy conclusion.

And the next day.

Rumors spread through the first-year dorm that Yohan and his group had received permission for unlimited access to the commercial district for two weeks. Upon hearing this, the residents of Room 304 looked at each other, searching for the source of the leak, but the culprit was not among them.

“Who did I hear it from? Well, obviously from Professor Will.”

“…The professor told you personally?”

“No, he suddenly asked me to pass along a message to you: if you couldn’t complete the task, report it in advance. So I asked him what the task was.”

“And you told the others about that?”

“…Well, it’s interesting news, right? Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something really wrong?”

When they cornered Shan in the cafeteria, the student who’d confessed the whole series of events trembled, narrowing his eyes to gauge Suhyeok’s reaction. Yohan and his friends let out long sighs. As soon as they sat down, first-years swarmed around them.

“Yohan. Is it true you got access to the commercial district?”

“And for two weeks! “

“And unlimited access for two weeks?”

“…….”

Yohan felt weary amidst the swirling crowd. Mikael nudged him and whispered.

“Should we get up?”

Yohan nodded. Kylus and Suhyeok, who had caught their gaze, also stood up without insisting on finishing their meal.

“I’m jealous, so jealous. Some people live their lives with all the diligence in the world and still can’t get shop access. But others just get a professor’s favor and get handed two-week passes like it’s nothing. Are you attending a different academy by yourself?”

The exaggerated tone echoed through the cafeteria. The speaker, now in the tense atmosphere, sneered at Yohan.

“Lucky you, Yohan!”

“Hey, hey. Reynold. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

The student sitting next to him covered Reynold’s mouth and shook his head.

“Sorry, Yohan! Reynold must have suddenly lost his mind!”

Reynold frowned at his friend’s frantic attempts to restrain him, he struggled to break free and shouted.

“Why? Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Everyone feels it’s unfair. The help we usually get from Yohan and the special treatment he gets from the professors are two separate things. Hey, Yohan. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m usually grateful to you too. But that’s different from this. You didn’t even do anything special on your own, so is it alright for you to get the access pass?”

“Reynold!”

“Ah, come on!”

As his voice grew louder, the students watching glanced at Yohan. Some grew irritated with Reynold, while others seemed uncomfortable, wearing slightly complicated expressions. Feeling the changing atmosphere, Suhyeok sighed and moved closer to Yohan.

“You should probably explain yourself.”

Yohan felt the same way. He didn’t want this single incident to change the atmosphere among the first-years, who had been cooperating smoothly until now for survival and mutual convenience.

Feeling the weight of the focused stares on him, Yohan opened his mouth.

“I understand. It might look like I got the access pass because of my connection with the professor. And I understand why it seems like special treatment.”

“See? Even Yohan—”

“But Reynold, I think there’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t get the access pass through favoritism. …I just happened to end up making a special mandrake, and I took on a request with the condition that I find a pot for that mandrake in the commercial district. Until I completed that request, I can only enter the commercial district, I can’t buy anything. Even after completing the request, I can only buy the pot and leave. I didn’t consider this a privilege. I just thought it was part of the process to get the pot.”

As he calmly explained the situation, Reynolds’s brow furrowed.

“Getting permission to enter the commercial district itself is a privilege, I’m telling you?”

“Then how about I tell the professor to give you that permission? You solve the request, get the pot, and return the access pass. Of course, you’d bear the risk if the request fails, but since it’s a privilege, that risk isn’t really a risk.”

Faced with the counterargument, Reynold hesitated, unable to respond. The students began to murmur. Amid the commotion, opinions started to divide. Some argued that the access pass Yohan received was a privilege, while others countered that the risk was high if the mission failed and the reward was just a pot, making it an unfair assignment. Just as the arguments were growing louder…

“Huh? Did you all drink some madman’s potion? How is this a privilege?”

Amidst this, Melek, who had finished his meal, scratched his head and addressed the students. His voice was loud, drawing all eyes to him. Melek wore a confused expression as he moved his empty tray to the return counter.

“This is just Yohan getting himself into trouble trying to get a pot. He got the request directly from the professor, right? Who here wants to take a request from a professor who’s clearly lost his mind?”

Melek’s question silenced the hall.

“Then, anyone here want to risk becoming lab material if the request fails, come next lecture?”

“……”

“No. Forget all that, anyone here wants a special relationship with a professor? For the record, I absolutely do not. I’d seriously kill Hegel Gildestein if I could. You think I’m just taking Herbology for fun? I’ll make a deadly poison!”

Melek stated his position, and he seemed to grow increasingly agitated; by the end, he was raving mad, stomping his feet furiously. Seeing that, no one dared say they wanted a special relationship with a professor. In Fantasiademia, where the tale of Melek’s screams echoing through the Magic Studies lecture hall every evening had become an urban legend, no one harbored thoughts about befriending professors.

As the hall fell deathly silent, MeleK clicked his tongue in irritation.

“See? Everyone avoids Yohan, so what kind of special treatment is that? I feel so sorry for Yohan. I guarantee you, if he keeps this up, Yohan will get torn to shreds by the professors of Divine Studies, Spirit Studies, and Herbology, and then the headmaster will suck out his very soul! So, Yohan, you better start preparing to assassinate professors before it’s too late.” 

Melek muttered these cursed words, let out a sigh, and walked out of the cafeteria. Yohan listened in amazement as the young mage’s mumbles about how to kill his professor faded into the distance.

The students who had been swept up in Reynold’s incitement gradually came to their senses and began to feel pity for Yohan. Reynold himself was no exception.

“…I’m sorry.”

Voices grew louder, berating the reckless and rude Reynolds for his apology.

“Reynolds, you were wrong! How many times has Yohan helped us? Even if it was special treatment, we should understand!”

“Look how the headmaster keeps seeking Yohan out. We should be grateful to him. He’s sacrificing himself to help us escape his attention.”

“And what about that dimensional monster attack not long ago? Have you forgotten how Yohan saved us then?”

Amidst the flood of agreement coming in from all sides, the encouragement and consolation directed at him, Yohan covered his mouth, thinking of the departed Melek.

The day Melek became useful actually came.

From this day forward, Yohan came to believe without doubt in the cycle of good deeds.

“From now on, even if Melek spouts some strange nonsense, I shouldn’t force him to drink a potion.”

Yohan agreed with Suhyeok’s decision.