SRS 16

“Isn’t it cheating if you help me?”

“If it’s just between you and me, no one will know.”

The subtle voice tempted his conscience. Yohan looked down at his griffin suffering from the curse, then made up his mind.

“…I’d be happy if you helped. …Will you help me?”

“What can you do for me if I help you?”

“Um…”

Yohan blinked and answered.

“Share my class notes?”

Mikael burst out laughing and climbed down from his griffin, stepping onto the cliff edge where Yohan stood.

“Let’s do this, Yohan. I help you, and you do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“What do you say?”the young man asked again. After a brief moment of thought, Yohan nodded.

“But nothing too unreasonable. And nothing evil. I’m a priest, and I have to follow the rules I promised to God.”

“Don’t worry, Yohan. I’m not going to ask you to kill someone or anything. It’ll be something perfectly good.”

Mikael answered smoothly. That was good enough for Yohan, so he readily agreed.

Once the deal was made, Mikael stroked Yohan’s griffin.

“Close your eyes for a second.”

“Are you talking to me or the griffin?”

“You, obviously.”

Mikael looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Embarrassed, Yohan quickly closed his eyes. When Mikael gave him the signal and he opened them again, he saw his griffin, the traces of the curse completely gone.

—Prruuu!

The griffin, wearing a collar marking it as Yohan Herse’s companion, came up to Yohan and nuzzled him affectionately. It seemed happy to be free from the curse, or maybe it was apologizing for acting out while cursed.

“You did great. Good job.”

Yohan soothed the griffin while looking at Mikael with wonder. He hadn’t closed his eyes for very long, how had he broken the curse so quickly?

They’d known each other for a month now, but Yohan—no, not just Yohan, but all the first-years—had no idea what Mikael’s main ability was. He barely paid attention in class and hadn’t shown off since the first day, so it was unavoidable.

“How’d you do it?”

“If I was going to tell you, I wouldn’t have asked you to close your eyes.”

“Fair enough.”

Yohan’s strength was how quickly he accepted things. He climbed onto his griffin without fuss, and the revitalized griffin took off energetically with Yohan on its back.

“When are you going to tell me about the favor?”

“Hmm… when you can handle divine power better?”

“…?”

It was a weird condition. What kind of favor would require that? Yohan gave him a questioning look. Even though Mikael clearly understood what that look meant, he just smiled pleasantly and didn’t answer.

“See you.”

He flew off on his griffin.

Yohan watched the speedy flight, shrugged once, then patted his own griffin.

“Let’s go too, griffin.”

Mikael’s identity was always something he was curious about, but there was still that unspoken rule at Fantasiademia, you can’t pry into someone else’s business unless they choose to reveal it themselves.

If Yohan wanted to protect his own identity as “Yohan Herse,” he had to respect Mikael’s wishes.

“I’ll find out eventually anyway.”

Not in any rush, Yohan headed toward the new students hall with his griffin.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

By the time Yohan arrived at the banquet hall, about a hundred people had already filled the seats. In other words, a hundred people had passed the test using the crude method of dangling their friends on fishing lines.

“….”

Looking disgusted, Yohan was called over by Suhyeok, who had arrived earlier, and moved to sit next to him and Kylus.

“Where’s Mikael?”

He must have come, but Mikael wasn’t around them, so when Yohan asked, Suhyeok gestured toward the back.

“Over there. He said the banquet hall’s too noisy, so he wants to enjoy it alone.”

Following Suhyeok’s gaze, Yohan spotted the single-person table and nodded. That was very like Mikael.

“I’ll go say hi.”

“Huh? Well… okay.”

Suhyeok saw him off with a “why though” kind of face, and Kylus sighed. Leaving the two behind, Yohan approached Mikael. The young man, who’d been reading a book with glasses on, noticed the shadow falling over him and put his book down.

“Hi, Yohan.”

Even though they’d just seen each other earlier, he was acting like this was the first time today. He was so natural about it.

…So what happened earlier is a secret?

Picking up on the intention behind the ambiguous behavior, Yohan hesitated, then nodded.

“Hi, Mikael. It’s my time seeing you with glasses.”

“The lighting’s dim. It’s hard to read in conditions like this.”

“Really?”

As Yohan answered and moved to stand beside Mikael, his gaze followed him.

“What’s up?”

“Ah… um… I felt like I didn’t say thank you.”

“For what?“

Mikael acted like he had no idea what Yohan was talking about. So that greeting earlier really was a signal to keep it secret. Yohan took the hint and just said “nothing,” and Mikael gave a bland smile.

“I’ll gladly accept your thanks.”

And just like that, the secret was buried.

Yohan’s eyes drifted to the book Mikael was reading. The white-covered book Mikael had his hand covering the title, so there was no way to guess what it was about.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you reading before.”

They shared a dorm, but Yohan had never seen Mikael reading. Mikael barely spent time in the dorm anyway, and when he was there, he was usually sleeping or just lying still and quiet.

Yohan said it like it was unexpected, and maybe Mikael thought he was curious about what he was reading, because he held out the white book. The gesture suddenly reminded Yohan of the day Mikael had handed him the mandrake, making him smile without thinking. He took the white book and checked the cover.

《Sacred Rules》

It was unexpected, yet somehow fitting for Mikael, who did have a priest-like air.

“It’s a theology book.”

“I found it in the library.”

“You go to the library?”

“Not often.”

“Yes, I figured.”

Every time I go, you’re never there.

Yohan added quietly.

“…”

Mikael’s expression became subtle. Yohan had been examining the book with interest when he noticed his friend had gone quiet and looked up.

“What’s wrong?”

At the puzzled question, Mikael propped his chin on his hand and looked at the wall.

“Just thinking how complex people are.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

“Because of me?”

Yohan asked flatly. There was only one reason he could think of, so he threw it out there, but he genuinely didn’t understand why Mikael was saying this. Reading the confused psychology behind that bewildered expression, Mikael let out a deflated laugh.

“You’re both attentive and oblivious, Yohan.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Flustered by something he’d never heard before, Yohan replayed their conversation. He was trying to figure out where he’d misspoken to get that reaction from Mikael.

While Mikael and Yohan were talking, the banquet hall must have filled up, because the vice headmaster appeared. Noticing this thanks to the buzzing students, Yohan quickly returned the book to Mikael and waved.

“I’m going, Mikael.”

He whispered and returned to his seat. Serdik Agor looked around at the seated students.

“…Everyone passed except thirty-four. This year’s new students are excellent.”

At his muttering, Yohan felt regret.

It seemed there were students who couldn’t adapt to the insane rules and didn’t make it to the banquet hall.

The vice headmaster briefly congratulated the students who passed the test and explained the upcoming schedule.

“This concludes all entrance tests. You have now earned the right to attend major classes as official first-year students of Fantasiademia, so please review the course catalog and submit your course registration forms by tomorrow.”

The vice headmaster gestured, and a large sheet of paper flew to each seated student. Yohan snatched the paper thrust at his face and checked the course catalog. Maybe because this was the Nameless Realm where beings from various dimensions gathered, the list of majors was endlessly long.

“You may double major in up to three majors. Taking more classes is advantageous for earning higher credits, but it’s meaningless if your grades aren’t good, so please think carefully and plan a timetable that fits your abilities. Are there any questions?”

One student boldly raised their hand.

“Vice Headmaster! I have a question! What’s good about getting high credits? Earlier I heard about Yohan’s situation and apparently you just can’t with—mmph!”

The student who’d been speaking carelessly had their mouth covered by another friend sitting next to them.

“Sorry, Yohan.”

At the apology sent his way, Yohan shook his head, feeling it was absurd.

No… that wasn’t something you needed to cover their mouth so desperately for.

You can’t drop out if you’re a top student.

This was a fact all the new students knew thanks to Yohan. Having accidentally become the person in question, Yohan looked at the vice headmaster with curiosity. He’d heard before that there were perks related to graduation, but he still hadn’t heard what those perks actually were.

Since a month had passed, it seemed like he might finally learn what the perk was. As he waited, the vice headmaster, unusually not casting a silence curse, answered the question.

“Good question. If your grades are high, you’ll receive rewards at the end of each semester based on your performance. You can find out what the rewards are when the time comes. Also.”

The vice headmaster paused mid-sentence, his gaze landing on Yohan.

“…Also, it is possible to graduate early if you achieve top student status for three consecutive years.”

“…!”

At this explanation, Yohan’s eyes widened.