SRS 42

“A permit to enter the commercial district?”

When he asked again for confirmation, Melek couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Yes! I guess the headmaster heard about what happened this morning and protested to Professor Menoua, insisting we receive a reward! As a result, all the East Tower new students received permits to enter the commercial district for one day tomorrow. You didn’t hear about it? I bet you’ll be notified soon.”

It was just as Melek said.

Shortly after, the dormitory window swung open and a letter flew in. The excited cheers of the students from the next room could be heard. Judging by that alone, Yohan opened the letter to confirm Melek’s words. Inside was a notice and a stamp from the vice headmaster, acknowledging the East Tower students’ good conduct and granting them permission to explore the commercial district for one day tomorrow.

“That’s true…”

“That’s right! A commercial district… If it’s as rumored, it’ll be absolutely enchanting! There’ll be alcohol, entertainment, good staff for sale, a magic tool shop, and if I’m lucky, a mana bomb to attack the professor…”

Hehe. Melek chuckled strangely, picturing his fantasy commercial district. Yohan listened quietly to Melek’s wish, then tilted his head. Now that he thought about it, he had a question.

“But how are we supposed to buy things? We don’t have any money.”

“Ah.”

“…”

“Is that so?”

All the students had their currency confiscated since entering Fantasiademia. They’d told them not to harbor any unnecessary greed, since they wouldn’t be spending money in Fantasiademia and wouldn’t be leaving until graduation.

They said the students would get it back if they dropped out, but it was impossible to drop out just to buy things in the commercial district.

“Uh, how do we buy things?”

Melek looked at Yohan, perplexed. Yohan, who was new to the commercial district and worried about what to do if he asked, subtly shifted the responsibility for the answer to Mikael. The man, who was staring, looked slightly embarrassed.

“Um… I explained it like I knew everything before, but I’ve never been in there myself, so I don’t know how purchasing items in the commercial district works.”

“You’ve never been in there before, Mikael?”

“It’s not a place most first-year would go.”

“But how do we get there?”

At Melek’s question, Mikael’s gaze shifted to Yohan.

“Well… If all we’d done was stop a professor’s intrusion, they might’ve just praised us. But restoring the protection barrier prevented school property damage.”

“Oh…”

“…I hate to say it’s plausible, but it makes a lot of sense.”

Stopping the professor’s intrusion got them verbal praise, but they should be rewarded for preventing damage to the school. The students’ expressions darkened for a moment.

“Anyway, it means we did something amazing.”

Melek raised his chin and boasted. Suhyeok looked puzzled.

“Why are you so proud? It was thanks to Yohan that the barrier was repaired.”

“We helped too!”

Melek, furious, looked at Yohan. Under the unspoken pressure to agree, Yohan nodded obediently. Melek wasn’t entirely wrong.

“It was the mages and the priest that did it together. I didn’t do it alone.”

Yohan didn’t believe he had repaired the tower’s barrier. While his divine power might have helped, he calmly added that it was a miracle only possible with the support of his friends. Melek, seeing that, became brazen.

“You too…”

Suhyeok noticed Yohan’s bashful expression and shook his head.

“I’ll go tell Kylus.”

As he left, Yohan felt a pang of regret. With Suhyeok gone, only Mikael and he were left here to deal with Melek. And Mikael was the type of person who wouldn’t talk to living things unless he felt like it.

“……”

“You know, Yohan. Listen to me. I’ve talked with he mages…”

Melek, who had been the epitome of arrogant mage when they first met, had transformed into a talkative and slightly erratic friend after enduring numerous hardships in Fantasiademia. While this wasn’t a bad change for a group setting, it wasn’t a positive development in a one-on-one setting.

Yohan was momentarily stunned by Melek’s chatter. The student narrowed his eyes and asked if he was listening, and he nodded vigorously, “Uh-huh.”

After that, He showed his interest by chiming in with whatever Melek said, and the young man, excited, began to tell his own story. Melek’s chatter continued for a full three hours.

“Ah, I should probably get going. I’ll be going, Yohan. I’ll come find you when setting traps for the professor next time.”

Melek, who harbored a grudge against the magic professor, had been plotting a backstab since their last Herbology class. Yohan, exhausted from listening to Melek’s rambling plans, let the young man go listlessly.

“…”

The dorm was so quiet, even though only one person had left. As he trudged, mentally wounded, and weary, he sat down on the bed. Mikael, sitting on the opposite bed, stared at Yohan.

“If you’re tired, you could just tell him to go, but you’re so diligent, even in a place like this.”

“…It’s Melek.”

“I know.”

“…Melek sulk a lot. You know he’s annoying.”

“Why don’t you just ignore him?”

“…”

Yohan was impressed by Mikael’s innocent response. In a way, Mikael was remarkable, how he could say such things so casually and without reservation?

“…That’s because it doesn’t work out.”

“You must be tired.”

“Well…”

Yohan had lived like this his entire life, so it was difficult to empathize. He trailed off, he was accustomed to it, and Mikael, after clearing his throat, finally spoke.

“You’re often indifferent to me. Seeing this, I can’t tell if you’re sensitive or indifferent.”

“Am I indifferent to you?”

“Not only to me, probably, but in terms of frequency, I think I receive more of it.”

The unexpected comment made Yohan stroke the blanket, lost in thought. If he had to pick the classmate he’d cared about the most since entering Fantasiademia, it would undoubtedly be Mikael. If Mikael had felt he was indifferent to him, he must have acted that way toward him. Yohan concluded he must have some indifferent tendencies he had not realized.

“Perhaps I have both a sensitive and indifferent nature. It is embarrassing to answer questions about myself like this, but a person cannot have only one side.”

“Well, that’s how humans are.”

“…?”

The impression he got from his answer was subtle. Sensing a slight discrepancy, he observed Mikael, only to see Suhyeok and Kylus return. Their entrance changed the atmosphere in the room. Deciding not to continue the previous conversation, Yohan welcomed Kylus back from training.

“The commercial district… From what Mikael described and the rumors the students had heard seemed like it would be quite grand. But what’s it really like?”

“We’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Let’s go to bed early.”

Suhyeok, filled with anticipation, tucked everyone into bed early and turned off the lights. Yohan, forced to go to bed early, was taken aback by the man’s insistence, but soon let out a soft laugh. At first, he was simply surprised, but he felt himself slowly adjusting to this life.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Yohan.”

They said good night and went to sleep.

At dawn, Yohan felt someone disappear from the room, but the fatigue from the week had overcome him, and he fell into a deep, restful sleep.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

The disappearance of human presence earlier in the morning seemed to have been a mere worry. When he opened his eyes, all three of his friends were in bed. Yohan, the first to rise, followed the rule that students from Fantasiademia who woke up early should wash first, and he washed leisurely and woke his friends one by one.

“Um…”

The friends who had been tossing and turning slowly woke up, one by one, and finished showering. The time limit for staying in the commercial district was 8 p.m. today. The vice headmaster’s letter stated that if they came out to the front of the dormitory, a guide would take the new students to the commercial district. Since the guide’s visiting hours were 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m., it was advantageous to wake up early and leave.

Room 304 was ready just in time for 9 a.m. Yohan, who walked out to the front of the dorm with his friends, was surprised to see more students there than he’d expected, perhaps due to the anticipation.

As the bustling students chattered about their excitement for the commercial district, at exactly 9 a.m., a figure with a ponytail, dressed in a black suit, and a face obscured by a pitch-black veil appeared.

“Ah! You popped out of nowhere!”

The students’ hearts pounded as the guide suddenly appeared in the empty room. The guide checked his watch, bowed to the freshmen, and drew a diagonal zigzag line in the air.

As the guide’s hand movements ceased, a crack appeared in the otherwise ordinary air. Yohan, having experienced a similar phenomenon once thanks to Professor Shinbi, expressed his interest. Mikael explained.

“So this is what they meant by ‘entry permit’… They’re probably just trying to move us straight into the commercial district without us knowing how to get there.”

“Ah…”

The students, sensing the guide’s intentions at Mikael’s whisper, sighed. Without a moment to linger in disappointment, the guide stepped into the crack. The students, fearing they might lose sight of him, hurriedly followed.

Soon, a slight nausea, less severe than the dimensional shift, washed over Yohan, and the entire scene changed.

“Wow…”

The students looked around, amazed by the music and laughter echoing from all directions.

“Yohan, look over there.”

Mikael tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a spot.