“I’m sorry. My younger sister made a scene.”
“No, rather… it was wrong of me to faint.”
“No. It’s the stupid guy’s problem for not surrendering.”
“…Is that so?”
“I thought that someday there would be a big consequence, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
—
Creak.
Misako and Sion entered the detached room attached to the dojo.
It was a small and simple place, with only a table in the middle.
Misako took out cushions from under the table and laid them on the floor.
Sion felt awkward as it resembled a traditional tatami room.
“This is a room for receiving guests. So please, feel free to stay.”
“Then I’ll excuse myself…”
Misako sat across from Sion.
She took out two gold coins and one silver coin from her pocket.
“I will deliver this in place of Miyu. Two gold coins and one silver coin… is that correct?”
“…Is that alright?”
“I’m not a fool who would dismiss what I said… If any problems arise later, I will take responsibility. So take it.”
“…Yes.”
Clink.
The coins dropped into Sion’s hand.
A total of four gold coins and two silver coins.
Sion clenched the wallet in his pocket tightly.
‘I made money in an instant. But… this is still not enough.’
Sion’s goal for earning money was the tuition for the next semester.
Four gold coins are certainly a lot of money to earn in a day, but it’s still insufficient for tuition.
He would definitely need a part-time job or adventurer work.
As he resolved this in his mind, she difficultly spoke up.
“…Having won against Miyu in the match means that there is no problem with joining the judo club.”
“……That’s true.”
Miyu’s conditions were twofold.
If she were to lose, she would receive double the money.
If she were to win, Sion would not join the judo club.
In other words, since Sion won, there was no issue with him joining the judo club.
“Sion, I want to hear your thoughts.”
“I don’t really want to join the judo club.”
Sion decided to confront Misako’s question directly.
Gaze!
Misako’s eyes became even more intense.
But Sion did not avert his gaze either.
‘No matter what, it’s not something I want to do.’
There was no reason for him to join the judo club.
In the first place, why waste time when he could learn just by watching?
He still hadn’t earned enough for tuition, and he couldn’t afford to waste time.
Just when he was nervous, thinking she might push hard again…
“…Understood.”
“Yes?”
“I reflected on my behavior after seeing Miyu. I realized how selfish and ridiculous it is to impose one’s thoughts on others… I was able to understand this very well.”
She showed a bitter smile.
…Did she introspect through Miyu’s demeanor?
Well, in terms of pestering Sion to have a match, both of them were the same.
“You don’t have to join if you don’t want to.”
“…Thank you for your consideration.”
“Instead, I’d like to propose one thing.”
Misako pointed to her own eyes with her finger.
“You said you wanted to see me spar before we fought for the first time.”
“…”
“This is just my speculation, but it seems your eyes are a bit ‘special.’”
Sion tried to maintain a poker face.
The fewer people who know about his ‘Identifier Eyes,’ the better.
Horiya Misako seems like a nice person, but he still didn’t know if he could trust her.
“You don’t have to answer. I’m not asking to gauge you.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, I should rather apologize. I must have hurt your feelings. Even so, the reason I say this is… to make a proposal.”
Swish.
She pulled out a piece of paper from the table.
He was worried it might be a club application form, but it wasn’t.
– Club Observation Consent Form
“…Club observation?”
“You can think of it as something similar to auditing classes at the academy.”
“Ah…”
Auditing, as in attending classes without officially enrolling.
In this case, it was more like observing a club without joining.
“I hope you can see and learn more techniques.”
“…You mean it’s okay for me to watch and learn techniques with my eyes?”
“If that helps, then sure.”
“What’s the reason?”
Sion couldn’t understand.
According to Michelle’s explanation, Misako was a true martial artist who had been practicing judo since birth.
There was no way she would like people like Sion who learn techniques just by watching.
She would feel intense jealousy or consider it an insult to martial arts.
But why would she make such a proposal…
“Watch the techniques, learn them, and use them in actual combat. If you find an interest in judo during that time… then think about joining again. That is my proposal.”
“…What if I still don’t join?”
“Then it can’t be helped. But please remember this: the doors to our judo dojo are always open.”
Misako said this while handing over her student ID.
“…What is this for?”
“This is the number on my student ID. Whenever you want to join or observe, just contact me.”
“Ah, yes.”
In simple terms, it meant to ask for her number.
This was the first time someone boldly made such a request, leaving him a bit flustered.
Sion gazed at the student ID for a moment before reaching for it.
Her photo was prominently displayed on the student ID’s background.
“Senior, you used to have a bob cut?”
“…That’s a picture from when I was a freshman. I’d rather you not look at it too much.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Sion observed the photo while writing down her number.
It was a bob-haired girl with a rather rebellious expression.
…If she is in her third year now, then that picture is two years old.
“I’ll take this once I’ve written down the number.”
“Ah, yes.”
Swish!
The moment Sion finished writing down the number, Misako quickly took back her student ID.
Her face remained expressionless, but…
The neck visible between her clothing seemed slightly red.
…Everyone finds their student ID photos embarrassing. Sion understood her feelings.
*
Meanwhile, at that moment.
At the Adventurer Guild located within Byzantium Academy’s shopping district.
There was a girl in school uniform elegantly dressed.
Sipping coffee at a table inside the Adventurer Guild, the woman was completely aloof from the sweat and blood-filled atmosphere of the place.
Her name is Estroja Perrawell.
While sipping her coffee, she busily moved her fingers towards her student ID under the table.
‘Since I have some free time, shall I check what new posts have appeared on the bulletin board?’
She was manipulating the ‘Bijanite’ application embedded within her Byzantium Academy student ID.
…Although she hadn’t told anyone, she had a hobby of checking the free bulletin board on Bijanite.
As she scrolled down with a nonchalant expression, an unwelcome title caught her eye.
[Title: By the way, isn’t the famous magic department freshman kind of cute?]
Crack!
Estroja’s teeth clenched involuntarily.
When it says ‘famous magic department freshman,’ there was only one person on the free board.
Just posting something related to it was enough to make it to the ‘hot board’… so-called ‘hot cheat key’.
It surely had to be a story about Sion, whom she despised.
[Title: By the way, isn’t the famous magic department freshman kind of cute?][Content: There’s been a lot of talk here, so I searched for a photo and honestly think he looks cute… Kind of makes me want to protect him. Is it maternal instincts kicking in? Am I the only one who feels this way?][Hot Upvotes: 3 / Downvotes: 0][5 Comments]
[Anonymous 1: He is cute. Kind of has a small animal vibe haha.][Battle Maniac: He looks very different from the rumors, causing a bit of cognitive dissonance.][Anonymous 2: How does he look? Link please.][Anonymous 3 (Original Poster): If you search for ‘real thing,’ it comes up right on top. Went hot recently lol.][Anonymous 2: Thanks!]
Thud! Thud!
Estroja hit the back button and immediately searched for ‘real thing.’The title at the very top, ‘Real Thing of the Rumored Freshman,’ clicked, and sure enough, there was Sion’s picture.
Sion walking around the academy campus with Patrick.
Sion tying his shoelaces.
Sion wiping the sweat from his forehead, and so on!
There were numerous photos, whether taken by someone or not.
‘Who on earth took such shameless photos… The last picture looks like it’s from a practical class or something.’
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like it was taken by a fellow freshman in the magic department.
Could it be that they have a photographer among the freshmen?
For a moment, the eerie feeling passed, and she checked out the comments.
[Hot Upvotes: 54 / Downvotes: 3][132 Comments][Anonymous 1: Crazy guy lol, just secretly taking photos.][Anonymous 2: Where did you find the photo of him sweating?][Reypold Clan’s Bulging Fist: He seems to have many girl problems, huh?][Real Man: As a fellow man, I feel a bit jealous.][Anonymous 3: You?][Real Man: Treat him like a girl and he’ll become a girl.]
“…This is ridiculous.”
Estroja frowned at the vulgar comments.
In fact, she was more drawn by the hot upvotes than the comments.
With just 10 hot upvotes, you could make it to the hot board, and 54 was an extraordinary amount.
…Having never seen the hot board herself, Estroja felt a twinge of envy.
‘In any case, I can’t allow Sion to receive such praise.’
She hated Sion.
Starting from the humiliating defeat in their match, to being embarrassed in front of Heruj Professor, and even recently her Spirit Affinity being rated as an F was very unpleasant.
Someone once said that if you dislike someone, you dislike even their breathing.
Estroja’s feelings towards Sion were exactly like that.
‘Pretending to be innocent while making a fool of me… I can’t forgive that.’
Tata-tat-tat!
The furious typing began.
After finding the thread on the free bulletin board praising Sion’s appearance, she started leaving negative comments.
[Hot Upvotes: 3 / Downvotes: 1][8 Comments][Anonymous 1: He is cute. Kind of has a small animal vibe haha.][Battle Maniac: He looks very different from the rumors, causing a bit of cognitive dissonance.][Anonymous 2: How does he look? Link please.][Anonymous 3 (Original Poster): If you search for ‘real thing,’ it comes up right on top. Went hot recently lol.][Anonymous 2: Thanks!][Magical Efforts: But isn’t he really not that good-looking? I think his masculine features are kind of lacking, though.][Magical Efforts: He looks too much like a girl to be considered a guy.][Magical Efforts: In reality, he’s short, right? The person who took the photo must have caught him at a decent angle, but he looks much worse in person haha.]
As she began leaving negative comments, responses from people followed.
[Anonymous 3 (Original Poster): Why did he suddenly go on a rampage by himself?][Anonymous 4: Isn’t he a famous villain here? Someone with inferiority complex toward him.][Anonymous 5: Just now it had 0 downvotes, did he just downvote it? So transparent, so transparent haha.][Anonymous 6: Don’t feed him; he’s a mentally disturbed one. He’s a psychopath who always appears in the magic department freshman-related threads.][Magical Efforts: LOL You’re suffering from inferiority complex, aren’t you?]
“Th-this…”
Estroja’s fist trembled with rage.
Could it be because she was active with a fixed nickname that someone recognized her?
Yet, how dare someone say something about her, who was like a flower of the magic department?
Just when she was about to start typing in rage again…
[You cannot post a comment.]
“…Huh?”
A warning message appeared that she had never seen while active in the bulletin boards.
[Your accumulated warnings have exceeded a certain number.][Warning Reason: Negative comments, hate speech, profanity.][You cannot make posts or comments on the Bijanite board for a week.]
“……Damn it.”
Nothing was going her way.
They even took away her only remaining comfort.
The anger she felt towards Sion only grew larger in her heart.
She turned off Bijanite and checked the time with her student ID.
[Current Time: 19:50]
‘…But why isn’t he coming?’
Estroja had clearly told Sion to gather people by 6 PM for the assignment due the next day.
Yet, it had been two hours since the meeting time had passed, and no one had come.
‘…Should I drop a message in the chat room now?’
She opened the chat room.
A four-person chat room that Geivolg had invited her to without asking.
But since she had never read anything until now, leaving a message asking when they were coming would be a blow to her pride.
“Huh, when they come, I’ll have to give them a scolding.”
Nobility waits, as they say. They were the ones in a position to make others anxious.
Since they undoubtedly needed her for the assignment too.
Then it would be better to wait leisurely at the Adventurer Guild.
“This is a perfect plan. Hehe… hu-choo!!”
With a sneeze, snot came out, and she quickly wiped it with a handkerchief.
Sitting in a place close to the door, Estroja trembled slightly from the chill.
…There’s no way she would catch a cold just like this, right?
‘When they come, I won’t let them off easily.’
With that thought, she sat still, not showing any sign of the cold, and waited for Sion.
And so she waited for Sion, drinking more than five cups of coffee until the Adventurer Guild’s business hours ended…
Only Estroja’s sneezes echoed emptily within the Adventurer Guild.
