Sonya sat in a chair, arms crossed, glaring at me sharply as she shouted.
"Raise your hands higher!"
"…Yes."
I stood by the bed, raising my hands, being scolded.
I was being punished in a way I hadn't been since elementary school.
'Seriously, I'm not a kid anymore…'
[It's best to just go along with it for now.]
'Sigh...'
After last night's intense activities, Sonya and I had fallen into a deep sleep and woke up to the morning sun.
The first thing I saw when I woke up was Sonya's bright smile.
She was gently stroking my cheek, smiling as she looked at me.
There was no trace of anger or disgust on her face.
Only a happy smile.
We spent 30 minutes silently gazing at each other with affectionate eyes.
Then, suddenly, she pinched my cheek and dragged me out of bed.
"Do you know how much I suffered yesterday?"
"…I'm sorry."
The pattern was simple: I got scolded for what happened yesterday, and I apologized repeatedly.
After scolding me for several minutes, Sonya seemed to calm down and sat me down beside her.
"You… must never do that to Luna. Understood?"
"…But didn't you enjoy it? Ow ow ow!"
Sonya pinched my cheek mercilessly again.
"Sigh…. Yes, I did. It was an experience I never thought I'd have in my life."
"Then…"
"But it wasn't enjoyable as a woman. It felt like I was being treated like an animal."
Sonya said she was so happy when she woke up and saw me this morning.
But she explained that it was because her rationality hadn't fully returned yet.
A few dozen minutes later, a sudden wave of self-loathing began to eat away at her.
"Sigh…. I brought you here to provoke Luna's jealousy, but in the end, I ended up stealing you from her."
"…I'm sorry."
"Promise me."
"Huh?"
"You can do it with me. But you must never do it with Luna. Even if you do, you must never do it before your relationship has progressed significantly."
"Is it that bad?"
"I'm not joking. If you do something like this to Luna right away, she might leave you out of self-loathing."
"…I'll keep that in mind.'
'She's really not joking, huh?'
[Didn't you do it with Viola too?]
'No, yesterday I was a bit serious, but with Viola, the goal was just to make her feel good.'
Yesterday, I unknowingly let my violent urges take over, and they ended up being directed at Sonya.
Thanks to Sonya, I learned something valuable.
The hand techniques I possess should be used in moderation.
I thought I could win someone's heart with them, but I was mistaken.
While they could temporarily double the affection of someone who already had feelings for me, the backlash was equally significant.
After listening to Sonya's advice for a while, I cautiously headed back to my room.
***
After finishing breakfast at Sonya's house, I returned to the dormitory.
Sonya and Karl wanted me to stay longer, but I thought it would be impolite to linger in someone else's house for too long.
During breakfast, I got the feeling that Karl had also figured out what had happened.
"After all that commotion, it would be strange if he didn't know."
[If it was the room next door, he probably couldn't help but hear.]
"But will Luna like this?"
When I was leaving for the dormitory, Sonya handed me a wooden box with intricate carvings.
It wasn't for me.
"Give this to Luna as a gift."
It was a makeup box.
[Since she's recently shown interest in makeup, it should be a good gift.]
"Well, I hope she likes it. I'll give it to her tomorrow or something."
I neatly organized the clothes I received yesterday and changed into my uniform.
[Suho, are you planning to go somewhere again?]
"Yes, I've been thinking, and there's something I need to practice."
[What kind of practice are you talking about?]
I said as I left the room.
"Ddak-kong."
There's a cool term for it called a railgun, but I just call it "ddak-kong."
Honestly, it's still far from being worthy of the name railgun….
If I pour everything into it like last time, focusing solely on power, it might live up to its name, but today I wanted to practice using it more practically.
"I was thinking that since I'm in the top ranks, I might still have access to the training rooms."
[The top 10 students in the point system have special privileges, so it should be possible.]
Stura Magic School has a point system, and the benefits are applied based on relative rankings.
The top 50 students can freely leave the school on holidays, and the top 30 can stay out overnight.
And the top 10 students are granted access to special facilities like training rooms and practice rooms.
Since it's still early in the semester, the number of students receiving points is relatively small.
Cases like mine, where someone gets 10 points at once, are unheard of.
When I visited the faculty office, a teaching assistant with dark circles under his eyes was diligently filling out some paperwork.
After making an inquiry…
"It's possible!"
"Ah, then can I use the training room I used during the lightning-attribute class?"
"Normally, that room is reserved for professors, but right now, it's fine."
But after answering readily, the teaching assistant suddenly made a puzzled expression.
"But it's strange. Did you make an appointment?"
"Huh? What appointment?"
"Another student has already gone to that training room."
"Huh? That one?"
"Yes. I can't tell you the name, but you'll probably meet them if you go."
It's such a warehouse-like place that no one has a reason to use it.
I immediately headed to the lightning-attribute training room.
There was some noise coming from inside the training room.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
It was clearly the sound of a woman coughing.
When I opened the door and entered…
"…What the."
The inside of the training room was so dusty that I couldn't see an inch in front of me.
***
As soon as Luna woke up in the morning, she washed up, tidied herself, and changed into her uniform.
Even though it was a holiday, she prepared for school as usual and left her dorm room.
The school grounds were bustling, unlike on weekdays.
Even though they couldn't leave the school, students were chatting on benches or playing sports together.
Some students were happily chatting while drinking beverages from the school cafeteria.
Luna realized how much she had changed since coming here.
'That looks delicious. Maybe I'll ask to have some together later.'
Luna watched them from a distance before turning her gaze back in the direction she was heading.
She was heading to the faculty office.
As soon as she arrived, she asked the teaching assistant with dark circles under his eyes about the point system.
"Luna… Stadt… Feld… Ah! It's possible."
"Phew…"
"Which facility are you planning to use?"
"Well… I'm not sure of the exact location… Could I visit the place where the lightning-attribute class was held before?"
"Ah!"
The teaching assistant opened a large cabinet in the centre of the faculty office, found a key, and handed it to Luna.
"Make sure to return the key after you're done."
"Yes, thank you."
Luna took the key and headed to the training room.
Click, clatter!
When Luna opened the door and entered the training room, she looked around in surprise.
"…No wonder he wasn't feeling well in a place like this."
The inside of the training room was covered in dust like a carpet, and the light streaming through the windows clearly showed how much dust was in the air.
It was the kind of place where you wouldn't want to take a single step.
Covering her mouth with her hand, Luna quickly entered the training room and carefully opened all the windows.
Fortunately, the weather outside was nice, and a cool breeze began to fill the room.
But the incoming wind also started to stir up the settled dust.
"What should I do? I've never cleaned before…."
Luna had never done any household chores in her life.
Although she was a fallen noble, Louis's family supported her, allowing her to live as a noble.
Thanks to her high-ranking admission, she was given a room comparable to a suite in the dormitory, and cleaning and laundry were handled by the school.
As a result, she had no experience with chores.
But Luna didn't want to leave things as they were.
"There must be something… Ah!"
Luna suddenly had an idea.
She picked up a stick from the corner and began drawing a magic circle on the floor of the training room.
Luna frowned at the dust clinging to the end of the stick but didn't stop.
A magic circle emitting a blue light was completed on the floor.
And she activated it.
Whoosh!
"Ah! Cough, cough, cough…"
The strong winds from the magic circle instantly spread the dust throughout the training room.
Her plan was to blow the dust outside, but a miscalculation caused the wind to swirl only inside.
Luna closed her eyes and tried to find the exit, but she ended up flailing around and inhaling dust.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and covered her face with something.
Luna struggled in surprise.
"Who, who are you!"
"It's me. Let's get out of here first."
"Huh?"
She could tell who it was just by the voice.
Luna finally managed to get out of the training room and could see clearly again.
There stood Seong Suho, covered in dust.
"Ugh, this is no joke."
"How did you…"
"That's what I want to ask."
Suho shook off the cloak he had draped over Luna and asked.
Luna couldn't answer immediately.
'If I say I came to clean, he'll think I'm a weird girl….'
Luna didn't particularly look down on servants, but she didn't want to be seen as someone who did such things in front of Suho.
"I came to practice magic circles."
"Huh? Here?"
"Well… yes."
She didn't want to lie, but she also didn't want to reveal her true intentions.
"I-I'll be going now."
"Are you free this evening?"
"…Huh? Yes, I am."
"Then let's meet on the terrace at the usual time."
"…Okay."
Luna smiled at his words and quickly left the area.
As she walked, she brushed off the dust from her hair and uniform and headed to the faculty office.
When she visited the faculty office to return the key, the teaching assistant expressed confusion.
"Huh? Did someone else go to the training room?"
"Yes, they did."
"Ah, then that person must not have the key now…"
"Ah… I'll go bring it back."
"Sorry. I can't leave my post right now, haha…"
Luna headed back to the training room.
Although it was just more work added to her plate, she felt a strange sense of joy.
She was happy to have another reason to meet him again.
With light steps, she arrived at the training room, where the door was slightly ajar.
'The dust must have cleared.'
When she quietly opened the door, she saw Suho muttering to himself while making strange movements.
'…Is this just his usual personality?'
Rather than thinking his behaviour was odd, Luna was simply curious.
He seemed to be talking to someone, muttering to himself, and staring into the air as if he saw the world differently from others.
He stretched out one hand and placed something on his finger.
It was a metal ball.
'…? Did he come here to practice shooting that?'
Luna had many questions, but she thought it was bad manners to eavesdrop and quickly tried to hand over the key and leave.
"Um…"
At that moment.
Bang!!
"…!"
Luna almost screamed in surprise.
The metal ball in his hand had embedded itself into a steel plate with a tremendous noise.
Suho, who had fired the metal ball, bent over, exhausted, and sighed. His words reached Luna's ears clearly.
"Sigh…. I guess this is the limit of my mana's power."
***
Hey readers!
Want to read ahead? 📖 Join my Patreon for early access to 30+ advance chapters! Your support helps me write more and bring the story to you faster.
🔹patreon.com/aarvan🔹
Thanks for being awesome! ❤️