SRS 165

What do you mean, cute? What nonsense…

Yohan felt so embarrassed that he could die. After giving his friend a reproachful look, he quietly took the pen from Mikael’s hand and scribbled a reply beneath the note.

– The look in the eyes of out friends who couldn’t make a contract with a spirit is ominous. Let’s head out as soon as the bell rings.

“Ah.”

Only then did Mikael understand the situation. He looked at the classroom, saw the gazes of their peers (filled with jealousy, awe, and a primal hunger) and nodded. Not long after, the bell rang to signal the end of the second period. As promised, the moment the sound echoed, the two stood up, grabbed each other’s hands, and ran out.

Startled by the sudden escape, the other students scrambled to their feet.

“Th-they’re running!”

“Catch them! Grab them and find out the secret to contracting spirits!”

“Yohan! If we all get stronger together, it’s better for you too since you won’t have to help us! Cooperate with us!”

“Whoa, why are they so fast?”

A stampede followed them out. The reality of that “primal hunger” Read on Mikael had sensed finally poured out from their friends’ mouths.

“Yohan! How did you contract with a spirit? Tell us the secret! Give us a chance to contract one too!”

“…I-I just did it!”

“That’s a deception!” someone shouted.

“Mikael! Mikael! Just let us borrow a bit of your hair! If I just have a piece of your body, something loved by spirits and divine beasts alike, then I might…!”

“Hmm… I think the chances of that working are quite slim,” Mikael replied with a moderate amount of awkwardness, informing them that their crazed idea was likely impossible.

At that, the students went even wilder. Yohan gave Mikael an exasperated look, he had unnecessarily poked the hornet’s nest with the truth and escalated the situation.

He’s lived so long, yet why is his sense of self-preservation so lacking in moments like this?

However, Mikael’s expression looked rather relaxed. It was only then that Yohan realized Mikael wasn’t lacking in tact, he just had no intention of using it.

Just as they were running at full tilt…

“Do you need help?”

… A voice called out from outside the window. While running, Yohan turned his head to see the unauthorized copy divine beast of the Mirror Temple in his four-legged form, running through the air right beside them.

Why are you here?

Yohan was startled, thinking he had sent the beast back to the vice-headmaster after training, but sensing the commotion behind them growing louder, he quickly nodded. He’d have to figure out later what conversation the beast had with the vice-headmaster and why he wasn’t in his provided quarters, but for now, they had to put out the fire.

Yohan opened the window and hopped onto the divine beast’s back.

“Mikael!”

“Hey, they’re escaping on the divine beast!”

“Th-that’s that beast! The one that trained us mercilessly!”

“Yohan! Using a cheat like that is unfair!”

As Yohan reached out his hand and Mikael grabbed it to climb over the windowsill and onto the divine beast’s back, a barrage of complaints rained down. Afraid his friends might get even angrier, Yohan blurted out the words he’d been holding back.

“…W-Wouldn’t it be better to just study and train fairly?”

“Boooooo!”

A wave of boos followed.

“If studying was all it took, would we be doing this to you guys?”

“Exactly! Innate talent is just different!”

“Uh… then maybe you could just study more?”

“We’re already doing plenty!”

“Wh-what if you reduced your sleep…?”

“……”

The faces of the students, who were already living a life where their hearts would be pecked at by griffins if they slept more than four hours, turned stony. It was already an impossible amount of sleep; hearing a suggestion to reduce it even further to study did not sound like the words of a sane person.

“Uh…”

Yohan was actually flustered as he watched their expressions turn visibly cold and their fighting spirit wither away. As someone who had always reduced his own sleep to catch up whenever there was a lesson he didn’t understand, Yohan genuinely couldn’t comprehend their reaction.

“Hey, let’s go. Just leave… getting involved with Yohan when he’s like that will just bring bad luck.”

“At this rate, we might end up being dragged to the library.”

“…I see. Being the top of the class isn’t for just anyone. Now I know why Yohan keeps aiming for the top even with that ‘no-withdrawal’ penalty. You need a normal person’s level of madness to do that.”

The students of Spirit Studies shook their heads, completely fed up with the class topper’s over-the-top academic zeal.

“Yeah, come to think of it, we were being too much. Mikael is the Legendary Eternal First-Year, and Yohan is the top student. They need those spirits just to make their school life bearable; it would be hard on them if we bullied them too.”

“Sorry, Yohan. We lost our minds for a second. We just got carried away because we heard spirit contracts reflect on our grades.”

“I just felt like I haven’t done anything impressive since entering, so I wanted to borrow a spirit’s power.”

“……”

Yohan and Mikael remained silent as they watched the students leave, confessing their sins and reflecting on their behavior. Mikael’s complexion was even darker than Yohan’s after listening only to be called the “Legendary Eternal First-Year.”

Once the student had all left, the area became quiet as if there had never been a commotion.

“…You don’t look fine,” the divine beast whispered after gauging their moods. Instead of answering, Yohan sighed and stroked the beast’s fur.

“…I’m not helping them with the next exam.”

Yohan decided. Mikael nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea. That was the moment the first-years in Spirit Studies lost their two greatest sources of help.

“So, why are you here?”

Yohan asked the divine beast of the Mirror Temple once he had gathered his thoughts.

“I, cannot go back. Need place to stay. Received task, searching school.”

“Are you saying that because you couldn’t return due to the instability of the dimensional barrier and needed a place to stay, the vice-headmaster gave you the task of searching the school?”

“Yes.”

Mikael looked at Yohan with a bit of wonder, seeing how he understood the clumsy sentences perfectly. Unaware of the gaze, Yohan felt pity for the beast.

“I hope you can return to your original dimension soon.”

“To return, must come. The strongest one.”

The strongest one?

Yohan was confused for a moment, but it didn’t take long for him to understand the explanation.

“You mean the headmaster has to come back.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Isn’t it still a long way off?

Since the Nameless One had predicted his return in three months during their last meeting, there was still quite a lot of time left. Yohan couldn’t bring himself to tell that to the divine beast who missed his home, so he just suffered in silence before feigning ignorance and cheering him on.

After thanking them, the beast dropped Yohan and Mikael off in front of the dormitory.

“Thank you for the ride. Will the search be conducted every day?”

“It will. I search during the day. At night, you search.”

“Because the guards roam at night.”

Yohan nodded and saw the beast off.

“It’s a shame the divine beast of the Mirror Temple couldn’t return to his dimension, but maybe it’s a bit of a relief for us. It’ll keep the school safe.”

Since the security personnel had increased, perhaps the guard’s workload would decrease. Happy that the school felt a bit safer, Yohan gave a gentle [Read on]smile to Mikael, thanking him for his hard work during Spirit Studies.

Seeing his friend in such a good mood, Mikael let out a long hum.

“What is it?”

When Yohan asked, Mikael looked at his face and sighed.

“If increasing security personnel raises the school’s safety, I don’t think it would be a particularly good thing for us.”

“Why?”

Isn’t it good to be free from the frequent threats of dimensional monsters? Or did Mikael actually prefer the daily life where monsters attacked at all hours?

As Yohan gave him a wary look, Mikael frowned slightly. The student, who had parted his lips to say something, shook his head and turned around.

“…You’ll find out eventually.”

Yohan worried for a moment that Mikael might be offended.

“…Are you mad?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m not so narrow-minded that I’d get mad over something like this.”

He corrected himself, saying he just didn’t see a difference between explaining it now and finding out when it happened. After appearing to think for a moment, he said he’d be back shortly and left his spot.

Yohan was dumbfounded by Mikael, who went out the window before he could even ask where he was going.

“Why always the window instead of the door…?”

It seemed Mikael had become completely synchronized with Suhyeok.

Soon, 15 minutes before the break ended, Mikael, who had gone out, returned.

Holding three mandrake roots, that is.

Like the head of a household returning from work, Mikael came back with a handful of mandrakes. While Yohan was surprised, Mikael immediately brewed one root and offered the tea to Yohan. After drinking the tea without knowing why, Yohan received words of encouragement from Mikael.

It was exactly three days later that Yohan was finally able to solve the mystery of his friend’s inexplicable kindness and care.

“The attacks from dimensional monsters have decreased significantly. Therefore, starting this month, the monthly evaluations, which [unauthorized copy]were replaced by monster defense, will resume.”

The monthly evaluations had returned once again.

“N-No…!”

In response to the angel professor’s words, the students of Divine Studies were overwhelmed with grief and despair, as if a demon had descended to rule the world.