SRS 151

Since they had to move before the sun set completely, Yohan walked at a brisk pace. The West Tower friends he encountered in the dormitory hallway were startled when they spotted him.

“Yohan? Weren’t you supposed to be in the commercial district all day? Suhyeok said you’d be out having fun until night.”

“What? Suhyeok was bragging so much yesterday. Did you decide to come back early?”

They fussed over him when they saw someone who shouldn’t be there. When they asked why he was alone, Yohan, who didn’t have time for long explanations, simply said there was a situation and hurried along.

“Where are you going?”

“Professor Will’s office!”

Because he was in a rush, he shouted the answer as he slipped away. In his haste, Yohan didn’t even notice that his friends were looking at him with a mix of confusion and fear.

Knock, knock, knock.

He arrived at Professor Will’s office. Yohan took a deep breath before knocking. He felt a little bitter. At the beginning of the semester, he never imagined he’d be doing this. Following his friends’ advice and his own instincts, he had tried to not get personally close to the professors. So how did he end up spending his weekends visiting their offices?

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t “personally close” with them even now, but it was true that he visited the professors’ offices or the headmaster’s more often than other students. At this rate, they might actually get friendly enough for him to earn the title of “favored disciple.”

Yohan tilted his head as he reflected on the past, wondering where it all went wrong.

He had been waiting at the door for a while, but he hadn’t heard the permission to enter.

Is he out?

Yet, he could sense a presence inside.

He thought he heard the sound of whispering, but it might have just been an hallucination. Inside Fantasiademia as the sun went down, you couldn’t trust what you saw or heard. After waiting a bit longer with a look of uncertainty, Yohan knocked on the door again. After about ten more minutes, the door finally opened.

“What is it?”

Perhaps because it was the weekend, Professor Will was dressed more comfortably than usual. He asked the question after confirming the identity of the student who had come to find him. Yohan was about to answer but flinched when he felt the aura emanating from the room.

A powerful spirit energy, impossible to ignore, fluctuated around the professor.

Since Professor Will was an elf, he was close to spirits, and he often demonstrated handling them during Herbology class, so the spirit energy wasn’t surprising. It was just different from usual, causing Yohan to peer into the professor’s office. His eyes landed on the wide-open window.

What was that…? Did a powerful spirit just stop by?

“What is it?”

“Ah. My apologies.”

The elf professor warned him as he was lost in thought. Yohan belatedly started explaining the situation. The more Professor Will listened, the more he frowned.

“That is absurd.”

That was Professor Will’s reaction after hearing the whole story.

“…Yes.”

Since the events that had transpired felt extraordinary even to himself, Yohan readily agreed.

Going to the commercial district only to encounter a corrupted divine beast, bringing in the angel professor for help, purifying him through Descent and then losing consciousness, going to a dimensional barrier with the help of the purified divine beast, and then getting caught by the vice-headmaster and sent back to the dormitory. Since all of this happened in a single day, who wouldn’t find it absurd?

Yohan lowered his head to avoid eye contact, hoping Professor Will wouldn’t see him as a liar. Professor Will stared at Yohan with a face that asked ‘What is wrong with you?’ before rubbing his forehead with his palm.

“Student Yohan.”

“Yes.”

“Do you perhaps have some grievance against me?”

“Pardon?”

Yohan felt wronged by the sudden misunderstanding. As he blinked, wondering what the context of that question was, Professor Will looked at the student standing before him with a gaze mixed with pity, compassion, and irritation. Today was the first time Yohan realized such a gaze could even exist.

“If you meet such an entity using the pass I gave you, I am the one who has to write the incident report. I’ll be the one writing the report the vice-headmaster wants to review.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Yohan realize the problem, and he felt a bit sorry for Professor Will. He had essentially thrown extra work at someone who was supposed to be resting on the weekend. When that thought crossed his mind, Yohan checked the desk visible over the professor’s shoulder, and sighed. Paperwork was piled on the desk, he couldn’t tell if they were research materials or exam questions. He probably hadn’t exactly been resting just because it was the weekend.

In short, he had brought additional work to an elf who was already working.

This was something to feel ashamed about. Yohan bowed his head to apologize, but then paused as he realized the obligation the professor had discarded.

If a student had gone through such an ordeal, shouldn’t a teacher’s first duty be to ask if they were fine?

Yohan’s gaze turned cold for a moment, the remarkable thought process, which ignored that duty and focused only on the fact that the student had inconvenienced him, was something else. However, he soon regained the heart of a benevolent High Priest and decided to be understanding. Since the professor wasn’t normal, there was no point in being surprised now.

“Furthermore, this is a troublesome matter for you as well, Student Yohan. I want to be kind to you. You helped with my friend’s business. But if you stand out like this, rumors will reach the ears of other professors. Do you want to become a professor?”

“Pardon?”

But the elf professor’s following words flustered Yohan.

Asking if he wanted to be a professor was an unbelievable slander.

When he saw Yohan’s repulsed and shocked expression, Professor Will sighed.

“If you don’t want to be a professor, then please exercise restraint. That way, my effort in removing you from the list of successor candidates will be worthwhile.”

…Pardon?

“…What candidates?”

Yohan couldn’t help but ask. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Even though it was an action that could be seen as rude, he couldn’t not ask.

How could he remain calm after hearing he had been exposed to a wicked plan without his knowledge?

He sweated as he awaited the professor’s explanation, but unfortunately, instead of offering one, Professor Will waved his hand and shooed away the exhausting student.

“I have confirmed that you couldn’t contact your friends. I will ask the spirits to let them know, so just return to the dormitory. I can feel your divine power acting up because your body hasn’t recovered yet.”

“Wait a moment, Professor. About the successor candidates…”

“I’ll see you in the next class.”

Slam!

The office door closed. Yohan stared at the closed door that looked like it would never open again with empty eyes, then he sighed. He felt like he would have nightmares tonight.

And that night, Yohan was able to reunite with his friends who had gone to the Island of Phantasmal Beasts.

‎

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Tap, tap, tap.

Yohan, who had been sitting on his bed unable to sleep while waiting for his friends, stood up at the sound of someone tapping on the window. He was startled to see his friends and Arun outside. Arun’s giant griffin was flying through the sky with all three friends on its back. He hurried to open the window, and Suhyeok signaled for him to be quiet as he hopped into the dormitory.

“Everyone worked hard. I also owe Yohan a lot. I heard from Professor Will’s wind spirit that the purified divine beast was left in the vice-headmaster’s care. …It’s a shame, but I suppose it’s for the best. Please visit the restaurant sometime. I’ll provide a free meal then to show my gratitude for today.”

Arun spoke as he watched the three students move into the dormitory. Yohan waved his hands in surprise and declined. Arun had helped his friends until the very end; he couldn’t impose.

“No, absolutely not. If I go next time, I’ll pay double the price of the meal to show my gratitude for today.”

“Oh, no, please.”

“No, really.”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you both going to stop before I call the dorm supervisor?”

As they repeatedly declined each other’s kindness, Suhyeok warned them in a low voice. Only then did Yohan and Arun realize their mistakes. They exchanged awkward glances and a silent nod.

“Anyway, let’s meet again next time.”

“Yes, I will visit again.”

It wasn’t easy or frequent for a first-year at Fantasiademia to enter the commercial district, but both Arun and Yohan had momentarily forgotten that obvious fact.

Arun’s griffin, Pinpin, flew away with its master. Yohan watched the scene for a moment before closing the window and checking on his friends.

“How is your body?”

The question Yohan should have asked his friends, who had traveled far, came from Mikael instead.

“I’m fine. The divine beast of the Mirror Temple [visit our site]caught a spiritual creature. It was one that produced elixirs from its tears. After eating those, I can move like this. Though it still hurts.”

Yohan swung his arms around to prove he was fine. His friends looked aghast. As Yohan wondered why they were reacting like that, Kylus handed him the pouch he had been wearing at his waist.

“Ah….”

Yohan fell silent after checking the contents. Inside Kylus’s pouch were pills that looked exactly like the ones Yohan had eaten today.

How many tears had the spiritual creature of the Island of Phantasmal Beasts shed today because of him?

Yohan felt sorry for the spiritual creature and his friends. Feeling self-conscious, Yohan glanced at the three students. He hesitated for a moment, and then put a pill in his mouth.

He felt the same pain he had felt earlier that evening when he crunched the pill. However, because it was the second time, it was bearable, and because it was the second time, there was less energy his body could absorb. Therefore, Yohan signaled for his friends to sit down.

They took their seats despite not knowing why.

He passed the spiritual energy contained in the pill to his friends one by one. It was a miracle made possible because he had experienced absorbing a spirit pill once before and had consumed the same type of pill earlier that day, reducing the burden of circulating the energy.

“Wow….”

“So this is a spirit pill.”

“It must have been hard. Are you alright?”

The friends expressed their gratitude to Yohan.

I’m fine.

Yohan tried to say those words, but it was impossible.

Extracting the power of the spirit pill and giving it to his friends instead of absorbing it himself must have caused extreme fatigue and mental exhaustion. As soon as the spiritual energy left his body, he felt drowsy.

“Mmm….”

Mikael caught Yohan as he fell asleep. The three exchanged looks as they watched Yohan. They carefully moved him to his bed, then took turns washing up and heading to sleep.

The eventful weekend was coming to an end.