CLANG CLANG— CLANK!—
In the training hall located at the Academy, two men and women are exchanging 'real swords.'
A sparring session so deadly it gives viewers goosebumps.
They attack without hesitation at spots that would cause at least serious injury if properly hit.
Their movements also aren't simply for sparring. That should be seen as 'real combat.'
To the extent that even students who aren't ordinary people but have experienced some real combat are worried, saying things like "aren't they really fighting?" or "shouldn't we stop them?"
Even teaching assistants came out and watched with worried eyes, arms crossed.
Among those people, only two had completely unbothered expressions.
CLANG CLANG CLANK!—
"Oh. The pace is picking up. Are they trying to end it soon?"
"Probably? When our junior acts like that, there's always a reason for it."
Those exchanging opinions in extremely calm voices are Yoo Dasom and Kang Hana.
If it were before, they would have been tensely nervous too, but not anymore.
After seeing such situations so many times, they unconsciously adapted without knowing it.
And those conducting the tremendous sparring were, naturally, Lee Hyunwoo and Kim Suhyeon.
"Gasp!"
Lee Hyunwoo suddenly grabs his sword with his left hand and immediately thrusts forward.
When Kim Suhyeon slightly turns her head to dodge, he throws a punch as if he was waiting for it.
It's not a simple punch. It's a deadly strike filled with magical power.
Lee Hyunwoo, who is weapon-type, is displaying a technique that only martial arts types can do.
"Dual-type is really nice after all. A weapon-type also using martial arts-type magical power operation."
Yoo Dasom shakes her head as if fed up.
A sword filled with magical power swinging around, then suddenly incoming magical martial arts.
Unless you know in advance, you'd have no choice but to be hit instantly.
While there's somewhat less difference compared to the magical power operation abilities of weapon-type and magic-type,
The magical power operation of weapon-type and martial arts-type can also be said to be distinctly different.
To put it simply, weapon-type is a series of concentration, martial arts-type is a balance of concentration and dispersion.
While it's not much of a problem when facing monsters, it's important when facing villains.
Understanding and getting used to one magical power flow, then suddenly a completely different magical power appears?
Unless your skills are exceptionally outstanding, your response would have to be slow.
BOOM!—
At this moment, an explosion sound comes from the training hall and the two men and women who were sparring step back.
Kim Suhyeon, who has dual-type like Lee Hyunwoo, had cast fire magic in that brief gap.
If it had hit properly, even Lee Hyunwoo would have suffered quite serious injuries.
But not only Kang Hana but even Yoo Dasom, who's sensitive to injuries, remained unmoved.
This was also a situation they'd experienced several times. And even like this, Lee Hyunwoo continued to appear perfectly fine.
"Whoa. That one was really sharp this time!"
Yes, just like right now.
I thought he'd been swept up in magic and burned, but Lee Hyunwoo actually looks relaxed.
While teaching assistants who have skills backing them understood the situation, most students wondered what happened.
Kim Suhyeon, who had been facing Lee Hyunwoo, provided the explanation instead.
"You knew I was going to use magic, didn't you? I even did dual casting on purpose."
"You gave it away for a moment! If it were normal magic casting, the magical power should come out smoothly like this, but it was cut off in the middle. That's when I knew. Ah, the first magic is a feint and there's something next."
At Lee Hyunwoo's words, the listening students look at Kim Suhyeon in shock.
Just swinging a sword as weapon-type is already sufficiently difficult and hectic work.
In the midst of that, she was also doing dual casting, which even magic-type finds difficult.
Hard to believe this is the same person who was barely hanging onto Bronze rank just a few months ago.
"Alright alright. Juniors? That's enough, time to go to the next lecture, right?"
When Kang Hana stepped forward, both men and women simultaneously lowered their swords and stepped back.
The killing intent from just moments ago when they seemed ready to kill each other instantly disappears.
Lee Hyunwoo bursts into laughter saying today was fun too, hahaha!
Kim Suhyeon shrugs her shoulders once, saying it was nothing special.
The students who were watching couldn't adapt to that change.
"Suhyeon."
After organizing her sword and heading toward the classroom for the next lecture,
The one who stopped Kim Suhyeon was Lee Hyunwoo, who was also cleaning up.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
When Kim Suhyeon's permission was given, Lee Hyunwoo glanced around and opened his mouth.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes?"
"No. While sparring earlier, I felt like you were excessively sharp today, should I say? I had that kind of feeling. At first I thought it was my imagination, but was it really my imagination?"
At those words, Kim Suhyeon unconsciously flinched inside.
She thought she was hiding it, but Lee Hyunwoo already knew everything.
This would make her efforts to not show it go to waste, she muttered.
"Does it really seem like imagination?"
Kim Suhyeon threw back a question while finishing her cleanup.
Then Lee Hyunwoo, who pondered briefly, tilted his head and shook it.
"To be honest, it would be 'no.'"
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. The sharpness transmitted from sword to sword, felt on skin as magical power clashed with magical power, is still vivid. I may not know other things, but I'm confident in my instincts."
As a team member, he's worrying within limits that don't excessively cross the line.
It's natural. Taking care of team members' condition is what team members should do.
"I'm anxious."
"...Um, I don't really understand what anxiety has to do with the sharpness from earlier."
"It's related. You don't know, but this feeling is very unpleasant. Ah, then should I say it's not anxiety but displeasure? Hmm... What could it be exactly. It feels exactly like there's a cat burglar."
Kim Suhyeon continues to show an anxious light she can't hide.
And next to her, Lee Hyunwoo was spouting nonsense like 'did you prepare some fish at home or something?'
Meanwhile—
"Let's go, Mole! Hehehe! Mom, Dad! Finally your dutiful daughter has set a date!"
Irina, having finally caught the mole, bounced excitedly as she crossed through the portal.
Behind her, Baek Seojin, who had become the 'mole,' protested that he absolutely couldn't accept this.
"Dutiful daughter? Have some conscience and quit it. Because of you, your parents' insides seem to be burning up."
"What are you saying! Where is there a more dutiful daughter than me!"
Forcibly suppressing the urge to ask if that dutiful daughter happens to be fire-type,
Baek Seojin entered Korea one day earlier than the original schedule.
*
In the current situation, the place to be most careful of? The ability user association? No.
Obviously Suhyeon. She knows I'm supposed to return home tomorrow.
But in reality, I returned the day before, today, and will be with Irina.
Suhyeon didn't show signs of monopolizing me.
While she was wary of Irina, she didn't grit her teeth and hold hostility.
Maybe Suhyeon also dislikes it but is unconsciously accepting it.
But that's one thing, and thinking emotionally might be different.
Especially in the current situation, I have to worry about the part where 'she hid it from me.'
So I was thinking of being honest with only Suhyeon, but Irina caught that too.
"I'm using my wish ticket, do I need to report everything?"
Right. The current situation happened because of the wish ticket I presented.
What matters in using that wish is only Irina's will.
I quickly realized that bringing up Suhyeon more wouldn't be good.
Let's just stay quiet for now even if I tell the truth later.
While cursing my past self who abused wish tickets once more. Damn that bastard.
"So where are we going? If we wander around and get caught by someone, I won't take responsibility then."
"Ugh. Was Seojin oppa a man without responsibility?"
"That's gender discriminatory talk these days. Dividing men and women."
When I threw out a joke, Irina burst out laughing, "Pfft!"
"I'd like to go to Seojin oppa's house if I had my way..."
"But?"
"I'm anxious. I feel like Kim Suhyeon, that witch, will come right away."
Oh. Correct answer. I was worrying about that too.
Since she's the crimson witch, does Suhyeon have frighteningly good intuition?
The scene of being at home with Irina when Suhyeon suddenly visits?
Just imagining it makes my hands and feet tremble and my back weak.
"So let's go to my house!"
"...The conclusion is quite strange. Why does your house come up there?"
No, and? There's the most important part.
"I heard last time that your parents live right downstairs."
"Yes. My parents live downstairs and I live alone upstairs. What about it?"
"What if your parents notice something? Would that be okay?"
"Eh? Why would it matter if my parents know? Rather, they would welcome Seojin oppa with both hands!"
I already know they think well of me.
The problem is them misunderstanding that you're holding me hostage.
If they hear we did the deed, they'll probably ask similar questions again.
- If our daughter forced you, shake a carrot! -
That reaction will definitely come out. One hundred percent. I guarantee this.
"And my parents aren't home right now. They have work so they won't come until tomorrow afternoon?"
"Don't tell me you calculated all that, beat the Russian mole, and now caught this mole?"
"I can't say no! Ahahaha!!"
After that, we also performed the bizarre act of avoiding boundary personnel in the residential area to maintain secrecy.
When S-ranks seriously erased their presence, we really could enter without anyone knowing.
"Your parents really aren't home, right?"
"They're not, I tell you. And it's not like my parents hate oppa, so what's the worry?"
What kind of amazing guy has sex with a woman while her parents are downstairs?
"Stop worrying and. Come in quickly. While we're at it, let's see the cat too."
"Cat? You got a cat too?"
When I came to Irina's house before, there was no cat? I didn't see any traces of keeping one either.
"I got one recently. It's really cute, you know? You won't regret it. Ah, do you hate cats?"
"Not really. If I had to choose, I'm more of a cat person than a dog person."
"That's fortunate!"
What's fortunate? More than that, Irina, I didn't know she'd keep pets.
I wonder what kind of cat she got, I became slightly curious.
...There isn't one? No, where is the cat?
I entered Irina's house but there's no cat, let alone cat hair.
Meanwhile, where did she go right after entering her own house?
Just when I was thinking she might be playing some strange prank again,
Irina, who had gone into the room, came running back to me.
"Hey, did you prank me again? I don't see even a cat's shadow, so what..."
"Meow—"