1. The First Letter (25)
Seria thought herself strange these days.
It was like that a while ago. When mainly with senior Ian, Seria felt a strange sense of stability. It was a feeling I had never felt before.
For her, others have always been difficult to deal with. Seria’s human relationships were more difficult than the difficult exam questions at the academy.
Since childhood, she has not been able to properly express her emotions or opinions. Even if he did, he was overly honest and often slipped his tongue.
So, she didn’t say anything at all, or even if she did, she would be evaluated as ‘not cheap’. She was already well aware of the fact that others called her ‘Yurdina’s bastard’.
I thought it didn’t matter. After all, the only thing that made her Yurdina was the sword.
Before she knew it, Seria began to feel uncomfortable and afraid to be with others. It was inevitable that she would become more and more isolated. Even so, she felt a bit of loneliness in the situation, as well as a subtle sense of comfort.
Then one day, a man stepped into her daily life. It was senior Ian.
Normally, I would never have had the courage to do so. His first impression was terrifying. Still, Seria’s body trembled when she thought of the relentless violence she suffered that day.
But that made me trust him even more. He was such a knife-like, and at times, a man who displayed a spirit of gentle generosity. He didn’t know if he could help her.
The Hunt Festival is just around the corner, her last chance to beat her half-sister.
To be honest, Ian did not live up to her expectations.
He was an excellent swordsman, but his skills were mediocre in the academy. And even the time we spent together was small. He couldn’t give her any valid advice about swordsmanship.
However, a lot of other advice was given.
How to train, how to relax, how to talk to others, how to show emotions.
He had no hesitation in telling her many things, and in the process he said nothing if he was rude or hesitated.
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Just waited patiently. There wasn’t even anything to get angry about.
For the first time, Seria felt that she was understood by someone on her equal footing. And what really bothered him was the swordsmanship practice time.
When she joined up with him and heard the word ‘friend’, she had no idea what it meant.
I just thought of it when Ian jumped out with a sword in place of Seria, and when I saw him in a mess on Professor Derek’s back.
It’s probably ‘friend’. A relationship that transcends logic and reason.
To Seria, the relationship felt rather romantic. At least, the resolution that Ian showed that day was like that.
The image of Ian, who did not care about his own life or death, and fought desperately for her sake.
I don’t want anything in return, I’m just ready to die for her. It was the first time Seria had been treated like that. So her heart was pounding.
Oddly enough, Ian started to care. When you wake up in the morning, when you swing your sword, and when you lie down in bed at night to fall asleep.
Occasionally Ian came to mind. will he be okay? would it hurt Wouldn’t you resent her?
Although I was looking forward to meeting him, I was also scared. I wonder if Ian is angry.
There were also numerous experiences of rolling one’s feet in front of the temple. In my heart, I wanted to meet senior Ian right away, but whenever that happened, she had to meet someone.
A beautiful-looking girl with black hair. I heard that you are a close friend of senior Lee Ahn.
Her name was probably Celine, and she used to go in and out of Ian’s hospital room several times a day.
And whenever she met Seria, her reaction was always the same.
Passing her by with a cold face, frowning.
As if it was a preview of Ian’s reaction to her, Seria was afraid for nothing.
Then, it was entirely thanks to the help of a man that she was able to gather courage.
That day too, Seria was wandering in front of the temple and bumped into Celine. Celine’s reaction was the same as always. But next to her, another person was standing.
Brown hair and green eyes suit him well, and he has a rather pale impression. Is it the Faculty of Magic?
He laughed and chatted with Celine, but when he saw Celine’s expression suddenly change, he moved his gaze to Seria. Seria inadvertently lowered her head and avoided his gaze.
I was afraid. I’m afraid he’ll react negatively to her too. Perhaps, he is another friend of senior Ian.
However, the brown-haired man’s reaction was unexpectedly favorable.
“Hey, there pretty girl.”
Seria, who was chewing on her lips with her head down, didn’t even know that those words were calling her. It was only when she felt the presence approaching her that she suddenly raised her head.
Seeing her doing that, the man giggled and laughed. while stroking the chin.
“Why do you hang around in front of the temple every day? From what I’ve seen, it seems like eight times over.”
“Leto, don’t worry and let’s go.
Leto, that seemed to be the man’s name.
Celine tugged at the hem of the man’s clothes, as if she didn’t like that he was showing interest in Seria.
But Leto didn’t budge. Seria hesitated, then managed to open her mouth.
“Ah, that, that… that, so… … .”
But it was something that didn’t always come out right. There was no way Seria would have the ability to respond to a sudden situation like now. Her face heated up with embarrassment.
Leto looked at Seria for a while, then slightly looked away.
“Come to think of it, is it ‘Seria’? Ian was waiting for a lady with that name.”
“Hey, Leto!”
Celine screamed like she couldn’t stand it. Leto pretended to cover his ears with both hands and whistled. Seria looked at him with slightly surprised eyes.
Celine’s body trembled. she said as she gritted her teeth.
“You, this is a betrayal… … !”
“Where is the betrayal? And hey, don’t you feel sorry for Ian, who will lead you? He should have a choice.”
“Oh really!”
Celine and Leto passed by, squabbling like that, but Seria couldn’t guess the meaning of all of them. But, there was only one word left in her mind.
Senior Ian was waiting. Those words made Seria’s heart swell.
And senior Ian, whom I met, was kind as always.
For some reason, Seria couldn’t face him properly. When he held her hand, his heart pounded little by little, and he thought he was sick.
A floating sensation. So, is this ‘friendship’?
It was the first time in my life I felt it. Seria thought that ‘friend’ might be better than he thought. It was fortunate that I knew senior Lee Ahn even now.
Of course, not all good things happened to her during that time.
I don’t know what happened, but her image among the academy students was getting worse. Still, the bullying, which had been on the covert side, became more and more explicit.
Then one day, the bullying toward her suddenly became extreme.
like riding a slide.
“Hey, it’s him. him.”
“Oh, that second-year senior? But I heard you ran away so clumsily in front of the Witchbeast.”
“That senior Ian is there. That old man risked his life to protect you. In fact, that senior is really talented, and he says that he is a fool, he is a fool.”
The taunts that were spat out as if to be heard, the accusations that followed her like a shadow whenever she passed by.
It was nothing to that extent. It wasn’t that Seria’s skills were inferior no matter how much they cut them down. And there were parts that I agreed with.
Senior Ian’s skills were genuine. I didn’t know it during training, but I could tell just by looking at the number of monsters I dealt with that day. He was much stronger in real life.
Seria tried to calm herself down, saying that she should emulate that. For the sake of senior Ian, whom she respected, she was willing to accept criticism.
But sometimes, insults came that even she couldn’t bear.
“Hey, it’s going cheap over there.”
“Oh, you said you grew up without that mother?”
Standing tall, Seria’s steps stopped. Her eyes turned to the source of the voice. There stood a handsome man with golden hair and tan skin.
And the chatter of other thugs. Seria’s eyes narrowed bleakly.
It was a restaurant. As Seria moved to her seat with the tray, he threw a mockery next to her as if to listen. That is also the part about her mother, which can be said to be Seria’s most painful point.
She groaned, expressing her rising emotions with clear hostility. However, the brown-skinned man, thean from the Southern Ten Kingdoms, only raised his mouth as if mockingly.
“What’s wrong, Ms. Yurdina? We’re just talking among ourselves. Anything you want to say?”
Anyone could see that the mockery towards her was clear, but since there was no clear evidence, Seria had no choice but to bite her lips.
She jerked and turned around. It was because it was judged that it would be a loss to deal with.
Seria’s mother was considered a shame even in the Yurdina family. It was obvious that the Yurdina family would deliberately ignore such ridicule. Because it was the goal of the Yurdina family to dismiss mother as nonexistent.
That gave Seria an unbearably miserable feeling. Seria’s body trembled.
A giggling sound followed. Thean said sarcastically.
“Yeah, like always, keep ignoring guys like us, huh? Oops.”
And then he slammed Seria’s shoulder as if pushing him past. Seria’s tray almost spilled.
Seria was startled and fixed the tray, but she couldn’t stand it as Thean’s gang pushed her past one by one. Eventually, the table topped over.
Seria’s harsh eyes turned to Thean and his gang. If I only had a sword, I wouldn’t be able to compete with those things.
However, Seria was alone, and soon the sound of laughing at the overturned plate followed. It wasn’t just men. Recently, even the women joined in to ridicule Seria.
In the end, she had no choice but to clear the overturned tray while gnashing her teeth. Outside of sparring, fighting is prohibited inside the academy. Like this, the quarrel that might be dismissed as a ‘mistake’ had no choice but to do something on its own.
But Seria didn’t have the ability to do that. All she knows how to do is wield a sword.
This was the jungle-like ecosystem of the academy. A place where weak beings in any sense have no choice but to be weeded out and fall away.
It is safe to say that it was a training institution disguised as an educational institution. So Seria had no choice but to endure it. that miserable feeling.
But even that was different with him.
At some point, the sound of laughing at her stopped. The eyes that were watching her quickly dispersed. Just when Seria was confused, a voice came from somewhere.
“Seria, it’s been a while. I am now discharged… What, did you overturn the table?”
Black hair, golden eyes. And even a quiet voice.
It was senior Ian. As soon as he appeared, everyone turned their attention away from Seria as if nothing had happened. To be more precise, I was looking at senior Ian.
Ian’s killing of demons in the forest spread throughout the academy under the name of ‘Southern Forest Demonic Beast Massacre’.
As he gained weight in the process, Ian became known as a cold-blooded man who would not blink an eye even if he stabbed anyone he wanted. Of course, this was due to the rumor and chemical reaction of ‘Yurdina’s half-baked incident’, but Seria did not know such details.
However, she let out a sigh of relief. Even the miserable feeling of having to grit my teeth and endure it melted away as soon as I met Ian.
As long as Ian senior is there, isn’t it okay? If he is there, ridicule and criticism towards her will disappear at once.
Ian naturally joined Seria who was clearing the table. As he cleaned up the spilled food with Seria, he asked Seria with worried eyes.
“What are you doing these days? Anyway, how can the swordsman lose his balance like that?”
“… … No, nothing happened.”
To be precise, Ian came and that’s how it happened.
Seria, not wanting to worry Ian, had no choice but to say that.
That was Seria’s normal daily life these days.
**
The sound of giggling echoed through the alley. It was a mixed group of men and women. They had very happy faces, as if they had caught an interesting case recently.
“So hey, did you see that Yurdina’s bastard couldn’t say anything?”
“I can’t go out recklessly, that bitch… I told you, she’s the youngest daughter anyway, so if you say anything to her mother, you won’t be able to come forward. Wouldn’t you want to treat the Yurdina family as someone who doesn’t exist at all?”
“By the way, it’s the Yurdina family, can we do this? If 4th year Yurdina-senpai ever returns… … .”
As they giggled and chatted, they shook their heads as if not to worry about the question carefully raised by a man. The woman who seemed to be the representative of the gang said.
“Don’t worry, just enjoy yourself until then. To be honest, Yurdina-senpai might be able to sympathize with you, right? A bitch who grew up without a mother, as if she was on the same level as us in terms of being born… … .”
Then the skinny man standing next to the woman agreed as if agreeing. He giggled.
“Yeah, would you rather senior Yurdina than senior Ian? Knowing that senior is more… … .”
“more?”
“More scary! Senior, haven’t you heard the rumors? Whether it’s a noble or a commoner, it’s said that they throw out their harpoons, and how brutal they are that they’ve defeated ten high-ranking witch beasts… Hee, hee!”
The man who continued talking like that had no choice but to scream while talking excitedly at the voice he heard from behind.
At some point, the faces of the gang who had been listening to his voice turned pale, and they pointed at him with a wink.
And behind him, stood a man with black hair and golden eyes. No one knew his identity.
Because he was the most talked about person at the Academy recently.
Ian Perkus, one of the academy’s best mad dogs.
The skinny man’s eyes shook violently.
“Tell me in detail, what about Seria?”
“Ah, that, that, that, that, that… … .”
The gang, who had been chatting happily until just a moment ago, each turned their heads with their faces bluish. The look of desperately avoiding Ian’s gaze.
But that didn’t stop Ian from interrogating him. Only, he had his arms crossed and his golden eyes sunk deeply.
Apparently, there was one more problem.