“Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“I heard a transfer student is coming.”
“No, I’m sure I heard them say that it'd be an exchange student...”
The bustling classroom caught my[1] attention. Students, gathered in small groups were chatting away about all sorts of things from early in the morning.
It was a scene I’d seen countless times before, yet something about today felt slightly off. Just as I was about to settle into my seat and focus on the conversations around me, a voice echoed next to me. “Good morning, Myung-Won."
“Ah! Good morning, Aryl,” I greeted back.
“Did you finish your homework?” Aryl asked.
The one who greeted me just now was Aryl Baker. I heard she was the daughter of a noble from somewhere in the Union of Kingdoms. I didn’t know the exact details, but those in the know seemed to know her well.
People like her—former nobles, members of the church, children of prestigious families, or offspring of renowned adventurers—often stood out no matter how hard they tried to hide it.
There was a certain grace or etiquette in their gestures, which would give them away without fail.
In fact, many had even received formal training from their families while they were young. If someone debuted in society early or their families were already familiar with one another, it'd be impossible for them to remain incognito.
They gathered among themselves, and it soon became obvious which of them were born nobility and which were born to esteemed politicians.
Aryl was a unique case. While she was truly getting along with the so-called elite students, she also got along just as easily with the average students.
“The homework for Professor Cheon Kwan-Wi or Professor Hiddlington?” I asked.
“Of course I’m asking about Professor Hiddlington,” Aryl answered.
“I did manage to finish them all, but it felt like I barely pulled it off because it was so hard...” I muttered.
“Don’t be too down. Professor Cheon Kwan-Wi’s assignments are pretty difficult. Sometimes, I honestly can’t tell if he’s trying to teach us or if he just enjoys watching us suffer.
"It’s really stressful. Sure, it’s a huge privilege to even take a class from the Mist Summoner, but it sometimes gets so frustrating that I just want to give up on magic altogether,” Aryl complained.
“That’s true,” I commented.
“Right? I swear, Professor Cheong Kwan-Wi just isn’t cut out for teaching. You go in expecting to learn, but all you learn is the fact that your GPA is dwindling, and... he always has that cold, blank expression.
"Wheeew, I wish Miss Jung Ha-Yan would give us a special lecture sometime. I bet if she taught us, everything would be so much clearer and easier to understand,” Aryl continued.
I didn’t want to burst Aryl’s bubble, but it wouldn’t go the way she hoped.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be taught by Miss Jung Ha-Yan herself, and if anything, she was a worse teacher than Professor Cheon Kwan-Wi.
Of course, perhaps I wasn’t just smart enough to keep up, but still, the way she looked at magic was completely different from how normal people would look at it.
If I had to exaggerate a little, magic wasn’t a subject to be studied, but a toy to be played with in her eyes. There was no way someone like that could ever understand how normal people learned things.
“W- Why can’t you do it? W-Was it difficult? Why... why can’t you do it?”
That brief encounter with Miss Jung Ha-Yan had built a towering wall. It was a wall that made me feel I could never reach the place where she stood. There were so many things I wanted to explain, but unfortunately, none of them made it past my lips.
‘It honestly wasn’t anything amazing anyway...’
I didn’t want to cause any trouble for my mother. It was purely by chance that I ran into Miss Jung Ha-Yan at the restaurant, and while my mother was exchanging greetings with the sub guild master, I caught Miss Jung Ha-Yan's eye.
“Hey... y-you’re... learning magic, right? W-Want me to teach you something cool?”
I had a brief spark of curiosity. My mother had strongly opposed it, but I managed to spend a brief time with her. It was literally a brief moment, so I couldn’t exactly tell everyone about the time Miss Jung Ha-Yan taught me magic.
Even if we had formed a bond, it wasn’t something I could boast about because my mother’s words wouldn't stop echoing in my mind.
“We should really appreciate them.”
My mother often repeated that phrase. Of course, I had come to realize that my mother was right. Simply being able to wear these clothes and attend this academy was a great blessing that was incomparable to anything else.
The fact that my mother worked for the Blue Guild wasn’t a big deal to the children of the so-called influential people gathered here. Eating a few meals with the guild members or chatting briefly wasn’t anything special because there were plenty of others like her around here.
Some would brag about having dined with the sub guild master together with their father, sitting in the front row during prayer meetings, and receiving a personal blessing.
Others talked about going to the tea parties hosted by the sub guild master and talked about it as if it was the best thing ever, and they wouldn’t stop mentioning it as well.
Some even said that their parents had gone to war along with the sub guild master. There was no point in competing with them, and in fact, competition was out of the question.
‘Let’s try not to cause any trouble...’
And just graduate...
Following my graduation, my aim was to become a valuable asset to the Blue Guild for the sake of my mother and to repay Mr. Lee Ki-Young’s lifelong kindness. That was my current goal.
While I was nervously twiddling my thumbs, Aryl asked, “Myung-Won, have you heard?”
“Huh?Oh, about the transfer student?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“No, I heard it just now, too. Looks like people are wondering if they’re a specially admitted student, an exchange student, or a transfer student...” I answered.
“Doesn’t the timing seem a bit off?” Aryl asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“A transfer student out of the blue. Of course, we’ve had specially admitted students before, but this time, two students are being admitted simultaneously. I think they’re from the Republic, too," Aryl clarified.
“Where did you hear that from?” I asked.
“Just... rumors. Word is spreading that they’re the kids of high-ranking officials from the Republic... The rumors haven’t been confirmed yet... but I think they’re true... Look around. Do you see how the kids from the Republic are all tense?” Aryl pointed out.
‘There’s definitely...’
Something different about them...
Students from the Republic were usually a bit stiff, but today, they looked even tenser than normal. Seriously, they were sitting there all stiff and straight.
Slava, who was usually quite talkative, was silent and staring down at her desk.
Of course, some students were still talking. They looked like they were from some high-ranking families in the Republic, and their discussion seemed serious. I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, but they were saying stuff like organizing a welcome ceremony or creating a new faction with that person as the leader.
“It really does seem that way...” I said.
“Right? Even the guys from the Democratic Country seem a bit tense.” Aryl pointed out.
“It hasn’t even been that long since they made up...” I commented.
“In the end, they’re still rivals. The ones from the Republic are probably trying to make a name for themselves in the heart of the Democratic Country... and of course, the students of the Democratic Country don’t like that.
"I mean, it hasn’t even been that long since the war ended,” Aryl explained.
“Can’t we all just get along?” I complained.
Bang!
My head suddenly jerked to the side.
Right after that, I heard a voice coming from someone I knew all too well—Felis Hanest.
“Of course not, you stupid loser."
“You! Don’t you know you’re not allowed to use magic in class without the professor’s permission?!” Aryl shouted.
“Can you even call this magic, Aryl? All I did was throw some mana around. Besides... shouldn’t you be able to block something like this? After all, you are in the Blue Guild’s International Academy’s Magic Department. Unless you’re some idiot who can’t control their own magic, you should’ve been able to block that,” Felis argued.
“...”
“You’re a disgrace to the Democratic Country, and my blood boils at the mere thought that a loser like you... actually got accepted here,” Felis added.
“Felis! That’s enough! How could you say that to a fellow student?” Aryl yelled.
“I’m warning you, Kim Myung-Won. Stop being a disgrace to the Democratic Country... No, don’t give those Republic scums any more reason to point their fingers at us,” Felis warned.
“Why you—”
“It’s fine, Aryl. He’s not wrong,” I said, stopping her.
“But... Myung-Won,” Aryl mumbled.
“It’s okay.”
Everything would pass as long as I just endured it.
I glanced at Aryl, who was doing her best to comfort me.
Soon, the professor entered the classroom, and two unfamiliar students followed behind him. It wasn’t exactly surprising since rumors had already spread. What caught me off guard was how the students from the Republic all stood up at once.
“What do you think you’re doing? Sit down.”
Professor Hiddlington scolded them for the unexpected situation, but the students acted like they couldn't hear him. They remained in position, and their eyes were locked on the same place as everyone else.
They were staring at a boy with hair split perfectly—white on one side, black on the other side. He scanned the room like he owned the place, but it wasn’t arrogance. It was confidence.
He looked young, even cute in a way, but his violet eyes were not the kind one would see on someone destined to be a subordinate. He had the eyes of a ruler. His stride was steady and his movements were precise, with nary a hint of hesitation.
The smirk tugging at his lips seemed to be mocking everyone here. He was emanating an aura that made it hard to meet his gaze directly.
Why was I feeling so insignificant all of a sudden?
‘Who the hell... is he?’
It was like I wasn't staring at another boy around the same age as me. It felt like I was looking at a monster. And I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Even the students from the Republic, and many others, were subtly averting their gazes.
Even Felis Hanest couldn’t bring himself to meet the boy's eyes.
‘Rather than feeling gratified...’
I felt terrified to look at that small boy.
“Sit down right now!” Professor Hiddlington yelled, but the classroom remained silent.
The boy in front of the classroom waved his hand, and the students from the Republic finally sat back down. It was like I was looking at soldiers. At the slightest gesture from the boy, the students moved with sharp, coordinated precision as if they were one.
Then, a girl quietly appeared behind him. She seemed to be from the Republic as well, but her aura was noticeably different from the boy’s aura. She seemed like a personal aide to the boy.
The girl's hair was tied neatly and precisely as if a ruler was used to tie it up, and she was wearing a pair of small glasses.
“S-She’s pretty,” I muttered unknowingly, but my words echoed loudly in the classroom.
1. Kim Myung-Won’s POV ☜