For Stella Academyâs high school students, it was mandatory to complete several hours of voluntary service.
There were some typical ways to fill this volunteer time, such as helping daily at the magic post office or street cleaning, but many students did not like them.
That was probably because it was much more comfortable and helpful to their career to join a âclubâ as a volunteer activity.
For the aristocrats, the main purpose of the clubs was âsocial gatheringsâ, and for the common people, âservice hoursâ became the main purpose.
The âSkalben Clubâ, where the nobles of the Skalben Empire gathered, could be considered one focused on social gatherings.
This club, one of Stellaâs most elite, was customarily headed by the highest-ranking student regardless of age, so it was no wonder the club leadership was handed over to Prince Jeremy Skalben, even though he was a freshman.
Verazane Eisel, a second-year girl who once served as the clubâs head, waited politely, bowing down to Crown Prince Jeremy.
Behind her were fifty students in the same position.
A boy was sitting on an expensive sofa, worth tens of millions of credits, in the middle of a space of about 100 pyeong, which made one wonder if it was just a club room used by students.
Jeremy Skalben.
He stared blankly at the five-colored chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Just looking at Jeremyâs smiling side profile had the effect of making her heart warm and peaceful.
âItâs cheap.â
But the words that came out of his mouth didnât allow her heart to warm.
âSorry. We will change it soon.â
âYes, thank you. Please.â
Jeremyâs smile turned the girlsâ cheeks bright red, but Verazane was sweating profusely.
ââŚNot good.â
Verazane knelt in front of Jeremy, staring at the boy trembling before the prince.
That boy, Morso Dorden, was the heir to the well-known Dorden family, but in this place he was a nobody. If she had to compare him to anything, it would be the dust in the corner.
âRaise your head. I donât understand. Why are you so terrified?â
Morso slowly raised his head in response to the Crown Princeâs words. Jeremy maintained his cheerful demeanor.
âYes, yesâŚâ
âYes. Iâd like to hear your justifications, so could you explain it to me?â
In response, Verazane hurried out. âThatâs, actuallyâŚâŚâ
âVerazane?â
ââŚyes?â
âI donât think I ever asked you to explain. Why are you speaking?â
âSor, sorry!â
She clenched her lips and stepped back. She then said a prayer to herself.
âPlease donât let that stupid Morso talk nonsense!â
Whether or not he was aware of Verazaneâs inner feelings, what came out of Morsoâs mouth was gibberish.
The story was brief. It wasnât much of a story. However, it was enough to chill the hall.
In fact, he wasnât in good shape. If he did it again, he would get it right. He was distracted.
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.
Jeremy, who had been smiling while holding his chin, opened his mouth.
âSo, in conclusion, you were defeated in a practice match by a half-mage who canât even use defensive skills? And to make it worse, heâs a student who uses a vulgar weapon called âswordâ.â
âIt was not a match. It was a mock exerciseâŚâ
Oops. The moment an excuse came out of Morsoâs mouth, Verazane closed her eyes tightly.
Crack!!
Immediately after, a sound similar to something breaking rang out in the middle of the club room.
âUhâŚ?â
For a brief moment, Morso had the impression that the world had vanished. He couldnât understand the situation for a long time. Then, somehow, he confirmed that all of the other students, except for himself, were stuck on the walls.
âI fell, right? But when?â
As he rolled his eyeballs, Jeremy, who was close to him, pushed his head against the floor.
âWhy?â
Jeremy asked. Morso couldnât understand the meaning of those words.
Drrrrrrrrrrr!! The sound of something breaking tickled his ears. Actually, the ears were tickled. No, it hurt. Terribly.
âAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!â
Belatedly, Morso realized that his cheek was being ripped against the wall.
âWhy?â <T/N: He really sounds like a psychopath>
Tuwoong!! Jeremy grabbed Morso by the hair and smashed him into an iron locker.
âWhy?â once. â twice. Three, five, ten times, blood dripped from his head, but Morso could not pass out.
âWhy did you lose?â
He wanted to answer. He was wrong, he was sorry, he couldnât. Jeremy opened the locker door, slammed his head there, and slammed the door shut.
âWhy did you do that? Why do you embarrass me by using the name Skalben? Do you hate me?â
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Blood splattered and his eyes were swollen, but he didnât die since he was a wizard.
âIâve been so nice to you. Youâre my loyal subject. Right?â
âUgh⌠UghâŚâ
âYes? What?â
As Morso struggled to open his mouth, Jeremy brought his ear closer.
âSor⌠SorrâŚâ
âYes. Keep talking.â
âM⌠mom, save my life⌠saveâŚâ
âNo. Thatâs not it.â
Jeremy gave him a look of incomprehension.
âYou are my loyal subject. If you are a true loyalist, shouldnât you be willing put your life on the line before risking the sin of humiliating your master? Thatâs how I learned it. So why donât you?â
Then, he stopped.
Jeremy stopped the rough handling. Then he suddenly knelt down and hugged Morso.
âSorry. I was too harsh. Itâs my fault.â
âAh⌠uhâŚâ
âIâm sorry I hurt you. That wasnât supposed to happen. Iâm sorry. Iâm really sorry.â
Morsoâs tears, runny nose, and blood soaked his clothes but Jeremy didnât even care and patted him on the back.
âYou are not a loyal subject. You are my âfriendâ. I shouldnât have done thatâŚâ
At those words, Morso opened his eyes in the midst of terrible pain.
Friend. It was a word that should never come out of Prince Jeremyâs mouth. That fact was known to everyone present, so he had no choice but to lower his gaze with a complex face.
Not a loyal subject, but a friend.
That meant that the Dorden family was expelled from the politics of Skalben for good.
âJust like this?â The question may arise. But such a question was meaningless.
The royal family of Skalben often enslaved the chefâs family and then expelled them because the breakfast menu was not tasty.
âAh, ah, ah⌠ahâŚ!â
âIt must hurt a lot. What about⌠Verazane? You are sweet, take good care of my friend. If anything goes wrong, my heart will hurt a lot.â
â âŚYes. All right.â
âPlease.â
Jeremy carefully laid Morso down on the floor. Some were creeped out to see how the prince delicately touched Morso as if he were handling a jewel, but they did not show it.
Verazane supported Morso and helped him stand upright. If a healing wizardâs magic was used, he would recover quickly, butâŚ
ââŚthe Dorden family is done for.â That fact made her confused. Verazane glanced at Prince Jeremy. What is he thinking now?
Anger against Morso? No, he must have already forgotten that.
Rather, he must be thinking of a particularly prominent commoner called Baek Yu-seol.
Verazane felt sorry for that guy. Despite hearing rumors about this commonerâs talent, it was safe to say that the life of this wizard who piqued Jeremyâs interest was over.
*
*
*
After the demonstration of Baek Yu-seolâs defense technique, two rumors spread throughout the school.
The first, of course, was a rumor about Baek Yu-seolâs âknighthoodâ.
âWhat kind of knighthood is he pursuing in a magic school? Isnât he just an attention seeker?â
âAnyway, heâs really unique.â
And the second was a rumor about the âradianceâ attribute of Fuleim.
âDid you hear? She uses the radiance attribute that only the wizards of the Holy Church of the Holy Kingdom, chosen by the angels, could use.â
âDid she say that she was born with it, not acquired it?â
âThen youâre saying sheâs an angel?â
âI donât know. She doesnât have wings.â
Fuleim was born with attributes that normal humans cannot use and attracted a lot of attention within the magic academy.
As she received the attention, she neither liked nor disliked it. But the rumor about Baek Yu-seol bothered her right now.
âOh, what the hell is he?â
The matter made her really restless. However, there was no way to find out his identity.
âAnyway, Iâm sure heâs someone who knows the original.â
If so, what was his purpose?
âCome on, focus!â
Fuleim raised her head. Alchemy professor Maizen Tyren had just clapped to gather the studentsâ attention.
âAlchemy is a science that developed after combining various elements to make gold. Of course, producing synthetic gold is really complicated, so we are not trying it right now.â
Fuleim had only enrolled in the subjects most of the main characters were taking. Since alchemy was a subject that only Eisel took, she wasnât too interested in it.
However, Professor Maizen Tyren was destined to become a âblack demonâ later. As such, she had no choice but to take Alchemy class to prevent it or to stop him.
âThe great inventions of alchemy are âAishraniumâ, the lightest and hardest thing in the world, and âMirror Elixirâ, the substance that heals any wounds. You must make one potion each in practice class from today. That way, in the future, youâll be able to make something like a mirror elixir, right?â
Alchemy practice was notorious for its complexity. It required accurate measurement that couldnât be wrong even by 1 cubic centimeter, extreme timing that didnât allow for even a second of error, and temperature control that couldnât jump even by even one degree.
It wouldnât be that difficult in the first year, but because of such arduous experiments, the unpopularity of alchemy had become notorious.
âWell, today, letâs take the time to make the âTyren Fatigue Relief Potionâ that I developed. First, add a spoonful of Airel fairyâs honey to powdered green tea leavesâŚâ
The long-awaited practice.
To be honest, it wasnât too difficult for Fuleim. Because if you did what you were told, youâd be fine in alchemy class.
âUgh⌠this is so annoying.â
Fuleim frowned and took off her protective glasses.
Pug poo poo poo poo poo poo. She had good with dexterity and concentration, so she quickly succeeded in making the âTiren Fatigue Recovery Potionâ as instructed by Maizen Tyren.
âOh, thatâs great. Well done.â
âThank you.â
At Maizenâs praise, Fuleim forced a smile on her face.
Alterisha, an assistant who was following Maizenâs back, was curious and brought her face close to Fuleimâs potion. As she was trying to sneak a peek at the potion, Maizen yelled at her.
âAlterisha! What you are doing is dangerous! Can you still call yourself an alchemist?â
âSorry, sorry!â
The other students were startled and their eyes widened. A concentrating student accidentally spilled his potion and steam rose from his desk.
âI think itâs you whoâs dangerous.â
Since she couldnât say it aloud, Fuleim swallowed it and looked around.
âBy the way, what about Baek Yu-seol?â
Baek Yoo-seol was a unique guy. The only main character in this class was Eisel, so Fuleim had been closely watching if he was trying to approach her with impure intentions, but he wasnât.
âUh-huh.â
As if he had forgotten Eiselâs presence, he was completely engrossed in alchemy⌠To be honest, Fuleim thought he was a pervert seeing how much he was enjoying it.
âHeh heh hehâ
âMy, he must be a madmanâŚâŚâ
Every time he added one medicinal herb and stirred it, he would laugh insidiously, and every time he did that, her fear arose.
âIsnât he just a pervertâŚ?â
Fuleim turned her gaze away from her and looked at Eisel. She was doing just fine and it all looked normal.
Then, a question suddenly arose.
âŚâŚNormal?â
The potion Eisel produced was a âTyren Fatigue Recovery Potionâ, similar to Fuleimâs own.
âThat shouldnât be the caseâŚâ
Eisel, in the original work, accidentally obtained âMaelaâs Magical Engineering Handwriting Noteâ at an old bookstore.
There, strangely, the alchemy formula was written in detail, and by accident, Eisel, who followed the notes, made an anti-fatigue agent that was superior to Professor Maizen Tyrenâs âTyren Fatigue Relief Potion.â
However, the professorâs reaction was not good.
Maizen Tyren was jealous of Eiselâs abilities and, remembering that her family had been destroyed, tormented her, lowered her grades, and hurt her throughout the school year.
Thanks to that, Eisel suffered a lot of headaches. Thankfully, she had the male targets who looked after her, because otherwise, she wouldnât have been able to survive.
âWhy? Why did you make the potion normallyâŚ?â
Of course, that was fortunate. Because Eisel no longer had to be bullied. But there must be a reason for that variable.
Suddenly.
As a certain thought passed through her head, Fuleim checked Baek Yu-seolâs test bench and couldnât help but be astonished.
âWhatâŚâŚ?â
The high-grade anti-fatigue agent that, according to the original work, Eisel should have developed was in his lab.
âŚAnd then, the exact situation that she had read about in the novel unfolded.
âBaek Yu-seol, it appears that as you got into S-class youâre very arrogant. Who said you can change the materials you want to experiment with?â
âYes? Itâs better to do it this way.â
âWhat does it have to do with good results? What if something goes wrong because you use the wrong material? What would happen if there was an explosion and the students got involved!!â
âThereâs no explosive substance here. Professor, do you know how to make explosive substances with green tea leaves? Thatâs awesome.â
âYou even dare to reply so flippantly! Outrageous, Baek Yu-seol! Thatâs why commoners are, tskâŚâŚ.â
As Fuleim remembered, the original last line was, âThatâs why the family is extinctâŚâ.
In the novel, Eiselâs heart began pounding harshly after hearing those crude words⌠Due to them, Eiselâs trauma was stimulated, which affected her for a long time.
In the novel, Eiselâs heart started pounding harshly after hearing those cruel words⌠Due to what the professor said, Eiselâs trauma was stimulated, which impacted her for a long time.
That whole matter, in a moment, completely disappeared from history.
âNo wayâŚâ
Baek Yu-seol knew this in advance, and in order to protect Eiselâs trauma⌠Did he deliberately get caught by Professor Maizen Tyren?
âNonsense. His future school life will be terribly difficult.â
It would be so painful and difficult that she couldnât even imagine it. Professor Maizen Tyren had a lot of connections within Stella, so it would certainly impact other subjects as well.
He must have known but didnât care.
ââŚWhat the hell is that guy?â
Fuleim bowed her head with a disappointed face. Suddenly, during dungeon practice, Baek Yu-seol came to mind, she asked him about his identity and he joked, âI want to assist youâ.
Thinking that might be true, Fuleim stood there, stunned.
Meanwhile,
âOh, I forgot.â Baek Yu-seol was sighing inwardly.
âWhy? Answer me!â
âOh, Iâm doing it.â
âWhatâs with your way of talking? Iâll call your parents right away!â
âI donât have any parents.â
Alchemy was so much fun that Baek Yu-seol got too absorbed and completely forgot the troublesome development.
While acknowledging his own stupidity, the nagging went in one ear and out the other, and he continued reading the handwritten notes on the desk.
âYou, you⌠if you keep that attitudeâŚâ
âOh, shall we make a Cola for Kimchi for tomorrow?â
In fact, no matter what Maizen did, it had nothing to do with Baek Yu-seol.