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It had been like that for a while. When she was with senior Ian, Seria felt a strange sense of security. It was a feeling she had never felt before.

She always had trouble while dealing with others. Seria had more difficulty making relationships with others than solving the academy’s esoteric exam questions.

From an early age, she was unable to properly express her feelings or opinions. Even if she did, she was too honest and often made some mistakes.

So, she chose to say nothing at all and even if she did, she would be evaluated as ‘not polite.’ She was already well aware that others called her ‘Yurdina’s Loner’.

She thought it didn’t matter. After all, it was the sword alone that gained her the surname of Yurdina.

At one point, Seria began feeling afraid and uncomfortable dealing with other people. It was inevitable for her to become isolated. Still, she felt a bit lonely in such a situation, even a bit uncomfortable.

Then one day, a man appeared in her life. It was senior Ian.

Normally, she would never have had such courage. Her first impression of him was terrifying. Seria’s body still trembled when she recalled the relentless violence she had suffered that day.

But that made her believe in him even more. He was that kind of swordsman, but at times he still showed a gentle and generous side. She wondered whether he could help her.

The last Hunting Festival, her last chance to defeat her step-sister.

To be honest, Ian didn’t exceed her expectations.

He was an excellent swordsman, but within the academy, his skills were average. And they didn’t even spend much time together, so he couldn’t give her any valid advice regarding her swordsmanship.

However, he gave a lot of other advice to her.

How to train, how to relax, how to talk, how to show emotions.

He gave her a lot of advice like that without hesitation, and during that course, he didn’t say anything even when she sounded rude or stuttered.

He just waited patiently. He wasn’t even angry.

For the first time, Seria felt that someone of her age understood her. During the swordsmanship training time, she genuinely began caring for him.

When she teamed up with him and heard the word ‘friend,’ she didn’t really understand what that meant.

She just remembered Ian’s figure, who stepped forward with a sword in her place, and recalled the wretched man on Professor Derek’s back.

It’s probably what they call being ‘friends.’ A relationship that transcends logic and reason.

To Seria, that bond felt somewhat romantic. At least, there was that determined side that Ian showed that day.

The image of Ian, who did not care about his life or death, and fought a fierce battle for her.

He didn’t expect anything in return. He was just ready to die for her. For Seria, it was the first time she had ever received such treatment. So her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

Strangely, she started worrying about Ian. When she wakes up in the morning, when she swings her sword, and when she lays in bed to sleep at night.

Frequently, Ian would come to her mind.

Will he be all right? Is he in pain? Does he resent me?

She was looking forward to meeting him, but at the same time, she was also terrified. She wondered whether Ian would be furious.

There were many times she walked in circles in front of the temple. In her heart, she wanted to meet Senior Ian right away, but every time she was about to, she ran into someone.

A beautiful girl with dark hair.

I heard she is a close friend of senior Ian.

Her name is Celine, she would visit Ian’s room several times a day.

And whenever she met Seria, her reaction was always the same.

With a frown on her face, she passed by her with a cold expression.

As if it were a foreshadowing of Ian’s reaction to her, Seria felt terrified for nothing.

However, it was entirely thanks to the help of a man that she was able to gain courage.

That day as well, while Seria was walking around in front of the temple, she ran into Celine. Celine’s reaction was the same as always, but next to her there was another person.

He had brown hair and green eyes that suited him well, and he had a rather gloomy aura. Was he from the Mage Faculty?

He was laughing and chatting with Celine, but seeing Celine’s expression change abruptly, he turned his gaze to Seria. Seria involuntarily lowered her head and avoided his gaze.

She was afraid. She wondered if he would react negatively to her, too.

Maybe he is another friend of Senior Ian?

However, the reaction of the brown-haired man was unexpectedly favorable.

“Hey, there pretty girl.”

Seria, who kept biting her lips while keeping her head low, didn’t even hear him calling out to her. Only after sensing a figure approaching her did she suddenly raise her head.

Seeing her like that, the man chuckled and laughed while stroking his chin.

“Why do you hang out in front of the temple every day? From what I’ve seen, it looks like it’s more than eight times a day.”

“Leto, just shut up and let’s go”.

Leto seemed to be the man’s name.

Celine tugged the hem of the man’s robe tight as if she didn’t like him showing interest in Seria.

But Leto didn’t budge. Seria hesitated and managed to open her mouth.

“Ah, that, I… That, so… … .”

However, the words that came out of her mouth were obscure. There was no way for Seria to have the ability to respond to a sudden situation like this. Her face flushed with embarrassment.

Leto stared at Seria for a moment, then slowly turned his gaze to a distant place.

“By the way, was it ‘Seria?’ Ian was waiting for a girl with that name.”

“Hey, Leto!”

Celine screamed upon hearing that, as if she couldn’t stand it any longer. Leto pretended to cover his ears with both hands and whistled. Seria looked at him with slightly startled eyes.

Celine’s body trembled. She clenched her teeth and said.

“You, this is betrayal… … !”

“What do you mean by betrayal? And hey, isn’t it pitiful for Ian to be with you? He should at least have a choice.”

“You really!”

Celine and Leto continued arguing like that, but Seria could not fully understand the meaning of those words. However, there was only one sentence that occupied her mind.

Senior Ian was waiting for her. Those words made Seria’s heart swell.

And the Senior Ian she met was kind as always.

For some reason, Seria couldn’t properly meet his gaze. When he took her hand, her heart throbbed so much she even thought she had gotten some kind of disease.

A realization dawned upon her. So, is this ‘friendship’?

It was a feeling she had felt for the first time in her life. Seria thought that a ‘friend’ might be better than she thought. She was fortunate to even know Senior Ian.

Of course, during that time it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

She didn’t know how it came to be, but her image was getting worse and worse among the academy students. The bullying, which used to be more on the secret side, became more and more explicit.

Then one day, the harassment towards her suddenly became severe.

As if it spiraled out of control.

“Hey, it’s her.”

“Oh, that sophomore? I heard that in front of the demonic beast, she ran away.”

“Then there is Senior Ian. That senior risked his life to protect her. That senior is the real talented person, while she is nothing more than a farce.”

The ridicule was loudly spoken on purpose so that she could hear it. Criticism followed her like a shadow whenever she passed by.

It didn’t matter that much. No matter how much they tried to bring her down, it didn’t mean that Seria’s skills would worsen. Moreover, there were parts that she wholeheartedly agreed with.

Senior Ian’s skills were the real deal. She didn’t notice it when they were training, but she could tell just by looking at the number of demonic beasts he dealt with that day. He was much stronger in real combat.

Swearing to herself that she should imitate that side of him, Seria tried hard to steel herself. If it was for senior Ian, whom she respected, she could bear any criticism.

But at times, even unbearable insults flew in.

“Hey, a bastard is passing by over here.”

“Oh, I heard that she grew up without a mother?”

Standing tall, Seria’s steps stopped. Her eyes turned to the source of that voice. There stood a handsome man with golden hair and copper-tanned skin.

Noise coming from his clique resembled the sound of rattlesnakes. When that noise engulfed Seria, her eyes narrowed sharply.

She was in the cafeteria. Seria moved to her seat with her plate, and next to her the man continued to throw mockery while making sure she could listen. The remarks about her mother could be said to have touched the most painful part of Seria’s heart.

She groaned and expressed her rising emotions with clear hostility. But the copper-skinned man, Thean from the Southern Kingdoms, only raised his lips mockingly.

“Why, Lady Yurdina? We’re just talking to ourselves, is there anything you would like to say?”

Anyone could see that he was mocking her, but as there was no clear evidence, Seria had no choice but to bit her lips.

She snapped and turned around. It was because she judged that it would be a loss if she dealt with it.

Seria’s mother was also regarded as a disgrace in the Yurdina family. Even if the Yurdina family were to hear such ridicule, it was obvious that they would deliberately ignore it. Their goal, after all, was to dismiss her mother as a non-existent being.

It gave Seria an unbearably miserable feeling. Seria’s body trembled.

A crackling sound continued. Thean said sarcastically.

“Yes, as always, you keep ignoring guys like us, huh? Oops.”

Then he brushed past Seria’s shoulders. Seria’s plate almost spilled.

Seria was startled and tried to hold on to the plate, but as Thean’s gang shoved her away one by one, she couldn’t stand it. Eventually, the plate tipped over.

Seria’s fierce eyes turned to Thean and her gang. If only she had a sword, those assholes wouldn’t be a match for her.

However, Seria was alone, and the sound of scoffing at having her plate spilled over soon followed. It wasn’t just men. Recently, even women have joined in and ridiculed Seria.

In the end, she grunted, gnashed her teeth, and had no choice but to clean up the overturned plate. Unless it’s a duel, fighting inside the academy is prohibited. Students need to deal with this kind of quarrel, which may be dismissed as a ‘mistake,’ on their own.

But Seria didn’t have the ability to do that. All she could do was wield the sword.

This academy’s nature was akin to a jungle. A place where weak beings in any sense were eliminated and have no choice but to fall off.

It was safe to say that it was a training institution disguised as a school. So Seria had no choice but to endure that miserable feeling.

However, soon, the atmosphere changed.

At some point, the sound of laughter, directed towards her, stopped. The eyes that had been watching her quickly dispersed. Just when Seria was bewildered, a voice came from somewhere.

“Seria, it’s been a while. I have just been discharged… What, did you overturn your plate?”

Black hair, golden eyes, and a calm voice.

It was Senior Ian. As soon as he appeared, everyone moved their attention from Seria as if nothing had happened. To be more precise, they were watching Senior Ian’s eyes.

The incident in which Ian slaughtered the Demonic Beasts in the forest spread throughout the academy under the name of ‘The Southern Forest Beast Annihilation Incident’.

As he gained fame in the process, Ian became known as a cold-blooded psychopath who would not blink an eye even if he were to stab anyone. Of course, this was because that rumor was blended with another rumor, ‘Yurdina’s Beating Incident,’ but Seria was unaware of such details.

However, she sighed in relief. Even the miserable feeling she had to endure with her teeth clenched melted away as soon as she met Ian.

Now that Senior Ian is here, it will be fine, right?

If he is here, the ridicule and criticism towards her will disappear in an instant.

Ian naturally joined Seria to clean the plate. He asked Seria with a concerned look as he cleared the spilled food with her.

“What’s going on? Anyway, how could a swordsman lose her balance like that?”

“…… Nothing.”

To be precise, it happened before Ian came.

Seria, who did not want Ian to worry, had no choice but to say so.

That was Seria’s ordinary daily life these days.

*****

A growl echoed through the alley. It was a mixture of both men and women. They seemed to have witnessed a fun event recently, as they seemed to be thrilled.

“So hey, did you see that the Yurdina’s bastard couldn’t say anything?”

“Because that bitch can’t retaliate… I told you, because she’s a little girl anyway, she won’t fight us no matter what we say about her. What can you do about someone whom the Yurdina family considers as not having existed at all?”

“By the way, it’s still the Yurdina family. We will be fine, right? If that 4th grade senior who also belongs to the Yurdina family were to hear about this…….”

They giggled as they chatted and shook their heads while not worrying about the question carefully raised by the man. The woman who seemed to be the representative of the gang said.

“Don’t worry, until then, just enjoy. To be honest, Senior Yurdina might be subtly sympathizing with us, you know? A bitch who grew up without a mother is placed on the same level as her in terms of nobility…….”

Then, the skinny man standing next to the woman nodded in agreement. He giggled and laughed.

“Yeah, I’d rather Senior Yurdina hear about this than that other senior. Was it Senior Ian? He is scarier than Senior Yurdina…….”

“More?”

“Way more scary! That senior, didn’t you hear the rumors? It is said that he would swing his blade no matter whether you are a noble or a commoner. How ruthless must you be to kill ten high-ranking demonic beasts… He-Hey!”

The man who continued talking enthusiastically had no choice but to scream in astonishment when he heard the sound from behind.

At some point, the faces of the gang who were listening to his voice turned pale blue, and as they blinked at him, they pointed behind him.

Behind him stood a man with dark hair and golden eyes. Everyone knew his identity.

Because he was currently the most talked about person at the academy.

Ian Percus, the Academy’s infamous mad hound.

The skinny man’s eyes shuddered in fear.

“Tell me more. What were you talking about Seria?”

“Ah, th-tha-tha-that…….”

The faces of the gang, who had been chatting happily until just a moment ago, had turned pale. They Desperately avoided Ian’s gaze.

But that didn’t stop Ian from interrogating them. He just had his arms crossed and his golden eyes became dim.

Apparently, there was one more problem.