Chapter 20
“The exchange? Like you said, it’s where you trade items from dungeon runs for school currency, credits!”
“A place where adults legally rip off the money students rightfully earned.”
“Oh.”
The academy had some really interesting systems. The student town, credits, all of it.
Well, Luca seemed to view it negatively.
“Are you planning to trade the Epurl from the Itemization class? Never trade at the exchange. They undervalue special items not on their list because they don’t know the market price.”
Luca warned me with fiery eyes.
“All you can buy with credits are meal vouchers, 5% off coupons for town shops, and the Outstanding Student Badge.”
Outstanding Student Badge? That sounds tempting.
It seemed to be engraved on the black armband we got on the first day of school.
“How many credits for the Outstanding Student Badge?”
“…”
“…”
Apple and Luca stopped and stared at me.
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
“You’re outstanding, Miss.”
“Uh… It suits you.”
Come on, guys. How many credits?
“100,000 credits! It’s hard to get, and the benefits aren’t great, so no student has ever bought it.”
Oh… Knowing no one has it makes me want it more.
I want it.
It could go on my life report when I graduate.
“Wait a sec. Brother Angel got it. I saw it on his Sereb town mark with the Outstanding Student Badge when he was a third-year in high school.”
“Now that you mention it, I did earn that.”
“…!!”
A voice suddenly came from behind, startling me. It was a pale-skinned guy with shaggy bangs half-covering his eyes.
“Assistant Angel, hello.”
“Yes, hello.”
Angel’s gaze locked onto me.
“Sigrin, don’t you have something to pick up from me?”
“Huh?”
A faint memory suddenly surfaced.
[“If you win the fight and take the library, I’ll give you something nice.”]
It was something Angel said that I’d dismissed as irrelevant.
He definitely promised to give me something.
“Do you have afternoon classes?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Meet me at the Sereb Potion Café. I have something to discuss.”
I nodded, and the corner of Angel’s mouth curved into a smile.
Luca, scratching the back of his head, leaned toward my ear.
“Be careful. If that Brother suggests joining an experiment, just refus—… Mmph!”
“Luca Drümuel, I really don’t have any ulterior motives, so don’t scare her with weird talk.”
Angel, who’d covered Luca’s mouth, let go and smiled.
“Anyway, see you soon, Sigrin.”
✦ ✦ ✦
[“Ugh, I have a basic magic class in Sereb this evening. I’ll come right after, so if anything happens… Wait, should I be worried about Brother Angel?”]
[“Miss, that senior’s got a bad rep, so be careful… Wait, should we be worried about the assistant?”]
‘He’s such a kind, angelic person. Why’s everyone acting like this?’
Everyone warned me to be careful around Assistant Angel. But since many later said Angel was the one who needed to be careful, it probably didn’t mean much.
‘Or is there some scheme I don’t know about?’
“Here, drink. It’s a blueberry smoothie potion that helps restore energy.”
Angel bought two drinks and two cakes and placed them on the table. The round flask potion bottles contained a shimmering blue liquid mixed with pearl powder.
“You like strawberry cake, right?”
“Yes.”
“One cake per person. I got the same flavor so you won’t fight.”
This guy’s way of thinking is cute.
“I should be the one treating you, but I’m the one eating.”
“No, usually seniors treat juniors.”
“Isn’t it the other way around?”
“Not really…”
“I thought it was the opposite, so I’ll treat you next time.”
“No need.”
“Still…”
“If it bothers you, do what you want.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
The awkward tension and discomfort of two people desperately wanting to be friendly hung in the air.
The vibe came from both of us eyeing each other cautiously.
Angel rolled his eyes, rummaged in his pocket, and pulled out a bundle of keys.
“Here, take it. The promised gift.”
He placed the key bundle on the table and picked up a fork to cut the edge of his strawberry cake.
“Before Lemaos was shut down, I worked as a librarian there throughout middle school. There was a storage room I used as my hideout.”
“I see.”
“I kept unused bookshelves there and secretly stored rare books I liked. The shelves are filled with unpublished or niche research.”
“Are these the keys to that storage?”
“Yep. The other keys are for the scroll storage and Etherib storage. They’re mostly discarded scrolls and Etheribs, so not super useful, but take them if you need them.”
“…Thank you so much.”
Angel, tapping the table, looked at me through his shaggy bangs.
“Have you ever read a book called The Flower of the Variant Core - Eye of Ether?”
“Oh, yes! Of course! Have you read it too, Assistant? It’s a fascinating book!”
Unlike my usual self, I answered with a flushed, excited face. My voice was full of enthusiasm.
Startled by my passionate response, Angel blinked dumbly and took another sip of his caffeine potion.
“…Oh, was it interesting?”
“Yes. It changed my life. I found and read it thanks to the Search Paper you gave me. I used it well, thank you.”
“No big deal. As the author, I’m thrilled.”
I dropped my fork while nibbling on the strawberry cake.
“What?? The author?”
“I wrote that book in middle school. If you have it with you, let me see it.”
I carefully took the book out of my violin case, handling it like a baby.
Angel let out a hollow laugh as he took it.
A lingering regret from childhood came back, giving him an amusing gift.
“I thought the seed I’d thrown away had sprouted.”
“Huh?”
He opened the book to the last blank page. When he placed his hand on it, hidden text appeared.
- After finishing the book -
I wrote this book as a summer vacation free-topic assignment, but researching it was fun the whole time.
I spent a fortune writing this, so if you have a latent core in your eyes, please find Angel Wizael, a Lemaos library assistant, third-year middle school as of Imperial Year 103.
(Addendum) If you come as a prank, I’ll literally tear you apart, so only those with a real latent core in their eyes should come! I’ll treat you to a delicious dessert at the Lemaos Potion Café!
╰(✿´⌣`✿)╯♡
What? It was a book written for a middle school summer assignment? Seriously?
He could aim for the youngest professor title.
“…Thanks to this book, I found my core. It might’ve just been a fun summer project for you, but for me, it was a ray of light.”
I smiled sincerely, packing my gratitude into every word.
“Thank you so much.”
“…”
Angel tilted his head, saying nothing for a moment.
He crossed his arms, glanced out the window, and adjusted his posture.
“Yes.”
“Thank you again.”
“Yep.”
“…”
“…”
Angel, who’d spent his life buried in research, broke out in a cold sweat.
It was overwhelming, but what more could he say?
He wanted to keep talking, but the conversation stalled.
‘Let’s think about the events involving Sigrin Ebenkera in chronological and impact order.’
Angel spoke up slowly.
“After the fight with Luca, were you okay? You must’ve been exhausted.”
“Oh, yes, you’re right. It hurt a lot, but I’m better now.”
“Sorry about that. If I’d known you were a fragile eye-core user, I would’ve stopped the fight instead of egging it on.”
“It’s fine.”
“…”
“…”
I broke out in a cold sweat.
My heart was bursting to spill words, but I held back, worried it’d be too much.
“Hold on.”
Angel got up and bought two pieces of blue grape cake.
They were Ether-enhanced cakes.
“What about the side effect symptoms?”
“Exactly as you wrote in the book. Vomiting, fever, dizziness…”
“Eye cores typically have severe side effects. The Ether that should circulate through the body stays in the eyes, so the core overheats easily.”
“No wonder…”
“…Yes. It’s natural, but I’m sorry it’s painful.”
Nibble, nibble.
We both kept our eyes on the cakes as we spoke.
Neither realized the other wasn’t looking at them, too focused on the cakes.
Angel was the first to speak again.
Eating something sweet helped him think of something to say. He’d have to write down talking points next time.
“Actually, I have a proposal. As an eye-core user, your afternoon classes are empty, right?”
“Anything but being a test subject for experiments is fine.”
“…It’s not that. It’s a class proposal.”
“A class?”
I tilted my head.
“I… collaborated well with the advising professor to open a fake afternoon class. It’s for one student. I’ll be the teaching assistant. The class is called ‘Niche Core Studies.’”
“No way…”
“Yep. I’ll help you strengthen your eye core.”
“…”
“You’ll join, right?”
Of course!!
The more I saw him, the more he felt like a giant gift set.
After getting my eye core, I felt stuck at a dead end, but a savior showed up on his own.
Suppressing the urge to bow a hundred times, I answered as calmly as I could.
“Great.”
“…Great. I’m glad too.”
“…I’m thrilled.”
“…”
‘Damn it.’
‘Damn it.’
We ran out of things to say, but I wanted to talk more about eye cores.
So, even though our business was done, we just sat there silently.
“…”
“…”
I spoke first.
“I’ll tell you about my life.”
“…Huh? Alright. Sounds good.”
Anyway, we were both happy to have an excuse to talk for another hour or so.