Chapter 23
In Professor Spitu Gini’s “Latent Core Escape!” remedial class, there were about two troublemakers.
One was Sigrin Ebenkera.
The problem child who sat right in front, never doing what the professor asked and always doing her own thing.
The other was Bilha, full name Bilharan Dessart.
The problem child who openly started sleeping if Professor Spitu explained more than three sentences after starting the lecture.
‘Right, I saw him in remedial class.’
Sigrin clapped her hands, looking at Bilha.
I vaguely recalled getting scolded by Professor Spitu alongside him.
Brown hair, yellow eyes, and a mask. Round, pretty eyes.
I don’t think I saw him much during morning mandatory classes, but was he always coming to the nurse’s office?
“Hello. First time meeting here.”
“…”
Nod, nod.
The boy nodded slowly instead of answering.
“What’s your name?”
“…A word to call someone.”
“Huh?”
“…?”
When Sigrin tilted her head, the masked boy tilted his head too.
“Oh, I wasn’t asking about the meaning of the word ‘name,’ but the word used to call you.”
The boy nodded again, as if he finally understood.
“Bilharan Dessart.”
“I see.”
“…”
“Why are you staring at me so intensely?”
“…?”
Since Bilha kept looking at her, Sigrin gave an awkward smile.
Sigrin rubbed her trembling legs, swallowing a groan.
Moving her body too much seemed to have caused some trouble.
To distract herself from the pain, Sigrin spoke again.
“What brought you to the nurse’s office, Bilha?”
“Uh. Somewhere hurts.”
“…?”
“…?”
“Oh, um, it was a question…”
Sigrin looked at Bilha’s innocently sparkling eyes.
He tilted his head again, as if wondering what was wrong.
“…White head. Sparkly. Name…”
“Are you asking for my name? I’m Sigrin.”
“Sigrin…”
Bilha mumbled Sigrin’s name a few times.
His lips weren’t visible behind the mask, but his low voice was quite clear.
“White head.”
“I said Sigrin.”
“Sparkly.”
“Sigrin.”
“Weed eyes.”
“Sigrin.”
“Hard to remember.”
“Just ask whenever you forget. I’ll kindly tell you.”
“Too nice.”
“Thank you.”
Talking nonsense with her classmate Bilha made the nausea feel less intense.
“Isn’t the mask hot? Why do you wear it?”
“…?”
Swish.
As soon as Sigrin finished speaking, Bilha pulled the mask down.
His face was revealed.
A cute appearance, somewhere between a desert fox and a deer.
Upon closer inspection, his eyelashes were extremely long. Even the lower lashes, which are usually short, were long.
He gave off an innocent, pure vibe, but his expression and eyes made it hard to read him, creating a sense of unease.
Bilha stared blankly at Sigrin.
“I didn’t mean for you to take off the mask…”
Uweeeek!
Bilha, sweating coldly, grabbed a paint can and started vomiting into it.
“Oh, so you took off the mask… to throw up…”
Seeing this, Sigrin’s nausea worsened strangely. She hurriedly grabbed a nearby bucket.
Uweeeek!!
Seeing this, Bilha’s face turned pale.
Uweeeek!!
And seeing that, Sigrin…
And seeing that, Bilha…
And seeing that…
…
…
…
…???
✦ ✦ ✦
After vomiting their guts out and taking a nap, it was time for afternoon classes.
Feeling much better after some rest, Sigrin was able to leave the nurse’s office.
Bilha, also preparing for afternoon classes, put on sandbags around his wrists and ankles and got out of bed.
Seeing the sash tied around his waist and the emblem on it, he seemed to be a student from Midriba Town.
“It was a short time, but it was… smelly— I mean, fun talking to you.”
“…”
Nod.
Bilha responded with a nod. He still seemed unwell, sweating coldly with flushed cheeks.
“Shouldn’t you rest more? You still look sick.”
Shake, shake.
Bilha reached into his uniform jacket, pulled out a brown paper bag, and handed it to Sigrin.
“For emergencies.”
“To throw up in during emergencies?”
Nod.
“So considerate. Thank you.”
“Mine.”
“Oh, it’s yours. You’re showing it to me.”
Nod, nod.
Bilha thought deeply for a moment, then placed the bag in Sigrin’s hand. He patted her shoulder as if to say, “Take it.”
“Consideration.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine now.”
“…”
“Okay, don’t look at me so earnestly. I’ll use it well.”
Bilha gave a thumbs-up and headed toward the teleportation circle for Midriba Town.
Rustle.
The brown paper bag in Sigrin’s hand made a dry, crumpled sound.
‘What’s this? It feels familiar…’
Sigrin frowned, watching Bilha’s retreating back.
✦ ✦ ✦
Niche Core Studies class.
The professor was absent, so only Assistant Angel was present.
As soon as class started, Sigrin appeared, looking like she was on the verge of death, trembling. Angel brought a tea set from his private room.
“If there’s something like a fitness test, use the nurse’s office pass to skip it. That’s why I gave it to you.”
Angel brewed the tea.
“You’re in this state because you pushed yourself to your limit.”
“I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize. Here, take this. It’s ginger tea. It’s hot, so drink slowly.”
“Thank you.”
“Take care of your health. Be careful not to overheat your Core.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Honestly, I wasn’t so exhausted that I’d throw up, but the kid lying next to me in the nurse’s office suddenly started vomiting, and it upset my stomach, so I ended up…”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Still, you should’ve stayed as far from the sick person as possible. I’ll give you some sterilization supplies on your way out.”
“Oh, I’ll gratefully accept anything. Thank you always.”
“I’m grateful too.”
“Thank you again for the ginger tea.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Words filled with concern and affection were exchanged, but a slight awkwardness lingered.
I’m already grateful for his guidance with my Eye Core, and now he’s taking care of me so much.
Sigrin, who had been gauging Angel’s mood, took a sip of the ginger tea.
Talking about vomiting suddenly reminded her of the classmate she met earlier.
“Assistant Angel, do you know someone named Bilharan Dessart?”
“Yeah, he’s pretty famous, so I know of him.”
Angel, who had spread out the materials he was going to teach Sigrin, crossed his arms.
“Hmm, is he the one you threw up with?”
Sigrin nodded.
“Is he famous?”
“Since you’ve lived your whole life on Nipi Island, you might not know about the Dessarts. It was a story big enough to make the front page of the newspaper.”
“The Dessarts?”
“There was a criminal couple in the Solaris Kingdom, a desert region next to the Aurum Empire. They terrorized the entire kingdom with serial murders and robberies.”
Sigrin finished her ginger tea, and Angel continued, pouring her another cup.
“Exiled from Solaris, the Dessarts secretly crossed the border into the Aurum Empire, where they continued their murders and robberies until they were finally killed by the Empire’s pursuit team. But here’s the thing—they had a child.”
“…No way.”
“Yes, Bilharan was that child. The royal family accepted him as a citizen of the Empire but didn’t allow him to change his surname. They said it was for easier tracking if something happened.”
Angel recalled when Bilha first entered the academy. Everyone was gossiping, confirming that Dessart was that Dessart.
“Anyway, because of that, rumors spread that he’s the child of criminals, and he’s been a bit of an outcast since middle school.”
What a pity. It doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem.
Sigrin clicked her tongue.
Feeling empathy and pity, I should talk to him more.
“He skips morning classes a lot and looked really sick… Does he have some kind of illness?”
“His parents committed a lot of crimes everywhere. One of the victims’ families included a priest, I think. The couple suffered from that priest’s curse until they died.”
“…”
“Some curses, like Core abilities, can be hereditary. The curse on the Dessarts was one of those. It passed down to their child, even stronger.”
“What? A curse?”
“Yes, you’d know since you’ve suffered from one too.”
“Oh… no wonder I felt a familiar energy.”
It tugged at my heart.
A foolish outcast who’s sick from a curse.
As a senior curse patient, I should be a bit nosy.
“Do you know what kind of curse it is, Assistant?”
“Well, we’re not that close, so I don’t know the details.”
Angel rubbed his chin, letting out a thoughtful hum.
“If there were someone who could see the curse’s incantation array… we might be able to find out.”
“What? Someone who can see incantation arrays, not magic arrays?”
The corner of Angel’s mouth curled up. His finger pointed at Sigrin.
“Shall we move on to today’s lesson? I was wondering which ability to try first, and this works out perfectly.”