Chapter 137
How could red bean porridge taste this bad?
“Ugh.”
“Eeeeeek!”
It wasn’t even me who was freaking out, but Solia. She had already backed away, looking at me with cautious eyes.
“Y-you… can’t eat red bean porridge?”
It’s not that I can’t eat it—I just don’t like it!
And besides, even someone who likes red bean porridge would hate this taste!
But if I told her that directly…
It might hurt her feelings.
This isn’t exactly an easy dish to make. And considering how much she was sweating earlier, it seems she really put in effort to make this for me.
I figured it would be better to say that I just can’t handle it, rather than telling her it tastes terrible.
I carefully chose my words, watching Solia’s expression.
“Actually, I’m not… great at eating it.”
“R-really…?”
“Let me try it again. You did a good job making it.”
Ugh.
This time, I stopped myself from even putting the spoon to my mouth. My survival instincts kicked in, and I immediately set the spoon down.
“It’s… it’s too hot to eat right now.”
I forced a smile and continued.
“I’ll take it back to the dorm and eat it later. Thanks for making it…”
But then—
“Huh?”
A soft, white powder seemed to drift down from above.
I thought maybe she was sprinkling salt on the porridge to season it.
But no, this seemed more like she was sprinkling it on me.
Salt falling from the sky?
I looked up, and before I could stop myself, I let out a scream.
Solia was standing right in front of me.
“Ahhh! What the heck!”
“Eeeeeek!”
“Why are you the one who’s scared?”
This is crazy.
Why are you sprinkling salt on someone’s head?
You scared me!
But strangely, she looked even more terrified than I was.
Solia was clasping her hands together and blinking at me.
“Y-you don’t like salt either?”
I mean, not liking the red bean porridge is one thing, but…
Wouldn’t it be weirder if I did like this?
I was as stunned by Solia’s pale face as she was by my reaction.
“I don’t like it! Who would like having salt sprinkled on their head—”
“I’m sorry!”
“Do I look like cabbage? Am I supposed to be pickled or something?”
“It’s just that… well, if you were a ghost…”
“What?”
Solia hesitated, then shut her eyes tightly as if she was bracing herself.
It seemed like she decided to just go for it.
In a loud voice, she asked,
“Sorry for asking this, but… are you a ghost?”
Huh?
I was stunned into silence by Solia’s sudden question.
I mean, I was speechless.
“A ghost? Me?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Me?”
“Mm-hmm… Ah, was that too blunt? Oh no.”
Solia looked extremely tense, her body all hunched up.
Meanwhile, I had no idea where this misunderstanding even started.
“Why would you think I’m a ghost?”
“Well…”
“Is it because I look a bit too unrealistically handsome?”
But being called a ghost… that’s kind of uncool.
“What nonsense are you talking about!”
“So, that’s not the reason? Then what is it?”
Solia stammered awkwardly, clearly flustered.
“You don’t like red bean porridge… and you were scared when I sprinkled salt… so I thought… maybe you were a ghost…”
It seems like she got this idea from reading some horror stories or something.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Step by step, I slowly walked toward Solia.
Solia instinctively started to back away.
“Wh-what… Han Siha, what are you doing…?”
Well, I might as well have a little fun with this.
Her reaction earlier was kind of funny.
Solia’s eyes grew round with fear.
Once I got close enough, I stopped walking.
“Solia.”
I lifted the corners of my mouth into a sly grin.
“How did you know?”
“W-what?”
“You found out, huh?”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Zap!
Solia, in her shock, launched a sphere of light at me.
* * *
A light mage.
Solia’s power is akin to divine power.
And just now, I almost got sent to the side of God.
We almost ended up lying next to each other in the afterlife.
“Ugh…”
“I’m sorry…”
“I didn’t think you’d just go ahead and blast me like that.”
While Adela is the type to throw a punch first, Solia is usually calm and composed.
She usually prefers to talk things out first.
And yet, she just threw her magic at me…
She must’ve been really shocked…
“Ugh.”
I staggered as I tried to get up. The power of Solia’s magic was no joke.
There’s a reason why, in the future, she becomes the number one mage that dark sorcerers fear.
That wasn’t even advanced magic—she just threw one of her light spheres, which is her unique ability, and I flew back a good distance.
“Sniff… Sob.”
Solia started to sniffle, clearly thinking she had seriously hurt me.
“Now that I think about it… even if you were a ghost… after all we’ve been through…”
Huh?
Why is she still stuck on this ghost idea?
“I think it’s only right that I try to understand you…”
Solia looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Even if you’re a ghost, you seem like a good one… so I’ll try my best not to be prejudiced.”
Solia has a kind heart.
She tries to understand the world around her, even the things that don’t make any sense.
That’s great and all.
But maybe you shouldn’t try to understand *everything*.
Solia, looking at me with a serious face, finally seemed to make up her mind.
“By the way… where did the real Han Siha go?”
“….”
“He was a bit of a jerk and pretty reckless, but still, it’d be sad if he just… died.”
Come to think of it, where did that bastard go?
Aren’t I stuck dealing with the messes he made?
I should drag him back here and beat some sense into him, but I can’t find him either.
For all I know, he might’ve died when I took over his body.
But I guess I should clear up the misunderstanding.
It’s true that the old Han Siha and the current me are different people.
But there’s no way she’d understand that if I tried to explain, so I should at least correct the wrong assumptions.
“I don’t know where you got that crazy idea, but why do you think I’m a ghost?”
“Huh?”
“I was just messing with you because you got so scared.”
“Oh… Oh? But you looked really scared of the salt just now…”
“Of course I was! You were dumping it on me from above!”
It wasn’t the salt that was scary—it was you!
Seeing all that long hair suddenly hanging down from above, who wouldn’t freak out?
“….”
Solia didn’t say anything, but she still seemed pretty confused.
I sighed and continued.
“I don’t know why I even have to explain this, but…”
“Yeah?”
“If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”
“How…?”
Ghosts don’t have a heartbeat.
We learned that in basic spirit studies.
Solia hesitated for a moment, then muttered.
“Should I… cut you open to check?”
“Why do you say such terrifying things so casually?”
“Is that not it?”
“You could just feel for it.”
Solia’s eyes widened at my words.
“You could just feel for it.”
* * *
Solia swallowed nervously as she looked up at Han Siha.
His pale face was glowing under the light, making him look even more ghostly.
Oh, right, that’s probably because I hit him with my magic earlier.
Solia felt guilty again.
“So… then… I’ll check.”
When she had slipped into the academy’s auditorium as a shadow, she had been close to him before, but she had never looked at Han Siha directly.
“Hurry up. I want to go to bed. I’m tired.”
Han Siha looked down at her with a bored expression, as if wondering why this was even necessary.
“Okay.”
Solia nodded.
It was already awkward enough to have dinner with Han Siha alone, but sitting here face to face was almost unbearable.
She had to check since he told her to, but…
With trembling hands, Solia reached out and placed her hand on Han Siha’s chest.
Where his heartbeat should be.
She thought she’d feel his heartbeat under her fingertips at any moment.
She needed to feel Han Siha’s heartbeat, but all she could feel was her own pounding in her chest.
In the silent, empty practice room on the second floor.
Thump, thump.
Solia bit her lip, worried that the sound of her wildly beating heart might give away how nervous she was.
The important thing right now was whether or not Han Siha’s heart was beating.
That’s what she needed to confirm.
But then—
“Huh… I… I don’t feel anything…”
His heart wasn’t beating.
She couldn’t feel anything under her fingertips.
“What…?”
Solia’s eyes widened.
Han Siha’s heart had clearly stopped.
The heart that had been pounding in her own chest went cold.
“As I thought… you… Ahhh!”
“What do you mean ‘Ahhh!’?”
Thwack.
Han Siha grabbed Solia’s hand.
“It’s not there!”
“Huh… huh…?”
Irritated, Han Siha took Solia’s hand and placed it on the other side of his chest.
“Your heart’s on the left side, you idiot.”
His heart was beating.
Han Siha wasn’t a ghost.
“Oh….”
It was good to have that confirmed, but—
“That was really mean….”
Solia suddenly felt a wave of unjustified frustration and tears welled up in her eyes.
* * *
[Main Episode 7: Clearing the Maze of the Lair]
[A reward for ‘Difficulty Adjustment’ will be granted.]
The next morning.
Han Siha was lost in thought as he stared at the message window floating in midair.
Thanks to not losing the cube, he had bought some time.
If his guess was correct, it was highly likely that the fourth or fifth cube was already in their possession.
The dark mages would try to steal his cube while protecting their own.
“The Heart of the Machine.”
Because of this, Han Siha couldn’t help but think about the main storyline of the academy’s world.
They would gather five cubes together and activate the Heart of the Machine.
Using the condensed magic power created that way, they would gain access to an almost infinite supply of magical energy.
To stop that, they had to destroy the Heart of the Machine.
It was essential to protect the cubes, but once the Heart of the Machine was created, they would repeatedly come after the cubes.
“Where could they have hidden it?”
Damn it, I don’t know.
The author dropped the story right before the first part ended and vanished.
They could’ve at least written that part before disappearing.
“That author is completely useless.”
Han Siha grumbled as he massaged his throbbing head.
The best course of action would be to find and destroy the Heart of the Machine, and the next best thing would be to keep the cubes from being taken.
Since defeating Archant, Dongle’s affinity had been rapidly rising and was now close to 10%.
He had tried everything to increase the affinity, even if it meant looking like a lunatic.
“Dongle is growing well… I don’t know the location of the machine, but at least I protected the cube.”
Thinking about it that way, there was only one problem left.
Han Si-hyuk.
In the original story, his subplot was never even explained.
But the overwhelming power he showed back then was too suspicious to ignore.
Han Siha decided to investigate Han Si-hyuk.
“Not that he’d tell me anything even if I asked.”
Han Siha walked toward the bulletin board in the first-floor hallway.
Among the various notices, from competitions to practice room sign-ups, one familiar name caught his eye.
Han Siha grinned as he picked up the recruitment notice.
[Han Si-hyuk’s Magic Investigation Office]
– Looking for field assistants.
– Must be a third-year or higher in the magic department.
– Additional grade points and activity points available.
– Minimum wage guaranteed.
Just what I was looking for.
Han Siha clicked his tongue in admiration.
“Wow.”
This was the best possible way to legally monitor Han Si-hyuk.
Now that his retakes for the summer semester were over, he had been thinking about doing some extracurricular activities anyway.
This was perfect, a win-win situation.
Han Siha tore down the recruitment notice and muttered gleefully.
“Messing up someone else’s workplace is always the most fun.”
Shall I go check it out?
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