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Sharine Sazarith.

One of the most unpredictable characters on the Flame Butterfly team.

Beneath her heavy eyelids, her eyes seemed to contain the Milky Way as they quietly watched me.

Just that alone gives me the feeling of being penetrated by something.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Still half asleep?”

First, I deflect.

“Then I’ll just go ask the professor.”

In a hurry, I reached out and grabbed the back of her neck.

“I was wrong. Stop it right now.”

That’s unfair for a professional.

Fight fair with timing and fabrication.

Sharine glanced at me while I held her nape.

Once I let go, she spun around.

“I really love the whipped cream bread from the cafeteria during lunch.”

“I hate anything greasy.”

“I like it.”

I barely managed to suppress a sigh.

“All you need to do is bring it to me at lunch.”

“Yup.”

This is a quiet hush-up fee.

“I’ll see you then.”

Waving her hand lazily, Sharine headed toward the Magic Arts building.

Watching her retreating figure, I turned to leave as well.

She’s capricious, but at least she keeps her promises.

At least until lunch, she probably wouldn’t go off chattering elsewhere.

‘For now.’

Let’s focus on my duties.

No matter how much I might deserve Isabel’s ire, being hated for laziness is the last thing I need.

*

Today, I managed to scrape by without any trouble from Isabel during morning class.

Recently, the glares from the girls in my class have been becoming more and more ferocious.

Perhaps due to the female students’ disdain, the boys didn’t seem eager to approach me at all.

Thanks to that, I was enjoying a comfortable school life.

Considering how busy I was, I couldn’t care less about socializing.

‘For now, just focusing on the main players is enough.’

Whatever it is, I need to extinguish the most urgent fires first.

Packing up my things, I exited the classroom.

At that moment, I spotted kids on their way to lunch.

I followed them to the cafeteria.

Normally, I would have selected something to eat for lunch, gone to find Nikita, and headed to the student council.

But today, something came up that prevented that.

In the cafeteria, I grabbed whipped cream bread and sweet red bean paste bread for myself.

And I bought a tea and a drink.

Just as I was about to move with my nicely packed bags—

I spotted a familiar face on the opposite side.

There was a boy completely worn out and surrounded by people.

Messy brown hair and large round glasses.

He’s currently the most famous first-year student and a Spirit Mage contracted with a Spirit Sovereign.

It was Poara Silin.

“Poara, why don’t you join our team? I can recommend you to the professor so you can get in specially.”

“What are you talking about? Poara is joining our team! Get lost, you who came later!”

“Stop being so greedy! You all already have a Spirit Mage each! We don’t even have one!”

And right now, that crowd is fighting over Poara.

It was a prelude to the upcoming mock battle.

They were trying to claim a talent like Poara in advance.

In the Magic Academy, team members are the single most important factor.

How well a team can perform depends quite a bit on each member’s capabilities.

That’s why the mock battle was heavy on self-promotion.

A display to strong teams: “I have this level of skill, so take me with you.”

Since professors are keen to form the strongest and best teams.

The results of this mock battle were incredibly important.

But even without such a mock battle, every team wanted someone like Poara.

‘First-years must train for about half a year before entering the Academy.’

But sometimes, those who stand out are exceptions.

The Jerion Academy has special classes for people like that.

Though Poara wasn’t originally in a special class.

He successfully contracted with a Spirit Sovereign.

So whether by his choice or not, he was currently in a special class and scheduled to enter the Academy along with seniors.

Naturally, Poara still didn’t have a team.

That’s why students were crowding around him like that.

‘Poor guy.’

Wait, is he really poor?

Thanks to the contract with a Spirit Sovereign, his life is paved with gold now.

Now that I think about it, he’s not really in a sad state.

Instead, I’m the one who’s unfortunate for not even seeing a Spirit’s face despite working hard.

“Uh, a! H-Hanon-senpai!”

In that moment, Poara looked over and suddenly called my name.

Why is he calling my name at this timing?

When I looked at him in disbelief, he sparkled like an abandoned puppy.

It was a plea to rescue him from this situation.

Then the students surrounding Poara all turned their gaze toward me.

It was as if they were saying, “Who are you?”

Oh, those are some really cocky looks.

Among them were third-year seniors, but their glares didn’t intimidate me at all.

Naturally, the glares from the girls in my department were far more searing.

I approached Poara and grabbed his arm.

The students’ glares sharpened even more.

“I have student council business. I’m just going to take Poara with me. Is that alright?”

As I said that, I boldly displayed my student council badge.

The students hesitated and began to step back.

I felt the thrill of power.

After all, Poara is also currently part of the student council.

If I said I was taking him for student council business, they couldn’t say anything.

The students looked at me with resentful glares.

It was like they lost a caught prey.

So what? Then why don’t you guys join the student council?

You shout out loud, “Power rules!”

“Let’s go.”

“Yup!”

I led Poara out and he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Then he lowered his head to me.

“H-Hanon-senpai, thank you! You really saved me!”

“You’ve worked hard too.”

Come to think of it, Poara had his troubles too.

I decided to ask him something at this moment.

“Poara, do you plan on boycotting the student council later?”

“W-What? Me? Do that?”

Poara waved his hands in panic.

He was flailing so fiercely that his glasses almost slipped off.

‘Seems like he’s not really thinking about it right now.’

Then again, for Poara, his life has changed entirely.

But I still worry.

Although the world has changed a lot from the original story.

If he doesn’t participate in the boycott, the pressure from the boycott factions will weaken significantly.

‘It’s still not something I need to worry about right away.’

Let’s think about that later.

“Hey, Hanon-senpai.”

Poara looked at me as if he had something to say.

That boy’s glances keep darting around, making it look unseemly.

“What’s up? If you have something to say, just say it.”

“I’m sorry for not being much help during the Spirit Forest incident. I just hid and couldn’t do anything.”

Poara said, his shoulders drooping.

I remember telling him not to come, so it seems he was concerned about it.

“I’m not particularly mad about it.”

“While you fought against the spirit, I was just signing a contract with the Spirit Sovereign. I only realized you had collapsed after I signed.”

Poara mumbled, continuing to apologize.

Honestly, I was glad he didn’t interfere.

But Poara didn’t seem to think the same.

Looking at it now, he’s not a bad guy.

“It’s fine. Don’t dwell on it.”

“B-but is there anything I can do for you? It feels wrong just trailing along and causing you trouble. I want to help somehow!”

“Not really…”

I almost said it wasn’t necessary but paused.

I thought for a second and then looked back at Poara.

“Then can I call on you next time I need help?”

“Yes, of course!”

Poara replied, his face lighting up brighter.

He looked like a brown retriever.

‘Nice, I picked up a solid card.’

A Spirit Sovereign contractor.

I’ll have plenty of opportunities to use him in the future.

And as I thought about it, I came up with a way to solve the boycott issue as well.

‘I’ll make good use of you.’

Somehow, I ended up with a Spirit Sovereign contractor.

I’ll make sure to utilize him well.

Having parted ways with Poara, I arrived at the Magic Arts building.

Students from the Magic Arts department glanced at me curiously as I walked by.

“That one looks really tiny.”

“Is he a first-year?”

“His name tag is red. Isn’t that a face we haven’t seen before?”

“Oh, then could he be the transfer student from Martial Arts?”

Some even recognized me.

The speed rumors spread is terrifying.

Is it really possible for feet to move that fast?

I casually disregarded the students’ gazes and continued on.

I also admired the Magic Arts corridors with a curious glance.

Unlike the dreary Martial Arts building, the Magic Arts department was full of variety.

‘There’s a certain charm to it.’

Various magical artifacts were displayed like works of art.

As I walked along, fascinated, I quickly arrived at the second-year classroom.

Perhaps because most students had gone for lunch, the classroom was mostly empty.

The problem was that Sharine was also absent.

‘She’s not here.’

I thought she’d be here since she asked me to bring it over to the Magic Arts classroom.

I guess I’ll just leave the bread haphazardly on the desk.

Just as I thought that and was about to step inside, I felt a presence behind me.

As I turned around, I realized the other person’s forehead was suddenly right in front of me.

Oh no, I’m going to bump into them.

Bam!

With a cheerful sound, both the other person and I fell over in opposite directions.

“Owowow.”

As I cradled my forehead and turned my head, I saw Sharine holding her forehead and curled up.

She looked at me with a pouting face and protested.

“Why didn’t you look back then?”

“It’s the fault of the one who approached from behind first!”

Feeling the pain subside a bit, I approached Sharine.

I extended my hand, and she grabbed my arm and wobbled up.

Looks like the side effects of the bump were quite strong.

“… Where’s the bread?”

It’s impressive how she’s looking for bread first.

“I brought it. So where’d you disappear to?”

“I went to pick some flowers.”

“Where are the flowers then?”

Naturally, Sharine’s hands were empty.

She lifted her sluggish eyes.

“Lacking sense.”

“Yeah, I do have some sense. Why are you making a fuss about saying you just went to the bathroom?”

I obviously said that knowing full well.

Sharine’s eyes slightly clouded with dissatisfaction.

“Such a pain.”

“I just went through something with you today, so of course, I’m annoyed.”

After being made a bread delivery boy, how wouldn’t I be annoyed?

Sharine, who briefly looked at me, said nothing more and walked into the classroom.

Following her in, I placed the bag of bread on her desk.

“So, you’re not going to tell anyone about earlier, right?”

When I asked, Sharine was busy tearing the bread bag open.

She then looked at the bread inside and started to unwrap the red bean bread.

“Hey, stop right there.”

Just as Sharine was about to shove the red bean bread into her mouth, I stopped her with my hand.

Sharine looked at me with a face that asked why I was stopping her.

“Why are you pulling out red bean bread after asking for whipped cream bread? That one is mine.”

“Whipped cream bread is too greasy.”

“You said you liked it in the morning.”

“I changed my mind.”

Should I hit her?

“Hey!”

Suddenly, Sharine licked the hand I had in front of her mouth.

When I yanked my hand away in shock, she took a big bite of the red bean bread.

Her small cheeks were stuffed with red bean paste as she chewed.

As I stared blankly at her, I moved to the other side and pulled out a chair.

“Delicious. Thanks.”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re grateful at all.”

“Yeah, Bell told me to say thank you when I receive something.”

A sigh escaped me.

It would be best to avoid getting involved with this capricious one.

But here I was, caught in it.

I had no choice but to take a bite of the whipped cream bread.

Sure enough, the greasy taste spread in my mouth.

I still prefer red bean.

Then Sharine was staring intently at my whipped cream bread.

“You said you didn’t want any.”

“Normally, other people’s food looks tastier.”

Sharine leaned in with her head stretched out and opened her mouth.

“Oh.”

When her cute mouth opened, I could see her uvula.

I found myself staring for a moment before I raised my finger instead of the whipped cream bread.

Bang!

Sharine’s mouth snapped shut.

As if to say she would chop off my finger if I dared to put it in.

Reluctantly, I had to offer her the whipped cream bread.

At that, Sharine took another big bite.

Cream splattered on her face, but she didn’t seem to care at all.

She eagerly chewed and swallowed the bread.

Then she looked at me and tilted her head.

“Why did you even buy this?”

I thought about hitting her again.