The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

The floral scent tickling my nose. A soft breath brushing against my cheek. I slowly lifted my heavy eyelids.

Sunlight pierces through the dark.

Not a harsh, glaring sunlight, but bright and gentle.

I blinked a few more times, trying to clear my vision.

Only then did I start to see some form.

The soothing, radiant sunlight was not sunlight at all.

A cascade of golden hair that was luxurious and so soft it made me want to bury myself in it.

In between those strands, a blue gaze sparkled, resembling a tranquil lake shimmering under the sun—clear and beautiful.

Soon after, the round eyes filled with the lake’s essence opened wide, then softly folded as if to embrace everything. Lips, pink like summer wildflowers, curled up gently.

Through slightly parted lips, white teeth peeked out along with a mischievous tongue.

Whispers brushing against the edges of my ears.

And then.

“You’ve woken up.”

Accompanied by a playful snicker, the soft whisper floated my way.

The scent of summer mingled with the fragrance of her clear skin, creating an intoxicating freshness.

“Yurasia…?”

“Hehe. You’re the last young lady to wake up!”

“Uuuu… hmm…”

I twisted my stiff body around and blinked a few more times.

Now I could clearly see Yurasia, lying there.

She turned her head to look at me while lying face down.

“…Why… hmm, why are you staring at me like that?”

My voice was hardly audible.

Mumbling. My lips felt sluggish.

I absolutely despised illusion magic.

“Just in case you drooled, I was ready to wipe it for you!”

“Did I drool?”

“Just a little?”

“Suuuh… huh…”

I lightly licked my now-dry lips and sat up. Yurasia did the same.

I still felt sluggish.

It was as if I had been tied up for a long time and was finally set free.

“Hah… Kyaaak…!”

I stretched my arms and brushed away the hair stuck to my cheeks, rubbed my eyes a few times, and wiped away any possible drool marks.

I looked around.

Having been pulled out of the illusion, I found myself sitting by a window where the sunlight poured in brilliantly.

Yurasia sat right next to me.

Before being dragged into the illusion, I had been standing in front of the back door, but now here I was.

How much time had passed? About 10 minutes?

5 hours. 300 minutes. 10 minutes.

30 times.

Adelia only mentioned that she was above the 7th Circle, but it was clear that she must be at least at the 8th Circle.

Blinking my blurry eyes, I stared straight ahead.

At the front of the classroom, the dark mage I had met in the illusion.

Adelia Baros stood there, beaming with a smile.

“Now everyone is gathered. As I mentioned in the illusion, I’ll repeat it one more time.”

Snap! Adelia clapped her hands to grab everyone’s attention.

“I’m Adelia Baros, your homeroom professor from the Black Magic Tower. Nice to meet you. Let’s have a great three years together, shall we?”

Clap clap clap — students erupted with enthusiastic applause at Adelia’s soft greeting.

Looking at their bright expressions, it seemed she had gotten quite close with the students in the illusion.

Her looks, voice, character, and manner of speaking.

She certainly projected an image that students would adore.

Even Pina, who usually drooled when she saw me, was smiling brightly and clapping her hands.

Gailan was also responding enthusiastically.

And Silina…

The Silina sitting at the front glared at me.

She had even turned her back to glare at me.

Just from her glare, it felt like she could drown me.

“What’s with that murderous look? Good grief.”

“Ah… Young lady! You shouldn’t say such things!”

“After all, there’s no royalty or anything in the Academy. Isn’t this how we get close?”

Not that I had any intention of getting close.

“The prettier your words, the better!”

“…Yurasia, you’ve been nagging more lately.”

“Well, with Sara not around, I have to take over!”

“So you’ll be nagging like Sara from now on?”

Yurasia flinched slightly.

Then, after a moment, her lips pouted and a timid voice slipped out.

“Actually, the teachers said… it’s okay… so don’t glare at me like that… Hmph.”

As Yurasia hesitantly replied, I noticed her furry ears and tail drooping sadly.

“Hmph, what kind of ‘hmph’ is that.”

Not able to suppress a small chuckle, I stretched out my hands and tousled Yurasia’s hair.

Then I began to playfully fold her ears down.

“Looks good on you.”

“Y-Yes…? What does?”

I thought to myself that I must get a headband with animal ears for her later, while chuckling softly and looking straight ahead.

I locked eyes with Adelia.

My mood soured.

As if she sensed my feelings, Adelia forced a smile and surveyed the classroom to start speaking.

“Thank you for the enthusiastic cheers. Hehe. Since today is the first day of school, we won’t have any classes. However, I have important explanations to give, so please pay attention!”

Her palm, which had been gently swaying, spun around.

Suddenly, something appeared in her hand that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“Are you curious about what this is? Would anyone like to open the drawer under their desk?”

Slide — before I even had a chance to open it, the drawer opened.

Other students, it seemed, were just as startled and peered into their drawers wide-eyed.

“Ah…! Young lady, this is that thing! That thing!”

Hearing Yurasia’s excited voice, I too looked into my drawer.

Inside was a rectangular object, slightly larger than my palm… a mirror-like object.

It was rectangular.

Thin. In the middle was a black glass surface reflecting my face, and on the sides were buttons that jutted out slightly.

“Some of you may have heard about this, while others are seeing it for the first time. Right, this is a magical tool called a Device. Moving forward, any important announcements or schedules from Karela Academy will be delivered through this Device. Also, things concerning the Academy rules or usage will all be contained within, so I recommend you explore it slowly. For now, could you please press the longest button on the right for four seconds?”

Device. Device.

As I rolled the name around my mouth that didn’t quite stick, I pressed the button firmly.

“Now, the screen should be on. Surely, no one needs help, right?”

…It didn’t turn on.

Is it broken?

Could it be this button?

I pressed other buttons but, similarly, nothing happened.

When I turned my gaze, Yurasia’s Device was shining brightly.

But mine?

No matter how many different buttons I pressed with determination, it wouldn’t turn on.

…What now?

“…This tiny thing is really making me mad.”

After struggling for a while, I finally called out to Yurasia, who was sitting next to me.

“Uh… Yurasia, how do you turn this on?”

“Oh? Ah, you just press this and this button together like this—no, just this one! Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m sure it didn’t work… Oh.”

Twinkle — a white light shone into the black glass.

Soon after, the emblem of Karela Academy and the symbol representing the Green Magic Tower flashed by, and tiny icons began to appear in succession.

Seeing this made me realize.

This Device was quite similar to the kiosks you’d see in restaurants or libraries.

…I was already feeling uneasy.

Meanwhile, the classroom was buzzing with enthusiastic murmurs from students.

Yurasia, sitting right next to me, must have discovered something. She turned the back of the Device toward me and began clicking away, making click click sounds.

“Young lady, please take a look over here.”

“What is it?”

Click

“Young lady, could you look over there next?”

“…What are you doing?”

Click click click

“Hehe… this came out well.”

After several rounds of click click, Yurasia treasured the Device as if it were a treasure.

I… just left it upside down on my desk.

You need to know what’s what before you can use it.

In the meantime, Adelia’s explanation continued.

She mentioned that each Device has a designated number, so if you save that number onto someone else’s Device, you could communicate back and forth, or that there was a club in the Academy that printed newspapers you could view through the Device, and that the Device would be useless outside of the Academy, and so on.

That’s about all I could remember.

Since I couldn’t even turn it on or properly listen, the details were a jumble.

I should ask Yurasia to teach me how to use it later, otherwise, I might never figure it out.

“That wraps up the basic explanation. As today is the first day of school, I’ll end my words here. If there are any questions, it’s okay to ask them today, but… hehe, you all should have some time to get acquainted with one another, so it’s better to save questions for tomorrow.”

The expressions of the students sitting in the classroom brightened. Already, some students were twitching in their seats, eager to stand up.

Yurasia was one such student.

“Congratulations on entering the Signia Class of Karela Academy once again! I don’t know if it’ll be three years or four, but let’s make the most of our time together!”

Her voice was clear yet sticky.

Her red eyes were trained on me as she squinted with a smile.

Then, with a bang!

“Eh…? The professor just disappeared.”

With a flutter of crow feathers, she vanished from her seat.

“It was just an illusion. That wasn’t her main body.”

“…Really?”

Startled, Yurasia dragged her chair right up against mine.

“By the way, young lady.”

“Yes?”

“Please give me your number.”

“My number?”

“Yes, the Device number! If you save it, you can contact each other anytime even if you’re apart. Communication magic! It’s always possible within the Academy!”

Whether their homeroom professor disappearing was even relevant to Yurasia didn’t seem to matter at all.

The only thing that had her full attention was the Device in her hands.

Of course, the other students were just as absorbed.

Even Silina, who had been sitting rigidly, was now fiddling with her Device with both hands.

“No, I’ll give it to you, but it’s not necessary since we’re going to be together all the time anyway, is it?”

“We’re going to be together… Um, hehe… still, we’ll be apart when we sleep, right?”

For some reason, Yurasia twisted and turned her body, and then returned to a serious expression, extending her hands eagerly.

“Anyway, hurry up and give it to me!”

Reluctantly, being pushed into it, I handed my Device over to Yurasia.

“Then, while we’re at it, save my number on yours too. I really can’t use it.”

“Hehe. Of course, I should do mine too!”

Watching Yurasia skillfully tap away at her Device, I couldn’t help but smirk.

I had experienced something similar in my past life.

Whether it was a weapon, an artifact, money, jewelry, or armor—whenever I obtained something, Arisa would come running over, writing her name all over it.

And she always had something to say.

-I took Ronan’s first!

-What a horrific thing to say! And why do you keep running over to me like that? Why are you writing your name on my stuff, it’s mine!

-Huh? Well… it’s a memento!

-If it’s a memento, you should do it with Luna, Paulo, and Kaloso too, why just mine?

-Huh? Uhh, well… it’s because Ronan always teases me! It’s leaving my mark on Ronan!

-Tall tale! I’m never going to be a chimpanzee.

-But what if? If all your weapons break, then you’ll have no choice but to use your fists, and then Ronan might discover the joys of martial arts!

-You realize how many weapons I have—over twenty! If they all break, I’m dead.

-Eek! No! Don’t say such things carelessly… Huh? It’s still written here, huh? You didn’t erase it?

-When am I going to get around to erasing the names on all my weapons?

-Oh… really…? Hehehe, if you want to erase it, I’ll erase it for you! You like your weapons clean, right?

-It just makes me angrier knowing that you did it on purpose. Forget it, I’m not erasing it, it’ll wear off eventually.

Suddenly, breaking out of this hazy recollection, the Device approached me.

“Young lady, it’s all set now. If you look here… ta-da! This is my number. When you want to hear my voice, press this, and when you want to send me a message, press this.”

[Yurasia]

Yurasia’s name floated alone on the empty screen.

I leaned my chin on my hand and turned my head.

There she was, Yurasia, staring at me with wide-open eyes as she sat with the sunlight on her back.

Our eyes met. She smiled, her eyes crinkling up and lips rising into a bright grin.

Watching Yurasia, I quietly whispered a teasing line.

“Yurasia has taken my first.”

I wondered how she would react, and what would the speaker’s feelings be. After speaking it out loud, Yurasia just tilted her head slightly, still smiling.

Did she not hear me?

If she didn’t, that would be unfortunate.

But I wouldn’t say it again.

After saying those words, not only my tongue felt ticklish, but my entire body felt the same.

I shivered from the eerie sensation and stood up.

“Might as well go eat—”

At that moment.

Boom!

With the sound of an explosion, the classroom door swung open.

“Eliaernes!!!”

A crazed beast charged straight at me.

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