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Chapter 9
“…Are you mad?”
“And if I am?”
When I answered spitefully for no reason, her face darkened even more. Her chestnut eyes moved busily, as if she were thinking hard about something.
“How can I make you feel better, Senior?”
“What could possibly do?”
Magic skills, knowledge of Magic Tools, and even potion making. Noah retorted indifferently while resting his chin on his hand. It wasn’t to embarrass her. It was simply the truth. It was just a remark born half out of curiosity and half out of a desire to mess with her.
“Ah, well, if I look, there must be something I can do.”
She grumbled with a slight temper, then seemed to realize her mistake and shut her mouth, glancing at him. Even in that short moment, her expressions were truly colorful. Meanwhile, she couldn’t even refute the part about him being superior to her; she didn’t miss a beat.
“She’s a real headache, seriously.”
Rosia, hearing his inadvertent mutter, immediately widened her eyes and glared at him.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Never seen a kid like you before.”
He leaned his body obliquely against the backrest and smirked, pulling up the corners of his mouth. Her gaze grew fiercer. Her pouting lips soon spat out a retort.
“I’ve never seen anyone like you either, Senior.”
“Like me how?”
Unable to handle the surge of emotion at his nonchalant answer, she clenched her fists on the desk and leaned her body forward to glare at him. Yet, there was still no sign of tears.
“You speak carelessly, tell people to fuck off at the drop of a hat… Ah, forget it. I worried for nothing, not knowing you were perfectly fine.”
“Who are you to worry about me?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Just last week she couldn’t even make eye contact. Noah carefully observed the fuming Rosia.
It was warranted, as she was different from the kids he had seen in the Faculty of Magic. Usually, they fell into three types. The first was the type that feared him like a ghost.
They would tremble if he just looked at them, and if they ended up in the same group during class and he spoke to them, they would shrink away as if they were about to faint.
The second type was the most annoying. The bastards who would fly into a rage over insignificant words and pick a fight as if it were a matter of life and death. After trampling on them thoroughly a few times within the bounds of school regulations, the frequency decreased, and by the time he became a fourth-year, it had become quite quiet.
The third type was the most unpleasant. Those belonging to this group avoided him as if they had seen something dirty. It was more than just reluctance; they showed visible distaste.
If they met in the hallway, they would deliberately take a detour, and if they had to be close for unavoidable reasons, they paid special attention to ensure their clothes or belongings didn’t touch his. Being hated with such dedication was funny once or twice, but having it repeated for five years gradually gnawed at his nerves. It was bound to be tiresome.
On the other hand, what about this junior in front of him? Noah stared silently at Rosia. He thought she was the first type, but he was wrong. The third type had been ruled out from the start.
To call her the second type, she didn’t spit out vicious insults or fire magic at him. And she certainly didn’t use her fists. She kept the line and manners appropriately while acting up—it was almost cute. He smirked.
“Why do you keep staring?”
Agitated, she mumbled in dissatisfaction. It was a world of difference from the timid expression she wore when she first entered the lab.
“Ah, enough.”
Instead of replying to her, Noah picked up the potion list placed on one side of the desk. It was something Rosia had left behind when she hurriedly left the lab last week.
“It’s been nearly 30 minutes. Stop spouting crap and let’s have a productive conversation.”
“Who was the one picking a fight first…?”
Ignoring her grumbling, he lifted a pencil and marked next to the names of four potions, then wrote numbers beside them. It was to indicate the order of production.
“This much for now. Keep in mind it might change if time is short or if we have extra.”
Rosia, receiving the list back, nodded obediently. She rummaged through her bag, took out the thick advanced potion recipe book she had brought last time, and spread it out next to the list. Since there was a bit of time left until the hour was up, and she happened to have the book, she seemed intent on reviewing it right there.
Her naturally loose wheat-colored hair slid down, covering the page. She pushed it away with her hand a few times, then eventually tucked the hair behind her ear as if it became bothersome.
Even her revealed round ear was small. Noah, watching her indifferently, suddenly muttered inwardly.
Considering her grades were just average, the way she focused on the book was quite serious. That was also quite unexpected. Rosia pointed here and there with her finger, tilted her head, and then turned to the next page repeatedly once she understood.
It seemed she hadn’t chosen the potion major simply to get a job easily but had quite an affection for it. Noah fell into a brief contemplation with lowered eyes. Watching Rosia sparked a sudden impulse. Tapping the desk with the end of his pencil, he spoke inadvertently.
“You, do you still want to learn the ‘Dreaming Potion’?”
Perhaps because it was a sudden question, she looked up with a surprised face. Her clear chestnut eyes blinked with a question.
“Yes. But…”
“But what?”
Rosia hesitated despite his ill-natured urging, then spoke cautiously.
“Since you don’t really like Senior Radion, I thought you disliked that potion too.”
She wasn’t wrong. Noah accepted it quickly. However, he didn’t show it on the outside. It was a habit born from his dislike of revealing personal emotions in front of others. It was true that hearing Sempland’s name from Rosia last week had agitated him. It was a reflexive reaction.
He scribbled on a blank paper while talking to himself inwardly. Since they were research students at the same school, they unfortunately crossed paths from a distance, but that was all.
Besides, that bastard seemed to be living happily, so what reason was there for me not to? He gave a small snort and spoke.
“Thinking about it again, what sin does the potion have? The person is the problem.”
Rosia still wore a bewildered expression. Noah ignored the gaze following him and stood up from his seat. Since the talk about the assignment was finished, he planned to organize the junk temporarily stuffed in the warehouse.
“Go book a Practice Room and prepare the necessary materials. We start production next week.”
“Materials? Swamp Dragonfly Wing and Moonlight Herb probably aren’t in the material room… Surely the faculty won’t support materials for a general elective class?”
He stopped walking at Rosia’s worried voice. The ingredients used for research-student level potions were indeed rare and expensive. So, it was understandable that the Faculty of Magic would find it burdensome.
Noah rubbed his face with one hand and sighed deeply. Come to think of it, this was all because of Professor Sidfell.
“You, keep your schedule free tomorrow afternoon.”
“What? Why? Tomorrow is Saturday.”
“Don’t you know the class rules? We have to meet at least twice a week, one hour each.”
Rosia rolled her eyes and immediately looked like she was about to cry. Noah ignored her silent despair and headed to the warehouse.
It was an afternoon where the warm spring sunshine heated the top of one’s head.
The sky was clear, and the wind carrying the scent of grass blew gently, tickling her cheeks, but Rosia’s steps leaving the dormitory room were heavy, unbefitting the spring atmosphere.
In reality, her expression was the same. Students from the Faculty of Magic whom she met in the hallway on the same floor flinched upon seeing her dark, sunken face as they were about to greet her happily in her outdoor clothes.
As graduating seniors usually do, they kindly worried if it was because of the pouring assignments, but upon hearing she was going to fill the time for ‘Understanding Others’, they quietly prayed for her soul. At that point, the dazzlingly shining sun felt rather resentful. Why did it have to be like this on a day she wasn’t even going out to play?
Rosia stood in front of the Teleportation Gate in front of the dormitory and sighed deeply. It was because today’s meeting place was unexpectedly not the lab, nor anywhere inside the school, but downtown Genios.
Even if it was Saturday, she thought they would just sit across from each other at the lab desk and do their own work like other times, but why downtown? It made her more anxious because he wouldn’t answer even when she asked what they were going to do.
It wasn’t a baseless suspicion; if it was Senior Hayworth, it was entirely plausible.
Just looking at that worldly indifferent expression proved it. She muttered inwardly. What about the smirk that lifted mischievously and the tone dripping with spite? Suddenly recalling that image made her feel bad for no reason.
It was worse because she remembered the conversation they had yesterday. I even made a big resolve to appease his anger because I was concerned, and what? He asked what could possibly do?
