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Chapter 10
New Rules of Liberation Year 11
If you encounter or defeat a werewolf inside or outside the school, immediately close your eyes, run from the spot, and call the headmaster. You must never look at the werewolf’s corpse.
“Why? Just looking at it won’t infect you. Getting bitten would.”
Awooo!
At that moment, a wolf’s howl echoed from outside. Through the window, a full moon happened to be hanging in the sky.
‘So this place really has werewolves? Starting this year?’
But it seemed werewolves weren’t the only thing roaming around.
If you hear screams or strange cries at night, ignore them and go to sleep. It’s just the hungry lake mermaids or cats in heat.
Chilling.
If a toilet lid is closed with tissue paper placed in an X shape on top, never open it and call maintenance immediately.
“…What’s in the toilet that—ah, ugh… damn it, I remember.”
She recalled experiencing the exact same thing in her previous life. Among these mysterious rules, this was the only one she understood.
Selena continued reading the increasingly strange regulations until she finally found something that made sense.
Familiars
Due to the treaty prohibiting the enslavement of humans or humanoid races, such beings cannot serve as a wizard’s familiar.
However, other creatures may be used as familiars.
“Thank goodness, my protein source.”
Selena gently stroked a sleepy chick dozing inside her blanket.
Limit: one per person / creature / plant / item / unit
The long list of counting units suggested familiars came in all kinds of forms.
“You count as ‘one creature,’ right?”
Selena asked toward a water tank placed beside her roommate’s furniture. A tentacle peeked out from a jar, spying on her, then quickly withdrew.
At first she thought it was just seaweed and rocks inside. But rocks didn’t move.
‘…Right?’
Golems were not allowed.
Next, what cannot be used as a familiar:
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Golems and clockwork dolls (inanimate objects)
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Werewolves, zombies, and other uncontrollable beings or those that may cause significant harm to others
“…Someone actually brought a zombie as a familiar?”
“Exactly 251 years ago.”
The door suddenly burst open and someone answered her question. It was a girl with brown hair in twin braids and round glasses.
‘My first roommate!’
Selena quickly stood up and climbed down.
The girl, meanwhile, continued talking about how 251 years ago a student brought a zombie as a familiar, and classmates ended up getting “a bite each.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you.”
Selena extended her right hand, remembering to introduce herself first.
“I’m Selena Lorelheart.”
At that moment, the lecture about the zombie incident came to a sudden halt.
“You’re a Lorelheart? Seriously?!”
Her lavender eyes widened behind thick lenses, as if she couldn’t believe her luck.
“Which Lorelheart are you?”
That was the same question the dorm supervisor had asked.
“What do you mean?”
The girl’s mouth opened even wider than her glasses.
“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’? You don’t know Lorelheart? Are you from another country?”
“No.”
“Then… are you from some backward village without newspapers or schools?”
“…Yes.”
“Ah, sorry…”
“It’s not backward.”
“Oh, then I take it back!”
What kind of world was this where people talked like modern Korean students?
The roommate, full of the energy of a Korean cafeteria kid, pushed her glasses up and began explaining.
“Lorelheart is a surname granted by the Emperor to heroes who saved the empire. So if you’re a Lorelheart, it means your ancestors were great heroes.”
“…Me?”
“You really didn’t know? How could you not? Didn’t your parents tell you?”
“My mom didn’t say anything…”
“She’s… unusual. Most descendants brag about it like crazy. My parents would’ve tattooed it on their foreheads in gold.”
Selena had only learned her surname from her admission letter—if she told her mother that, her mother would probably seem even more unusual.
“Do you maybe have an ancestor named Katalyn Lorelheart who wiped out the Black Magician Order?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Then how about Egon Lorelheart who defeated the greedy dragon Belkaros?”
“I’ve never heard of them…”
The girl kept listing achievements of various Lorelhearts, but none of them sounded familiar to Selena.
‘Even if Mom never talked about other relatives, she always bragged about Grandma… so maybe Grandma was the hero who received the Lorelheart name?’
The roommate seemed to know all of them, so asking her would probably give answers—but the problem was, Selena didn’t even know her grandmother’s name.
“Then what about Seraphina Lorelheart, the legendary holy knight who carved out the Demon King’s heart?”
‘Is that Grandma?’
The Demon King had been defeated only 11 years ago, according to the Liberation Year calendar.
That was all Selena knew about it, but her talkative roommate kept filling in details.
“She was the commander of the Flame Knights, the ill-fated demon-slaying expedition. With only three mages, she joined forces and finally killed the Demon King who had threatened the world for millennia.”
That timeline roughly matched her grandmother’s passing.
‘So… did Grandma die after killing the Demon King?’
“Wait. Then Seraphina Lorelheart is your mother.”
“Huh? Not grandma?”
The roommate stared at Selena and muttered.
“Fiery hair… clear green eyes like dew on leaves…”
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Is your mother really Seraphina Lorelheart?”
“My mom isn’t someone who could carve out a Demon King’s heart.”
She was the kind of person who would panic and hide in a safe forest if the Demon King ever returned.
“Not a holy knight either.”
She didn’t have holy power or that overwhelming sacred aura. She was just… clumsy.
A good person, yes—but not some legendary figure.
“My mom is just an ordinary but good mom.”
“…Hah.”
The girl sighed—not in disappointment, but almost relief.
“Right. It wouldn’t make sense for Seraphina to have a child.”
A holy knight who rejected money, power, and temptation like a blade of righteousness, moving forward only with duty, cutting down enemies without hesitation.
As she described Seraphina Lorelheart, the image became more and more distant from Selena’s soft, clumsy mother.
“She disappeared after defeating the Demon King, completing her legend. Seraphina is the undisputed greatest Lorelheart.”
The roommate stared dreamily into empty space.
Selena had seen that kind of look many times in her past life.
‘A fan girl.’
“Are you a fan?”
The girl nodded solemnly.
“My dream was to enter Saint Luciel Academy following Seraphina.”
But that was a knight academy. Without holy power, she ended up here at Spellmore instead.
“Here, the professors include great mages who fought alongside Seraphina to defeat the Demon King.”
Then she began listing more names.
The silent sword emperor Rosenstein.
“Uh-huh.”
The legendary spirit mage Rian Del.
“Uh-huh…”
And the genius of magical engineering, Crowley.
“…Ah. I see.”
‘But what’s your name?’
That was what Selena most wanted to know.
But she never got the chance to ask.
