TRPM 457

chapter 457

The Lunar New Year holiday was over, and daily life returned to normal.

By “normal life,” I don’t mean the kind you have during vacation.

School resumed immediately after the holiday.

‘Even though it’s the start of the semester, we’ll only be coming to school for about two weeks until the closing ceremony.’

During those two weeks, we would have only morning classes without proper lessons, and then it would be vacation again. I’d heard this varies by school.

“Long time no see.”
“Y-Yeah, long time.”

As I entered the classroom, I noticed faces I hadn’t seen over the break. Elena and Elliot, who had returned to England, were here.

“Did you enjoy your break?”
“……”
“……”

I had only offered a customary greeting. Naturally, after a holiday, one asks if someone spent it well, right?

But apparently, this time, it was a mistake.

“… I couldn’t really rest because of all the people recognizing my status…”

Elena said this. Even for royalty, would being at that level attract so much annoyance? Or was it because someone at that level was royalty that they were bothered so much?

“I wanted to train with Arthur, but he wasn’t in England…”

Elliot said. Now that I thought about it, Arthur had come to Korea for a vacation to avoid Elliot. And he had just returned to England yesterday.

“Hmm… that must’ve been tough.”

I didn’t know about Elliot, but Elena had clearly gone through a lot, so I sincerely comforted her.

“Thank you…”
“Then fight with me today! Since classes will only be in the mornings for these two weeks, we’ll have plenty of time!”

Though I had comforted only Elena, Elliot, thinking he was being comforted too, asked me like that.

“… Sure.”
“… Huh?”

I agreed to Elliot’s request. We had avoided sparring for almost a year, so it was about time to accept. My reaction actually seemed to fluster Elliot. But only briefly…

“Are you… really serious?! No backing out later?!”
“Yes.”
“… Are you feeling okay?”

Elliot said with excitement, and Elena gave a peculiar expression as she watched me agree to spar with him.

“Sometimes, you need days like this.”

I sat down and looked around the classroom. In about two weeks, we’d stop using this classroom. In second year, we’d get a new class and a new classroom to use.

“… Wait, will our class continue as is?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean?”
“Well, usually class members change as you move up a grade, but ours is a special case, so I’m not sure.”

Our first-year class, Class 1, was a collection of highly exceptional students in our grade. From the start: me and Lee Ha-eun, already awakened beyond ordinary limits, the famous pioneers of implementation abilities Ryu A-min and Ryu A-young, British royals Elena and Elliot, and the alchemist Kim Eun-yeon.

Compared to them, some weren’t particularly exceptional, like Kang Ga-ram and Jin Chun-ha from affluent families, and Lee Doo-min, whose skill far surpassed a student level. In the second semester, Grandmother Kim Bok-ja would also join.

It was probably more convenient for the school to keep these unique students together than scatter them.

“Oh! So in second year, we might have classes with other students?”
“Not sure, but probably.”

Only the teachers would know for sure.

“Then, why not ask the teacher right after the assembly today?”

Turning toward the voice, I saw Lee Ha-eun, who had just arrived at the classroom.

“Hi, Ha-eun. Did you enjoy the Lunar New Year?”

I had seen her just before the holiday, so I greeted her that way.

“Yeah. I got a lot of New Year’s money.”
“Oh, really?”

Come to think of it, during holidays, the tradition was for elders in the household to give money to children who performed the New Year bow. I had never received it, so I didn’t know much about it.

‘Before the time rewind, you used to lie when friends asked how much New Year’s money you got.’

I can’t understand why I lied back then. I was already talking with kids early on like that…

“Oh my, everyone came early.”
“Hello, Grandma.”
“Grandma, you came early too?”

Grandmother Kim Bok-ja entered the classroom leaning on her cane. Behind her stood an association staff member.

“Auntie, I’ll wait in the lab. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay, got it.”

After confirming that Grandma sat down, the staff headed to the lab. Naturally, the students gathered around Grandma to ask questions.

“Grandma, how was studying abroad?”
“It was a bit hard since it was my first time abroad.”
“Did you learn alchemy well?”
“That was difficult. But Eun-yeon learned well, unlike me.”

It seemed her studies abroad with Kim Eun-yeon over the break were quite fruitful. Seeing that the children had asked most of their questions, I asked Grandma Bok-ja:

“Grandma, was there any alchemist trying anything strange with Eun-yeon?”

In the past, alchemists had tried to force Kim Eun-yeon to be their apprentice. I worried they might have tried anything with the two of them.

“There were.”
“… Were you okay?”

As expected. But Grandma’s expression was very gentle, so I asked reflexively.

“This grandmother may be a beginner in alchemy, but I have experience. I know how to handle such simple people.”
“Simple…”

Indeed, most alchemists have little social experience. Their governments or associations usually fulfill most of their requests, so they don’t need social experience. Grandma Bok-ja, having experienced it all, easily handled alchemists without social experience.

“It’s fortunate I went with her.”

Had Kim Eun-yeon gone alone, those alchemists would surely have caused trouble.

“That’s a relief.”

After all the students arrived, it was time for the morning assembly. Even so, it was just the teacher greeting everyone after the long break and informing that the opening ceremony would be at 10 a.m.

“Today will just be the opening ceremony. Classes will be only in the mornings for two weeks, so it’ll end early, but make sure to eat lunch. Today, it’ll end at 11.”
“Wow!”
“Yay!”

Some students cheered at the early finish.

“And about second-year class assignments…”

When Teacher Son Ji-hye continued, everyone paid attention. Even though we hadn’t asked first, she seemed to know exactly what we were curious about. She smiled at us.

“Not done yet!”
“Hey!”
“Ah, Teacher!”

Our class stood up at her joke. But she had obviously anticipated this reaction.

“Hey! Listen carefully to Korean!”
“But you said it’s not done yet.”
“Yes. Assignments for all students are not finished yet.”

But our assignments were already done.

“You will continue as second-year Class 1.”
“Oh…”
“I expected this…”

It would have been a burden to break up such a unique class.

“So, these 11 students will become second-year Class 1…”
“Hey! Listen carefully to Korean!”
“…Deja vu?”

Didn’t she just say that?

“Second-year Class 1 will have 12 students.”
“12?”

Which means…

“Will a transfer student come to our class?”
“No, just a student from another class will be moved here.”

… Was there really a student from another class unique enough to join ours?

“Do you remember the last training camp? Ah, sorry, Grandma Bok-ja.”
“It’s okay, Teacher.”
“I’ll tell you something Grandma doesn’t know. Remember the talent show where an active idol performed?”

The talent show…

[The performance by the student Mutant Siren was overwhelming.]
[Some mind-control was involved, but that’s secondary.]
[A beautiful, comforting voice, attractive and soothing.]
[Her singing ability was outstanding, and she executed choreography skillfully, capturing everyone’s attention.]

Ah, right. Mutant Siren, part of Ironblood—an idol group, though clearly associated with the Guild—was now in our grade.

‘Her name… was Min Ye-rin.’

Because the Guild openly supported her, I knew which student she was.

“… Could it be that she’ll join our class?”
“Yes. Although other classmates accommodated her so far, the teachers decided it would be most convenient for her to join our class.”

Elena’s expression was slightly awkward upon hearing this. Understandably…

[You did that on purpose, didn’t you?]
[Haha… Could you tell?]
[Elena didn’t control her elemental magic fully, shaking the entire auditorium… no, the entire training center.]
[There’s no rule that a talent show has to be only singing.]

At the training camp, Elena performed right after Min Ye-rin. Unable to beat Min Ye-rin in singing, she overwhelmed everyone with elemental magic. Min Ye-rin had probably expected a singing duel.

“Do you think she’s still holding a grudge?”
“I wouldn’t know.”

I knew what Min Ye-rin did, but not her personality, so it was hard to tell if she still resented Elena.

“Alright. Then everyone should stay quietly in the classroom until 10, okay?”

Elena and I had quietly discussed this when the teacher left the classroom. The opening ceremony was at 10, after all.

“… We have to wait over an hour.”

The assembly had just ended, and it wasn’t even 9 yet.

“If preparations finish early, won’t it start early?”
“Then let’s hope they finish preparations quickly.”