“Um, Hulim!”

Colette suddenly leaned in so close that her face was just inches away from Hulim’s, and grabbed both of Hulim’s hands tightly in her own.

With her hands clamped firmly and Colette’s intense gaze boring into her, Hulim felt a flutter of nervousness stir in her chest.

“……Ms. Colette?”

“May I please visit your home to pay my respects to the heirlooms passed down from your ancestor?!”

Hulim: “……Huh?”

Hulim was completely dumbfounded. She still couldn’t quite keep up with her new teacher’s wildly unpredictable mood swings.

“Aww~! I’m so embarrassed to ask~!”

Colette let go of one of Hulim’s hands and scratched the back of her head awkwardly, a flush creeping across her cheeks.

“But to tell you the truth, I’m a huge fan of your ancestor, Lord Olubert! Back in the Royal Capital, I used to read his biography over and over again. I even wanted to visit his former fiefdom, but I heard that his descendants left their homeland decades ago. Now there’s not a single trace of the Heyerar clan there anymore. I tried looking into it, but against the vastness of the empire, I couldn’t find any information. I never dreamed that coming here to teach at this tiny town’s school by chance would lead me to the long-lost Heyerar family! This must be a sign from the gods themselves……”

Colette’s words poured out like a swarm of buzzing bees, rushing into Hulim’s ears so fast that her mind felt like it was going blank.

“Okay, I get it, Ms. Colette. I’ll invite you to come over. So could you please…… stop talking now?”

“Really?! It’s a date, then! How about this weekend?”

Colette’s face lit up with pure excitement. The reliable teacher persona she’d shown in class had completely vanished—now she was nothing more than a starstruck fangirl.

“No problem…… Of course. I’ll go home and tell my parents. They’ll definitely be happy to welcome you, Ms. Colette.”

“Hehehe~! Will they?~ Then I’ll be counting down the days~!”

Colette still wore that embarrassed smile—but Hulim wanted nothing more than to say that her over-the-top excitement didn’t look embarrassed at all.

After finalizing the time to go to the Magical Artifact Shop together, Hulim left the school.

But no sooner had she stepped through the school gate than someone blocked her path.

“You’re so slow! Making me wait this long—does it really take you that much time to walk out of a school gate, Hulim Heyerar?!”

“……”

Staring at the blonde twin-tailed girl who’d randomly appeared to block her way, Hulim couldn’t help but wonder—had they made some kind of appointment she’d forgotten about? Why else would the girl act like Hulim had stood her up?

“Ms. Fran, can I help you with something?”

“Hmph! What’s with that attitude? It’s like you’re the one who’s annoyed!”

“……”

Hulim was genuinely starting to think there might be something wrong with Fran Banton.

“You listen to me, Hulim!”

Fran struck a fierce pose, puffing out her chest to look intimidating.

“Don’t you dare think you’ve won!”

Hulim: “……?”

“I was just having an off day today—that’s the only reason I lost to you! But I, Fran Banton, will never let this stand! Just you wait! I, Fran Banton, will be keeping a close eye on you, and I will beat you! You better remember that!!!”

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Having delivered her declaration of war, Fran spun on her heel and ran off without another word—giving Hulim no chance to respond at all.

Hulim stood rooted to the spot, watching Fran’s retreating figure. Oh, she tripped…… Just what was she even trying to accomplish here? Had she really waited outside the school gate for ages just to throw that random tantrum at her?

“Ah, Young Lady, aren’t you taking the carriage today?”

At the street corner, a man dressed in a butler’s uniform was waiting for Fran.

“I’m not! And I won’t be taking it tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow either! From today on, I don’t want you to come pick me up anymore!”

“Huh? Why ever not?! Wait a minute, Young Lady—did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

“I did not fall! Don’t be ridiculous!”

Fran snapped at the butler angrily, then marched past him, storming down the street.

THUD!

“Ow!”

“Oh no! Young Lady, you fell over!”

“Are you alright, Young Lady?!”

Fran lay sprawled on the ground, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as she clutched her bright red nose, sniffling loudly. “Waaah~! It’s not fair! Even the ground is picking on me! Stupid ground! Stupid Hulim! Just you wait! Waaah~……”

……

……

Deep in the forest,

“Hmm, so that’s what your teacher’s like. She sounds like quite the character.”

Semiris listened with great interest as Hulim recounted her first day of magic class.

“But you know what? That teacher—Colette, was it?—she’s right about one thing. Since all your training partners have been monsters, I almost forgot to teach you mana control techniques. Mastering that will make things a lot easier for you from now on.”

Hulim sat beside the monster she’d just defeated, recovering her mana as she looked up at Semiris, who was floating lazily in the air. A random thought popped into her head, and she found herself asking,

“Hey, Semiris—have you ever heard the name Olubert?”

“Olubert? Who’s that? Did something happen with this person?”

Semiris replied automatically, not giving it much thought.

Of course she wouldn’t know. Hulim thought to herself. After all, Semiris only descends to the mortal realm once every five hundred years, and my ancestor lived three hundred years ago. Semiris wasn’t even here in the mortal world back then. She’d only have heard of him if their timelines had overlapped.

Hulim sighed, thinking she’d asked a stupid question.

It must have been Colette’s weird reaction that made her curious about her ancestor’s life, so she’d subconsciously turned to Semiris—a walking piece of living history—for answers.

But just as Hulim was about to brush off the topic, Semiris’s next reaction caught her completely off guard.

“Wait a second. Olubert…… That name sounds familiar for some reason. Where on earth have I heard it before?”

Semiris frowned, screwing up her face as she wracked her brain trying to remember.

“It must have been something I heard in passing, otherwise I’d be able to recall it. Say, Hulim—who exactly is this person anyway?”

Hulim: “……”

“Hulim? Hey, Hulim—why aren’t you saying anything?”

“……He’s just an ancestor of mine. Never mind that—do you have any advice for me about magic wands?”

“I see. Just an ancestor of yours. Then I must have mixed his name up with someone else’s. Having lived for so long, it’s hard to keep track of everyone I’ve met~.”

Semiris frowned in a rare show of frustration.

“But magic wands…… Hmm. Since I’m a magic-born fairy, I’ve never needed some external tool to aid my magic, so I don’t know all that much about them. But for you humans, wands seem to be pretty important. Let me think—”

“Ah! Right! I remember Ravenrim has a few S-Rank wands stored away that are made from the core of the World Tree. You could—”

Hulim: “……”

Hulim stared silently at Semiris.

The World Tree? S-Rank? Did she really think that was something she could just go and get right now? All she’d wanted was a little advice—not for Semiris to suggest she go grab a legendary wand from an elven kingdom.

“Umm…… That probably isn’t the best fit for you right now, huh? Hehe~.”

Semiris laughed awkwardly.

“Oh wait! I remember now! There’s a sealed wand under the Northern Mountains that—umm, that one’s even less suitable. Never mind.”

“Hmm. There’s one in the Tower of Dawn…… Or was it Mirnabith…… Or maybe I could borrow one from Tiramsuin……”

“No! It’s fine! You don’t have to worry about finding me a wand, Semiris!”

Watching Semiris spiral into more and more absurd suggestions, Hulim panicked, worried that the fairy might actually fly off to fetch one of those legendary wands for her. She quickly cut her off.

“I just need an ordinary wand. I don’t need anything that powerful—I wouldn’t even be able to use it! Besides, I already made plans with Ms. Colette to go pick one out together. You really don’t have to worry about it!”

“Huh? Are you sure? I could get you a really amazing wand, you know!”

That was exactly the problem! Hulim thought to herself. If a fairy as powerful as Semiris—the strongest beneath the gods—called a wand “amazing,” there was no way she’d be able to use it in public without causing a huge scene. It would get her killed!

“I’m positive!”

“Aww, what a shame……”

Semiris looked genuinely disappointed, and Hulim could swear she’d actually been about to fly off to get one of those wands. Cold sweat broke out on her back.

“Ahem—Semiris, it’s getting late. Why don’t you teach me those mana control techniques now?”

“Right! I almost forgot. Alright then—basically, the key to mana control is your mental focus. You need to visualize your mana as a flowing river, then use your willpower to construct dams along its course to regulate the flow……”

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