{Baek Yu-Seol’s POV}

After the incident ended, Stella's 30 magic knights immediately flew to the Martevis Cemetery.

The Necromancer's body was recovered by the Magic Investigation Unit, and the Martevis Cemetery went through a purification process.

“Then, what should we do for a living!?”

“Oh, we are all going to die! Ordinary citizens are all gonna die!”

The merchants raised their stiff necks and shouted loudly, but it didn’t work.

“Could you shout like that if your head fell into the hand of a skeleton? If it weren’t for those students over there, you would all be dead!”

“That, that....”

“I hope that no more people will be harmed by that kind of selfish thoughts. We will start purification today.”

“Oh, please give us a little time…”

"Right now!"

It was a fact I did not know, but Stella's influence seemed to move even the public powers.

The students returned home safely on an airship operated by Stella. As soon as I returned, I heard the bitter remarks from Instructor Hanwol.

“Someone said that he was going to practice in a place with beautiful mountains and fresh air, so they headed to the hunting grounds. The air in the cemetery was pretty rejuvenating, wasn’t it?"

Despite the sarcasm, I had nothing to say.

“I just... got off because something happened on the way.”

"I see. You are penalized according to the rules. There are no exceptions.”

Lee Hanwol turned around and added.

“However, you jumped into the battlefield without hesitation to protect your friends. Even while violating the school rules, you did a great job. I will give you a corresponding reward, so please wait.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

I would have been in a bad mood if despite having done a good job, I would only receive penalty points.

"Haah, I'm tired."

It was about to be dawn. The purple night sky was really beautiful, but it was time for the sun to rise soon.

My thighs still hurt. Even with Edna and an excellent therapist’s first aid, I would continue to be in pain for several days.

Fortunately, it wasn't a serious injury, and strangely, I recovered faster than normal people, so the therapist said I could return to class right away.

Perhaps, due to the influence of the Mana Accumulation Retardation, my recovery ability also improved.

‘I don't want to be back to class so quickly... so can't you just put me in the hospital?’

Thinking about that, I walked away, but someone approached me with light steps and tapped me on the shoulder.

It was Edna.

“Mister, I owe you a little.”

“Is that so? Buy me a meal later.”

"A meal from a student who doesn’t have money to eat herself?"

“I am a student too.”

"That's true."

I burst out laughing.

Still, unlike what I initially thought, I started to think that Edna might not be that dangerous of a person.

Due to the players manipulating Edna in the game, there were many cases in which Eisel’s talents and opportunities were robbed by her, but the real Edna was not like that.

After that, Denmark, Ben, Hong Bi-Yeon, group members, Kashif Derek, etc, thanked me and disappeared.

Lastly…

Eisel had arrived.

But somehow, her expression was quite dark. I saw it and felt a bad premonition.

'Why is she like this?'

Eisel was a person who always lived with a bright smile on her face. On the other side of it, no matter what burdens she carried, she stood firm and overcame hardships and adversity.... She was such a great character.

“... I am really thankful for today.”

"Uh. Buy me a treat later.”

I spoke lightly in a joking tone.

Watching my nonchalant expression, Eisel thought silently.

There was one fact that she knew from this incident; no, even before that.

'There are many outstanding people besides me in this world.’

She considered herself a genius. That thought had not changed even now. However, there were plenty of geniuses who were just as good as her, or even better than her.

It wasn't until after entering Stella Academy that she found out about it.

The world was wide, and there were many geniuses.

She entered the academy with the intention of becoming the best, but she realized that it could never be achieved easily.

She had to be the best.

So, she had been working hard to be the best.

But now, she had a question.

'Really...... Will it work just because I try hard?'

There were so many geniuses who had already left her behind even though they were the same age as her.

Such depressing thoughts kept running through her head, and Eisel struggled to hold them in.

She suppressed all her anxiety into her heart.

Anxiety was more terrifying than fear.

Fear was a response to perceptible and real danger, whereas anxiety was derived from the inner unconscious.

'Can I do it?’

‘If I limit my ambition with such narrow minded thoughts, my achievements will certainly be limited. If the underlying scar is not treated, no matter how much medicine is applied over and over again, the wound will never heal fully.’

Because it was a lot.

So, without even realizing it, Eisel asked me.

“Can I… do that too?”

When I was asked that question, my face revealed utter calmess, and the previous uncaring expression was nowhere to be seen.

It was a very, very bad question. It wasn't because the question itself was difficult. However, it was a question she shouldn't have asked.

In the original plot, Eisel goes through all the trials that a protagonist would have to go through.

And, somehow, she got through them. The Necromancer's attack must have been the same.

She must have tried to overcome the difficulties with strategy, and in the end, her efforts must have turned things around somehow.

However, because I intervened, Eisel was only given an ordeal and no narrative of 'overcoming' presented itself.

All she did was to rely on the people around her to be saved.

So no matter how many episodes she crossed, she remained soft-hearted.

Eisel endured some harmless droplets, then got used to it and endured the shower.

And, eventually, she withstood the waterfall and even the tsunami. Through it, Eisel completely lost her resistance to the ordeal itself.

However, the above cycle was deranged due to my presence.

'... What shall I do?’

There was no use in ignorant consolation.

Empty words were meaningless.

It would only hurt her more.

So, I said from the bottom of my heart, “I don't think you need to ask me. You are already untouchable for others. You have achieved what you wish.”

“... Yes?"

A girl who lost her parents at a young age and was abandoned as the child of a traitor.

However, she did not give up her life in the end, and immersed herself in the magic.

On a snowy day, she hid her body under a cave and trembled, but she studied with a magic book she bought from a used bookstore, and she didn’t have any money.

Even when she had to starve, she would prefer a pencil to a loaf of bread, sleep for two hours a day, and in the midst of toiling labor, she never let go of her pen stand.

And miraculously, she entered the most prestigious academy called Stella Academy.

If you don't call it a miracle, how would you describe it?

“So, in the future, you will be able to achieve miracles.”

Eisel closed her lips tightly and looked at me without saying a word.

A cool breeze blew and brushed past her hair.

“How do you… know that?”

“Yeah, because I’ve been watching you all along.”

"...... Yes?"

In an instant, I came back to my senses. ‘Wait for a second. Doesn’t this make me a stalker?'

Declaring that I had been watching her all along was the same as saying that I was a pervert. How could I make such a slip of tongue? I hurriedly turned around and started walking back under the sunrise.

“Then, I’ll get going.”

I hurriedly left.

Eisel stayed there for a while, pondering on my words.

‘He said he’d been watching me...'

No one paid any attention to the daughter of a traitor. Even if someone did, they did it for the sake of finding faults and throwing stones. There was not a single person who did it for her.

However.

Today, that idea had been shattered.

'You've already achieved it...'

The words rang through her heart, circled the blood vessels throughout her body, and pierced her head.

Her heart started beating slowly. The passion for magic. The goal that seemed to be lost was waking up again.

Before she knew it, dawn broke in the distance.

A new morning unravelled itself.