From that day on, Iria’s training with Rena continued after their lectures ended.

 

According to her, it was best to be fully prepared before dueling with Sera.

 

Since there was no harm in being prepared, Iria learned magic under her guidance.

 

Although she could use stronger magic than Rena, she didn’t understand it as deeply as Rena did.

 

What Iria uses is ultimately just an imitation of someone else’s abilities because she isn’t particularly knowledgeable about magic.

 

In that respect, Rena was quite a good teacher. She had brought Iria from not even knowing how to use mana to a competent practitioner.

 

And so, three days had passed.

 

“Iria, how much is your mana capacity now?” asked Rena.

 

“When I checked yesterday, it was around 600.”

 

“As expected, your growth is really fast. Actually, the initial figure we measured was a bit strange. It was as if you had never used mana before. Your maximum capacity likely isn’t low.”

 

The average mana capacity for first-years was around 700, wasn’t it?

 

Soon, Iria might be able to reach the average level.

 

Maybe it’s because she’s been using magic stones more frequently lately. Still, she could somewhat feel that her internal mana had increased compared to before.

 

In fact, with magical energy, the necessity of mana wasn’t felt much. In most cases, it was possible to use it as a superior substitute for mana.

 

But right now, Iria is hiding her identity as a monster. She thought she should learn how to use mana too.

 

“Iria, you only know how to use wind magic, right?”

 

Iria nodded.

 

She doesn’t know exactly what kind of being she is, but assuming she’s about half monster and half human, this body’s talent was more ordinary than she thought.

 

Her total mana capacity wasn’t high, and even the elemental magic she could handle wasn’t extraordinary.

 

This is considered ordinary, but considering that Rena can handle three types of elemental magic and Sera can handle four, Iria’s not sure.

 

Should she consider the level of this academy to be unnecessarily high?

 

“But there’s good news, Iria.”

 

“…?”

 

“Fire magic is easy to deflect with the wind. You’ll probably get the hang of it quickly once you’re familiar with it.”

 

Saying that, Rena ignited a flame in her hand. After checking several times to see if anyone was around, she increased the firepower.

 

A deep red flower of flame blazed around. The radius was quite large, so Iria had to step back.

 

“I taught you how to utilize wind magic last time, right?”

 

“…”

 

“Then today, let’s practice deflecting flames. I’ll be your practice partner,” Rena said, aiming her flames at Iria.

 

She just waited, aiming, as if anticipating Iria’s move.

 

Iria decided to receive her flames.

 

She drew out the mana from within her body and enveloped it with a wind spell. She could confirm that the movement of extracting mana had become faster and more precise than before, thanks to the training.

 

After that, she covered the spell using someone else’s talent.

 

A blue-green light shimmered around, and a soft wind could be felt as it whipped through her lengthened hair.

 

As she became accustomed to handling mana, she could somewhat tell what her upper limit was.

 

Thanks to her increased mana capacity, she could now unleash slightly stronger winds.

 

-Whoosh!
Whoosh indeed
It was a meadow where red and blue-green mixed exquisitely. Rena released the flames she had been aiming one by one.

 

As she did so, Iria spread a wall of wind upon seeing the incoming flames. She read the trajectory of the flames and drew curves with her hands to deflect them.

 

As the flames merged, a red wind blew across the meadow. It was a threatening hot wind that could burn anything, even with a light touch.

 

However, there wasn’t even a small scratch on Iria’s body. It wasn’t just because her body’s durability was excellent; rather, it was more accurate to say that the flames barely grazed her.

 

Rena’s flames had merely skimmed along the trajectory of the wind Iria wielded.

 

All the flames Rena had shot scattered in the air without even touching Iria’s body.

 

Iria tilted her head slightly, wondering, “Is this how you do it?”

 

“Iria! You really are a genius!” Rena praised as she ran towards Iria and hugged her.

 

Then she stroked Iria’s head, but because Rena has large breasts, Iria was slightly suffocated.

 

***

 

About three more days had passed since then.

 

It was right after having a light duel with Rena, who had become Iria’s practice partner.

 

There’s a saying that dueling is the best way to improve one’s capabilities, and it’s not without reason.

 

Now, with one day left before her duel with Sera, Iria could physically feel the difference.

 

First, her mana capacity had increased significantly. When she last measured it, it barely exceeded 600, but now it’s around 660.

 

Her level had gone from weak to mid-level. She found out belatedly that 660 is quite high for ordinary people far from magic.

 

That wasn’t the only change.

 

The speed at which she could draw out and deploy mana had increased exponentially compared to before.

 

Previously, it took a long time to find the tiny amount of mana in a body full of magical energy, but now that wasn’t the case as the proportion of mana in her body had increased considerably.

 

She could say that she’s reached the point where she can extract and recover mana at will.

 

After finishing the duel, Irina walked through the academy park late at night. There was no particular reason for her stroll; she was simply on her way home from her practice with Rena.

 

As she was walking, she saw a figure sitting on the center of a bench.

 

It was a man with blue hair and glasses, holding a book in one hand.

 

Despite the park being dark due to the late hour, he was engrossed in reading. Curious, Iria wondered if he could see the letters. Looking closer, she saw he was reading by the light of a street lamp.

 

It was a familiar face. Hadn’t she sat next to him on that chair before?

 

“Albert.”

 

Iria silently uttered his name. She didn’t sit next to him as usual. He was quite an awkward person to encounter right now.

 

She had been deliberately avoiding him since the underground incident. If her prediction was correct, his current state would not be normal.

 

She didn’t know what would happen if Albert faced the person who had taken away his memories all at once.

 

She also felt an instinctive aversion to humans whose main job was monster subjugation.

 

It wasn’t the time to greet him, so she decided to pass by him as she had done before. She continued walking, ignoring him sitting on the bench.

 

“Miss Iria.”

 

Then she stopped.

 

Albert had called out to her, closing his book before she could leave.

 

She turned her head.

 

“Can we talk for a moment?”

 

Albert was looking at her, adjusting his glasses.

 

The park was quiet as it was late at night. Unlike the usual hustle and bustle, no voices or footsteps could be heard.

 

However, from Iria’s perspective, the park wasn’t so quiet.

 

There was a slight wariness in Albert’s eyes as he looked at her. If she listened carefully, she could hear the rapid beating of his heart and the crackling sound of blue mana flames.

 

She slowly moved to sit next to him. He didn’t seem to want to fight right away.

 

If all he wanted was a simple conversation, there was no reason not to oblige.

 

So there was silence for a while.

 

Iria is not a very talkative person, to begin with. As she sat next to him, she decided to give him time to organize his thoughts.

 

“Where should I start? First of all, it’s been a while.”

 

“……”

 

Up close, Albert’s complexion wasn’t very good. One eye was covered with something like an eye patch, and he looked haggard as if he hadn’t slept properly.

 

Iria couldn’t understand why he had called her. She still couldn’t read his memories without using magical energy. So, she waited.

 

“Why did you call me?”

 

Iria finally spoke first. She calculated that at this rate, the conversation would take ages to end.

 

Albert kept his mouth shut for a while, then slowly opened it.

 

“Are you not human?”

 

“……”

 

Human, huh.

 

It was a question Iria couldn’t answer.

 

Not only is she hiding her identity as the back alley monster, but she doesn’t even know exactly what kind of being she is.

 

She’s not human because she eats humans. If she had to say, she’s closer to a monster.

 

When she asked pure-blooded monsters about her identity, they said she wasn’t even a monster. They said they had never seen a being like her before, even monsters saw her as a monster.

 

So Iria didn’t answer Albert’s question. She couldn’t even read the intention behind the question.

 

Is he suspecting her because of what happened that day?

 

But he can’t be certain. Because she erased his memories. He would have struck her with lightning right away if he was certain.

 

After being momentarily lost in thought, Iria looked into Albert’s eyes. As she expected, he wasn’t confident in his words.

 

The fact that he couldn’t meet her eyes at all showed that. He seemed hesitant to say something.

 

It would have been convenient if she could read his memories at times like this. Now, she couldn’t know what he was thinking.

 

‘Should I kill him after all?’

 

She had no weapons, but Albert was much weaker now than before.

 

If it’s now, there are no witnesses. It wouldn’t be difficult to kill him.

 

If she made up her mind here, he could become another victim of a tragic encounter with the back alley monster.

 

But instead, she chose to wait.

 

Albert had asked her for a conversation.

 

It wasn’t too late to decide whether to kill him or not after hearing what he had to say.

 

“…Why do you think so?”

 

Iria asked him.

 

It was a day when the risen moon was beautiful. Maybe it looked that way because she was intoxicated by the thick dawn air.

 

It must be the same for her and for Albert.

 

Iria stood up from the bench and stood in front of Albert. A conversation didn’t necessarily have to be done sitting down.

 

Her silver hair, fluttering in the dawn breeze, reflected the moonlight, creating a somewhat dreamlike atmosphere.

 

It was just the right atmosphere; an excellent environment for the back alley monster to show hallucinations and dreams to others.

 

She slightly raised the magical energy in her body. A small amount of magical energy spread around like mist, not enough for Albert to notice.

 

Whatever happens today will be forgotten by him like a handful of dreams.