Rustle.

The air was unusually crisp in the early morning. As the sun slowly began to rise, it brightened the once-dark mountain. If one were to see it, they would witness a breathtaking scene, like a treasure revealed at the break of dawn.

However, sadly, there weren’t many diligent enough to witness such a treasure-like view. Especially…

[Arin! Get up already, if you don’t get ready now, you’ll be late!]

“Just five... just five more minutes…”

[You always say that, and then you sleep for another fifty minutes. Stop making excuses.]

This was even more true for students who always seemed to lack sleep.

“Mmm…!”

Despite the ghost girl's nagging, Arin didn’t seem particularly moved. She grumbled and whined, not wanting to wake up.

Seeing this, the ghost girl frowned and decided to use her trump card.

[Arin, I think you're going to have to repeat this year if you keep this up.]

Jolt!

“R-Repeat!?”

Arin jumped up as if her drowsiness had never existed, visibly shaken. She was typically pale in the mornings due to low blood pressure, but the mention of repeating a year caused her face to flush red. The word “repeat” clearly struck a nerve with her.

[Hehe, silly Arin.]

“You... you...!”

Finally shaking off the sleepiness, Arin pointed accusingly at the ghost girl. There were things you just don’t say!

To mention repeating a year to a student?

‘What a wicked girl!’

[I can hear you, Arin. And besides, what’s so scary about repeating a year? I don’t get it.]

“…You wouldn’t understand, you miserable girl.”

Snap.

What would a ghost know about the terror of a student’s life? With a sigh, Irene Windler snapped her fingers.

With a whoosh, blue energy rippled through the air, and a surprising phenomenon occurred.

The curtains blocking the sunlight pulled back, the windows opened, and the stale air and dust accumulated overnight swiftly escaped outside. Her room was soon filled with fresh air and the warm light of the morning sun. She stretched out her body as she inhaled the clean oxygen.

“Ahh, magic is truly convenient.”

[People would say you're wasting magic on trivial things like that.]

“That’s only what conservative old folks think, and just thinking about them makes me mad again!”

[Mmm, true! I’ll give you that one!]

At the academy, hearing what the older mages and professors had to say was often stifling.

They talked about how magical talent was a gift chosen by something greater and how magic was a superior wisdom incomprehensible to ignorant humans.

Just listening to them made her stomach churn.

‘No wonder mages are despised in this world. It feels like they’re all lunatics, except for me.’

[Arin, it’s fine to indulge in self-admiration, but don’t you think it’s time to get ready?]

“…Haa, I really don’t want to go.”

After twelve years of schooling, wasn’t that enough? The thought of waking up early for another three years of classes already depressed her. Irene sighed deeply.

Just then…

[Oh! It’s the instructor!]

“He’s up early… Wow!”

[What a sight for sore eyes.]

She could see the instructor running. Judging by the amount of sweat, he’d been at it long before she even woke up. The sunlight reflected off his sweat like dew, and it amazed her how diligently he ran every day.

‘How can someone run like that every morning?’

It was a view she saw every morning since she moved in. In a way, she respected him for it.

But that respect only lasted a moment because what drew her attention more than the instructor’s routine was his shirtless body.

She scrutinized him so thoroughly that anyone watching might find her suspicious.

“…He doesn’t know we’re watching, right?”

[No way he does. But, Arin, hurry and take a picture, quick!]

“T-Taking secret pictures is a crime…”

[It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.]

“…Is that so?”

It was a strangely convincing phrase, and Arin, pretending to be reluctant, pulled out “the item.”

It was a rare magical tool crafted by a water mage, said to be worth the price of a house. Though it had a grand name—[Shape Copy Camera]—to Arin, it was nothing more than a camera, and an awkward gift from a rather sleazy duke.

But right now…

“Ah, I got it.”

Having successfully taken a secret photo, for the first time, Arin was grateful for the duke’s gift.

Maybe that guy wasn’t as bad as she thought?

“Since when did she get a camera? That’s news to me.”

Arin was under the impression that her actions and voice hadn’t been noticed, but unfortunately, his hearing and sense of awareness were remarkably sharp.

Though he didn’t catch all of her words due to the distance, Ihan was aware that she was taking a picture, and he wasn’t particularly bothered by it.

However…

“I should ask her to show me how it turned out later.”

He was curious to see how he looked in the picture and figured he might as well ask her to show it to him someday.

…Little did she know, she would later be caught red-handed and utterly mortified for her “crime.”