Chapter 19
Aura began to gather along the sword of the guy who'd picked a fight with me on the very first day of term.
The blue mana thinly coating his sword didn't look all that different from Eah's skill.
But then the bracelet on his wrist glinted, and the Aura covering his sword became sharper and denser.
So he was a noble's son, and even had one of those expensive artifacts. No wonder he'd been so confident.
"Are you finally scared? Don't worry. I'll rough you up just enough to give you an experience you'll never forget."
His gaze crawled up and down my body as he spouted filthy nonsense like a dog in heat. It gave me the creeps.
"If you're in heat, go rub yourself against that tree over there in silence. What do you have to brag about? Aren't you embarrassed to talk like that here?"
"You little—!"
So what if the Aura on his sword was Expert-level? His physical abilities were still only at the Aura User level.
The guy charged at me, cursing, but he looked slower than Eah.
How could a guy like this be in Class A while our Eah was in Class B? This was so annoying. Had he bribed someone?
He put his sword against my side and thrust at me. I dodged lightly and slapped him across the face.
Smack!
"Gah!"
His head snapped to the side, and blood spilled from his mouth. He must have bitten the inside of his mouth.
He stood there dazed for a moment, blinking a few times before looking at me and charging again.
I dodged just as easily and slapped his other cheek this time.
Smack!
I gave him a grin as he stared at me, looking unable to understand why he was the one getting beaten.
"What? Did you think that imitating an Expert's Aura with an artifact would make you a real Expert?"
"Do you know who I am, you lowly elf bitch?!"
"I do. You're a dog in heat, sir."
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
The sound of me slapping him without pause filled the training grounds.
"What's going on here?!"
Just as I was about to finish him off, I sensed the professor shouting as they came through the entrance.
Tsk.
I had no choice but to stop. The guy collapsed limply to the floor, apparently unconscious.
"Katrina, explain what happened. Depending on the circumstances, I'll have no choice but to discipline you."
"The person lying over there insulted me, drew his sword, and charged at me. I was only defending myself."
"Everyone, is what Katrina said true?"
The other students who'd been watching fell silent at the professor's question.
"No! That elf picked a fight first and beat my friend Delat for no reason!"
When everyone stayed silent, the bastard's friend piped up with a load of bullshit too.
"Is that true, Katrina?"
"... ..."
Honestly, I'd hoped at least one person would tell the truth. But as everyone clamped their mouths shut, disappointment welled up in me, and I couldn't help frowning.
There didn't seem to be anyone who would testify to my innocence even if I tried to explain myself, so I was about to just accept the punishment.
"No. What Katrina said is true, Professor Kuruad."
"Did you witness what happened, Chloe?"
I didn't know when she'd arrived, but Chloe came to my defense.
"I didn't see it happen, but I've already heard Katrina being subjected to vulgar, lewd comments. You must have heard the rumors too, Professor—that elves are docile."
"I understand what you're getting at, but it's hard to believe you if you didn't witness it."
After some thought, the professor spoke.
"Chloe's account is certainly credible, and although Delat was the only one armed, we don't have conclusive proof. So I'll demote Delat to Class B and suspend Katrina for seven days."
After hearing the accounts from the guy's friend and Chloe, the professor considered the matter. Perhaps taking the elves' nature into account, the professor gave the unconscious boy a harsher punishment.
I thanked Chloe when they told me to return to the dormitory, then headed back.
Even then, not a single one of the other students spoke up.
It was a truly sickening sight.
I was killing time in the dorm when I realized it was almost lunchtime. But I didn't want to see any other humans right now, so I decided to just skip the meal.
Skipping one meal wouldn't cause me any problems.
I was thinking that when the door flew open and Eah came in.
"Sis, I heard you were suspended! What happened?"
"Eah, you're here?"
I felt my mood souring as I remembered what had happened earlier, but the moment I saw Eah, all the gloom lifted away.
It was as if I were a cat and Eah were a piece of silver vine. The effect was incredible.
"You were suspended, so why are you so cheerful? Are you okay, Sis?"
"I was in a bad mood, but seeing my little sister cheered me up. And don't worry—I beat him half to death."
"I never thought you'd be the one getting beaten, Sis, but..."
Had she come because she was worried about what I'd done, not because she was worried about me?
How sad...
"What are you talking about? I came because I was worried about you, Sis."
That's my little sister!
"Come on, Sis. Let's go get lunch. I'm hungry."
My little sister was hungry, so of course I had to go eat with her.
As we ate in the dining hall, I heard plenty of whispers. It seemed word had gotten around about what I'd done.
'They say she beat Count Graden's son half to death?"
'Do not even ask. His face was a complete mess. What was she thinking, considering the consequences?'
What was it with the sons of counts? The guy who'd been beaten to a pulp by the maid at the entrance had a count for a father, and now this guy's father was a count too.
His face had turned into a mess too. There seemed to be something wrong with how counts raised their children.
"Doesn't it taste good, Sis? Today's side dishes seem pretty nice."
I'd been lost in thought while listening to the people around us, and my little sister noticed and checked on me.
"It's good. Don't worry, and make sure you eat plenty too."
I wanted to pat Eah on the head, but my short arms couldn't reach her across the table. I was straining to do so when Chris sat down beside me. I hadn't even noticed him arrive.
"You sure know how to cause trouble in style. You held back earlier, so what happened this time?"
"Oh, you're here?"
I ate slowly as I explained what had happened.
Chris was surprisingly calm as he listened, while Eah got worked up and shouted.
"How can anyone be like that? Aren't you angry too, Chris?"
"You beat him half to death. Why would I need to be angry? You did great, Karin."
I calmed the excited Eah down, and we finished our meal.
"That's what happened, so I'm going to rest in the dorm. See you at three, Chris."
I wanted to take it easy, but I remembered the professor saying I could attend History and Mana Studies, so I said goodbye to the two of them.
Today was a History class day.
Two gods appeared in a place where nothing had existed.
The two gods were sisters. The elder sister was named Morphe, and the younger one was Erna.
Morphe, the Goddess of Creation, shaved off some of her divinity to create the Platinum Continent and all kinds of life.
The intelligent beings called themselves humans, elves, beastfolk, dwarves, and demons, and came to live in the place known as the Platinum Continent—or the Middle Realm.
They divided the continent however they pleased and made their homes there.
Morphe had created life, but her creations had limited lifespans. Seeing this, Erna also shaved off some of her divinity and completed the cycle in which life died and was born again.
As with any myth or legend, the story was beautiful and peaceful up to that point.
And, as always, humans were the ones to cause trouble.
Humans multiplied far faster than the other races and were greedy, so they waged wars and expanded their influence.
One day, as human power grew and the other races declined, Erna, angry at human greed, gave power to the demons she had always cherished and ordered them to wipe out humanity.
The demons, empowered by Erna, gradually began to bring down humanity's vast forces. When Morphe learned what was happening, she tried to stop her younger sister, but...
Erna had no intention of stopping, so Morphe gave some of her own power to humans, hoping to put an end to the conflict. Armed with that power, they fought back against the demons.
But the two races were evenly matched and neither could gain the upper hand, so they turned to the other races for help.
The elves, protected by the World Tree—a demigod born from a fragment of Morphe—had long overlooked humanity's misdeeds and joined hands with them. The beastfolk, who were close to the elves, also joined the human side.
The dwarves remained neutral, leaving the demons alone against the alliance of three races. The demons were forced to surrender, and Erna, weakened by the long battle, used the last of her divinity to create the Demon Realm and evacuate them there.
The demons had escaped to safety, but Erna had spent so much of her divinity that she vanished. The victorious humans, elves, and beastfolk formed an alliance, and it has lasted to this day.
Myths and legends really were quite interesting.
But history classes usually taught myths like these to children when they were young.
When I was little, I read Korean folk tales and Greek myths in comics, or learned about them from my teachers.
"Today we learned the mythology of our Platinum Continent from 800 years ago. Did you enjoy it, everyone?"
"Yes!"
"Yes..."
The children answered the professor enthusiastically, and I was among them.
Everyone here must be a noble's child, given they came to the academy so young.
But maybe because they were so young, or because of the school rules, they got along well despite their different statuses, their eyes shining as they listened to the professor's fascinating story.
"Professor, does that mean the big sister and big brother here are our siblings?"
The professor smiled brightly at the little girl who'd asked so cutely and answered.
"That's right. Humans and elves are siblings who still maintain their alliance."
"Wow, I'm happy to have a pretty big sister and a handsome big brother!"
For some reason, that reminded me of something Eah had said, and I suddenly wondered about her mental age.
I knew this was where students learned the basics of history, and that there was no age limit for entering the academy, but...
We hadn't expected to study alongside little kids like these. We were taken aback by the sight when we first entered the classroom.
I felt a little down, but it was still much better than dealing with a count's son. They were all cute, so I was fairly satisfied.
"That's all for today's lesson. Be careful on your way home, everyone~"
"Yes!"
The children answered loudly, gathered their things, and filed out of the classroom one by one.
Then we should get going too, right?
"Big sis, big sis."
"Hm?"
Just as I was about to leave, a little boy grabbed my skirt and called out to me.
"Big sis, come play with me."
Come play with him...? I put on an awkward smile, flustered, but playing with him for a little while was probably fine.
Hmm, but this kid isn't one of them, is he?
"Hey, little guy, is your father a count by any chance?"
"I'm not a little kid! But how did you know my dad was a count?"
Why are there so many counts?