“What should I start with?”
I asked, standing in the middle of the room, looking at Presia. However, she walked towards me as if she hadn’t heard my question.
Seeing her up close, Presia’s cute appearance became even more noticeable. Despite being a face I had never seen before, she felt incredibly familiar.
As she approached me, Presia passed by my side, turned around, and—
*Slap!*
“Hyah!?”
I screamed in surprise as Presia suddenly slapped my bottom. The unexpected attack made me instinctively let out a scream, as my senses were heightened.
“Normally, it would be two slaps… but I’ll let it slide with just one.”
“Uh. Huh?”
I didn’t understand what she meant by letting it slide, but I answered anyway. Did I do something wrong to Presia?
No matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t find an answer. After all, Presia and I had just met.
In contrast to my confusion, Presia wore a satisfied smile on her face.
Instead of answering my question, she got straight to the point.
“Well… there’s only about ten minutes left for lunch… so this magic will do.”
Presia’s voice, which made even me feel sleepy, stretched her finger towards the air and began to draw something.
The magical energy gathering at the tip of her finger formed a magic circle.
As far as I knew, magic circles were usually drawn on objects. Whether it was on the ground, paper, or objects. However, I had never heard of someone drawing a magic circle in the air on the spot.
Doubting if she was really doing it correctly, Presia’s finger moved swiftly, and finally, it stopped.
*Swish—*
The magic circle drawn in the air shone brightly.
The magic circle not only glowed but also approached me, reducing its size until it settled on my chest.
I unbuttoned a few of the upper buttons of my blouse to check, and there, a small magic circle composed of simple shapes was engraved on my chest.
“Um, boss, what is this…?”
“I’m going to test out the magic I developed on you. This is one of them. You can tell me your feelings about it after afternoon class later.”
“So what’s the effect of this magic?”
I asked Presia about the magic’s effect since knowing what it was would help me focus more on that aspect. However, she opened her mouth again with a blank expression.
“That’s a secret. Knowing the effect of the magic, even if you don’t, might make you feel it unnecessarily… so find out for yourself.”
After saying that, Presia returned to sit on the sofa.
“Alright, I need to take a nap again… just come at a reasonable time after school as long as it’s not too late.”
With that, Presia snapped her fingers, and the eye mask that was rolling on the floor flew through the air to cover her eyes, while a stuffed bear waddled over from the corner and snuggled into her arms.
Then, Presia flopped down on the sofa.
Even though it would soon be time for the afternoon class, her actions made it seem like she was fully prepared for a deep sleep.
I wondered if such behavior was allowed in the magic department, which was supposedly focused on research performance, but it wasn’t my place to interfere. If I annoyed the boss, I would only be the one to suffer.
I carefully closed the door to avoid waking Presia, who had instantly traveled to dreamland, and stepped outside.
***
“Today is free sparring. Pair up freely and spar. I’ll be watching, so don’t slack off!”
The first person I paired up with was Celie. Of course, there was still plenty of time left in the class, so I planned to spar with Anne and Yuri as well as other kids from different classes after sparring with Celie. But still, the sparring I was most excited about was with Celie.
Facing each other were Celie and I.
Celie and I both rushed towards each other simultaneously.
Normally, we would clash our swords around the middle, but—
*Clang!*
When Celie had taken only two steps, I was already right in front of her.
For some reason, I felt a stronger desire to move more actively today.
However, despite the unexpectedly quick strike, Celie easily blocked my attack.
In that case, I would press her harder with more aggressive movements and quicker attacks.
*Thwack, thwack.*
Of course, even in that situation, Celie effortlessly defended against my faster strikes.
*Clang, clang.*
And soon, we engaged in a struggle, swords clashing.
I wasn’t sure how much stronger I could get, but both of us were at an equal level in this struggle.
Our eyes met across our wooden swords.
In a fight, it’s important to observe the opponent’s gaze and utilize your own.
Therefore, I looked into Celie’s eyes to gauge her next move.
*Whoosh!*
In that moment, I felt my face flush. What’s going on?
Flustered, I batted away Celie’s sword and stepped back a few paces to create distance.
*Thump, thump, thump, thump.*
As I placed my hand on my chest, I could feel my heart racing. What is this? Why is it like this?
Noticing that something was off, Celie lowered her sword and approached me.
“El? What’s wrong?”
With a worried expression, Celie placed her hand on my forehead.
“You don’t seem to have a fever… are you okay?”
My already racing heart quickened even more, now pounding like crazy.
I worried that Celie might hear my heartbeat and turned my head away from her gaze.
This… it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I’ve completely fallen in love…
Well, Celie is indeed a warrior candidate, and while she can be intimidating at times, she’s fundamentally kind-hearted, pretty, talented, and even comes from a good family.
She’s the kind of perfect woman anyone could fall for.
But even though Celie is beautiful, it’s strange for girls to feel this way about each other.
Still, if I look at the novel Celie lent me last time, it shows that girls can fall in love too.
No, I’m a guy, so it’s actually more natural for me to react this way, right? A close call?
But now I want to. It’s strange that this feeling would arise so suddenly while we were exchanging swords like this.
No matter how much love can come unexpectedly…
“El? Celie?”
Noticing that something was off, Anne and Yuri approached us while sparring.
“What’s wrong? Is El hurt?”
Realizing there was an issue on my end, Anne stared at me as Celie had done.
*Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.*
Locking eyes with Anne, my heart, which I thought had calmed down, began to race wildly again.
Come on, heart. What are you doing? If you’re a human and not a beast, you should remember how you just raced when you looked at Celie and have a little decency.
*Whoosh!*
Turning my head to the opposite side, I now saw Yuri’s face.
“El? Are you okay?”
*Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.*
“Eh…! Ah, it’s nothing!”
I accidentally used formal language, but there was no time to worry about something so trivial.
Was I really this wishy-washy? I felt like I was more beast than human!
Just a moment ago, I was racing at the sight of Celie, and now I’m thumping at the sight of Anne, and once more at Yuri.
Of course, all three are beauties, but it’s a bit shocking.
“Um… I’m tired. I’m really tired, so… I think I need to rest in the infirmary.”
I stood up and immediately headed toward Professor Ferrent.
“I’m feeling really fatigued, so may I go to the infirmary?”
My racing heart wouldn’t settle down. I probably still looked flushed.
“Hmm? If you’re saying that, it seems like you really aren’t well. Understood. I’ll inform the next class’s professor, so you can rest in the infirmary until you feel better.”
I barely managed to dissuade Celie, Anne, and Yuri from accompanying me to the infirmary and fled.
I found myself standing in front of Room 707 in the Magic Building. Instead of going to the infirmary, I cautiously made my way to Presia’s lab, avoiding the gaze of others.
*Creeeak.*
I gently turned the doorknob, and it opened easily, confirming it wasn’t locked.
“Um, President?”
I heard no reply, perhaps still asleep. Feeling hesitant to wake my employer Presia, I sat on a chair left to the side and pondered.
Earlier, I had been too flustered to think, but now that I had calmed down, I could roughly guess why I felt that way.
It was clearly the effect of the magic Presia had cast.
I had spent a fair amount of time with Celie, Anne, and Yuri. Of course, there had been moments of racing hearts, but it was the first time I couldn’t control myself like this.
“Phew. I’m not wishy-washy.”
I almost thought I was trash.
“Uh…? Is it already evening?”
At my mumbling, Presia seemed to wake up, removing her eye mask and rubbing her eyes.
Then she stretched her other arm while hugging a teddy bear, looking like a baby kitten.
“No, it’s still class time.”
“Huh? But why are you here?”
“It’s because of the magic you cast earlier. That… because of the magic, my heart was racing so much that I found it hard to concentrate in class, so I slipped away.”
I reported everything that had happened earlier to Presia.
“Um… The intended effect was supposed to be an acceleration of movement… but it seems like my heart has accelerated instead… Then I need to modify the third stroke of the magic circle…”
Before I knew it, Presia had started muttering to herself.
Could she really understand what the problem was and fix it right away just from my brief experience?
I wondered if magic was really that easy to adjust, but I knew well enough that it wasn’t.
Of course, since I didn’t know magic in detail, I couldn’t exactly grasp how impressive Presia’s actions were.
“Ah… I’ll release the magic now. Today’s experiment ends here. If another experiment is needed, I’ll call you again… Of course, you can come anytime for additional compensation.”
As Presia drew a simpler magic circle than when she cast magic on me, I could see the magic circle that had been etched on my chest disappear.
“Here… this is your payment for today.”
She handed me a small pouch. When I peeked inside, I found a considerable amount of silver coins, enough to get me through the immediate situation.
“Call on me anytime!”
Loyalty!
Leaving behind a deep-in-thought Presia, who was unlike when she had fallen asleep earlier, I exited the lab.
Fortunately, I was able to go to the infirmary and lie down on a bed before class ended.
However, when Celie, Anne, and Yuri came to visit after class, my heart raced again, though not as intensely as before, indicating that some of the magic’s effect still lingered.
As a result, I had no choice but to skip all my classes afterward and rest.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, It’s Common Sense That Your Reaction Speed Increases When You Get TS, Right? is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : It’s Common Sense That Your Reaction Speed Increases When You Get TS, Right?
You mean to tell me that Celian is already showing Elysia other “possibilities” through novel recommendations.
Honestly, genius. Elysia knows what she wants and is making steps to get it.