Under a tide of watching eyes, one class ebbed by; when the bell rang, the crowd closed in around Ling like reeds in a pond.

“Ling, what kind of mage are you?”

Annoyance pricked first, sharp as nettles; she remembered adventurers sneering at nature mages, and a small smile curled like a leaf.

“A nature mage.”

To make it stick, she let a thread of power slip; green mana skimmed over her skin like moss on stone.

They froze for heartbeats. A noble-looking boy recovered first; his grin twisted like a bent mask, and the words came exactly as she expected.

“So you’re a green grub. First time I’ve heard a green grub rated S-class. Did that old man lose his mind? Hahaha. Hey, little girl, be with me and I’ll gift you my family’s ancestral nature magic—stuff even the Empire’s King doesn’t have.”

Oh, textbook taunt. Do people still act like brain-dead NPCs from cheap novels? Even the King doesn’t have it, but you do? See a loli, think she’s easy prey?

The only pity—no chorus joined his mockery. Ling felt a flicker of disappointment; she’d hoped to flex once and get famous.

But hearing trash and staying quiet would be dumber.

Heat rose first, cool as iron; she lifted her right hand, and power gathered at her fingertip into an index-sized Magic Cannon.

He blinked at the aura, sharp and predatory; then he panicked, voice cracking like a breaking plate.

“Wait, stop! You’ll get executed! I’m Duke Laki’s eldest son!”

Wow, how fast that turned—groveling in a blink. A true champion of fair-weather friends. And none of it mattered to her.

Ling answered with a chill as light as frost. “Oh.”

The Magic Cannon roared; a green shot ripped out like a comet and shredded his right arm into red grit.

Though it was only his “girlfriend”—his right hand—the noble still toppled into a faint. Why not kill him? Too many eyes; trouble for Alicia isn’t worth a corpse.

“Someone carry him off. He’s spoiling the view.”

Her words fell like cold rain, and shivers ran through the crowd; this sweet loli was a storm in a teacup, violent and adorable—scary and somehow… irresistible.

Violent lolis? Favorite flavor.

Maybe that noble was truly hated here, or maybe violent-cute hit like candy; either way, some girls turned into instant Ling-fans.

“Lady Ling, you’re so cool! Please step on me!”

“Lady Ling! I’ll have your babies!”

“Lady Ling, please let me draw a yuri doujin of you and Alicia!”

Ling ignored the pervy lines and blinked, bewildered, a cloud drifting over a sunlit pond.

“Aren’t you afraid of me? I do kill people.”

Weird. First time flexing in front of a crowd, first time blasting a noble—she should feel double joy. So why didn’t it land?

Her puzzled face was a peach blossom; the girls screamed again.

“Ah! Lady Ling said ‘I’ll kill you’ with a confused look—so cute!”

“Mom, I’m in love.”

“Help, this is a heart-attack kind of crush.”

Still lost, Ling felt Alicia scoop her up like a swift wind, and they slipped out through the crowd, leaving a chorus behind: “Lady Ling!” “Don’t leave me!”

———————running-line break———————

On the rooftop, sun warm as honey, Alicia took Ling’s cheeks between her fingers and pinched.

“Idiot. I told you not to stir trouble. Look, now we’ve got a mess.”

Sulky heat came first, small and stubborn; Ling mumbled with a pout. “But he started it.”

“This time, I’ll forgive you. Next time, don’t. I warned you—leave it to us. Your methods are too rough. Fix that, and I’ll trust you to go out.”

“Mm. Got it.”

Alicia sighed, a willow-breath. “Right. You didn’t hear a word.”

Gurgle.

Ling’s stomach sang like a tiny drum, and her face flushed cherry-red as she turned away.

“T-That was my new phone Ling-tone! Not me being hungry!”

“Oh? Then answer your call.”

Teased, Ling drooped like a wilted sprout and couldn’t argue.

Alicia laughed, the sound light as wind-chimes. “Told you to eat more breakfast. Lucky for you, I brought a bento. Want it?”

She pulled a box from her bag; it was generous, every color bright as a garden.

Ling didn’t take it.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want it?”

“Feed me, big sis Alicia.”

“You only act cute at times like this.”

“Hehe.”

Alicia lifted bite after bite, and Ling chewed in small rhythm, cheeks round as dumplings; watching her, Alicia’s heart stirred again like ripples on a lake.

I wish it could stay like this.

Only that thought moved inside her chest. No romance—fine. This should be safe. If it’s just this, I’m content.

Happiness ran fast like a stream; when Alicia reached with her chopsticks again, they tapped air. The bento lay bare.

She sighed softly and packed the box, motions neat as folding paper cranes.

“All right, Ling. Back to class. We don’t ditch.”

Hand in hand, they walked the sunny corridor and slid back into the room.

After they left, the empty rooftop caught a new shadow; a pink-haired figure stepped out like a rose at dusk.

“Yufan Ling, hm? Lovely scent.”

Back in the classroom, under a tide of admiring stares, Ling and Alicia returned to their seats. The collapsed noble had been carried off. The King should smooth out the Duke’s side; no need to worry. Finally, a calm life—

Her calm lasted two heartbeats. A bang tore from the doorway; wood splintered like dry bamboo. A pink-haired girl stood there, finger pointing straight at them.

“Alicia! I, Rafi, challenge you. The wager is Ling!”

Uh? Since when did I become a bet?

Also—are we not having class?