Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
At dawn, the bells of Celestial Carving Academy echoed across campus.
Sharkai Bai blinked open his drowsy eyes as usual.
*(This…?)*
He checked his body—no pain, no discomfort. Even the scars from past battles had vanished.
“Daaaarling~! You’re finally awake!”
The bedroom door burst open. Cecilia Xuelian rushed in.
*(…)*
In Sharkai Bai’s memory, he’d nearly died at Xuanyuan Yinghan’s hands just moments ago. How had everything changed? He strained to recall.
At the kitchen table, a feast of meat dishes—all his favorites—waited.
“There, there, darling. Sit down~ We’ll be late if you don’t eat fast~”
Cecilia Xuelian appeared behind him, hands on his shoulders, gently pressing him into a chair.
*(A dream?)*
Sharkai Bai pinched his cheek. A sharp sting shot through him.
He picked up a piece of meat. It had real flavor.
*(…!!!——Xia Feina!!)*
Remembering Xia Feina—the girl he’d been fleeing with, the one he vowed to save—Sharkai Bai slammed his chopsticks on the table and stood up.
“D-Darling? Was my cooking not good enough?”
“Move…!”
He shoved past a startled Cecilia Xuelian and yanked the door open.
A familiar face greeted him—a black-haired girl in an A-rank mage uniform. Xia Feina.
“Oh? Pervert Bai, you look flustered. You asked me to walk to class together yesterday. Didn’t think you’d actually be on time!”
“…Did the Academy… punish you?”
Xia Feina showed no signs of injury or torture. Confused by his panic, she grinned.
“The Academy? You mean those apprentices? Please! I’m ranked second here. Who’d dare touch me except you? You must’ve slept too hard.”
*(Not a dream…)*
This was the Xia Feina he remembered.
A murderous aura surged behind him.
“Daaaarrrrliiiing—!!”
Cold sweat slicked his back. Sharkai Bai turned slowly.
Cecilia Xuelian’s fist flew straight at his face.
The pain was real.
Walking to class, Sharkai Bai gazed at the sun above Celestial Carving Academy. Its warmth soaked into his skin.
“You fox spirit! Why do you cling to my darling all day? He’s my fi-an-cé!”
“So what if he’s engaged? Maybe his family forced him into it!”
Watching Cecilia Xuelian and Xia Feina bicker ahead, Sharkai Bai began to accept this reality.
Just as he relaxed, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat approached.
“You don’t actually believe this is real, do you?”
The man brushed past him, leaving those words hanging.
Sharkai Bai spun around. “What did you say?!”
“——I said this is all an illusion.”
The man turned back. “Girosha. Sixth-ranked at Celestial Carving Academy. The Phantom Witch.”
“Tch. Caught already?”
——The world shattered like glass.
Darkness swallowed everything. Girosha stood holding a massive white scythe.
“Sorry, kid. I don’t plan to fight you.”
“Heh. I’m not arrogant enough to challenge the legendary curse master Xia Yuan.”
“I just came to see the ‘monster’ inside you.”
Xia Yuan’s hands stayed in his coat pockets. He glanced meaningfully at Sharkai Bai, whose wounds were now bleeding through his clothes on the ground. Then he vanished into the dark.
Pain, exhaustion, blood, despair—crashed over Sharkai Bai’s mind and body all at once.
The scene shifted back to Roselde’s streets (within the barrier).
Lying on the pavement, Sharkai Bai forced his eyes open. Xia Feina lay collapsed before him.
“XIA FEINA!!!”
Drained of strength, he crawled toward her.
Bloodied and trembling, he recalled her words:
“As a Super Archmage, my base physical stats remain intact.”
So… Xia Feina’s body had Super Archmage-level durability. She was just unconscious.
“Hey. Don’t ignore me, Bai~kun~”
Relief washed over him—but now he faced his enemy.
Girosha. Sixth-ranked at Celestial Carving Academy. The Night Witch.
“You can’t even stand anymore, can you?”
“…Cough! I’ll… get up…!”
Under Girosha’s gaze, Sharkai Bai struggled to push himself up.
“This ends now.”
Girosha’s scythe whooshed through his body.
SPLURT—!!
Blood gushed from Sharkai Bai’s severed right arm.
As Girosha turned to deal with Xia Feina—
——A crimson, cannonball-like sphere shot toward her.
“?!!?!”
She dodged frantically and whirled around.
Sharkai Bai stood firm. His eyes glowed violet. Where his right arm had been, a monstrous limb covered in strange scales now grew. Smoke curled from his mouth after firing the blast.
“What IS this thing?!”
Before Girosha could react, Sharkai Bai charged. His presence crashed over her like a tsunami—suffocating.
The moment his arm was severed, every Grand Magus on the continent sensed the unnatural aura.
Celestial Carving Academy infirmary.
An ordinary-looking doctor stood at the entrance, hands behind his back, gazing at the sky.
“Long time no see.”
Dishi stepped out of thin air behind him.
“You’re still so lazy.”
The doctor didn’t turn. Dishi seemed used to it.
“Using the Academy as your hideout. Comfortable, Peak Healer? Earth Spirit Rehake.”
“You’re here about Sharkai Bai.”
“Yes. During his treatment… you sensed the secret inside him too, didn’t you?”
“Something terrifying lives in that boy.”
“Then I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Earth Spirit Rehake frowned at Dishi’s last words.
“Of course. Healing his wounds.”
When Sharkai Bai woke, he lay in the Academy infirmary. Xia Feina slept on the next bed.
BANG!
The door flew open. Cecilia Xuelian, Elucia, and Wilkor rushed in.
“DARLING!!!! Are you okay?!”
Cecilia Xuelian pounced on him. Sharkai Bai was bewildered.
*(Trapped in Girosha’s illusion again?)*
Elucia spoke up. “Relax. This is real. The Academy lifted your and Xia Feina’s warrants.”
“You punk! That punch really hurt!!” Wilkor locked Sharkai Bai in a headlock, laughing.
“Lifted… the warrants?”
Confused but relieved, Sharkai Bai felt the weight lift from his body and soul.
His eyes drifted to Xia Feina on the other bed.
The girl he’d fought to save… finally free.
Western Sea. New Wing Divine Church.
Kami Miraishi stood on a vast terrace, sipping expensive wine as sea wind brushed his face. Behind him, a shadowy figure blurred in dark mist.
“So you four just let them go?”
“Eh~ The monster inside Sharkai’s kid can be tamed slowly.”
“Preparing forces for *that* plan, then… you four.”
“Consider Xia Yuan’s daughter a little gift for Sharkai Bai.”
One week later. A dorm at Celestial Carving Academy.
“Hey! What are you doing here?! This is MY room!!”
“Huh? Yours? This is Bai-kun’s dorm!”
“Oh? Since you know it’s darling’s room, you shouldn’t be here at all! A girl trespassing in the boys’ dorm!”
“I-I-I-I-I’M NOT TRESPASSING!!! I just brought Bai-kun recovery food!!”
“UNNECESSARY! As his fiancée, I’ll handle it. Leave. Now. Stu-dent. COUN-cil. PRES-i-dent!”
Morning bickering between Cecilia Xuelian and Elucia rattled the kitchen. Even through the bedroom door, Sharkai Bai heard every word.
*(AHHHHHHH! I just want to SLEEEEEEP!)*
Too wired to rest, he slipped on clothes and crept downstairs to avoid them.
The sun blazed overhead.
Sharkai Bai wandered campus aimlessly.
“Hey, Pervert Bai.”
A voice from behind.
The world froze for a heartbeat.
*(Haaah—!)*
He turned, feigning calm.
A canned coffee flew at him.
He caught it. The familiar short-haired girl smiled.
“Thanks.”
“My treat.”
