HTNSA 113

Chapter 113

Seeing Ruban’s eyes sparkling, Eila waved her hand awkwardly.

“I was only providing a bit of support on the side.”

“No, really. I get why the professors always praise you now. They even came to our class the other day just to talk about you.”

“Did they?”

“Yeah. So, what do you think? After the Subjugation Festival, want to join me for a study group? Don’t you think we work pretty well together?”

Eila couldn’t answer right away, managing only an awkward smile. Not missing her reaction, Ruban continued gently.

“You know how hard it is to find a mage that matches your level. This is a good offer for you too, isn’t it?”

The look in Ruban’s eyes, which had felt distant at first, now carried a hint of fondness.

She knew that mages tended to admire those with talent, but his reaction was more intense than she had expected.

Still, Eila didn’t think much of it.

‘He’s probably just excited because things are going well.’

But it seemed others thought differently. Felix quietly stepped forward and planted himself beside Eila, almost threateningly.

Immediately after, Kedrick also moved close behind her, fixing Ruban with a sharp, chilling stare.

Seeing the two tall men blatantly stepping forward as if to block him, Ruban’s expression stiffened. Blinking rapidly, he raised his hands and said,

“Ah, don’t get the wrong idea. I was just talking about studying.”

“….”

“I swear, I was only impressed by her magical skills.”

Ruban tried hard to explain himself, but Kedrick and Felix’s eyes remained icy.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, Eila stepped in.

“Anyway, isn’t everyone tired? How about we rest here for a bit?”

The moment she finished speaking, the two men’s attitudes flipped instantly. Felix turned to her with an apologetic look.

“Ah, sorry. We didn’t even realize you must be tired, keeping you standing like this.”

“If you’re tired, you should rest. This spot has good shade. Want to sit here?”

Even Kedrick, with his usually cynical nature, was surprisingly attentive.

Seeing this, Eila narrowed her eyes, hesitating for a moment. She had been feeling it since yesterday, but Kedrick seemed strangely kind to her lately.

‘Is he still feeling guilty about me getting slapped by Rosia last time?’

If that was the case, it was actually a relief. At least he wouldn’t interfere or try to get in her way like before.

But she still didn’t know how to deal with someone she needed to keep her distance from.

….

Deciding to set aside her complicated thoughts, Eila quietly sat down next to the tree stump.

Felix immediately took the spot next to her, rummaging through his bag and handing her various things.

“Eila, are you thirsty? Here, drink this.”

He placed a water bottle in her hand and also held out some jerky.

“Eat this too. You need to eat something to keep your strength up.”

Watching him, Kedrick frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. Then, in a displeased voice, he cut in.

“Eila doesn’t like jerky. She got sick from it when she was little.”

With that, Kedrick rummaged through his bag and pulled out something he had prepared in advance.

“How about dried fruit? You like this, don’t you?”

Eila stared at the fruit Kedrick offered, her eyes wide. Kedrick, seeming embarrassed under her gaze, turned his head and added,

“You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. I’m not going to force you.”

After a brief hesitation, Eila took the fruit from his hand.

“…Thank you.”

Kedrick frowned slightly at her formal tone but soon nodded.

“Yeah.”

Eila looked down at the fruit in her palm, her lips pressed together.

‘I can’t believe Kedrick prepared something like this for me…’

For some reason, her chest tightened.

When she left the family, she had firmly decided not to leave even a shred of lingering attachment to any family member other than her mother.

But the kinder Kedrick acted, just like he used to, the more her resolve wavered.

‘It feels like the emotion manipulation magic is gradually wearing off.’

In the original story, Rosia’s magic was so powerful that Eila never even considered resisting it.

But now…

‘Maybe, it’ll be easier to break the brainwashing than I thought.’

Eila planned to start researching emotion manipulation magic as soon as she graduated early.

No matter how much she disliked her family, she couldn’t bear to see them dancing on Rosia’s strings.

But seeing Kedrick’s recent behavior, she began to wonder if she even needed to go that far.

‘If I just keep evoking their sympathy and revealing Rosia’s true colors, won’t the brainwashing naturally break on its own?’

Of course, she didn’t plan to act immediately.

To prove her bloodline, she would still need to find a way to break Rosia’s magic that faked her parentage.

‘First, I need to expose Rosia as the fake daughter, and then break the family’s brainwashing.’

…If that happened, how would her family react?

Eila glanced sideways at Kedrick, who was beside her.

She hadn’t fully forgiven her family, except for her mother.

But she could no longer stand by and watch them be manipulated by Rosia.

Rosia needed to pay for coveting and ruining what was never hers to take.

The monster subjugation was proceeding smoothly.

The types and numbers of monsters each person defeated were tracked in real time by the magic devices, allowing them to check their scores at any time.

Currently, Eila’s team was holding the highest score.

‘At this rate, we could really win this.’

No matter how many high-grade monsters other teams defeated, they wouldn’t be able to overcome the overwhelming numerical advantage her team had secured.

Thanks to this, Ruban looked quite pleased, his face beaming as he packed up.

“I think we should head back now. It’s getting darker.”

Eila lifted her head and looked up at the sky.

Just as Ruban said, the moon was beginning to rise.

Although they were using magic to light up the area, it would soon turn dark in an instant.

“You’re right. I think it’s a good time to head back.”

Just as Eila finished tidying up and turned to leave—

Felix was strangely standing still, not moving from his spot.

“What are you doing, Felix? I said let’s go.”

“…It’s just, I think I hear something strange.”

He frowned, glancing around.

“Something strange?”

“Yeah, it’s like… the ground is rumbling. Whatever it is, it’s pretty big. And it’s getting closer to us.”

Ruban tilted his head in confusion, then his expression changed as if he realized something.

“Come to think of it, I heard there are a lot of wolf-type monsters in Ritsha Forest. They’re all supposed to be huge. Maybe one of them got separated from its pack?”

At those words, Kedrick’s expression darkened.

“That would be the best case. But it could be a high-grade monster. We should stay alert.”

“But we’re in the western area, near the outskirts of the forest. Even if it is a high-grade monster, it’ll probably just be one, right? We can handle that.”

Mid-grade monsters often traveled in groups, but high-grade monsters usually had their own territories and moved alone.

Because of this, Ruban didn’t think much of it. Even if it did appear, he believed they could handle it with their current lineup.