Chapter 62
“Five hundred years ago?!”
Even if this was just a dream, wasn’t it way too detailed?
“—. Aren’t you paying attention?”
There was something else strange, too. The person sitting across from me was definitely Herais, but I couldn’t hear my own name at all.
Am I… not me?
Maybe the owner of this body was someone else. Seeing how my mind was still wandering, Herais frowned.
“—.”
“Ah, sorry. Her—are you really mad?”
“I told you not to call me Heren.”
He had forced me to call him by that nickname, but with the owner of this body, he was merciless. His tone was so icy my shoulders wanted to shrink. But this body’s owner wasn’t one to back down.
“Still, Heren feels warmer and closer than Herais, don’t you think?”
“There’s no need for it to sound close.”
“Fine, then you can call me — instead. That’d make things fair.”
“Nonsense.”
“You always say it’s nonsense!”
“I’ll never call you that, so give up. —.”
“I told you to call me –! You’re so stubborn.”
This was driving me crazy. It was like someone had deliberately erased only the names—I couldn’t hear a single one.
At this rate, I won’t learn anything.
I gave up thinking and just let the body move as it wanted, letting the dream carry me along.
“You’re really not going to call me that?”
“Stop being noisy and open your book. Where were we?”
“……”
When I quietly avoided his gaze, Herais’s face darkened.
“Don’t tell me you still haven’t finished.”
“Well, I was so tired yesterday that I fell asleep…”
“What a boast. If you entered with Agav’s recommendation, you should work twice as hard as others. But you’re skipping around all the time.”
“It’s fine, I’ll catch up soon enough. W-well! Not that I should be saying that in front of a genius like you…”
“You know it, yet you still say things like that.”
“Hehe…”
I scratched my cheek in embarrassment.
“Still, thanks to being late, I get taught by a genius teacher like you. I’m lucky.”
“…More nonsense. Just open the book.”
“Okay!”
I grinned brightly and opened the book. Unlike the excited me in the dream, my real self was rather unamused.
The body wasn’t mine to control, Herais was cold, and overall it was a disappointing dream.
And what is this now?
It was a magic book, that much I knew, but I hadn’t studied this part yet, so I couldn’t understand it. Apparently, neither could the me inside the dream.
The longer Herais explained, the more my head tilted. His expression as he looked at me grew grim.
“The Breath of Death stops the heart, not the brain. Why can’t you grasp that?”
Wait—the Breath of Death?
“To think I ran everywhere to save an idiot like you…”
Herais sighed deeply, as if sincerely regretting it.
The patient he had saved from the Breath of Death…
The woman whose illness he had cured, but who later died because of him.
Maybe… someone precious to him.
So she’s the owner of this dream.
That’s why the calendar said five hundred years ago. The pieces finally fit together, and I stared blankly at the Herais of the past.
They must have been close…
Watching them bicker, I unconsciously pouted.
Hmph. Still, I’m closer to him now.
Herais treated me well, teased me first, and never dismissed me.
But here, it was the opposite. He ignored her, while she kept poking at him.
“Heren, you’re too prickly.”
“I told you, call me Herais.”
“Okay, Heren.”
I didn’t know much else, but one thing was clear.
She really doesn’t listen. At all.
Stubborn didn’t even begin to describe her. Maybe thinking the same, Herais rubbed his face wearily.
“How did someone like you even get into the Magic Tower…”
The Magic Tower? I’d never been there in my life, yet here I was seeing it in a dream.
“This won’t do. You’ll only learn by doing it yourself.”
Herais handed over a box the size of a fist. Mana seeped from it—he had cast a spell on it.
“Undo this box with Nullification.”
“…Does it have to be with Nullification?”
“Of course. What, would a Null Mage just smash it open instead?”
Null Mage? My ears perked at the unfamiliar term.
“I explained how just a moment ago. Do as I said.”
…Oh no. I hadn’t been paying attention. As I fiddled nervously with the corner of the box, Herais’s face slowly hardened.
“You really…”
“I was wrong…”
He pressed his brow and let out a heavy sigh.
“I’ll explain one last time. Listen carefully.”
“Yes, sir!”
Curious about what Nullification was, I listened intently.
“Nullification erases another’s magic. Just as the name says, it renders magic powerless. It can undo something as simple as a spellbound box, or even break brainwashing. Depending on your strength, it can dispel seals and curses too.”
To erase magic itself… That was amazing. I listened with admiration as Herais went on.
“It’s a rare ability, and since you’re the Magic Tower’s first Null Mage, you know everyone has high hopes for you, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then undo it. The method’s simple. Just think: I want to erase this magic, return it to how it was.”
If it was as he said, it sounded simple. But for me, who was only just trying Nullification for the first time, it wasn’t easy.
After several failed attempts—click! The locked box finally opened.
“Wow! I did it!”
“So you’re not a complete fool.”
Was that a compliment or an insult? I slammed the table in protest.
“A fool, huh? Just wait. One day, I’ll beat you with this Nullification!”
At my playful provocation, Herais raised an eyebrow.
“Beat me? You couldn’t even in a hundred years.”
“You won’t know until it happens.”
“If you want to win, start by opening the second box.”
“Tch.”
And so the lesson continued.
“I see.”
Resting my chin on my hand, I stared at Herais. His low, gentle voice flowed steadily into my ears.
A quiet library with only the two of us. Sunlight streaming through the tall windows.
Soon, the red glow of sunset fell across Herais’s face. Gazing at the glittering world, I opened my mouth softly.
“Herais. I like you.”
I flinched, trying to cover my mouth. But my hands didn’t move. Instead, my lips kept speaking on their own.
“I really do like you.”
Even at my heartfelt confession, Herais stayed calm. As if used to it, his gaze remained fixed on the book.
“I don’t like you. You’re troublesome and annoying.”
“That’s fine. Even if you push me away, I’ll still like you.”
I replied just as calmly, as though I were talking about the weather.
“I like you today too.”
At my endless confessions, he finally lifted his eyes to me.
“Don’t you have any pride?”
“No. What good is pride when I like you?”
He gave me a strange look, as if he couldn’t understand. At that, I smiled faintly.
“Heren, someday you’ll understand.”
“Why would I?”
“Because someday, you’ll like me too.”
At my confident words, Herais let out a faint laugh.
“That’ll never happen.”
“No, I’ll make it happen.”
I suddenly stood and reached out. Holding his cheeks, I caught the rare sight of Herais blinking in surprise.
“What are you—”
Smack. The sound echoed in the quiet library. His face, dragged toward me, showed pure bewilderment.
“You…!”
He quickly slapped my hands away, covering his forehead as he leaned back. Watching him half-stunned, I grinned triumphantly.
“Just wait! In the end, I’ll win!”
So much for quiet confessions—what came out was a full declaration of war. I squeezed my eyes shut in exasperation.
Idiot. Since when is love a competition…
As if that would ever make Herais like her…
Wait… what?
Herais’s face flushed red.
“You reckless fool…”
From his ears, to his eyes, to his cheeks, down his neck…
His face began to glow red like the sunset itself. I stared in a daze at that sight—
And then, the dream crumbled.
