A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 8. Academy Life (1)

Part 2. Academy Life

‘And there’s no way students sent to Beta Class could grow properly.’
Alpha Class received excellent instruction from accomplished faculty. They nourished their talents on the professors’ devoted attention, blossoming into fine combat personnel who would later storm the Shadow World. Beta Class, by contrast, occupied the opposite position entirely.
Beta Class consisted mostly of commoners with meager resources at their disposal.
Proper instruction was rare, support even rarer, and so cultivating their talents became an extraordinarily difficult matter.
‘In my past life, I was in Beta Class too.’
Dezir Armang allowed himself a bitter smile.
He’d been a commoner then as well, which is why he’d been assigned to Beta Class.
Without proper education, growth had been impossible. When he finally descended into the Shadow Labyrinth, he was barely a first-Circle mage.
‘In such an environment, countless talents are wasted. The system itself is flawed. If things had been different, the Beta Class students would have achieved far greater growth and more would have survived.’
Yet in the end, Dezir had been the only Beta Class student to survive until the very last.
Recalling that outcome, he set himself a goal: to promote as many talented Beta Class students to Alpha Class as possible.
The Shadow Labyrinth and its mysteries could not be conquered alone. If he cultivated those raw talents properly, conquest might yet be possible where it had failed before.
‘To do that, I’ll need to move alongside them.’
In other words, he would form a Party.
He would recruit promising candidates into a Circle, then elevate them to Alpha Class.
For his party members, he would choose those who had shown the greatest potential in his past life.
And regarding one person in particular, he had already made his decision long ago.
“Romantica.”
Dezir had resolved to recruit her into his Party first.

* * *

A girl with pale white skin sat with her hair falling to her shoulders. Dark eyes gazed downward, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

The clock on the wall was so ancient that its second hand scraped against the mechanism with each tick, producing an irritating metallic screech.
The Beta Class lecture hall somehow felt humid and stale. An odor rose from the desks as if rotting vegetables festered somewhere in the wood. The chairs creaked whenever anyone sat, and the tables bore deep gouges and chips.
It was a dreadful sight.
It was hard to believe this place was supposed to be a classroom.
Just then, three shadows fell across the open pages of Romantica’s book.
“Hello, you’re Romantica from the Baron’s house, right?”
Romantica looked up.
The speaker was the tallest of the three students. Heavy brows and thick lips gave him a cheerful, open appearance. The badge on his tie gleamed—the symbol of Alpha Class.
“You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“My apologies for the rudeness. I’m Doneta Hadun. A fellow first-year, currently seeking Party members. I’d be pleased to find suitable companions who’d work well with you.”
His tone and manner were courteous.
“I wish I could say the same. That’s why I’m here.”
“You’ve come hoping to find good Party members too, then.”
“Finding you wasn’t easy. As you know, Beta Class and Alpha Class classrooms are quite far apart.”
“That’s true enough.”
“I heard you’re an accomplished Wind Attribute mage, and of noble birth besides. It seems the Academy made an error assigning such a talented aristocrat to Beta Class.”
Romantica offered an uncomfortable smile.
“Well, professors are human too. I suppose they made a mistake.”
“Exactly. The faculty ought to apologize formally. To thrust a noble lady into this rabble of filthy commoners, into a classroom that reeks like this… it’s clearly a grave oversight on the Academy’s part.”
Doneta examined the classroom with visible disgust.
Several Beta Class students glared at him for the slight.
But when their eyes met his, they quickly looked away.
The Hadun family was a fairly famous house. Few commoners had the courage to challenge a nobleman of that standing.
“Wretches, all of them.”

Doneta’s voice had turned ice-cold, the politeness he’d shown her earlier feeling like a distant dream.
“So what did you want to tell me?”
A faint tremor ran across Romantica’s smiling lips.
But Doneta didn’t notice, and continued speaking.
“Let me get to the point. I’ve decided to join the Blue Moon Party. And I’d like you to join us as well—I think you have exceptional talent.”
His voice was perfectly courteous.
“The Blue Moon Party…?”
Romantica searched her memory. Something flickered at the edge of recognition.
“The academy’s finest Party.”
An invitation to join the largest Alpha Class Party.
It was an opportunity not easily come by.
Just as Romantica opened her lips to respond, Doneta suddenly seized her hand.
“In exchange for recommending you to the Party, I’d like you to date me.”
A brief silence fell. Romantica stared at Doneta as if she couldn’t believe her ears.
“…What did you say?”
“I said I’d like you to date me.”
She hadn’t misheard.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
“At the entrance exam banquet. I fell for you at first sight, Romantica.”
……
Romantica pulled her hand free from his grasp.
“You have no reason to refuse, Romantica.”
“Well, I’d like a little time to think about it.”
Doneta’s expression turned utterly bewildered.
“Why?”
“I need time to think.”
“Of course, but… this is—”
Romantica looked up at him. Her crimson eyes glimmered prettily.
“A proper gentleman would grant a lady time to consider, wouldn’t he?”
A proper gentleman.
At those words, Doneta took a step back.
“Ah, of course. Naturally I should.”
Doneta reached into his breast pocket and withdrew something, opening his palm toward her. What he offered was a wooden dagger,
“But I’d like you to accept this instead.”
It bore delicate, ornate patterns carved into its surface.
Yet for a dagger, it was unusually thick—so much so it looked like a box fashioned in the shape of a dagger.
Romantica thought its lid would open. Her instinct proved nearly correct.
“In our empire’s martial traditions, we have a custom of giving Kemubine to those we hold dear.”
When she pressed her finger against a groove carved deep into the handle, it clicked—and the handle separated from the blade.
At the same instant, a smooth Golden Chain Necklace slipped out with a soft chime.
Doneta held it out to Romantica. She waved her hand uncomfortably in refusal.
“This is too much…”
“Don’t feel burdened by it.”
Doneta bowed lightly and turned toward the exit. Once he had gone, Romantica let her body go limp.
She felt as though a whirlwind had just passed through. Right then, someone approached from beside her.
“You really are quite popular, aren’t you?”
“Eek!”
Crash.
Romantica’s chair toppled backward.
She’d been so absorbed in thought that she hadn’t noticed anything approaching.
Shouting when caught off-guard from an unexpected quarter was one of her bad habits.
Dezir Armang settled into the seat beside her with casual ease and spoke.
“I sent five greetings and got no response, so I came in person.”
Embarrassed, Romantica quickly pulled her chair upright and sat back down.
“We first saw each other during the entrance exam, so it’s only been what—two days?”
“What brings you here?”
Following a soft cough, Romantica’s voice carried a slight edge to it, but Dezir Armang showed no sign of being bothered.
“I came to propose joining a Party.”
Joining a Party.
She responded with indifference.
“I have nothing to discuss with you about parties.”
“Is it because you don’t want to date me that you won’t join? Don’t worry—I won’t make dating me a condition for joining my party.”
Romantica let out a hollow laugh.
“Stop it. That’s not funny, and I’m not in the mood.”
“If I asked the reason, would you give me an answer?”
Romantica exhaled slowly.
She opened her palm as if to show him. A golden chain lay coiled in the center of her hand.
Clink.
“Now do you understand?”
For the first time since the conversation began, Dezir Armang showed signs of disturbance. One of his eyes widened slightly.
“So… if you were me, which party would you choose? The mega-sized Alpha Class party with guaranteed success, or some nameless Beta Class party?”
Dezir Armang knew all too well how seductive Doneta’s proposal must sound to her.
The Blue Moon Party was among the most powerful guilds in this academy, and in Hebrion Academy—where party activities were paramount—such an offer would seem all the more alluring.
She couldn’t refuse. There was no way she could refuse.
Yet Dezir Armang knew one more thing.

That this choice would be the worst decision of her life.

“But you haven’t made your decision yet.”
“That’s… I just needed time to think it through. Thanks to you, I have to admit my judgment was wrong. Doneta was right. My answer was decided from the start. There’s no reason to refuse his offer.”
“Even if it means dating him?”
“If the condition for joining the greatest party is dating someone from the Hadun family, that’s actually a gain for me.”
“That’s rather calculating.”
Despite Dezir Armang’s mockery, Romantica’s resolve didn’t waver. If anything, it hardened further.
“We’re done here. Won’t you leave?”
There was no other choice.
‘There’s no way around this…’
Dezir Armang withdrew a letter from his coat as though drawing a blade, and extended it toward Romantica.
But Romantica tried to set it aside without reading it, and Dezir Armang stopped her with words.
“…You’ll want to keep it safe. It contains your secret.”
“….”
She froze.
Romantica slowly picked up the letter. Her eyes darted between Dezir Armang’s face and the envelope several times.
Dezir Armang merely raised an eyebrow, urging her on.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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