Raid The Academy

Chapter 117 : Chapter 117

Chapter 117: War of NervesI returned to my dorm and placed the wrapped gift on my desk.

A gift.

There was nothing strange to think about it.

Karina had promised to give me a gift as a reward for saving her life from the blood curse and as payment for having suspected me.

There was no need to question her intentions, no need to make a fuss.

The reason I felt awkward was because of Karina's somewhat strangely suggestive atmosphere.

Come to think of it, Karina's attitude toward me lately has changed quite a bit.

At first, I thought the curse, not fully eliminated, was eating away at her brain (not kidding, I was serious).

But it wasn't.

After returning from the off-campus activity, I had asked Professor Ilai, and she had confirmed that there was nothing wrong with Karina.

The funny thing was Karina’s reaction that followed.

The Karina I knew would have naturally thrown a fit.

Why?

Because I had suddenly treated her like a lunatic.

The Karina I knew should have raged and thrown a tantrum.

And yet.

“She left without saying much.”

She did glare at me, but that was a reaction a normal person would show, definitely not a reaction Karina would show.

It was so unexpected that even Professor Ilai, who was watching from the side, asked, ‘Did you happen to find some dirt on Karina?’

“Did we really develop a love-hate bond or something?”

If so, that was a relief.

No.

Not a relief, this was actually how it should be.

‘Look at how much I’ve done for her.’

I forgave her for suspecting me of being a thief.

Forgave her for stalking.

Forgave her for breaking and entering.

I had saved her life several times, and if you add in all the help I gave her without her knowing, love-hate bond or not, Karina should be worshiping me as her savior.

It was me, wasn't it?

I would have given my all.

In other words, a normal person would have been grateful long ago, but because she’s Karina Zain, she’s only now feeling thankful and trying to be nice to me…….

“……Hmm. That doesn’t suit her either.”

Karina was, by name and in reality, the craziest bitch in this area.

I couldn't for the life of me picture her being nice to me.

“Karina should be Karina. If she suddenly changes her concept, that’s tiring in its own way.”

I thought the current distance between us was just right.

Now, there was nothing more to give, and nothing more to receive.

Karina is the arbiter of justice who brings down the hammer on evil.

At the same time, she’s a hero who will save this world along with Ivan, so getting deeply involved would only become tiring.

I didn't want that either.

“Anyway, this must be the gift, right? Let’s see what’s so great that it took this long.”

I took out the neatly folded letter and the wooden box containing the gift from the wrapping paper, and after wondering what to look at first, I opened the box.

Click.

Inside the box was a bracelet.

A thread bracelet.

At first, I thought it was gold, but when I took it out of the box and looked at it from different angles, it also changed to red depending on the direction of the light.

“Oho.”

It was fascinating.

But that was all.

Other than the color-changing, it looked ordinary, and I couldn't find any distinctive features.

Could it be like the ‘Star’s Blessing’ and melt into my skin when worn?

I tried putting it on my wrist, but that wasn't it either.

The length was a perfect fit for my wrist, as if custom-made, neither too tight nor too loose.

I shook my wrist with the bracelet on and chuckled.

“This is just an accessory, isn't it? She talked like she was giving me something amazing.”

I put on the bracelet and this time picked up the letter.

I wondered if the real gift wasn't the bracelet but the contents of this letter.

“Huh? But the stationery has changed.”

It wasn't the stationery I had seen in the room.

Back then, it was definitely a light pink, but now it’s white.

She must have had something to correct, so she threw it away and changed it.

Thinking it was no big deal, I unfolded the letter.

What was important wasn't the color of the stationery, but the content written inside.

[That. I had it specially custom-made by requesting it from the Red Dragon Workshop. So it doesn’t have a name. If I had to give it one, it would be ‘Agnis’ after my middle name…… Ah, whatever. It’s yours now, so call it whatever you want. The special ability is [Warmth of Healing], so use it well, or don’t.]

The letter ended there.

From beginning to end, it was so uncool, but in a way, it was also very Karina-like.

Anyway, a product from the Red Dragon Workshop.

“This is awesome.”

I looked at the bracelet again with new eyes.

It was only natural that I didn't recognize it.

An artifact specially custom-made at the Red Dragon Workshop would be an item that didn't exist in the original work.

So this was an artifact made just for me.

“And [Warmth of Healing] on top of that.”

[Warmth of Healing] was a fire-attribute magic corresponding to the 5th Circle.

A vision that, despite being a fire-attribute elemental magic focused on attack power, had a healing effect that could rival water-attribute magic or holy magic.o train together, but it didn't seem like we could do that today.

It wasn't the right atmosphere, and I was having strong doubts about my own role, whether I was a mentor or a manager, but whatever the case, taking care of Yuria was the priority right now.

“I want to earn money.”

My thought process momentarily stopped.

I thought she would at most suggest eating some sweet dessert, but this was an answer that was not in my predictions.

“……Money? Suddenly?”

Yuria nodded.

“Yes. I need to earn money. A lot of it. So, among the things I can do right now, what’s the best way to earn the most money?”

“Are you being serious?”

“Yes.”

I was a bit flustered because it was different from what I expected, but recalling what just happened, it wasn't a completely incomprehensible situation either.

A job where we could earn a lot of money at our level.

This was what immediately came to mind.

“Bounties, of course.”

“Bounties……?”

“The villains, you know? The bounties on their heads. Aiming for that is the way for us to make a lot of money.”