[Translator - Clara]

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    Chapter 38: I''m Screwed

    Lunchtime, an empty classroom for magic studies.

    Hannon Irey.

    Sharin Sarzaris.

    Isabel Luna.

    The three of us stood frozen, staring at one another.

    The issue here?

    Among the three, Hannon is me.

    From outside the window, the cheerful voices of other students floated in.

    The sound of kids returning after lunch.

    In the silence that passed between us, the one to finally break it was Isabel.

    “...Why are you two together?”

    Isabel’s best friend, Sharin.

    Isabel’s rival, me.

    And at a time when everyone else had gone off to eat lunch, here we were.

    Alone, eating bread and chatting casually with each other.

    This scene was enough to stir up a storm of emotions for Isabel.

    Even I, who believed it wasn’t right to connect everything in life to romance,

    could easily imagine how this situation might appear to her.

    “I got a proposal.”

    It wasn’t me who answered Isabel’s question, but Sharin.

    The tense expression she had earlier, upon hearing my suggestion, was nowhere to be seen.

    In its place, she was back to her usual self, pointing at me.

    “He asked me to join his team for the upcoming group match.”

    Hearing this, Isabel’s eyes went wide.

    Her reaction made it clear she hadn’t even considered the possibility of me asking Sharin for such a thing.

    “...Are you two really close enough to make a proposal like that?”

    Most of the time Sharin and I met was during the evenings.

    That was when Isabel was often busy training,

    meaning she wouldn’t know what Sharin was up to at those hours.

    She certainly wouldn’t have imagined that Sharin had been teaching me magic inscription techniques all this time.

    “Yeah, Hannon really likes me.”

    What kind of nonsense is this?

    I turned to Sharin in disbelief before glancing at Isabel.

    Sure enough, she had a look of utter confusion, mouth agape.

    The way she stared at me screamed misunderstanding.

    For her, the idea that her rival might be harboring feelings for her best friend?

    Yeah, that was a lot to take in.

    “Are you serious?”

    Why is she taking this so seriously?

    “That’s nonsense,”

    I said firmly.

    When I denied it outright, Isabel looked uncertain, her lips twitching, and then turned back to Sharin.

    But Sharin, with her usual lazy smile, didn’t say another word.

    This girl...

    Through this exchange, Sharin subtly hinted at our relationship.

    Close enough to joke like this—our connection wasn’t superficial.

    Sharin, known for being aloof and unpredictable,

    wasn’t one to grow attached to others easily.

    Most people thought they’d grown close to her, only to find her completely distant the next time they met.

    That was the kind of person Sharin was.

    Isabel, therefore, was likely the only one Sharin considered a true friend.

    And now, here was Sharin, treating me—her friend’s rival—so warmly in front of Isabel.

    This must have been a huge shock for her.

    “Uh, ah, uhh...”

    So much so that Isabel seemed completely broken.

    I glared at Sharin, who glared back with an icy glint in her otherwise smiling eyes.

    Oh no.

    She’s mad.

    Sharin had no patience for people stirring up her emotions,

    but I had no other choice.

    We needed a strong result in the group match if I wanted to move forward with the plan.

    And to achieve that, I absolutely needed Sharin on my team.

    I’m desperate here too.

    Though it was unlikely Sharin would understand.

    “I... I also came to propose teaming up with Sharin.”

    At that moment, Isabel snapped back to reality, refocusing on the original topic.

    Like me, she’d heard about the group match earlier from Vega.

    The time difference was because I didn’t have anyone to approach for a team,

    while Isabel had many people and took her time talking to them.

    The problem was that Sharin, as Isabel’s best friend,

    was highly likely to join Isabel’s team instead.

    “Sorry, but I asked her first.”

    “Sorry. I’m into tall, handsome, manly types. And you? You’re about as far from ‘manly’ as it gets.”

    “Good. From today on, I’ll make sure not to even see you as human.”

    Seron squeaked and pretended to run away as I rolled up my sleeves.

    If I can joke like this without a second thought, I must’ve been around these two too long.

    “So, what were you talking about?”

    Seron, who had just arrived after a private lesson with Professor Vega, was unaware of the earlier conversation since the morning class had been training-focused.

    “Card’s joining my team.”

    “Ugh, no way.”

    Seron instantly made a face of disgust.

    Tilting my head, I asked her,

    “Why not?”

    “What do you mean why? Having someone like him will mess up the team’s vibe.”

    “Why are you the one worrying about that?”

    My straightforward question made Seron blink in confusion, tilting her head in return.

    “Well, that’s because...”

    Seron trailed off, and her eyes gradually widened.

    “Wait, wait, Princess Sweet Potato, don’t tell me—”

    “Nope, not Princess Sweet Potato.”

    “Ah, come on! You need me! Without me, you can’t even find a proper frontliner!”

    “Our backline’s already set with Sharin.”

    Seron’s jaw dropped.

    Second-year, top of the magic academy.

    A genius hailed as one of the best in the century—mentioning Sharin Sazaris’s name flipped her entire demeanor.

    “Sha—Sharin Sazaris? Why—why would she join?”

    “Let’s just say I’m very resourceful.”

    After all, I’d already recruited greats like Aisha the Iron Sword, Foara the Spirit Lord Contractor, and even Saint Sirmiel.

    With such a track record, there was no room for doubt this time either.

    “With Sharin on board, frontliners will be lining up to join us.”

    The news hadn’t spread yet, but it wouldn’t take long.

    Soon, plenty of candidates would be begging to join as frontliners.

    Realizing this, Seron’s lips twitched.

    “W-Wait, then what about me?”

    “I was asking you earlier—why are you so concerned about our team?”

    I smiled sweetly.

    Seron’s face slowly turned crimson as she finally grasped her situation.

    Her hand shot out, clutching my collar.

    “P-Princess Sweet Potato—no, Hannon, don’t do this.”

    “Seron, I think you’d better hurry and find another team.”

    “Ah, I’m sorry! I was wrong! My grades have been good lately, right? And my skills are decent too! Please, come on!”

    “Exactly. With those skills, any team would be happy to have you.”

    Tears welled up in Seron’s eyes as she sniffled to my collar with both hands.

    “Wangnon, please! I’ve got nowhere else to go. Please?”

    “Seron, when you beg, you should use proper honorifics.”

    “P-Please! I beg you, put me on the team!”

    “You’re still holding your head up too high. And what’s with that weak voice?”

    “P-Please! I’m begging you! Put me on the team, please!”

    She bowed deeply, trembling as she spoke.

    Watching her, I reached out to pat her head.

    “See? That’s how you ask nicely. Good girl.”

    Other students stared at us, their expressions a mix of bewilderment and pity.

    But it didn’t matter.

    Being branded as part of the “troublemaker trio” meant odd stares were par for the course.

    “Waaaaahhhh!”

    At that moment, Seron raised her head and looked up at me with tear-streaked cheeks.

    Gripping my collar, she started shaking me wildly.

    Maybe I pushed her too far—she looked genuinely broken.

    But she still didn’t want to leave the team, glaring at me fiercely in silence.

    “Seron, if we win first place in the group competition, your parents might give you a bigger allowance, don’t you think?”

    Her shoulders twitched.

    Seron was notorious for getting generous allowances from her parents, so the prospect of more money was her lifeline.

    “With Sharin, securing at least the top ranks is pretty much guaranteed.”

    Seron carefully straightened my collar, which she’d been wrinkling moments earlier.

    Her tear-filled eyes glimmered with hope.

    She had already been rewarded generously by her parents after the Gray Forest incident.

    Rumor had it her allowance had even been raised.

    With that in mind, doing well in this competition would likely mean another increase.

    “I-I’ll do my best.”

    “Good. Let’s aim for first place together.”

    Seron’s demeanor had done a complete 180, and Card whistled, clearly entertained.

    “You’re getting better and better at taming people.”

    Taming?

    Please.

    It’s called effective communication.

    [Translator - Clara]

    [Proofreader - Gun]

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