Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 17

To Teacher, From Vanessa 17

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Vanessa packed her books gloomily.

Lina was chatting with a friend she hadn’t seen much lately at the front of the classroom, and Evan had disappeared quickly because he had another class immediately after. Even though it was just a short music appreciation class, the way he walked away looking like he was about to die was amusing.

He had begged her not to eat without him, but she had no intention of listening.

Vanessa was feeling down. No matter how much she searched the inside pocket of her jacket, she couldn’t find a pen, and even when she searched her shirt pocket, all that came out was dust.

It was a very beautiful pen. It was also in the first package the teacher had sent her.

Vanessa sighed deeply and got up heavily. She should at least write a letter of apology to the teacher.

She was about to leave the noisy classroom where a few people still remained. Chebatti would be waiting at the cafeteria, and Lina would be coming soon.

But as Vanessa was about to leave the classroom, someone grabbed her arm.

She had completely forgotten because the pen was gone, but Gid was still sitting in the classroom.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

The man opened his palm. A sharp nib and a hard body shining in silver. It was a beautiful pen with the engraving ‘Vanessa’.

“Oh!”

Vanessa’s face brightened, and the man subtly smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling under his robe.

“Thank you! I dropped it earlier without realizing it. It’s really important….”

“Was it a gift?”

“Yes. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

Vanessa said with a bright smile, and the man nodded.

“It’s from Dolan.”

“Dolan?”

“A craftsman. If you cherish it so much, the person who gave it to you will be happy.”

“It’s just from someone I like.”

Vanessa took the pen and put it in her inside pocket. She felt better right away.

“Is the place where you bumped into me earlier okay?”

Gid carefully moved his hand near her forehead, as if to touch it. As Vanessa’s face was shadowed by his large hand, the man lowered his hand again.

“Yes. Completely, thanks to you!”

Vanessa smiled brightly, and the man nodded. His lips were still forming a faint curve.

“Come to think of it, why are you here? You said you had something to do; did it go well?”

Vanessa tilted her head. He seemed to be wearing a black uniform earlier. Does he have business at the academy?

“No. I was just waiting to see Professor Apher for a moment. Don’t you have another class?”

Vanessa smiled awkwardly at the tone that seemed to imply she would be late again.

“Fortunately, I’ve squeezed in meal times. Anyway, thank you for picking it up.”

“I hope to see you again during the vacation.”

“At Jenien’s house, right? Did you know that Jenien sent me a note a while ago? We became really close when we parted!”

“Well, I thought you were fighting every day.”

“Gid fought more than I did.”

“It was just a process of coordinating opinions.”

Vanessa snorted at Gid’s whisper.

Lina, who had finished talking with her friend and was approaching Vanessa, narrowed her eyes at the friendly scene. *Who is that guy?*

There were already quite a few eyes on Vanessa these days, and she was in the process of fending them off.

*He couldn’t stand it and someone stuck to her! Our Vanessa has to date a really great guy!*

“Vanessa!”

Lina approached quickly. Her eyes, blazing fiercely, were directed at the man wearing the robe. Gid felt the burning gaze but did not lower his robe.

“Lunch! We have to go eat lunch.”

“Oh, right. Chebatti will be waiting.”

As Vanessa was about to say goodbye, Gid shook his head. At her questioning gaze, Gid greeted her first.

“It was nice meeting you, Miss Vanessa.”

“Oh… yes. Me too.”

Vanessa noticed that he didn’t want her to say his name and closed her mouth.

“Ahem. Hello?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

Gid only gave a simple greeting on purpose. At Lina Dellina’s dissatisfied gaze towards him, Gid only swallowed laughter inside.

“What, I thought you were waiting for me?”

Professor Apher approached after finally finishing the question time, and Gid stood up.

“Let’s go.”

Professor Apher patted Vanessa on the shoulder – *This assignment was excellent; don’t be late again next time!* – and left with the man.

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“Who was that guy?”

“No, just someone I bumped into earlier…”

“Why were you talking to someone like that for so long!”

*He seemed not to want Gid to say his name; should I say this or not?*

Vanessa just mumbled and spread a little butter on her bread.

Seeing this, Lina snatched the bread and knife from Vanessa. And she started spreading a lot of butter on Vanessa’s bread.

Chebatti watched the scene blankly. *She’s playing the role of both mom and dad.*

“Too much-”

“How much weight have you lost! You have to eat well because you’re exercising!”

Vanessa ended up chewing on the bread with an enormous amount of butter. It was savory and delicious.

“You shouldn’t talk to weird guys.”

Lina said to Vanessa in a very serious tone. Vanessa nodded sullenly.

*If it’s weird guys, I’ve probably seen and grown up with more… and I’m a year older….*

“Is Vanessa stupid? She’ll take care of herself.”

Chebatti said sharply and cut a large piece of delicious pumpkin pie and put it in her mouth. Lina grumbled.

“Vanessa is smart, but she doesn’t know anything about this. Last time, when someone asked her to go for a walk, she thought it meant exercising and ran with them!”

“No, I told you I really misunderstood!”

Vanessa’s face flushed, and she hurriedly tried to cover Lina’s mouth, but Lina quickly moved her head to the side.

“He staggered back to the dormitory and avoided Vanessa from the next day. Isn’t that funny?”

Vanessa gritted her teeth, and Chebatti chuckled. Chebatti’s eyes sparkled behind her large glasses.

In Chebatti’s eyes, Vanessa’s beauty seemed to have enough popularity.

A small face with distinct features. Clear, thick eyebrows and sparkling blue eyes, red and plump lips. Her brown curly hair curled as if she had styled it even when she left it loose.

Chebatti clicked her tongue inwardly. *She definitely has popularity, but she’s the only one who doesn’t know.*

“Vanessa, have you ever dated anyone?”

“No…. Can’t you tell from the way I submit my literature assignments?”

Vanessa’s literature assignment became a legend circulating within the academy. It was thanks to Professor Elliot constantly saying, ‘A student said that the first one’s head is a flower garden [meaning they are naive or idealistic].’

“Have you ever liked anyone?”

“Around fifteen, a guy I worked with at a cafe? He worked hard to carry heavy things even though I was stronger. He was a bit like paper [fragile], but he was nice.”

Lina, who met Chebatti’s eyes, shook her head. *She’s completely hopeless.*

Evan, who had finished his short class, walked slowly from afar and plopped down next to Vanessa.

“I’d rather run two laps around the castle. Why do I get so sleepy when I listen to music?”

Evan yawned and rubbed his eyes. He snatched the music appreciation class, which was said to be the best, but it wasn’t his taste at all.

Evan picked up a piece of Vanessa’s bread and put it in his mouth and handed her the juice he had bought.

“Why do you keep joining our group?”

Chebatti glared at Evan, and Evan smiled. He tried to break through this difficulty with charm, but unfortunately, his charm had no effect on the three of them, so the smile had no effect.

Evan quickly changed his route and made a pitiful expression.

“Almost all of my friends are in the 5th grade. Please give me a break…. By the way, Vanessa, who was that guy earlier? The one wearing the robe. He kept looking at you.”

Vanessa was fed up with the topic that came back like a repeat sign.

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To Teacher.

I haven’t written in a while. I’m realizing it myself why they call 4th graders and above upperclassmen at the academy.

The classes I took in 3rd grade could still be understood if I made an effort.

But these classes are different. They are things that need to be understood based on what I learned before.

So, reviewing is absolutely essential! Preview, review, assignments, and even exercise. These days, I’m living without my mind. I was even late last time.

I’m sure you’re doing a lot more work, so you’ll be bored of hearing these things, right?

But I’m just a student, so I have no choice but to tell you these small complaints.

Someday, I want to talk about work in a cool way too.

‘Oh, this and that happened. I want to tell you, but it’s confidential!’ I’m going to write such ridiculous things. Ahem.

Anyway, I’m enduring well thanks to my friends. I hang out with Lina and Chebatti, and since I’ve been steadily attending Eugenia’s meetings, I’ve never felt out of place.

Of course, the thought of being out of place might have been just my feeling.

Do you remember Gid, whom I mentioned when I went to Jenien’s house during the vacation? I praised his appearance so much! Golden eyes, blah blah.

But I met Gid at the academy this time. It turned out that he came to investigate the incident where a monster appeared at the academy last time.

I knew he was a great wizard, but he was dispatched as an investigator. What kind of work does he do?

Anyway, so Professor Apher called me.

When I met Gid at Jenien’s house, I thought we had similar things in common and got along well. But when I met him at the academy, I felt a bit distant with his indifferent expression. Of course, it’s natural since he came for work.

Anyway, I answered as faithfully as possible what I knew.

“How did you know it was Gargatus’s head?”

“I saw the cross-shaped iris. It’s a very famous monster, so I remembered it.”

“Can you always realize magic of that scale?”

“I don’t know the activation conditions of my magic. Therefore, I can’t use such large-scale magic. It was an exceptional situation.”

Gid seemed to be worried about something. I was very worried. Could I have done something wrong?

“I think that’s enough for now?”

At Professor Apher’s words, Gid was silent for a moment, then came to me and bowed his head. And he whispered in a very low voice in my ear.

‘If they know you have manifested this kind of magic, many people will try to stick to you, so be careful.’

Strange rumors are likely to spread in the border with many monsters, and if public opinion is formed, you may be dragged away without even having time to refine your abilities properly.

“Where to?”

“To a dangerous place.”

I staggered back.

Later, Professor Apher hinted that if other people had come, I would have been held longer.

The results of analyzing the monster’s corpse were very bad. So everyone is sensitive.

A very strong monster appeared, and at that time, a novice wizard next to him killed the monster with very strong magic? It sounds strange to me too.

If it’s a big event, that’s about it. Other than that, Vanessa Rose is getting stronger and stronger.

Since Professor Conrad gave me the assignment to run around the castle twice every morning and evening, I haven’t missed an assignment.

In fact, there are days when I want to skip it, but it’s thanks to Evan who comes to visit me every day.

When I hear Evan knocking on the door and cover myself with a blanket, Lina is so happy. It can’t be helped because I didn’t listen to her?

But I also have progress.

I can now run around the castle without stopping once. Amazing, right?

Alisa Bolton, a senior who took this class in the past, told me that she gained the stamina to stay up all night thanks to it, so I have no choice but to comfort myself with that.

Some students are complaining about when they will learn how to use magic aggressively.

But every time that happens, if they fall over in a strong wind, they will study with their eyes on fire. With the intention of touching Professor Conrad even once [getting his attention or favor].

Oh, I have other news. This is some good news. According to Professor Apher and Professor Guido, the size of my innate magical power seems to be very large.

Because I don’t know my activation conditions at all, but I can realize a certain scale of magic. Of course, large-scale magic is impossible.

If I can’t find out my magic conditions, it might not be bad to choose a career in constructing magic circuits or magic circles.

You’re right, teacher. Rather than finding something that suits me perfectly from the beginning, I’ll take this as a process of finding all of this.

I am always grateful for giving me the necessary advice.

You are really my one and only ‘teacher’. Please accept my overflowing affection.

Vanessa Rose, who is deeply immersed in Edirne these days.