Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 16

To Vanessa Rose,

I notice your worries about your future career in your letters, though you try to keep them brief.

The sponsorship will continue as long as you need it, so please don’t worry and learn everything you want and graduate. You don’t need to feel sorry for me.

I’m glad you have good friends around you. I can see Delina and Dottie care about you.

I’m on your side, Vanessa. I don’t know Rias well, but I’m glad he’s doing well.

It’s hard to say what job suits you, Rose. Based on what I’ve seen in your letters, it seems like there are so many jobs that would suit you.

Whatever you choose, you will do great, so don’t worry.

Magicians are said to have an average of three or more jobs.

Would it ease your mind if I said you don’t have to find something to do for the rest of your life right away?

From your teacher.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Vanessa was already staggering when she got out of bed.

Her whole body was creaking from the excessive exercise of the past few days. She wasn’t getting enough rest, and she was investing the rest of her time in assignments, so she had no time to recover.

But even today…

Knock knock.

“I’m… going.”

As Vanessa mumbled gloomily from inside the blanket, Lina (Delina), who had already woken up, yawned as she threw off the blanket.

“Evan is really dedicated. If it were me, I’d go run first, leaving poor Vanessa behind.”

“That’s too much….”

Vanessa stumbled as she put her feet on the floor. *Damn it*, she really had to grit her teeth and get up.

“Have lunch with me today, Vanessa. It’s like we only have morning classes anyway.”

“I was going to do homework.”

“That’s why I’m saying it! How did *I* gain this weight! If you lose any more weight, I won’t let you get away with it!”

Vanessa nodded gloomily and changed into comfortable clothes suitable for running.

“See you later, Lina.”

“Yeah, I’m going to sleep a little more.”

Lina giggled and went back under the blanket.

Vanessa just sighed. *It’s my fault, my fault.*

When she opened the door, Evan was leaning against the wall. The tall young man straightened up.

“You were going to rest today, right?”

Evan’s smiling appearance was quite handsome, even catching the eye of a passing stranger. Dark brown hair fell softly over his forehead, and his slightly lowered eyes were attractive.

But Vanessa wasn’t very interested in that.

“My whole body hurts.”

“It’s always like that in the beginning. But you’re getting faster and faster! There’s hope for you.”

“I think you’re mocking me with a very positive tone.”

Vanessa, who spoke in a very negative tone, staggered as she walked.

Evan glanced at Vanessa, who looked exhausted, and smiled. Her completely disheveled hair was twisted haphazardly.

“Ahem.”

Evan handed over the hair tie he was holding. A deep blue gemstone, like Vanessa’s eyes, was neatly embedded in it, and several strands were twisted together.

A person with a good eye would have noticed that it was quite expensive.

Of course, Vanessa had no sense of that.

“Tie it up. It gets messed up in the wind every day.”

“Where did you get it? Thanks.”

Vanessa received it without much thought and tied her hair up. Only Evan was proud as he watched the hair tie that suited her brown hair from behind.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

The reason she failed was that she took a shower and lay down, wanting to stretch her arms and legs and rest even for a moment.

Lina wasn’t there, and there was no one to wake her up in the room. As soon as Vanessa took a shower and lay on the bed, she was buried in the blanket almost as if she was being sucked in.

But somehow, the birds outside the window sounded very loud. Goosebumps spread all over her body.

When she opened her eyes wide and turned her head, the clock’s minute hand had already moved a considerable amount.

“Damn it!”

Vanessa, who ran out with a crash, ran down the dormitory stairs, skipping several steps. The Wall of the Moon was quite far from the classrooms.

Vanessa ran straight outside and to the main entrance of the main building.

Normally, she would have looked at the portraits of the great magicians and read the achievements written next to them, but now she had no time for that.

The portrait of Bam Vandalu seemed to be looking down at Vanessa from above. The blue eyes of the portrait were filled with laughter. Or was it ridicule?

She passed through the empty hallway at a fast pace. She was in a hurry. Professor Afer would definitely make her stand in front of the class and bombard her with questions if she was late. Of all days!

The dark green tie wasn’t even tied, and she had barely buttoned her shirt. And the moment she turned the corner of the hallway… Bang!

“Ah, ugh….”

“Are you alright?”

A low voice. Someone held out a large hand to Vanessa, who was clutching her forehead and groaning.

Vanessa didn’t even see the person’s face and groped for the hand to lift herself up.

“Sorry, aagh… I’m sorry. I was running too fast. I’m really sorry.”

“I’m fine. Is Vanessa hurt where she bumped?”

Vanessa was surprised by the man’s voice, who suddenly called her name, and raised her eyes. And her mouth dropped open.

A very tall man with broad shoulders was standing in a black uniform. It seemed like she had bumped her forehead into his chest.

“Gid?”

“It’s even nicer to meet you here, Vanessa.”

The man’s beautiful golden eyes curved softly. Vanessa nodded as if possessed, then came to her senses.

The man’s appearance was too striking. Even his fallen bangs shone.

“Why are you here?”

“I have some business. Just….”

Gid picked up Vanessa’s fallen tie and began to tie it skillfully. His large hand brushed against her neck naturally.

“Gid, are you hurt?”

“It looks like Vanessa is the one who’s hurt.”

Gid skillfully finished the tie with a ribbon and then lightly touched Vanessa’s forehead with his finger. A pure white light swirled around the slightly swollen area, and the pain was decreasing.

“Wow.”

Vanessa couldn’t help but admire Gid’s magical skills every time she saw them. The realization speed was very fast, and the application was amazing.

She didn’t know he could even do healing magic.

“You run very fast.”

“I’ve been working out hard these days.”

It was hard to believe when he saw the dark circles under Vanessa’s eyes, but he just nodded.

Vanessa’s blue eyes sparkled with joy. Seeing that, Gid smiled. She was like a slender cat.

But the cat soon hissed and turned her head in surprise. The bell signaling the start of class had rung.

“Ah, no!”

“Go quickly, Vanessa.”

Gid nodded lightly. Vanessa immediately turned around and started running.

Gid looked at Vanessa’s receding figure and walked the same way.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Vanessa, who barely caught her breath, opened the back door and moved almost crawling. Fortunately, Lina and Evan were sitting in the back, and the place she was aiming for wasn’t far.

Some of the students sitting in the back looked at her and smiled slyly, but she had no time to pay attention.

But.

“Vanessa Rose!”

“Yes!”

Vanessa jumped up. Professor Afer, who had gray hair mixed in here and there and wore a monocle [a single lens eyeglass], gave a hollow smile.

“Come forward.”

“Yes….”

Vanessa went down the stairs gloomily. Professor Afer leaned against the blackboard leisurely.

“Vanessa, you must have been late on purpose because you wanted to read the book instead of me.”

Professor Afer said, wiping his monocle with the hem of his clothes.

“Absolutely not.”

Vanessa was serious, but it was no use. Evan was shaking his head while watching from afar, and Lina was smiling and giggling.

*We do the same exercise, so what’s up with him!* Vanessa gritted her teeth inwardly.

“Now, how far did we learn last time?”

“…Various laws of creation magic.”

“Yes, you’re saying it very comprehensively. Are there only one or two laws of creation magic? Tell me about Raoul’s law. The first one!”

Vanessa opened her mouth gloomily among the students who were making faces that said they were glad it wasn’t her.

Gid. Meeting a handsome man like Gid was, no matter how you looked at it, a setup for this. Wasn’t there something that comforted the start of a terrible day?

“You cannot create something from nothing.”

“Next?”

“…It is impossible to change the essence.”

“Oh, you’ve done some reviewing?”

“Yes! Shouldn’t you test other people besides me?”

Vanessa’s eyes sparkled. She tried to look as smart as possible. *I know it, so please test other people!*

“Okay. The third one!”

“You can never create life.”

Vanessa trembled even while saying the correct answer. *With this professor, surely.*

“Excellent. Would you like to say something additional about the third law? Unfortunately, we didn’t cover this part last time. But I think our student Vanessa will tell us well.”

*I knew it, I knew it!*

Vanessa recalled the extremely thick magic textbook that she had skimmed through in her mind. The cover was quite pretty. *Is it because pretty lights sparkle during the execution of creation magic… No, not this!*

“The third law, , is not wrong, but rather controversial….”

“Why?”

Vanessa desperately racked her brains. Today was the day she wore the blue shoes that were her teacher’s gift. *So teacher, give me strength!*

At that time, Vanessa was rolling her eyes diligently and saw someone sitting in the back. *Huh.*

The man, who was already covering himself with a robe, made eye contact with Vanessa, who was being dragged out in front, and tilted his head. She couldn’t see his beautiful eyes, but she could clearly see the corners of his mouth slightly rising.

His appearance was so admirable that admiration flowed out no matter how many times she looked at him. Even though she couldn’t see his face properly!

“Wow.”

“What?”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing….”

“Our Vanessa doesn’t have an answer?”

She couldn’t show a stupid figure in front of Gid.

“We must start with the definition of life. According to the Ballant Dictionary, there is a definition of life based on metabolism, and there is also a definition based on biochemistry.”

“Excellent. So?”

“Raoul is at least 300 years old, so he probably meant life in a theological sense rather than those definitions. In this case, the statement is really correct.”

“Vanessa seems to be trying to refute Raoul’s law with chimeras [mythical creatures composed of different animal parts] in mind. Did everyone understand?”

Some of the people in the front row nodded, and some of the people in the back row just stared at the air for a while. Evan had an expression that he wanted to sleep right away.

The man sitting in the very back stared intently at Vanessa with a faint smile still on his face.

“Excellent, Vanessa. Go in. Will you be late again next time?”

“I will never be late!”

“I’m serious, but I’m disappointed.”

Vanessa quickly jumped back to her seat. Evan, who had piled up books on the seat next to her, moved his books away.

“We went in together, so why were you late?”

Lina smiled brightly and straightened Vanessa’s disheveled hair.

“Looking at it, you came back, took a shower, and slept again?”

“Is it obvious?”

“The circles under your eyes are pitch black. Our Vanessa, what’s the point of being born with a pretty face? You’re so haggard every day from doing homework and exercising.”

“So put in a couple of easy classes. Is your ‘teacher’ telling you to graduate early?”

Evan blurted out. Vanessa was furious.

“Don’t put our teacher in your dirty mouth.”

And she rummaged through her jacket to take out the pen she had put inside, but there was nothing.

“Damn it….”

“It’s quite cute to talk nonsense too.”

Lina said with a smile. Vanessa took off her jacket altogether and rummaged through the inside pocket.

“Ah….”

“What’s wrong? Do you want to borrow a pen?”

“Yeah. It’s a gift….”

Everyone roughly understood and nodded as Vanessa became depressed. It must have been a high-end pen that the ‘teacher’ had sent with an engraving.

“What’s so important about that pen? You have to study.”