I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy

133 – Practical 2

After finishing my patrol and showering at the dorm, I was walking through the academy grounds to head to the special class.

People around me were still staring, but fortunately, no one was talking to me.

Since it became known that I’m the Emperor’s disciple, many people have been trying to get close to me, but I kept rejecting them, and eventually, no one approached me.

I was walking, thinking that I’d receive Yohanna’s support and definitely give Professor Elisia a hard time today. Then, I saw a familiar pink figure.

There were elemental spirits of fire, water, earth, and wind on her shoulders, and a small bird perched on her head.

In the academy, or rather, in the entire continent, there’s only one person with that appearance.

“Sepia-ssi~!”

My voice got louder due to my excitement.

As a result, everyone’s attention was drawn to me, but I ignored it and took large strides to approach Sepia.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes, it’s me. You don’t have to call me ‘hey, you’; you can call me by my name.”

Sepia let out a small laugh at my words.

“No, no matter how I think about it, you’re suited to being a hoobae.”

I didn’t really do anything to be considered a hoobae, but…

When I came to my senses, Sephia was already calling me a hoobae.

“By the way, we met again today. What a ridiculous coincidence, right? Sephia thinks so too?”

It’s already been a month since I coincidentally met Sephia on my way to school.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Anyone could think it’s not a coincidence, but it really is.

Sometimes Sephia finds me first, and sometimes I find Sephia.

“It’s just that our commute times overlap, that’s all.”

Let’s not think too deeply about it.

It’s boring to commute alone, but with Sephia, I have a conversation partner, and it’s actually better.

-Zip! Zap!

The water and wind elementals on Sephia’s shoulder jumped to my shoulder.

And the small winged creatures that rarely come, fluttered their wings and moved from Sephia’s head to mine.

Now, Sephia and I, who had grown accustomed to this situation, walked together as special partners.

“Sephia, you’re going to change Jjakji’s name again, right?”

“Jjakji is just too embarrassing no matter how I think about it.”

Sephia still hadn’t given up on the name Lightning Thunder, and sometimes called Jjakji that.

Whenever that happened, Jjakji would sit on my head like now.

“Jjakji prefers a cool name like Jjakji over Lightning Thunder, don’t you think?”

“Don’t laugh!”

-Zip!

Sephia got angry at my words, and Jjakji flapped its wings in agreement.

As we walked side by side, matching Sephia’s pace, Sephia started to sneak glances at me again today.

They seemed to think it was natural, but from the side, it was too obvious, and I had to hold back my laughter.

At first, I didn’t understand what they were doing, but after seeing it every day, I realized they were checking if I was wearing perfume.

“You could just ask me, and I’ll tell you.”

But it’s fun to watch, so I won’t say anything.

Especially, the natural expression they make is the most entertaining.

Sephia, who smelled the perfume and smiled in satisfaction, looked like someone with a secret, twiddling their fingers.

I know what Sephia wants to say.

Now that special training is over, they want to know where Betz is right now.

I want to tell them right away, but unfortunately, we’re on our way to school.

If I talk about Betz now, I’ll definitely be late, and I already almost got in trouble for chatting with Sephia last time.

“I’ll tell you what you’re curious about after school. Let’s meet in the forest later.”

“Okay.”

We didn’t specify the exact time, but Sephia didn’t ask, and I didn’t feel the need to say it either.

.

The Academy Forest, where we trained for a month.

After all the Academy classes ended, Roki and Sephia met in the forest.

Until now, we’ve met for training, but the reason we’re meeting today is not for training, but to finally start taking real revenge.

Sephia’s expression, which had been smiling until morning, was frozen.

I knew too well that getting excited, angry, and resentful wouldn’t solve anything.

So I deliberately didn’t think about it.

So I deliberately focused only on training.

But now that I think about taking revenge, everything comes flooding back.

The village full of laughter, the kind adults who would offer me food, the friends who made being together fun, and my parents who were everything to me.

If I could only remember these things, how good would it be?

If that were the case, it wouldn’t matter even if I thought about it hundreds of times.

But the village full of screams, the adults and friends who offered me food, and my parents who were everything to me are all gone, and I’ve lost them right before my eyes.

There’s only one reason for all of this.

Betzdo.

“Sephia-ssi…”

Roki gazed at Sephia with a bitter smile hidden behind his mask.

If Sephia couldn’t take revenge, he wouldn’t be able to let go of his emotions in his heart.

“I’ll tell you about the existence that knows where Betzdo is right now. But before that, I have something to say.”

It was a word that didn’t need to be said, but he opened his mouth, wondering if it might be possible.

“The probability of Sephia-ssi taking revenge on Betzdo right now is 50%.”

The 50% probability was a number that Sephia could barely mention now that he had memorized Betzdo’s attack patterns.

If it were before training, Sephia would have failed in his revenge and died in the game.

Sephia’s talent far surpassed Betzdo’s.

But there was a huge wall between Sephia and Betzdo.

‘Time.’

The mask had slightly broken down the thick wall of time, but it was only for a month.

It was difficult to catch up with the hundreds of years that had passed in just one month.

It wasn’t that Sephia was lazy or untalented.

The only problem was that the opponent was a necromancer who had lived for hundreds of years.

“If you prepare for one more year… no, half a year, Sephia-ssi will be able to take revenge without a single wound.”

“………..”

Sephia didn’t say a word, just listening to Roki’s words.

The question was, would he win for sure if he trained for half a year more? But if he fought now, he might get hurt or die.

Did he really need to take revenge right now?

“…………”

He closed his eyes and thought.

‘If I were myself a month ago…’

Wouldn’t he have shouted at Roki to hurry up and tell him, without thinking about anything else, only thinking about revenge, because he had lived for revenge?

But it’s different now.

In the past, revenge was the most important thing, but now there’s something more important.

If it were for revenge, he wouldn’t have cared even if he died right now, but now there are too many things he wants to do while alive.

The time it took to save myself from the 10-year grudge was only one month.

Sepia opened his mouth, not to dwell on the past, but to escape it.

“I can’t wait any longer.”

He suddenly thought about how things would have turned out if their current situation were reversed.

Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to try with a 50% chance of success, driven by personal emotions, after waiting for half a year with certainty?

“This isn’t about getting excited because of revenge.”

But Rocky didn’t call him foolish or stupid; he just listened quietly.

“In half a year… my life is too precious to spend thinking about revenge for that long. Don’t you think so?”

“If waiting for half a year is too hard, I can fight alongside you. Then you won’t have to wait that long, and it’ll be easy…”

Rocky looked into Sepia’s eyes and stopped talking.

He let out a sigh.

“Oh, dear…”

Yes, the end of revenge is something I have to achieve myself.

I did it too.

“I’m just stubborn, that’s all.”

Rocky said, placing his hand on Sepia’s head.

Honestly, he knew from the start what kind of answer Sepia would give.

But he kept talking because he wanted Sepia to take an easier path, driven by his selfish heart.

Yes, if Sepia couldn’t kill Betzdo, he could just take Sepia and run away.

And if he kept challenging, it would be okay.

“You’re amazing. Ah, you’re really amazing and impressive.”

Rocky moved his hand on Sepia’s head, patting him, and Sepia pouted, looking like a child.

“Who are you calling stubborn?”

“I’ll say one more thing.”

Rocky conveyed his sincere words to Sepia.

“I believe you, Sepia, will win.”

Of course, Sepia wanted to say, but he couldn’t open his mouth.

There was an unknown emotion mixed in Rocky’s voice.

“And I don’t think I’ve won against Donggwijeon. The value of Sepia’s life and Betzdo’s life is as different as heaven and earth.”