NOVPUBA lecture room prepared for Ludger’s class.
Aidan scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
“Kind of just got scolded this time, huh.”
On the final day of the festival—
Right in the middle of the fireworks, he and his friends had fought and defeated remnants of the Black Dawn Society.
No one got hurt. And they’d managed to prevent the once-a-year festival from ending in disaster.
Even so, what awaited Aidan and his friends afterward... was demerits.
“Well, yeah. We were pretty reckless this time.”
Aidan had been confident things would turn out fine, but what he understood didn’t always match how others perceived it.
He couldn’t argue with the punishment.
If he had one regret, it was that he’d dragged his friends into it with him.
“Sorry. You got caught up in my stubbornness.”
“It’s fine.”
Leo, who had been listening nearby, spoke bluntly.
“I agreed to it too. I’m the one who said we should go along with it.”
Honestly, they were probably lucky it had only ended in demerits.
The fact that no one was hurt and they were all still standing—that alone was something to be thankful for.
Taishy nodded in agreement. Iona, as usual, wasn’t particularly interested in demerits or merits.
“Still, talk about bad luck. Of all people, it had to be Professor Chris Bennimore who caught us.”
“Yeah.”
A teacher known for his favoritism toward noble students, it was only natural that he’d look down on commoners who caused trouble.
Aidan leaned back and stretched his neck.
“Y’know, if it had been Professor Ludger, I bet we would’ve gotten off with just a warning.”
“I don’t know... we probably would’ve gotten a serious verbal lashing.”
“Isn’t that still better than getting demerits?”
“Not when it comes from him. Have you /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ ever heard him yell at someone?”
“I was fine with it?”
“...You know, Aidan, sometimes I envy how thick-skinned and clueless you are.”
“Thanks!”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
As Leo grumbled, someone walked up to the two of them.
Leo turned to look and blinked in surprise.
“You’re...”
“Hi.”
Hair like fresh snow glimmered under the morning sunlight.
More than the silvery-white color, what stood out was her breathtaking beauty.
It felt like staring at a patch of pristine, eternal snow on a mountain peak.
Any average male student would have been captivated on the spot.
But Leo eyed her warily as he called her name.
“Julia Plumehart.”
“So you know me?”
“Of course. You’re the top entrant. How could I not?”
She had entered Seorn Academy ranked first among the freshmen. A rising star already receiving the Mage Tower’s attention.
Even the Liberation Army had marked her as someone to watch closely.
Not that Leo had any intention of following such orders.
‘She always kept to herself and never spoke to anyone. So what’s this all of a sudden?’
At the start of the semester, many students had tried to approach her.
Including plenty from noble families.
But Julia had turned them all down—noble or commoner, it didn’t seem to matter. She treated them all the same.
Some had taken offense, but even they backed off when met with just a few seconds of her calm stare. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Since then, no one had dared approach her.
She always sat alone in the back of the lecture hall. Never spoke, never engaged.
She had effectively become an untouchable.
Like a pure white glass lily blooming alone at the edge of a cliff.
That was the kind of figure Julia had become.
And now, for her to approach them first—it was a surprise.
Even the students inside the classroom were watching with curious looks.
And judging by those glances, it seemed her attention was on Aidan.
‘This is suspicious, no matter how you look at it.’
As someone whose job was to gather and analyze information, Leo prided himself on reading people well.
But even he couldn’t get a read on Julia Plumehart.
She hid her emotions well. She was adept at concealing her true thoughts.
All they really knew about her was that she was a prodigy sponsored by the Mage Tower and had entered Seorn as the top student.
But that couldn’t be all there was to her.
“So? What business do you have with us?”
Just standing there in silence would be mentally exhausting, so Leo cut to the point.
Julia responded with her usual unreadable smile.
“With you guys? No. I’m only interested in him.”
She pointed—of course—at Aidan.
“Me?”
Aidan blinked in pure confusion, seemingly having no deeper thoughts.
“Yeah. You. Aidan, right?”
“Yep! And you are... um...”
“You don’t know who I am?”
Julia blinked, clearly surprised.
She wasn’t trying to brag, but she had assumed there wasn’t a single freshman who didn’t know her name.
Then Aidan snapped his fingers.
“Oh, right! I remember now! Julia, right? I saw your name at the top of all the test scores!”
“...You’re a really funny person, aren’t you?”
Aidan’s reaction wasn’t calculated or crafted to impress.
It was pure—100% natural innocence.
Julia found her pride a little bruised... but she also found it amusing.
Well.
‘He’s a boy with a fascinating dream. This much is only natural.’
Julia was a freshman of the <Dream School>, where dream mages resided—those who could wield dream magic, a rare and mysterious branch.
She was one of the most gifted dream mages in generations.
And she could see the dreams of others.
Dreams were the subconscious. The crystallization of one’s desires.
If you wanted to understand someone’s true self, there was nothing more effective than peering into their dreams.
That was why Julia Plumehart...
Viewed people through their dreams—and judged them the same way.
Their worth.
Their interest.
Their meaning.
All through dreams.
‘Everyone else is dull, but this boy is different.’
What filled Aidan’s head—
What dominated all his dreams—
Was “magic.”
So singular. So unwavering.
Most people’s dreams were vague, hazy things like clouds or mist.
But Aidan’s dream... was like a perfectly straight rod.
And to think he used a rare [Unusual] magic type, just like she did.
That alone made her feel that it wouldn’t be a waste to get to know him.
“Anyway, I came to talk to you because I’m interested.”
“Hold it right there.”
This time, it was Taishy Friad who stepped in—her red twin tails bouncing with every word.
“Who even are you? You butt into our conversation out of nowhere and start acting all high and mighty.”
Her eyes were full of suspicion and hostility as she glared at Julia.
“Hm? And you are?”
“I’m Taishy. Taishy Friad. You don’t know me?”
“Taishy? Oh, right. You’re ranked below me.”
Crack.
That hit Taishy’s sore spot like a hammer.
She was the second-highest in the entrance rankings—and this came from the very person she most wanted to surpass.
Julia looked at her with the same smile as always.
‘Hmm. This one’s dream isn’t much.’
Taishy’s dream was—just like her personality—blazing with intensity.
Like roaring red flames.
But within those flames was a fragile weakness that could be extinguished at any moment.
Yes, her passion and sincerity were intense. But that was all.
She was better than most... but nowhere near enough to pique Julia’s interest.
‘I can admire her stubborn drive to catch up to others through sheer effort... but it’s not my taste.’
She was still better than the ones who wore masks and carried black lumps of darkness in their hearts.
But not Julia’s type.
Still, what Taishy really disliked about Julia ran deeper than just that.
“Anyway, I don’t know what you’re up to with Aidan, but I hope you realize it’s kind of a nuisance.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. It’s good to have more friends, right?”
“You shut up!”
Ah.
Julia immediately understood.
The way Taishy kept glancing at Aidan while she talked—there was no mistaking it.
“We’ve got something to talk about privately. So would you mind backing off?”
“Hm. Is it something I’m not supposed to hear?”
“Yeah. It’s our business.”
Taishy deliberately emphasized “us”, drawing a clear line in the sand.
Of course, to Julia, that provocation only came off as adorably petty.
“Hm. Well, I was only planning to show my face and say hi today anyway. Besides, class is about to start soon.”
“Then off you go! Shoo! Shoo!”
Taishy waved her hand and made hissing sounds with her mouth, and Julia responded with a calm smile.
A mature reaction.
Taishy couldn’t help but feel like she had just lost something.
“See you later.”
Julia waved at Aidan and returned to her seat.
Aidan, watching her go, grinned innocently.
“She’s really pretty, huh?”
“......”
“Ah! Wait! Taishy! Why’d you hit me?!”
“I don’t know!”
It may have been an innocent compliment with no ulterior motive, but that only made it worse.
Taishy punched Aidan’s shoulder repeatedly in frustration.
Iona watched silently with her usual blank expression, while Leo sighed as if expecting yet another headache.
Julia, now back in her seat, glanced at Aidan’s group with glinting eyes.
‘They’re interesting.’
The dreams of Aidan’s friends were also significantly unusual compared to other students.
‘That short boy is hiding something. And that beastkin girl... she seems to have some kind of goal.’
They hadn’t been that way at the beginning of the semester.
At some point, they’d changed.
And it had all started after they began spending time with Aidan.
That’s why Julia found him so intriguing.
It wasn’t romantic attraction.
It was closer to academic curiosity—as a mage.
Unusual magic, unusual mind.
And Julia Plumehart was, above all else, a mage herself.
Naturally, when something within her field piqued her interest, she couldn’t help but be drawn to it.
‘Besides that... if we’re talking about interesting dreams, there’s also—’
Rine, who sat with the Third Princess and quietly chatted.
Everyone dreams of something greater, but Rine dreamed of reality.
She had even sealed parts of her own memory—a fascinating case.
Step. Step.
Just then, silence fell over the classroom.
Everyone had heard the slow, steady footsteps approaching from the lecture hall entrance.
Clack—!
The door swung open, revealing the classroom’s master.
Ludger Cherish.
Though it was now summer, he still wore that long frock coat that looked far too warm.
Of course, it was magically enchanted—cool in summer, warm in winter.
But from the students’ perspective, it looked stifling no matter what.
In a way, he was a man of unwavering consistency.
It had been a while since he started at Seorn, but he still didn’t act friendly with the students.
He never let his guard down.
But Julia’s attention wasn’t on Ludger.
It was on the girl who trailed behind him like a chick following its mother hen.
‘Sedina.’
Sedina Roschen.
The first assistant instructor selected by Professor Ludger Cherish.
And to Julia Plumehart—the mage—
‘A childhood friend.’
Whenever Julia looked at Sedina, she felt uneasy.
To be more honest, it was anger.
‘Liar Sedina.’
As a child, Sedina had met Julia.
And they had become friends.
It was the first time Julia had ever opened her heart to anyone.
But Sedina had turned down her offer to stay together.
She even broke their promise.
And then, when they reunited here at Seorn?
Sedina’s dream had been pure darkness—as if ink had been spilled across it.
Gone was the bright, innocent childhood friend she once knew.
She had abandoned that beauty.
Julia couldn’t forgive that.
And worse—Sedina now avoided eye contact, ducking her head like a frightened animal.
It was beyond disappointing—it was contemptible.
‘But something’s... different today.’
Her steps were lighter.
She looked subtly more vibrant than the low-confidence shell she had become.
The biggest change?
The way Julia measured people—their dreams.
At the start of the semester, Sedina’s dream had been rock-bottom in Julia’s evaluation.
Dark. Dirty.
Just seeing it ruined Julia’s mood for the entire day.
Though it had improved somewhat in recent days, its core had remained unchanged.
But today—it was entirely different.
‘A dream’s color changed in just a few days?’
What had once been toxic runoff was now at least a grade-two water source.
Even Julia hadn’t imagined such a shift.
‘What on earth happened?’
A change in one’s dream meant something inside had fundamentally shifted.
Something deep and vital.
And if it had a cause—only one person came to mind.
Naturally, her gaze followed Sedina’s.
To the one she was looking at.
‘Professor Ludger Cherish.’
A newly appointed instructor at Seorn, and far more capable than the rest.
The [Source Code] magic he demonstrated hadn’t just been interesting—Julia, who normally cared only for dreams, had found herself entranced by it, if only for a moment.
‘I thought being uniquely talented and having a positive influence on others were two completely separate things...’
Was that not the case after all?
Still, Julia found it hard to believe that Ludger had influenced Sedina in any meaningful way.
And with good reason.
It was Ludger.
‘Only someone who dreams can influence another’s dream.’
The clearest example was Aidan.
His upright, kind heart was reflected in his dreams—and his friends, influenced by him, had changed as well.
A beautiful cycle of positive influence.
And to make that happen, one needed a dream that was brighter and purer than anyone else’s.
‘Which is exactly why Professor Ludger Cherish could never influence others.’
The reason was simple.
Because he—
Because Ludger Cherish—
Had no dreams whatsoever.
There was not a single wish or longing to be found within him.
Not even the faintest flicker of desire.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve heard of this before...’
There were a rare few like that, even in history.
And mages of the <Dream School> had a name for such people.
The Dreamless.
