NOVPUBAfter Professor Marie Ross’s pharmacology class ended, Aidan focused on his magic training, recalling Ludger’s previous lesson on elemental manifestation.
Sticking close to him, as always, was Leo—now practically his inseparable partner. Taishy, who had recently started spending more time with Aidan, was with them as well.
The three of them practiced in Training Field 1, each manifesting their respective elements, working hard to gain proficiency.
“Phew. Almost there.”
Aidan wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked at the wind element forming in his palm.
He remembered the soft, cool breeze he’d felt running across wide countryside fields.
Now, that same sensation—though not perfect—was almost identically reproduced before his eyes.
The fact that someone like him, who had known nothing about elemental magic, could manifest something like this filled Aidan with excitement he couldn’t quite hide.
It was all thanks to Ludger’s teachings.
‘He really is incredible.’
Every bit of advice Ludger gave was practical, with nothing unnecessary to discard.
Not just his advice—his entire demeanor toward magic during class struck Aidan deeply.
‘Was I wrong to doubt Professor Ludger back then?’
Ludger always came off cold and stern, but the passion in his voice when he spoke about magic, and the sincerity in his thoughts, were unmistakable.
Someone who truly loves magic couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
More than anything, if Ludger were truly wicked, he never would’ve shared such valuable knowledge with students—things no one else had ever taught.
‘I still don’t know for sure.’
Aidan vaguely sensed that Ludger had something hidden within him. But even so, he didn’t feel that Ludger was a bad person.
Maybe it was because of that conflicting feeling weighing on his mind—
The wind element he’d barely managed to maintain dissipated without a trace.
Clicking his tongue, Aidan turned to look at Leo and Taishy.
They too were sweating, immersed in their own elemental practice.
It was probably because they had been moved by the warm flame Aidan had shown during their first class.
Not wanting to interrupt the good mood, Aidan simply watched them quietly. Just then, a group of students entered the training field.
‘Those guys...’
Among them, one figure caught Aidan’s eye.
His dark blue hair carried a faint bluish hue, parted neatly to expose his forehead.
In contrast, his skin was pale to the point of appearing cold, and his high-bridged nose and sharply narrowed eyes stood out.
He radiated a natural nobility. Judging by the students gathered around him, he seemed to be a second-year.
‘Who is that? If he’s surrounded by so many nobles, he must be someone important.’
As Aidan continued watching, the boy turned and looked back at him.
Their eyes met in the air.
Aidan suddenly recalled something Leo had once said.
Don’t hold eye contact with noble students for too long, and don’t show too much interest either.
Aidan wasn’t so foolish as to ask “Why can’t we be friends?”—so he naturally averted his gaze.
The boy didn’t seem to mind or take offense.
Aidan, feeling he’d rested enough, was about to resume his practice.
“Hey, look who it is.”
A voice rang out from the group of noble students, and one of them began striding toward him.
Leo and Taishy, distracted by the voice, stopped their training and turned to face the newcomer.
It was a male student, smirking cruelly as he stared at Aidan.
“Oh, you’re...”
The face was familiar—Jeban Pellio, eldest son of Baron Pellio. The same Jeban who had tried to pick a fight with Aidan earlier in the term but backed off after a sharp retort from Leo.
“What’s with this guy acting like he knows you all of a sudden?” Leo muttered, his expression souring instantly.
Jeban ignored him, making a show of approaching Aidan and his group.
“Well, if it isn’t Aidan—the one who couldn’t even properly manifest an element.”
He deliberately emphasized Aidan’s earlier failure to manifest anything.
Of course, Aidan and his friends could easily read between the lines.
Leo responded with a cynical smile.
“Hey, Jeban. We’re kind of in the middle of practicing magic. Why don’t you go crawl back into whatever corner you came from?”
“Hah. I was wondering who you were—turns out it’s that same cocky commoner from before. So the two of you really are clinging to each other like best friends, huh?”
Leo’s eyes flicked past Jeban’s shoulder toward the noble students watching from behind, clearly entertained by the situation.
None of them seemed interested in stopping Jeban. If anything, it was the one standing at the center of that group who kept nagging at Leo’s thoughts.
“Trying to show off now that your upperclassman’s here?” Leo said with a scoff.
He knew exactly who that upperclassman was.
There weren’t many famous figures like that at Seorn Academy.
Freuden Ulburk.
The heir of House Ulburk—the ducal family symbolized by the wolf, one of the three great duchies of the Exilion Empire.
Now it made sense why Jeban was suddenly acting out.
He was trying to get noticed by Freuden, the leader of the noble student faction.
“We’re not here to play your little games,” Leo said. “This space is for training magic, so get lost.”
Jeban responded with a snort.
“A lowly commoner dares to talk down to someone of noble blood?”
“I don’t think you understand the situation yet...”
“And for the record, I was talking to Aidan. What’s with you, little brat, butting in like you matter?”
Snap.
Calling him little brat—that was like hitting a nerve.
Leo was noticeably shorter than his peers.
Some girls found it cute. Leo hated that.
His short height was his Achilles’ heel.
“You little...!”
“Leo, calm down. Let me handle it.”
Aidan stepped forward, holding Leo back.
If things continued like this, it was clear the situation wouldn’t end well.
“Jeban. I don’t know why you’re suddenly acting like this, but could you just walk away? I don’t want to fight a friend.”
Jeban’s face twisted with disgust.
“Friend? Who said I’m your friend, you filthy piece of trash.”
“Oh... guess I was wrong?”
“Are you insane?”
This is why I can’t stand commoners.
That clear-eyed, innocent gaze—like he thought the whole world was sunshine and flowers—was infuriating.
“If you’re a commoner, then act like one. Bow your damn head in front of nobility.”
“...Jeban. I don’t know what I did to offend you, but if I did, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry. Can we just let it go?”
Aidan’s words were sincere—he was trying his best to be understanding.
He was a boy who had never received such unprovoked hostility before and had no intention of escalating a fight.
But Jeban just sneered.
“Let it go? Sure. I’ll let it go—if you do just one thing.”
He pointed to the ground beneath his feet.
“Kneel.”
“You...!”
Taishy couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward.
“That’s enough. Have you no shame as a noble?”
“What, and who are you? Some fallen noble thinks she can talk back to me?”
At those words, Taishy’s expression went ice cold.
“What did you say?”
“A disgraceful family like yours shouldn’t even be called noble. Just shut up, unless you want your stink rubbing off on the rest of us.”
“...Do you have a death wish?”
Taishy’s family history was a taboo subject—one she never wanted to touch.
But Jeban stabbed right into that wound like it meant nothing.
As magical energy began to surge around her, Jeban laughed mockingly.
“Figures. A fallen noble with no proper education lashes out just like that—”
“Jeban Pellio.”
“Huh?”
The one who called his name was none other than Aidan.
But his voice wasn’t the same.
It was heavier. Weighted. And without realizing it, Jeban flinched.
“Jeban. If you have a problem with me, I can’t do anything about that. If you insult me, fine. I’ll let it go. But—”
Aidan began walking toward him.
His eyes burned with anger as they locked onto Jeban.
“—the moment you mess with my friends, I don’t let that slide.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Ha... Hahaha. And what if you don’t let it go? Huh? Fine, then—let’s see what you’ve got.”
As if he’d been waiting for this, Jeban pulled out a pair of pristine white gloves from his pocket and flung them at Aidan.
“A magic duel. Run away if you’re scared.”
The glove hit Aidan in the chest and dropped to the ground. He looked down at it, then slowly shook his head.
“Do we really have to go this far?”
“And what if I say yes?”
“...Fine.”
Aidan gave a quiet nod.
“Aidan!”
“Hey—what are you doing?!”
Both Taishy and Leo tried to stop him, but Aidan was resolute. A deep instinct told him—he couldn’t back down here.
A fight with Jeban was unavoidable.
And truthfully, he didn’t want to avoid it.
“Alright then. Come at me. The loser kneels and apologizes to the winner. Sound fair?”
“If you promise to hold up your end.”
“Hahaha! Sure! I’ll agree to anything! If you can beat me, that is.”
Jeban was confident.
Sure, they were both first-years at Seorn, but Aidan barely even knew the fundamentals of magic.
Who knew how someone like him even got into Seorn? Probably some benefit for being a commoner.
Jeban, who had learned magic from private tutors since childhood, had no doubt he would win.
The moment the two of them squared off and tension thickened in the air—
“What do you think you’re doing?”
A cold voice froze the entire training field.
* * *
I was on patrol at the time.
The werewolf incident might’ve been over, but as the Headmaster said, you never know when another crisis might break out. So patrols were to continue for a while.
It was annoying, sure, but I figured I’d use it as an excuse to take a walk and clear my head.
I mean, seriously, they’re students. The werewolf thing just happened—what kind of idiot would cause trouble so soon after?
─It took less than five minutes for me to realize how naïve that thought was.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Two students were moments away from a fight, and I approached with a calm voice.
Sure, I was irritated, but I needed to hear the full story before losing my temper.
The moment I appeared, several students went pale.
You’d think they’d seen a ghost or something.
“You two—what are you trying to do here?”
I pointed directly at the center of the situation.
One of them was especially familiar—brown-haired, countryside kid.
Aidan.
...You again.
I once joked that he felt like a shonen protagonist, but at this point, I was starting to think it might actually be true.
His opponent looked like a noble student. If I recalled correctly, his name was Jeban Pellio.
Not exactly a memorable face.
I sighed.
“Instead of improving your magic here, you’re about to start a brawl?”
As I walked closer, the students parted to make way.
Their nervous glances bothered me, but since they cleared the path, I let it go.
Ignoring Jeban, I addressed Aidan directly.
“Explain. What happened here?”
“W-Well, that is...”
“This is a fair duel!”
Jeban cut in from behind me, raising his voice.
I turned to look at him without saying a word.
Maybe he thought I was ignoring him. He was practically fuming, glaring straight at me.
“A fair duel, is it?”
“Yes. I challenged Aidan to a magical duel. This isn’t a fight.”
“A magic duel? First-years calling duels already? That’s rich.”
“Are first-years not allowed?”
What the hell’s gotten into this guy? Did he eat something weird?
This punk, who normally wouldn’t even look me in the eye, was suddenly acting like a bold little upstart. I was momentarily thrown off.
Then I understood why.
Behind Jeban stood a group of students—nobles—clearly there to back him up.
And among them, one stood out.
That one...
I recognized the face from somewhere.
Just looking at the followers gathered around him, he was clearly their ringleader.
Even he looked at me with a slightly curious expression.
A confrontation between a commoner and a noble in Training Field One, huh? This feels familiar...
It reminded me exactly of that previous fight between Rine and Romli.
Except this time, they weren’t ambushed. They were about to square off head-on.
And I felt a headache coming on.
Sure, fights between boys weren’t exactly unheard of in this world, but why ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) did it have to happen during my patrol?
And of all people, Aidan had to be involved—the very one I’d been keeping an eye on.
“Jeban Pellio. And Aidan. I won’t hold either of you accountable for something that hasn’t happened yet. So let it go, and return to your dorms. Now.”
“Professor Ludger!”
“I said go back.”
I glared at Jeban as I spoke, and even with his noble entourage, he gritted his teeth.
He still didn’t dare challenge a teacher’s authority outright.
“You should’ve just let them go through with it.”
A new voice broke in.
All eyes turned—not toward the entrance I’d come through, but the opposite side of the training field.
A man walked in, locking eyes with me.
“Professor Chris...”
It was Chris Bennimore, one of the new instructors who entered Seorn along with me—also a member of the noble faction.
