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Now, what does that even matter, right? But still, I put my heart into the practical exam, hoping to stick around with the kids as long as I could.

Maybe that’s why my practical scores came out surprisingly high. Just a tad better than the first semester, but hey, it was already high to begin with!

Of course, I can’t deny the influence of the Slime ability that wasn’t there in the first semester. No, it definitely played a part. Thanks to that, my scores shot up amazingly!

If I was perhaps around fifth last time, now I’m probably in the top three, right?

Just so you know, Changwon is first, and Lapiz is second.

That’s enough to make one feel confident. And honestly, I felt pretty good about it. It meant I was ranking high among the best.

But if someone says they’re just students, I have nothing to say. Still, being ranked high among carefully selected talents still holds weight.

In other words, it meant I was stronger than those folks.

Since I’ll end up facing them later, having good scores can’t be a bad thing. It might even intimidate them psychologically.

Like, “Hey, I’m third and you’re eighth—wanna throw down?”—that sort of thing.

I doubt anyone is going to be scared of that, but there could always be that “what if,” right? If they’re aware of the difference, they might act a bit more cautiously.

I admit it’s a pretty lame excuse I’m coming up with… but who cares? Doing well in exams doesn’t hurt, and it doesn’t leak my plans, right?

Anyway, that aside, after the practical exam wrapped up, it snowed like crazy for a few days. As a result, snow piled up nicely all over Heros Academy.

Perfect for snowball fights!

“Eat this!!!”

Yeonhwa hurled a snowball at my back with all her might, and I caught it with my Slime tentacles, hurling it right back at her.

She stomped her feet, complaining it was unfair, but she also vaporized the snowball she just threw with her fire ability, so I called her out on that.

“Th-that’s… I mean, if I catch a cold, it’ll be a disaster!”

“I don’t want to catch a cold either. And besides, all the kids are using their abilities anyway.”

“Th-that… isn’t even an ability!”

Whatever. I stuck my tongue out teasingly, absorbed the snow with my Slime, and spat out the snowball.

Yeonhwa was saying she wouldn’t let this slide, but she looked overwhelmed just dodging the fireballs flying at her.

“Hehehe, you left yourself open! Gather, snowflakes! Winds, carry me away!”

While I was messing around with Seolhwa, Ageha must have thought it was prime time to attack me, and she quickly flew up to drop a massive snowball on me.

“Huh? Uh-oh?!

But then, Seolhwa hijacked Ageha’s massive snowball mid-air, and they went flying towards Lapiz together.

Lapiz was trying to put up a stone wall as usual to stop it, but when she saw Ageha clinging to the snowball, she panicked.

If she set up the wall, Ageha would crash into it, so Lapiz had no choice but to take the snowball hit, turning her into a snowman.

“C-cold…!”

Seolhwa quickly removed the snowball clinging to Lapiz, while Ageha brought some flames near her to warm her up.

“I don’t think a snowball fight is really Lapiz’s thing.”

Jinhyeon, trying to lighten the mood, awkwardly stated the obvious and made it even more awkward.

When will that guy finally get a clue? He’ll probably still be like that even before he kicks the bucket.

“Yeah, it looks like that… What can we do with snow that’s fun for Lapiz… How about making snowmen? That should work, right?”

Minho proposed we make snowmen instead of having a snowball fight. We had no real reason to reject it, and since Lapiz was on board, we decided to go for it.

“But why am I the only one making them with my hands?”

“Don’t worry! I’m making mine with my hands too!”

Yeonhwa complained she was the only one using her hands, but she quieted down when Alice came over, proudly showing off her gloved hands.

“I’m also… bare-handed… and Minho’s… technically bare-handed too…”

Minho was using his ability to frantically roll multiple snowballs at once, creating not a snowman but a snow centipede or something.

Impressive, I guess, but it looked kinda grotesque and not something I wanted to stare at for too long.

Ageha was weaving magic to maneuver the snow as she made her own snowball, while Jinhyeon, as usual, cluelessly made a finished snowman.

I had the chance to point that out but then saw Seolhwa casually “snap” her own snowman into existence and decided to keep my mouth shut.

Abilities users, huh? This is something you should mold carefully by hand.

But I couldn’t really point that out since I was also using Slime to mold the snow instead of forming it with my hands.

Lapiz seemed inspired by that too, creating something like a twig to make her snowballs.

How peaceful. So… about a month left now?

Once a month passes, we’ll have the farewell and break ceremony, right? Yep, just a month left for times like this with these guys.

…I want to leave behind good memories in the end. But ironically, I can’t think of what to do and just ended up idly playing around.

I thought this would last forever, but surprisingly, it’s ending so soon.

“Lanka? Blanca…? What were you thinking?”

“Huh? Oh… I was just doing some quick math with money. Why did you call me?”

Snapped back to reality by Lapiz’s call, she cheerfully smiled and made a proposal.

“We’re going to team up to build one giant snowman together! Want to join?”

A group snowman, huh. How childlike.

“Sounds good!”

I wanted to leave with good memories, so I teamed up with them to construct a big snowman.

It was fun.

But it wouldn’t last long before it melted away.

– – – –

“…And then, Blanca and Justitia will take control of the area with the students. If you want to change anything in the plan, raise your hand and speak up.”

The boss was doing a briefing for the managers on how to take over which areas again since only a month was left.

But honestly, it wasn’t really sinking in.

I’d heard it a few times already, plus my head was packed with other thoughts.

Most of all, I really wasn’t in the mood. I felt worse than I expected…

It was a bad feeling.

Even if I wanted to explain it properly, I had never experienced something like this before, so I couldn’t articulate it. It felt like someone was pressing down on my heart with a press? But no, it was something else.

“Question.”

“Jack, you’re not planning to ask some weird teleportation question again, are you?”

The boss looked a bit tired as he rubbed his brow, responding to Jack’s question. This time, Jack wasn’t trying to joke and actually asked a normal question.

“So, once we finish taking over our area, can we go help somewhere else? Or send some troops over?”

“Of course not. You have to secure that spot and keep a close watch on the hostages. And don’t even think about sending troops. The area you’re in charge of is the most fortified. What are you thinking?”

“Of course, that’s why you sent me there, right? So don’t try to do something reckless with that crazy head of yours.”

Hanchō seemed fed up with Jack’s nonsense and scolded him in a slightly fierce tone.

Jack awkwardly scratched his chin, saying that until middle school, he was pretty average in grades.

“Once you finish securing your area, hold the line. Just focus on your job. Trust your teammates. Got it?”

The boss spoke to Jack in a calming tone and then asked if there were any other questions.

I suppose if it wasn’t for his abilities, that guy wouldn’t even grab the boss’s attention.

Maybe that would have been better.

Lost in thought, the boss suddenly posed a question to me and Justitia.

“I’m not doubting you, so please don’t feel offended. But I want to clarify one thing. After roughly about… nine months together, you’re not slipping up, are you?”

The boss was asking if we could fulfill our duties properly.

“It wouldn’t be right to say it doesn’t hurt, but I’m ready. Sometimes, to achieve true justice… we have to get our hands dirty.”

Justitia answered before me, showing her resolve. The boss looked satisfied and turned his gaze to me.

“Blanca?”

Am I ready?

No… I have to be ready. Think about what brought me here. You entered the Academy for that, didn’t you?

If just for a moment, I want to…

Simply live as I am.

“Even if they’re friends, I owe them my life. Of course, I do. And I want to see the world the boss is creating.”

I broke the silence and expressed my determination to the boss. He said that was reassuring, and advised us to rest well and conserve our strength.

But don’t get too relaxed.

I replied affirmatively and left the meeting room.

I buried deep down the question of whether I truly wanted to live as I am.

 

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