Chapter 335

Chapter 335

“Ah.”
Nabiroze opened his eyes.
The morning sun was streaming in through the uncurtained windows.
Overhead, the ceiling was unusually high for a single person living alone.
“You’re feeling light today.
Sometimes I have days like this.
I didn’t feel strangely tired after a late night of intense training last night.
She stretched and left the room.
I slept on a futon on the floor, so I didn’t have a bed.
As I pulled back the covers and opened the door, I was greeted by a living room full of clutter.
“I’m going to have to catch these and clean them up.
Nabiroze pursed her lips.
It was a contrast to the tidy bedroom.
Yearbooks, enchanted bouquets that never wilt, frilly dresses and sparkly jewelry with no regard for the recipient’s taste.
It would be easier to just throw it away, but I couldn’t.
All of the clutter that grows with each passing year has been gifted to me by students.
Scratching his stomach, Nabirozé’s gaze settled on the devastation.
A large, colorful piece of underwear, like a tropical fruit, hung over a chair.
“I should’ve punched him in the face.
Nabiroze was disappointed.
That was a gift from Adeshan for his graduation.
The box he held out, saying that he needed to find a mate before it was too late, contained the top and bottom sets.
With its colorful and provocative design, it seemed to be a “showdown.
I still remembered the conversation vividly.
– You’re crazy. You want me to wear this?
– I don’t know if I can put it this way, but it’s also good, because right now, last night, Ronan—.
– I don’t want to know anymore.
Naturally, I never wore it.
Not only was there no intention of finding a match, but the dimensions were wrong in the first place.
Even on the big side, not the small side.
I’ve never experienced this before in my life, so I was a little panicked.
I can’t believe that was over a decade ago.
Nabiroze’s gaze shifted again.
“I’ve gotten everything I deserve.
The existing furniture, such as sofas and tables, were buried and not visible.
The only thing on display was a photo of Ronan’s crew on the wall.
Taxidermy from one of the most fun times of my life, taken before I’d even gotten to the Sword Festival yet.
“When the hell did this happen?
Nabiroze smiled.
It was a picture of youth sliced into chunks.
The venue is the Galerion Hall of the Phileon Academy.
The First Training Ground, to be exact.
In the photo, Ronan and Schlieffen, still looking a little younger, rubbed shoulders.
He had just finished a duel and was covered in dirt and dust.
Behind him stood Adeshan, his assistant, and himself.
Adeshan was holding a canteen in both hands, his own arms crossed, looking down at his two students.
With a gleam in your eye, like you’re looking at a glorious treasure.
“I was so jealous.
And for good reason.
It wasn’t just because they were geniuses unprecedented in the history of the empire.
Nabiroze liked students who were spending their youth well.
He loved students who spent the best years of their lives doing what they wanted, whether it was studying, loving, or fighting.
In that sense, Ronan and Schlieffen had the best youth ever.
It could have been called vicarious satisfaction.
Nabiroze was a man who spent his entire youth on the bloody battlefield.
A life of blood, death, and brute logic, where the harsh philosophy that life is money was common sense.
She didn’t have the memories of laughing and talking with her friends, studying together, or traveling together.
That’s why I became an educator.
He wanted to see his students live a happy and fulfilling youth, unlike his own.
I want to guide my students who can’t.
Although she didn’t show it, she was more than happy with her job.
Suddenly, Nabiroze looked at the photo and smiled bitterly.
“You’re young.
Nabirozé realized he was getting old.
It was about looks, not skill.
Skin like summer fruit, hair with a glow.
Your thirty-something self, full of life, unlike your current self.
Of course, those around her still saw her as being in her mid-to-late twenties, but what they saw was something else.
“Hmm.”
It was probably not going to change.
You’ll grow old steadily in the ravages of time.
The day would inevitably come when I would be wrinkled, my hair would be gray, and I would no longer be able to lift my sword like a limb.
But that didn’t scare me.
Because life is most beautiful when you’re moving forward.
After a long day of thinking, Nabirozé set out.
“Let’s go.
If I didn’t wash up quickly, I would be late for work.
I can’t be humiliated like that by being a vice principal.
It was the moment she stepped into the bathroom.
“——?”
She shook her head, feeling the disparity.
Somehow, the sink seemed to be higher.
It was supposed to be waist-high, but now it was chest-high.
I also noticed that my bathroom slippers were looser than usual.
“Is it my mood?
This didn’t bother me too much.
I’m not usually one to keep a close eye on my sink or my slippers.
Nabiroze stopped in front of the sink, thinking it was always this size.
I’m just about to wash my face when I slip out of my skin-tight snake-print pajamas.
“What.”
Nabirozze is frozen.
In the mirror stood a young girl.
It’s a kid in his early to mid-teens, the kind of kid who will ask you what’s for lunch today at any moment.
A face that’s not as smooth as it should be.
Larger eyes as the head gets smaller.
Only now did I realize that my pajamas were actually sliding down my collarbone.
I also realized why my shoulders were unusually light.
After a while.
She fiddled with her half-shrunken breasts and laughed in disbelief.
“This is—so young.”
****
Tower Mage of the Full Moon Tower.
The master of earth magic.
Wear worms and more.
There were many other words that summarized the man known as Jarodin, but the most famous was “the wizard who brought his wife back to life.
Jarodin, who had revived his wife Sunya, the love of his life, with Ronan’s help, was still working as a professor of magic at Pileon Academy.
Sunya’s return has changed so many things in Jarodin.
He gained enough weight to look normal, and managed to transform his face from its default suicidal expression to a smiling one.
One of those changes was the interior of the Oval Office.
Originally reminiscent of an abandoned wasteland, Jarodin’s office is now filled with houseplants, Sunya’s handmade dolls, and colorful furniture.
Listening to the rousing music from the gramophone, I couldn’t tell if I was in an office or a southern aboriginal cultural club.
Jarodin’s personality naturally mellowed after living in such a place, losing much of his cynicism and no longer playing dirty jokes on his students.
Rather, he provides answers based on his own eventful past, which has led him to become one of the most consultative people at Pileon.
But you never know what you’re going to get.
Sometimes, even Jarodin, who had reached new heights, found the situation too much to bear.
Jarodin covered his face with his palms.
“Pooh–cough–breath–black.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Yeah. I know. But how can you look at me like this—.”
I was desperately trying to hold back tears of laughter.
He was doing his best to deal with a small guest who had suddenly burst into his office.
Nabiroze, now a child, sat cross-legged on the couch across from him.
She glared at Jarodin with her chin set as usual, but without a trace of her usual sensuality or intimidation.
The pajamas still draped over her body, her feet wobbling without touching the floor, added to the ridiculousness.
Tsuup-ha
Taking a deep breath, Jarodin held something out to her.
“Take this first.”
“What are those marbles?”
“What’s that, Varenpyo candy that kids these days can’t get enough of—Bam!”
Boom!
Jarodin took the candy and held it up.
This was due to three invisibly fast regime shots hitting Ming directly in the face.
He was sick enough to poop, so I don’t think he was a Nabirozze impersonator.
“If you want to get hit more, keep talking. I’ll increase the number of bones you get for each bullshit you say.”
“Heh, heh, heh—this ignorant bitch—.”
“What the hell happened to me, I woke up and I’m a kid.”
Nabiroze drooled.
She rushed straight to Jarodin’s office, not even bothering to change her clothes.
Cover yourself with a thick blanket because you don’t want to be seen by students.
Jarodin staggered to his feet and opened his mouth.
“Damn, I hope your guts aren’t broken——First of all, congratulations. You’re now in a body that won’t grow old and die.”
“What do you mean, I’m cursed?”
“More of a blessing than a curse. Why, you’ve heard that once a wizard reaches a certain level of mastery, he can freely control the time that flows through his body. In fact, he shifts between child and adult form as needed.”
Nabiroze nodded.
He had no interest in magic, but he knew that Lorhon could change his age at will.
That Kratyr, at the age of natural death, is desperate to reach that state.
“It’s the same principle with you. The quality of the mana condensed within your body has become so superior to the vessel of flesh that it has returned your body to its former glory, a phenomenon known in the New World as transmutation.”
“I don’t think I’m in my prime.”
Nabiroze, fluffing his sleeves, glanced to the side.
Urusa the Great, her soul sword, was reclining at an angle on the couch.
Actually, the clothes were the least of my problems.
The sword had once been longer than she was tall, but now that she was shorter, it looked like a pillar.
Jarodin scratched the back of his head.
“That’s—— I don’t really know how to explain it, I guess it’s a personal thing.”
His voice lacked confidence.
This was unheard of, so we had no choice.
He had reached a state of mind that even Zaifa had not yet reached.
I doubted I’d find one or two in the history books.
Voila!
Nabiroze chewed and swallowed the candy.
“So is there any way to get back to normal, like adjusting the time like you did, Lorhon?”
“I’m sorry, that’s not possible, you’re not a wizard, but wouldn’t a few years really bring you back to your glory days? I remember how old you were when you beat me up in the jungle.”
“I was about twenty years old—but even then, it’s too late.”
Nabiroze frowned.
At this point, we had no confidence that it would grow over time, and years was a long time to wait.
I was supposed to be teaching students as a vice principal, and I deserved to be laughed at.
Jarodin said.
“This is certainly an embarrassing situation, and I don’t think Lorhon, let alone me, can control other people’s time.”
“Is there no one I can turn to for help?”
“There is, but not a person.”
“What?”
Nabiroze’s eyes widened.
This was an unexpected answer.
She shot a look at Jarodin.
“Who is that?”
“I could tell you, but are you sure you want to? He’s quite the character.”
“I don’t care. Just talk.”
“Navarorde.”
Nabiroze’s face hardened.
Jarodin sighed, as if he’d seen this coming.
“There is only one wizard better than you, Lorhon. The Mother of Fire will be able to solve your problem.”
“——If you’re serious.”
“Why would I lie in this situation, but at least it saves me the trouble of traveling to see him?”
“What does that mean?”
“Why, we’re going to Adren on the second grade field trip this year, and I think we can go together.”
Adren.
A city inhabited only by dragons and their servants still floated through the void.
Originally a place where even heads of state and envoys could only enter with permission, the war against Nebula Clazier has allowed for some flexibility.
Jarodin muttered.
“Let’s see–you’re leaving in three days, perfect.”
Currently, the Phileon Academy was the group of mortals most in touch with Adren.
It was Ithargand Duck, son of Ronan, Asel, and Navarordje, a student at Phileon, who saved the city from destruction.
I could tell by the fact that we were allowed to go on a school trip.
Going along on a school trip was definitely the best way to get to know Navarorde.
Since the fall of Interstellar Fortress Dreammoor, she has been staying in Adren with her kin.
But that wasn’t the problem right now.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You expect me to lead students like this? I’d rather go separately.”
“That would be difficult. Arrangements to and from Adren are strictly organized, and even if you were Phileon’s vice-principal, you wouldn’t be able to come and go as you please.”
“Ugh—.”
Nabiroze gritted his teeth.
He was right.
Even though Adren was favorable to Phileon, there was a line to be drawn.
On the days when they were caught sneaking in, it could have turned into a national issue.
“So I have an idea, would you like to hear it?”
“Good idea?”
“Okay. I got this for Sunya because she wanted to try it on—.”
Jarodin’s mouth curved into a meaningful smile.
Suddenly, he walks over to the closet and pulls out a piece of clothing.
Shirts and blazers, and chic skirts without patterns.
Nabiroze’s eyes narrowed.
“You can’t be—.”
“Yeah. All those years. You’ve always been jealous of the students inside.”
He was being sarcastic, but the Nabirozé of today didn’t hear it.
Jarodin’s hand was in the form of a female Phileon Academy robe.
He held out his finely pressed school uniform to Nabirozé.
“If you’re embarrassed to be an instructor, why don’t you go as a student?”