Chapter 13

Once again, Talli couldn’t understand the expression on Theresa’s face at that moment.

But since she didn’t really care, she just threw that cold remark at Kristen and turned to leave.

Of course, when she said those words, she was wearing the Fred family’s brooch. Just in case Kristen, that mad dog, really got provoked and lunged at her, she would at least have some means of protecting herself.

Although she had just pulled off a cool moment, Talli’s current strength clearly couldn’t compare to Kristen’s. Because all the magical elements in her bloodline had been stripped and given to Theresa, her magical talent was now even worse than that of an average person.

Most people could at least sense whether they had magical potential, and could vaguely absorb the magic energy emitted by magic crystals during their growth. But she couldn’t even sense magic at all.

…Looks like the only path left is skill and swordsmanship?

Talli and Theresa didn’t ride the same carriage to the academy.

She watched as the noble Saintess of the family struggled a bit to climb into the carriage using the undying knight’s leg as a step. The undying knight turned his head and happened to meet Talli’s scrutinizing gaze.

Talli looked away, pressed her hand on the carriage handle, pushed off lightly, and nimbly jumped into the carriage.

She had been recovering her health these past few days, and her stamina had improved a lot. Besides, her foundation wasn’t bad to begin with—she had learned all this in her past life.

The curtain fell.

“…Truly has no manners at all.”

“Did the head of the family not assign someone to teach her etiquette?”

“So embarrassing. I hope no other noble saw that just now…”

—

Talli gave a loud cough, and the outside instantly fell silent.

When she turned her head, she saw the fox sprawled lazily on the seat beside her, looking listless and low on energy.

Talli stared wide-eyed.

When did that guy get in?

She had originally told the servants to send it to the school in advance, but it had somehow snuck into the carriage.

Talli stared at it for a long while but still couldn’t recall when it had climbed aboard.

In the end, she gave up.

She sighed, leaned back in her seat, and closed her eyes.

The swordsmanship department at the school started earlier than the magic department. That’s because the Hunting Secret Realm opened the day before each vacation ended, and students would come to train at the academy about a week before it opened—some of the more hardcore ones would even come two weeks early.

It wasn’t that the academy’s training grounds were so much better than what they had at home. These were all the privileged children of prominent families from the imperial capital—most had titles and estates and lived in luxury.

They came early because the training atmosphere at the academy was better—everyone was around the same age, and it was more convenient to spar with one another.

Since Talli had no magic talent, she naturally couldn’t enter the magic department. But the head of the Fred family wasn’t going to let her study swordsmanship either.

They enrolled her in some basic cultural classes and horseback riding lessons. The cultural classes covered some Imperial history, and the academy had a library with the most academic references. The riding classes taught horseback riding and archery.

These two courses were usually picked by noble children just to make up credit hours, since most noble families had already made their kids master these subjects during early private tutoring.

Normally, just taking these two courses wouldn’t be enough to meet the credit requirement, but Talli had no need to attend long-term classes anyway.

Her final destination wasn’t the graduation hall—it was the altar.

—

As she was thinking about this, they arrived at the academy. Talli received the key to her residence, and the servants carried her clothes into the courtyard. She didn’t live with Theresa, but their places weren’t far apart.

Until dinnertime, Talli attracted most of the gazes on the way—some curious, others full of contempt, disdain, or disgust…

It seemed that these people more or less knew about the Fred family’s affairs. After all, news in upper-class circles always spread fast.

Talli wasn’t surprised at all.

In fact, she was already used to being looked at that way.

After dinner, as she came out, she saw that the Fred family’s servants were still moving things into Theresa’s courtyard.

She remembered that she only had one small suitcase of essentials. After a moment of silence, she noticed several people carefully carrying something large and heavy covered with cloth.

Although a bit curious, Talli didn’t plan to go see what it was. Instead, one of the panting servants barked at her: “What are you looking at? This is the Saintess’ precious possession!”

What kind of “precious possession” is that big!?

Talli was even more surprised. At first, she thought Theresa had brought her whole wardrobe from home.

Worried that the little beast might get hungry and scratch up her stuff if she got back too late, Talli hurried off.

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but as she passed by the object, it seemed like she heard a low, threatening growl from under the cloth—along with a presence that didn’t feel like it belonged to a human or anything inanimate.

—

Back in her room, Talli tossed dinner to the little fox and rushed to check her things.

Her beloved wrist-mounted dart shooter and secret weapon had a few new shallow scratches—thankfully, nothing that affected their function.

Talli carefully tucked them away into a drawer, heart aching a little.

Then she started thinking back on that dangerous presence she had sensed earlier.

A suspicion quietly formed in her heart.

And it didn’t take long to be confirmed.

The next morning, she got up early, changed into a riding outfit, strapped a small crossbow to her wrist, packed her self-defense weapons and tools into a backpack, and headed out carrying the still-sleeping little fox.

Before leaving, she stuffed a book into her bag as well.

The horse assigned to her was a fiery black stallion. Before she could even approach, the horse reared up in a defensive posture, snorting and refusing to let her get close.

There were many horses on the pasture. Today’s task was simply to choose the horse assigned to you. Talli had originally planned to pick a more gentle one, but was told that all the others had already been reserved.

Only the fierce black horse was left.

Talli had no choice but to walk toward the black horse, hoping to calm it down a bit first. But unexpectedly, the horse’s temper was so wild that it made a huge scene, startling the little fox in her backpack awake.

It opened its mouth with a yawn, then blinked open its ruby-like eyes, still carrying the sharpness of someone freshly woken. It casually glanced at the black animal—and just like that, the horse miraculously quieted down.

Taking advantage of the moment, Talli reached out and stroked the horse’s mane. The horse lowered its head and let her touch it.

Talli was a bit surprised.

She hadn’t expected she’d have a knack for taming animals.

She grabbed the reins, stepped into the stirrups, and leapt onto the horse. With a soft command, Talli felt the wind lift beneath her as the horse charged forward.

It felt like her heart had soared into the clouds—soft, light, and full of a pure joy that briefly swept away all the troubles that had weighed on her lately.

Talli loved this feeling. It was freedom.

She let herself relax completely and galloped across the pasture for about twenty minutes before the rest of the riders began to gather in the rest area.

Talli dismounted and handed the horse to a stable attendant, then strolled over.

“She actually managed to tame it… What a miracle. No one’s been able to ride that horse the whole semester.”

“Tell me about it. My cousin tried to mount it last week and now he’s still in bed with his leg in a sling.”

“So that’s Talli, huh? I heard she’s from the Fred family… Didn’t expect her to have that kind of talent.”

“I bet she just got lucky… That beast clearly doesn’t know how to judge people.”

“Lame. I was hoping she’d embarrass herself. Tsk.”

—

Talli walked toward the rest area without any expression on her face. Just then, Carl came walking toward her. She kept her gaze straight ahead and passed him without a glance.

He seemed to pause behind her, as if hesitating, but in the end said nothing.

Talli removed her backpack and sat down for a drink of water, only then realizing that the little fox was sprawled out on top of the bag, looking completely dizzy.

…No wonder she’d had the nagging feeling that she’d forgotten something earlier.

Feeling a little guilty, Talli rubbed her nose and gently pinched the fox’s scruff, carefully placing it on a nearby soft cushion to rest.

After a few minutes, the fox seemed to get mad—it crossed its front paws and turned its face away in a sulk.

Not long after, a girl with curly hair came up to her. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked a little nervous. “Hi, um… are you Miss Talli?”

Talli paused her water-drinking and screwed the lid back on. “Yes. Can I help you?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing!” The girl waved her hands quickly. “I just transferred here this semester. I heard you’re new too… I just saw you riding earlier—you were amazing! I didn’t expect your riding to be that good!”

“Thank you.”

Talli unscrewed the cap and took another sip of water.

“Was that your first time riding?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! I’ve seen a lot of beginners, but none of them looked as smooth and skilled as you!”

“Thanks.”

“…”

Maybe because she noticed Talli didn’t seem too interested in chatting, the curly-haired girl racked her brain to find another topic. When she looked down, she noticed the cold and distant little beast resting on the cushion beside Talli.

“Is… is that your magic beast?!” Her eyes widened, clearly excited. “It’s so cute! And it suits you so well. I can’t believe you already have a magic beast at your age!”

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the air around her seemed to grow colder.

“I heard that the Saintess received her own magic beast as a gift after the welcome banquet when she returned to the estate. As expected of the Fred family! Miss Talli, she’s your sister, right?” Her eyes sparkled. “Have you seen her magic beast?”

“…I’ve seen it,” Talli narrowed her eyes and looked off into the distance. “But if you want to see it, you can go take a look yourself now.”

Her gaze was fixed far ahead—amid a crowd, a young girl with light golden hair was walking over, smiling and chatting gracefully.

Behind her, step by step, followed a massive, imposing wolf. With each pawprint it left behind, its scarred face glared fiercely at anyone who tried to approach, eyes gleaming with a deadly cold light.