"Jin, were you here?"

The one who called the young Huye Jin was her great-grandfather Huye Han, who had stepped down from his position as the head of the Huye Clan a few years ago due to his age and now served as an advisor to the family.

Despite his white hair and advanced age, he still had eyes like those of a young boy.

That was something other Exorcists never failed to mention when speaking of Huye Han.

"Former Clan Head."

Huye Jin was in a corner of the garden near the Huye Clan's main house.

Whenever Huye Jin felt mentally drained or remembered her kind uncles and cousins who had died fighting monsters, she would come to this garden where she had good memories with them and crouch down.

*Poor child.* Huye Han smiled gently at Huye Jin and extended his hand.

"Everyone is looking for you. Shouldn't you return home now?"

Ignoring Huye Han's outstretched hand, Huye Jin remained crouched and shook her head.

"Former Clan Head, I think I have no talent."

Any other Exorcist would laugh at such a statement. Despite her young age, there were occasional whispers within the Huye Clan that when Huye Jin turned 17—the age when an Exorcist's talents truly bloom—she might rival even the founding ancestor of the Huye Clan.

But Huye Han, who knew Huye Jin's mental fragility, smiled gently and asked, "Why do you think that?"

"No matter what I learn, I make a mess of it rather than doing it properly, and I struggle to achieve anything. The path ahead feels impossibly long. If this isn't a lack of talent, then what is it?"

Huye Han silently sat down beside the crouching Huye Jin.

Everyone in the Huye Clan knew that Huye Jin possessed exceptional talent for her age and was working diligently. She was receiving high expectations as the next successor candidate within the Huye Clan, where standards for judging talent were extremely strict.

Perhaps it was the Huye Clan's characteristic discerning eye and judgment, now turned inward, making her feel discouraged despite achieving remarkable things for her age.

The ability to coldly evaluate oneself and recognize how far and long the path ahead would be—this too was an admirable quality. Thinking this, Huye Han spoke to his beloved great-granddaughter.

"Jin, that's not true. When I was your age, I couldn't do what you're doing now."

Huye Jin, who had been looking down, looked up at Huye Han and said, "Former Clan Head, you're lying to me. If you're saying this just to comfort your granddaughter, please stop."

Despite being accused of lying by his great-granddaughter—harsh words indeed—Huye Han's benevolent smile never left his face.

After all, the fact that this child, who always tried to appear mature in front of others, acted like a child only in front of him meant that she had opened her heart to him.

*That's right,* Huye Han had a good idea to comfort his great-granddaughter.

"Jin, if you do well with your education this time, this old man will take you to a nice place."

"A nice place?"

Slightly, Huye Jin's gaze turned toward Huye Han.

*Almost there.* Huye Han smiled inwardly.

"Yes, a very nice place. The wind is cool, the water is good—it's a place where even this old man goes occasionally to rest."

"Can I bring my siblings too?"

When Huye Jin finally smiled like the child she was, Huye Han smiled back and said, "How thoughtful of you to think of your siblings. Of course. If that's what Jin wants."

<>

"Hui-hyeon, is Ye-a alright?"

Huye Jin asked Lee Hui-hyeon as he returned to the classroom.

"Yeah, it's just overwork. She's resting well now, so she'll be fine."

Huye Jin's eyes widened at the mention of overwork.

Overwork? An Exorcist? And not even in the borderlands, but here?

"That's really unusual. There were even rumors about the Black Death going around the class, so many were worried."

In truth, Huye Jin hadn't been particularly concerned. Apart from both being from great Exorcist families, the Huye Clan and the Baek Clan had few personal connections, and Huye Jin and Baek Ye-a weren't particularly close friends, except for the guidance Huye Jin had received during their previous conversation.

Moreover, Huye Jin was well aware of the occasional unfriendly glances Baek Ye-a had been sending her way since then.

But a certain amount of hypocrisy is always necessary for smooth human relationships.

Especially if the other person was in Baek Ye-a's team and someone Huye Jin wanted to maintain good relations with.

"Such rumors were going around? Well, I suppose that makes sense since she collapsed suddenly. But it's not true. She got too excited about becoming a Team Leader for the first time and forgot to take care of herself."

In other words, she had failed at a basic requirement for an Exorcist, but rather than feeling disappointed, Huye Jin found it refreshingly unexpected that the ambitious successor candidate of the Baek Clan had such a side to her.

A successor candidate getting excited about becoming a Team Leader?

"I see. I'm glad she's recovered safely."

"Yes, it's a relief. Well, I have some tasks that Ye-a assigned me, so..."

As Lee Hui-hyeon was about to pass by, Huye Jin spoke up.

"Hui-hyeon, do you have a moment?"

Lee Hui-hyeon, who was about to go upstairs, turned around.

"Sure, what is it?"

"If it's not too intrusive, may I ask why you were absent the other day?"

Hearing Huye Jin's question, Lee Hui-hyeon shrugged and said, "I had to exorcise an evil spirit, and that day was the only suitable time."

"An evil spirit, you say?"

"Hui-hyeon!"

Before Huye Jin could ask more, Jeong Yu-na approached Lee Hui-hyeon and greeted Huye Jin when she noticed her.

"Oh, hello. Were you talking with Hui-hyeon?"

"No, we were just finishing up."

Realizing it was time to wrap up the conversation, Huye Jin asked Lee Hui-hyeon the question she should have asked yesterday.

"By the way, Hui-hyeon, since the team assignments are done and things should be less busy for a while... are you free this weekend?"

"No, I'm not available this weekend. Sorry."

Receiving the rejection, Huye Jin smiled bitterly and said, "I see. Thank you for answering."

As Huye Jin turned away with a smile, Jeong Yu-na asked Lee Hui-hyeon, "How's Ye-a? Is she up?"

"Yeah, she's up, but she's pretty angry about you taking her shoes."

"Really? Well, it couldn't be helped. Ye-a is like a baby who needs someone to look after her."

"A baby?"

As Huye Jin looked back at Lee Hui-hyeon chatting with Jeong Yu-na, she felt an indescribable emotion.

<>

When I opened my eyes again, it was 4 PM.

Feeling much lighter, I got up and looked under the bed to find my shoes there, though I had no idea when they'd been brought back.

"When did they bring these back?"

I muttered vaguely, planning to give someone a kick tomorrow as I put on my shoes and strapped on my Ayong Sword. After placing the paper bag Lee Hui-hyeon had brought on the adjacent bed, I made the bed I'd been lying on and removed the depleted healing talisman from my arm, placing it on top of the cabinet beside the bed.

Looking at the mirror on top of the cabinet, I thought that collapsing and losing time like this wasn't entirely a bad thing.

After receiving the unexpected diagnosis of overwork from the infirmary, I no longer needed to hide my pained expression or make difficult excuses.

It was truly a case of misfortune turning into blessing.

After picking up the paper bag again, I pulled back the curtain to find the school nurse, Si Eun-mi, sitting there and turning to look at me.

Since I had never visited the infirmary in my previous life, meeting her like this felt somewhat novel, but I was also afraid of what scolding I might receive for failing at basic body management, a fundamental requirement for an Exorcist.

That woman had been really strict in my previous life.

"Student Baek Ye-a, are you feeling better now?"

"Yes. Thank you, Teacher."

Come to think of it, Si Eun-mi was the daughter of Academy Director Si Jeong-hyeok.

The dormitory incident had avoided the worst outcome largely because Si Jeong-hyeok, who had known nothing about the dormitory situation, had actively intervened after the incident broke out, hadn't he?

While I was briefly recalling past memories, Si Eun-mi spoke.

"Good. You may go now, but make sure you don't neglect taking care of your body as an Exorcist from now on. As a member of the Baek Clan, you should set an example for others. Understand?"

Fortunately, this time Si Eun-mi only gave me a moderate scolding before letting me go.

I bowed my head to Si Eun-mi and said, "Yes, thank you for reminding me of the basics once again, Teacher."

After greeting her, I left the infirmary and headed back to the classroom to go home, where I saw Yeon Ho-jin and Han Su-a talking.

"Ah, Baek Ye-a!"

Han Su-a saw me and rushed over.

"Baek Ye-a, I'm so glad you're up. I visited you at the infirmary, but you were still sleeping, so I didn't want to wake you and just quietly looked at your face before leaving. Then I went back again..."

As Han Su-a started speaking rapidly in her characteristic way of talking too much, Yeon Ho-jin interrupted as if to stop her.

"That's enough, Su-a. You're making Ye-a uncomfortable."

After calming down the somewhat excited Han Su-a, Yeon Ho-jin said, "Are you feeling better now? We were shocked when we heard you collapsed suddenly."

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for worrying."

"I heard it was overwork. What exactly were you doing to get overworked?"

"I guess I just got too excited about being in a position of responsibility for the first time. I should have taken better care of myself. I'm very embarrassed that I couldn't manage the basics of body care as an Exorcist. Sorry for causing trouble."

"No, it's okay. These things happen."

"That's right, it can happen once. Now that you know your limits, you won't make the same mistake again, right?"

Han Su-a dismissed it as no big deal, while Yeon Ho-jin said I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Though their conclusions were similar, their words revealed their different personalities.

"By the way, I asked Hui-hyeon to handle it, but did you receive the funds properly?"

"Yes, I received them securely."

Han Su-a pointed to her desk. She probably meant the money was left there.

"I got mine too, and Yuna told me why you gave it out quickly in cash rather than by bank transfer. Thanks."

Having heard the reason for giving cash quickly, I recalled what I had told Yuna.

Did she tell everyone what I had said because I was reluctant to mention that it was for Lee Hui-hyeon's livelihood?

"It's nothing. It's natural for a Team Leader to take care of team members. By the way, what were you two talking about?"

"Us? We were just having a discussion."

"A discussion? About what?"

"Ho-jin and I both use the Soft Sword Technique. Like any skill, enlightenment is most important for an Exorcist, but the training that supports it is also crucial. So I was comparing the training methods from my martial class with those from Ho-jin's, and also referencing methods from other martial classes to find more efficient ways..."

"In short, we're discussing how to improve the sword technique we use."

I felt grateful to Yeon Ho-jin for jumping in at the right moment to summarize the conversation, and said, "Is that so? I can help with that."

"You? How?"

Looking at Han Su-a and Yeon Ho-jin, who seemed genuinely curious, I recalled memories from my previous life and said, "I know a lot of theory. I'll show you tomorrow when we practice together."

This was actually part of my plan to get Lee Hui-hyeon on board, but there was no harm in advising the other kids as well. Team activities were important too.

"Is it okay to share that kind of information?"

As Yeon Ho-jin was about to say something based on the "common sense" typical of clan Exorcists, Han Su-a stepped in to stop him.

"The more the merrier. Besides, there's no reason to decline when our Team Leader offers to teach us something."

"Su-a is right. The more the merrier, don't you think?"

Yeon Ho-jin's expression became strange, as if he had heard something unexpected.

As I mentioned before, anyone talented enough to enter Yegak Academy would eventually figure these things out through enlightenment.

I'm just speeding up the process by teaching the theory earlier.

"Well, I'm heading out now. What about you two?"

"We're going to continue our discussion before leaving."

"Yes, we just found a promising lead in our conversation."

Come to think of it, hadn't Han Su-a said she was going to quit being an Exorcist?

I felt puzzled seeing Han Su-a, who had said she would quit being an Exorcist, discussing so enthusiastically, but perhaps she wanted to work hard until graduation since there would still be practical training and she was still an Exorcist until then.

It wasn't bad for me. Her working hard would help me.

Not wanting to disturb the two who had resumed their conversation, I quietly went to my seat, packed my bag, and left the classroom.

"It's certainly not easy."

I need to work harder too.