Chapter 35
After eating, we returned to the dorm. Although the dorm isn’t large, with Qifeng joining us, it feels like there’s more life here.
But of course, the risk of my identity as a boy being exposed has also increased, so I absolutely cannot let my guard down.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any tea leaves, so I can’t make tea. I can only pour them a glass of water. I looked up at Qifeng; she was sitting on the sofa with her legs curled up, flipping through my class notes.
Seeing her in her uniform, I can’t help but be reminded of how she used to look just like this when she came to my house to play after school.
Speaking of which, Qifeng looks great in her school uniform… Her face is cute, her figure is good, and her legs are long. Especially her golden-yellow hair, it gives her a kind of high-class young-lady-like air. The single ponytail has been her signature style since she was little. Occasionally, seeing it swing back and forth behind her head, I can’t help but want to give it a little tug.
I don’t know why I pay special attention to Qifeng in her uniform; it just makes me want to take a few more glances. Maybe it’s because I’m nostalgic for the time we spent together in the past? It’s not because I’m interested in girls’ uniforms or anything… I’m wearing one myself.
But it’s also thanks to Lian Qi that I’ve had the chance to experience wearing a girl’s uniform, and on top of that, to see Qifeng in her uniform again after so long.
I suddenly had a bold idea: what would Lian Qi look like if she wore a girl’s uniform? Ahem… I’ve realized I’m truly hopeless. Why do I have this psychological desire to make everyone around me wear uniforms?
“Wah? Fei’er, you’re taking class notes?”
“Of course, I’m taking them for Lian Qi,” I replied.
“Uwah… I’m so jealous and envious.”
“Don’t copy the way I talk…!”
I glanced at Lian Qi. Qifeng and I are usually this silly when we’re together; I hope she doesn’t mind.
“Huh…? Why is some of the handwriting crooked?” Qifeng stared at the notebook with a puzzled expression.
I immediately blushed and shot a reproachful glance at Lian Qi, who also looked a bit awkward. It’s all because she was teasing me in class, blowing in my ear and stuff… It affected my writing, that’s why it’s crooked…!
“D-Don’t worry about those details,” I said weakly, scratching my cheek in embarrassment.
I hope Qifeng doesn’t read too much into this crooked handwriting!
She simply can’t imagine what Lian Qi did to me in class…
Qifeng turned another page, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on her face— “Huh…? Why is there a ‘正’ (tally mark) character?”
“Eh, eh, eh?? A ‘正’ (tally) character!???” tlnote
Shamefully, I remembered what happened in class today, when Lian Qi leaned close to my ear and asked mischievously, “Guess what word I just wrote on your thigh?”
And then…
What Qifeng is seeing… is the answer I wrote down…
Uuu… It’s so shameful that Qifeng saw it!
Please, please don’t read too much into it!
To cover up her crimes against me, Lian Qi covered her mouth, coughed lightly, and said, “Qifeng, you’re from the Transmutation/Illusion school, right?”
“Of course I am.”
“Can mages learn magic that isn’t from their own school? I see the Headmaster is from the Evocation school, but she can also teach Transmutation/Illusion.”
Qifeng pressed a fingertip to her lips, looked up, and thought for a moment before saying, “A mage at the Headmaster’s level, of course she can. Her level of magical development has already surpassed the scope of ordinary people. However, learning magic across schools is extremely difficult. Only by cultivating magic from your own school can you achieve twice the results with half the effort.”
Lian Qi sighed— “In that case, I can only try to learn my own Enchantment school’s inherent magic as quickly as possible. Ugh, but I just can’t figure out how to use the Enchantment school to achieve Explosion Magic.”
Lian Qi is really obsessed with Explosion Magic, I thought.
But it’s said that a strong obsession is an essential factor in creating inherent magic. So, can Lian Qi really learn Explosion Magic as she wishes? I’ll wait and see.
“Explosion Magic sounds like it’s related to the Evocation school, right? And it must be a fire-attribute Evocation school,” Qifeng said. “But unfortunately, the Evocation school is a talent. Mages from the Evocation school can master the magic of the other three schools, but mages from the other three schools, no matter how hard they try, can’t learn Evocation school magic.”
“Don’t tell me the Evocation school corresponds to O-type blood…” Lian Qi said helplessly.
Hearing Qifeng say this, one of the paths for Lian Qi to learn Explosion Magic has been blocked.
“Qifeng, how did you create your inherent magic, ‘Chains of Bondage’?” I asked, hoping Qifeng’s experience could give Lian Qi some inspiration.
“Do you really want to hear it? It’s related to you, you know,” Qifeng turned to look at me, her face red.
“Just give us the simple version.”
This is really embarrassing…
“I wanted to bind you, to never be apart from you even in my dreams,” Qifeng said, looking at me with a red face.
Her saying that made my face turn red too.
After all, I am a boy, it’s impossible for me not to feel anything, especially when the person in question is my childhood friend, Qifeng.
“That doesn’t seem very inspiring… It’s just a public display of affection,” Lian Qi said quietly.
“But, later—”
Qifeng hesitated for a moment, then said, “In the end, I myself got entangled. I inexplicably came to like the feeling of being bound. Being tied tightly by the chains gives me such a sense of security! Even if it’s so shameful it makes me short of breath or even unable to breathe, the feeling of excitement will wash over me like a tide. The feeling of being dominated is so wonderful~!”
Qifeng lowered her head, restlessly rubbing her legs together.
“Gradually, I was able to smell the iron scent of the chains, and then the cold touch of the chains also emerged. Sometimes when I woke up, I would find chain marks on my body, and then later— I was really able to summon the chains.”
I listened quietly.
Speechless, at a loss for words, with nothing to say.
I never knew you were this kind of person, Qifeng… tlnote
“Eww, is this really sharing the experience of creating inherent magic? This is completely an M sharing their experience of being bound,” Lian Qi said with an incredulous expression.
“I… I’m being very serious!” Qifeng said, her face crimson.
Even though she looked at me, I didn’t know how to speak up for her.
After all, she is Qifeng. I…
I… choose to forgive her.
I absolutely will not think of her in a strange way, as long as she doesn’t ask me to bind her.
“Anyway, that’s my experience. If you’re really so set on learning Explosion Magic, the Transmutation/Illusion school is actually a good way to go. You could transmute something that explodes!” Qifeng suggested. Her “silly” streak is exactly why I’ve always called her “silly girl.”
Her job is clearly to be an Inspector who catches bad people, yet she likes to be bound. Isn’t this contrast too huge?
“I could think of transmuting a missile or something, but the sense of dissonance is just too strong! You’d call that thing Explosion Magic?”
“Um… what’s a ‘missile’?” I asked weakly. I really don’t understand.
“A weapon from my original world that can explode. But— the Explosion Magic I’m imagining is nothing like that!” Lian Qi held her forehead, looking like she wanted to cry but had no tears.
“So… even the Transmutation/Illusion school won’t work? Besides, you don’t have time to learn magic from another school,” I said worriedly.
“What does the Explosion Magic in your mind look like?” Qifeng asked.
“It needs a chant! A brilliant magic circle will appear in the sky, and then BOOM—! Leaving behind only a patch of scorched earth,” Lian Qi said, raising her fist excitedly.
I can understand her uncontrollable excitement when she talks about Explosion Magic… No wonder she suggested I use Explosion Magic to ‘bomb’ the fish when we were fishing. She truly, truly loves Explosion Magic.
But— how can her wish be realized?
Lian Qi sighed. “Don’t tell me I have to make up the chant myself? That’s too chuunibyou. And whether it’s the brilliant magic circle in the sky or the explosion, I have no idea how to achieve it with the Enchantment school.”
She picked up a branch, staring at it thoughtfully.
“Even other people say the Enchantment school has no mages; they all change careers to become warriors after graduation. Right now, forget Explosion Magic, I don’t even know what kind of inherent magic the Enchantment school can create.”