Weekend morning.
At the entrance of Hagun Academy, Hoshiharu saw Stella returning to the main gate, slightly out of breath.
"...What kind of monster are you, Stella-san?"
Hoshiharu's expression could almost be described as jealous.
There was no other reason.
After a few days of training, Stella had fully adapted to Ikki's training process. After running twenty kilometers every morning, she was only slightly out of breath. A few days ago, she wasn't much better off than Hoshiharu, not giving up much.
In other words, in just a few days, Stella's physical strength had increased dramatically.
Even though Hoshiharu's physical strength was also steadily increasing, his progress was still far behind Stella. In terms of level, his physical strength was still not at D.
Is this normal?
If anyone could say this was normal, Hoshiharu would chop that person's head off!
It was outrageous!
What kind of monster is Stella Vermillion? How can she improve her physical training so much better than him? And her physical strength has soared to B?
Isn't it supposed to get harder to improve physical strength over time? Why is it as simple as eating and drinking for her? Is the gap between humans really that wide?
"It's very rude to call a woman a monster, Hoshiharu-san."
Stella rolled her eyes and took a drink from Ikki. After hesitating for a moment, she reluctantly opened the filter and drank from the cup's mouth.
Just because of Hoshiharu's words that day, she had never managed to kiss Ikki indirectly!
"Well, don't take it too seriously, Stella is a genius."
Seeing Hoshiharu very stimulated, Ikki consoled him.
Stella's physical strength was indeed strange.
She was clearly much weaker than him a few days ago, but she managed to catch up a few days later.
Moreover, Stella had to eat seven or eight times the amount of food an ordinary person did at each meal, and her arm strength was so frightening that even Ikki dared not compete with her easily.
It could only be said that Stella was indeed a rare genius in ten years, holding the world's most powerful magic. As expected, she couldn't be judged with common sense at all.
Because of this, Hoshiharu seemed to vaguely recall that Stella had some hidden settings. These settings made her very strong later. Maybe her increased physical strength was also related to those settings... But he could no longer remember.
'Brain, how can you be so disappointing!'
Hoshiharu screamed in his mind, feeling guilty and unable to say a word.
'Body, you too, how can you be so lazy!'
His body said nothing, and he looked embarrassed.
*DINGLING*
While they were talking, the student handbook placed next to Ikki suddenly lit up and made a notification sound for new news.
"This is a message from Shizuku, asking me to go out and play today."
Ikki checked the message with a happy smile on his face, then lowered his head and began to reply to the message.
"Shizuku, who is that?"
Hoshiharu tilted his head and asked rather unclearly.
"Ikki's younger sister, the second-ranked freshman this year."
Stella's face suddenly turned very bad, and she looked very displeased with the girl named Shizuku.
On the first day of school, Ikki did say that his younger sister would also be coming to Hagun Academy.
The top freshman this year was Stella, and Hoshiharu's rank was outside the top one hundred – this ranking was entirely based on grades, regardless of any records.
"She rushed to our class on the first day of school and hugged Ikki in front of everyone. Damn it, I haven't even... Ahem!"
"Isn't this strange?!"
Stella was very angry about this.
According to Hoshiharu, the reason she was so mad might be because she failed to get Ikki's first kiss.
"Haha... It was just an accident. Didn't Shizuku come to apologize yesterday? She was just a bit excited after not meeting for years."
Ikki put down the student handbook and smiled awkwardly at Stella.
He was also quite embarrassed. On the first day of school, he was a bit dazed and unconsciously responded... After that, he was hated by Stella as a pervert for several days in a row.
"I think her apology was really not credible. It was just a compromise to make you relax. Ikki, you have to be careful. Shizuku will definitely take this opportunity to launch a fierce attack!"
Stella was very wary of Shizuku and continued to implant her thoughts into Ikki, making him smile bitterly.
"Why didn't I know about such an interesting thing?"
Hoshiharu spoke in surprise, his face full of regret for not being there at the time.
"Weren't you out with Kusakabe-san? Shizuku came to our class later."
Ikki explained honestly, "Then, Stella fought with Shizuku, destroying half the classroom, and got suspended from school for a week by the director... Besides, I didn't think it was interesting at all."
No wonder Stella had not been seen at all for a week. It turned out she was suspended from school by Kurono for summoning her Device without permission and getting into a fight.
Hoshiharu understood, and his expression became more regretful.
Such an amazing event of women fighting, how could he not be there at that time?
"By the way, Stella, Hoshiharu, do you want to go too?"
Ikki suddenly remembered something and invited his two friends beside him, "Shizuku seems to be bringing someone along, so I thought it would be more lively with more people. What do you think, do you want to come along?"
"Stella, are you coming with us?"
Hoshiharu's eyes lit up and he asked Stella beside him without leaving a trace.
"Of course... No, I suddenly remembered something urgent came up, so I stopped going."
From her antagonistic stance towards Shizuku, Stella unconsciously wanted to agree.
But she suddenly saw the friendly smile on Hoshiharu's face. She immediately shut her mouth and rolled her eyes with an expression of regret.
'Are you not going? Wouldn't there be no scene of women fighting? Not interesting.'
"Then I won't go either."
Hoshiharu wasn't interested, so he waved his hand casually.
"All right."
Though Ikki was puzzled, he didn't force it.
The three of them packed up their things and soon left the academy's main entrance and walked towards their respective dormitories.
The seventh dormitory building where Hoshiharu and Touka lived was on the west side of the academy, while the first dormitory building where Ikki and Stella lived was on the east side of the academy.
"Ikki, I suddenly remembered that my work seems to be done, so I'll go with you!"
Seeing Hoshiharu had stepped far away, Stella changed her tone and gave a very impressive look towards Ikki, as if she was fighting against something.
Even though only a few days had passed, she had come to know Hoshiharu's true nature.
He was indeed a handsome man, and perhaps there was no one more handsome than him in the world.
What a pity he had a mouth.