"The interaction between elves and humans only began relatively recently. Many elves still rember the conservative era, a ti when we rejected outside cultures and looked down on other races. That period overlaps with the current generation."
The cultural exchange between elves and humans began with 'Elthman Elwin's salvation of the World Tree'. Though it happened over 100 years ago, for the long-lived elves, it wasn't considered a distant past.
Unlike humans, who experience rapid generational shifts, elves had to gradually adapt their conservative ways over an extended period. However, a significant number of elder elves were still resistant to this change.
"That's why we continue to promote cultural harmony and learn to respect and embrace diverse traditions."
As part of the 'mandatory joint curriculum' between Astral Flower and Stella students, history classes emphasized the past relationship between humans and elves. Once strained, their bond was now taught as one of the closest among the races.
While this might work as long-term indoctrination for younger children, it was ineffective on the brilliant minds sitting in this classroom—so of the world's brightest prodigies.
Several Stella students whispered amongst themselves:
"Since when were humans close to the fairies?"
"I never liked those pointy-eared snobs in the first place."
"They act all high and mighty, but inside they're rotten."
The condescending behavior of so Astral Flower students had worn down the humans.
Similarly, among the elves, whispers of disdain spread.
"Tsk. Short-lived creatures."
"What makes them so confident when they barely live a fraction of our years?"
"They want to learn magic, yet they can't even communicate with spirits?"
"Ridiculous."
Of course, not all students shared these views. Many of them got along well, exchanged ideas, and even swapped contact information to stay in touch after the exchange program ended.
However, a few students harboring deep-seated prejudice against other races eventually caused an incident.
Crash!
"Kyaaah! It's a fight!"
"Hey. Soone stop them!"
"What's going on? A fight? I want to see!"
"Crazy idiots!"
The commotion started between two elf cadets and one human cadet.
Eisel happened to be nearby and quickly erected an ice barrier to separate them, but not before the students involved had already sustained multiple injuries.
The students of prestigious magic academies were powerful individuals, often considered 'walking weapons.' Even a reckless skirmish between teenage boys wasn't a simple fistfight—it involved deadly spells being flung back and forth.
The destructive magic exchanged in the hallway was powerful enough to destroy a house, leaving the surroundings in disarray and heavily damaging property. As a result, three students were rushed to the infirmary in critical condition.
"What do we do...?"
Students looked on anxiously as the injured were carried away.
The use of magic in conflicts between students was strictly prohibited at the academy. Outside of class, magic use was entirely forbidden for precisely this reason.
Professors would even joke that if emotions ran high, students should settle their disputes with fists rather than spells. But for these students to resort to magic ant their anger had boiled over to an uncontrollable degree.
"What happened to them?"
"I heard the Stella student was ordered to return to their academy."
"The two elves involved were given major penalties and derits..."
Even a fight between mbers of the sa race would warrant harsh punishnt. For such a serious incident to occur during a cultural exchange program ant to promote harmony between elves and humans, the three students involved were likely facing expulsion.
To let emotions get the better of them and ruin their futures over it...
"Idiots."
From Hong Bi-Yeon's perspective, both the elves and humans involved appeared like complete fools.
Typically, there were no assigned seats in classrooms, dining halls, or libraries, so elves and humans often sat together. However, the lingering tension from this incident caused a clear division, with the two groups deliberately sitting apart from one another.
"I knew it would end up like this."
Fla buried her face into a textbook that was two to three tis larger than her own head. She shook her head in disappointnt.
While this kind of conflict had been present in the original romance fantasy storyline, experiencing it firsthand made her deeply uncomfortable.
'This is the part where Eisel turns the tables by charming those Blossom—or was it Bling Bling—guys and flipping the situation...'
Bang! Bang!
The sharp sound of soone slamming the lectern snapped Fla out of her thoughts. The students' eyes imdiately turned to the front of the classroom, where the sound had co from.
"Sigh... Today, there was a confrontation between the Astral Flower and Stella students."
The professor overseeing the exchange program, Han Na-Ri, who specialized in plant, spirit, and divine beast magic, spoke with a worried expression.
"When I asked students about the cause, the answer I received was 'cultural differences between the races.'"
"In-school conflicts should never occur under any circumstances, but I understand what emotions the students might have had to lead them to such actions."
She was now over 100 years old. She was one of the elder professors even at Astral Flower Magic Academy.
Having lived through both conservative and liberal tis, she appeared determined to resolve the situation as soone who had experienced and embraced both worlds as an elf.
"There are certainly differences between species. Elves have pointed ears, and humans have rounded ones. But that's all there is to it."
She glanced back and forth at the human and elf students sitting separately.
"We're all the sa. Are elves smarter? That's a misconception. Are elves better at magic? Who decided that? Which species currently has the highest number of class 9 grand mages? Humans do."
At this point, a third-year cadet at Astral Flower couldn't hold back and raised a hand.
"Professor, it's not fair to judge based purely on statistics. Don't elves have a much higher number of class 8 mages? Elves simply take their ti and learn magic more leisurely because of their naturally longer lifespans."
Professor Han Na-Ri fixed her gaze on the student before speaking suddenly.
"Cadet Ha Song-Ul, are you learning magic slowly?"
The elf cadet flinched slightly at the question but nodded.
"I have a longer lifespan than humans, after all."
"How amusing."
"... Excuse ?"
"Do elves have 48 hours in a day or sothing? Tell , how many hours a day do you study on average?"
"That's..."
"Twelve hours. Eight hours of lectures, followed by four hours of self-study before returning to the dormitory."
He was startled that the professor knew their daily routine and unconsciously nodded.
"Then, Cadet Stella over there?"
"Y-Yes?"
A startled female student flinched at the sudden question.
"How many hours do you study per day?"
"Um... Including lectures, about nine hours."
"And the cadet next to you?"
"About... Ten hours?"
"Your current magical achievent is roughly class 4. How are your grades?"
"I ranked 137th among the second years..."
"Impressive. Achieving class 4 at 18 years old is quite remarkable."
Professor Han Na-Ri turned her gaze back to Ha Song-Ul.
"Humans and elves have similar average study tis. There's no such thing as learning more leisurely or slowly. It's a fabricated image created to mask the slower progress elves make in magic compared to humans."
"T-That's..."
Ha Song-ul tried to argue but couldn't find the words.
What could they say? Admit that their talent was below the average for elves, despite working harder than others? It would not only hurt their pride but also contradict their previous statent.
"Ask any other second-year cadet at Astral Flower, and you'll find that their study hours and magical progress are similar. If dwarves were here, it would be the sa."
"... But human magic is inferior. High achievent doesn't an everything."
"Human magic? What does that even an?"
At Han Na-Ri's counter-question, Ha Song-Ul remained silent.
"If that question was too difficult, then let ask this: what is elf magic?"
"It governs plants and communicates with spirits."
At this, Professor Han Na-Ri smiled faintly and abruptly called on another student.
"Fla, step forward."
"... Eh."
Not knowing why she was suddenly called, Fla quietly stepped forward. Professor Han Na-Ri handed her a flowerpot without hesitation.
"Would you like to grow this?"
"Yes..."
Fla placed her hand on the plant and chanted a short spell. In no ti, the plant grew, transforming into a magnificent flowering tree.
"Now then, is there any elf student here who can perform plant magic greater than this student's?"
No one answered. Fla's plant magic was unmatched—so much so that even the professor teaching plant magic had been astonished.
"Good. You may take your seat. Next, Baek Yu-Seol?"
"Baek Yu-Seol? Are they not here?"
The back of the classroom ca alive with hushed murmurs.
"Wake up, wake up! They're calling you!"
"Ugh..."
"I said, get up!"
Smack!
Followed by a small commotion, Baek Yu-seol reluctantly rose and rubbed his face in dismay.
"Step forward and try communicating with the Tree of Life."
Completely clueless about what was going on, Baek Yu-Seol walked forward and reached out to the plant without chanting any spell or saying any prayer.
Suddenly, countless lights of spirits poured out. So elves, who witnessed this for the first ti, widened their eyes in shock.
"Is there anyone who can communicate with spirits better than this student?"
No one raised their hand.
No elf could summon spirits as effortlessly as Baek Yu-Seol. Even a professor would struggle to achieve the sa feat.
"Human magic and elf magic are not separate. It's just that each species tends to prefer certain types of magic. If humans invested the sa amount of ti in learning plant magic as you do, do you really think they'd be any less skilled than you?"
At last, so students seed to understand.
Ah, so the difference between humans and elves was not as significant as it appeared...
But there was a catch in the professor's examples; they involved Baek Yu-Seol and Fla—both of whom were exceptional.
'Pathetic...'
Fla was naturally an extraordinary individual, unlike other humans, and Baek Yu-Seol was in a league of his own.
For Hong Bi-Yeon, watching Professor Han Na-Ri use these two exceptions as examples to generalize about all humans was utterly absurd.
However, the elf cadets, who didn't fully grasp this fact, seed mostly convinced by Professor Han Na-Ri's words. Using Baek Yu-Seol and Fla as examples had indeed been effective.
"Now that you've understood, let's stop sitting apart from each other. From now on, try to grow closer..."
RUMBLE!
Just as Professor Han Na-Ri was wrapping up her speech, the ground suddenly shook.
"W-what's going on?"
"Ah!"
The lights flickered, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
Fortunately, the tremor stopped quickly.
"Professor?"
"Stay calm. It's nothing serious. Anyway, I hope you'll all get along better from now on. Humans and elves are more alike than you think."
With that, Professor Han Na-Ri quickly concluded her remarks and exited the classroom.
The remaining students began murmuring among themselves.
"What was that?"
"Lately, doesn't it feel like there've been more earthquakes?"
"But this is the World Tree... How could a quake resonate strongly here?"
"Yeah. The World Tree is supposed to protect against earthquakes and even typhoons."
"What's going on?"
The elf cadets whispered among themselves with uneasy expressions. While the human cadets seed less concerned, they also couldn't shake off a sense of unease.
"Hmm..."
Looking out the window for a mont, Fla stood up. She intended to ask Baek Yu-Seol about the situation.
However, when she looked around, Baek Yu-Seol was nowhere to be found. Not only Fla but Jeliel also appeared equally confused. They exchanged startled glances.
"Uh... Hi?"
It felt awkward to just turn away after making eye contact, so Fla greeted her.
Jeliel responded with a smile—a bright and beautiful smile, as always.
But Fla was well aware that even this expression was thoroughly calculated.
Having greeted her, Fla decided she had no further reason to linger and tried to slip past. However, Jeliel blocked her path.
"Huh?"
It was humiliating to have to look up at soone taller than herself, but Fla hid her frustration and kept a neutral expression. Jeliel seed troubled and her lips twitched as if she was debating whether to speak or not.
"What is it? I'm heading to lunch, so make it quick."
"Are you leaving?"
As Fla took a step with the intention to leave, Jeliel quickly leaned in and whispered to her.
"You... What's your relationship with Baek Yu-Seol?"
"... Excuse ?"
The question caught Fla off guard. Why?
"That's what I wanted to ask you." Fla was genuinely puzzled since it was a question she'd been wondering about herself.
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