Episode 10
New Rule, Liberation Year 11
If you see or fight a werewolf inside or outside school, close your eyes immediately, run away, and call the principal. Do NOT look at the werewolf’s dead body.
“Why not? You don’t turn into one just by looking. It’s only if you get bitten.”
Awwoooo!
At that moment, a wolf howled outside. And of course, a full moon was glowing in the sky.
“Do werewolves show up around here? Starting this year of all times?”
But it wasn’t just werewolves showing up, apparently…
If you hear screams or howling at night, ignore it and go to sleep.
It’s just a hungry lake mermaid or a cat in heat.
Creepy.
If a toilet seat is closed with toilet paper crossed over the lid, do NOT open it. Call a maintenance worker.
“Wait… is there something inside the toilet? Ugh, gross… cursed memories.”
She remembered going through that exact same situation in her previous life. It was the only rule she actually understood.
Sellie kept reading the weird and confusing rules until she finally found a page that cleared something up.
Familiars
According to the anti-slavery treaty, humans and human-like species cannot be taken as familiars.
But other creatures can be brought as familiars.
“Thank goodness, my protein source.”
She gently patted the chick dozing inside her blanket.
Limit: One per person (animal/plant/object)
From the way the units were listed, familiars must come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.
“You count as an animal, right?”
Sellie asked the water tank next to her roommate’s furniture. A small octopus that had been peeking out quickly hid back inside.
At first, she thought the tank only had seaweed and rocks. But rocks don’t move.
…Right?
Golems aren’t allowed, so hopefully not.
Not allowed as familiars:
- Inanimate objects like golems or wind-up dolls
- Creatures like werewolves or zombies that can’t be controlled or are dangerous to others
“…Wait, someone actually brought a zombie?”
“That happened exactly 251 years ago.”
The door suddenly burst open, and someone answered Sellie’s question. It was a girl with round glasses and brown hair braided into pigtails.
“My first roommate!”
Sellie quickly got up and climbed down from the top bunk.
The girl was still in the middle of talking about how 251 years ago, a student brought a zombie as a familiar, and it ended with their classmates each getting a bite taken out of them.
“Hi! Nice to meet you.”
This time, Sellie remembered to introduce herself first, holding out her hand.
“I’m Selena Laurelhart.”
The zombie story stopped immediately.
“You’re a Laurelhart?! No way!”
The girl’s lavender eyes got so wide they looked like her thick glasses lenses. She looked like she couldn’t believe her luck.
“Which Laurelhart are you from?”
That’s the same thing the dorm teacher asked…
“What do you mean?”
Now her mouth dropped wider than her glasses. Clearly shocked.
“What do I mean?! You don’t know about Laurelhart? Are you from another country?”
“No.”
“Then… don’t tell me… are you from the most backwater place in the world with no newspapers or schools?”
“…Yeah.”
“Oh my gosh, sorry!”
“It’s not that backwater.”
“Oh! In that case, I take it back!”
What kind of world is this where people talk like modern Korean kids?
Her roommate, who gave off serious Korean middle schooler vibes, gave her a thumbs up, pushed her glasses up with a finger, and started explaining:
“Laurelhart is a surname given by the Emperor to heroes who saved the Empire. So if your last name is Laurelhart, it means your ancestor was a legendary hero.”
“Me…?”
“You seriously didn’t know that? How? Didn’t your parents tell you?”
“My mom never said anything…”
“Wow, your mom’s unique. Most parents would be bragging nonstop. If it were my parents, they’d have that name tattooed on their foreheads in gold.”
Honestly, Sellie only found out she was a Laurelhart from her acceptance letter. That would make her mom really unique.
“Do you have an ancestor named Cataline Laurelhart? She wiped out the Dark Mage Order.”
“Uh… I’m not sure?”
“What about Egon Laurelhart? He slayed the greedy, evil dragon Velkaros.”
“Never heard of him…”
Her roommate kept listing off all sorts of famous Laurelharts and their amazing achievements, but Sellie didn’t recognize any of them.
“Mom never talked about other family members, but she always praised Grandma. Maybe Grandma was the one who earned the Laurelhart name?”
This girl seemed to know everything about the Laurelhart family. Maybe she’d know about her grandmother too. Problem is… Sellie didn’t know her grandmother’s name.
“What about Seraphina Laurelhart, the holy knight who cut out the Demon King’s heart?”
“That… might be Grandma’s name?”
The fall of the Demon King and the start of a new era happened just 11 years ago—Liberation Year 0.
That’s all Sellie knew about the event, but thanks to her super chatty roommate, she started learning more.
“Seraphina Laurelhart, the tragic leader of the Demon King Subjugation Squad—the Flame Knights. Along with just three other mages, she finally took down the Demon King who’d terrorized the world for thousands of years. She brought peace to the land.”
Her grandma died around the time the Demon King was defeated. So the timeline checks out.
“Did Grandma die defeating the Demon King…?”
“Wait a sec. If that’s true, that means Seraphina Laurelhart is your mom.”
“Huh? Not Grandma?”
Her roommate stared at her closely and mumbled,
“Fiery red hair… clear green eyes like dew on leaves…”
As she stared into Sellie’s clueless green eyes, her own sparkled with hope.
“Is your mom really Seraphina Laurelhart?!”
“No way. My mom’s definitely not the type to rip out a Demon King’s heart.”
She’s more the type to hide deep in a forest because she’s scared the Demon King might come back.
“And she’s not a holy knight either.”
She doesn’t have a shred of divine power or that noble holy aura that knights usually have. She’s soft and clumsy.
She’s a good person—but definitely not some legendary warrior.
“My mom’s just a kind, normal lady.”
“Whew…”
The girl let out a long sigh—not of disappointment, but of relief.
“Right. It’d be crazy if Seraphina had a kid.”
Seraphina, the holy knight who rejected money, fame, and power like slicing through it all with a sacred sword—who carried the weight of duty on her shoulders and cut down enemies in silence.
Her roommate kept going on and on about Seraphina Laurelhart’s heroic image, but everything she said sounded nothing like Sellie’s soft, slightly clumsy mom.
“She vanished after defeating the Demon King, making her a true legend. Seraphina is hands down the greatest Laurelhart of all time.”
Her roommate looked dreamily into the air like she was seeing a goddess. There was nothing there.
Sellie had seen that look before—in her past life.
A fangirl.
“You’re a fan, huh?”
The girl nodded solemnly.
“My dream was to enter Saint Luciel Academy, just like Seraphina.”
But that school is for holy knights. Since she didn’t have divine power, she came to Spellmore instead.
“Some of the mages who fought alongside Seraphina teach here.”
Then she started listing their names, too.
Rosenshtein, the silent Sword Mage.
“Oh… cool.”
Liandel, the legendary spirit summoner.
“That’s nice…”
And Crowley, the genius of magic engineering.
“Ah… right.”
“By the way… what’s YOUR name?”
That was the one thing Sellie wanted to ask most.
But she never got the chance.
