Ch. 311 - The Exchange Student (9)

The gap created by cultural differences is often hard to bridge and understand. Even among humans, cultures and languages differ by country; how much greater would the challenge be between different species?

“… What are they even doing?”

The Stella exchange students took all their classes together with Astral Flower’s regular students, creating a unique environment for joint lessons between elves and humans.

The class content was basic but tailored to match the elves' level in fairy magic. They learned unfamiliar concepts, such as making flowers bloom or harnessing the power of spirits to manipulate natural elements. 

Those were things that were quite foreign to humans.

Naturally, plant magic was closely tied to the unique characteristics of the elven race, so humans couldn’t delve deeply into it. However, understanding the basics allowed them to mimic the techniques, albeit roughly. 

The primary reason for learning this was the limitless potential for ‘adaptation.’

Just as the dwarves' material manipulation magic had evolved into modern alchemy and spirit magic had developed into healing arts, each race’s unique magic held endless possibilities.

“Now, I need you to focus. Can you hear it? The voice of the flower. We can all listen to the whispers of plants, but we have not been paying attention. You can do it too.”

The Stella cadets stared intensely at the potted plants in front of them, wearing expressions as if they were straining hard. But there was no chance they would hear the nonexistent voices of plants.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the elves made flowers dance and bloom, showing off their magical abilities. Some of the elves snickered, glancing over at the Stella students.

“Silence! Who’s laughing?” 

The elven professor shouted, genuinely angry. This was supposed to be an environment fostering unity between elves and humans, and he didn’t want immature students ruining it.

But was it something that could really be helped?

Unfortunately, most elves possessed a sense of superiority.

They held a belief that they were far more advanced than other races—they lived longer than humans, were more sensitive to mana, possessed unmatched beauty, and even had the ability to communicate with spirits.

And what about humans?

Their mana talents were embarrassingly inferior to those of elves, and their magic was ordinary, cobbled together from various sources without any uniqueness of its own.

How could elves not feel a sense of superiority when looking at humans?

… Or so went the ‘original novel’s lore’ as Flame understood it.

The elves' superiority complex.

This somewhat common yet peculiar setting placed the protagonist, Eisel, at the center of all the events at Astral Flower Magic Academy. 

She excelled at everything and even outperformed elves and received more affection from spirits than they did. Thus, she attracted the envy and jealousy of some elves, culminating in her standing up to and triumphing over Jeliel’s harassment.

This was the endpoint of this episode.

“Oh, are you Cadet Flame? Remarkable!”

“Huh, what?”

Lost in thought while absentmindedly tapping her flowerpot, Flame was startled when the professor suddenly spoke to her. 

‘Oh, crap.’

She realized she had accidentally injected mana into the plant, causing it to bloom magnificently and grow large enough to resemble a small cherry blossom tree.

“Amazing! Even among our own students, none have shown such a strong connection with plants!”

The professor clapped, genuinely delighted that a human mage had connected with and practiced elven magic. It was a refreshing sight…

Yet…

Zap.

Flame could feel the sharp, resentful gazes of some elves. They didn’t like that a human seemed to handle plants better than they did.

‘This is a problem.’

Flame had intended to go unnoticed, but her extensive practice in plant-based magic had unintentionally caused a strong resonance with the flower.

“Oh my, this is impressive too!”

Right next to her, Eisel was putting on an even more striking display. Although she hadn’t grown any large flowers, her plant had stepped out of its pot, gracefully dancing and even bowing elegantly.

“This is fun.”

She laughed with pure joy, thoroughly enjoying the experience of learning a new form of magic.

“Ah…”

Watching her, Flame decided to just go along with it, letting flowers scatter freely. With Jeliel now somewhat changed thanks to Baek Yu-Seol’s influence, there wasn’t much to worry about.

Might as well relax and enjoy.

Overthinking at this point would only lead to stress.

About ten years ago, before the romance-fantasy genre’s popularity, there was a trend for unique romance novels called ‘Inso’ (school-based romance novels). 

They usually took place in a school setting, with absurd plots like teenage male protagonists wielding more power than a president or being the heir to the world’s wealthiest family. 

Female protagonists were often paradoxically described as both extraordinarily beautiful and ‘average.’

Though it may seem childish now, one of the common tropes in these ‘Inso’ novels that was popular with niche audiences was the presence of a school idol known as a ‘kingka’ or ‘queenka’—the school’s ‘idol,’ admired by all students. 

This concept was inspired by characters like the ‘F4’ in the drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’, a group of four boys with beauty and wealth, including the son of the world’s richest family and a president’s child.

So why bring this up now?

While the original romance-fantasy novel ‘Do not Love the Unfortunate Princess’ had none of these tropes, the author appeared to have gone a bit wild with the exchange student episode and incorporated this outdated setting.

“So you’re Flame, huh?”

On the stage, an elf boy and a human girl stood facing each other, holding their staff aloft. 

Human-elf dueling practice was one of the mandatory courses in the exchange program, and Flame was the first chosen to represent the humans.

That wasn’t the issue. The problem was that her opponent was a boy named Serang, from the ‘Frost Petal’ family, a lineage of high elves known for their authority. 

With long green hair tied back in a ponytail, Serang was undeniably handsome, but his expression, tone, and gestures came across as annoyingly smug—just the type Flame disliked.

Yet Serang appeared intrigued by her and kept trying to talk to her.

“Do you think you could spare some time after class? The members of our ‘Blossom Trio’ are quite interested in—”

“An opening!”

Flash!

The moment he began talking, Flame lunged forward with her staff. A pillar of light instantly descended toward Serang’s head, but he skillfully deployed a shield, easily blocking the attack. However, Flame wasn’t finished.

Crack!

A massive tree root burst up from the ground, binding Serang’s body. She transformed the root, making it harder than steel, and then charged up another light spell.

She raised her staff vertically, drawing back as if pulling an arrow to her bowstring. Translucent wings appeared on her back, and three arrows of light materialized, drawn and ready to fire. 

With a look of utter disgust, her eyes welling up with tears, she shouted.

“I hate slimy guys like you the most in the world!!”

“W-wait…!”

A panicked Serang tried to move, but he was bound tightly and unable to even deploy his shield. Flame unleashed a spell with power on par with a 5th-class spell.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Oh, dear!”

“Is it okay to use that kind of magic in a duel?!”

“He’s not dead, is he…?”

“What’s going to happen to our Serang?”

The room was filled with blinding light, and students squinted to see Serang’s condition. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt; Flame had intentionally kept him trapped in the reinforced wood. She only meant to scare him.

“… Duel over. Cadet Flame wins.”

The elven professor declared Flame’s victory with an astonished expression.

“Haha, I lost. I knew my instincts were right. Impressive, Flame.”

Even in defeat, Serang seemed barely phased, grinning with that same infuriatingly charming smile.

‘… Maybe I should’ve just released the binding?’

No, that would’ve been too harsh. If she’d fully hit him, he could’ve been seriously injured, and that wasn’t in Flame’s nature. 

Besides, if she had released the binding, Serang, with his near-light-speed reflexes, would likely have deployed a shield in time to block the attack, leaving her feeling even worse.

In the original novel, Serang’s talent was described as just a step below that of top talents like Ma Yu-Seong and Hae Won-Ryang. He even appeared to overwhelm them in the beginning.

As is typical with elves, they initially overwhelm humans with their natural talents, only for humans to catch up later—a common cliché. It was the highly likely that Serang allowed himself to be caught by the tree binding on purpose.

“Ugh, so annoying.”

As soon as the duel ended, Flame headed down without looking back, though she could still feel Serang waving at her. She wondered why people like him didn’t realize how impactful their every action could be.

‘If you act like that, I’m the one who gets blamed…’

Several elven girls were glaring daggers at her, their eyes burning with jealousy. She could already tell she was in for a rough month.

———

It seemed Serang’s curiosity was quite genuine. 

The ‘Blossom Trio,’ suspected to be a parody of the F4, was a group of three handsome elven boys who had each taken an interest in the girls from Stella. 

Cheong Ha-Seol, grandson of the former elf king and a prominent figure in elven society, openly asked Eisel on a date. Meanwhile, rumors were swirling that Heuk Yu-Ram, the son of the world’s top wand company ‘Fairy’s Fingers,’ was pursuing Princess Hong Bi-Yeon.

“… This is so irritating.”

During dinner, Eisel said this with an exhausted expression while eating. Yet, she was holding a notebook in one hand and reciting elven magic spells, which showed that she genuinely enjoyed learning.

“You too, huh? Same here.”

Flame also found the classes quite enjoyable, but being flirted with by the Blossom Trio or whatever they called themselves was beyond tiresome.

“You feel the same, right?”

Hong Bi-Yeon, who had somehow joined them for the meal, looked equally worn out, with dark circles beginning to form under her eyes.

“Can’t you just declare in the name of Adolevit to execute them all?”

“… Dumb commoner. They’re even more brainless than a goldfish. Do you not realize the diplomatic issues that could cause?”

“And them harassing us isn’t a problem?”

“They haven’t actually threatened or forced us to meet them. Even those… Guys understand the concept of boundaries.”

“Oh, wait. You almost cursed just now, didn’t you? You were totally about to swear.”

“You’re mistaken. I was born noble, so I don’t sully my mouth with such vulgar language. Unlike you.”

“Come on~ I bet when you’re alone, you curse up a storm. Just admit it, to me at least.”

“Shut up.”

Pushing Flame’s face away as she tried to lean in, Hong Bi-Yeon suddenly stood up with her tray.

“Not eating more? Dieting?”

“I just eat light by nature.”

"Then give me that bread."

Before Hong Bi-Yeon could answer, Flame snatched the bread and took a big bite. 

Hong Bi-Yeon shot her a glare but then, just as she was about to leave, she sat back down.

“Huh? Why? This is mine now. I’m not giving it back.”

“… Just eat it all.”

She didn’t seem to care that Flame had taken her bread. Instead, she wore a deeply irritated expression, staring at the dining hall exit.

A group of elf girls had gathered there, with a boy named Heuk Yu-Ram at the center. He had long black hair, pointed ears, and dark skin—distinctive features of a ‘Dark High Elf,’ a rare lineage even among elves. 

He was looking over at them with a bright smile, clearly showing his interest in Hong Bi-Yeon.

“This… Jerk…”

Flame couldn’t hold back her annoyance. The presence of Heuk Yu-Ram also meant that it wouldn’t be unusual for the other boys to appear.

It was then that Flame understood why Hong Bi-Yeon had sat back down. Moving as a trio would make it easier to avoid certain situations. 

“... I’ll help this time.”

With a rough bite of her bread, Flame stood up, and Eisel and Hong Bi-Yeon followed. 

Together, they could easily make an excuse, like saying they were going for tea or studying. They returned their trays and headed toward the exit, where Heuk Yu-Ram approached Hong Bi-Yeon.

“Hello, princess?”

Flame had to cover her mouth to stop herself from spitting out her lunch right there.

“Do you have time now?”

Hong Bi-Yeon’s expression soured. Although she had been trying to maintain diplomacy earlier, Eisel could tell that if Hong Bi-Yeon’s temper flared, she might just set Heuk Yu-Ram’s face on fire. 

Eisel quickly stepped in.

“Oh, um, hello? We already planned to have tea together, so… sorry…”

“Oh, really? Then we’ll come along.”

Right then, the other members of the Blossom Trio appeared like ghosts. 

Cheong Ha-Seol, a boy with strikingly blue hair that looked almost bruised, chimed in.

“We’re also heading for tea time, so it’d be perfect to join you, don’t you think?”

With a grin that showed his teeth, Cheong Ha-Seol’s suggestion made Flame grit her teeth. She barely managed to hold back the urge to punch him. She quickly tried to explain.

“Oh, you must be mistaken; we’re not having tea. We’re actually going to do a study group…”

“Studying? We’re all for it. The three of us are ranked first, second, and third in the academy , so we could help you with your studies.”

Apparently, they had every annoying overachiever trait possible.

‘What do we do now?’

‘I don’t know!’

‘…Just find a way to deal with it.’

Exchanging silent looks, the three girls broke into a nervous sweat as they tried to think of a cool and graceful way to leave. But no matter how they thought about it, it appeared these three would insist on following them.

Yet, saying something blunt like ‘We don’t want you to come, you oblivious idiots!’ would likely cause more than just a minor student conflict.

‘The best way to handle this is…’

“Why are you blocking the path?”

At that moment, a voice sounded from behind—a voice filled with annoyance. 

Baek Yu-Seol had arrived like a savior.

Upon hearing his voice, Flame’s expression instantly changed, and she rushed over to him.

“Uh. We’re actually doing a study group with him. Right? Isn’t that right?”

“What? But I hate stu—”

Thump! Eisel quickly clamped her hand over his mouth with impressive reflexes.

“He’s teaching us, so if you come along, you’ll probably just feel out of place. Right? Don’t you think so too, Princess?”

Nod. Nod.

Even Hong Bi-Yeon agreed, and with disappointed faces, the Blossom Trio finally backed off, promising to meet another time. The girls managed to escape the situation.

“What was that…?”

Only Baek Yu-Seol, who had been dragged into this in the middle of his lunch, remained clueless about what had just transpired.

—————-

Goal: 20 Bonus Chapters to Celebrate 300 Chapters of Flashing Genius!

I’m beyond excited to share that we’ve reached an incredible milestone: 300 chapters of Flashing Genius! When I first started translating this novel, it was just me, my laptop, and a passion for this story. Back then, I never imagined that this book would receive so much attention.

KO-FI:- https://ko-fi.com/zenith677/goal?g=0

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