I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 61.2

 

Luca also felt the thickening mana and said uneasily, “Sis, I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s get away from the building.”

 

But even with Luca’s urging, my feet didn’t leave the ground as if they were nails.

Carson would be waiting for me in the clubroom.

 

If anything happened inside the Academy building, I had to get him out.

 

“Luca, you go first.” (Leen)

 

I pushed Luca’s back, but he remained standing.

 

“No!”

 

“I have someone in the building, I have to get him out.” (Leen)

 

“Are you crazy? It’s dangerous to go in now. Think about it. If that person you’re talking about felt the wave, he’d be running out by now.”

 

“What if he was asleep or too focused on something else to feel it? Besides, he uses teleportation like it’s food, and if he felt the wave, he should be out of the building already!” (Leen)

 

With that, I turned to run back inside the building. 

 

But at that moment, Luca grabbed me in a bear hug and stopped me from going.

 

“It’s dangerous!”

 

I struggled and tried to yell at him to let go.

 

Bang—! 

 

A loud, deafening explosion hit us. Luckily, the blast didn’t reach us.

 

But I did witness it.

 

I realized that the impact of the explosion was exactly where the clubroom was located.

 

As soon as I realized this, I yelled out in horror.

 

“Carson!” (Leen)

 

The smoke from the explosion obscured my vision. I pushed Luca away and tried to run into the smoke.

 

Luca gritted his teeth and grabbed me, “Sis, no. The explosion might not be over, and debris could fall on us if we go into the building!”

 

“Let go of me.” (Leen)

 

“Sister!”

 

I grabbed Luca’s shoulders, my face contorted in sobs.

 

“Luca, please…” (Leen)

 

Shock flashed across Luca’s face as he turned to face me, and his grip on me loosened slightly.

 

“Thank you.” (Leen)

 

I smiled bitterly and turned to run into the building.

 

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was a dry voice devoid of emotion.

 

“Are you looking for me, Leen?”  (Carson)

 

The voice was a little unfamiliar, with no emotion in it. But it was unmistakably Carson’s voice.

 

I turned around in surprise, not even realizing it was strange.

 

“Caon! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” (Leen)

 

I hurried over to him, then stopped dead in my tracks as something felt off.

 

Around his body, there was a smoldering mass of colorful mana.

 

For mana to be materialized, it must be very concentrated.

 

The fact that I could see mana means that his attention was currently floating in a dense concentration of mana.

 

As mana was the power source of magic, uncontrolled mana was a weapon.

 

You never knew what it might transform into.

 

How did this happen? A wizard of Carson’s stature shouldn’t be able to grind up mana.

No way.

 

Was that explosion from Carson?

 

…Why suddenly? What happened while I was gone?

 

I looked at Carson’s face, wondering what had happened while I was gone.

 

He was calm.

 

So still, in fact, that it seemed as if he would burst with uncontrollable emotion at the first sign of disruption.

 

Carson’s gaze flickered briefly to Luca, then back to me.

 

“Caon. What the hell happened to you?” (Leen)

 

“I’m fine.” Carson mumbled, not looking entirely fine, “I’m fine, so explain to me. Why did you lie to me?”

 

“…What?”

 

I was confused.

 

What did I lie to Carson about?

 

“I get it. Well, I understand that emotions are something you can’t control, and I know there’s nothing I can do about whom you like.” (Carson)

 

“What are you talking about, Caon?” (Leen)

 

I asked for clarification, but he didn’t seem to hear me and continued.

 

“But did you really have to lie to me and go see that boy? …I thought we were getting pretty close.” (Carson)

 

Does Carson think I lied to him and went to see Luca?

 

“Caon. I never lied to you. I only met Luca halfway.” (Leen)

 

He shook his head slowly.

 

“That’s not it, Leen.”

 

“What the hell are you saying it’s not? Caon. I don’t know what it is, but you need to calm down and gather your mana…” (Leen)

 

“I saw it.” (Carson)

 

Carson’s face looked like it could crumble at any moment. What did he see that made him think I was lying?

 

“What did you see?” (Leen)

 

I asked, struggling to get the words out of his mouth.

 

“…You, you kissing him on the cheek.” (Carson)

 

Huh?

 

“Did you think I was going to interrupt your date, and that’s why you lied to me?” (Carson)

 

Carson’s words fell on deaf ears in my disbelief.

 

Then I remembered that there had been a huge surge of mana shortly after I kissed Luca on the cheek.

 

So this whole explosion was really caused by Carson?

 

I glanced at Luca with a dumbfounded expression.

 

He looked back and forth between me and Carson with his mouth open in disbelief.

 

“Sister, he’s…” (Luca)

 

I think there’s a big misunderstanding here.

 

Do you think so, too? I think so too, little brother.

 

As we were exchanging glances, Carson asked me through his clouded eyes.

 

“Sister, was that your type?” (Luca)

 

“Ha?” (Leen)

 

I was appalled.

 

I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized what had led him to misunderstand.

 

“How long have you been together?” (Carson)

 

The question wasn’t even worth thinking about. I couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out.

 

“What are you talking about, he’s my little cousin-brother!”  (Leen)

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

A long, breathless silence descended.

 

After a while, Carson slumped back in his seat, his face drained of color and sobbing.

 

“I thought you had found a lover…”  (Carson)

 

“Even if I did have a real lover, who would destroy a building for a peck on the cheek?” (Leen)

 

As the words came out of my mouth, I felt sick and remembered the problem I’d been pushing to the back of my mind.

 

I stared at the partially collapsed building with trembling eyes.

 

How am I going to fix that?