After yesterday’s fiasco with the wind, I decided:

  “Alright. I’ll write down a few notes. Just to sort things out for myself.”

  So I went to the library.

  As always—empty.

  Silence.

  The dusty smell of old books.

  Just a couple of weeks ago, it had been packed.

  I quickly wrote down:

  — what air pressure is

  — how to direct a flow

  — how to meaningfully change the angle of impact

  — how to keep the blade stable

  — how not to destroy your own shoulder

  — and especially: “wind and water are almost the same thing, just different density”

  It looked smart.

  Until I actually looked at the page.

  The handwriting…

  Horrendous.

  As if a tiny demon-spider had run across the paper, leaving scribbles behind.

  Even I could barely understand what I’d written.

  And then Elinia walked in.

  With a radiant smile.

  With the look of a winner.

  But… with a request:

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  — Helvard… could you… explain this?

  I replied:

  — Fine. Here.

  And handed her the sheet.

  She looked at it.

  Winced.

  And said:

  — Helvard.

  This is some kind of cipher.

  I practically jumped up:

  — THAT’S HANDWRITING!

  — A very… unusual cipher.

  — HANDWRITING!

  — Are you sure everything’s okay with your handwriting?.. It… kind of resembles a demonic language.

  I almost blurted out:

  “Well, that’s because it is demonic handwriting!”

  But instead I snorted, got offended, turned around, and walked out.

  Elinia, by the way, didn’t even try to hold back her laughter.

  ? The next day. Wind class. Stones.

  Everyone stepped forward with gloomy faces, like they were about to be asked to die again.

  The teacher:

  — Cut it.

  The class, already dead inside:

  — Yes…

  Elinia stepped out like it was nothing.

  Raised her hands.

  Carefully gathered the wind.

  And—

  SHHH—CRACK!

  The stone was cut perfectly—cleanly in half.

  The class:

  — WHAAAAAT?!

  — How???

  — Why???

  — Princess, please, teach us!!!

  And here’s the strange part:

  No one came up to me.

  I was sitting in the corner, as usual, thinking:

  “Interesting… what’s wrong with me?”

  Then she approached me, shining like the sun, and handed me a sheet of paper.

  — Helvard, here. This will be useful to you too.

  Her smile was so satisfied that I wanted to disappear.

  I looked at the page.

  It was a vastly improved version of my notes:

  neat handwriting

  additional diagrams

  notes about angles

  explanations

  and a small line at the bottom:

  P.S. Your handwriting is torture. You should’ve just encrypted it right away.

  I felt a small demon inside me die.

  ? How the class reacted

  Everyone rushed over to Elinia:

  — Princess, how did you understand this?!

  — It’s so complicated!

  — We thought it was impossible!

  — HOW???

  She lifted the sheet and said:

  — It’s just… here. Clear enough, right?

  At that moment I thought:

  “Clear to who???

  Those are my crooked scribbles!!!”

  But…

  Everyone started trying.

  And—finally—it worked.

  Especially Kairen.

  He was waving his arms like he was about to summon a tornado.

  The class said:

  — Princess, you’re a genius!

  — Princess, thank you!

  — Only you could understand this technique!

  I looked at her…

  She looked at me…

  With a smirk.

  And I understood only one thing:

  She was going to feed on this satisfaction for the rest of our training.