Chapter 10: What If I Become a Man?

After running a considerable distance, Mira finally stopped beside a building to catch her breath. She pressed a hand against the wall, trying to steady herself as she looked back in the direction she had come from.

'I stayed awake all night just to reach Bluemoon Academy, only to be denied entrance. What am I supposed to do now? I can't possibly return to the Cromwell Mansion. My father... I can't even imagine what he'll do to me if he gets his hands on me.'

She shook her head, and the image of her mother suddenly came to mind.

'My mother will only listen to my father. She won't even hear me out, and I can't stay out in the open for too long either. It would be disastrous if the Cromwell guards found me before I could figure something out.'

For the first time since leaving the mansion, Mira felt as though she had run out of options. She had been so determined to reach the academy that she hadn't properly considered what she would do if they refused to admit her, and now she was left standing in the middle of the city without a clear path forward.

'Or should I get married first? Maybe I could manipulate my husband into allowing me to join the academy.'

The thought barely had time to settle before she dismissed it.

'No, that definitely isn't an option. Getting married would put me at a terrible disadvantage. Right now, I only have to worry about my father and mother, but if I marry someone, I'll have another person trying to control my life. My parents won't let me join the academy, and the academy itself won't accept me. All of this is happening simply because I'm a woman!'

Mira bit her lip as anger welled up inside her. The reason everyone kept trying to stop her was the same reason she had been denied the opportunity to fight in her previous life: she was a woman.

This was how the world had always worked, and in her previous life, she had followed the same system without questioning it until it was too late. She had accepted the life chosen for her, only to watch everything fall apart when the men who were supposed to protect them were turned to stone. By then, the women had been left to defend themselves against creatures they had never been allowed to learn how to fight.

She had struggled for five years before finally becoming a Tier 3 Warrior, but even that hadn't been enough to save her from the Demon Dragon.

And now, she was back in the past with a chance to change everything. No one else knew what was coming. No one else knew that the world they trusted would soon collapse. Only she carried the memories of that future, and yet she couldn't even convince the people around her that women needed to learn how to protect themselves.

A wave of pain throbbed through her head, forcing her to lean against the wall as a gentle breeze brushed past her ears. She closed her eyes for a moment, but the silence only made the Demon Dragon's words return more clearly to her mind.

'Had you been a man...'

The words echoed repeatedly, reopening a wound she had thought she could bury beneath her determination. The Demon Dragon had looked down on her because she was a woman, and now, even before she could begin preparing for his return, the people of her own world were doing the same thing.

Every obstacle she had encountered since leaving the mansion seemed to lead back to the same problem. Her father wanted to control her future, the academy refused to accept her, and the guards believed she needed a man to protect her rather than the chance to protect herself.

Mira slowly opened her eyes, and a strange thought began to take shape in her mind.

"What if I become a man?"

The possibility excited her so much that she straightened away from the wall, her earlier frustration briefly giving way to a spark of hope. If the academy refused to admit women, perhaps she could find a way to enter without being recognised as one.

However, the excitement didn't last long. She looked down at herself, considering her feminine features and the difficulty of concealing them.

"But I have this feminine appearance. Even if I cut my hair short, that won't be enough to fool anyone..."

Her gaze dropped towards her breast, and she frowned. There were some things she couldn't hide simply by changing her hairstyle or clothing, and she wasn't foolish enough to believe that disguising herself would be easy.

Just as she began wondering whether the idea was hopeless, a memory from her previous life suddenly surfaced.

Mira fell silent, allowing herself to become absorbed in the recollection. At first, the memory was vague, but as the details gradually returned, a grin spread across her face.

"The Night Witch..."

She almost cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner. If there was anyone who could help her overcome this particular obstacle, it was the woman she remembered from her previous life.

"She has a spell that can turn me into a man!"

The words escaped her in excitement as she pushed herself away from the wall and set off once more, this time with a clear destination in mind.

She had wasted enough time trying to force her way through the academy gates. If the Night Witch could truly help her, then perhaps she had finally found a way to enter Bluemoon Academy and begin the life she had fought so hard to claim.

With renewed determination, Mira continued her journey towards the witch's abode.