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The wounded student is holding his arm and groaning.

“Clear the way please!”

I shout and force my way through the student, while simultaneously taking out a healing potion from my magic storage. I reach the student and quickly apply the medicine to his arm.

“Ow!”
“Bear with it!”

The student sounds like he’s in even more pain, but I try to keep him quiet as I apply first aid. There’s a splatter of blood at his feet, and the remains of a broken magazine. Now that I look at him better, his leg is also a bit hurt.

“Mr. Damuel, I’ll take him to the infirmary!”
“Yes. Can someone show her the way?”
“I’ll go!”

Olivia raises her hand, and I follow her while carrying the injured student.

“Umm…”
“Just keep still.”

The student tries to free himself, but he’s still a child, he can try going there on his own in ten years. Not to mention that walking while supporting him is more troublesome.

“Over here, Natalia!”
“Got it!”

Olivia runs ahead of me and shows me where the infirmary is. The nurse there quickly treats the student’s injuries. The healing potion I used had already done most of the work though, so she rubs some disinfectant and bandages him just in case. It seems like using the healing potion right away was the right call.

“I’m glad it was nothing serious.”

Damuel came to the infirmary during recess, sighing in relief seeing the student recovering. He really is a kind and calm teacher.

“So Roger, what was the cause of that?”

Damuel asks him, and the student looks away awkwardly. I guess his name is Roger. Oh right, he’s one of the students that was against me teaching the class at the start.

“Our teachers might get in trouble if you don’t say anything. Or is there a reason why you don’t want to talk?”

Olivia couldn’t stand the silence anymore and questioned him further with a grin. Ah, that’s how she looks when she’s in a bad mood. She definitely inherited that from Ophelia. Why is Olivia getting so angry though?

“It looked cool so I tried to replicate Miss…Natalia’s…magic storage. And umm…I failed.”

Roger gives up on keeping silent and slowly stammers that.

“You failed? What do you mean by that?”
“I tried putting the magic device inside my magic storage, and got a bit flustered when I was told to return it. The magic storage collapsed while I was still taking out the magic device…”
“Sigh… First of all, you shouldn’t be distracted by other things like that during class.”

Damuel sighed loudly hearing Roger, proceeding to lecture him as a teacher.

“And while magic storage is an easy spell to learn and practice, putting things in or taking them out in a hurry can place a heavy burden on you, and if the spell collapses while still containing something it can literally explode on the caster’s face. I believe I explained all those dangers when I first taught you how to use it.”

Wait what? I was never told any of that. Has it always been such a dangerous spell?

“Even a small pebble can cause serious injuries. Try to be more careful from now on.”
“Okay…”
“Why can’t you be more careful? You even ruined one of Natalia’s magic devices.”

Roger looks down in shame, and now Olivia starts berating him.

“Umm Young…err, Olivia, I don’t really mind that.”

I almost speak to her like I usually do, so I hurry to amend my words.

Roger genuinely seems to regret that, and I have plenty of spare magazines, so I don’t mind losing one, but Olivia still didn’t look satisfied. She looks infuriated that I protected Roger, and ends up stamping the floor and turning her face away.

I get that she’s worried about me, but there’s no reason to cause a scene here, so I hope she can calm down soon.

“Try to cheer up, Olivia. Luckily Roger’s injuries weren’t severe, and Miss Natalia is just a temporary instructor here so even if something happens I’ll be the one responsible. We should think of going back to the classroom too, it’s almost time for the next lesson.”

Damuel talks to her, urging her to get over it and return to the classroom. Damuel is also kinda cool, I have to say.

In the end, we all leave the infirmary together.

Still, I didn’t know magic storage could be dangerous like that. I really need to think more thoroughly about stuff, I don’t want to overlook something important. I keep thinking about things like that when I feel someone grabbing my arm.

Olivia, Damuel, and Roger are ahead of me.

Not remembering anyone else being with us, I turn to the side and look at the person holding my arm. I saw an eerily pale face —so drained of color that it almost looked blue— jet black eyes, and black eyebags that looked almost painted over. That definitely wasn’t the face of a living being.

“Fouund you~”
“Gyahhh!”

I scream and jump back, convinced I’m seeing a ghost or a spirit.

“Natalia?!”
“What happened?!”

Everyone else stops and turns around hearing me scream, but what Damuel said left me completely speechless.

“Oh, hello Annabelle. It’s rare seeing you outside the laboratory.”

Huh? She’s a teacher then?

“Eheheh, to be honest I’d also like to just stay there myself, but I heard Ophelia’s magic automaton had an interest in my field, so I came to meet her.”

That creepy woman, Annabelle, grins eerily and speaks with a voice that sounded like the depths of the abyss.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Annabelle. My subjects are magic devices and alchemy. Pleased to make your acquaintance, maid automaton.”
“Ah…yes, I’m Natalia. Nice to meet you too.”

I bow to her after a short delay.

Wait, did she say magic devices and alchemy? Seriously? Somehow her dark purple robe with a large hood doesn’t seem to match that.

“Hmm, interesting.”

Annabelle starts moving around, examining my body from every angle.

“So this is a master’s magic automaton. So elaborate…”
“Umm…I’m-”
“Could you do this another time, Annabelle? Our next lesson is about to start.”

Damuel stops her just when I was about to ask something. He’s right though, recess is about to end, so we can’t be late to class.

“Ah, that’s fair. Are you free this afternoon then?”
“Umm…I don’t really have anything planned…”

I was only a temporary instructor, so I had no duties in the afternoon.

“Good, please come to my laboratory then, it’s located around the research campus.”
“A-alright.”

I nod, feeling almost forced to it. I feel like I’ll get cursed if she looks at me for too long.

“I’ll be looking forward to it then, heheh.”

She twirls around and walks away lethargically like she’s sleepwalking, making me think she’ll trip at any moment.

“What a strange teacher…”
“I know.”

Olivia mutters that, and I agree while tilting my head a bit.

“But her skills are top-notch. Not to mention that she was your mother Ophelia’s student.”
“Hmm, I had a hunch.”
“Huh?”

Her behavior made me think that was the case, but Olivia hadn’t even thought of that being the case. Our reactions are quite different. I guess I’ll have to ask Annabelle a few questions too.