Green flowers bloom in silence

We were nearing the end of our second year!

“Sugo Rose, I’d like to introduce you to my closest friend, Everlyne. Everlyne, this is the sugo I will be studying under.

“You’re going to be Fluffy Pink Hair’s mentor?”

Sugo Rose had pink hair similar to Fleta’s and, uh, other defining assets! She wore her uniform sloppily, and for some reason her skirt was hiked up higher than normal.

I couldn’t imagine Fluffy Pink Hair picking someone like that to be her mentor, but at the same time I had come to the conclusion that if she had picked this person, then they must be an amazing witch.

“You are amazing.”

“Thank you?” Sugo Rose phrased her thanks like a question, my response was a thumbs up.

“Fluffy pink hair? Is that what you call Fleta?”

Sugo Rose’s question confused me. “No. Her name is Fluffy Pink Hair.”

“Is it?”

“It is!”

It is not!”

Fluffy Pink jumped between me and the senior in a panic.

“Anyway, were you able to find a sugo?”

Unfortunately, I was not. At the end of students second year, they had to find a senior to mentor them for their last term as a second year. Ah, on a side note, seniors who were about to leave in their third year were called Sugos (soon to go).

None of the Sugos wanted to take me as their apprentice for some reason.

“It’s because you got the top score in theoretical magic. They can’t accept the idea of taking an apprentice better than themselves.” Rose said.

“Fluffy pink hair got the second highest score; how come you accepted her?”

“I don’t mind having an apprentice who’s better than me.” Rose said casually, “and there are things I can teach her that aren’t in books, you know.”

Sugo Rose is pretty cool!

But back to the main issue at hand, what was I supposed to do…

Honestly, this was getting a little ridiculous. It was one thing having people in the same year be intimidated by my immense power, but seniors too? I’m too amazing for my own good.

Fluffy Pink Hair looked troubled, “If she can’t find a senior, then she won’t be able to graduate.”

That would be a problem.

Maybe we could share a Sugo Rose!

“I know what you’re thinking, and it’s one senior per student.” Fluffy pink hair said.

If none of the seniors wanted to pick me, that left me in a rather precocious situation.

Sugo Rose’s face lit up for a moment.

“There might be a senior who’s willing to pick you. Listen closely…”

To sum up what Sugo Rose told me, there was a senior who was usually found in the library that could help me. And so, to the library I go!!!

The senior I was looking for was a girl of average height with green hair and green eyes, according to Sugo Rose. I wanted to meet her as soon as possible. But when I got to the library, no one matched that description.

I couldn’t make too much of a commotion unless I wanted to risk being kicked out by the library owl.

Once it was clear that the Sugo I came looking for wasn’t here, I decided to read to pass the time. After an three hours or so I couldn’t help but wonder if Fluffy Pink Hair would teach Sugo Rose how to use a territory?

Both Fluffy Pink Hair and Teacher had instructed me not teach anyone else how to use that spell.

Fluffy pink hair’s territory lasts about thirty minutes, Teacher can keep hers up for about two hours, mine can hold out for about ten minutes. Within a territory, a witch has access to limitless amounts of magic. Territories are quite powerful, I can see why they wouldn’t want me teaching it to anyone.

But if either of them taught anyone else, it wouldn’t bother me too much.

As my mind wandered, I noticed the faint smell of flowers.

That’s weird.

There wasn’t a garden in the library. I decided to follow the scent and it led me to the back, in a corner with no books at all. The smell of flowers coming from nowhere. An illusive senior who’s always found in the library?

It had become clear to me where the senior I was looking for was!

I began deconstructing the spell formulae that had been woven across the library. To think no one had noticed! She must be even better than me!

Sure enough, I was on a grassy plain stretching all the way to infinity. I was no longer in the school library. No, that’s not right, I was still technically there, just existing in a space within a territory.

The owner of the territory appeared to be reading a book. She took one look at me and turned away nervously.

“Hey there. Is this your territory?” I asked.

“Oh, no. Actually, I was uh, it’s not mine, but I thought… how did you get in,” she replied, brushing her hair out of her face.

She was panicking. Like a child with her hand in a cookie jar.

Cookies are delicious. If I found a small child eating cookies I’d join them! We could eat the cookies together.

“Cookies are tasty.”

“Huh?” she asked.

Was she hard of hearing? I decided to repeat myself.

“Cookies are tasty, aren’t they?”

“U-uh…Is that so?”

“Is it not so?” I asked.

“I suppose it is so,” she nodded.

“You w-won’t report me?”

“Nope, I need you to be my mentor!”

“So, blackmail?” she asked.

“Hmm…not really?”

After a long silence, the girl got back to her reading.

I watched her read.

The very next day.

“Are you going to tell the teachers about my territory?” she asked.

“Not really,” I answered.

She returned to her reading, so I continued to watch her, a bit less enthusiastically because I was getting sleepy.

The idea of sleeping in a flowery plane was too tempting.

I fell asleep.