Chapter 17

“That's really not bad, Ayisa,” Layis praised.

Ayisa blushed, scratching the back of her head as she answered, “That’s… thanks to your teachings.”

“Liar. I didn't teach you how to send monsters running like that.”

The three walked back to the school, the sun disappearing in the west. They didn't have much time before the gates closed, so they decided to have dinner in the cafeteria.

“What attack did you use? I found it most intriguing.”

“It’s… emotional magic.”

Both turned to her, confused looks on their faces.

“Emotional magic? What’s that?”

“I have never heard anything like that.”

“It's… not in the books for some reason.”

The book might not be lying after all. She'll need to look for Iris. Her mind was set. Regardless of whether her book lied or not, she had to get it back. All she needed to do was get permission to leave school for a couple of days.

“What's its pair? And is it in the top or the bottom?”

“Emotional magic is on the top, physical on the bottom. They're on the right side of time and space.”

Bringing up the lesser-known, non-physical elements only made them even more confused.

“How… interesting.”

“We should tell the teachers. Maybe they'll know what's up.”

“But I do not believe such elements are in any of the books. Do you believe the teachers will somehow know about it?”

“It won't hurt to try.” Layis shrugged. “Let's go. Iris should still be in the teacher’s office.”

The three jogged back to school.

•••

The sun had long descended below the horizon. Most of the student body now slept in their own rooms, probably dreaming about what they were going to do next week when Sunday rolled around.

Marnas sat alone in the student council room, accompanied by the glow of a lamp on his desk, sighing as his hands guided a pen across paper, forming a signature with black ink. He set it aside, taking a different document from his dwindling stack of papers.

It's almost over.

When he started today, he had a stack as tall as his arm. Now, it was no more than a fraction of his finger. It wouldn't be long before he completed his tasks. He missed his bed already. The young boy yawned.

Wish I could cast aside these responsibilities.

While all the other council members enjoyed their time off, he was forced to work here, all alone.

“Can't believe Eric chose now, of all times, to leave,” he murmured, hoping someone would listen to his complaints.

Of course, if someone really was listening, then that would be a huge privacy issue.

He wished for an extra set of helping hands, but he couldn’t force anyone. This was his responsibility.

… I shouldn’t be here.

He should be in town, having fun with his friends, although doing so would probably piss off Layis. He could see her asking why he didn’t want to spend time with her. How many years had it been since they last went on their pretend date? He missed it slightly.

Marnas stared at the paper in his hand. Should he take a break? Maybe he should. He had been working for a while, after all.

… No.

A knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, revealing Eric, who bowed his head as he entered.

“How kind of you to show up.”

If Eric helps out…

As much as it annoyed him that his friend got to go on vacation, Eric had finished all his tasks. He, technically, couldn't force him to do the paperwork for him. Besides, he did give Eric another task the other day. Maybe Eric went out to complete his tasks.

Still, even a few minutes saved would be much appreciated.

“You seemed quite annoyed, Sir. May I know the reason?”

Marnas groaned. “Really? Are you asking me that? Whatever.”

“Maybe if you considered not slacking off, you would not be in this predicament right now.”

Marnas heaved a deep sigh, keeping his eyes on the documents. He had to continue working, or today's work would pile up for tomorrow, and tomorrow's work would last until next week. He wanted to wish for some free time next week, but that felt like a fool's dream.

“You're here, so you have something to report,” Marnas said, knowing it was more likely for hell to freeze over than for Eric to offer help. “Just get on with it.”

Eric seemed to ponder for a bit. Did he forget what he wanted to say? After a long pause, he finally spoke up. “It is about Layis' friend.”

“The new student? Ayisa, right?”

Marnas wasn't expecting her name to be mentioned this quickly. He had sent Eric to investigate just a while ago. Could he have put the entirety of today into investigating? He felt guilty blaming him for going out on vacation when he was doing his task.

“Have you found anything?”

“She knows about emotional and physical magic.”

Marnas lifted his head, an astonished expression on his face. “That girl knows about it?”

Eric gave him a firm nod.

“Wow… I didn't expect that girl to be quite a dreamer. Good for her, I guess.”

He returned his attention to his documents, his eyes already scanning the text.

“It is real, Sir.”

Marnas groaned. Did Eric come all the way here to mess with him? He really wanted to finish these tasks.

“Look, Eric, I'm tired.”

“I know.”

“You... What I meant is that I'm not in the mood for jokes.”

“I am not joking.”

“Yeah, yeah. Dreams are real if you believe in them hard enough.”

“I am not joking,” Eric repeated, his voice stronger this time.

Marnas paused and looked up. He studied Eric’s expression. There was no hint of a lie on his face, not that his friend was a terrible liar. That skill had helped them many times in official student council tasks, so he couldn't complain.

Eric never actually lied to him, though.

“... What did the teachers say?”

“My father had doubts, although he seemed more surprised after seeing Madam Iris’ reaction.”

“Her… reaction?”

“She simply smiled.”

“Well, that's unsettling. Granted, she did bring her into this school. There must be something she saw in her that we didn't.”

“What should I do about it?”

Marnas winced. “... You really asking me that?”

“Do you not find it unnatural? An element that no one knows about?”

“Look, Eric. There're tons of stuff nobody knows about out there. Until a decade ago, people still discovered hidden passages.” Marnas pointed to the floor below. “Despite this building being used as a school for centuries, at this point.”

Since it used to serve as a castle, the previous rulers prepared many ways out for emergencies. Occasionally, one of those hidden paths would come to light.

“But-”

“There's no reason to panic, is there?”

Eric stopped.

“Take a deep breath, Eric. So, what if she has some kind of magic we don’t know of?”

Marnas had hoped Eric could find something more concrete. Not something delusional like ‘emotional’ magic. How does such a thing work in the first place?

“This is small compared to what we have to focus on.”

Just a few weeks ago, a wyron appeared above Niat Lake. It attacked the school’s campground. There were no casualties thanks to the brave teachers who drove it off, but also no clues as to why such a beast appeared over the lake. No wyron ever came to this place, so why now?

“As long as that wyron remains alive, students won't be able to study in peace. Not with how close that thing potentially is. Report Ayisa to me when you find something more concrete.”

“Like?”

Marnas shrugged. “I’m not as dreamy as her. Something like the wyron is coming after her, maybe? Following her around? That kind of information should be more helpful compared to some not-real magic.”

“Why would the wyron be after her?”

Marnas shrugged a second time. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but I don’t want to blame her for it yet. I mean, we don’t have any proof, do we?”

“... Hypothetically, if she really did cause it… what would you do?”

“Set-up defenses, I guess? I mean, we now know for sure that we’ll be attacked.”

Marnas doubted Ayisa had any ill will. She collapsed in the forest, then Iris brought her here. It wasn’t her choice. Of course, that didn’t dismiss the possibility completely, but Marnas didn’t want to make Eric overly suspicious of the girl. As long as she wasn’t doing it on purpose, then the school had a responsibility to protect her.

Besides, Madam Iris claimed Ayisa was protecting the camp. She didn’t describe how.

Layis would probably feel terrible if Ayisa got kicked out, so more reasons to tread carefully.

“I know I was the one who told you to investigate her, but let’s set that aside for now.”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Kill the wyron-”

“No, I mean about Ayisa.”

“... I don’t want to add another problem onto my plate, thank you very much. I appreciate the kind offer, but until she actually does something suspicious, please just let her be. For my sake, at the very least. Maybe continue watching her, if you want. If you don’t want to, that’s also fine.”

With how things were going, more effort needed to be put into defending the school itself. Had he known Ayisa would end up distracting him, he wouldn’t have told Eric to investigate her.

“Understood.” Eric bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

“... That bastard didn't even pretend to care.” Marnas sighed, wishing Eric had been kind enough to offer help.

Still… emotional magic. How intriguing.