After the training grounds of the Department of Knights, it was time to head to the Department of Alchemy.
‘I wonder what kind of crazy experiment they’re conducting today.’
Viola let out a resigned sigh and dusted the dirt off her clothes. Since it was almost time for classes to begin, there was no one in the hallway.
“…….”
Actually, there was no one at all. Seriously, not a single person.
Viola glanced around.
By now, she should have reached a corner at least once, but the corner visible in the distance showed no sign of getting any closer. Beyond the tightly shut windows, the clouds floating in the blue sky seemed strangely still.
‘An illusion spell.’
Viola sighed deeply. It was obvious that another illusion-magic experiment in the Department of Magic had gone out of control.
“Ah, whatever. I’m breaking the window.”
Viola immediately brought her shovel down and smashed the window. The sound of shattering glass rang out, but instead of falling to the ground, the pieces floated up into the air.
‘This is seriously annoying.’
In situations like this, acting quickly was better than trying to think things through. The scenery outside the window looked like the academy grounds, but she wasn’t even sure whether the height was real. Still, she had only one option.
‘This place might be fake, but there’s a good chance the ground below is real if I jump.’
Viola swallowed nervously and lightly stretched her body. An illusion was more likely to break if she forcibly disrupted its logic.
‘……Let’s go.’
Viola took a short breath, pushed off the window frame, and jumped.
After a shorter fall than she had expected, she landed and rolled lightly to minimize the impact.
‘I’m out.’
In the past, she would have panicked and wasted a lot of time trying to escape, but not anymore.
After checking that she was unharmed, Viola picked up the various cleaning supplies that had fallen from her body and stuffed them back together.
“What were you thinking, jumping down like that? What if you got hurt?”
A voice came from nearby.
Viola calmly stood up and looked toward the source of the voice.
“Hello, President.”
It was Samuel Lindberg, the newly elected student council president.
“You’re always so reckless, Viola.”
His handsome eyes, framed by golden irises, curved slightly. His short silver hair shimmered gently in the sunlight, making him look like a figure from a masterpiece.
Viola stared at his face for a moment before returning to gathering her belongings and replying indifferently.
“I don’t want to do reckless things like this either, so please tell them to stop conducting strange experiments.”
Before being the student council president, he was also a member of the Department of Magic.
Viola took the opportunity to vent her complaints to him on behalf of the people responsible for this incident.
“But……”
He gave a small chuckle and spoke in a low voice.
“Normally, illusion magic grows stronger by feeding on fear. Yet you jumped right out of it without being afraid at all?”
Viola properly slung her bag over her shoulder before answering calmly.
“Then what would you have done in that situation, President?”
Samuel casually raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
“……!”
At that moment, a gentle wave of magical power spread from beneath his feet, and the shadow where he stood began to ripple.
“I would have done this.”
“Ah, I see. I’m so jealous.”
“So if something like this happens again, contact me.”
“No, thank you. I’ll handle it myself.”
His smile wavered for an instant, but he soon raised an eyebrow as though intrigued.
“Fine. That’s just like you.”
Viola took a short breath, remembered the rest of her duties for the day, and started walking.
“I have to go to the Department of Alchemy now, so I’ll be going.”
“If there’s a massive explosion there, are you going to recklessly jump in again?”
At his words, Viola stopped and looked back.
“If it’s a small one, maybe. But if it’s a big one, that’s beyond my responsibility. I’ll just check the faces of whoever caused the accident and run away. Then I’ll report them to the professor.”
Samuel burst into loud laughter at her firm answer.
“Right. That’s a wise choice. Don’t get hurt, and keep up the good work today, Viola.”
“Yes. See you.”
After ending the conversation, Viola continued walking.
‘What a strange person…….’
She found herself wondering about him as he had recently begun talking to her much more often.
“Phew…….”
After carrying all the waste from the Department of Magic to the disposal area, Viola let out a long sigh and removed her goggles and mask.
Only now could she finally breathe properly. Thanks to the Department of Magic and their so-called “innovative experiments,” which produced all sorts of bizarre hazardous substances every time, special goggles and gloves were always essential.
“Morning cleaning is finally done.”
Viola checked the time and mentally went through her list, making sure there wasn’t anywhere she had missed.
It would be nice if she could simply clean everything at once at night, but these students were overflowing with pointless enthusiasm and broke things without regard for the time of day. Even if she cleaned everything at night, the people who secretly conducted magic experiments or sword-training sessions at dawn would render all her work useless by morning.
“It’s almost lunchtime……”
Lunch was always later for her than for everyone else, but Viola preferred the quiet hours after classes had begun to the noisy and chaotic lunch period.
“Viola!”
At the lively voice that suddenly came from somewhere, Viola stopped walking and turned around.
It was Lily Bauner, a student from the Department of Alchemy.
“No.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet?!”
Lily was a rather crazed student obsessed with developing new drugs. Because of that, it was practically an academy rule that anything she offered had to be treated with suspicion.
“You’re going to try to give me something strange again.”
“Something strange? Anyone who heard you would think I was using you as a test subject.”
“You are.”
Lily shrugged with an innocent expression, as though she had absolutely no idea what Viola was talking about.
Viola swallowed down the rude words rising to her throat and simply glared at her. Lily paid no attention to the look and gestured for Viola to come closer. Viola considered simply ignoring her and leaving, but she knew this was the sort of person who would chase after her even through a window.
“What is it?”
“I’ll give you this. Try drinking it.”
Lily handed her a small glass bottle. It fit neatly in one hand and contained a suspiciously colored liquid sealed with a cork.
Alchemy department potions had a fifty-percent chance of working wonderfully, and a fifty-percent chance of causing side effects such as turning your tongue blue, making it split like a snake’s, or covering your entire body in fur for a week.
“No.”
Viola firmly refused once again.
“Ah, please! I’m telling you, this time it’s really going to work!”
Lily shook the glass bottle with an earnest expression. The liquid sloshed around inside, giving off an ominous sheen.
“You said that last time, too. Do you remember how my skin sparkled all day?”
“That was an unexpected bonus effect! And honestly, it looked pretty!”
“It did not.”
Viola cut her off bluntly. But Lily refused to give up and tried persuading her again.
“I’m serious, this one is perfectly safe! It’s a fatigue recovery potion! You look really tired these days. Drink this once, and you’ll feel refreshed all day!”
Viola seemed to consider it for a moment, but eventually pushed the bottle away.
“No. I don’t want it. Don’t give it to me.”
“Ah~ Come on! Then just one sip! Just one little sip!”
Lily grabbed Viola’s hand and tried to force the bottle into it. Viola quickly pulled her hand back.
“What if you spill it?”
“It’s fine! Unlike the last one, this won’t deteriorate even if it touches the ground. I already tested it thoroughly.”
“You’re bragging about that?”
Viola took a deep breath and refused once more.
“Sorry…… Actually, no, I’m not sorry. I’ll pass.”
Lily pouted before finally putting the bottle back into her bag.
“Hmph. You’re no fun.”
“Who in their right mind drinks an untested potion for fun?”
Viola frowned and said firmly.
Just as she was about to head toward the dining hall again, she noticed another student running toward her from the distance.
“Viola! Help me!”
What was it this time?
Viola let out a deep, resigned sigh.
“What is it?”
“Th-that, over there……!”
“If you’re not going to explain properly, can I just go eat lunch?”
“A monster……!”
At the word “monster,” Viola covered her tired eyes with one hand and rubbed her temple.
So that was why there hadn’t been an explosion today. Apparently, this was what had been waiting for her instead.
“Who summoned it?”
What was done was done. Getting annoyed about it now wouldn’t accomplish anything.
At Viola’s question, the student subtly avoided her gaze and evaded answering. Seeing that, the corner of Viola’s eye twitched.
“Deal with what you caused yourself.”
“No, no. I’m asking you for help because I can’t!”
“Why are you asking me to deal with something even a mage can’t handle? Go find a professor or an assistant.”
“I’m out of mana right now. And…… I did it secretly, so if I get caught, I’ll get demerit points……!”
“I don’t think that’s something I need to worry about.”
After hearing his ridiculous excuse, whatever tiny bit of willingness Viola had to help disappeared completely. She turned on her heel toward the dining hall.
“I-I’ll pay you!”
