Yerina was taking a break at her city home for the convenience of Luke’s commute to school, rather than staying at their usual lodge in the forest.
She felt quite relaxed being able to stay at home for a change.
As beneficial as the forest’s mana was for her body, she could never fully relax and sleep there. In the forest, where monsters could appear at any moment, it was physiologically impossible for a forest keeper to be completely at ease.
Her rare moment of relaxation was interrupted by the sound of the front door clicking open.
As Yerina’s consciousness returned from the brink of sleep, she heard a voice say, “I’m home, Yerina.”
“Welcome back, Lu.”
It seemed that school had already ended for the day.
As Yerina focused her eyes on Luke, she saw her dropping a stack of books, piled high like a tower, at the entrance and stretching her back.
Surprised by the pile of books, Yerina asked, “My, what are all those books?”
“There’s a library at school. It’s quite big, so I borrowed all the books that seemed worth borrowing.”
“That many? All 15 of them?”
“A student card allows you to borrow five books. So, I borrowed Sirud’s and a new friend named Mary’s student cards and managed to take out a total of 15 books.”
It appeared she had already made friends, and Yerina nodded in relief.
“Weren’t they heavy? You should have called me; I would have driven to pick you up.”
“It’s okay. This is nothing.”
“Hmm… really?”
As Luke moved the stack of books next to the box she usually uses, Yerina asked, “So, Luke, how was school today?”
It was her first day, and Yerina had been quite worried.
Though there probably wasn’t any trouble, she was eager to hear about her day at school.
“Ah. Now that you mention it, there’s something I need to tell you about school, Yerina.”
“Something to tell? What is it?”
Yerina suddenly felt a strange joy, almost as if she was Luke’s mother, finding it amusing to hear about her school day.
It’s always fun to hear a child talk about school, isn’t it?
Their chatter is cute and amusing.
Yerina tuned in attentively to what Luke was about to say next.
But Luke avoided her gaze and smiled sheepishly as she said, “I’m really sorry to disappoint you since you were looking forward to it… but you’ll need to come to the school.”
“Oh, I see, to the school… What? Why?”
“They called for a guardian.”
A guardian call?
That was not what she had expected.
“Tell me more, Luke.”
“So, what happened was…”
***
Luke was sitting with her head bowed in the school office, facing the teacher in charge.
“Luke, I told you that under no circumstances should a student point a wand at another student. You heard that, right? You remember?”
“Of course, sir.”
“You’re a smart kid. You even passed the entrance exam with perfect scores. So why did you do it?”
“…”
The reason was simple. As Sirud’s circle had advanced to the second circle, the incident had occurred because she felt fear due to her own powers exceeding expectations.
However, explaining this to someone who was completely unaware of the situation was rather complicated.
To explain from the beginning, Sirud was able to reach the 2nd circle at that moment because of her help, and because of that, ‘Avent’ could contain his will, and eventually, a bizarre magic was created.
If we explain it theoretically, it could be predicted that Sirud’s circle and the circle of the wand resonated temporarily, causing an ascending reaction.
However, considering that he did it with his senses alone, Sirud’s mana sensitivity and manipulation skills could have been ranked among geniuses even 5000 years ago.
But Sirud, who had no knowledge to interpret the phenomenon, was terrified by his own power, and as a result, a situation arose where magic and mana became uncontrollable.
But if I continue to tell the story this way, it might harm Sirud.
Since Sirud couldn’t use ‘Avent’ properly.
“I didn’t even need to move the circle to use Avent, I guess I was just too excited…”
The situation wasn’t very good at the time.
So, Luke was in the middle of composing a kind of explanation in her mind, to shift the responsibility to herself.
“Aren’t you going to talk?”
Luke could not answer and just lowered her gaze, and the teacher’s eyes narrowed.
“…”
The child kept her mouth shut.
Typically, the teacher recited a spell that usually works well with children.
“It won’t work, I have to call your parents.”
“That…”
Luke’s expression turned slightly red with embarrassment.
Calling her parents?
What more embarrassing thing could there be?
After all, her parents had long ago passed away after she personally conducted their funeral.
It was embarrassing enough to be scolded by such a young teacher (appearing in his late twenties to early thirties), but to mention her long-deceased parents crossed the line of embarrassment.
“That’s…”
Luke blushed even more and lowered her gaze further.
She saw no other way to navigate through this embarrassment.
At that moment, Luke’s homeroom teacher stepped in.
“Teacher, this way.”
“Yes?”
The homeroom teacher led the trainee teacher to a corner of the staff room and spoke in a low voice so that Luke could not hear.
“That’s a family matter.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a family matter. Didn’t you hear from Ms. Serena?”
“Serena… Sirud’s mother? I didn’t hear.”
“Ah. You weren’t at school at that time. Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“Uh… I roughly heard that there’s a guardian… Isn’t she adopted?”
“Ha, she’s not just a guardian, she’s a temporary guardian. Luke doesn’t have parents now.”
“Ah.”
It was a quick and quiet conversation.
The trainee teacher and Luke’s homeroom teacher, saw Luke’s face, which was almost indescribably red.
It almost looked like she was going to cry.
“Oh no, what should I do? Did I just said something wrong?”
“You know what to do, go apologize to the child right now.”
Following her advice, he hurriedly knelt beside Luke and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, Luke. It seems I said something wrong just now.”
But Luke was merely bewildered by his sudden change of attitude.
Luke frantically waved her hands and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.
“Don’t worry about it too much!”
“Are you forgiving me?”
“Of course, I forgive you.”
“Thank you so much…”
The teacher, having stood up, cleared his throat and tried to create a warm atmosphere by speaking in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice.
“Anyway, Luke. Never point a wand at someone again. This is your first time, so I’ll let it slide this time…”
Was he trying to look over it just like that?
It was at that moment.
The door to the staff room burst open, and a robust male teacher rushed in.
It was another magic practice teacher.
“Teacher! I just saw that the mana dust container in the practice room is cracked, did you check it today?”
“The mana dust container? I checked it before practice today… There was nothing wrong with it then.”
“Was there no incident at that time? I see traces of magical attack.”
“Oh, really? There was a bit of an accident. A student messed up an Avet and caused a bit of a mess.”
He briefly explained the incident that had occurred during the practice to the other teacher.
“How could you not notice that? It could have been serious.”
“Phew, indeed.”
It was standard to check twice, before and after each practice session, but perhaps the small crack had been missed in the post-practice chaos.
That could have been disastrous.
“Does this mean it was the act of a child named Sirud? That boy has always been clumsy with magic calculations, and now he’s caused trouble.”
Sirud had often miscalculated magic before.
This time, a wand malfunction might have triggered by a incorrect calculations.
As the teacher described the situation, the homeroom teacher, worried, touched her cheek and said.
“If that’s true, does Sirud get suspended?”
The practice teacher nodded gravely.
“Probably so… Touching the Mana dust is grounds for disciplinary action regardless of intention. If combined with Sirud’s original penalty points..”
Mana dust was that dangerous.
Normally, it’s hard to crack a container made to withstand regular magical forces, especially one enchanted to make targeting difficult.
Attacking such a container deliberately was a criminal act.
While it didn’t seem that Sirud had intended it, the uncontrolled magic was still his fault.
Inhaling mana dust was harmful to the human body.
Research indicated that children, who generally have lower bio-mana levels, almost certainly suffer respiratory damage.
That’s why teachers always carried wands with antidote magic, always cautious to ensure safety.
“Sirud is getting suspended?”
Luke’s surprised voice drew the attention of the three teachers.
“Luke, touching the mana dust container is an unconditional disciplinary matter, even if it was a mistake. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“…”
Luke was silent for a while.
Are she worried about something?
“Let’s go to Sirud first. We need to compare the patterns of the magical traces.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
At that moment, Luke felt a sense of responsibility for the situation.
If only she had taken more care to infuse mana during lunchtime, or if only she had encouraged Sirud a bit more to boost his confidence…
Shirud was a child who could be said to be her disciple in this era.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, Sirud had followed her well so far.
After all, suspension would hardly be good for a young student like Sirud.
It would be better if an old one like herself took the blame instead.
Finally, Luke decided and spoke up.
“Actually, those traces. I made them.”
Caught off-guard by her unexpected confession, the teachers halted and stared at Luke in unison.
Luke slightly avoided their gazes.
She wasn’t very accustomed to lying.
“You did it? How?”
“Well… I was messing around with the wand alone earlier, and it seems the magic leaked out.”
“Is that true, Luke?”
“Yes.”
“…We really need to call your guardian.”
***
“I’m saying I made a mistake. I’m ashamed.”
“…Luke.”
Hearing the adapted story, Yerina looked at Luke with a slightly dismayed expression.
“Why does it seem like something happens every time you tell me not to worry?”
“…I’m truly ashamed.”
Even though it wasn’t intentional…
It was bitterly unfortunate.
Yerina was taking a break at her city home for the convenience of Luke’s commute to school, rather than staying at their usual lodge in the forest.
She felt quite relaxed being able to stay at home for a change.
As beneficial as the forest’s mana was for her body, she could never fully relax and sleep there. In the forest, where monsters could appear at any moment, it was physiologically impossible for a forest keeper to be completely at ease.
Her rare moment of relaxation was interrupted by the sound of the front door clicking open.
As Yerina’s consciousness returned from the brink of sleep, she heard a voice say, “I’m home, Yerina.”
“Welcome back, Lu.”
It seemed that school had already ended for the day.
As Yerina focused her eyes on Luke, she saw her dropping a stack of books, piled high like a tower, at the entrance and stretching her back.
Surprised by the pile of books, Yerina asked, “My, what are all those books?”
“There’s a library at school. It’s quite big, so I borrowed all the books that seemed worth borrowing.”
“That many? All 15 of them?”
“A student card allows you to borrow five books. So, I borrowed Sirud’s and a new friend named Mary’s student cards and managed to take out a total of 15 books.”
It appeared she had already made friends, and Yerina nodded in relief.
“Weren’t they heavy? You should have called me; I would have driven to pick you up.”
“It’s okay. This is nothing.”
“Hmm… really?”
As Luke moved the stack of books next to the box she usually uses, Yerina asked, “So, Luke, how was school today?”
It was her first day, and Yerina had been quite worried.
Though there probably wasn’t any trouble, she was eager to hear about her day at school.
“Ah. Now that you mention it, there’s something I need to tell you about school, Yerina.”
“Something to tell? What is it?”
Yerina suddenly felt a strange joy, almost as if she was Luke’s mother, finding it amusing to hear about her school day.
It’s always fun to hear a child talk about school, isn’t it?
Their chatter is cute and amusing.
Yerina tuned in attentively to what Luke was about to say next.
But Luke avoided her gaze and smiled sheepishly as she said, “I’m really sorry to disappoint you since you were looking forward to it… but you’ll need to come to the school.”
“Oh, I see, to the school… What? Why?”
“They called for a guardian.”
A guardian call?
That was not what she had expected.
“Tell me more, Luke.”
“So, what happened was…”
***
Luke was sitting with her head bowed in the school office, facing the teacher in charge.
“Luke, I told you that under no circumstances should a student point a wand at another student. You heard that, right? You remember?”
“Of course, sir.”
“You’re a smart kid. You even passed the entrance exam with perfect scores. So why did you do it?”
“…”
The reason was simple. As Sirud’s circle had advanced to the second circle, the incident had occurred because she felt fear due to her own powers exceeding expectations.
However, explaining this to someone who was completely unaware of the situation was rather complicated.
To explain from the beginning, Sirud was able to reach the 2nd circle at that moment because of her help, and because of that, ‘Avent’ could contain his will, and eventually, a bizarre magic was created.
If we explain it theoretically, it could be predicted that Sirud’s circle and the circle of the wand resonated temporarily, causing an ascending reaction.
However, considering that he did it with his senses alone, Sirud’s mana sensitivity and manipulation skills could have been ranked among geniuses even 5000 years ago.
But Sirud, who had no knowledge to interpret the phenomenon, was terrified by his own power, and as a result, a situation arose where magic and mana became uncontrollable.
But if I continue to tell the story this way, it might harm Sirud.
Since Sirud couldn’t use ‘Avent’ properly.
“I didn’t even need to move the circle to use Avent, I guess I was just too excited…”
The situation wasn’t very good at the time.
So, Luke was in the middle of composing a kind of explanation in her mind, to shift the responsibility to herself.
“Aren’t you going to talk?”
Luke could not answer and just lowered her gaze, and the teacher’s eyes narrowed.
“…”
The child kept her mouth shut.
Typically, the teacher recited a spell that usually works well with children.
“It won’t work, I have to call your parents.”
“That…”
Luke’s expression turned slightly red with embarrassment.
Calling her parents?
What more embarrassing thing could there be?
After all, her parents had long ago passed away after she personally conducted their funeral.
It was embarrassing enough to be scolded by such a young teacher (appearing in his late twenties to early thirties), but to mention her long-deceased parents crossed the line of embarrassment.
“That’s…”
Luke blushed even more and lowered her gaze further.
She saw no other way to navigate through this embarrassment.
At that moment, Luke’s homeroom teacher stepped in.
“Teacher, this way.”
“Yes?”
The homeroom teacher led the trainee teacher to a corner of the staff room and spoke in a low voice so that Luke could not hear.
“That’s a family matter.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a family matter. Didn’t you hear from Ms. Serena?”
“Serena… Sirud’s mother? I didn’t hear.”
“Ah. You weren’t at school at that time. Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“Uh… I roughly heard that there’s a guardian… Isn’t she adopted?”
“Ha, she’s not just a guardian, she’s a temporary guardian. Luke doesn’t have parents now.”
“Ah.”
It was a quick and quiet conversation.
The trainee teacher and Luke’s homeroom teacher, saw Luke’s face, which was almost indescribably red.
It almost looked like she was going to cry.
“Oh no, what should I do? Did I just said something wrong?”
“You know what to do, go apologize to the child right now.”
Following her advice, he hurriedly knelt beside Luke and bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, Luke. It seems I said something wrong just now.”
But Luke was merely bewildered by his sudden change of attitude.
Luke frantically waved her hands and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.
“Don’t worry about it too much!”
“Are you forgiving me?”
“Of course, I forgive you.”
“Thank you so much…”
The teacher, having stood up, cleared his throat and tried to create a warm atmosphere by speaking in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice.
“Anyway, Luke. Never point a wand at someone again. This is your first time, so I’ll let it slide this time…”
Was he trying to look over it just like that?
It was at that moment.
The door to the staff room burst open, and a robust male teacher rushed in.
It was another magic practice teacher.
“Teacher! I just saw that the mana dust container in the practice room is cracked, did you check it today?”
“The mana dust container? I checked it before practice today… There was nothing wrong with it then.”
“Was there no incident at that time? I see traces of magical attack.”
“Oh, really? There was a bit of an accident. A student messed up an Avet and caused a bit of a mess.”
He briefly explained the incident that had occurred during the practice to the other teacher.
“How could you not notice that? It could have been serious.”
“Phew, indeed.”
It was standard to check twice, before and after each practice session, but perhaps the small crack had been missed in the post-practice chaos.
That could have been disastrous.
“Does this mean it was the act of a child named Sirud? That boy has always been clumsy with magic calculations, and now he’s caused trouble.”
Sirud had often miscalculated magic before.
This time, a wand malfunction might have triggered by a incorrect calculations.
As the teacher described the situation, the homeroom teacher, worried, touched her cheek and said.
“If that’s true, does Sirud get suspended?”
The practice teacher nodded gravely.
“Probably so… Touching the Mana dust is grounds for disciplinary action regardless of intention. If combined with Sirud’s original penalty points..”
Mana dust was that dangerous.
Normally, it’s hard to crack a container made to withstand regular magical forces, especially one enchanted to make targeting difficult.
Attacking such a container deliberately was a criminal act.
While it didn’t seem that Sirud had intended it, the uncontrolled magic was still his fault.
Inhaling mana dust was harmful to the human body.
Research indicated that children, who generally have lower bio-mana levels, almost certainly suffer respiratory damage.
That’s why teachers always carried wands with antidote magic, always cautious to ensure safety.
“Sirud is getting suspended?”
Luke’s surprised voice drew the attention of the three teachers.
“Luke, touching the mana dust container is an unconditional disciplinary matter, even if it was a mistake. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“…”
Luke was silent for a while.
Are she worried about something?
“Let’s go to Sirud first. We need to compare the patterns of the magical traces.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
At that moment, Luke felt a sense of responsibility for the situation.
If only she had taken more care to infuse mana during lunchtime, or if only she had encouraged Sirud a bit more to boost his confidence…
Shirud was a child who could be said to be her disciple in this era.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, Sirud had followed her well so far.
After all, suspension would hardly be good for a young student like Sirud.
It would be better if an old one like herself took the blame instead.
Finally, Luke decided and spoke up.
“Actually, those traces. I made them.”
Caught off-guard by her unexpected confession, the teachers halted and stared at Luke in unison.
Luke slightly avoided their gazes.
She wasn’t very accustomed to lying.
“You did it? How?”
“Well… I was messing around with the wand alone earlier, and it seems the magic leaked out.”
“Is that true, Luke?”
“Yes.”
“…We really need to call your guardian.”
***
“I’m saying I made a mistake. I’m ashamed.”
“…Luke.”
Hearing the adapted story, Yerina looked at Luke with a slightly dismayed expression.
“Why does it seem like something happens every time you tell me not to worry?”
“…I’m truly ashamed.”
Even though it wasn’t intentional…
It was bitterly unfortunate.
