"…Miriette and Zoemi aren't in the Academy at the moment – they went to the city, their room will be empty…

"

"!!!

"

Suddenly, even though the passage that the blond girl just passed should be empty, a concerned voice called out to her, making her flinch.

"WHO…?! Ah…! Ehmi…?

"

Heroine flinched and turned away in fear, but then breathed out seeing the youthful-looking platinum-haired girl.

"…

"

The platinum-haired girl wasn't even looking up at her, she herself seemed very scared and disturbed by something, ready to run away at the moment's notice.

"We… I wish to help you out more, but he is here, and they are around… they will want to come in contact with him not knowing who he really is… I cannot stay here. This is the only thing I can do for you for now. Sorry…

"

The young-looking girl just shook her head and reached out her hand towards the confused heroine.

Then, without Burushi having time to ask her anything, the small girl ended up circling a counterclockwise circle in the air with her index finger and…

"?!?!?!?????!?!

"

Burushi suddenly felt her mana returning to her – not recovering, it process was far too fast to just be a recovery, mana simply returned to her in huge chunks as if each spell she had cast during the last ten hours came back – not only that, her exhaustion went away, the pain in her face and her headache disappeared completely, and she even stopped being hungry…!

"Wh-what is going on…?! Lady Ehmi, wh-what did you do…?!

"

The completely rejuvenated blond girl gasped in disbelief and gratefulness, looking first at their hands and then touching the supposedly sore spot, the black eye – which turned out to be back to normal as if nothing ever happened, even though Burushi expected her cheekbone to be cracked…!

"Lady Ehmi, I – I don't know what to say…! Thank…!

"

Burushi shook her head and gasped, looking up to properly convey her gratitude towards the small, platinum-haired girl…

"…you….?

"

But, the person that Burushi was looking at at the moment, was neither small nor platinum-haired…

"Hm? No, don't be like that Buru, it was just small talk and nothing else, right? I didn't really do anything worth thanking me.

"

A tall dangerously beautiful girl with long crimson hair reaching below her thighs and deep crimson eyes looked back at the blond girl and smiled benevolently while tilting her head a little bit, which made the overall effect was quite amicable.

"…I… I'm sorry, I was just talking to… a friend… but, she seems to have disappeared on me…

"

Burushi flinched and started backing off, not really knowing what to do in this situation.

|Where's Ehmi?! And how come this girl is so casual with me…?!|

She thought in panic.

"Eh..? What are you talking about Buru? Geez, that Derizno's brat seriously made you go through a lot – I will kick his ass for you if he shows up after all!

"

The tall crimson-haired girl furrowed her brows and rubbed the back of her neck with a worried expression before flexing her arms – that movement alone was enough to make her uniform, with a third-year badge of flower in full bloom, stretch dangerously, threatening to rip apart from the sheer volume of her assets pressing onto the fabric.

The heroine was supposed to be big in that certain area too… But if that was the case, then this crimson girl was straight-up gigantic!

"You would?! Wait, no! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I-I need to go…!

"

Burushi gasped in excitement, before hurriedly realizing that she should not put her faith in the words of a stranger she never met before – even if it was a nice stranger – and cried in a high-pitched voice before running away as soon as she could.

"…that was worrisome…

"

The crimson-haired girl frowned in a concerned expression before turning in the opposite direction and walking down the hallway.

"Buru never treated me like that, that little rat must have been really awful to her… Who does he think he is, first messing with Zoe now with Buru…

"

Her face turned grim and glared through the window at the spot prepared for the duels where first participants were already facing each other.

"I wanted to show off to Buru and Zoe how cool I am.

"

She murmured and pouted which turned her expression from fierce into heart-meltingly cute – the crimson-haired girl then stretched and shook her head vigorously.

"Nnnnn-ghnyaah! Wow, why do I feel like I haven't been using my body in ages…? Oh well, I'm still in good enough shape to show everyone that no one can mess with the friends of the Victureo family!

"

The crimson-haired girl let out a far too lewd noise and bared her white teeth in a wide smile – she spread open her palm and a deep-crimson-red fireball ignited between her fingers lighting the hallway with a pinkish glow.

——–

"Who was that anyway…? She knew my name but I had never seen her before…

"

Burushi hurried down the hallway while looking over her shoulder in consternation and worry.

Nonetheless, she was extremely grateful to Ehmi for showing up – even though very briefly – and somehow healing her up way more efficiently than the blond girl would be able to do herself.

"Student Burushiitto! Where were you for the entire night!?

"

"!!!

"

All of a sudden someone called to Burushi and the heroine flinched and stepped away, raising her arms defensively, half-expecting teacher Auequas to inexplicably learn about her recovery and tracking her down to drag her back to continue the farce of healing the completely healthy brown-haired capture target.

But that wasn't the case at all, after actually looking up the blond girl realized that it was actually the dak haired teacher who recently joined the Academy and was keeping an eye on her, helping her out a few times already.

"Teacher Banemor – you will not believe this, but I am completely serious…

"

Since the dark-haired teacher clearly had a connection with Zoemi, Burushi felt safe enough to tell him everything that happened without holding back – she was worried that accusing the high noble of faking his condition could get her in trouble, but once she started talking the bitterness took over and she couldn't help herself.

"…Are you sure that's what happened…?

"

After the blond heroine stopped talking and was standing in front of the teacher with eyes reddish from holding back the angry tears, the dark-haired man looked at her with a serious expression.

"Yes. At first, I thought that the defeat from the prince's hands might have lave a scar on lord Derizno's mind, that was clearly not the case as when teacher Auequas left the room he threatened me! And while we're talking about teacher Auequas – I have proven my worth with healing teacher Kros's condition and sir Zoemi's wounds! Why was I not believed when I told her that I did everything that I could?! Why was I being held hostage throughout the entire night even when my mana ran dry and I entered the state of mana depletion?! I know the social status differs by a lot between me and lord Derizno, but I also am a student of the Aspakeony Academy!

"

In response to him, Burushi straightened her back and clenched her fists, looking Banemor straight in the eyes without even blinking once, showing her sincerity.

"…I see… Please excuse me – you are right to feel bitter, as one of my students you are every bit as important as everyone else and nothing like this should ever happen to you.

"

"…!

"

Burushi flinched and stepped back when the dark-haired teacher actually bowed down to her in an apology and the blond girl was left speechless.