"Is Miss Commoner at work today?"
"What are…? Ah, it's you…!"
As he entered the hospital wing, Rotsard approached the first nurse he spotted and asked, causing her to frown and begin to scoff, only to let out a panicked voice and scuttle away.
"...is that a yes…? A no…?"
The boy tilted his head and mumbled in confusion while clenching his chest with one hand.
"Tell her I'm here as a patient…!"
He added lauder while walking into the first vacant private room and sat on the bed.
As he waited, he picked up on the nurses talking amongst each other as to who should go see to him, which only made his frown become more severe.
Even so, he still expected that nurse Lila would be the one to show up, even though the approaching footsteps didn't sound like hers, and there was no trace of her smell anywhere.
"S-student Vallhall…"
"Is Miss Commoner still absent…?"
Another nurse, whom Rotsard didn't recognize, showed up and greeted him timidly, to which he responded with a question.
"..."
"..."
The two looked at each other, Rotsard with ever darker expression and the nurse getting more and more timid in her stance.
"...s-student Vallhall… did… did you do something to Lila…?"
Finally, the nurse broke the silence, asking in a trembling voice.
"HAA…?!"
"I…! I'm sorry!"
The outrageous question caused Rotsard's thick blood to boil, and he let out a furious scoff that caused the audacious nurse to cower and whimper on the verge of tears.
"What do you mean, did I do something to Miss Commoner? She was all up in my business uninvited, but then did what all filthy peasants do and abandoned a noble at her own convenience! Th…sk…!"
The boy almost scoffed, before stopping himself by biting his tongue and masking it as clicking it.
"Bah! I don't care about her, nor her business! I merely wanted to have someone familiar with my injury to have a look. I spat blood again. Twice."
Embarrassed over his own feelings, Rotsard gasped and declared.
"O-oh…! I-in that case, student Vallhall… In fact, I was assisting Lila with treating you originally."
"...then you'll do… If you please."
The woman perked up and pointed out bashfully, making the boy furrow his brows at her reaction, but eventually reaching out his hand and nodding with approval.
"Oh, dear…! I…! I'll be right back!"
"...?"
Only moments after using the mana stone to cast the spell, the nurse's face turned pale, and she rushed out of the room, leaving bewildered Rotsard behind.
The boy fidgeted in his spot, looking around cautiously while wondering whether he should actually leave or not…
"Lady Mivoress! Here, he's here! Hurry!"
…but just as Rotsard decided to leave and was about to get off the bed, the nurse in charge of him showed up at the door while calling out and beckoning someone to follow.
"..."
The boy's expression turned cautious, and he straightened his back while waiting.
The new woman who showed up wasn't someone completely foreign to Rotsard.
While tall, but not taller than Mira, and with green streaks in otherwise raven-black hair, Clementine Mivoress was the teacher in charge of the specialized medical lectures the students of fifth year and above could participate in.
She was also the teacher who discovered the withdrawn Mira's immense talent in alchemy and encouraged her at every step despite the fact that by doing so she had to let go of teaching such a promising student by herself.
"Lady Mivoress! Please, check by yourself too! I-if I'm not wrong then…! Then I don't understand how student Vallhall is still alive…!"
"!!!"
The nurse called out and pointed at Rotsard, making a statement that caused the boy to flinch and stare at her in pure shock.
What in the world did she mean!?
He was alive right there, what was there not to understand!?
"...you don't have a problem with that, student Rotsard?"
Teacher Mivoress glanced at the nurse before carefully observing the patient and asking.
"Not at a…"
Rotsard was already nodding his head casually when something moved in Teacher Mivoress's hair, and a relatively big snake poked its head from within before resting its chin on the woman's shoulder.
It couldn't be just some normal pet.
Its jade-green scales shone like jewelry, and its eyes were steel-gray with golden pupils.
A fae, no doubt about it.
"Not that thing! I refuse to be treated with fae magic!"
"!"
Rotsard's face twisted in fury, and his attitude changed completely while he pointed his index finger right at the snake's snout, causing both it and the woman carrying it to freeze up and stare at him.
"Student Vallhall…! Your injury is worse than anything that we can deal with without fae magic…!"
"THEN I'M CHOOSING DEATH!"
The nurse gasped and tried to appease the infuriated boy, but that only made him roar as he lowered his body in the same way a beast would before pouncing on its prey!
"Miss Chloe, please, give us some privacy."
"Wha…?! B-bu…! I mean… u-understood…"
Teacher Mivoress spoke up without looking at the nurse, making her hesitate but give up almost immediately and close the door as she left.
"Ssstudent Rotsssard, are you sssaying that you can't tolerate my presssence in the sssame room?"
The snake resting its head on the woman's shoulder dropped all pretense and spoke up, its forked tongue flashing in and out of its mouth as it hissed.
Its voice was mostly pleasant but with an unnerving twist, while its tone closely resembled its contracted partner's.
"No. You can stay. What I abhor is to be treated by you."
"...why would that be…?"
Rotsard shook his head and scoffed, meeting the snake's gaze head-on and causing it to let out a confused hiss.
"Because fae are useless when it counts. Putting any trust in your kind leads my kind to their demise!"
"!?!?"
The yellow-eyed boy let out a hateful growl while glaring at the shocked fae.