Academy's New School Nurse (1)
Arcanum Academy lived up to its name. True to its 500 years of history and tradition, it was grand and stately without a hint of decay. As the continent's premier and largest educational institution, every building was state-of-the-art and top-of-the-line. I found myself gawking at the sheer scale of it all, mesmerized.
"I thought the temple was pretty big..."
The temple where I'd lived housed around a thousand people inside its walls, so it was fairly large. A full lap around it would leave my ankles sore and my body temperature raised. But Arcanum? One loop around this place would take three or four hours easy. It was massive.
"And this is just the campus size."
If you factored in the areas where students and staff lived, it could rival a decent-sized city.
"Arcanum's pretty huge, right? When I first got here, I kept getting lost and it drove me nuts."
The female staffer walking beside me chuckled lightly.
"Yeah, no kidding. At this scale, getting lost wouldn't be weird at all."
Her name was Priya. She'd volunteered to give me, the new infirmary teacher, a quick tour of the academy and rundown of my duties. Normally, the previous infirmary teacher would handle the handover, but they'd quit so suddenly that Priya had been covering temporarily.
"You came from the temple, right, Erdel?"
"Yeah."
"You're so young, but already a decade-long priest? You must've grown up in the temple."
My background at Arcanum was listed as a priest with ten years' experience from the temple. Not nobility, but equivalent status, with proven skills and a recognized name. Apparently, anything less and the nobles would look down on me.
"That's impressive. I heard becoming a priest involves tons of exams and multiple pilgrimages."
"Ah... yeah, pretty much."
Truth be told, I knew squat about actual priest work.
"Starting all that as a kid... I can't even imagine."
That's because shortly after arriving at the temple, I was chosen as the saintess and didn't do priest duties like my sister. I tagged along on some charity outings with the priests now and then, sure.
"I stayed at the temple for a month because of my family, and it was brutal. Barely slept, food sucked—total nightmare."
"You get used to it after about a year. Nobles usually bail after a month, so it doesn't mean much for them."
"A month was a godsend... I'd have run away before a year was up."
At least my cover held up. I'd studied priest duties briefly before coming to Arcanum. If word got out I was the saintess, it'd be chaos everywhere, so I'd dyed my hair and prepped thoroughly. Paperwork was airtight—no slip-ups there.
The problem was everything else.
"Hey, Erdel, mind if I ask something?"
"Sure, what?"
"You've had your eyes closed since we met. Something wrong with them?"
As long as these eyes stayed shut.
"Sorry if that's rude."
Priya said cautiously.
"Nah, it's fine. Not uncomfortable or anything—it's like a form of devotion."
The reason was simple: if anyone saw my irises, my identity could be exposed. The eyes of a chosen saintess bear a unique mark—a cross pattern, like the goddess's emblem. And no magic could hide it; I had to physically cover them.
"Devotion?"
"Yeah, to serve the goddess with a pure heart. Don't worry, I can see just fine."
At my level, closed eyes didn't matter. Saintesses weren't saintesses for nothing. It was clairvoyance applied—third-person game view of the world. No big hindrance to daily life.
"That's amazing... The goddess's power?"
"Something like that."
I nodded with a smile.
"This'll be your workplace from now on, Erdel. Let the office know if you need anything."
And just like that, we reached the infirmary where I'd be stationed. It was surprisingly plain and tidy inside. Medicine cabinets and drawers stocked with supplies, four beds arranged neatly.
"Nice and clean."
"I tidied up special since you were coming."
"Thanks."
I smiled gratefully at Priya.
"Gotta run to the morning meeting. No full handover yet, but I made a quick manual in that notebook—check it out."
Priya left with quick steps. Not much time till her meeting, apparently.
I ended up alone, sitting in the infirmary chair unpacking my stuff.
"So this is where I'll be working..."
New chapter in life? Bittersweet, maybe. No crosses or goddess statues—felt empty, but liberating too.
"...Hope no kids come in with serious injuries."
Of course, injuries at the academy infirmary wouldn't be that bad—worst case, a fracture. And today was opening ceremony, right?
"Anything major, they'd go straight to the hospital anyway."
That was part of why I'd picked this job. All I knew was healing with holy power, and patients needing a saintess were usually critically wounded. Limbs chomped off by monsters, or worse, bisected. Regular priests could barely stabilize them at that point, so they'd ship the barely-alive to me.
Anyway, I could heal that too.
"Just no blood. Please, no blood..."
Issue was my hemophobia. Trauma from way back. Nosebleeds or scrapes were fine, but anything more triggered full panic. And my patients were always "more." Breath shortens, vision spins, ears ring. Using clairvoyance helped a bit since I wasn't seeing it directly, but I'd still barely sleep that night. Didn't want to deal with it anymore if possible.
"...What's for lunch today?"
I shook my head to clear it and stood. Worrying about hypotheticals helped zilch. Better to ponder lunch in a few hours—way more productive for my mood.
"No menu around? Heard there's a cafeteria on campus."
I poked around for a menu. Temple life meant meat was a rare beg from my sister—once a month if lucky, and secretly. Never carefree.
But now? Freedom. And after work, booze too. Just thinking about it made my mouth water.
Knock knock!
Suddenly, a knock at the infirmary door.
"Who's there?"
"Is Teacher Priya in?!"
Sounded like a student.
"Priya's out... What's up?"
I opened the door to check.
A red-haired girl stood there, looking urgent.
"You're...?"
She seemed startled to see me. Three or four years younger, maybe.
"New infirmary teacher. What's wrong?"
I flashed a bright smile, hoping to make a good first impression. First student chat at the academy—wanted her to like me.
"Priya did mention a temp... Anyway, come quick. Emergency."
She eyed me a moment, then spoke.
"Emergency? A patient?"
"Yes. Critical."
Critical on day one—opening ceremony day too. Poor kid, whoever it was.
"Got it. Can't move?"
"Unconscious... Ah, here they come!"
She pointed down the hall. A boy was rushing over, piggybacking another.
From the look, he was out cold as she said. No obvious external wounds—what happened?
"Lay him inside first? Hard to check in the hall."
"Yeah, I'll take over supporting. You head back and report. Luckily, the infirmary teacher's here."
"Understood, Lady Lucille."
Lucille? That name rang a bell. But patient first.
"What happened? He's sweating buckets, face pale."
I calmly examined the patient boy. Nothing else jumped out besides what I'd noted. Chronic condition maybe?
"Magic accident. His left arm..."
"Left arm? Broken?"
I checked it immediately. Looked fine.
"It flew off."
"Huh?"
But that was wishful thinking. A red glow faded from his left arm, revealing...
"Flew... off?"
"Yes. Magic buildup failed, caused an explosion. I blocked most of it urgently, but couldn't save the arm he was casting with."
Five seconds ago, it was perfectly attached. Now gone—empty socket, blood-soaked bandage barely staunching it.
"But it was just there a second ago?"
"Illusion to avoid panic from other new students."
"Right... Got it. Head back."
"Anything I can help with?"
"Nah, you're shaken too. Rest up."
"Understood. I'll go then."
I sent Lucille off. Now it was just me, and the unconscious boy with one missing arm and bloody bandages.
Yeah. Blood. Fresh, hot, straight-from-the-tap blood.
"......"
Already hard to breathe, but work's work. Unwrap the bandage and heal.
Undoing the staunching wrap—blood surges again.
"...Re-staunch first."
Squirt!
Suddenly, blood droplets hit my face from the arm. Pressure buildup.
"Eek..."
Day one on the job. Already craving resignation.
Lucille Eleanor. Lady of the Eleanor Dukedom, known at the academy as an elite spirit mage with stellar grades. Her excellence came from raw talent, sure, but also relentless effort to uphold her family's prestige.
Is she really okay with this?
From her view, this incident was impossible to ignore.
Arm blown clean off, heavy bleeding too.
In her class, a student right nearby loses an arm. She didn't know details, but it looked like an accident with a new artifact for the semester. Faulty item or user error, probably.
Anyway, treatment came before causes.
And a new infirmary teacher starts today of all days.
Lucille didn't doubt the newbie's skills per se. Just, first day, no adjustment time, and a critical case? Worrying. Especially with that friendly-yet-eerie vibe.
So after leaving, she sought Priya. Magic wounds weren't simple cuts—botch the treatment, and permanent disability or death loomed.
"No need to worry, Lucille. Focus on your duties."
"Pardon? But..."
Priya just smiled and said to relax.
"She's a priest with exceptional holy power. Proven track record—no concerns."
Lucille had no choice but to leave. Academy hires were vetted, but anxiety lingered.
I'll check just in case.
If it was bad, she'd call the family healers. Back to the infirmary she went.
Knock knock.
"Lucille here. Coming in."
She entered, anxious.
"Anyone?"
No sign of the new teacher.
Where'd she go?
The patient was still on the bed.
Various thoughts raced—bad ones included. Not even 30 minutes since she left, and teacher already AWOL?
Call the family healers now...
But then she noticed the boy on the bed.
"...I definitely dispelled the magic."
Incredibly, the armless boy was fully healed, just unconscious. Breathing steady, cold sweats gone, face serene.
Treatment done already?
Unbelievable. Not reattachment—a total evaporation of the limb. Healing that was elite high priest territory, and full regeneration to perfect condition? Even rarer. And in under 30 minutes, not hours?
That's why the teacher's not here...
Probably stepped out for a breather post-treatment. Lucille turned to leave, chiding her needless worry and appreciating Priya's reassurance.
Thud!
'?'
Something tripped her—nearly fell flat.
What?
Infirmary floor was clear. Looking down...
"......"
Lucille froze, barely stifling a shriek that would've shamed her in front of other girls.
"Gurgle..."
On the floor lay the missing new teacher—face blood-splattered, foaming at the mouth, collapsed.