What Am I Supposed to Do With This Bold Child?
Monday morning dawned.
After meeting the headmaster following classes last Friday, I had spent the weekend rather busily testing the powers Kyle possessed and preparing lectures. The weekend had flown by in the blink of an eye.
Rattle.
Lost in such thoughts, I arrived before the classroom door, opened it, and stepped inside.
What the hell is with everyone’s faces?
Was this a den of zombies or what? Was this really the gathering place for students taking Holy Healing Studies?
Male or female, every single one of them looked exhausted, eyes heavy with sleep, or yawning. Just how hard had they all partied over the weekend?
Whether it was the world I originally came from or this one, Mondays were no different.
“—In short. In an urgent situation where every second counts, what a lower-ranking priest must do is cast a purification spell upon themselves, inject poison into their own body, then follow it with a detoxification spell to increase the antibodies within. After that, they extract their own blood or bodily fluids and add them to purified water mixed with special herb powder, allowing it to function as an antidote potion.”
A lower-ranking priest who had not yet reached a certain level could not freely use detoxification magic on others. Even beneficial spells saw their difficulty rise exponentially when affecting someone other than oneself. A mistake could cause the poison in the patient to reverse course and create an even more critical situation.
…Still. I had expected today’s class to drag a little. Seeing the students show such enthusiasm and focus despite that worry put me in a good mood. The way they diligently took notes was nice too.
While I was feeling quietly pleased, a single blonde girl quietly raised her hand among the students.
Erina Crossbell.
Hair so pale it was nearly platinum blonde, cascading all the way to her waist, half-tied back and secured with a black ribbon—there was a refined air about her. Her gentle-looking eyes and crystal-clear blue irises shone so pure it was like looking at a deer.
Yet for all that impression, a faint smile and a mischievous glint somehow clung to her as well—
—making her seem less like a deer and more like a fox.
She was the only character I had seen in the brief prologue I managed to read. Unfortunately there hadn’t been much content, but seeing her match the novel’s description so perfectly made me feel both glad and a little relieved.
“Erina Crossbell? What is it? Interrupting the lecture like this. I believe I told you to refrain from questions for now?”
“What you just said doesn’t make any sense, Professor.”
What on earth was she talking about…
According to Kyle’s memories, Erina had a habit of throwing out these kinds of objections during his lectures. But it was still only the beginning of the semester. Barely a week since her enrollment. She didn’t seem to mean any real malice. Once her curiosity was satisfied, she would return to being a quiet student again.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to speak, but… fine. Let’s hear it once.”
“Thank you. Healing is ultimately just a means of mending wounds, isn’t it? That’s all it is. Detoxification magic is the same. Yet using Heal to increase antibodies against poison that has entered the body and then making an antidote from that? I’ve never even heard of such a usage.”
Of course she wouldn’t know. How much could a first-year possibly understand?
“Erina Crossbell…”
“Yes, Professor.”
The faint smile on her face looked somewhat playful, yet she was clearly paying attention to my words. A real little fox, this one. A bit of a hassle, but I decided to take it positively. At least it meant she had the desire to learn.
I didn’t know how long I would remain in this teaching post, but… at the very least until these new first-years graduated. Yes. Just about four years. If I could get them through safely without any major incidents, the Holy Order might start looking at me differently. They might even take me back.
My only real connections right now were with the Order, so if I wanted to do anything, that was where I had to start.
Anyway. First things first—finish this class.
“Once poison enters the body, the body immediately begins an immune response. Do you know about that?”
“…I’m not familiar with the concept.”
“I’ll explain it simply. Using your body as an example—”
When a poison or unknown foreign substance entered Erina’s body, her system would identify it as a foreign object—an enemy. In response, her body would produce antibodies through the immune reaction, building resistance to fight the invader.
That was the basic framework.
To apply this and create an antidote, you cast a detoxification spell on yourself in that state. It strengthened the antibodies and put a booster on their production speed, amplifying the quantity. In the end, once every foreign substance inside had been wiped out, only the antibodies would remain. You extracted those, prepared an emergency antidote on the spot, and administered it to the patient. Treatment complete.
“Simply put, it’s like turning the beneficial bacteria in your body into super beneficial bacteria, then transplanting them into the patient to eliminate the bacteria causing the illness.”
“That sounds unfamiliar…”
“Of course it does. You’re a newly enrolled academy student.”
“…….”
“As for mixing the extracted blood or fluids into a specific solution—well. Let’s define that as the process of coating those super beneficial bacteria with a protective layer so they can survive long enough to be introduced into the patient’s body.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how useful this kind of knowledge would even be in a romance fantasy world. Still, that much explanation should be enough. I hadn’t actually worked in the medical field, so the analogy probably wasn’t perfect. But if it sparked even a little interest and helped them understand—
—well, good enough.
“My theory just now was a bit needlessly long-winded, so you lot can just take it as ‘oh, there’s a method like that’ and roughly grasp the algorithm.”
After saying that, I reached for one of the items I had prepared for today’s class—a long reagent bottle containing some sort of solution—and continued.
“This bottle contains a poison, just like the subject of today’s lesson. When this toxin enters the body, the fingertips turn black. Of course, it was manufactured for educational purposes and has no effect other than discoloring the skin, but the body will still clearly register it as a foreign substance.”
The atmosphere grew a little restless. Or maybe “suddenly” wasn’t the right word. This was a place of learning—an academy—but there were commoner students and noble students alike. Status aside, anyone would be startled when poison was suddenly shoved in front of them. Even if it was just a teaching aid.
“The things that have been sitting on your desks this whole time are the same. I’ll demonstrate first, so watch carefully and try to follow along. Erina Crossbell? Come forward.”
At my words, Erina walked up to the podium.
“Professor. You were really too much yesterday…”
Apparently being called up as my one-on-one practice assistant for the latter half of the previous lecture had been quite embarrassing for her.
“…Who told you to do something that stands out?”
“…Honestly.”
Having every eye on her while she had to demonstrate the entire practice process from start to finish alone with me at the front of the class might have been a bit much for a mere first-year to handle. Though I figured no one was unaware that Erina was already my teaching assistant.
“You still don’t seem to understand because you’re a new student, Erina, but this is originally what an assistant’s duties are.”
She was still just a student and closer to a helper than anything, but the point of being at a professor’s side was to assist with whatever he needed. It wasn’t a free ride where you just sat through class and picked fights.
Anyway, if I was going to keep using Erina as my assistant, I would need some opportunity to fix that shy streak of hers in front of an audience.
“Uuuu… please drink.”
Apparently Erina had brought tea. She leaned slightly forward as she set it down close to me while I sat at the desk in my private research office.
“Thank you, Erina.”
Damn… what a chest.
The size of the breasts that looked ready to burst out of Erina’s uniform at any moment…
The academy uniform was mainly a color somewhere between navy and black—a white blouse that fit snugly against the body, a short cape-like shoulder mantle over it, and a ribbon tie at the throat studded with a small jewel. Below that, a corset that cinched the waist with neat gold buttons, and a pleated skirt that fell above the knee.
Overall it could be called a style that looked neat while still clearly defining the silhouette… but neat or not, whatever the original design intent, the female students’ chests were emphasized. Aside from the white blouse, virtually every fabric was dark.
That didn’t mean Erina’s breasts were so absurdly huge they defied belief. But they weren’t small either. In short, they were the kind of generous bust you could tell was large at a single glance.
Even if academy enrollment only started at full age nineteen…
Nowhere safe to look. Hss…
“Professor! Are you even listening to me?!”
…Crap.
“Ah, right, right. I did something, you said.”
“You were too much!”
Still on about that?
“You’re the one who volunteered to be my assistant, Erina.”
Kyle had only just taken up his post at the academy this year and had been active in the Holy Knight Order until last year, so of course he hadn’t had an assistant. He had simply selected one from among the students taking his lectures.
If you set aside the fact that she never missed a chance to throw mischievous objections every single class—working with a lovely girl like Erina was honestly an honor. The way she even brought drinks of her own accord without being asked was endearing.
Sip.
I took a mouthful of the tea Erina had brought while thinking idle thoughts.
Gah…!
How could tea taste this horrific…! What the hell did she put in this…!
“How is it? Is the tea all right?”
“…….”
Was I being bullied right now? Had Kyle been drinking this every day? It had only been about a week, but still. The tea in Kyle’s memories hadn’t tasted this bad…
“Until yesterday I only served pure black tea because I was still learning the job, but when I thought about the fact that it was for you, Professor, I felt I should prepare something a little more.”
Nooo.
“Erina…”
“Yes! Professor?”
“From now on, just pure black tea, please…”
“Just plain black tea…? Why…?”
“Well… I’m not sure how to put it… the taste is a little… off…?”
“Huh…? The taste is weird? Wait a moment.”
Had she never even tasted it herself? Upon hearing my words, Erina immediately poured some into a spare cup from the teapot and drank it.
“Aaagh…! Wh-what is this even…? Ugh…? What kind of taste is this…”
The moment she tasted it, she made an expression not all that different from mine, her face scrunching up tightly.
Well, at least that was a relief. Erina wasn’t a girl with a broken sense of taste.
“I-I’m so sorry…”
After drinking the tea, Erina’s ears were flushed bright red as she offered a timid apology, looking both embarrassed and remorseful.
“It’s fine. Everyone makes mistakes. For now… well. How about we practice the proper way to brew tea?”
I knew most people who couldn’t cook simply failed to follow the recipe properly. If I could fix just that, Erina would definitely—
“I-I’m not that bad, okay!??”
…Not that bad? Wasn’t that exactly why this mess happened in the first place?
This time the red flush had spread not only to her ears but around her cheeks as well, as if speaking for her feelings.
Twitch.
But why, at a timing like this, was strength suddenly gathering in my lower body? It was so abrupt it felt a little strange…
…Don’t tell me.
I’m going crazy. First I had to get through the current situation.
“Well, I believe Erina is a smart girl, so you’ll figure it out just fine on your own.”
No need to say more and poke the beehive. Brewing tea was… well, if you just followed the set ingredients in the right order, it was finished, right? Something anyone could do without difficulty. There had simply been a small mistake this time. Yes. That had to be it.
“Professor, but…”
“Hm?”
But… Erina’s gaze was strange. Sitting across the office desk from me, her eyes weren’t on my eyes or face. They were lower. Much lower.
…Yes. On my lower half, which had for some reason started getting hard a little while ago and showed no intention of calming down.
“Professor, what’s that long thing stuck against your thigh inside your left pants pocket?”