The Fatigue Recovery Pill
Simon had stayed up all night, and he shuffled into first-period Hemomancy with a haggard look on his face. His condition was poor — he was supposed to be taking notes from the blackboard, but the board kept splitting into three blurry copies in front of his eyes.
'I must have burned through too much energy last night.'
As Simon drifted between waking and sleep, Meilin in the next seat jabbed him with her elbow.
"Hey. What's wrong with you?"
"...I pulled an all-nighter, so I guess I'm out of sorts."
Meilin let out a small sigh. Then she hauled her bag off the desk and onto her lap, rummaged through it, and pulled out a white medicine bottle.
"Hey. Open wide."
"What is that?"
"Fatigue recovery pill. It's what I take after a night without sleep. Come on, open up."
Simon awkwardly opened his mouth, and she picked out a single pill with her fingertips and flicked it straight in.
"Don't chew it, just let it sit. That stuff is seriously toxic — if it bursts, the whole classroom's going to reek."
This time Meilin fished a water bottle out of her bag and handed it over. Simon nodded his thanks, unscrewed the cap, and brought it to his lips.
Gulp.
"...?"
When Simon turned his head, Meilin was blushing, her face wound tight with inexplicable tension.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know! Just drink it fast before the TAs show up!"
Simon pulled the bottle slightly away from his mouth, drank, and swallowed the pill.
"Thanks, Meilin."
Meilin took the bottle back and turned her head away, feeling awkward for no particular reason.
Just then, Dick, seated behind them, stretched his head out between the two of them.
"Ack! You scared me!"
"Heh heh heh, I heard it. I heard it. I heard everyyything~"
Dick loaded up his mischief with a little hum, and Meilin growled on reflex.
"Hey, don't."
"Don't what?"
"I don't know what, but don't do iiiit!"
Dick pulled his head back and shrugged. Then he looked over at Camibarez, who was diligently taking notes beside him.
"Cami."
"Yes? Go ahead, Dick."
"Oh, it's nothing much. It's just that a conversation containing the phrases 'open wide' and 'open up' just passed between a boy and a girl, and I was wondering what you'd call a situation like th—"
Both of Camibarez's cheeks flushed scarlet. And Meilin, whose face had gone even redder, started whacking Dick over the head with her notebook.
"You deranged lunatic!"
"Ack! Ow! Hey, why are you hitting me?! I was merely stating facts...!"
"Simon!"
Camibarez said in a trembling voice.
"Y-you, you, you can't say things like that! We're still minors! That's, um...!"
Simon put on an aggrieved expression.
All I did was sit here quietly and mooch a pill off her. Why am I the one getting scolded?
"Students over theeeere~"
The voice that suddenly flew into their ears made Simon and company freeze and turn around. A TA had appeared out of nowhere, hands clasped behind his back, smiling pleasantly.
"Finished your notes already, I see~ and now you're chattering away."
There was something oddly coaxing about his voice, the way one might speak to a group of small children.
"Up you come. All four of you."
And so the four of them were marched to the back of the classroom.
"Hands flat against the wall~ Yes, just like that. Any funny business and I'll be cross, okay?"
Even the punishment had a cute quality to it. The moment the TA wandered off elsewhere, Meilin shot Dick a venomous glare.
"Ugh, how embarrassing! This is all your fault!"
"Look, all I did was lay out the facts, so really the only one at fault is—"
"Stop fighting! We'll get in trouble again!"
Meanwhile, Simon stood gazing at the blackboard by himself.
At some point, his vision had cleared again. Whether it was the pill kicking in or simply the effect of being disciplined, the drowsiness had lifted as well.
"Meilin."
"Hmm?"
"That pill you gave me. It works great."
At Simon's praise, she broke into an instant smug smile.
"Hmph, of course it does! This stuff is incredibly expens—"
"Expensive? What kind of pill is it?"
"You just shut up."
Just then, another of Silaje's TAs came rushing breathlessly into the lecture hall.
"Professor Silaje will be about twenty minutes late! We'll move the break up a little."
He glanced at his wristwatch as he spoke.
"You have a thirty-minute break, starting now."
At those words, the quiet classroom erupted into a chorus of noise in an instant. With the break officially begun, Simon's group — still standing at the wall in punishment — was able to drift back to their seats without any fuss.
"Hold up, squadmates. Take a look at this."
At Dick's beckoning gesture, the three of them turned back toward him. They gathered in a quiet corner of the classroom.
"Ugh, what now?"
Meilin grumbled.
"I was going to tell you at lunch, but since we've got the time, I'll do it now."
"?"
Dick pulled a slip of paper from the inner pocket of his jacket.
"Heh heh. I've got intel on your Duel Evaluation opponents. Starting with the most urgent case — Simon."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You were planning to use Skeleton Archers this Duel Evaluation, weren't you?"
Simon nodded.
"You'd better scrap that. Right now."
"Why?"
"I can't say it's one hundred percent certain, but your matchup is terrible."
Dick read down the slip of paper in a serious voice.
"Your opponent's name is Haren Coke. From a notorious necromancer clan out of the Oldwin Kingdom. His signature dark magic is the Black Hand."
"The Black Hand? Never heard of it."
Meilin, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes as though something had come to mind.
"...Sounds like a family's hereditary dark magic."
"Ding ding! Simply put, it's a giant hand made of Jet-Black that sprouts out of your back — and apparently its defensive power against ranged projectiles is outstanding. It can swat away even high-speed Jet-Black arrows like they were nothing."
Simon bit his lip slightly.
If it can casually bat away Jet-Black arrows...
"There's a strong chance the Skeleton Archers' arrows won't get through, Simon."
"...Hmmmm."
Simon swallowed a groan.
He'd resolved to go down the Summoning path, but he wasn't so stubborn as to keep forcing Skeleton Archers against what anyone could see was a disastrous matchup.
While Simon wrestled with alternatives, Dick continued.
"The Black Hand is a powerful tool that combines offense and defense, but its weakness is clear. While Haren Coke is sustaining the Black Hand, he can't use any other dark magic."
"Oh, in that case the strategy is obvious!"
Camibarez said, her eyes lighting up.
"Curses!"
"Yeah. She's right."
Meilin agreed.
"If both ranged and melee attacks are a pain, just keep your distance and stack curse after curse until he's worn down. Easy win, right? Honestly, you could spend the rest of the time just practicing Exhaust!"
Simon leaned back against the wall, lost in thought.
Assembling the Skeleton Archers had lit a proper fire in him for the first time in a while, and now this complication had to pop up. So it went, he mused — the world never turned out the way you wanted it to.
'What should I do?'
Time was limited. Force through with the Skeleton Archers? Break his first resolve and practice curses instead?
Or else—
'...'
Simon's eyes shone with sudden clarity.
The days flew by, and the Duel Evaluation was now just one day away.
Meilin, who had come to the lecture hall early as usual, plopped into her chair with a yawn. The students who'd arrived before her were huddled up front, chattering away — and naturally, the topic was the Duel Evaluation.
"Uuugh, I'm nervous. How am I supposed to deal with someone aiming for Curse Studies?"
"Professor Bahil's Legdown curse is supposed to be the answer!"
"The Toxicology kids scare me the most. They just nibble your Barrier Gauge down bit by bit..."
"Haaah, as long as I don't run into anyone from Curse Studies, I'll be fine."
Meilin snorted at all of it.
Worrying about opponents and matchups? You'd be better off spending that time on personal training. If you're strong and confident in your skills, what's the problem?
She was clicking her tongue inwardly and pulling out her textbook when—
"...Hey, Meilin."
"WAAH!"
She whipped her head around, startled.
There stood Simon, hollow-cheeked and sporting deeply shadowed circles under his eyes. He managed a strained smile.
"Meilin, your hair looks great today. Did you get it done?"
"..."
Meilin scowled.
Why is he suddenly acting all out of character?
"Who taught you to talk like that?"
"Dick."
"Ugh, geez."
Hearing Simon imitate Dick's speech patterns was genuinely unsettling. Above all, it did not suit him at all.
"Whatever. Why are you buttering me up? Out with it."
"...A pill, please."
"Sigh."
Meilin grumbled, but fished the medicine bottle out of her bag and handed it over. Once Simon got the pill down, a little clarity returned to his eyes.
"You know watching you is making me anxious, right? What is going on with you lately?"
"Duel Evaluation prep."
Meilin frowned.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Training hard is all well and good, but keep this up and you're going to actually collapse. Those pills aren't some kind of magic that erases fatigue, you know. I only take them once in a blue moon myself."
"I just have to hold out until tomorrow's Duel Evaluation."
"...You're insane."
Before long, class began.
And of course, even after the lecture started, Simon's condition kept deteriorating.
He couldn't focus at all through the entire class, scrawling strange jottings in his notebook and muttering to himself under his breath.
"Dick! What on earth is wrong with him?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Meilin asked. Dick raked his hair back with a complicated expression — Simon was clearly weighing on him too.
"No idea. These days he barely ever comes back to the room, and half the time I wake up and he's not even at his seat."
Camibarez, who had been watching with a worried face, tugged insistently at Dick's sleeve.
"He's going to collapse at this rate. Please do something, Dick!"
"That's right. You're his roommate!"
"You think I haven't tried? Problem is, he doesn't listen to a single word I say."
Dick turned his head.
It was break time, but Simon was still scribbling strange doodles in his notebook like a man possessed. It was the classic portrait of someone so consumed by a single subject that nothing else even registered.
"He'll probably stay like that until the Duel Evaluation is over. My bet is he's preparing some new dark magic."
"A new dark magic?"
Meilin let out a scoffing laugh.
"What does he even need that for? This is an opponent he could beat easily just by practicing a bit of Exhaust!"
"...New dark magic is nice and all, but I really think his health should come first."
Meilin scratched her head in irritation — then her eyes flashed.
"Enough. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
Dick propped his arms behind his head.
"I'd give up on that, if I were you? Nothing you say is going to get through to him."
"Just watch me."
Meilin steeled herself with fresh determination and marched over to Simon.
"Hey, Simon! If you keep this up—!"
Simon slowly turned his head.
'...Gah!'
She was met with a pair of completely unhinged eyes.
When a boy her own age suddenly loomed over her with that kind of aura, Meilin faltered a little and stammered.
"Th-then your body's going to break down, how many times do I have to—!"
"Thanks for worrying about me, Meilin. Really, I'll get plenty of rest starting tomorrow."
And with that, Simon turned back to his notebook.
'Th-this isn't right.'
Meilin was still puzzling over what to say next when Simon suddenly shot to his feet. Startled, she let out a short shriek.
"Dick."
This time it was Dick who flinched.
"Huh? Uh, yeah?"
"About what I asked you for—"
"Oh, uh — news from Professor Aaron? I probably won't know until around lunchtime."
"Right. Thanks."
Simon sat back down and returned to his notes.
Three pairs of worried eyes converged on him.
What on earth kind of dark magic is he preparing?
That evening.
Aaron was making his way into Kizen.
He was not in his usual scruffy teaching clothes. He wore the formal uniform of Kizen headquarters with a black fur cloak draped over his shoulders — a genuinely dashing figure. The henchmen cleaning the building could barely recognize him as Aaron.
'...Exhausting, this.'
His mission had ended earlier than expected.
Today was still technically a rest day, but he'd decided to stop by his research office briefly to prepare for class.
'So stuffy.'
Walking toward his office, Aaron threw off his outer coat and loosened his tie. With every step he took, his outfit grew lighter, and the pile of clothing in his right hand kept growing.
Thus, shedding garments one by one, he arrived at his office door to find someone sitting on the floor — staring at a notebook with bleary eyes, muttering strange phrases under his breath.
"...Simon Polentia."
Simon looked up. The moment he spotted Aaron, he sprang to his feet and bowed his head.
"Professor Aaron!"
"What are you doing out here?"
The Simon he was seeing for the first time in a week somehow looked drained and worn thin.
Simon spoke with careful formality.
"There's something I really must ask you, Professor."
"..."
Aaron silently checked the watch on his wrist.
"It's past quitting time, you know."
"...Oh."
"Kidding."
Aaron cracked a wry smile.
"Solving a student's troubles is a professor's duty too. Come on in."