How History Gets Written in the Infirmary (2)
Cardisha Alreister. A woman with a build quite similar to Esta's in many ways, descendant of the great archmage Alreister. And a heroine. Alongside Esta, she's one of the heroines who serves as an 'instructor' figure.
If Esta gives off the vibe of a homeroom teacher, then Cardisha feels like the school nurse. The kind of school nurse position you'd typically find in a Japanese rom-com.
Cardisha isn't particularly strong in terms of personal combat prowess, but she's a multifaceted, highly capable woman.
"Phoenix? What're you thinking so deeply about?"
"I was wondering if you divide us into 'classes' too, Instructor Cardisha."
"Oh my. Esta didn't say anything, did she?"
"No way."
Cardisha asked in surprise, but I denied it immediately.
"It's just a guess. The academy forms teams of at least four. If there are exactly sixteen special admissions students, that divides neatly into four teams."
"Right. Whether all sixteen are freshmen or not, you'll be split into groups of four and assigned to learn from each instructor. 'Dedicated'... might cause misunderstandings?"
"You mean an administrative advisor instructor?"
"Exactly! Better to call them guiding instructors."
Guiding instructors. In high school terms, homeroom teachers; in university, academic advisors. You'll learn from various people, but administrative matters for a specific team fall under their guiding instructor's responsibility.
If Cardisha were a guiding instructor, my plan to utilize the infirmary would get a bit tricky.
"Are you our guiding instructor, Instructor Cardisha?"
"No. I'm here to handle the health management for all sixteen. With four teams, I'm responsible for injuries, conditions, and health across all four."
Good. No need to pull Cardisha away as a guiding instructor focused solely on her assigned students.
"But if you want special care, I can handle it right here."
Cardisha stopped in front of a door, gripping the handle.
"Just know, once you step inside, no one has any idea what might happen in there?"
"You make it sound like we're entering some super dangerous place."
"It might be risky, but at least you won't die. Oh, if you actually do drop dead, I'll take moral responsibility and walk the path to the afterlife with you!"
"Some consolation that is."
She's an odd one in many ways. The shocking part is that she means it.
The fourth-dimensional quirk from the game and seeing it up close are worlds apart.
In the game, you could brush it off as 'just a game,' but facing her directly like this, there are so many little things that get under your skin.
She has a real strong sense of responsibility for her own drugs.
Like a chef's pride in their cooking, Cardisha takes pride in her medical knowledge and skills. That's why this place exists.
"Welcome to the old school building's infirmary!"
Whatever happens in the infirmary—anything caused by Cardisha's medicines—she'll pay close attention to it. With responsibility.
"You set it up already?"
"The basic structure of an infirmary is simple."
Cardisha grinned, gesturing inside. The layout was straight out of a manga where two young lovebirds get frisky in the nurse's office, which drew a wry chuckle from me, but that wasn't Cardisha's fault. This was the standard design for Esdinas Academy infirmaries.
No matter how you looked at it, this place screamed event central.
Perfect spot for some Cumming Dream action.
The bed's draped fabric was thick enough, and overall, it was ideal for all sorts of naughty deeds.
"Wanna lie down for a bit? I need to collect your mana pattern."
"Do I have to lie down?"
"Yup. Obviously. Or are you shy about just lying there?"
Cardisha giggled, patting her thigh.
"Want a lap pillow?"
"If you're offering, I'd gratefully accept."
"...Oh my, you're serious?"
Cardisha giggled again, pointing at herself.
"You really planning to build a harem? Seducing every girl you see?"
"Yes."
"Me too?"
"With a beauty like you, it'd be weirder not to fool around."
"Ahaha! That's fun talk."
I meant it, but she brushes it off casually.
"Alright! Lie down then."
Because this woman shows zero interest in romance despite the chit-chat—
Can't conquer her through straight romance.
She's not the type you can charm with masculine allure or whatever. Not rationally, anyway.
So, what other paths are open?
"What's your mana pattern like? From the spells you've used, it seems your fire and illusion manas stand out."
"Pretty much."
I lay flat on the bed Cardisha indicated, then raised my hand to summon a flame. A red flame.
Cardisha watched it intently with a serious expression, then reached out to caress the flame.
"Hmm... Doesn't seem like ordinary fire mana. It's all mixed together...?"
As expected of a heroine and angel candidate. Just by eyeing a basic flame spell, she instantly grasped the foundation of my mana.
"You'll learn this once classes start properly, but mana has seven attributes, right? You know that."
"Yes."
In the game, expressed as 'earth, water, fire, wind, dark, light, illusion'—the seven attributes.
Earth, water, fire, wind, darkness, light, illusion. There are others like plants or lightning, but humans typically have aptitude in one or more of these seven manas.
"Your mana... it feels like all seven are blended somehow. With fire particularly prominent."
"In exchange, I'm not great at direct attack spells."
"Yeah, looks that way. It's not about raw destructive power; the pattern specializes in shaping flames for other magics. Especially illusions."
Cardisha stared at the flame, then turned to me.
"Are you a hypnotist? Good at stuff like staring into the fire and yelling 'Red Sun!'?"
"That's one of my specialties."
I don't deny it. No point hiding a skill that'll get exposed anyway.
"Your profile..."
"Didn't tell Instructor Esta. Hypnosis has a bit of a sketchy vibe, doesn't it?"
I shifted the flame's color to a soft glow.
"Oh."
"There's this thing called fire-gazing. Staring endlessly at a campfire's flames, or drifting off to the sound of crackling logs. My hypnosis specializes in that."
"...Ah, I get it. Hard to pin down what to call your ability."
Cardisha cautiously extended her hand toward the flame.
"Mana wave stabilization."
"Exactly."
Figures. Esta too—the instructor position at the academy isn't won by gambling.
"Lots of people think mana is some mystical force, but it's really just a wave of power. Some see it as a living being; others call it tiny particles we control via brainwaves."
"......You."
"Pleased to meet you, Professor Alreister."
I extended my hand to Cardisha while still lying down.
"I've been keeping up with your papers. Thanks to them, I figured out how to best use this power."
Not flattery. In Esdinas of the Blue Sky, Cardisha's the 'exposition queen,' explaining the game's mana lore and research. Fans who love her call themselves 'lab assistants.' One even became a grad student for her route, built around a female professor and devoted pupil dynamic. Legend has it a gamer, hooked on that indirect experience, applied to her real-life university.
"Interesting. Read The Origin of the Seven Great Manas? Reflections on Humanity's Granted Mana Attributes? How about Can Humanity Wield Lightning??"
"Saw the first two in a special issue of the Magic Engineering Journal half a year ago, but not the last one."
Cardisha's face flushed at my answer.
"You..."
"A new paper you just published?"
"...No. Not yet."
Cardisha placed her hand on my chest with the gleam of someone discovering treasure.
"I asked just in case, but you're the real deal?"
That hand wasn't seductive; it was a researcher's instinct to keep me pinned to the bed.
"You like magic research?"
How to conquer Cardisha.
Play the eager grad student.
That means becoming her 'grad student' myself.
"Love it. Analyzing magic's roots, using my power to help others—yeah."
Not actually enrolling in grad school, but acting like one as an undergrad.
"If this theory gets established and published, it'll help tons of people. Give new hope to those short on mana."
I grabbed Cardisha's wrist pressing my chest.
"A healthy, stable, reliable way—totally unlike mana drain."
"......Ah, got it. You can control unstable mana in others. Perfect optimization."
"Something like that."
I started to sit up a bit.
"Then about the research..."
"We'll talk details later."
Cardisha grinned, slowly sliding her hand down toward my abdomen.
"Gotta fire one off first, right?"
"......."
"Relax. You can do it lying down, no problem. Obviously. Because..."
Cardisha was...
"This baby's made for shooting from any position!"
She pulled out a magic engineering pistol forged from translucent mana stones from under the bed.
"Fire one clean shot at the ceiling!"
The barrel had seven-colored mana stones smoothly embedded like a cylinder.
"Shoot mana bullets like magic missile, and this 'analyzer' will precisely map your mana pattern!"
All academy entrants fire a magic rifle once. To check mana output, attributes, and the guts to pull the trigger.