The Silently Creeping Threat
"If you show something like this right from the start without any buildup, the readers might get confused too."
"What are you talking about, Wiyu?"
In the Herbology extension class on potion-making, Wiyu Witchcraft was once again on the verge of failing.
The parfait sitting on the table—who could believe that its ingredients were herbs and base potion mixed with various mineral powders, monster materials, troll blood, spider eyes, cave mantises, and blue mushrooms?
Kali bravely took a spoonful and muttered that it tasted like ice cream. She naturally pulled out a spoon and started eating bite by bite, and even the professor was moved in various ways by the sight that made him doubt his own eyes.
"This is definitely a potion."
The professor muttered that he could feel the restorative effects kicking in as he ate it.
"Isn't it just that you're mentally and physically exhausted and craving sugar?" Wiyu cautiously pointed out.
"I was almost convinced by your wise words, but if that's the case, it's a fail?"
"I think lying is bad."
How on earth could this insane dairy flavor come from something without sugar or milk?
No matter how the herbology professor examined the parfait, he couldn't figure it out.
"Why did it turn out like this?"
"Doesn't the professor know?"
"As you know, professors specialize in their field and often know less than ordinary people about everything else."
"This is the vanilla chocolate cream cherry parfait from our café."
"I know what dish this is."
The professor, offended that Wiyu thought he was that ignorant, glared at her.
Just what principle turned a perfectly brewing potion—glass bottle and all—into a parfait served in a glass?
Everyone knew Wiyu couldn't properly control or use her Witch abilities well.
But her whimsy had gone beyond erratic to the point where even she herself couldn't predict it, which was utterly bewildering.
"Grand Duke says it varies greatly depending on subconscious awareness, and that I unconsciously impose my own limiter."
"So unconsciously, you were thinking you wanted parfait right now?"
"When the duke's lady—the princess of witches—is hungry and does this, wouldn't everyone burst into tears?"
"W-Well, we could get some support or benefits for commoners from the Divination professor."
Why were they all tearing into her so viciously for no reason... Wiyu felt a bit hurt.
Meanwhile, the herbology professor, who had been on the receiving end of some power play, was roundaboutly suggesting they extort his professor wallet.
"Not empty words—we could take 90% of his salary."
"Thank you for being so straightforward in case I didn't understand... But didn't our professor eat grass last time? I saw it."
The spirit-raising set was notoriously expensive, so the herbology professor clicked his tongue at the divination professor's lack of money.
...Come to think of it, couldn't the divination professor see the future?
He probably hadn't foreseen it and spent the money anyway.
"Alright, then since everyone's watching, could you show us from the beginning?"
"Yes."
With her classmates and the professor watching, she began potion brewing.
Pour water into the alchemy cauldron called the witch's pot, add base potion and liqueur, then wait for it to bubble.
Finely chop and crush the herbs into powder, toss them in, and stir vigorously with a ladle. Done.
"Potion complete, sir."
"It just looks like lemon sherbet cinnamon parfait!!!"
"The professor comes to the café so often and eats them that I unconsciously..."
"By any chance, what ingredients does that café use...?"
"Just normal ones?"
Normal ingredients—surely not rocks or sand?
The professor tasted it with a dubious expression, then quietly rated it as a valid potion.
"It makes you feel good, restores stamina, replenishes mental strength, and provides nutrition for recovery, so it counts as a potion."
"Is that okay?"
"No one can argue with that in alchemy."
"Even human transmutation wouldn't cause this much nonsense."
Anyway, the tired-looking professor gave her a passing grade.
Wiyu worried if this discriminated against students who couldn't make potions at all.
But she nodded, convinced by the professor's desperate persuasion that at least she had made one.
"Now, next step—what is this?"
With the basics of potion brewing done, the professor pulled out a plant from a box that looked just like a person.
He assured them it was neatly trimmed and safety-checked multiple times, so it was fine to use.
"This is a mandrake. Mandrake roots have various magical effects and are used in witch rituals or potions. And the most famous aspect is—its danger."
The professor, who mentioned there were multiple certifications just for mandrakes, even looked at Wiyu and said certifications count as points.
When pulled from the ground, it emits a scream carrying a "curse deadly enough to kill a person on the spot"—it's a monster-type plant.
Despite the danger, it's essential for high-grade potions with great effects, so research continues through various breeds, he explained.
Everyone started pulling out their boxed mandrakes and examining them curiously.
Some sniffed them, others even tore off a bit and tasted it.
Curious herself, Wiyu opened her box and took out the mandrake—the moment she did, its closed eyes snapped open, and it inhaled deeply.
Beatus, Kali, even the herbology professor—all turned in surprise, but it was too late to react.
He said it was trimmed, but only the one in Wiyu's box was passed out like it was drugged?
"───!!"
As the mandrake seemed about to unleash its curse-laden scream.
Its mouth vanished, and it flinched in shock, groping at its roots where its mouth should be.
"Whoa, that scared me. Why is this thing alive?"
"...Wh-what... what did you do?"
"Huh? Oh, it was about to scream."
She had used her Witch ability to make its mouth cease to exist.
"It's awkward on people, but since this is an ingredient, it was easy."
Wiyu said nonchalantly, like it was similar to cooking.
The mutant mandrake, now without a mouth from the start, trembled.
Curse-laden sap leaked out like tears, wetting her hand, but Wiyu just stood there blankly.
Kali freaked out as the sap burned and corroded the spot it hit on the desk, quickly neutralizing it with an antidote.
"Professor, this one's still alive."
"...It does look that way...."
"...Beatus, let's never scare Wiyu from now on."
"Agreed."
Beatus groaned, realizing that startling her jumpy personality by accident could make someone vanish from the world.
The friends thought they should warn the other first-years too, but the fear was fleeting.
──They all realized someone was targeting Wiyu.
"Like in the gym—it was black magic, right?"
Beatus nodded silently at Kali's question.
And even the quick-witted Wiyu started sensing something off, rubbing her chin in thought.
[Mutated plant specimen]
The herbology professor took the [Mouthless Mutant Mandrake] and ended Herbology class earlier than planned.
"Hey, Greatsword Dummy, you free by any chance?"
"Planning to appraise today's treasure haul, but why?"
"Oh... I've heard pigs eat even the bones, so that'd be cleaner."
"We could melt it without a trace with drugs... but no, lately I feel like someone's harassing me."
Who? You?
Greatsword Dummy looked at Wiyu Witchcraft in disbelief.
This girl? Does she not know who her mom is?
Even he, the current class bottom, knew "now."
So if they knew and still messed with her, it meant they were academy-destroying terrorists?
Shouldn't they tell the divination professor to track them and cut off their breath for the academy's peace?
As Greatsword Dummy pondered, Wiyu recounted today's events.
"A living mandrake? Even nobles would suffer aftereffects—are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. I made its mouth not exist before it could scream."
He didn't understand, and his instincts whispered not to ask, so Greatsword Dummy just nodded.
"Too many people could have swapped the ingredients... can't guess."
"What're you doing in someone else's class, Chocolate?"
The top student ribbed her: how desperate to ask the class bottom?
Wiyu had come thinking the treasure-hunting Greatsword Dummy might have heard or seen something, but she waved it off as nothing.
Ephemera strode up, grabbed the back of her head, and yanked her hair.
"Scatterbrained accident-prone Chocolate."
"Y-Yes?"
"There are two factions targeting you."
".....Huh?"
"They tried recruiting me too, but I'm not interested in ganging up on one person sleazily."
Ephemera chuckled—
The reason she told her like this: so Wiyu would behave since her classmates were getting hurt too.
"....Who are they...?"
"No friendship deep enough to tell you that, but you're a nuisance anyway."
──Professors who target you—the woman herself—and their underling assistants.
And repeat-year failures who can't contain their overflowing interest in your mom, dying to see her face.
"A special graduation class just for you, who never existed in the academy— the repeaters must love it?"
Chuckling, Ephemera stroked Wiyu's hair a few times, then patted her cheek to scram.
Bonus: You're a nuisance to the prince whose rank you dropped too.