Chapter 42 Thank You, S
“Anyway, you just don’t want to fight the homeroom teacher!”
Will was stunned. Did Liya understand him like that?! Did Liya want to beat him up?! How could she be so cruel? Hadn’t she had enough from their fight in the carriage before?
But… facing his former homeroom teacher, his current partner, and the yandere he planned to cultivate in the future, Will decided—he would grovel!
“You’re wronging me, Teacher Liya! If I had known it was you, I would have purified myself with incense the night before, washed myself clean, and prepared diligently just for your thrashing.”
“Y-you just talk too much…” Liya was startled by him and quickly changed the subject. “…Alright, alright, I understand you.”
“See, if you’re not satisfied, I’ll find a day to spar with you personally… no, getting beaten up by you isn’t out of the question.”
“Don’t make it sound like I have some strange fetish…”
Wait, if we go by general logic, wouldn’t the one with the strange fetish be… this guy named Hysterm? Liya glanced at Iaar, her eyes clearly conveying, “Is your young master always like this?”
Iaar smiled and nodded.
“But if you don’t coax him to say it himself, what are you going to do?”
“Isn’t there still you, Teacher? If you arrange for him to be my opponent and hint that he can beat me up, he’ll definitely fall for it.”
“As expected of you.”
However, after this incident, her impression of Will had indeed changed. She had initially thought he was just a well-meaning guy with a little bit of intelligence, which was why she didn’t want to tell him about the attack behind the scenes. He had handled the situation of her being bullied quite well, with considerable tact—Liya felt that even she would find it difficult to handle it so well now. Perhaps, even if she told him who the culprit was, he… could handle it well too?
“Teacher, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving.”
“There is something.”
“Huh?”
“Your class ends at 5:30 tomorrow. Come to my laboratory. Don’t forget, you—you are my partner now!”
Will felt relieved by Liya’s straightforward invitation. It felt like watching a tsundere grow up. It was just a shame he hadn’t fully “blackened” her yet; she was still a little short.
“Okay, okay.”
Watching Will and Iaar’s retreating backs, Liya remembered something…
“Oh, right, his hand is still bandaged… is he really okay?”
But then she thought, that Will… he wouldn’t agree to fight with an injury unless he had a backup plan.
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Liya wasn’t wrong. Will’s injuries had actually healed considerably.
That night, in the Hysterm family’s private residence, on the third floor.
Iaar knelt before Will and removed the bandages from his hand. The bandages no longer stuck to the wound when removed, and there was no more blood. Will himself no longer felt any pain.
“Mmm… there’s still so much ointment left, but Master’s wound has healed so quickly! Iaar actually thinks you wouldn’t need bandages from today onwards.”
“Yes. However, today had a purpose.”
“What purpose?”
“Silly. If I hadn’t bandaged it like this, how could Felix have taken the bait so easily?”
Iaar tapped her head. “Indeed, Iaar is silly.”
“Then stop tapping, you’ll only get dumber.”
Will looked at his right hand after the bandages were removed. The previously bloody, deep red burn wound had already healed to the point of scabbing, gradually approaching his natural skin tone. He opened and closed his palm, and his movement was fine, with no feeling of pain. As for the operation of his magic circuits…
He circulated his magic a little, and it was good. Will felt his power firmly grasped in his hand again!
“Iaar didn’t expect that the thing Mr. S sent was more effective than all the magic and medicine before.” She had been a little displeased with this S who paid special attention to her young master, but nothing made her happier than seeing her young master recover his health.
“Y-yes, I fear I have to dedicate myself to repay this kindness, sob…”
“Master, act normal. Don’t make Mr. S sound like a priest from the church next door who preys on 14-year-old boys…”
S had sent a new letter two days ago, along with this bottle of ointment. The delivery wouldn’t normally be this fast, but for some reason, S had marked this letter as urgent. The letter was unusually short. He only said that he had consulted books and if it was indeed a burn from a witch’s flame, this ointment, casually found in the Dungeon market, would be useful.
Holding the bottle in his hand, through the thin glass, he could feel its coldness. Will speculated that this thing might be a drop item from a Dungeon species called “Ice Demon”—he hadn’t seen it personally, but had skimmed through it while organizing monster data that could be implemented into the game. Because this solid, slightly icy powder looked very similar to the Ice Demon’s character art. The floor for obtaining an Ice Demon was extremely high, at least the game had set a limit of 60 floors. Something made from such an item would certainly not be casually found on the market. S might have told him the truth to avoid him worrying.
Hmm… He’s already a mature and reliable man, why is he still having such shy thoughts? Can S do it?
But this ointment was indeed too effective. On the first night of application, when Will woke up in the morning, he found that the wound, which had been bleeding continuously, had begun to scab smoothly and was moving towards healing. On the first day, he could feel his magic circuits circulating normally in his right hand. On the second day, Iaar suggested, based on the healing progress, that Will no longer needed bandages. It could be described as instantaneous. Without S’s help, Will might not have included his make-up practical exam in his plan to lure someone.
This kindness indeed could not be repaid with ordinary gifts; he had to consider getting S something better.
“Mmm… But, Master…” Iaar applied ointment to Will’s hand and pouted.
“Wh-what is it?”
“…Iaar doesn’t, doesn’t mean anything else… it’s just… it’s just…” She raised her face, looking pitiful. “Is Iaar’s drool completely useless… sob… When Master gets better, he won’t need Iaar to lick his wounds anymore…”
“…You’re quite addicted to it…”
“And then… Master has a teacher he’s on good terms with, and he’ll be coming home even later…”
Will didn’t hear the latter half of the sentence. Because he realized… licking was a very suitable trait for a Beastkin to exploit! If Iaar became obsessed with this behavior and “blackened” in the future, wouldn’t she erupt with a terrifying yandere side, sticking out her tongue to lick and purr?!
“It’s okay, Iaar.” Will patted her shoulder again, as if entrusting her with an important mission. “Lick to your heart’s content. Call me whenever you need to lick, and you can lick anywhere you want. Be sure to cultivate this ability to stick out your tongue and make people tremble!”
“…Master, you… you be normal…”
