Chapter 25: Orc Drool Helps With…
After Will left, Liya, behind the door, spread out her palm, revealing a coin engraved with a Great Witch’s hat.
A coin…
It was a coin she had just “borrowed” from Will.
Taking back what belongs to you isn’t stealing!
“Pfft… I got it after all. What a fuss, I thought he was someone formidable.”
Honestly, when Will pinned her to the table, she did panic a little, thinking Will would be someone who saw through everything.
Turns out, he was just bluffing to make a trade with her using the coin.
And he foolishly revealed the coin himself!
When she approached Will and asked if he needed a “private tutor,” she had already used a small, instant teleportation magic to retrieve the coin he had just shown off from his upper pocket.
This magic didn’t consume her chalk, but its size and range were limited. It was only useful in situations like this.
Hmph, a small fry is just a small fry. He thought he could see through me, but he’s nothing special!
But…
Is it because this coin hasn’t been in her hand for a long time? Why does it feel a little hot?
Weighing the coin in her hand, Liya’s heartbeat was still rapid, but she couldn’t feel happy.
Will is truly a difficult student. If he were to investigate this matter thoroughly… He must be young and full of vengeance, right?
Liya sighed deeply.
She drew a formation in the air, unlocking the bottom drawer of a cabinet. Inside, a letter was placed.
The wax seal on the letter, after being opened, was torn in half, but one could vaguely make out a deep blue rose drawn on it. However, this rose was missing a corner at the four o’clock position.
This was a postmark used only by the Royal Family. And it was a postmark used only for secret royal communications. It was said that the postmark could be analyzed based on its material to determine which royal family it came from, but Liya wasn’t interested.
About a month ago, Liya bought a large quantity of catalysts mined from dungeons to complete a magic for a competition.
These catalysts were expensive, and the amount used per application was large. Liya wasn’t good at financial planning and spent too much money at once.
The school’s funding hadn’t arrived yet, and to continue funding her experiments… and to avoid starving, Liya had no choice but to open this letter.
The letter was complicated, even the transaction location was convoluted, and the demands were strange. For example, it required an attack but also demanded that Will survive. It also required him to absolutely not be able to participate in the exam while ensuring his survival.
“Thinking about it now, the timing of this letter was also very subtle. It felt like someone was observing me and specifically sent me a letter when I was in trouble…”
Liya even suspected that sending the letter with such a conspicuous royal postmark was a warning, telling her to do as instructed and not delve deeper.
After the final letter informed her that the commission was complete, Liya never received any more letters.
In the days that followed, the more Liya thought about it, the more she felt a chill.
At first, telling Will about this incident seemed harmless.
But…
Will repeatedly emphasized the forces behind him and repeatedly stated that he would investigate thoroughly.
This made Liya very worried.
Despite not having interacted much, she faintly felt that Will was the type of person with strong initiative, someone who would do what they said.
If he found out, he would only get more deeply involved.
Even with the “Hysterm Family” at its peak, a young master with such poor magic talent, the youngest in the family, and an inexperienced, spoiled brat, dabbling in royal affairs, especially with a royal family that could monitor the movements of a witch like her, would only lead to him being deeply mired and never returning.
“You’ve been targeted by someone in the Royal Family… I don’t know the reason, but it’s best… not to get too involved, Will Hysterm.”
—Seriously, why would I instinctively protect a student I just met for the first time.
—This is probably… the unnecessary relationship a witch has with ordinary humans.
But…
Compared to that…
Liya was still very curious. Why did her heartbeat quicken after she got the coin? Why did her magic circuits become more active?
Will was already far away.
It couldn’t be that she was in love with the coin, right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That evening, in Will Hysterm’s private residence in the capital city, his bedroom.
A small desk lamp was lit, casting a dim light on the two people in the bedroom.
Iaar, kneeling before Will, her beast ears flickered with light and shadow as they swayed.
Will, sitting in a chair, was trembling slightly.
“Ia… Iaar… be gentle.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Tsk, that spot… it’s a little, a little painful…”
“Yes, Iaar will be careful…”
“Hiss… a little, a little to the right.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
Will was undergoing his routine daily dressing change. Iaar was now removing the bandages from his hand.
Even Will found this scene awkward.
He was glad their private residence was secluded. Otherwise, if someone overheard, it would spread into rumors of “The Young Master of the Hysterm Family spends every night fighting with his maid until late at night even after coming to the capital for school.”
So, what did his brothers and that good father of his do before to tarnish the family’s reputation like this?
“Young Master, the situation seems to be improving.”
After removing the bandages, the wound had healed somewhat, but compared to the desired outcome, it was still far from enough.
“It looks like it will take a long time before you can completely give up the bandages, Young Master. What about the makeup practical exam?”
Iaar felt heartbroken for Will.
Especially…
When she saw him leaving school alone today, without any of his newly made friends.
When she saw his textbooks scribbled all over with pencil.
When she saw other students at the school give him disdainful looks.
Iaar had never attended school, but she had heard about bullying, and her Young Master must have been bullied!
And the reason for the bullying… a quick guess would reveal it was definitely related to his absence from the practical exam.
These scenes overlapped with the scars on the Young Master’s body, making his pained expression under the candlelight even more pitiable.
Young Master… Young Master looks rather cute like this.
Ugh, I want to look at him a little longer.
Iaar licked her lips.
“Mm… it’s fine. As long as I can hold a staff and transmit magic circuits with it, I can take the exam. I probably don’t need to be completely healed. Maybe… it won’t take long. Besides, I applied for the makeup exam myself, so I can control the timing.”
“Young Master, don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”
“Huh? Am I the type of person who pushes himself too hard, Will?”
Iaar didn’t believe him at all.
When he insisted on experimenting with the Extreme Flame Meteor before, he was clearly pushing himself.
Every time he changed bandages and said it was fine, it didn’t hurt, but he was gritting his teeth, he was clearly pushing himself.
When he stayed up late studying and said he could handle it, but yawned all day, he was clearly pushing himself.
Gazing at the wounds on his hand.
For some reason, Iaar’s mind conjured up a piece of trivia she was told as a child: “Orc drool actually helps wounds heal.”
And…
A desire to get a little revenge on her strong-willed Young Master.
“Wait, Iaar…”
Will was sitting patiently in the chair, waiting for Iaar to apply the medicine. Suddenly… Iaar’s soft tongue licked the back of his hand.
