"Hmph!... Since you know you were wrong, then please, Cid, pay more attention in class from now on. Don't keep spacing out."
Rossweisse clearly hadn't expected Cid's attitude to change so much just because she gave him a book.
But she quickly recovered and tried to use the chance to get Cid to fix his bad habit of not paying attention in class.
"Yeah, got it, Ms. Rossweisse. I'll pass the next practical test."
This time, Cid didn't say anything about not having talent. After all, those words could be pretty hurtful to a dedicated teacher.
But the most he could promise was to do okay on the practical test; not daydreaming in class was truly impossible for him.
Why use "3+3+3" when "3x3" solves the problem faster? If he actually learned her way, he wasn't even sure if he'd get stronger or weaker.
Seeing Cid's attitude, Rossweisse mostly understood what he was thinking. She could only sigh helplessly and let Cid go back.
Click... Bang!
As Cid closed the door behind him, Misaki Sasazaki, who had been watching Natsuki Minamiya with a teasing look, finally couldn't hold back. She walked right over to Natsuki, picked her up, and grinned cheekily as she got close.
"Hey, Nayu-chan, that cultivation method you asked me for a few days ago, was it for that student? You even stayed up for days rewriting it so he could learn it. So kind of you, Nayu-chan."
Misaki's words were full of teasing. The target of her teasing, Natsuki Minamiya, whose face was already dark, turned even darker.
Natsuki, still in Misaki's arms, suddenly lashed out with an elbow.
Smack!
Blocked. Natsuki expected that. Her, a witch, trying to fight Misaki, one of the "Four Fist Sages," in close combat? Hitting her would be a miracle.
If she had hit her, she'd be more worried if something was wrong with Misaki's body.
Mana surged within her, and a spatial magic circle formed instantly. The next second, Natsuki appeared on the other side of the office.
She pointed both hands at Misaki. Chains appeared out of thin air where Misaki was standing and shot towards her.
Misaki didn't resist at all. She calmly let the chains tie her up and hang her in mid-air. There wasn't a trace of panic on her face, just a relaxed look.
You couldn't tell at all that she was the one tied up and at someone else's mercy.
"Stupid dog! I told you not to call me Nayu-chan!"
Misaki wasn't fazed by Natsuki's angry shout. Instead, she smirked, adding fuel to the fire.
"Nayu-chan, you're getting worked up."
"Stupid dog, shut up!"
Natsuki felt like a string in her brain had snapped. With a wave of her hand, one of the chains grabbed an unused towel and stuffed it into Misaki's mouth.
"Mmphh! Mmmphh mmmphh..."
With her mouth gagged, Misaki couldn't speak. She could only squirm in the air, making muffled sounds.
Seeing Misaki like this, Natsuki finally let out a breath. She sat down in her chair, took a sip of red tea, and had the chains bring Misaki in front of her.
Putting down the empty cup, Natsuki leaned forward, stood on her tiptoes, and brought her face close to Misaki's...
Hmm... even on tiptoes, she wasn't tall enough. Realizing this, Natsuki quickly sat back down and snapped her fingers.
The chair under Natsuki floated up until she was half a body taller than Misaki, then it stopped.
Once stopped, Natsuki looked down at Misaki, opening a fan to cover her own face.
"Listen carefully, stupid dog. I don't want a third person besides us two to know about this..."
Natsuki paused, glancing at Rossweisse, who had been sitting there watching them argue the whole time.
Noticing she was being looked at, Rossweisse could only offer an awkward smile and made a zipping motion across her lips, signaling she wouldn't say anything.
After seeing Rossweisse promise to keep quiet, Natsuki turned her gaze back to Misaki.
"I don't want a fourth person to know about this, understand?"
"Mmphh mmphh, mmphh mmphh..."
Misaki kept shaking her head, trying to get Natsuki's attention that she wanted to say something. Natsuki reached out, controlled the chains, and pulled the towel out of Misaki's mouth.
"Mmph... Haah, haah! Nayu-chan, you don't want Cid to know it was you who gave him— Mmph, mmphh..."
The anger Natsuki had just suppressed flared up again instantly. She stuffed the towel back into Misaki's mouth.
She magically summoned a stack of files and pulled one out.
"Very good, stupid dog. You seem to think you have something on me. I have to admit, I might have underestimated your brain. You actually figured out most of the truth by knowing me for so many years. But you don't actually think you can threaten me, do you? You seem to have forgotten who usually cleans up the messes you make."
Natsuki really hadn't expected Misaki to know her so well.
Anyone who knew her knew she was never a 'tsundere' type who would think helping her students would lessen her authority.
On the contrary, she was very assertive. When teaching her students, she always said what needed to be said.
If a student had a problem, she'd try to solve it directly, not beat around the bush like she did with Cid by giving him knowledge indirectly. This time was a special case.
Why a special case for Cid? That would be the first question anyone who knew her would think of if they found out.
Love? Shyness?
Get real. We're talking about people who know her. They'd know those possibilities were the least likely. So, there was only one answer left: guilt!
Only because of something that made Natsuki feel guilty when facing Cid would she go to such lengths to help him indirectly. It was even possible Cid himself didn't know about this 'something'.
It was also because of this guilt-driven sense of owing him that she helped Cid. After all, Cid's grades weren't terrible, but not great either.
Only his magic class was truly at the bottom; his other courses were in the lower-middle range.
There were dozens of students in similar situations. There was no need for Natsuki to go to such trouble for him.
And in Natsuki's mind, Misaki, her friend of many years, was one of those people who knew her well enough.
"Mmphh mmphh?!?!"
Misaki, hanging in the air, froze when she heard Natsuki's words.
She just rarely saw Natsuki so flustered and simply thought it was a good chance to tease her. She hadn't thought much beyond that.
But now, according to Natsuki, there seemed to be more to the story.
Seeing Misaki's reaction, Natsuki was also stunned. She swallowed.
"Stu-stupid dog, don't tell me you didn't think about any of that."
Misaki, still in a daze, couldn't help but nod. The next second, a magic circle made of spatial magic appeared beneath Misaki.
Poof!
After Misaki was teleported away, Natsuki couldn't help but bury her head on her desk, thinking about how foolish she'd just been.
….
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