Mia’s ears shot upright.
“It’s moving.”
“The powder?”
“Yeah.”
Erka drew the lamp back.
The spreading stopped.
The room went quiet for a moment.
Erka said in a low voice,
“It reacts to heat.
It may react to mana, too.”
“What about water?”
“I don’t want to test that.”
Just then, footsteps sounded from the corridor.
Mia looked at the door first.
Erka started to cover the glass plate with something, then stopped.
If she covered it with cloth, it would rub off.
Instead, she simply shielded the lamp with her hand.
As the light dimmed, the red powder died down like ordinary dust.
The footsteps stopped in front of the laboratory.
Knock, knock.
Erka looked at me.
I shook my head.
Don’t open it.
Erka let out a short breath and turned toward the door.
“Who is it?”
A gentle voice answered from outside.
“We’re from the Sanctuary.
We heard Student Valter came this way.”
Erka did not open the door right away.
She did not even put her hand on the handle.
“Why would he come to my laboratory?”
“The post-resonance assistance check has not been completed.”
“Isn’t that something you should do at the Sanctuary?”
“That is why we came to find him.”
Erka’s gaze dipped briefly to my hand, then returned to the door.
“This is a laboratory.”
“We’re aware.”
“You’re aware, and yet you intend to open the door without the supervising professor’s permission?”
A brief silence passed outside the door.
“As far as we know, Miss Lumen is also using the laboratory without the supervising professor present.”
So that’s how they’re going to play it.
Erka’s lips stiffened ever so slightly.
But she did not back down right away.
“And?”
“If it is an unauthorized experiment, we must verify it.”
“Fine. Then I’ll be verified too.”
Erka’s voice lowered.
“Go bring the supervising professor.”
Outside the door fell quiet again.
“Right now, confirming Student Valter’s condition takes priority.”
“No.
Right now, the side trying to open the door to my laboratory takes priority.”
Erka continued speaking without opening the door.
“If I used the laboratory without permission, that’s my problem,
and I can get scolded by the supervising professor.
But if you enter a student laboratory at will just because of one request from the Sanctuary, that becomes your problem.”
“We only intend to verify—”
“To verify, you have to open the door and come in.”
Erka cut them off.
“Then tell me who authorized it.
Was it the Sanctuary, the supervising professor,
or simply the judgment of the person standing outside the door?”
The air in the corridor seemed to harden thinly as the silence continued.
I clenched my hand again.
The inside of my palm was still numb, and I couldn’t feel whether the powder was spreading more or not.
The person outside said,
“Student Valter only needs to come out.”
“I never said he was inside.”
“There was a witness.”
“Who?”
“That is difficult to say.”
“So you came all the way here because of a witness you can’t tell me about,
and because of that witness, you’re telling me to open the door without warning.”
Erka gave a short laugh.
“Then it’s difficult for me to say, too.”
“Miss Lumen.”
“What?”
“If the post-resonance assistance check is delayed, it will be troublesome.”
“Then you should have prepared faster.”
“It’s procedure.”
“If it’s procedure, then all the more reason you should have documents.”
Erka did not touch the handle.
“If you don’t have any, go back.
If I used the laboratory without permission, that’s my problem,
and if you enter without permission, that’s your problem, isn’t it?”
There was the tiniest hitch of breath outside the door.
“If you see Student Valter, please tell him
that the post-resonance assistance check has not been completed.”
“I’ll pass that on.”
“If possible, immediately—”
“If possible.”
Erka smiled.
Even without seeing her face, I could hear the smile.
“That’s a nice phrase.
It means if it’s not possible, it can be done later.”
The footsteps moved a beat late.
It was the sound of them withdrawing from in front of the laboratory door.
The departing steps were slow.
Footsteps with lingering reluctance.
Mia waited with her ears pricked up.
Only after the footsteps had completely turned the corner did she say quietly,
“They’re gone.”
Only then did Erka take her hand away from in front of the lamp.
As the light fell onto the glass plate again,
the red powder came faintly alive.
Erka glared once at the door and said under her breath,
“This is seriously the worst.”
“You blocked them well.”
“I didn’t block them. I got dragged into this too.”
“Weren’t we always a team?”
“Since when?”
“Since just now?”
“The worst.
Thanks to you, I’m on the verge of getting caught for secretly using the laboratory.”
“You didn’t get caught.”
“If they came all the way to the door, that’s half caught.”
Mia said softly,
“If it’s half, then you’re less caught.”
Erka immediately looked at Mia.
“Are you trying to comfort me right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes me even angrier.”
“But you’re less caught.”
Erka closed her mouth for a moment.
Her expression said it wasn’t wrong, but that only made her more annoyed.
“Ah, I seriously hate both of you.”
I clenched my hand again.
The inside of my palm was still numb.
Erka looked at me, then scowled.
“What did they just say?”
“What?”
“The person outside.
They said the post-resonance assistance check wasn’t finished, right?”
“They did.”
“Check.”
Erka repeated the word as if chewing it over.
“A check, they say.
What are they checking?”
I did not answer.
Erka’s gaze dropped to my hand.
“Don’t tell me it’s that hand?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“If I were sure, would I have come here?”
“That’s true.”
Erka looked at the glass plate with an irritated expression.
“So they know this leaves something behind.”
“I suppose so.”
“And they came to check for it.”
“Yeah.”
“And you brought it here stuck to your hand?”
“You think I wanted it stuck there?”
Erka stared at me.
“With you, it’s possible you stuck it on there on purpose.”
That stung a little.
I did not answer.
Erka’s eyes narrowed.
“See? I’m right.”
“No.”
“You were late just now.”
“I said no.”
“I really hate this.”
Mia looked at my hand and said quietly,
“The smell got stronger.”
Erka immediately looked at Mia.
“It got stronger?”
“Yeah.”
“But he’s staying still.”
Mia shook her head.
“He clenched his hand.”
I looked down at my hand.
I had pressed down when I clenched it.
Was that the problem?
Erka said at once,
“Open it.”
“You told me not to touch it earlier.”
“I’m telling you not to clench it either.
Don’t press on it. Just open it.”
“You have a lot of demands.”
“It’s only natural to have a lot of demands for someone who came in with a strange mark on his hand.”
I slowly opened my hand.
The red powder between the lines of my palm glimmered faintly under the lamplight.
Erka drew in a short breath.
She picked up the tweezers, then immediately set them down.
“Why?”
“I don’t think I should touch it.”
“The number of things we shouldn’t do just keeps increasing.”
“I know. This is seriously the worst.”
Erka looked at the red powder transferred onto the glass plate, then at my hand again.
“We need to check something first.”
“What?”
“Whether it’s simply stuck to your skin, or whether it’s attached to the path where mana passed through.”
I looked down at my palm.
If it was on the skin, I could wipe it off.
If it was attached to the place where mana had passed, wiping it off wouldn’t be the end of it.
“Is there a big difference?”
“A huge one.”
Erka said in a low voice,
“If it’s on the skin, we can treat the surface. But if it’s attached to the mana path, then every time you move your hand or circulate mana, it could sink deeper.”
Mia’s ears pressed low.
“Not good.”
“I know.”
“It’s stuck to Senior.”
Erka immediately looked at Mia.
“The smell?”
Mia nodded.
“The powder smell moves together with Senior’s smell.”
Erka’s face crumpled further.
“Then removing it isn’t the first priority.”
“Then what is?”
“Stopping it.”
“What?”
Erka pointed at my palm.
“The spread.”
I started to clench my hand again, then stopped.
Mia had said the smell got stronger when I clenched it just now.
Great.
Now I can’t even make a fist as I please.
Erka went to the cabinet.
“First, we need to immobilize your hand.”
“I’m not very fond of having my hand tied up.”
“I’m not very fond of touching your hand either, so let’s both endure it.”
Erka took out two thin wooden splints, dry bandages, and a thin transparent plate that looked like a shard of glass.
They looked less like medical tools and more like things used to fix experimental equipment in place.
“Keep it open.
And don’t let your palm touch anything.”
“You want me to walk around like this?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not exactly stylish.”
“If this were a hand that cared about style, you shouldn’t have placed it on something like that in the first place.”
That was true, which made it even worse.
Erka held the transparent plate beneath my palm as if suspending it in the air. It did not touch.
She placed the wooden splints only along the sides of my fingers and wrist, then wrapped them with bandages.
“What is this?”
“A rough temporary brace.”
“The word rough makes me nervous.”
“Would you like the official name?”
“No.”
“Then stay still.”
Erka tied the final knot.
She did not tie it tightly.
But when I tried to close my fingers, they were immediately stopped.
I tried moving my hand, then stopped.
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Then it’s a success.”
“You’re seriously obnoxious.”
“Thank you.”
Mia tried to bring her nose closer to my hand, but Erka stopped her.
“Don’t get too close.”
“Why?”
“If you get it on your nose trying to smell it, there’ll be no answer.”
Mia immediately stepped back.
Her ears pressed low.
“I hate that.”
“I hate it too.”
For the first time, the two of them agreed.
“If you get it on your nose trying to smell it, there’ll be no answer.”
Mia immediately stepped back.
Her ears pressed low.
“I hate that.”
“I hate it too.”
For the first time, the two of them agreed.
Erka checked my hand once more,
then loosened the knot of the brace ever so slightly.
She avoided tightening it around the wrist,
and fixed it in a way that only prevented the fingers from bending.
“At this level, it’ll be hard to move, but it won’t stop your blood.”
“How considerate.”
“It’s not consideration. It’s accident prevention.”
Erka immediately returned to the glass plate.
The red powder transferred onto the glass plate glimmered faintly when it received the lamplight, and died like ordinary dust when the light was blocked.
By the look of it, it was nothing special,
but because of that nothing special, I couldn’t properly use one hand right now.
Erka opened a metal box and took out the inner support.
“I’ll keep this in the box.
But I won’t close it right away.”
“Why?”
“If it touches the inner surface the moment I close it, that’s the end.”
“Stop saying ‘the end.’”
“I can’t help it if nothing good comes to mind.”
She inserted another thin support,
then set the glass plate down slightly raised.
Her movements were meant to ensure the powder touched no surface at all.
At that moment, the inside of my palm grew very slightly hot.
I looked down at my immobilized hand.
I couldn’t see my palm.
But the sensation was clear.
“Just now.”
Erka’s hands stopped.
“What is it?”
“When you moved the box, it reacted.”
“Your hand?”
“Yeah.”
Erka immediately pushed the box a tiny bit farther.
This time, too, the inside of my palm grew hot.
Brief and thin.
It wasn’t like being pricked by a needle.
It felt as though something stuck between the lines of my palm was being tugged faintly from within.
Mia’s ears stood up.
“The smell moved too.”
Erka’s face hardened.
“The box and his hand?”
Mia looked back and forth between the box and my hand.
“Yeah. They’re connected.”
The room went quiet for a moment.
Connected.
That one word was enough.
The powder left on my hand and the powder transferred onto the glass plate were reacting to each other.
Then the other red powders might be the same.
The resonance plate.
The student inside the tent.
Kyle’s wrist.
The thin thread-like smell on Rine.
One by one, they caught in my mind.
Erka took her hand off the box.
“We need to keep them far apart.”
“How far?”
“I don’t know. We only just found out.”
“I’m starting to get used to hearing that.”
“Don’t get used to it. I hate it too.”
Erka pushed the box to the opposite end of the table.
This time, my palm grew less hot.
It had not disappeared completely.
Mia said in a low voice,
“It got weaker.”
“Looks like distance matters.”
“Yeah.”
Erka bit her lip once.
“I’ll keep this.”
“You sure?”
“Of course I’m not.
But we can’t just leave it anywhere.”
Just then, a very faint sound came from the door.
It was not a knock.
It was the sound of fabric brushing against the doorframe.
Mia’s ears moved first.
“Rine.”
Erka immediately looked at me.
“Who is Rine?”
Ah.
Right.
She doesn’t know.
“The girl who always says she’s fine.”
“You expect me to understand from that explanation?”
“There’s someone like that, more or less.”
The door opened just a little.
Rine carefully poked her face in.
Her uniform was still neat, and she was still clutching her books.
The trembling in her fingertips had lessened compared to earlier.
“Lord Valter.”
“How did you know to come here?”
Rine hugged her books tighter at the doorway.
“I saw Lord Valter heading this way with this person.”
Rine’s gaze cautiously moved toward Mia.
Mia’s ears twitched very slightly.
“This person.”
“I didn’t know her name.”
Mia looked at Rine for a moment, then nodded.
“Mia.”
Rine bowed her head slightly.
“I’m Rine.”
“Mm.”
That was the end of the greetings.
Neither of them was in a situation to talk at length right now.
I looked at Mia.
“You knew she was following us?”
Mia averted her gaze.
“A little.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“She didn’t smell dangerous.”
“That’s it?”
“Mm.”
How confident.
Rine quickly said,
“I followed you on my own. I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t just go back.”
Rine looked toward my hand.
A hand I couldn’t even properly clench because of the brace,
tied up while held open.
The moment she saw it, Rine’s face turned even paler.
“What happened to your hand?”
“It’s nothing.”
I regretted saying it immediately.
Rine froze.
Then she said very quietly,
“I don’t really believe that.”
Nice.
Is this revenge?
I swallowed a hollow laugh.
“You’ve learned.”
Rine didn’t smile.
“Are you really all right?”
I didn’t answer right away.
I knew what kind of face Rine would make if I said I was fine.
So I said something else.
“My hand is still attached.”
Beside me, Erka muttered in a low voice,
“That is truly the worst possible answer.”
Rine’s face turned even paler.
I immediately added,
“I’m joking.”
“Please don’t make jokes like that.”
Her voice was small.
But it hit hard.
I shut my mouth.
Rine tried to take a step inside.
“Stop there.”
Rine stopped.
“Why?”
I lifted my immobilized hand slightly.
“There’s something on my hand.”
Rine’s gaze dropped to my hand.
A hand that couldn’t even bend properly because of the brace.
Seeing it, Rine’s face stiffened a little more.
“What does that… have to do with me?”
“You went to the sanctuary earlier too.”
“Yes.”
“And I just went through a procedure related to the sanctuary and came back.”
Rine didn’t answer.
I didn’t lower my hand.
“I still don’t know what’s left on my hand.
I don’t know if anything is left on you either.
If we get close while neither of us knows,
and it spreads from one of us to the other, things will get more troublesome.”
“Are you saying I might spread something to you, Lord Valter?”
“It could be the opposite.”
Rine flinched.
“Me?”
“I might spread something to you.”
I looked at Rine.
“That’s why I’m telling you to stop.
Not because you’re dangerous, and not because I’m fine.
Because neither of us has been checked.”
Rine hugged her books even tighter.
“Then should I not be here?”
“Stay by the door. Just don’t come close.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Right now, staying still is helping.”
Rine pressed her lips together.
Her face said she didn’t like that.
But this time, she didn’t immediately say, “I’m fine.”
I liked that.
The fingertips gripping the spines of her books tensed again slightly.
“Should I have left?”
“No.”
I answered immediately.
“That’s not it.”
Rine pressed her lips together.
Her eyes wavered.
“But you’re hurt, Lord Valter.”
“I’m not hurt yet.”
Erka immediately cut in.
“We don’t know that yet.”
“You, be quiet.”
“I don’t want to. It’s true.”
Rine’s face stiffened even more.
Great.
She’s quick to grasp the situation in her own way.
Just then, Mia raised her head.
“Senior.”
“What?”
“Outside.”
This time, there were no footsteps.
Instead, a scraping sound came from the end of the hallway.
Scrape.
Scrape.
The sound of something scratching with its nails.
I looked toward the gap in the door.
The laboratory door was half open.
Through that gap, part of the hallway was visible.
At the end of the hallway.
Kyle was standing there.