Ruri was actually about to get busy checking her phone again. But when she realized that Alisa looked gloomy alone, she said to her, "Don't mind him. He's like that to everyone." She said. "He'll probably say the same thing even if it wasn't you."
Alisa still pouted her lips bitterly, but then she finally walked closer and sat at the table too. "Is he the leader?"
"Yeah. Unfortunate, I know."
"And the other members? Are they…" Alisa was about to ask again, but something else already took her attention.
"That's…?" She asked while pointing to Ruri's tote bag. It was full of antique looking wooden boxes. But it's not the box that fascinated Alisa. It was the carvings on it.
"Ah. Just my potions." Said Ruri.
"..." So that's why Alisa recognized the carvings. It was a spell. Some kind of a protection spell. Maybe so that nobody could steal it?
Not getting any replies, Ruri turned to look at Alisa and found that the girl looked kinda speechless. "Why? Is it your first time seeing any potions? They also have some if you go to the infirmary though."
Ruri took the boxes out. And as soon as she touched it, the boxes immediately opened by themselves. And yes, there were a lot of small bottles filled with colorful liquid inside. Those are really magic potions.
Alisa definitely saw a lot of potions since her aunt also had a weird knack for it. But seeing it here felt very fascinating that she couldn't stop looking at Ruri and her boxes.
"..." Ruri started feeling awkward being stared at intensely like that. So she subconsciously blurted out, "Do you want to take a closer look?"
"I can?"
Came to her senses, Ruri fell silent for a second. "Well, I need a little help anyway. So here, hold these for me." She said while handing her two small bottles contained black and green liquid.
Somewhat excited, Alisa moved her seat closer to Ruri's place and held the bottles, while Ruri herself was busy writing something on another empty bottle. Only then did she take out another small vial of amber liquid and magically change it to a red color.
"Did you heat it?" Alisa asked unconsciously. She didn't really think of anything. But after seeing Ruri looked a bit surprised, it also made her a little awkward. "Um, I mean, d-did you not? Kinda looked like it got hot." She tried explaining.
"Yes, actually." Ruri finally answered. "But I only warmed it up a little. So I'm surprised you noticed. Seems like you're quite attentive." She added. Alisa felt like she should chuckle at that. But because she couldn't, she just forcely put on a small awkward smile.
And thankfully Ruri didn't really think much of it. "Here. Now pour the green one in here." She asked again while handing another bottle. "And after it turned into orange, pour the black one."
Breathing a sigh of relief secretly, Alisa did as she was told until the potion smoked a little and turned to be completely transparent.
In the midst of that busyness, Hazel finally returned with a large thermos box filled with various drinks that he usually finished by himself. Looking at him drinking first, it seemed like he had already forgotten about his sin earlier. Although Alisa also seemed to have forgotten about it.
"You look good together. Why don't you make her your assistant instead?" He blurted.
"I know. She's good." Ruri admitted it, but she doesn't really seem interested in Hazel's advice either. So she just took back all the bottles from Alisa and put them in her box.
"But what potion is that?" Asked Hazel again. "And how many kids will he bring??" He added with a protest tone already.
"He said there's one that gets burning hands when using magic. Also another one that gets too strong." Answered Ruri. "And one more that gets smoky vision."
"Three?? Damn it."
"What are you even complaining about? You didn't even do anything." Sneered Ruri and Hazel just went back sipping his drink in annoyance.
A little curious, Alisa chimed in too. "Is three a lot?"
"A little?" Ruri said. "Students who have problems with their magic are not much in the first place, you know. Even most of them get better by themselves quickly."
"They usually only come at the beginning of the year. So after this we might be jobless for a while." Hazel added while sighing.
"...And that's not a good thing?"
"The jobless part? My favourite." Hazel answered cynically. "What's annoying is after that."
"What does that mean--"
But didn't have the chance to ask further about it, suddenly a flying handkerchief landed in the yard of the hut. There were two boys and a girl. One of the boys, who had a rather large body, immediately waved at them.
"Yo. You're all here already." He said. And he even looked at Alisa. "And you must be the new member. Hi, I'm Heka."
"Ah, yes, hello. I'm Alisa." Alisa replied awkwardly.
"But you only bring two?" Ruri asked. "I thought you said there were three."
"Yes. But the kid that got burning hands said he already felt better, so I only brought the two."
"This one is Arin, the one with smokey vision." Heka said while pointing at the girl next to him. She looks a little taller than Alisa, but her skin is very white and even leaning towards pale. Coupled with her glossy hair flowing down, she actually looks a bit like a doll.
"And this one is Zen. He's a little too strong now, that he crushed his phone for the second time this week." Heka added while pointing at the boy. With auburn hair that styled neaty, that boy indeed looked muscly enough to be said to be strong.
"Can't you control it even a bit?" Asked Hazel to Zen. "Physical issues are usually easy to control."
"Maybe. But I heard it's gonna be faster if I just come here." Answered Zen and everybody could only sighed.
"How strong?" Ruri asked too.
Thinking for a second, Zen ended up tapping the table corner. And just like that, its small part was crushed.
"You! I love this table!" Hazel protested, though nobody seemed to care about that.
"Quite serious." Ruri commented. "I think you'll need two batches. Drink this one for now, and come back again tomorrow." She said while handing the clear potion she and Alisa made earlier.
And after Zen took it, now it was Arin's turn. "As for you, can you sit down first?" Asked Ruri while she was taking out her computer tablet. The girl looked a bit nervous, but then she sat.
"I already looked for it. And if it's smoke you see, it seems like there are two possibilities. Whether it's magic energy or spirits."
"Spirits?" Heka repeated. "You mean as in ghost?" He asked. Ruri looked disappointed, but she didn't deny it.
"So now, the smoke you see, is it colourful?" Ruri asked Arin again.
"No…"
"Is it everywhere?"
"Yes."
"It's magic energy." Alisa muttered softly. Though Ruri definitely heard her because she turned to her with a confused look. So Alisa rushingly pointed at her tablet in panic. "I-Is it not? It's written there…"
Ruri was still silent for a bit, but then she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, no, you're right. It's magic energy." She said. "Spirits are supposed to look a bit more colourful. And unlike magic energy, it's not everywhere."
But after turning off her tablet, Ruri sighed again. "But now the problem is, I don't actually have any potion that can heal your eyes."
"What??" Hazel replied first. "Even though you sounded like you already knew everything?"
"Shut up." Ruri said while throwing her unopened juice can to Hazel. "I never get this kind of case, and I'll need time to check if it even ever happened."
Trying to control her emotion, Ruri then took a breath again. "Although I did bring a potion that's used on troublesome kids." She said again while taking another bottle out. "It might not work, but who knows."
"Troublesome kids?" Asked Arin, looking a little offended.
"You know, to shut their magic off temporarily."
"But I can't use any magic though."
"Anyway just try it."