"God..."
I stretched myself, lifting my body off of the bed.
"Glad that the old man kept his side of the bet."
After Kyoto, that old man resigned from being an Anti-Streia activist.
"Oh, your ass is up early."
I shivered when someone closed the door of the nurse's office. It was a woman I didn't get along with very often; the school nurse, Ms Reiki.
I mentioned it earlier but my luck with women is terrible.
Well, the reason why she doesn't like me is because of Ms Kin. She doesn't like Ms Kin one bit and, honestly, she's like a sister to me.
Of course, she'd hate someone's little brother figure.
"Well, I'm sorry for being hurt."
I retorted, clicking my tongue.
"Yeah, shut up, you ugly boy."
Geez. She didn't need to rub it into my face.
"So, am I alright to be discharged? I've been here for three days. I don't feel any rebound from using Hollow Void anymore."
"Sure, but a word of warning."
Hm?
Ms Reiki sat in the chair in front of me and looked at her clipboard.
"From this data, it seems like you have two types of Hollow Void."
I nodded.
"One which can forcibly knock someone unconscious or kill them, if lots of mana is imbued. Meanwhile, the other uses mana to create a vacuum, deleting anything within the vacuum."
Data is recorded by the principal, isn't it? So, how did she get such accurate data on a spell that I've only used once in school, during that duel?
"You'll have to limit your use of Hollow Void."
"I already know. That's why I try not to use it four days in a row."
"You'll have to increase the limit."
What?
"To how long?"
"A week."
That long?! I use it often on missions, depending on the mission's difficulty.
"You wouldn't have to worry if the gates in your body could expel mana but if you use it too frequently, the excess mana in your body will build up, causing an irregularity inside yourself. It will feel like something is eating you from the inside."
I felt like that after I used it against the Skeletal King.
I guess as she says, this limit comes from my disability; my inability to expel mana from my body.
I don't usually despise myself for my disability but it's moments like this in which I do.
"That's going to be difficult."
I told her.
"Well, if you don't want to end up with a broken soul, then, don't come crying to me."
Ms Reiki said, putting her clipboard on her desk behind her.
"Other than that, you can be discharged without any problem."
"Thanks. Uh, but could I get a spare change of clothes? These white robes aren't doing it for me."
The nurse narrowed her eyes and sighed.
"Don't worry, no one is going to have any interest in that 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱."
"Hey! You saw?!"
I asked her, holding my lower half.
She faced away from me with an uninterested expression.
"What do you mean, 'I saw?' There was only a 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱."
"AHHHH!"
I screamed in embarrassment.
"Can I get some clothes?!"
·———·
"So, have you made up with Kazuya?"
Isla asked, sipping a drink.
"No..."
Yuichi mumbled, fairly troubled by that fact.
He felt guilty for yelling orders at Kazuya when he was not in the wrong. Yuichi began blaming himself.
"Gah!"
He groaned, chugging down his can of cola. The boy then squished the can and threw it into a bin, not far from his table.
"When are you going to make up with him? You can't be on bad terms forever."
"You tell me that but..."
"Who needs to be friends with such a failure like that Shiba guy?"
Someone approached the two.
It was a girl. She was in the same year as Isla and Yuichi.
The girl hugged Yuichi from behind, deviously smiling at Isla, whose face became progressively red.
"I-It's you, what're you doing?!"
Isla slammed the table.
The girl had blonde hair and yellow eyes, along with a mole under her lip. She was beautiful but the word, ravishing fit her appearance and aura much better.
"You're... that girl. The one I met at the banquet."
"The banquet? You mean that one banquet that was on two months ago. That one is for noble families. What was it called again?"
Isla was trying to remember the name. It was on the tip of her tongue.
"The Duke's Banquet. Named after Duke Kisaki, who started the event 50 years ago."
The foreigner explained.
"So, would be so kind to let go of my boyfriend?"
The white-haired girl asked, edging closer to the two.
Yuichi felt a hazy spark in the air as the foreign girl and Isla stared at each other.
Isla glared at the girl while the blonde girl smiled, elated rather than angry.
"Boyfriend? Really..."
The girl pulled Yuichi toward herself and hugged him tightly. The boy tried to escape but didn't until after she let go.
"Wah..."
Yuichi was flustered.
"Ah, there you are!"
Two more girls approached the group. One had purple hair and the other had lime-coloured hair.
"Amakusa and Kisaki?"
"E-eh, Y-Yuichi, what're you doing here?"
Amakusa reddened.
"I forgot that you liked him, Ichino-chan."
"Why did you run off, Ameri?"
Kisaki asked.
"Well, that was because I saw a cute boy hanging out with an uncute girl like her."
She said 'uncute' in English.
"Why, you?! I'll smash your face in!"
Then, Ichino moved in front of Ameri to defend her. Isla was surprised.
"P-please, Chibana-san. Ameri is a transfer student from England, she doesn't know how to act in Japan."
"I'm pretty sure you don't try to steal other people's boyfriends in England too."
The girl grumbled.
"Come on, Ameri. Let's go."
Kisaki came from behind and began pushing her out of the cafe.
"We're so sorry, Isla and Yuichi. Hope you have a good day."
The group left without saying another word. Yuichi and Isla watched them walk away.
"Hey, when you were at the banquet, did you do anything weird with the girl?"
Isla asked, suspicious of Yuichi.
"No, I didn't!"
"You sure?"
She edged closer.
"Yes!"