"Y-you really don't know any h-h-healing spells? But your l-level is so high!"
The timid girl gasped as their conversation strayed into the magic theory lecture, and Melinda openly expressed her excitement about it.
"It's not like that kind of skill is earned through level-up, right? I just used scrolls whenever necessary… besides, Cath, you told me that you don't know any healing magic either!"
The gold-haired girl said with a shrug before squinting her eyes and lightly bumping into her timid friend with her backside.
"I-I don't, but I-I'm l-level 10! It's a b-bit d-diferent ca-case."
Catherine blushed slightly before talking back with just the tiniest bit of feistiness that she slowly started showing to Melinda as they grew closer.
"Nnnnnh-yeah, that's a fair point… and that gives me even more of a reason to want to learn it. Luckily, there is no level cap on learning basic healing magic… that said, I hope I do have some talent for it…"
"I-I know e-exactly what you m-mean. Th-there's nothing w-worse than an i-i-in-incompatibile spell you can't u-unlearn."
Melinda admitted but then immediately added with a sigh, and Catherine nodded in agreement.
"I'll be honest. If I learn a basic healing spell that will take around half of my mana but heal like 1 HP, I will cry in front of the whole class."
"D-don't say th-that! Wh-what if you j-jinx it!"
The gold-haired girl breathed out and snickered at herself, which caused her timid friend to cry out with worry.
"Of course, I don't want that scenario to come true… Oh! Hey, look! There's someone who knows whether it can get that bad~! Rich~! Hellooooo~! Come over. We have a question that you can help with!"
"EH?!"
Melinda was in the middle of a scoff when she suddenly noticed someone coming out of the boys' dormitory building and immediately called out to him, making Catherine let out a fearful gasp.
Still, even the timid girl's reaction paled in comparison to how the bespectacled boy with fluffy and curly red hair that made him look like a copper sheep reacted to the call.
"?!?!"
The utterly bewildered boy looked to the sides as if expecting someone else with a similar sounding name to be standing there and froze up when he realized that it was indeed him that young lady Melinda Fenrioette was referring and even waving to.
"Riiiiiiiiich~! Don't stand there like that! You want to be a doctor, so you surely know a lot about healing magic, too, right? Come here, come here~!"
"!??!?!?!?!?!?!"
Since the red-haired boy didn't seem to be even able to move, the gold-haired girl called out to him a bit louder and way more specific. She even started beckoning him with an encouraging smile… that, for some reason, caused him to start trembling.
"M-Melinda…? D-do you kn-know h-him like that…?"
Catherine asked, cowering and hiding behind Melinda while also giving her a troubled look.
"Yeah. Why are you acting as if you don't? You know him like that, too. He is our classmate."
The gold-haired girl turned her head to look at her black-haired friend with confusion before pointing out.
"I-I do re-recognise him, b-but how do y-you know his f-full n-name and even h-his a-aspiration…!"
Catherine cowered even more and asked in an exasperated but hushed voice.
"Cath… everyone introduced themselves the first day. Rich said that he is the third son of the Enla'si family head and that he wants to become a doctor and open a real clinic in his family territory to help out his eldest brother, who will take over their father's position."
"Y-you memorized all of that?!"
Melinda reminded Catherine with a sigh, but the timid girl only stared at her in disbelief and muttered.
"Of course. Rich wants to become a doctor. You want to take over the highest administrative position of vice-guild master in Chainlink port city - mainly because it doesn't come with the level requirement, and… Oh! And Leo here wants to find a good husband candidate before finishing the Academy so that they will have time to come know each other properly. Hiiii Leeeeeooooo~!"
"G-good morning, young lady Fenrioette…?!"
The gold-haired girl shrugged her shoulders dismissively before pointing back at the red-haired boy, then at Catherine, and finally at the tall girl with long dark-blond hair who flinched and hurriedly curtsied to Melinda after being greeted in such a familiar way completely out of the blue.
"H-hello."
"Eh?! Ah! H-hello."
The tall girl turned to Catherine and awkwardly curtsied to her, too, making the timid girl blush and curtsy back.
"Leo, we were just going to have Rich answer a question about healing magic that would be awkward and probably traumatizing to ask and learn of in class. You want to hear it and the answer, too?"
"P-pardon?"
Melinda inquired the tall girl cheerfully, making her take a troubled step back and ask a bit fearfully.
"Rich! You're making three ladies wait now! Hurry a bit!"
"!!!"
Melinda turned back and called out to the red-haired boy, now in a much more demanding way, which did make him rush over.
"U-umm… please excuse me, Miss…"
"M-my name is C-Catherine."
The tall girl leaned down and spoke awkwardly to the timid girl, who gulped down her saliva and introduced herself.
"Hello, Miss Catherine, I'm Leona. Wh-what is going on…? What young lady Melinda wants to ask that boy about? And how come she even remembers me!? We never spoke before today?!"
Leona curtsied once again and introduced herself back before hurriedly asking Catherine some more questions.
"A-apparently th-that's how she is… I think th-that she wants to ask a-ask that boy about th-the worst c-case outcome when l-learning a basic h-healing spell a-and, I… I b-believe she actually m-memorized the self i-introduction from th-the first d-day of e-everyone in our c-class…"
The timid girl gulped down her saliva and answered to the best of her ability while the red-haired boy made his way to their unprompted group.
"Wait… did she actually memorize everyone just like that?!"
"N-names a-and goals too…"
Leona leaned back with a shocked expression, and Catherine nodded, only furthering the tall girl's shock.