"Remember this! You can no longer bother the Young Lady Edemsworth! Or else I'll fight you again."
The hero, who was shocked at his own strength without the aid of any spell, declared, pointing the piece of the handle he held onto at the pitiful loser, and scoffed.
"WOOHOO! JUSTIN!"
"THAT WAS AMAZING!"
His declaration caused others to erupt into cheers and even applause.
"That should do it, class dismissed."
The assistant teacher announced without looking at the student bleeding out at her feet, and everyone began to move, leaving Rotsard behind.
"...t-teacher… what about… him…?"
The same student who was the first one terrified of Rotsard's appearance now sounded honestly horrified.
"I told you, this is just mana rebound, and he is just weak. He will be up within an hour. Leave him be. At most, he will catch a cold."
The assistant teacher stopped them, reassuringly patting their shoulder, and pointed out with a confident smile.
"...o-okay…"
And then Rotsard was left alone in the melting snow.
That was it…?
Was that it…?
Maybe… maybe selling his soul to a deofol a bit earlier than in the story wouldn't be that b…
"...nho…"
Before a desperate thought even properly formed in his hazy head, Rotsard mumbled and forced his arms to move as his beastly yellow eyes shone with agony.
Although his right hand, with which he received a painful attack from an unknown attacker, was burning him as if someone was stabbing a burning hot nail into it, he still used it to forcefully pull himself up.
Honestly, he crawled through most of the length of the training grounds, leaving a trail of crimson blood glistening in the fall sun, only propping himself up by the shed with training equipment.
He then stumbled his way inside the academy, supporting himself against the wall.
He had no idea how much time it took him, and couldn't even begin to wonder whether he actually passed other people.
Trusting only in his sense of smell partially obstructed by the nosebleed, he followed the scent of medicine, and in the end, by some miracle, he ended up in front of the door to the hospital wing.
But then, he froze up.
He…
He couldn't raise either of his hands to reach the door handle.
He…
He couldn't even see the door handle in the first place.
"...ghg…"
He coughed up a bubble of blood, swaying back and forth, unable to enter, and about to fall down.
Only this time, there was not enough consciousness to get him back up anymore…
*click*
And then, a small miracle happened.
"Hey! You're entering or not!? Stop creeping by the door like a per…!? Eh! Oh! It's you! The assistant teacher in charge of your class did… tell… me…"
Although the truth was a bit less dramatic, it wasn't a miracle after all. One of the nurses simply noticed a silhouette of someone standing in front of the door and got annoyed by the unknown person not entering, so she came out to check who it was.
It just so happened that the nurse in question was the same nurse who got bullied by Rotsard the previous week.
Although she was hostile at the sight of him, she completely forgot about her enmity as she stared at the color of blood soaked into the boy's uniform.
"...Grand Fae…!"
"...ghh…!"
She covered her mouth with one hand and grabbed Rotsard's right hand with the other, ignoring his wheeze of pain.
"H-hold on, I should have a crystal for the private check-up spell…"
She swallowed her saliva through a clenched throat and hurriedly checked her pockets…
After a few long seconds, she pulled out a small gray mana crystal with green veins and pressed it against Rotsard's hand, activating the spell hidden within with all of the insignificant mana at her disposal.
"...!"
And all blood seemed to drain from her face as her eyes widened in shock…!
"BRING ME EVERY HEALING CRYSTAL WE HAVE!"
Without a care for bystanders or their eardrums, the nurse screamed out so loud that all the glass in the hallway trembled, after which she grabbed the boy and propped him up from the side.
"What is going on…? Oh, faes of light, nature, and water…!"
Another nurse came running from the hospital wing and immediately cried out while tracing the sign of a seal against curses in front of her.
"What's going on?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! SOMEONE TRIED TO MURDER A STUDENT, THAT'S WHAT'S GOING ON!"
"!!!"
The nurse supporting Rotsard gritted her teeth but could not hold back and howled in pure fury, only a healer seeing a victim of a heinous crime could display, while glaring her colleague.
"BRING! ME! ALL! THE! DAMN! HEALING CRYSTALS WE HAVE!"
"Y-yes! Of course! At once!"
The peasant nurse roared, and her colleague rushed back inside in a panic-fueled hurry.
"...you ungrateful boy…! No matter how scummy you turned out to be, I am not going to let Lady Orina's son die on me!"
The peasant nurse glared at the patient she supported and scoffed while carrying him inside the hospital wing.