＊＊＊
Stella managed to finish picking up all the fallen leaves before the sun fell, then took me in her hands.
“I’ll just burn these.”
“Sure.”
“O Spirits of Fire, fulfill your contract in the name of the Goddess supreme... Ignaria Sein!”
Fire spirits, burn up these leaves!
Once I focused my mind, the leaves caught fire just like that. A crackle rose in the air as the mountain of leaves collapsed in on itself in fire. Smoke rose, and Stella ended up coughing. She took out a handkerchief, and...
“Ah!”
A slip fell out and began drifting to the floor.
It was the same slip that had fallen out of her book in class. She had saved it and kept it in the book after finding it last night.
Stella picked up the slip of black-patterned paper, an expression of melancholy on her face. “What should I do with this...?”
“It’s a slip for the ceremony, isn’t it? Just save it for next year.”
“You don’t get it at all. This isn’t that simple,” Stella said, her voice lowering. “Listen carefully... Owning these slips is a major crime.”
“A crime...? But everyone uses them during the ceremony.”
“For the Descension Ceremony, people with wishes go to the church and get one singular slip to write on. It’s forbidden to bring the slips out of the church.”
“Why is it that serious? It’s just paper.”
“It’s not. These are holy slips made by the Goddess herself, understand?! Each one is a miracle.”
That really lowered the standard of what made a miracle, but I figured it best to keep that to myself.
“Just trying to take a slip out gets you imprisoned, and anyone who actually gets one out is given a heavy sentence. And that’s not all—the Goddess sees everything from the heavens, so slip thieves are given divine punishment.”
“Like?”
“A few years ago, there was a band of thieves that stole a mass of slips. They dodged the eyes of the king’s army and fled into a city, but a magibeast appeared from nowhere and ate them all up. It’s said they couldn’t deceive the eyes of the Goddess, and ended up facing her divine punishment.”
“Hmm,” I said. “So basically, whoever put that slip there had done so at great risk to themselves?”
“That’s right.”
“Why would they have just left it in a library book, then?” I asked. It didn’t really make sense.
Stella furrowed her brow, then shook her head. “I don’t know. But either way, it will be a big deal if it gets out I have this. The army will come for me and put me away for sure.”
“As if I’d let them!” I declared, trying to cheer her up. “Just toss the slip. How about we burn it here, even? There’s a fire right there.”
“Do you want to be struck by lightning or something? Slips don’t burn. They can’t be harmed by any means whatsoever, in fact. They’re brimming with the Goddess’s holy power.”
“Sounds like a suit of armor made from slips would make you invincible.”
“Again with the heresy...!”
“Just joking. So, what’s the plan? Want to just bring it to a professor and be honest about where you found it?”
“A professor...? Who, exactly?”
I thought back to all the professors I had seen up until now. There was only one who had been kind to Stella at all.
“Who else but Professor Elyena, really.”
We finished cleaning and returned to the school building, prompting a yell of “There she is!”
A sizable group of students all raced in Stella’s direction, their footsteps forming a loud clamor. Stella tensed up, but once the students surrounded her it was clear they all had dazzling smiles.
“Stella, are you free this weekend? We’re holding a study group and were wondering if you’d like to join.”
“Good day, Stella. Would you care to attend a tea party held in our dorm room later today? Everyone is dying to get to know you better.”
“So you’re the first-year Stella Millesia! How about joining the Flight Club? With your mana, we can aim to win nationals!”
“Step down, Flight Club! A student this talented is best served joining the student council. Congratulations, Miss Stella. The student council president wants to talk to you. As for the date...”
They had changed their attitudes on a dime. I was less shocked and more exasperated.
Apparently news of Stella creating a literal dragon in class had spread throughout the entire student body, from the youngest grades to the oldest. They had all been avoiding Stella before, but now that she could use miracles, they were all swarming her.
Now, the question was... How would Stella respond to these self-interested folk?
“Are you sure you want to be spending time with Stupella?” she asked. At once, everyone averted their eyes. An awkward air arose. Everyone here had once mocked her with that nickname once before.
One of them wiped the sweat off their brow. “Er, that’s all in the past, so...”
“I mean, you’re all the ones who said it, no? The Goddess has abandoned me and the spirits hate me, right?”
At that point, nobody had a further rebuttal. One person left, then another, awkward looks on their face.
Stella, not noticing this, placed a smug hand on her chin. “And now here you all are, begging me to join your clubs. Seems like you finally understand my true abilities. Well, if you absolutely insist on needing my help no matter what, I suppose I can lend some of my valuable time. I might not even mind accepting some of your... Wait, where is everyone?!”
Stella balked at the now-empty hallway.
“That was some brutal cynicism. Even I got a chill down my spine.”
“What do you mean, cynicism? I was going to accept,” Stella said, pursing her lips. She didn’t even realize she had torn all of those people apart... That was a tsundere for you. They just couldn’t communicate to save their lives.
“Well, whatever. They’ll be back if they were serious about recruiting you.”
“True.”
Stella resumed her walk.
The change was drastic. Now, everyone was giving Stella approving, friendly looks.
They greeted her like she had been their friend for years. Even the aged professor that had eviscerated her at the ceremony was smiling.
As for Stella...
“Guh, this feels gross somehow...”
She had her brow furrowed and a conflicted expression on her face. She wasn’t used to either being complimented, or even getting smiled at in general.
When we reached the staff room, the person we were looking for just happened to be leaving.
“Professor Elyena!” Stella called.
The pointed witch hat turned and looked this way. “Oh, if it isn’t Stella. Have you finished your report?”
The time limit for the report was after class today. Stella took out the report on Pandemonium, which she had just barely been able to finish.
Professor Elyena accepted it and gave it a quick skim. “It seems you filled the necessary number of pages. This is proof you read the resources well, aha!” She nodded in satisfaction before looking up at Stella. “Admission acknowledged. I will deliver your grade after reading it. Until then.”
“Um...!” Stella called before she could leave. The professor stopped.
Stella’s expression was visibly stiff. She was probably trying to talk about the slip. She had a hand stuffed in her pocket.
“What is it?” Professor Elyena asked, her head tilting. “Pandemonium’s culture and customs are a thousand years old; they are unlike anything we have today. I will accept any questions you may have on them.”
“Um, not that...” Stella’s eyes wandered as her mind raced.
And who could blame her? If the fact she had a slip got out, she would—in the worst-case scenario—be imprisoned by the royal army. She couldn’t decide on whether it was truly safe to tell Professor Elyena about it.
The pointy-hatted professor stared at Stella. Stella swallowed hard, opened her mouth, and...
“PROFESSOR ELYENA!” came a roar like thunder. Stella jumped and turned, only to see Professor Speranza standing, enraged, in the door to the staff room. She pointed inside the room with her staff.
“How many times have I told you not to brew foul-smelling tea in the staff room?! Clean it up at once!”
“Eep eep, I forgot to clean up...!”
Professor Elyena hurried back into the staff room.
“I understand you refuse to follow the rules, Professor Elyena; I hereby forbid you from ever drinking tea on academy grounds.”
“Oh, how awful. Tea is good for your health, did you know?”
“You are a menace to everyone. I will accept no excuses.”
It was like they were a student and professor themselves.
Stella, seeing Professor Elyena bobbing her head in apology to Professor Speranza, let go of the slip inside of her pocket. She sighed, slumped her shoulders, and made to leave.
“Stella Millesia,” came a call. Stella stopped in her tracks. Professor Speranza was now looking her way.
“Y-Yes...?”
“Did you finish cleaning the rear garden?”
“Yes ma’am!” Stella replied. “I cleaned it from corner to corner.”
“On your own?”
“Of course,” Stella said, which was an answer worth a hundred points.
Professor Speranza sighed. “Personality: failing grade.”
“Wha—?” Stella said.
“Allow me to give you this warning, Stella Millesia: Do not get too carried away,” Professor Speranza said, her voice cold enough to ice over the air. “You may have formed artificial life today, but it was not the beast of your prayer, nor could you control it. Overall, you demonstrated only failure.”
Her shoes clacked on the floor as she approached. The advancing darkness of her robes prompted Stella to take a step back.
“Working on personal projects in class, standing on your staff, bragging to your classmates about the strength of your staff’s spirit... Your behavior as of late has been intolerable. You may be stricken by pride thanks to obtaining some ability to cast miracles, but—”
“I haven’t been stricken by—”
Professor Speranza’s staff slammed against the wall centimeters from Stella’s face. The professor leaned forward as Stella swallowed her words. “It says it all that no student went to help you despite your ability to cast miracles. One will inevitably have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to casting miracles. Only disaster will await you if you mistake yourself to be all-powerful.”
The sharp look in her singular eye allowed no protest from Stella. “The Goddess loathes pride and arrogance more than anything. If you do not amend your behavior and cease your troublemaking...” The professor moved their staff to Stella’s throat, and whispered in a dark voice. “You will surely not survive in Antohsa.”