“What do you think you’re doing?” It was the blonde boy who had shouted. He stood at his desk, posed almost imperiously, directing an accusing finger at the professor.

Professor Aldric had immediately grasped at his head in agony, wincing at the volume of the shout. “Let’s try to have a nice, quiet class today, alright?” he muttered through gritted teeth.

“Did you just throw the works of Drevin Caffaret in the garbage?” the boy demanded. His tone was just as loud as it had been before.

Professor Aldric looked at the noble boy with obvious irritation, but it melted into confusion as he took in the question. “Uh, yeah? Why? Where do you put your trash?” he asked. His tone implied complete and sincere puzzlement.

The noble boy was openly fuming by this point. “Drevin Caffaret was one of the most influential and proficient conjurers of his time! Every academy on this continent uses his books as reference material, across every school of focus! What right does a drunkard like you have to treat such works as trash?”

The professor pointed an accusatory finger at the boy. “Okay, first, I’m hungover, not drunk,” he said irritably. Nadrina wasn’t sure that was any better. “Second, Drevin was a charlatan and a hack with nothing but an influential family and a lack of moral belief systems, on top of being a crappy mage. Third, ‘everyone else said so’ is never a good reason. For anything. If any of the professors here try to tell you that jumping off bridges will improve your magic, you should probably be skeptical.”

The noble boy just stood there in shock, mouth moving but with no words coming out, looking a lot like a landed fish. Professor Aldric ignored him, instead turning his attention to the other students. “What, you want to yell at me, too?”

His question confused Nadrina until Liliana nudged her with an elbow to get her attention. Startled, Nadrina looked to her only for Liliana to point to Nadrina’s currently raised hand. When had that happened?

Mortified, Nadrina looked back at the professor with big, round eyes. She felt like a deer staring down a hunter’s arrow. Her unfortunate habit had once again come to the fore; anytime she was curious about anything, it was like she lost control of herself in pursuit of it. Her body had raised her hand without her brain’s permission.

Panicking at the expectant gazes of both the class and Professor Aldric, Nadrina stammered out the first thing that came to mind. “W-What makes you s-say he was a charlatan?”