Aldric had already ruined his public image enough today. He quickly sheathed his dagger again. Then, feeling obligated, he dug into one of his many pockets for a moment, pulled out a thin tab of spell paper, and touched it to her wrist while infusing mana. The runes written out on it glowed green before the paper wrapped itself around her wrist, causing the girl to jump a bit. It wasn’t as good as a real healer, but it would help.

The girl cradled her arm for a moment, then seemed to realize it didn’t hurt anymore. She stared at the slip of spell paper in fascination before she looked timidly back at him. “Th-Thank you, Professor.”

Several moments passed in silence, both of them standing awkwardly in front of each other. Aldric had a bit of a dilemma now. He was torn between finding out what she knew and not making any more trouble for himself. He was still concerned that she’d opened the case, but decided he was too tired to deal with this. She could leave or she could stand there for eternity. He didn’t care anymore.

He trudged over to his desk and sat down heavily, picking up another bottle from his crate and taking a quick swig. Still no taste. Wonderful.

Aldric looked around at the barren room and sighed. He almost wished he’d unpacked, even if he’d be putting it all back away soon. It would give him something to do, maybe even take his mind off what an idiot he was. He briefly considered going to Kedrin and pleading his case, but then realized he didn’t really have one. He’d screwed up, plain and simple. Not even Kedrin was that understanding, and Zasia wasn’t coming to his aid this time. If she ever did again. Aldric just hoped he hadn’t made problems with the Caffarets for his friends.

“U-Um...” came a tiny voice. Aldric looked back up, confused and slightly annoyed that the girl hadn’t bolted from the room yet.

“What?” he asked, wincing as his irritation came out in his tone.

“I was, um, wondering... if y-you, um... I j-just wanted to...”

Aldric could barely hear the girl, but she seemed to be working herself up into something. Geez, did he really scare her that badly?

“Look, don’t worry about it. I’m not mad. And sorry about grabbing you. You can just go back to your dorm. I won’t report you or anything. Nothing’s damaged or stolen, and I kind of overreacted, so we can just—”