Chapter 53: Early Morning Chaos

Chapter 53

Early Morning Chaos

"So, it’s true, then. Professor Medik is really that busy," Celey listened while scooping food into her mouth. The woman promptly pulled Ellie aside as soon as they received their food. Celey went as far as taking Ellie to her own tent to prevent others from interrupting their conversation.

Ellie felt overwhelmed by the many questions about Medik. However, from these few exchanges, Ellie realized that Lady Celey wasn’t as wicked as portrayed in the novel; she was just excessively blunt in her expressions.

"If Professor Medik were here himself, perhaps he could have concocted a medicine to cure the illness already...What a pity," Celey lamented as tears welled up, seemingly about to blame herself, which made Ellie genuinely want to comfort her.

"For an epidemic like the Red Plague, which even the clerics can’t cure, even the professor might have failed, you know."

"It’s impossible. There were many times when Lord Medik showed the clerics that we apothecaries are just as capable. But our skills come from relentless effort and repeated study of data, while the clerics merely perform their spells. It’s clear who really deserves more respect."

"Not only that, but treatment by clerics causes innovation in healing to regress. If we rely solely on magic power and only worship those with strong magic abilities, then we’ll just have to hope for high-level clerics to emerge. Unlike us apothecaries, even if Lord Medik or I are gone in the next 100 years, the methods of concocting medicines will be passed on endlessly. That is, without us, patients will still receive treatment."

"I think the Church’s belief that they are above apothecaries, and convincing people to believe the same, is completely wrong. True, treatment through potion-concocting isn’t an instant success like spellcasting, but our sustainability is much higher."

Once Celey started, she spoke fervently, and Ellie, following her reasoning, knew it to be true. Apothecaries’ status was not high compared to clerics; even a 2-star level priest at this camp was considered more important than a 4-star level apothecary.

"Anyway, you probably won’t understand what I’m saying. But I hope you’ll follow Professor Medik and become a skilled apothecary in the future. So, I’ll ask your professor to assign you to me for now. I’ll teach you some potion-concocting techniques that your institute definitely won’t cover in detail."

"When I was at the institution, they only taught us to use our own magic powers, to check what kind of magic we were adept at. I, being a water magician, found myself well-suited to Aqua Prison spell. However, when I learned basic potion- concocting that everyone gets to learn, I discovered I enjoyed it even more."

"And do you know what’s more important than talent...?" Celey’s smile appeared, a smile Ellie hadn’t expected to see at all. The other paused, giving Ellie a moment to ponder the answer before revealing it.

“It’s the liking! No matter how talented I might be at using arresting spells, if I had to train day and night, it would be impossible. I just don’t like it, and it makes me not even want to practice.”

“But the moment I started practicing potion-concocting, I loved it so much that I could spend all day on it. After that, my skills in potion-concocting improved significantly. Of course, my family didn’t agree at first; they wanted me to use my water elemental powers more beneficially. Ultimately, I proved to them that my choice wasn’t a mistake.”

Celey spoke with pride. She was a water magician, compatible with interesting spells, so her decision initially faced resistance. Her pride really had a source of it.

“I hope you will find joy in what you are interested to do too. I’m not forcing you to love potion-concocting like me or your professor, but I’ll still teach you to give you another option in life.”

The formidable woman gently patted Ellie’s shoulder and then escorted her out in front of her tent. It was time for Celey to go about her duties, while Ellie had a little more time to rest before her morning classes.

Ellie returned to her own tent. She saw that many students were already awake. Although the breakfast was nothing special, it was a broth with bones and nutritional value. So, when many students woke up and realized they had missed breakfast, they complained loudly.

“Scholarship student, did you make it to breakfast?” Aria, standing with her arms crossed in front of her tent, asked after she had missed breakfast at the camp. Aria’s demeanor wasn’t like the others who regretted missing it, because the two of them had brought some food with them, enough to comfortably last for several meals.

“I did, ma’am.”

“Hmm? Really? Then why didn’t you call us? Letting us eat the food we brought ourselves, if we end up staying here for several days and run out of food, how will you take responsibility?” Aria was quite annoyed, throwing the blame at Ellie. Even though her words weren’t very serious, Ellie still apologized.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Very good,” Aria nodded satisfactorily. Ellie could almost see an overlay image of her own boss from her past life, as she had trained to apologize readily whether at fault or not—apologizing first always made people feel better.

“But did you know, your esteemed priestess friend seemed to have some trouble last night.” As her mood improved, Aria was ready to share some tidbits she knew with Ellie. After all, they both saw Nara as an enemy.

“Trouble?”

“Yes. From your expression, you wouldn’t know, would you? Haha. The esteemed priestess...Early this morning, she was seen coming out of a man’s tent.”

“A man’s tent?”

“Yes, and that man happens to be from the Femon family. I actually wanted to confront him myself, but then I thought about how the illegitimate son who wants to elevate his status in the family would need to commit such disgrace by clinging to the power of a priestess. So, I just let it be. After all, there’s probably someone else who’d like to take action against him for me. Hehe.”

“Aria, you’re laughing a bit too much.”

“Ah...my apologies, Lady Vida. I just felt a bit too pleased.”

Aria turned to apologize to Vida after realizing she had been somewhat unmannered. Ellie, too, glanced with admiration at the high-born lady who held herself like a queen, resembling a strict teacher overseeing various situations. If not for Aria’s overly improper behavior, she would have remained silent and simply listened. If she saw any transgressions, she would issue a reprimand. This demeanor, while dignified, also carried an undercurrent of intimidation.

From a male perspective, it’s not surprising that the prince was immediately interested in Nara upon meeting her, considering his own fiancée was somewhat dull.

A person perfect in every aspect, yet not very fun to be around...

“Well, of course, your priestess slept in the same tent with a man who has a fiancée like that, it’s natural for trouble to arise when someone witnesses it. The fiancée, although just a daughter of a middle-rank noble, also has her own dignity to uphold. Thus, the altercation escalated into a fight.”

Ellie raised her eyebrows in surprise upon hearing this significant news. The storyline never mentioned Nara sleeping with Wint, let alone Wint’s fiancée causing trouble for her. But this...What really happened?

Ellie couldn’t know how desperately Nara wanted to survive after realizing she could be stripped of her priestess status. The young woman used her own vulnerabilities as bait, turning Wint into her devoted dog officially. Wint’s naivety was easy to manage; just by making him feel responsible for herself, he was ready to act the gentleman.

What Nara didn’t expect was that Wint already had a fiancée. Though they weren’t a prominent couple, Wint’s second-year fiancée wasn’t about to let such a slight pass without response.

Upon discovering her betrothed had slept with another woman while still engaged, she took action immediately, asserting her rights, and no one intervened in this situation. Well...who would side with a mistress?!

“And where is she now?”

“Oh, are you worried about your companion? Or do you want to go and see her face the consequences?” Aria covered her mouth and laughed upon hearing the question. It was clear that Ellie did not express any sympathy for Nara. Although she did not show pleasure in Nara’s misfortune, it was evident she had no fond feelings for Nara. Thus, Aria teased Ellie in that manner.

“Right now, the priestess is probably being interrogated by Professor Regan. With such a disgraceful incident embarrassing the institute, Professor Regan wouldn’t just let it go.”

“Before the professors found out, the soldiers, priests, and many apothecaries already knew about the fight and they all talk about it. The institution’s reputation is tarnished because of this esteemed priestess.”

Aria said that, and Ellie nodded in understanding. It was not surprising that Professor Regan was furious about the situation. The institute had been called to help this healing camp and had only arrived a day ago. They hadn’t even started other tasks, and already a scandal had erupted. And someone as honor-loving as Professor Regan, how could he tolerate this?

"Soon this morning, we will find out how Professor Regan will punish them," Vida, who had been listening for a while, said before walking into her own tent. She seemed not to want to be too involved, but she had been listening all along.

Watching Vida retreat into her tent, Aria hesitated briefly but eventually hurried after her, leaving Ellie outside alone.

Ellie also hurried into her own tent, not to rest but driven by curiosity. She immediately activated the display of her tiny spores; though she hadn’t scattered them in Professor Regan’s tent, the clothes of all the students contained her tiny spores.

Even though Nara and the others were cautious about Ellie’s tracking, everyone understood that Ellie used mushrooms to follow them. But who would have guessed that just tiny spores could do the same?

"Even if you say nothing happened, how can others see it as good when a man and a woman are together in secrecy?!"

"Professor, I...I apologize," Wint, realizing his fault, immediately knelt to beg for forgiveness. It was his own lack of foresight, allowing Nara, who had been harassed by the other apothecaries in the communal tent, to stay with him. If he had thought a little deeper, perhaps asking a woman for help would have been the more appropriate action.

As Wint knelt guiltily, Nara did not show any sign of remorse at all.

"Professor, people can say whatever they want. As long as Wint and I know the truth in our hearts, that’s enough. The ones truly at fault are those who, despite being engaged, do not trust their lovers enough, and moreover, resort to violence against me," Nara crossed her arms like a frightened little bird yet ready to fight for her rights.

"You still dare to speak like this?" Regan had a severe headache upon hearing this. He looked angrily at Nara, who seemed utterly unaware of her own wrongdoing.

"Professor, if Wint’s fiancée was more generous or loved Lord Wint and respected him more, why didn’t she ask him first before acting out? Why cause him embarrassment? If she hadn’t shouted or resorted to violence, would there have been any gossip at all?"

Nara reiterated her point while looking into Wint’s eyes as if to hypnotize him.

Initially, Wint had been reasonable, but hearing Nara’s words, he felt his honor as a gentleman was indeed undermined by a fiancée who lacked respect for him, as Nara had pointed out...