Time Healer Ceres

“Ceres, are we going to keep buying cake from now on? Didn’t you say the cakes from that shop were expensive?”

“They are.”

Ridiculously expensive.

“There’s only one solution.”

“What solution?”

“Throw it away.”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying we dump that thing.”

There was no way a family like theirs could afford tastes that fancy.

[Pwuuu!!]

Sooty, who had been lounging around lazily, shot upright and burst into loud cries.

***

“Alright, time’s up. Collect the answer sheets starting from the back.”

The instant their homeroom teacher Daniel finished speaking, Ceres’s exam paper was taken away along with the others.

An exam...

She had barely started coming to the academy again, and they were already throwing exams at her?

Ceres dropped her head onto the desk in disbelief. So that was why they’d threatened to expel her if she didn’t return within a week.

I should’ve just let them expel me.

Geez, did she look like someone who should be studying for exams at her age? They could’ve at least warned her ahead of time.

Not that there’s anyone around to tell me anything.

No one had mentioned it was exam day, so she’d only realized after the test paper landed in front of her.

Ugh, whatever.

It wasn’t like she was hopeless at studying. Back then, she was actually pretty good.

“That’s right. Our Grace was always near the top of the class. But you were never quite as good as me, were you? I was always number one!”

...Shut up.

This was all Artia’s fault for dragging her back to life without permission. Artia knew very well how petty she could be.

Every time something annoying happens, I’m blaming you for it.

“Miss Ceres.”

“......?”

Ceres, who had been mentally taking out her frustration on the absent Artia, looked up at the voice calling her name. Daniel, her homeroom teacher, was standing in front of her desk.

“How are you finding life at the academy? Any problems so far?”

“Not really...”

Though if she had to list a few... there was the fact that no one had spoken to her all week, the classes were unbearably boring, and that idiot Feik, who had picked a fight with her on the first day, seemed to be getting bolder by the day with the way he kept glaring at her.

...Actually, there are a lot of problems.

Ceres scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“If anything’s troubling you, please come talk to me. I’ll help however I can.”

“......”

Ceres looked at Daniel curiously. She’d heard he was newly appointed, so maybe that was why he was unexpectedly passionate about his job.

“It must be hard, becoming a teacher at such a young age.”

Both of them were probably wondering what they were doing with their lives.

“Hm? Hahaha.”

Daniel blinked in surprise before bursting into laughter. Apparently, he found that genuinely amusing. He even wiped his tears from beneath his large glasses.

“You’re a very interesting person, Miss Ceres.”

“Me?”

That was a new one.

“Anyway, if you’re having a hard time, feel free to come see me anytime.”

“Alright.”

Daniel left the classroom with a warm smile.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“There’s a transfer student...”

As soon as the teacher left, the classroom immediately erupted into chatter. Ceres tuned out the noise and slumped back over her desk.

Tap. Tap.

Something nudged lightly against her foot. Frowning, she glanced down.

“You...!”

[Puo....]

Sooty!

Before the little dragon could make another sound, Ceres scooped him up at lightning speed.

Whoosh!

Bang!

The next second, she was already on her feet and out the classroom door.

At her sudden exit, the students stared after her in confusion, but she had bigger things to worry about.

“What are you doing here?”

A short while later, Ceres arrived beneath the same tree where she had found the creature before. It was one of the few secluded spots in the academy where people rarely came by.

[Buuo?]

Sooty blinked up at her as though asking what the problem was. Ceres pressed her hand against her forehead.

She had specifically told it to stay quietly at home before leaving.

“Stay hidden and behave until I come back. Don’t let anyone see you.”

[Puo!]

It had puffed itself up and answered so confidently too, even waving its tiny arms around as if to tell her not to worry.

So why was it here now?

“And another thing...”

Something else bothered her.

Until Sooty appeared at her feet, she hadn’t sensed the creature at all. Not even a trace of its presence before it nudged her shoe.

I... couldn’t sense it?

Ceres stared intently at the little dragon fluttering around her.

[Puo?]

Once again, Sooty tilted its head as if asking what was wrong before landing on top of hers. With a sigh, Ceres plucked it off and set it in her palm instead.

Sooty tilted its head again.

“What exactly are you?”

[Puo-puo.]

“...Sooty?”

[Puo!]

This was absurd. Why could she understand a monster’s language? Since when was she able to translate this stuff?

Kkiiiiiieeeek! Kkieeeeeek!

At that moment, a familiar alarm pierced through the air. It was the warning siren signaling a Black Forest outbreak.

Ceres’s expression hardened. If that alarm was going off inside the academy, that meant...

[Buo?]

Still holding the confused Sooty in her arms, Ceres immediately broke into a run.

***

Kkiiiiiieeeek!

“W-What is that sound?”

“I know it! I’ve heard it before! It means monsters have appeared!”

Academy Elementary Division.

As the shrill alarm echoed through the building, the children waiting in their classroom for the next lesson couldn’t hide their shock.

“M-Monsters?”

“T-Then what do we do?”

Fear instantly spread across the children’s faces. Monsters? Here? Those man-eating monsters?

“L-Let’s go find a teacher!”

At one child’s frightened shout, the terrified students rushed out of the classroom all at once.

“W-What should we do?”

“Christine?”

Julia was about to follow the others out when she noticed Christine still frozen in her seat, her face pale as snow.

“We should go too. In situations like this, we need to find an adult.”

“.....We’re going to die.”

“Christine?”

“L-Lana died too.”

Two years ago, during a trip with her family, Christine had watched the maid caring for her get torn apart by a monster before her eyes. Though Christine and her parents had survived, she had also witnessed countless others lose their lives that day.

After that incident, Christine was barely able to function for nearly a year. The nightmares never stopped haunting her.

“E-Everyone’s going to die.”

There were no knights here to save her now. No parents either.

When those horrifying memories resurfaced one after another, Christine slowly sank to the floor and crawled under the desk.

“Christine?”

Craaash!

At that moment, something shot up outside the window. A black tree. The Black Forest had begun swallowing up the surroundings.

“Hngh...! Hic.......”

When darkness spread across the area, Christine’s terror only grew worse. The scenery outside dimmed by the second, while frightened screams echoed throughout the building.

Julia couldn’t help growing scared too. After swallowing nervously, she carefully walked over to where Christine was.

“I-It’s alright.”

Julia tried her best to steady her trembling voice as she comforted Christine.

“Someone will come save us.”

“Hngh......”

“It’s going to be alright.”

Even as she said those words, her hands trembled just as much.

***

“I heard you transferred the distribution rights for Ethel ore to Oselt Ellesia.”

“And?”

“Th-That...!”

Count Alise had spoken with determination when he first opened his mouth, but the moment he met the cold silver eyes of Grand Duke Persia, his words caught in his throat.

Still, encouraged by the urging looks from the surrounding nobles, he forced himself to continue.

“I believe it is problematic for such an important resource to be monopolized by a single party.”

Ethel was a rare mineral found only in the Principality of Persia. Recently, news spread that the exclusive distribution rights had been granted to a merchant guild under Oselt Ellesia, one of the elders of House Ellesia.

Alarmed by the decision, the nobles had gathered at the Imperial Council. They agreed to formally protest the matter to the Grand Duke.

“That’s right. Ethel is a resource of great importance to the nation...”

“So?”

“Pardon?”

“What are you trying to say?”

The nobles, who had entered the meeting hall full of confidence, gradually began breaking out into cold sweats.

Kainel simply watched them with an indifferent gaze, as if inviting them to continue speaking freely. Somehow, that made it harder to open their mouths.

Honestly, it might have been easier if he had gotten angry instead.

“W-Well, what I mean is, allowing one person to monopolize such a resource is...”

“In other words, Count Alise has been dissatisfied with me all this time for monopolizing it myself.”

“N-No! That’s not what I meant at all...!”

“What if I handed the exclusive sales rights for Ethel over to you instead?”

“Pardon...?!”

“—!”

The atmosphere inside the conference hall shifted instantly. The exclusive rights to Ethel... handed over to Count Alise?

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