115 Learning How To Heal By Learning How To Hurt

After that major revelation in my previous class, I made my way towards the classroom where I would be studying Iatromancy.

The class for this lesson was even smaller than the pyromancy one with only five students in total including myself. I guess this isn't really a popular study of magic?

But well, here I was, entering the class and finding four other students, all of them girls, goggling at me when they saw me.

Umm… Let's see… Judging by their reactions, they should be expecting me to be those refined kind of girls so I guess adopting that noble young lady kind of persona would work here?

In fact… Maybe I should keep that persona up considering I am one?

I smiled at them, "Is this the class for Iatromancy studies?"

One of them managed to recover enough to nod dumbly at me.

Well, since this class is rather small, I think sitting away from everyone else wouldn't be nice, especially when they're all girls.

I went up to one of them and gestured to the table beside them, "My apologies, is this seat taken?"

"N… Not at all!! Please go ahead!"

"My thanks."

I took a seat beside her after adjusting my dress and placing the bag Lisa helped me prepare underneath the table.

The girls furthest away from me started whispering to each other but I paid them no mind, concentrating on preparing my own writing materials for the class instead.

The whispering eventually ceased and one of them shuffled her way towards me timidly.

"Umm… Sister Aster?" She called out, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

I turned and gave the kindest smile I could, "Yes? Ummm…"

"Ah! I'm Emily!"

"Fufu~ Hello Emily, is there something you require from me?"

"We… We just wanted to know what made you choose to learn this magic?"

"Ara? What's wrong with Iatromancy?"

Emily looked back at the others before turning back to me, "Ummm… We thought this magic was unpopular with everyone… Even my friends said that only the worst mages learn this magic…"

I was genuinely surprised by that.

"Oh my? Why would it be?" I asked.

"Because… Because it's boring and uncool… Everyone likes the magic with the flashy stuff… So no one wants to learn this magic…"

The other girls also nodded their heads in agreement.

The girl sitting right beside me lowered her head, "I'm the fourth child of my family and they all said I don't have the same talent as my other siblings… So I should just learn this instead to make myself useful…"

Ah, of course… The simple thinking of children, I keep forgetting that my classmates aren't that mature yet…

I smiled at them, "Is the fact that you are able to save lives with this magic not a noble cause? When your friends are hurt, don't they wish for someone to heal them? Would they look down on that magic then?"

The girls looked at one another, as though thinking back on the times when they knew of someone who was hurt and needed to be healed.

Well, honestly it's not like I'm a saint nor am I remotely interested in becoming some kind of travelling doctor. The only reason I took Iatromancy is so that I don't need to worry about my companions and I getting hurt.

I've seen enough stories where the companions get injured by some attack and because the main character doesn't have any healing magic, they can do nothing but watch them die.

Yeah, that's not going to happen on my watch! I'm going to make sure my magic is good enough to prevent anything like that from happening!

Emily looked at me with upturned eyes, "Does… Does sister Aster think that this magic is cool?"

"Ufufufu~ It is definitely very cool~"

"That's right! I expected no less from the special class student who shook the entire school with your challenge!" A voice echoed from behind me.

All of us turned to see a woman standing there with her hands on her hips proudly.

"I am teacher Anna! Your Iatromancy teacher! And for anyone who asks, Iatromancy is a completely valid school of magic!"

I used my [Screened] on her.

[Name: Anna

Title: Iatromancy Teacher, Doctor, The Drunkard, Mad Doctor, The Traumatiser

Race: Mahun

Gender: Female

Current Mood: Elated

Stats:

16 Strength

18 Dexterity

16 Endurance

212 Magic

Skills:

Cooking (Tier 1), Teaching (Tier 2), Drinking (Tier 2)

Magic Skills:

Iatromancy (Tier 3), Mana Management (Tier 1)]

Oh! Finally someone else who has the Mana Management skill!

Also… I'm not one to judge but what the hell are those titles?

She came up to Emily and clapped her shoulder, "You don't need to worry! In this class, I will teach you all the basics of Iatromancy and make you all into competent healers in no time! Then when those friends of yours start asking you for healing, you can remind them of all the mean things they said to you and demand an apology!"

I don't think that's the kind of advice you want to give to twelve year olds, teacher…

Emily's eyes shone, "Could I really make them say that?"

"Hmph! If your friends dare to look down on healing magic, then they aren't good friends in the first place! Just look! Even the best special class student is studying it, how can they say that it is one of the best magic studies out there?!"

Ok, saying that it's the best is pushing it a little.

It's useful for sure but I wouldn't say it's the best since each school of magic has their own uses after all.

But oh well, these girls need the morale boost so I'll just keep my mouth shut here.

The teacher then went up to the front of the class and turned to us, "Now! Are you all ready to learn some healing magic?!"

"Yes!" The girls cried out together.

"Perfect! Now just to check, does anyone here have experience in casting healing magic aside from our own special class student here?"

No one raised their hands.

She grinned, "Ha! Guess I'm having all of you start from the very basics then! Alright! Student Aster!"

"Umm… Yes?" I replied, a little surprised that she called me out suddenly.

She turned around and wrote a chant on the board, "Are you familiar with the spell [Close Wounds]?"

I most definitely am though the chant she wrote on the board is a little different than the one I was taught.

"I am, teacher Anna," I answered her.

"Perfect! Then let's have a live demonstration for our dear classmates right now!"

I was just about to point out the fact that there's no one around who had any wounds for me to cast the magic on when teacher Anna pulled out a knife from under her clothes.

Without even a hint of hesitation, she sliced open a wound on her arm before holding it out for everyone to see.

One of the girls screamed, another fainted while the other two looked at her with wide, fearful eyes.

Ah… So that's where her traumatiser title came from… Did she really think that there's nothing wrong with doing this as her very first lesson? Now I'm worried that these girls might not even come for her second lesson…

"Oh my, one of you actually fainted huh? No worries! I've got just the thing!"

She showed no concern for her bleeding arm and placed the bloodied knife on her table before strolling up to the fainted girl. Retrieving a pouch from her shirt, she opened it up and placed it under the girl's nose, causing her to sputter awake.

She even brought smelling salts on her? Yeah, she definitely did this to her other classes before to the point that this reaction was something she expected.

"Welcome back! Can't have you missing out on the first class can we? Now where were we? Ah, that's right! Student Aster! Cast the spell on my arm!"

Looking at the other girls, I could see that they were looking at me with concern, as though wondering if it would be a good idea for them to just leave after all.

Not wanting to traumatise them further, I decided to just heal her before they start developing hemophobia or something.

I pointed my palm at her arm and chanted the version of the spell she had written on the board, "Flesh to flesh, knit and repair, heal and cleanse the wounds, return the flesh to its pristine form. [Close Wounds]."

The magic took effect immediately and the laceration on her arm slowly mended itself, leaving no trace of it after it was done.

Teacher Anna then twisted her arm back and forth while grinning at the other students, as though she was a magician who just showed off some kind of magic trick.

"What do you girls think? A truly wonderful magic right?"

Come on, teacher Anna… There's no way those girls would even think such a thing is--

"So beautiful…"

"Sister Aster… Is a saint…"

"I want to learn it too!"

"Ahaha! What wonderful students I have this year! Alright! Let's have all of you practise this magic for now! I'll make another cut on my arm and you'll all try it on me!"

I… Don't even know what to think anymore…

I'm starting to think this school of magic isn't popular for another reason…