PTSD Military Chaplain of the Academy

It is a good wand.

As Chloe gazed at the sparkling, lustrous wall jujube wood wand, she murmured to herself.

“If such a magnificent wand were given to me, perhaps my magical achievements would rise significantly…”

Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud. After all, the wand in front of her belonged to Professor Esther.

“Hmm~ Hmm.”

Professor Esther, calmly writing the duty log, hummed a tune. Was something good happening?

Chloe couldn’t understand what made Professor Esther so cheerful. However, she at least knew she could freely admire her magical wand.

A wand carved from a lightning-struck jujube tree. Even someone like Chloe, who didn’t know much about wands, felt that the dark and reddish color of the wand gave off an impression that the magical power forming a magic circle would output with pure clarity, without any impurities.

Chloe imagined herself holding Professor Esther’s wand. The time… summer, right around the time the Grade-by-Grade Duel would begin.

The setting would be the same as last year—the outdoor training field at the Bruytni Branch School of Caldera Imperial Academy.

Having only experienced the Grade-by-Grade Duel there, she couldn’t really picture the main school’s dueling area in her mind.

In this year’s Grade-by-Grade Duel, Chloe would again advance to the finals, just like last year. Her opponent would naturally be Laura von Adelheit.

Laura, standing in front of her with a wand in hand, glared at Chloe with her sparkling red eyes, attempting to intimidate her.

“Not a chance. With this wall jujube wand.”

Chloe immediately seized the wall jujube wand. The duel had begun, and despite the urgent situation where Laura’s ice spear might fly at any moment, she tried to remain relaxed.

As she slowly gripped the wall jujube wand, just as expected, Laura, standing opposite her, staggered significantly. The blood-red eyes that had been glaring firmly at Chloe were now locked onto her wand.

Yelling why she had such a wand and how she could do nothing against a state-level wand. It would be amusing to see her fall to the ground, crying and wailing.

Chloe confidently swung her wand towards Laura, awkwardly mimicking Laura’s graceful movements she had seen during last year’s duel.

As Laura, coming back to her senses, hurriedly summoned an ice wall, even that wouldn’t suffice.

Blue flames burst forth like a bonfire, eating away at the ice wall. In an instant, the ice wall melted into a lukewarm puddle.

Chloe casually passed by the dazed Laura and climbed onto the podium that appeared in front of her without a hint of realism.

Approaching her with a brooch awarded to the top student was none other than Professor Antorelli.

Professor Antorelli appeared, having taken off his glasses and slicked back his black hair, showing his pristine, bright teeth as he came near.

His gaze was surprisingly warm, so much so that it was hard to imagine him as Professor Antorelli. While she knew that he wasn’t normally a cold-hearted person, it was rare to see the warm glow in his deep brown eyes, which usually seemed indifferent.

That warm glow was filled with affection. Not simply a deep friendship between a professor and a student, but more like a gentle affection shared between a man and a woman… slowly approaching.

In a deep yet sweet voice, he said, “Congratulations, Miss Chloe,” while slowly reaching out a hand toward the front of her inflated school uniform.

The brooch held in that large, veined, manly hand touched her chest, and as that hand withdrew from where the brooch rested, the open palm warmly embraced Chloe’s right cheek….

“…Hic!”

Chloe was taken aback by the warmth she felt on her right cheek, causing her to involuntarily let out a hiccup and jump.

In a flustered state, she turned her gaze to the warm touch and saw Professor Antorelli gazing at her, holding a large white mug.

“Miss Chloe.”

“Oh, Professor Antorelli.”

His usual stoic expression was present. In truth, it didn’t display much in the way of ‘expression’ at all, just the usual formal expression of Professor Antorelli as he looked down at Chloe sitting on the sofa.

“I brought cocoa.”

“Ah….”

“Don’t you like it?”

At first glance, he still seemed stoic, but a hint of disappointment flickered across his smooth face. It was a fleeting moment, easily missed if one blinked.

Having caught that expression, Chloe accepted the mug a bit flustered. Was Professor Antorelli’s expression a bit softer? Perhaps it was just her imagination.

“I will drink it gratefully….”

Professor Antorelli didn’t even respond, sitting on the sofa across from Chloe. Separated by a low table from the office section, Chloe, who had been quietly a bit dazed, suddenly found herself facing Professor Antorelli.

With one leg slightly extended forward, Professor Antorelli began sipping tea while staring intently at the stack of documents in his hands, making no sound as he carefully drank.

Chloe, who had been blowing on her hot cocoa and sipping bit by bit, observed his quiet manner and found herself looking very different for drinking cocoa noisily; a slightly embarrassed expression crept onto her face.

“Ugh…. But the cocoa is too hot….”

The steaming cocoa, sweetened by the milk, had jolted Chloe’s awareness back to her studies, yet it was still quite hot from just having been prepared.

As Chloe unconsciously bit her tongue and set down the mug, only then did Professor Antorelli’s gaze flicker toward her.

“…Are you not good at drinking hot things?”

“Yes?”

It was a sudden question. An almost silly response tumbled out of Chloe’s mouth.

If it were during class, she would surely have experienced one of Professor Antorelli’s precise, sharp critiques, but somehow he seemed a lot kinder now.

Chloe recalled the summer club activity from last year. How she and everyone from the Occult Research Club had gone to the lodge in Vivian’s territory and stayed there for several nights.

Remembering the conversation she had with Professor Antorelli outside the lodge as they looked up at the night sky, she recalled how he was exceedingly kind to the students yet had a defensive attitude, making it hard to approach and hiding his wounds.

Then, the shocking anecdote she heard on the train heading to the Holy Empire rushed back to her mind.

“Miss Chloe?”

Professor Antorelli’s voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts. The sweet aroma of cocoa lingered in the air.

“Oh, yes, yes?”

“You suddenly seem dazed and unresponsive… Are you feeling unwell?”

“Oh, no. I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you….”

“It’s alright.”

With that, Professor Antorelli again turned his gaze to the stack of documents. His dark gaze absently scanned the words on the page.

As Chloe stared at those deep eyes behind his glasses, she remembered that she hadn’t actually answered Professor Antorelli’s question. The mug in her hands had already begun to cool.

“…That might be true, Professor.”

“…Really?”

Professor Antorelli looked back at Chloe, his eyes filled with curiosity.

“I can’t eat hot things well.”

“….”

Upon hearing her answer that came out refreshing yet late, Professor Antorelli nodded, appearing indifferent, but there was a faint, warm smile hidden behind that impression.

Setting the stack of documents down slowly, Professor Antorelli brought his teacup, filled with his share of black tea, to his lips. Steam was still wafting lazily from the teacup.

Chloe, watching it vacantly, involuntarily opened her mouth.

“You seem to enjoy hot things, Professor.”

“…This, you mean?”

“Yes. That black tea still looks hot… and yet you drink it fine.”

Professor Antorelli’s expression twitched again. It was a fleeting moment, yet for some reason, Chloe was able to catch it.

“…Indeed.”

The expression on his face—and the emotion that lingered briefly there—was…

“Bitter.”

* * * * *

After Chloe finished her magic studies in the office, I took her back to the dorm with Sofia, who had just woken up.

“Then… I will go in. Thank you, Professor, and Sister Sofia.”

“Yes. Have a good night.”

“Don’t get into trouble again~.”

“Oh, I won’t! It’s different from last year!”

As if recalling last year’s finger incident, Chloe shivered and hurriedly ran towards the dormitory. I watched until she entered the dorm and greeted the dorm manager before disappearing up the stairs.

“What was that about today?”

Studying late into the night—especially studying related to summoning and calculations—didn’t align with Chloe’s image at all. She would rather sneak into the clubroom like last year.

Did something change in her mindset?

Thinking back, the midterm assessments for the first semester would soon arrive. If she had been paying attention in class and not dozing off, there would have been no need for her to study this late… but I had no way of knowing.

I wasn’t knowledgeable about magic, let alone a budding magician studying it.

I just hoped Chloe would study sufficiently without exhausting herself too much.

Tomorrow was the weekend, so there wouldn’t be a problem, but if it continued like this on weekdays, it would affect her classes.

“Haah….”

I let out a light sigh as I turned around. It wasn’t all that strange for me to be awake until dawn lately, but it seemed that chronic fatigue was an inescapable reality.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“You too, Sister Sofia. And I’m sorry for waking you while you were sleeping….”

“Oh, no, I really woke up on my own. I’m fine.”

For someone who said that, she seemed to have jumped at the noise I accidentally made as I got up.

“Let’s return to the office.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Since Sister Sofia didn’t seem to want to take it personally, I didn’t press the issue further. We quietly walked along the tree-lined path back to the main building.

The street lamps cast a hazy light along the path, and the sounds of insects chirping could be heard from the dim underbrush. It was hard to believe this was a path trodden by many people, as the sounds of nature created a relaxing white noise around us.

As we walked in silence for a long while, Sister Sofia gently tugged at my sleeve.

“Head Priest.”

Suddenly, a sense of unease washed over me. I tend to trust my instincts.

When I slowly turned my head, I saw her faintly glowing green eyes in the dark night.

“If I were to tell you that I actually wasn’t asleep a few hours ago….”

A few hours earlier.

When Professor Esther had suddenly approached me.

“Would you believe me?”

And when I should have stopped it but couldn’t.

“…….”

My back suddenly felt damp. The night air, which had felt chilly until just a moment ago, now felt unusually cold. There was a stark difference between chill and coldness.

“Yes? Head Priest.”

“S-Sofia.”

“Sofia, right?”

“…Sofia.”

Sister Sofia took a step closer. It was different from how Professor Esther had come over; her strides quickly closed the distance.

“Bend your head slightly.”

“…….”

“Quickly.”

At Sister Sofia’s command, I unconsciously lowered my head and bent my waist slightly.

“Mmm…. kiss….”

Just the right kind of closeness for Sister Sofia to plant a kiss.

A short yet moist kiss felt as though it lasted an age, and faint sounds of running footsteps could be heard from somewhere.

As I hurriedly turned my head that way, Sister Sofia gripped my cheek and steadied my gaze.

“It’s alright.”

“No, someone was just there….”

“It’s alright. Maybe….”

Sister Sofia glanced over my shoulder. Her gently curved eyes held an unusual maturity compared to her usual demeanor.

“…It seems there might have been a somewhat impudent student around.”

“…….”

Sister Sofia, who had held me close for a while, then stepped back, smiling brightly.

“Now! Shall we head back?”

“…Yes.”

Wading through the slightly heated atmosphere, we returned to the office.

With our backs turned to the direction of the dormitory.

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