Chapter 22: Teachers’ Intentions.

According to Sanders-senpai, Dokurobaru’s assigned to his unit as a healer, not for odd jobs.
Unfamiliar with her and unable to picture her face, he sought us out, figuring classmates would know her.

“Dokurobaru didn’t want to join the hunt. She was refusing Mujihidane’s invitation…” I say.
“I heard her say she wouldn’t go. How is she in your unit?” Zoldietta demands.

Sanders-senpai doesn’t know how it happened either.
Seeing an unfamiliar general-course student listed as a healer in his roster, he rushed to ask us.

“Is she a skilled healer?”
“She can use [Magic Attunement]. Her knowledge exceeds graduation level,” Zoldietta replies.
“Too skilled… Someone must’ve pushed her,” Sanders muses.

He suspects someone coerced her and asks if we know who.
Mujihidane’s out, since we stopped her, so…

“Maybe someone from her faction…”
“Baron Dokurobaru’s southern faction. Kugenandes might know,” Sanders says.

We find Kugenandes-senpai feeding Hana-chan at the beast shed.
She’s shocked to hear of Dokurobaru’s involvement.

“I heard nothing about the faction nominating anyone. She wouldn’t volunteer either. Can’t you stop it, Senpai?”

Kugenandes, now in the specialist course but at White Lily Dorm until this month, knows Dokurobaru’s tendency to agree to requests from superiors despite reluctance.
We head to White Lily to ask Dokurobaru directly.
Tarte and I, slow on foot, ride Illegal Pitch.
Luckily, she’s there, and after introducing Sanders, her answer stuns us.

“Um… Wannabe-sensei insisted I join…”
“A teacher requested it?” Sanders gasps.
“That man!” Zoldietta fumes.

A teacher, who set the hunt as voluntary, specifically requesting a student?
That’s practically a mandate from the academy—few students, not just Dokurobaru, could refuse.

We rush to the central admin building’s hunt headquarters to confront Wannabe-sensei.
He stubbornly refuses to retract Dokurobaru’s participation.
She agreed, he says, and as one of few [Magic Attunement] users, reassigning her would require reconfiguring all units.
The territorial army’s been informed, and changing now could delay the hunt, risking disobedience to Duke Honmani’s orders for swift safety measures.

“Can’t a teacher with [Magic Attunement] replace her?” I ask.
“All qualified teachers are assigned to the knights’ base, army HQ, or the academy’s infirmary. None can be moved,” he replies.

Sanders argues general-course students lack unit training and it’s too dangerous, but Wannabe suggests reassigning her to another unit.
Sanders insists on withdrawal, not reassignment, but Wannabe sticks to “she agreed, and it’s too late.”
If only the principal or Reary-sensei were here, they’d fix this, but they’re in Mou Honmani, handling new students and parents, per the Duke’s orders.
The academy’s communication artifact is a hotline for the Duke, not students.

“That’s just sophistry. The army wouldn’t deploy without accounting for healers,” Sanders grumbles outside.

The army set the hunt’s roster, including healers, before leaving Mou Honmani.
Wannabe forced in four academy healers, including Dokurobaru.
More healers are good, but without enough potions or supplies, they’re limited.
His meddling already forced reallocations and transport adjustments—he can’t reduce numbers now without admitting fault.

“Why force students in?” I ask.
“Didn’t you notice? That man’s magic reeked of ‘I won’t lose,’” Tarte says.
“Exactly…” Sanders nods.

He’s not surprised, having sensed Wannabe’s rivalry with the knights and army, a running joke among knight-course seniors.
Something happened in his knight days, fueling his grudge.

“The Duke wouldn’t rely on students as a force, unlike the army or knights,” Sanders says.

Wannabe sees academy students as equivalent to knights or the mostly non-magic army, resenting the army’s lead.
Unwilling to watch from the rear, he wants to showcase the academy’s strength to the Duke, outdoing the army.

“He lacks the awareness that students aren’t the academy’s private army,” Zoldietta says, trembling with frustration.

Honmani Academy, gathering top magical talents, remains a private institution, resisting noble and royal interference to keep politics out of education.
Being seen as militarizing students would be a scandal.

“He’s meddling in army rosters, acting like a knight commander…” Sanders scoffs.
“Can’t students boycott this unsanctioned training?” Zoldietta asks.
“Artificer-course students are eager for monster materials. Boycotting would just increase their risk,” Sanders replies.

Knight-course seniors could refuse, but that’d leave fewer escorts, burdening the army.
Materials lure crafting-focused artificers, not combat-driven knights.

“I’ll negotiate to keep my unit on base security. If needed, I’ll use the army as bait to ensure students retreat safely,” Sanders vows.

He’d sacrifice the army to protect students.
But then…

“I’m joining too,” I say.
“Aray!” Zoldietta gasps.

I can’t leave slow-footed Dokurobaru to Sanders—she’d slow a retreat and risk being abandoned.
I’ve got a way to bolt with her, and Proserpine-sensei’s confirmed at the academy’s infirmary.

“I can bring Black Scale and Illegal Pitch. Dokurobaru’s ridden Illegal Pitch in forests,” I say.

Sanders ponders, likely weighing the Koketris advantage.
Koketris, Rolling tribe mounts, navigate dense forests better than long-bodied horses.
Dokurobaru’s ridden one for herb gathering and doesn’t need a step to mount.

“I’ll lead with Black Scale. She just needs to hold on.”
“You won’t try fighting monsters, right?”
“I don’t have artifacts for that.”
“Fine. Follow orders and run when I say.”

I’m no meathead hero itching to fight, even with [Tarte Drill].
I’ll grab Dokurobaru and flee at the first sign of danger.
I’m not an anime protagonist trying to save everyone.

“Then I’ll—”
“No way,” Sanders cuts Zoldietta off.
“Your hippogriff can’t fly yet—it’s just a horse.”

Zoldietta’s determined gaze is shut down.
Her hippogriff’s wings aren’t strong enough for riders, and more escorts are the last thing Sanders needs.
I’m allowed because I bring Koketris for Dokurobaru.

To borrow Black Scale for the hunt, I visit Proserpine-sensei’s lab.
A twin-tailed, white-coated girl my size—[Poison King Dragger], the academy’s top healer, Dokurobaru’s mentor, and my Rolling tribe aunt—cackles over a toxic-looking potion.
The 22nd Rolling princess, my half-sister via a different mother, she defied her mother’s order to avoid human lands.
Delivering a birth gift, she snuck into Arkan, sold homemade potions (including banned ones), got caught, and was scouted by Duke Honmani.

“You’re going? To Panasha? Why?”
“Wannabe-sensei forced Dokurobaru in as a healer. We tried to retract it, but he refused.”
“That failed knight reject!”

When I explain using Illegal Pitch for Dokurobaru and borrowing Black Scale, she’s shocked.
No one consulted her, the infirmary’s healer, about sending her student.
Wannabe’s call, through and through.

“Think [Magic Attunement] makes a healer? Amateurs!”

She’s furious.
Healers must share patient info during transfers, but students aren’t trained for that.
Judging when a patient’s beyond them and passing to rear medics requires experience, not just [Magic Attunement].
Her twin-tails bristle like horns.

“Give this to my disciple. Tell the others: if a patient’s too much, do minimal treatment, note it on paper, and send it with the patient.”

After Sanders lists the dispatched healers, she hands me and Dokurobaru cryptic but legible papers—likely healer code.

Leaving her lab, I part with the seniors at the beast shed and grab my artifacts from the workshop.
The meatheads are now wrestling ash with planes.
Keeping my hunt plans secret, I tell them I’m heading back and visit Dokurobaru at White Lily.
I say I’ll pick her up with Koketris after breakfast tomorrow and hand her the paper.
She nods, understanding it—probably a healer’s cipher.

“What about Tarte tomorrow?”
“I’m coming, of course.”
“Dragons might swallow you…”
“A dumb dragon would just get a stomachache.”

Asking Tarte before bed, she’s set on joining.
Dragons don’t faze her—her toughness could survive being swallowed.
This cheat toddler might emerge from a dragon’s rear crying “Ogyaa!”
Curious where she’d come out…