Chương 157: Cordyceps Twenty-Two

The nurse checked up on me early the next morning. That mostly involved her poking at my chest and head while staring with glazed-over eyes at me. It was, honestly, not the best way to wake up. Strangely enough--or perhaps not so strangely--I felt fantastic. It was like I'd slept for an entire day instead of just a normal night's rest. I took in a breath, and felt it fill my lungs far more than before, and that familiar tingle that made me want to cough whenever I breathed too much was missing.

Had I been hypoxic this entire time? I doubted it, but there had to be some long-term effects to not taking in enough air for a long period of time. In any case, once the nurse gave me her seal of approval, I slipped out of the bed and found my clothes folded on a small metal table on rollers nearby. It had been freshly cleaned and laundered.

"Here, you can get dressed, then head back out to your dorm to pick up what you need for your morning classes," the nurse said.

"I don't get to skip a day's lessons?" I asked. She sniffed.

"You wish," she said.

"But no. You're no longer ill. In fact, I daresay you're in better health now than you were before your run in with that friend of yours. No excuses to miss out on classes." I glanced at the wall-clock. It was still an hour before classes started, about the time when everyone started to get up and get out of the dorms. If I ran, I'd be arriving just as the last of my year were leaving.

"Alright, thank you," I said.

"Wait," she said, and I paused. Was she going to give me something to take? Maybe some medication to take twice a day for a week or whatever? I waited by the doorway while the nurse slipped into a little office off to the side. I noticed, idly, that there was a room further in with a small bed and dresser. Was this where she stayed? Did she have to stay here overnight often? I'd been the only student here today, but I could imagine that happening more often.

The nurse wrote something on her desk, then she paused and added a few more lines on a separate piece of paper before folding it up and returning to me.

"Here you go," she said.

"A note explaining your tardiness this morning. Not a note excusing you from classes altogether. I will hear it if you try to exploit it."

"I won't," I promised easily as I took the notes. I checked the second, folded one, and read it rapidly. Mister Killua has my permission to visit the nursing station at this moment in time for a check up related to a prior, minor, medical condition. Due discretion is appreciated. -Nurse Kaeres Her cursive was a quick, scribbly mess, like a doctor's note. But I could read it nonetheless.

"What's this?" I asked. The nurse eyed me for a moment more.

"The Academy is the best education anyone can receive. Many parents know that, and want it for their kids, regardless of any other... details. But one day puberty will hit you, Mister Killua. When that happens, give me a visit." I felt the blood draining from my face, but I swallowed and recomposed myself.

"Oh. Thank you," I said.

"Miss... Nurse Kaeres?"

"Beatrice," she said.

"Now, get. I don't want to see you for a while, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," I said before ducking out of the room. I moved through empty halls in a bit of a hurry, clutching onto the folded note with a bit more strength than was probably due. But... but Beatrice didn't seem ready to toss me out. I was safe, for now. But my long-term cover was blown. The smart thing would be to find a way to keep the secret, and a secret was best kept when only one person knew it. At the same time, Beatrice had been kind.

The note itself was more kindness than I could reasonably expect, and it sounded like I might not have been the only one here. Well, an issue for later. I'd think about it for a bit, but I was leaning towards simply trusting her for now. Stolen story; please report. I passed by a large group of Dragons on the way to the cafeteria. A few of them glanced my way, but none of them said anything as I slipped by. Finally, I made it to the first-year dorms and found the shared common room almost entirely empty.

Montgomery was there, though, and he perked up on seeing me.

"Gunther!" he said.

"You're back? What happened?"

"Uh," I said. What was my story going to be here? I settled on the truth, since it was easiest.

"You know that Harbin guy, in the Trolls?" He nodded.

"The ass cornered me in one of the bathrooms. Next thing I knew I woke up in the nurses' office with a concussion." His eyes widened to almost comical sizes.

"What?" he asked in a conspiratorial hiss.

"When you didn't come back the rumours said you were fingered as part of the murder investigation!"

"The what investigation?" I asked. He reached over, grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled me towards my room.

"The murder! One of the Troll kids was visited by his dad, and he died, right here on campus."

"Holy," I said. In my mind, I was swearing up a storm. They thought it was a murder, not some freak accident. That meant there would be a lot more heat.

"The coppers were here and everything, and we saw them leave with a hearse."

"Was it actually a murder?" I asked. He shrugged.

"That's what some of the boys are saying. Mister Drake called it an 'unfortunate accident which will not mar the school's sterling reputation' but I think the idea that it was a murder is much better." I let out a breath.

"Right. I'd rather it be an accident. Can you imagine, if it was a murder that'd mean that a member of the staff was a killer." Montgomery's eyes widened a bit, but then he nodded as if it made perfect sense.

"Anyway, did you spend the whole night with the nurse?"

"Yeah. Well, I spent it sleeping off some potions, I guess. I feel fine though," I said.

"I should get ready for... what do we have this morning?"

"Double Literature," he said with a grimace.

"Alright, yeah, I should get ready for that." I moved towards my door, but Montgomery was still there, standing partially in my way.

"Um?" I asked, with a vague gesture towards the room. He looked away from me, then licked his lips.

"So, when you didn't come back yesterday. I went to see if you were sleeping in your room or something," he said.

"And..." Montgomery looked around the common room, but it was mostly empty by now.

"And you have a cat?" I felt my heart sink.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Montgomery gave me a piercing, but excited, look.

"Come on, Gunther, there's fur all over, and I swear I saw glowing eyes under your bed. I put some food on the floor, just a chunk of bread, then when I came back there weren't even crumbs left. A mouse wouldn't have eaten the whole thing. It's okay! I won't tell anyone! Dragons stick together, right?" I sighed, then it was my turn to grab him by the arm.

"Fine," I said.

"I'll introduce you to Sir Nibbles. But in exchange, you need to promise to keep him secret, and... and help me with Harbin."

"Yeah, of course. We'll beat him right up next time, won't we? We can get a few of the older years to help." That was probably a better idea than my initial plan, which involved sneaking into the Troll's first year dorms and ruining Harbin's life in horrific ways. I opened the door and tugged Montgomery in behind me.

"Sir Eyenibbler the Terrible doesn't just like anyone, so I'd be careful, and polite, and unless you don't want to keep both eyes in your skull, don't tug on his tail," I said.

"I'm sorry, the cat's name is what?" he asked. But it was too late, I'd squatted down and 'tsk tsk'ed already. Sir Nibbles slipped out from under the bed with a quick bounce, sniffed the air, then in a split second he was across the room and circling around me to come and rest on my shoulder, body stretched way out to sniff at Montgomery.

"Holy! That's a Panbadger," he said.

"Yeah," I said as I stood up, a hand on Sir Nibble's back to keep him steady.

"How did you convince your parents to get you one? Did you bond with it? They're supposed to be super dangerous! And, uh, hi," the last was said in a notably higher pitch as the panbadger grinned and pressed a paw against his chest, claws flexing.

"Sir Nibbles, this is my friend Montgomery. No eating him. Montgomery, this is Sir Eyenibbler the Terrible. Do remember to bring him snacks next time. And if he bites you and it doesn't bleed, that just means he likes you."

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