"By the way, where’s the thing you were supposed to give me?"

Just as I was still feeling awkward, my teacher plopped herself onto the stool in front of the lab table and held out her hand.

"Oh! Right!"

I hurriedly nodded, pulling the stone necklace from my pocket and placing it in her palm.

"This is…"

But her expression seemed off—not the joy or disgust one might expect on Valentine’s Day. She just froze, as if she’d never imagined I’d give her a gift today. Something felt wrong.

"What exactly do you mean by this?"

She weighed the necklace in her hand, then looked up at me.

"Today’s Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d give you a present…"

"For me?"

She hesitated, staring at the necklace. A faint blush rose on her cheeks—gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you thought of me. But this isn’t what I asked for. Didn’t I tell you yesterday? Today’s lab assignment is dissecting Mr. Frog. Explain why you didn’t go find him!"

"Uh…"

I’d completely forgotten her instructions. *Mr. Frog?* Since when were frogs "misters"? I’d thought she was joking. And with Valentine’s Day throwing me off—thanks to Julia and Rachel muddling my thoughts…

"One more thing." Her voice turned icy. "A girl gives you a gift on Valentine’s Day, and you just hand it off to your teacher, claiming it’s yours? That’s not exactly flattering."

"Eh?"

"Let’s be clear: this necklace carries no trace of a girl’s scent. But don’t think I don’t recognize it. Only one shop in Gloria sells heart-shaped necklaces like this—and it’s exclusive to nobles."

"Well…"

"You could argue you painstakingly recreated it based on that shop’s design. But—"

She pulled an identical necklace from her pocket. "If I hadn’t received Julia’s gift, I’d have been overjoyed. I don’t know much about that store, after all. But these are *matching* necklaces. So…"

*Julia.* Hearing her name, I knew I was doomed. Rachel-senpai said she’d given it to *me*—why send the twin to my teacher?! This was a setup!

"I’m sorry, Teacher!"

I apologized instantly. Pushing back would only ruin my relationship with her.

My teacher had always been like this since I met her—never sparing anyone’s feelings to save them embarrassment. That’s why she had so few friends. Most people hide behind lies; they hate truth-tellers like her.

"If you’re truly sorry, return this necklace to Rachel."

"Eh? How did you know it was Rachel?"

"Simple deduction. Find the overlap between Julia’s friends and yours. That ‘brat’ Rachel fits perfectly."

"Uh…"

*Brat?* Rachel-senpai was older than my teacher… Did that mean my teacher’s actual age was much higher? Was she a legendary legal loli?

I took the necklace from her. She continued, "And take this one back to Julia too. These are a pair. Tearing them apart isn’t right. Oh—and change into proper clothes before coming back. Tonight, you’re accompanying me to Mars’s Valentine’s party."

"Eh? What did you say? I didn’t catch that!"

It sounded impossible.

"You’ll be my date for Mars’s Valentine’s party on campus. Understood? And just so you know—I only asked because I have no male friends. Don’t get any ideas!"

A teacher who *never* attended parties suddenly inviting me? Was this my chance to level up? And that flustered explanation at the end—classic tsundere. Totally ignorable.

"Understood!"

I grabbed the second necklace and headed out.

But as I stepped through the door, a thought struck me: *Mars was the former headmaster, right? He retired before Teacher even joined the school. And wasn’t he bedridden from illness? How could a sick old man host a Valentine’s party?*

***

After watching Nosad leave, Rein reached for the notebook on the table. She skimmed the final page’s notes, then pulled over a jar. Inside floated a severed head—the Sorceress’s head Rein had brought back from another world. And it was still alive.

Even after all this time detached from its body, preserved in lab solution, it hadn’t fully died. If Rein dried it out, the thing would likely revive.

"Stubborn creature…" She glanced at the notebook. "But time’s running out."

Rein pulled equipment from under the lab table and began working.

In this world, Sorceresses weren’t as rampant as in the other—but Beastification Sickness ran far worse. Rein’s medical skills could save patients not yet fully transformed. But for those beyond saving? Even with this specimen, she had no cure.