"Let’s go to the infirmary and while we’re at it, also do this week’s routine checkup."
"Eh!? But, I still have class… I mean–"
I could hear the faint whispers of the students from class D behind me.
"Oi, what’s up with that feeling between those two! How enviable!"
"Why is… Furuya acting so familiar with Kuzunoha-sama?"
"I heard that they’ve been meeting up together for a while now but always thought that the rumors were impossible."
"I can’t believe… I even bothered to feel so worried for this bastard just a moment ago!"
"I thought it was pitiful how he couldn’t find a team but now I’m definitely not letting him join my team!"
Feeling threatened by the murderous atmosphere emitted by the guys from class D, I showed Kaede my intention to resist.
"…um, Kuzunoha-senpai. Starting from today, I don’t think anyone is going to help me out during practice ever again. It also looks like my troubles with finding a team has worsened."
But, well, I had learned enough from our long association to know that such resistance was pointless.
"Didn’t you hear what I said? Besides, you’re injured so it’s obvious that you need to withdraw from class."
Kaede forcefully pulled my arm while directing her gaze at the center’s staff, the stunned class D members, and even the class D homeroom teacher who had just arrived late.
"I’ll take him to the infirmary, you guys can just go on with your practice."
She said so curtly and took me out of the support center.
At the beginning of the first year of high school, students at the Tokyo Metropolitan School for Exorcists were required to form teams of three to four students. These teams were so important that every year there was fierce competition for the best students.
After the teams were finalized, the students would be assigned official work from outside the school.
Depending on the quality of work done, a "temporary license" for partly qualified exorcists or a "permanent license" for fully qualified exorcists would be issued.
If you were partnered with a good partner, you would have more opportunities to be assigned difficult jobs, resulting in a better chance of getting a permanent license while in school.
On the other hand, teaming up was not particularly important for a student like me who personally felt that a temporary license was enough and that it would be nice to just take it easy as an employee of the ascension support center in the future. Until recently I had been spending my time leisurely… however, now I was feeling rather nervous.
If no one teamed up with you, you wouldn’t even be given a temporary license. There wouldn’t be any work for you either.
After being labeled with the humiliating title of lowest-ranked student for three consecutive years, I was now also going to be remembered as the first high school student in the school’s history to graduate without a license.
Although I could still get my high school graduation credits at the School for Exorcists, the nation was currently in an economic slump. It was obvious that if I graduated without any qualifications, I was going to end up homeless since I had only been studying to become an exorcist.
So, I was feeling greatly panicked as the deadline for the team application which was coming up next week approached… now that I had lost the sympathy of my classmates because of Kaede, my future was in serious jeopardy.
"Hey, I don’t think you need to be so pessimistic."
As I wrapped my ankle with a talisman used for treating spiritual injuries that had been prepared by Kaede, she spoke with a sadistic smile.
The school’s resident medical exorcist had just left the room so it was currently just me and Kaede in the infirmary.
"If you can’t find any classmates that are willing to team up with you, I would be happy to let you join my team as a luggage carrier."
"How could I possibly follow a professional team on their activities when I can’t even deal with small fry."
For an exorcist of Kaede’s level, assigned jobs likely involved dealing with disaster level demons and monsters. No matter how many lives I had, it was never going to be enough. Besides, they were probably going to make me work for them even after I died by turning me into a shikigami or something.
Finding some random part-time jobs would probably better than having to deal with that.
After I refused her offer, Kaede pointed to my hand and said,
"But even if you’re attacked by a vicious monster or some nasty evil spirit, in the end, you’ve still got that, right?"
SodaChip 