In A Noble Magic Academy, The Only Spell I Know Is Scan

"Ahhhh, finally back!" Helena cried as she stretched her arms in the middle of the familiar Memoria Auspice courtyard.

"You say that like it took weeks to get back like it took for us to get to Granreveria." Momo chuckled, "We literally just teleported here."

"You gotta pretend like the journey was worth it when you get home, it just makes you feel happier being home!"

"Helena!"

"Melia!"

Helena's best friend ran out from the hallways and gave her a big hug.

"Ah, I missed you!"

"Me too!" Helena replied jovially, "Haven't seen you since that party! How have you been?"

"Oh you know. Struggling."

"Well, the curriculum can be hard to get used to. I'll help you out."

"Thank you! I've been too busy with catching up to make any friends."

"Aw come on, that's the most important part of a school like this! Come on, I'll get you to a party and introduce some people to you."

"Aw, Helena!"

"Yo." Edea said as she walked up to them with Lavinia following her, "How was the elfland?"

"Very fun!" Momo grinned, "Very interesting culture and people! I learned a lot!"

"Their connection with nature was very interesting to observe." Kaguya nodded, "It's amazing how much they know about things that aren't even on their own land."

"Roko?" Lavinia turned to the silent boy, "How was your experience?"

"They're a whole bunch of characters, that's for sure." Roko sighed, "But they were very insightful. I learned a lot in between racial negotiations."

"You know, you didn't have to do that." Edea smirked.

"Then tell them to stop asking me for help." Roko sighed again, "Not that it matters now."

"Corissa?"

Their teachers turned to the remaining princess only to see her looking around anxiously, "Something wrong?"

"How's Aida?" She asked nervously.

"Pfft." She's fine." Edea said, "She's just being shy again. Hey, Aida! They're asking about you!"

A moment of silence filled the courtroom until a bit of shy shuffling revealed the young, now 13 year old girl from behind a pillar, looking none too different from when they had left her.

"Aida!" Corissa grinned as she knelt down and opened her arms, "Gimme a hug!"

Aida took a few shy steps forward before running forward to give Corissa a big hug.

"Oh, I missed you!" Corissa squealed as she hugged Aida tightly, "Have you been good?"

"Yes." Aida replied awkwardly, "Everyone's been nice to me."

"That's good." Corissa said as she pulled away from Aida, "We bought you plenty of souvenirs from our trip."

"Oh neat."

"And also a friend!"

"Huh?"

"Roko, if you would."

Roko reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll. Unfurling it, he tossed it into the air as the magic enchanted on it burned the scroll away and opened a rift in space in front of them.

"Ah. It's time. Bye dad."

A familiar voice could be heard from the other side of the rift until a young dark elf stepped through the rift, backpack on her back.

"Hello." Ereshkigal bowed politely to everyone in the courtyard, "I'll be in your care."

"Hello Eresh." Corissa smiled, "Aida, go on. Greet her."

Aida slowly came out from behind Corissa's legs as she approached the dark elf curiously.

"Hello." Ereshkigal bowed again to the child, a little more stiffly this time.

"Hello." Aida returned the bow, not sure of what else she should do.

"Are...you Aida?" Ereshkigal asked.

"Yes..." Aida said, now a bit more cautious.

"My name is Ereshkigal. You can call me Eresh though. Most people do anyway."

"Uh huh..." Aida said slowly, "You're...a dark elf right?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"...So...are you just short or something?"

A majority of the adults burst into laughter at Aida's question as the child looked around in embarrassed confusion, "Elves live for a long time right? So she should be older than me."

"I am older than you." Ereshkigal sighed, "But we also develop slower than humans. So by elf years I'm the same age as you."

"Oh..." Aida blinked, "I just thought you were a really short 1000 year old elf."

"I'm only 83 years old."

"You're older than my dad when he died."

"Well, age isn't everything."

"Okay. Ummm...sorry if that question was offensive."

"It's fine. And..." Ereshkigal hesitated but the mental preparations she made quickly pulled herself back together, "You don't have to understand this but...this is something I have to do."

Ereshkigal bowed stiffly, "I'm sorry."

Aida just looked confused as Ereshkigal stood back up with a satisfied sigh, "Huh, that DOES feel better now that it's over.

"Umm...have we met in the past or something?" Aida asked.

"Nope."

"Did you do something to me before and I just forgot?"

"Not to you. I just...was a problem for your friends here for a bit."

"Okay? But why are you apologizing to me?"

"D-Don't worry about it."

Aida turned to Roko.

"It's a long story." Roko said, "I'll let her tell it."

"Okay?" Aida said as Ereshkigal let out a tsk.

"Don't worry, she's a friend!" Corissa said cheerfully, "Don't you want to be friends with her, Aida?"

"I mean, I don't really know anything about her..." Aida muttered.

"Then talk to her! Find something in common!"

Aida and Ereshkigal turned to look at each other. Then awkwardly, turned away from each other, unsure of what to say. This awkwardness hung in the air for a moment that felt longer than it was until Aida reached into a pouch and pulled out a piece of chocolate.

"Want some chocolate?"

"Oh, yeah sure." Ereshkigal said as she took the piece of candy from her, "Thanks."

"You're doing great, Aida!"

"Corissa, calm down for a moment." Roko sighed, "Let them decide if they want to be friends."

"But Aida hadn't had a friend her age since she arrived here! This is a good opportunity for her to finally have a friend!"

"Aida can take care of herself. If she wanted a friend, she'd make one."

"But she hasn't!"

"And why's that a concern?"

"Because if Aida turns out to be like you in the future, I'm going to lose my mind!"

"Uuhhh..." Roko said, "I...don't know how to respond to that..."

"Don't you want them to be friends, Roko?!"

"I mean it'd be nice if they did but that's not up to us." Roko replied, "And we shouldn't try to force it."

"But Roko…!" Corissa said, rocking back and forth on her feet anxiously.

"Aida, please take Ereshkigal to her room so she can unpack." Roko continued, ignoring Corissa, "She should know where she'll be sleeping. Just show her the way. We'll put away our stuff and see you at dinner, if not sooner."

"Okay..." Aida said, still unsure, "Then...this way to the girls dorm."

"Okay."

The two kids departed and not long afterwards, the older group disbanded too to finally settle back into their dorms.

Roko was walking to the mess hall early the next morning when he spotted Aida sitting in the middle of a different courtyard. She was sitting on one of the railings set up around some of the plants, quietly whitling away at another wooden statue, carving something that looked like a bear. Since it's been so long since they last saw each other, Roko moved to greet her until he spotted Ereshkigal walking up to her from across the courtyard and chose to hide behind a pillar for the time being and observe.

"Morning." Ereshkigal greeted Aida.

"Morning." Aida returned the greeting.

"Are you woodcarving?"

"Yes."

"That's pretty cool. Where'd you learn to do that?"

"My dad. He didn't really teach me exactly, he didn't want to let me near his tools. But I watched him do it pretty closely so I remembered how to do some of it."

"Dad huh?" Ereshkigal sighed, "Must be nice."

"Did you not have a dad?"

"I did. Turns out I killed him."

"Oh, you're the one from that story from Roko's reports?" Aida blinked, "If I remember correctly, Roko proved that those ghosts weren't your parents right?"

"Maybe." Ereshkigal frowned, "But...I think they were right. I think I killed them. Like...I don't want it to be true but...I feel like I've already accepted it as true. It doesn't...feel wrong."

"So...Roko was mistaken?"

"I don't know..." Ereshkigal sighed, "He might be right. Maybe the god controlling my parent's ghosts knew more than it let on but not my real name. But I, as Ereshkigal, believes their story. Maybe that's me being foolish but...in the end it doesn't matter. My dad's Enlil now as far as I'm concerned."

Aida stared silently at Ereshkigal, her hands having stopped whitling a while ago.

"So...how did you lose your parents?" Ereshkigal asked as she coughed and composed herself again.

"Ah, that was...due to those starfish monsters."

"Hmm, I don't think I've had experience with those personally." Ereshkigal replied, "But I heard they nearly ruined Granreveria."

"Yeah, that was them." Aida sighed, "Lost the whole damn forest save for the trees to them. There was nothing left but me and those monsters for...well, who knows how long, really?"

"You were surrounded on all sides by those monsters and still survived?" Ereshkigal gulped, "How?"

"Well, I probably wasn't going to last much longer, I'll tell you that." Aida said, going back to her woodworking as she told her story, "There wasn't anything for me to eat other than those monsters."

"You ATE the monsters?!" Ereshkigal gasped.

"Yeah? I just said that."

"Sorry, it just sounds...disgusting. I mean...did they taste good?"

"The only thing I can say about their taste is that they were rubbery." Aida said, "Bland and tasteless. No spice could've salvaged it. No amount of cooking made it taste any better. It was hard to stomach at first but...well I had to."

Roko took notice of the white tips in Aida's hair. They had grown larger, overtaking a bit more of her naturally black hair. It was marginal but her condition had worsened somehow. Roko wasn't sure how that could've happened. He was pretty confident Aida didn't have to eat monsters like that again since rescuing her nor did she have any further exposure to the eldritch in any kind so...perhaps it was just a long term effect from her eating? Like some sort of poison? A worry to be sure but there was nothing he could do. And Aida still seemed healthy enough.

"Well, at least you got attacked." Ereshkigal winced, "I summoned the monsters to our doorsteps. Practically invited them in."

"That's kind of scary actually." Aida replied, looking up curiously from her work, "Can you still do that?"

"Nope." Ereshkigal scowled as she crossed her arms, "All that knowledge just...disappeared from my mind. Quite irritating really. I've never heard of anything that can just...take away my knowledge like that."

"Sounds like normal god stuff to me."

"You know about gods?" Ereshkigal frowned.

"Not really." Aida said, returning to her work, "But some of Roko's friends like giving me lessons."

"I guess this is a school after all..."

"Pretty much."

A bit of silence followed the end of their conversation but the children's little meeting was soon interrupted by two students, princesses that Roko did not recognize.

"Ah! Aida! Good morning!"

"Morning." Aida replied, continuing on her woodwork without looking up.

"You're the dark elf guest right?" The other girl said, turning to Ereshkigal, "Good morning."

"Morning..." Ereshkigal said, slowly take a step or two back shyly.

"Wow, I've never seen a dark elf before." The girl said, stepping closer to study the uncomfortable Ereshkigal.

"You've never seen an elf before, much less a dark elf, Tiana." Her friend said, "Now give the poor girl some space."

"Sorry, sorry." Tiana said, backing away from the dark elf child.

"Please excuse me friend. She can be a bit rude sometimes." Her friend said with a teasing solemnity.

"You're one to talk, Ariel." Tiana scoffed.

"Anyway, Aida." Ariel said, turning to the woodcarving princess, "I see you're working on another new piece!"

"Well, this is my hobby after all. Not much other stuff for me to do in this school. I'm still too young to take most of the actual classes."

"Lucky..." Tiana said as Ariel subtly jabbed her in the side to stay quiet.

"I think it's really cool that you can do something like this at such a young age and they look pretty cool! You're making a bear today?"

"Yeah it's like one of only three different designs I know how to do." Aida shrugged.

"The details are outstanding! Do you think I can have it?"

"Again? Well sure, I guess this one's about done."

Aida reached out to give her wooden bear to the princess who was extending her hands out in gleeful anticipation before Ereshkigal suddenly stepped in to stop them.

"Hold on." Ereshkigal said, a hint of devilish cunning in her eyes, "100 gold."

"Huh?" Ariel and Aida said, surprised.

"You can have it for 100 gold." Ereshkigal bargained.

"Uuuhhh..." Ariel looked unsure.

"You're princesses right? I know you can afford a measly 100 gold."

"E-Eresh, it's fine." Aida spoke up, "This isn't an actual work of art, it's not actually worth much."

"Aida, how do you get food nowadays?"

"From the cafeteria?" Aida replied, confused at where Aida was going.

"Who houses you?"

"The school?"

"Exactly. You can't keep relying on other people. You need to start finding a way to make money and start being independent."

"...I'm 13."

"So am I."

"I thought you were 83."

"Anyway." Aida said turning to the princesses, "I don't think 100 gold is an unreasonable asking price. Think of it as an investment. If Aida goes on to do incredible things, the value of this early piece will skyrocket. In fact, Aida has already done great things. You're well aware of her past are you not? There's still so much left for her to accomplish at her age. Even if she doesn't become a hero like Roko, I will make sure her woodworking skills improve. What's more, paying genuine currency for something makes that thing more precious to you don't you think?"

"That...sounds great!" Ariel grinned, "You didn't really need to give the whole speech, 100 gold is nothing for me and I'll happily pay for one of Aida's pieces!"

And in a moment that Aida was too busy processing to stop, the bear statue she was working on was gone and sitting in her hand was 100 gold, her "customers" walking off happily before she could express the thoughts she was too busy forming.

"What just happened?" Aida frowned.

"You made a sale." Ereshkigal smiled, "Good for you."

"This doesn't feel right." Aida scowled, "My work was not worth paying money for."

"You were willing to just give it away. Why not make some money off of it?"

"But I didn't want to make them pay for it!"

"Who cares so long as you get paid? I didn't force them to pay for it. They wanted to pay and were happy to do so."

"I'm not an actual artist. I'm barely a novice."

"Then get better at it until you're comfortable selling it." Ereshkigal shrugged, "I'll help. First thing we have to do is to get you better tools and some wood finish and oil. Some sandpaper to smooth out the blocky corners. Then we can try painting. We can definitely up the quality real easily."

"Easy for you to say." Aida scoffed.

"I'll be there to help." Ereshkigal nodded, "Whatever you need, I'll be sure to find it for you. And I'll work on advertising your work and making sales. When you're ready for it at any rate. Take as much time as you need. We're still young. Oh and-" Ereshkigal reached up and plucked 40 gold out of the 100 they made, "This will be my share."

"You just want the money don't you?" Aida frowned.

"That a problem?"

"I guess not." Aida sighed as she looked down at her remaining gold, "It's nice to have money to spend on things I suppose. Not sure what to spend it on though."

"First thing's first, we need to invest on your work. Ideally we'll work up to a full on workbench for you to craft at."

"I still want this to be a hobby!" Aida snarled.

"Oh that's fine. We'll just invest in a work belt that can hold all the tools you'll need wherever you go."

As Ereshkigal continued to make plans at Aida, Roko finally decided to quietly leave the two to their business deal.