Teacher

"Anthony!"

Clemence bumbled down the stairs as fast as he could without falling, waving a letter around.

"We've got a teacher candidate!"

Anthony looked up at Clemence from the floor, where he was doing his one-armed pushups. He had grown strong enough to do them with ease, but at the same time, his body didn't weigh that much, so it wasn't overly impressive.

"Really?"

Clemence hadn't told him how many people he had probed for a teaching position over the last months, but Anthony had picked up on the fact that it was many. Yet, not a single one had been more than one or two letters before rejection happened on either side of the exchange.

Now was the first time Clemence bothered bringing the possibility of a teacher up to Anthony. 

Clemence had learned from when he brought up possible theories about Anthony to Thomas and Vira, and each successive disappointment when it turned out those theories weren't the right answer that reporting every failed step as a doctor wasn't necessarily appropriate. It was first when he had a promise of success or some hints of certainty that Clemence mentioned a possible teacher to Anthony.

"Yes! They said they could come out to meet us in a week to decide the compatibility of teacher and student, as well as settling on terms. They also said that secrecy wasn't a problem since they're used to it to some degree."

"Great."

Anthony tossed himself off the ground and received the letter from Clemence before reading it.

"Seems promising enough. Ask them to come."

Anthony handed back the letter to Clemence before he continued to train. Although his body had grown a lot, it was still only strong when compared to other babies around his age and slightly older than him. There was still a long way to go and no time to waste.

And then, a week later, a rickety cart, drawn by an old, grey mule, rolled into the village.

The other villagers looked on curiously as the rider gently drove their cart through the village to the center, and they realized who the visitor had come for. Of course, it was Clemence.

The wide-brimmed straw hat made it difficult to discern who the visitor was or what they looked like. But they wore simple, slightly worn clothes that were similar to what some of the younger men in the village wore. They had brown pants and a leather vest over their white shirt.

The villagers assumed that a young man had come to visit Clemence from the city in the hopes of finding medicine at a cheaper price than in the city. But making an assumption didn't stop the villagers from gossiping about the young man or his supposed purpose.

Eventually, the young man arrived at Clemence's clinic. He looked around and confirmed that it was the building as described in the letter before stepping inside.

The doorbell chimed, and Clemence looked up from the book he had tried to read while he waited for Anthony's possible teacher to arrive.

"Hello?"

Clemence greeted the person standing still at the door.

It wasn't a villager. Clemence could see that at a glance. He hadn't expected any other visitor aside from the teacher. But the young man at the door with the wide straw hat didn't exactly look like a teacher.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Clemence realized he might have been a little rude with his questioning greeting. Even if it wasn't the teacher he had expected, it was still a potential patient or customer. So, he rectified his first greeting with a second question.

"Um, I am looking for someone named Clemence?"

The voice was gentler than Clemence had expected, but he didn't think too much of it. Although his appearance was a little misleading, it seemed that it was the person Clemence had asked to teach Anthony magic.

"That would be me. And then, you must be Mirabelle?"

Clemence tilted his head as he looked at the young man. In their letters, he had assumed it was a woman due to the name. But clothing-wise, it didn't seem like that.

'Well, let's not judge. Maybe his parents wanted a girl.'

Mirabelle took off his hat and revealed a youthful, tan face and short brown hair.

"Yes, that's me. Uh…."

Mirabelle looked around the clinic.

"And the student…?"

Clemence nodded.

"They will be here in a minute. I want to repeat the conditions you agreed to first."

Mirabelle nodded with enough vigor to make the short brown curls dangle.

"Of course. I will keep who, what, and where I teach secret. I am not to reveal any details as much as possible. I will also not do anything suspicious or harmful to the student. I should also not let the student's appearance prevent me from doing my best to teach."

Clemence could tell that Mirabelle was both curious and nervous as he finished talking without Clemence saying anything.

Eventually, Clemence nodded satisfactorily.

"Good. As for payment… What do you think about two silver vins each week, with two sessions per week?"

"Two silver…."

Mirabelle crossed his arms slightly as she lowered her gaze while considering the amount. It was more than he had expected.

"Is it not enough? You are more than welcome to come with your own offer, considering we are demanding a lot of you."

"N-no! It's enough– Wait. You said your student wanted to enter the Imperial Academy, right?"

"That's right."

"In that case, two sessions each week might not be enough. How about one silver vin for each session and then two to seven sessions per week?"

Mirabelle didn't know how old his would-be student was, but he knew that people wanting to apply to the Imperial Academy couldn't be taught too much. And as long as the student was easy to work with, Mirabelle would prefer to teach magic than any of the other odd jobs he had.

Mirabelle anxiously waited as Clemence tilted his head to the side while considering his offer.

"Sure. I'll bring you to where you will hold your lessons, then."

Mirabelle held back a shout of joy as she followed Clemence to the basement.

"And the student?"

"He's waiting for us down here."