Nagi almost shouted, “Eek, what a handsome guy!” but somehow managed to shake her head instead.

"No.
Um… I think Isaac already told you, but the reason I healed everyone who was injured at Redington Court was to confirm my healing magic.
I was taught that using healing magic unnecessarily should not be done lightly."

As Nagi herself had experienced, the body of someone who receives healing magic recovers completely, without leaving even a scar.
It’s as if the injury itself never existed.

However, if the caster’s magic power were to run out midway through casting, the injury wouldn’t heal properly at all.
Instead, it could reopen at the original wound site and cause massive bleeding.
That was terrifying.

Knowing that risk, the knights who had essentially volunteered as test subjects for Nagi’s beginner-level healing magic deserved an apology.

Fortunately, she had managed to heal them properly, and they had even thanked her for it, but until she grew accustomed to using healing magic, the process had been genuinely frightening.
As a result, the moment she returned alone to her room that day, she ended up vomiting everything in her stomach again.
Extreme stress was bad for you.

That said, in Nagi’s case, healing magic really felt more like sheer willpower.
She would look at the injured person’s body, think, ‘Ah, this part needs to be healed,’ place her hand there, and chant in her mind, heal, heal.
Her palm would grow gently warm, and once the heat faded, the wound would mysteriously be gone.

Generally speaking, healing magic was said to consume a great deal of magical power, but even after healing everyone injured at Redington Court, Nagi hadn’t felt particularly tired.

‘…Ah.
I just remembered something unpleasant.’

According to the results of the examination conducted before testing her healing magic, Nagi’s total magic capacity had been so high that it shocked the staff at the Royal Magic Research Institute.
If she had been told that beforehand, she probably wouldn’t have been so terrified when using healing magic.
Ever since that incident, Nagi had mentally labeled the institute’s staff as ‘inconsiderate.’

‘If it’s my own body, it’s completely my responsibility, so I can do whatever I want.
…but interfering with someone else’s body when it’s not even an emergency still feels wrong.’

Feeling troubled, Nagi looked up at Lainil.

"I’ll be attending a safe academy for a while, so there won’t really be many chances to use healing magic, right?"

"Yeah.
There’s nothing to worry about, Nagi.
To begin with, using magic on the academy grounds without a teacher’s permission is forbidden.
Healing magic isn’t an exception."

More importantly, her brother smiled lightly.

"With Siegwald around, there’s no way he’d ever let you end up in a state where you need healing magic.
Even if you encounter an accident and someone is injured, unless it’s a life-threatening wound, leave it alone.
Injuries caused by one’s own carelessness should basically be dealt with by one’s own strength."

"Okay."

Even though Nagi was a saint, she wasn’t a saintly paragon.
She had no intention of meddling in the affairs of strangers without being asked.

Seeing the complicated expressions on the faces of the Second Unit members as they watched her exchange with Lainil, Nagi hurriedly raised one hand.

"Ah, but if any of you get injured while working, please tell me anytime.
I’ve been told my magic capacity is much higher than the average saint in history, so it’s not a problem.
The Royal Magic Research Institute guarantees that healing around twelve hundred critically injured adults at once would be fine!"

If the Magic Knight Order’s job was to protect her, then Nagi felt she should properly express her gratitude in a tangible way.

She truly hated bloody splatter.
If possible, she wanted to live her entire life without ever being involved in R18-level gore.
Still, since she accepted her position as someone being protected by them, this was a moment where she had to steel herself.

‘If you die, that’s the end.
As long as you live, it counts.
It’s fine.
Thanks to everyone who helped while injured, the speed of my healing magic has increased a lot.
No matter how gruesome the injury is, once I touch it, it should be over in an instant.
Probably.’

Clenching her fist tightly, she said,

"Of course, it’s best if you don’t get hurt at all.
As long as I’m here, none of you will die.
No matter what happens, I will heal you.
So please, don’t die when I’m not nearby.
If you’re dead, I can’t heal you."

As the Second Unit members began to react to her words, Captain Erwin stopped them with a small gesture of his right hand.
He then lightly placed that hand over his chest and spoke.

"…Your wish has been duly received.
We swear upon our swords that no matter what happens, we will not die in a place beyond Lady Nagi’s sight."

Thank goodness, Nagi felt relieved.
No matter how irreplaceable a saint might be as a biological weapon, she sincerely wanted to avoid anyone dying because of her.

"Thank you.
But please, even though I won’t let any of you die, don’t do anything reckless.
If we can avoid using healing magic, that’s always better."

As she said that firmly, the gazes of the Second Unit members all turned toward Vice-Captain Ceres.
I see.
He was the most likely troublemaker.

"…Mr. Ceres?"

When she smiled and called his name, the red-haired vice-captain hurriedly waved his hands in front of his face.

"What the hell, you guys!?
I haven’t done anything!"

"What, you seriously have no self-awareness?
You’ve gotta be kidding."

Karl, the first among the Second Unit to start calling her ‘Nagi-chan,’ said in exasperation.
The others followed mercilessly.

"Honestly, every time we fight magical beasts, I wonder why this guy doesn’t die."
"They say foolish kids are cute, but sometimes I really want to trip him from behind."
"You know, looking cool only works if you’re alive, Vice-Captain."

Finally, Captain Erwin placed a hand on Ceres’s shoulder.

"Ceres.
Try not to trouble Lady Nagi too much."

"Fiiine, damn it!"

The Second Unit members all seemed to get along very well, which was great.
For now, Nagi resolved that the next time Ceres did something reckless, his punishment would be making him wear a frilly, fluttery maiden-style dress.

‘The size data from when the Magic Knight Order uniforms were made should still be at Redington Court.
Since Mr. Ceres is slim and muscular, he might actually pull off an elegant adult-style dress.
No, it has to be a knee-length maiden-style dress.
…I’ll just not look at the leg hair.’

For a punishment to have meaning, it had to inflict enough mental damage that the person would think, ‘If this is what happens, I’ll never do that again.’

Satisfied, Nagi nodded and decided to start unpacking.

Her private quarters were a so-called 2LDK located on the second floor of the mansion’s south wing, consisting of a bedroom and an adjoining study.
Naturally, it came with a bathroom and toilet.

‘Well, unpacking just means putting my clothes into the closet, so it’ll be done quickly.
Siegwald and the others are probably busy preparing for living alone right now.
That sounds rough.’

Siegwald, Soleil, and Seiad, who had newly joined as Nagi’s escort assistant, would each be living alone in separate student apartments.
The reason was that it was better to have multiple locations that could serve as temporary bases in case something happened.
They had said they would regroup here once their preparations were complete.

‘Soleil was so excited, saying it’s her first time living alone.
…I’m a little jealous.’

Since Nagi was one of only five such beings in the world—a highly valuable saint—living alone would remain a distant dream until the disturbance in the ley lines settled down.
Still, once she was no longer needed, she would have to handle all household tasks herself.
To prepare for the future, she should learn as many things as possible while she could still be a carefree student.

‘Having knights who are good at cooking always nearby is really amazing.
Alright, on academy holidays, I’ll ask if they can teach me how to cook.’

While she was thinking about that, the three people who would be enrolling in the academy as her classmates arrived one after another.
They moved to the spacious reception room and went over plans for the future together.

The primary purpose of this academy life was for Nagi to acquire general knowledge, basic academic skills, and interact with children her own age.
Lainil and the others seemed to have various other goals, but she was told she didn’t need to involve herself deeply in adult matters.

In other words, just as the crown prince had said at the beginning, she was free to live as a ‘normal child’ for a while.
It probably wouldn’t last very long, but she hoped to enjoy it as much as she could.

‘It can’t be helped that saint duties will start eventually.
…but I still can’t help worrying a little about the kids who were raised together with Rio at the orphanage.
I hope they’re all doing well somewhere.’

As part of her enrollment into the magic academy, Nagi was taking a test sent by the academy administration to assess her level of general academic knowledge.

The test subjects were languages—her native language, the common language, and the imperial language—three in total.
General education covered world history, geography, mathematics, and theology.
There was also magic theory.
The only subject she couldn’t answer at all was magic theory, which she would be learning from the basics at the academy.

She heard that children from noble families studied that subject to some extent before enrolling.
Learning that children from commoner backgrounds usually had no opportunity to study magic theory made her feel relieved.
Being the only one far behind at the starting line would have been crushing.

That day, the ‘administrator of the world’ she had spoken with in her dream had said that within ten days, her soul would fully synchronize with Rio’s body and all of Rio’s memories would return.
Because of that, she had spent those ten days after waking up extremely nervous, afraid her personality would gradually be overtaken by Rio’s.

But when ten days passed, she felt like nothing had changed.

Just as she was secretly wondering what that meant, the test arrived.
The moment she realized she could answer every question with a casual ‘Oh, I know this,’ she was deeply shocked.
She hadn’t even noticed that the language she was using now wasn’t Japanese.
In the end, she probably hadn’t been in anything close to a normal state at all.
Maybe she was still a little strange even now.

But thinking about it calmly, memories from the past were usually things people weren’t consciously aware of.
Unless something triggered them—like being forced to recall them during a test—there was no need to remember them at all.

She had expected that regaining all of Rio’s memories would mean reliving her entire life in a short time, so she felt a little disappointed.

‘Well, getting a zero in magic theory and perfect scores in everything else really surprised Lainil.
Maybe Rio’s brain was actually pretty high-spec?
…Sorry, Rio, my own brain is pretty average.
Things might get a bit tough from here, but I should at least remember all those exam subjects I crammed so desperately, so hang in there.’

At the very least, this meant that Rio had been given enough education to attend a magic academy filled with children from noble families without issue.
Rio, an orphan who was meant to be sold as a ‘product.’
And the boys and girls her age who had likely received similar education.

For what purpose, and to whom, were those children meant to be sold as ‘products’?

‘…Oh.
If I introduce myself as Nagi, would those kids say, “What are you talking about, your name is Rio!”?
Well, it’s not uncommon for a ‘product’ to get a new name when the owner changes.
If I ever meet them again and they point it out, I’ll just brush it off like that.’

Nagi didn’t want to meet the children who grew up with Rio.
She personally felt nothing toward them.
They were complete strangers to her.

Still, she hoped they were alive and well.
Because Rio had cherished them deeply, seeing them as friends and siblings.

As she went about her days thinking of such things, the entrance ceremony arrived in the blink of an eye.

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