Period 9: A little bit of courage

"What?!" Negi shouted. "You went to a magical dungeon?!"

"Well," Asuna said, "Technically it was a library."

After their adventure the baka rangers had returned to their rooms where Asuna recounted the story to their teacher.

"Asuna-san, how could you even consider doing something so dangerous?!"

"What! You're the one who's been acting weird! Working us so hard so hard without telling us why, and saying something bad was going to happen if we don't get out of last place. Of course we'd do something like this!"

"Whaaa- I-I didn't . . . I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have pressured you like that. The truth is, this is also the final exam for me as a teacher. If 2-A can pull out of last place I will be recognized as an official teacher."

"What? You- " She banged her fist on the top of his head. "Baka Negi! That"s super important! Why didn't you tell us?" Negi twisted his fingers nervously.

"B-But, this is my problem, I can't involve all of you-"

"Don't be stupid!" She snapped. "You may be a brat, but that doesn't mean we want you to go away!"

"Thank you for that Asuna-san. But even so I don't think you should be using something like a magic book. You can't rely on magic to solve your problems all the time."

"What are you talking about, you're a mage aren't you? What's the point of magic if you don't use it?"

"Back home uncle used to tell me this: 'Our magic is not omnipotent. A little bit of courage is the real magic.'"

"Gah, fine!" She threw up her hands. "All I have to do is study right?"

"Asuna-san?"

"If you're working this hard to become a teacher it's the least I can do. I won't let you quit so easily!"

"Thank you Asuna-san."

X

"Good morning class." Negi said starting homeroom.

"Morning Sensei!"

"Um, before we start today's lesson I think I owe all of you an apology." He took a deep breath. "I haven't been totally honest with you. If 2-A can moves out of the last ranking in the final exams, I will become an official teacher."

The girls gasped in shock.

"Wait so then what if we fail?" Haruna asked.

"Will Negi-kun be fired?" Konoka wondered.

"What?!" Ayaka cried out. "This is the first I'm hearing about this! Sensei how could you neglect to tell us something so important?!"

"Yeah Negi-kun," Makie said. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"I didn't want to cause any of you to worry, this is my own personal problem after all."

"D-Don't say that Sensei!" Nodoka cried. "This is our fault in the first place!"

"Thank you Nodoka-san, but this is because of my own shortcomings and inexpeirence. I just tried to push you all as hard as I could, and that isn't fair. I'm still in training to be a teacher, just like you I'm here to learn. So . . . why don't we start over? There are three more days until the test, let's try our best together!"

"Yes Sensei!" Everyone cheered.

X

Deep beneath the school, a magic circle activated in library island. It glowed brightly, and two men stepped out of the light. Konoe Konemon, and Takamichi T. Takahata looked around the room and saw nothing but wreckage. The library was nearly destroyed; bookcases were on the floor, the walls had been blasted to rubble, and most concerning, there were torn scraps of clothing all over the room. There had obviously been a struggle here.

"Well, this doesn't look good does it?" Konoemon said.

"No it doesn't." Takahata said before lighting a cigarette.

"The obvious questions are 'who did this' and 'why'." The dean began walking through the ruins.

"Did you change the enchantment on the golems?" Takahata asked. "I thought they weren't able to attack on their own."

"They weren't." The old man stroked his beard. "The parameters of the spell were that they would would only engage in combat once they were directly attacked." He picked up a piece of stone that was once part of a golem. "What's more they were designed to only respond with an appropriate level of force. If they fought this hard and were still defeated . . . the intruder must have been quite powerful."

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"We would know if the school's barrier had been breached," Takahata said. "This must have been someone on campus."

"Are you suggesting it was a teacher or a student? Because I really don't want to believe that." Takahata took a long puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"This isn't good." He said.

"No it isn't." Konoemon agreed.

X

"See Asuna-san?" Negi said after class. "In this situation you conjugate the verb like this."

"Uh, I guess . . . " She replied.

Negi hadn't required her to stay after class again, but after their talk that morning, she agreed to an additional study session in their room. They were just starting to make progress when they heard a knock at the door. Konoka answered it, revealing Mero standing in the doorway.

"Hi Mero-chan!" She said happily.

"Good evening." Mero said bowing her head

"Come on in, I'll put on some tea. How do you like it Mero-chan?"

"Cream and sugar." She decided. Konoka headed to the kitchenette to prepare the tea, and Asuna looked up at her guest.

"Mero, what are you doing here?"

"Yes well, I know how much you struggle with english. I've seen your marks and frankly it's incredible how bad they are. Even today your results didn't seem to improve much. It's actually a bit concerning.

"Mmmmn." Asuna frowned. "Yeah, yeah, I know I'm an idiot! Baka red right?"

"C-Calm down Asuna-san," Negi said. "Your scores are steadily geting better." He turned to Mero. "Asuna-san really is trying her best."

"I know. That's why I came to help her study."

"Eh?" Asuna blinked in surprise.

"That's wonderful Mero-san!" Negi exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see my students getting along!"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks." Asuna said awkwardly.

"Why don't you show me what you're working on?" She took a seat between them.

The three began studying. It became clear that while she had a good grasp of the material, Mero was not very good at explaining it. Even after reiterating the information Asuna failed to grasp it.

"What about this are you not getting?" She sighed.

"Of course I wouldn't understand if you just give me the same explanation over and over! Idiot!" Mero paused at that.

"Somehow I really don't want to be called an idiot by you Asuna-san."

"S-Shut up! Idiot!"

Then the door swung open and in stepped the rest of the baka rangers and the library expedition club.

"What's going in here?" Makie said.

"Hey looks like you guys have already started!" Haruna said.

"What's everyone doing here?" Negi asked.

"Go on Nodoka." Yue said nudging her friend forward.

"W-Well," Nodoka spoke up. "We want to support sensei if we can. So . . . please let us study with you!"

"Nodoka-san, everyone . . ." Negi was completely awed. "Alright, let's give it our best!"

X

For the next three days the study sessions continued. Negi and Nodoka were vital in teaching and conveying information to the baka rangers. Slowly their scores began to improve. Mero wanted to investigate the magic power she'd located as quickly as possible, but she couldn't do that if she was spending so much time with the others. She considered removing herself from the group, but decided against it. There would be plenty of time to complete the mission after the exam, and during the break she would have free regin of the campus.

However, during the night after Yuna had fallen asleep she was able to examine the book she had taken from library island. It seemed to be an index of magical information. While her own magical knowledge was not lacking, it contained a lot of useful information about earth, such as known magical associations, certain magic artifacts, and the locations of the planet's ley lines. It even had an active connection to the mahou-net, giving her access to a whole network of data. Most intriguing to her was an article about something called the World Tree. A large number of ley lines converged on it, and judging by it's position on the map it seemed to be the same location she had sensed in the library.

"This is it!" She declared out loud.

"Huh! Whazzat?" Yuna bolted upright in her bunk. "What Mero-chan?" She said rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" She shouted slamming the book shut.

"Huh? What are you reading in the middle of the night?" She asked.

"Nothing! Yuna-san don't look over here!" She hastily tried to hide the book behind her.

"Why-wait are you . . .?" Her face went red as she came to a conclusion. "Um, never mind. I'm going back to sleep, just um, be sure to clean up when you're done okay?" Yuna lied down and pulled the covers over her head.

Mero wasn't sure why she had left her alone, but it seemed her secret was safe for now.

X

Finally the day of the test arrived. After all their hours of studying the baka rangers had actually managed to get their grades up to passing levels. The only remaining question was weather it was enough to get them out of last place.

"Everyone," Negi said. "I-I'm sorry about library island. You shouldn't feel like you have to put yourselves in danger for my sake. But you've managed to improve so much even without the magic book. This week you've made incredible progress in such a short amount of time. What I'm trying to say is I'm proud of you. Whatever happens I'm honored to have been your teacher."

"Don't worry sensei!" Nodoka cried. "We'll do our best, we won't let sensei get fired!"

"Y-Yeah we'll manage somehow!" Makie chimed in.

"Leave the rest to us, De Gozaru." Kaede said.

"We got this Negi." Asuna said confidently. "All we need is that little bit of courage right?"

"I don't particularly mind either way," Mero said. "But I'm sure we'll pass."

"What are you saying Mero-chan?" Makie said. "You were the one helping us study."

"No that was-"

Just then the test administrator noticed them lingering in the hallway.

"Hey you six! Hurry up and take your seats!" He shouted.

Asuna gave her teacher a thumbs up and they disappeared into the classroom.

The next morning all the second years had gathered in the auditorium for the results. The air was thick with tension. Everyone in 2-A was uncharacteristically quiet. Negi had his hands clasped in silent prayer. Mero turned to Asuna who was trembling with anticipation.

"Asuna-san," She said. "You are an idiot."

"Geh!" Asuna nearly fell over in surprise. "What the hell is that for all of a sudden?!"

"But you studied very hard." Mero continued. "All week you've pushed yourself and your efforts have yielded impressive results. So don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"Heh, thanks Mero-chan." She smiled. "I really needed that."

"Well then it's time to unveil the class grades!" The announcer said. "In first place . . . second year class 2-A!"

"Eh!" Negi jumped back in surprise. "W-We're number one?!"

"Alright!" Everyone cheered.

"Sensei!" Nodoka ran up to him so quickly they nearly crashed. "C-Congratulations!"

"N-No." Negi stammered. "This is thanks to all of your hard work."

"I-um, I look forward to having you teach again next term sensei!"

"Yes congratulations Negi-kun." Konoemon said strolling toward them.

"Eh, principal?" Negi exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see the class rankings. Good job getting first place, it seems all your hard work has paid off."

"Thank you principal!"

"Your final test was to see if you could act like a teacher when it really counts, and I'd say you've proved yourself. Let me be the first to welcome you as a official teacher of Mahora, Negi sensei."

"Heh, good for you Negi." Asuna smirked.

It looked like Negi Springfeild would be staying on as a teaher for the foreseeable future. Mero gave him a hard look.

"Congratulations sensei."