Chapter 191 - Hundred And Ninety One - Teachers approach mine about me (1/2)

In a courtyard, surrounded by pots and raised beds, with the sound of water lapping against a pond's edge, sat a man, a Teacher. At a stone table, on which he had scrolled documents scattered here and there, the Teacher was reading, occasionally scribbling notes and at other times sipping from a tea cup. After reading a scroll, he tossed it into a small wooden container upon the bench. The container did not appear to be able to fit the scrolled document, at yet it vanished inside regardless. This container was a spatial device, much like an interspatial bag, just with a different external look. It also could fit much more inside than most interspatial bags could.

Feeling that the tea in his cup had grown tepid, he poured it onto the floor and not into one of the nearby pots or flower beds. This was because each pot and raised bed contained precious herbs, he could not risk ruining the conditions of the soil, which he maintained with precision and painstaking work. Many of his herbs had their own wants and needs and to ensure they grew into their greatest potential, he had near perfected his care towards them over the centuries. His greatest joy was to sit amongst them, able to enjoy the fruits of his labours before they were harvested for use in pills and potions.

Tossing another report into the box, which happened to be an invoice for new cauldrons, he heard a voice calling out to him in a jovial manner and naturally, he glanced up to greet his visitor. ”Volun,” he said as the silver haired man approached. ”What brings you to the outer alchemist school?”

”Actually, I have something to discuss with you,” the man replied, taking the offered seat upon the stone bench opposite the other. A tea cup was summoned from the wooden box and placed upon the table, before it was filled with a light scented green tea and placed before Volun. ”Thank you,” he said, gratefully, before continuing from earlier; ”Actually, it is about one of your students.”

”One of my students?” The other Teacher questioned, however before Volun could clarify, a third voice was heard in the garden;

”Teacher Sagi!” The words were followed by a man in white robes favoured by the Healers of the Institute. ”Excuse me for intruding, but I wanted to know where I could find a student of yours!”

”I think I should prepare a fresh pot of tea,” Sagi sighed and gathering the cast iron tea pot, he entered his home in order to do so.

Sometime later, when fresh tea had been poured and the three men had exchanged light pleasantries, the visitors began to finally discuss the reasons for approaching Teacher Sagi during this four day break period. As Volun had arrived first, it was only fair that he broach the subject first as well.

”As I previously mentioned,” he began, ”I came to talk to you about one of your students.”

”There hasn't been any trouble, has there?” Teacher Sagi asked him. It was not unheard of for students of any schools to have differences after all, say if requested pills were not to the standard the requester insisted upon despite rewards being low or if tamed beasts had escaped and wandered into the small herb gardens in amongst the dormitories of the students.

”No trouble,” Volun's eyes were twinkling with excitement. ”I wanted to speak to your student about somethings. Especially about his carvings!”