The next day, I came to the student assembly again.
“You are here earlier than I thought.” Jazmine greeted me slightly surprised. “You came to ask for the girl you rescued yesterday, right?”
I nodded.
“Just in time. I just finished organizing the information about her. Follow me.”
I followed Jazmine to her office while she talked.
“I must say, I’m surprised you are so interested in her.”
I put on a wry smile.
“It’s just that I will feel uncomfortable if ignore her situation after seeing her like that. It’s like a sense of responsibility. A bit naïve, right?”
“Yeah, a bit.” Jazmine chuckled. “The representative is also like that. Every time he comes across something he dislikes he doesn’t stop until he reaches the bottom of it. I guess you two are a bit alike.”
I smiled embarrassedly.
In truth, my reasons are actually selfish. Although it’s true I’m a bit worried about the girl, the main reason I’m here is to see if I can find a clue about the ‘piece’ through her.
After entering the office, Jazmine grabbed a folder while talking to me.
“After Gerona tried to commit suicide yesterday, I asked some students to collect information about her to understand what made her take that decision. Unfortunately, they returned almost empty-handed.” Jazmine sighed. “From what it looks, Gerona is a completely normal student. She is starting the third academic semester, and her grades are not bad. Quite the opposite, she was in the top fifty of her group in the last evaluation.”
“It’s quite good.”
“It is.” Jazmine nodded. “Her family is also very normal, and she does not seem to suffer from bullying or anything similar. She actually has a lot of friends. Honestly, we have no idea what motivated her to commit suicide.”
“I remember you mentioned yesterday that she showed signs of withdrawal,” I commented.
“This is where things become interesting.” Jazmine opened the folder in her hands with a complicated expression. “The exams failed to find any strange substance in her body. She was completely clean, and none of her classmates has seen her consuming drugs before. Everything indicates she is not a drug addict either.”
I frowned.
In other words, everything is fine with her.
But that is impossible. She didn’t seem fine yesterday.
And the demon also confirmed that she was somehow related to another fragment. We are definitively missing something.
Noticing my doubts, Jazmine smiled wryly.
“We are just as lost as you. The only thing wrong with her seems to be her messy mana circuits and the signs of exhaustion on her body. The doctor thinks that maybe she overworked herself in her studies, causing her psychological state to quickly decline and making her attempt suicide.”
“Have you not asked her why she wanted to jump off?”
“We tried, but she becomes hysterical when she is not under the effects of sedatives. Honestly, her case is very disconcerting.” Jazmine expressed her helplessness.
I fell deep into thoughts.
What are we missing then? Where is the problem?
‘Demon, do you have any idea?’
The demon just stayed silent.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of Jazmine’s office.
“Jazmine, can I come in?”
A tall and slightly muscular woman with a stern atmosphere around her and short brown hair leaned in. She was someone I was familiar with, the teacher in charge of Introduction to Combat.
“Teacher Doris, you are here.”
“Good morning, Jazmine. Oh, Jane, you are also here.”
“Hello, teacher.”
Doris greeted me casually and looked at Jazmine.
“I came for Gerona’s situation.”
I was surprised.
“You are related to her, teacher?”
“Mm? It looks like you know her too. Wait, could it be that you are the freshman that stopped her.”
I smiled bitterly and nodded.
“Well done, kid. I guess my classes are not useless.” Doris patted me on the shoulder with a slight grin. “You can say that I’m a bit related to her. I’m her counselor.”
“Counselor?” I was stunned.
Looking at the tough-looking teacher sporting a playful grin, I could not imagine her counseling anyone.
Jazmine answered my doubts with a wry smile.
“Sometimes, teachers act like counselors to students who are struggling in class. Among them, teacher Doris is one of the best. Despite how she looks, she is quite good at making the students talk to her about their problems.”
Well, that sure is surprising.
Wait a moment…
“I thought you said that she was in the top fifty of her year. Why did she need counseling then?” I asked.
Teacher Doris replied instead.
“Her grades are indeed quite good, but that is now. At first, although her grades were not bad, they were not that impressive either, and Gerona was suffering from mild depression.”
Jazmine and I showed an expression of interest.
Seeing that, teacher Doris sighed and sat down on a sofa in a corner of the office while putting on a complicated expression.
“Jazmine should know about it, but many students of Sanctuary’s First suffer from various degrees of depression or stress. There are several reasons, but the main one is that they feel they don’t show the results they expected.”
“You see, Sanctuary’s First is arguably the best Awakened School across the World’s United Government. The most talented Awakened across the 103 districts dream of entering here, and any student that manages to get accepted here is definitively a genius.” She continued.
“But once they arrive at Sanctuary’s First, most of them realize that they are not as good as they thought.” Teacher Doris sighed with a complicated expression. “Maybe they were considered geniuses from where they came from, but when they meet other geniuses equal or better than them, they realize that they are nothing special. That is a blow that hits many students hard.”
“Was Gerona like that?” I asked.
Teacher Doris nodded.
“Gerona's ranking was not that high when she was admitted. Three hundred and something. That is actually not bad, but the girl did not think so. She was constantly pressuring herself to perform better, almost in a self-destructive way.”
“I noticed it and talked to her. Afterward, her situation improved a lot. She became more cheerful, and maybe because of that, her grades improved quite a bit. In the last three months, her ranking climbed up to the top fifty. That is very impressive.” She added.
“But she tried to commit suicide yesterday,” Jazmine stated.
“That is what I find strange.” Teacher Doris put on a pensive expression. “Thinking about it now, she seemed a bit anxious the last time I saw her. Perhaps it’s related?”
Jazmine and I looked at each other with the same thought in our minds.
Perhaps this is a clue.
The next day, I came to the student assembly again.
“You are here earlier than I thought.” Jazmine greeted me slightly surprised. “You came to ask for the girl you rescued yesterday, right?”
I nodded.
“Just in time. I just finished organizing the information about her. Follow me.”
I followed Jazmine to her office while she talked.
“I must say, I’m surprised you are so interested in her.”
I put on a wry smile.
“It’s just that I will feel uncomfortable if ignore her situation after seeing her like that. It’s like a sense of responsibility. A bit naïve, right?”
“Yeah, a bit.” Jazmine chuckled. “The representative is also like that. Every time he comes across something he dislikes he doesn’t stop until he reaches the bottom of it. I guess you two are a bit alike.”
I smiled embarrassedly.
In truth, my reasons are actually selfish. Although it’s true I’m a bit worried about the girl, the main reason I’m here is to see if I can find a clue about the ‘piece’ through her.
After entering the office, Jazmine grabbed a folder while talking to me.
“After Gerona tried to commit suicide yesterday, I asked some students to collect information about her to understand what made her take that decision. Unfortunately, they returned almost empty-handed.” Jazmine sighed. “From what it looks, Gerona is a completely normal student. She is starting the third academic semester, and her grades are not bad. Quite the opposite, she was in the top fifty of her group in the last evaluation.”
“It’s quite good.”
“It is.” Jazmine nodded. “Her family is also very normal, and she does not seem to suffer from bullying or anything similar. She actually has a lot of friends. Honestly, we have no idea what motivated her to commit suicide.”
“I remember you mentioned yesterday that she showed signs of withdrawal,” I commented.
“This is where things become interesting.” Jazmine opened the folder in her hands with a complicated expression. “The exams failed to find any strange substance in her body. She was completely clean, and none of her classmates has seen her consuming drugs before. Everything indicates she is not a drug addict either.”
I frowned.
In other words, everything is fine with her.
But that is impossible. She didn’t seem fine yesterday.
And the demon also confirmed that she was somehow related to another fragment. We are definitively missing something.
Noticing my doubts, Jazmine smiled wryly.
“We are just as lost as you. The only thing wrong with her seems to be her messy mana circuits and the signs of exhaustion on her body. The doctor thinks that maybe she overworked herself in her studies, causing her psychological state to quickly decline and making her attempt suicide.”
“Have you not asked her why she wanted to jump off?”
“We tried, but she becomes hysterical when she is not under the effects of sedatives. Honestly, her case is very disconcerting.” Jazmine expressed her helplessness.
I fell deep into thoughts.
What are we missing then? Where is the problem?
‘Demon, do you have any idea?’
The demon just stayed silent.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of Jazmine’s office.
“Jazmine, can I come in?”
A tall and slightly muscular woman with a stern atmosphere around her and short brown hair leaned in. She was someone I was familiar with, the teacher in charge of Introduction to Combat.
“Teacher Doris, you are here.”
“Good morning, Jazmine. Oh, Jane, you are also here.”
“Hello, teacher.”
Doris greeted me casually and looked at Jazmine.
“I came for Gerona’s situation.”
I was surprised.
“You are related to her, teacher?”
“Mm? It looks like you know her too. Wait, could it be that you are the freshman that stopped her.”
I smiled bitterly and nodded.
“Well done, kid. I guess my classes are not useless.” Doris patted me on the shoulder with a slight grin. “You can say that I’m a bit related to her. I’m her counselor.”
“Counselor?” I was stunned.
Looking at the tough-looking teacher sporting a playful grin, I could not imagine her counseling anyone.
Jazmine answered my doubts with a wry smile.
“Sometimes, teachers act like counselors to students who are struggling in class. Among them, teacher Doris is one of the best. Despite how she looks, she is quite good at making the students talk to her about their problems.”
Well, that sure is surprising.
Wait a moment…
“I thought you said that she was in the top fifty of her year. Why did she need counseling then?” I asked.
Teacher Doris replied instead.
“Her grades are indeed quite good, but that is now. At first, although her grades were not bad, they were not that impressive either, and Gerona was suffering from mild depression.”
Jazmine and I showed an expression of interest.
Seeing that, teacher Doris sighed and sat down on a sofa in a corner of the office while putting on a complicated expression.
“Jazmine should know about it, but many students of Sanctuary’s First suffer from various degrees of depression or stress. There are several reasons, but the main one is that they feel they don’t show the results they expected.”
“You see, Sanctuary’s First is arguably the best Awakened School across the World’s United Government. The most talented Awakened across the 103 districts dream of entering here, and any student that manages to get accepted here is definitively a genius.” She continued.
“But once they arrive at Sanctuary’s First, most of them realize that they are not as good as they thought.” Teacher Doris sighed with a complicated expression. “Maybe they were considered geniuses from where they came from, but when they meet other geniuses equal or better than them, they realize that they are nothing special. That is a blow that hits many students hard.”
“Was Gerona like that?” I asked.
Teacher Doris nodded.
“Gerona's ranking was not that high when she was admitted. Three hundred and something. That is actually not bad, but the girl did not think so. She was constantly pressuring herself to perform better, almost in a self-destructive way.”
“I noticed it and talked to her. Afterward, her situation improved a lot. She became more cheerful, and maybe because of that, her grades improved quite a bit. In the last three months, her ranking climbed up to the top fifty. That is very impressive.” She added.
“But she tried to commit suicide yesterday,” Jazmine stated.
“That is what I find strange.” Teacher Doris put on a pensive expression. “Thinking about it now, she seemed a bit anxious the last time I saw her. Perhaps it’s related?”
Jazmine and I looked at each other with the same thought in our minds.
Perhaps this is a clue.
