The Academy’s competition match held every half-year.The competition match is an index that shows each individual’s real-combat ranking, and at the same time it is also an index that evaluates each academy’s academic achievement and military strength.The students’ competition-match rankings are put through a weighted calculation and are connected directly to each academy’s ranking, and according to this ranking the academy operating budget that is paid out increases or decreases.'The academy operating budget is like a lifeline for the minor academies that receive little support from external kingdoms and houses.'This academy operating budget may only be an amount that exists as the bare minimum pretext for saying the Academy Union is being run fairly, but there are plenty of academies that need even this.'……For example.'The Izelin Academy that has sent me a letter right now falls into this category.As its name suggests, that academy is a small academy supported by Izelin, a kingdom in a conflict zone.Originally it had been run in a fairly solid manner, but I know that due to the recent war the kingdom’s financial situation has deteriorated and the academy’s operation has become difficult.I unfolded the letter and took in its details with my eyes.[To Loen de Valis, President of the General Student Council.]A greeting completely different from the other letters where only abuse and denunciations ran rampant.[Hello. I am Elena Izelin, Student Council President of Izelin Academy. The reason I have sent a petition letter to you is nothing other than…….]What was written in the letter did not deviate from my expectation.To summarize roughly, Izelin is undergoing a dispute with Jerome, the neighboring military great power, and its aftershocks have even spread to the Academy Union.At present, Jerome Academy is continuously harassing Izelin Academy’s students, hindering normal academic activities, and on top of that, they are even conducting operations such as poaching excellent students or coercing them into expulsion.Thus they say it will be hard to maintain the ranking in the upcoming competition match, and soon the academy maintenance budget could be drastically cut or cut off.If that happens, Izelin Academy, which has been suffering from lack of funds, will naturally be shut down.You could ask whether they have to be that petty even within the Academy, but the Union is not a pure place of learning—it is a proxy battleground for each kingdom and house.Schemes or stratagems of this level are not even surprising.No. Rather, it can be seen as an extremely natural phenomenon.To obstruct the cultivation of future talents of an enemy nation is, in a way, the most certain and efficient means of attack.Also, there is a clause that forbids military disputes between Union member states, so it appears they intend to use this as an opportunity to close Izelin and expel it from the Union.You could see it as preliminary work for war.'How frustrated must she have been to ask for help from a guy like Loen.'I could sympathize to some extent with the situation of Izelin’s Student Council President who had written the letter.On the surface, this matter is only a conflict between academies, but seen broadly, it is a matter between two kingdoms.Because of that, it is difficult for other academies to get involved.In the end, Elena sent a request for help to me, the Student Council President who is in the most neutral position.And she may also have calculated that, since I am a wastrel whom my house has cast out, even if I intervene in a dispute between kingdoms, the political burden will not be great.“Hm.”I placed the letter on the table and fell into quiet thought.'……I have no obligation to help them.'The law of the jungle is the proper order of the world.I have no reason to help them, nor any obligation to do so.Besides, this is history that also proceeded within the game.There is no need for me to intervene and create a crack.Also, at present I am not in a state with the authority or power to intervene in their dispute and resolve it.That is what the position of the current Student Council President amounts to.However, as I looked at the letter in my hand, a smile came to my lips.Because I plan to get involved in their matter.Because I’m a saintly gentleman?No, I move for an extremely practical reason.Because Izelin Academy houses one of the Academy’s Three Mystic Artifacts, the [Cognition Acceleration Stone].[The Cognition Acceleration Stone] is a legendary item that, in an instant, accelerates the reaction speed of thought and cognition to an extreme.In the game it is implemented in a form like bullet time or a severing of time and space, and all interactions in the world except for oneself slow down.I don’t know for sure, but perhaps the reason Jerome Academy is targeting them is because of this Cognition Acceleration Stone.'Busy or not, I can’t miss an opportunity this good.'I quietly clenched the letter in my hand.Loen, President of the General Student Council.It is not born of pure good will, but it is time to do, for the first time, a task befitting that position.***The next day.I headed to Saintea’s domain to participate in a Sacred Studies lecture.Separate from Izelin Academy’s matter, I also have to keep a student’s proper duty.After finishing the day’s early-morning exercise and mana breathing and such, I boarded the tram bound for Saintea.'The Heaven of Saintea.'Saintea Academy, teeming not only with Elena, a Saintess candidate, but with trainee priests and holy knights, is for Loen nothing different from a death ground.'Saintea is a group of fanatics who stake their lives on exterminating demons.'If my bloodline of Half-Human, Half-Demon were to be discovered, I would have nothing to say even if I were immediately beheaded and hung at the academy’s front gate.But there is no way such a thing will occur.'My countermeasures are perfect.'In the meantime I have fully restored the durability of the Ring of Derode, and I am also wearing Arin’s Pendant that conceals mana.Also, the lecture I chose is a purely theoretical lecture.As many students from other academies who cannot use holy power also participate, there will not be things like using holy power.If compared to the modern day, you can see it as similar to a chapel class or a worship service in lecture format.And paradoxically, by applying for Saintea’s Sacred Studies lecture, suspicion toward me will be further weakened.Unless one is insane, there is no way a demon bastard would go to take a class at Saintea.I have for the moment slipped out of Elena’s suspicion, but surely she has her own grounds on which she judged so.This time, let’s get completely out from the gaze of that suspicion.Clank-.As I got on the tram bound for Saintea, the inside of the tram was filled with the voices of students whispering as they looked at me.Loen, why is that bastard at Saintea?You didn’t hear? The other day at the café…….Really? With Lady Elena?I’m telling you~ It’s clearly that he used some despicable trick to call the President out.“If anything were to happen to the President…….”“I’ll seriously kill him.”“……”Poisonous words poured down together with stinging gazes.That worship that was like obsession gave me a chill.Even in Eredor things were noisy wherever I went because of Loen’s infamy and reputation, but here it was even worse.It seems it is because Elena called me to the café the other day.'Well, Elena is no different from an idol to the students of Saintea'.If there were anyone who harmed her, as I’m seeing now, no matter who the opponent is, they would not be able to survive.After I put on a mute-all, how many stops did we pass from Eredor?A girl student with a bright impression boarded the tram.She was none other than Elena.Elena calmly looked around inside the tram, then discovered me and greeted me as if pleased.“Oh my. Loen. What a coincidence.”'……What coincidence.'I know your lecture route and travel times in full.I don’t know with what intention, but it seems she boarded this tram even to the point of giving up her usual lecture time and route.“May I sit next to you?”“No.”“To be honest, I wasn’t asking for permission.”“You seem quite interested in me—what with the other day and all.”“Maybe so.”“……”Thus Elena deliberately sat in the empty seat next to me.I do need to have dealings with Elena, a key figure in the work, but there is no need for this close a distance.Staying close will only wear down the ring’s durability faster.But since I can’t avoid it here, I quietly listened to her words.“I’m sorry about the other day. I feel like I didn’t properly offer an apology.”“I don’t particularly mind. I had gains of my own too.”Mentioning the bet from the other day, I reminded her that there is still a debt remaining.“Then that’s a relief. So, what are you going to use the wish coupon you received from me for?”At the words “wish coupon,” the tram became quiet in an instant.I could see the students on the tram pricking up their ears and waiting for my next words.I swept my eyes around the surroundings and spoke quietly.“It seems I’ll have occasion to use it in the near future. Be prepared.”“Understood. But don’t make any demands that are too unreasonable. Things beyond my ability, or things that step outside the status of student or priest, for example.”“Rest easy. It will be a reasonable and feasible request.”“Good.”***Saintea’s domain, where I arrived together with Elena.A gigantic circular plaza and the beautiful arched stone buildings surrounding it.And the academy buildings that stretched out radially with this at the center.Buildings that metaphorically express God’s divinity on this land were such that anyone would marvel.If I were to express the atmosphere of this place in a single phrase—'It’s like the Vatican # Nоvеlight # City State, I suppose.'Though in truth I’ve never been to Italy.“How is it. Magnificent, right?”“Mm.”When I nodded, Elena, excited, began to explain.“Some say our Saintea’s magnificent buildings resemble Eredor’s style, but that really is foolish talk.”'To be honest, I can’t tell them apart very well.'I thought that inwardly, but I did not let it out of my mouth. At times silence is golden.“That arch-shaped structure is a metaphor for the form of supporting the heavens……”Elena went on to explain the might of Saintea’s buildings and the various architectural styles that exalt the name of God, but I let it go in one ear and out the other.If all the Sacred Studies lectures I will hear this time are in this vein, it will be hard to guarantee my grades.Surely, even if it calls itself a class, it won’t be like this.After a while.The group of priests, including Elena and me, arrived at the lecture hall.A lecture hall as grand as a sanctuary.On the high ceiling hung a brilliant chandelier, and through the great stained-glass windows on both sides shone in lights of many colors.As we entered the lecture hall, the majestic sound of a pipe organ greeted the students.“We’ll have to part for a moment. Please go sit on the right.”Long wooden pews such as one would expect only in a church.Based on the central aisle, the female students were sitting in a row on the left, and the male students in a row on the right.Even students who had come from external academies like me, without exception, were made to sit separated by sex.Looking at the two sections divided by the central aisle, I shrugged my shoulders.'Men and women should not sit together after the age of seven, eh.'It’s a measure befitting a religious group with a conservative culture.Yet contradictorily to such segregation, Saintea is, at its base, a system where a priest and a holy knight form a pair and manage grades together.As most female students choose the priest path and most male students choose the holy knight path, a mixed-sex pair is completed.They say it is an essential process to cultivate mutual cooperation and understanding and good virtue.However, Elena has not yet chosen a holy knight to accompany her.Because of this she is taking a considerable penalty in grades, but she is covering it with her superior holy power and understanding of the scriptures.When the time came, the majestic pipe organ sound ceased and a professor in priestly robes appeared.Cardinal Andrea, dispatched from the Holy Kingdom and the professor in charge of this Sacred Studies course.With a cold impression, he quietly closed his eyes and brought his two hands together in front.Thereupon all the students who had been seated stood up, and following the professor put their two hands together.“Welcome, everyone. Let us give thanks to the Lord who has given us another new day today. Let us greet the day with joyful hearts.”“Yes, Professor.”“Let us pray.”After finishing the prayer to God, the professor had the students take their seats and then began the class in earnest.“Today, open to page 33 of Understanding the Scriptures. The commentary text is page 97.”In the quiet only the sound of pages turning resounded through the lecture hall.It truly felt closer to worship than to a lecture.“Come to think of it…….”The professor lightly looked over the students, then stopped his gaze on me.“A face I haven’t seen is attending the lecture. Your name?”To Andrea’s question, I answered calmly.“Loen. Loen de Valis.”When I stated my name, the quiet sanctuary filled with murmuring.The professor raised his hand and quieted the students.“Everyone, silence. Student Loen—ah. There you are. Pleased to meet you.”The professor, who was running his finger down the roster, soon found my name and nodded.Perhaps because I had been lying in a sickbed and missed a few classes, he had forgotten.Professor Andrea closed the attendance roster, and looking at me spoke in a calm voice.“Very well. Then I shall ask you one question. When students from other academies attend the lecture, this is something we customarily ask, so if you do not wish to, you need not answer.”“Yes.”When I nodded, Andrea, with a gaze gone down cold, looked at me and asked:“Loen de Valis. For what reason did you apply for this lecture?”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.