030

“Pant, pant……”

One student ran recklessly through the dark night road.

It wasn't a run toward a destination, but a run to escape.

Behind him, which he compulsively glanced at while running, the purplish night sky undulated ominously.

‘She's a crazy bitch! She's really not in her right mind!’

She had suddenly appeared and started swinging her fists for no reason.

In truth, it was the body of a mere 10-year-old.

It wasn't even a tickle to them, who were in their prime at 15 and had trained in swordsmanship.

They took a few hits, blocked them, and then chased her away.

Still, since she was said to be a High Priestess from the Holy Kingdom, they treated her with respect.

‘What the hell, she’s like a zombie!’

But it didn't end.

The backs of her hands turned red, and her fingernails were torn off.

Soon, her fists swelled up as if her finger bones were dislocated, and her wrist was also bent at a strange angle.

But the little girl just continued to attack them with dead eyes, as if she didn't know pain.

No, rather, the attacks became more severe as her body broke down.

At that moment, a lithe prayer flew from behind him, cutting through the sky.

“To me, a speed faster than anyone else.”

Pain overwhelmed the sound.

In the blink of an eye, his body was rolling on the cold, earthen floor.

He felt a grip and a small weight on top of his head, as if to prevent him from moving.

When he moved his body slightly to resist.

Crack—.

The sound of something dislocating and breaking continued.

“S-sor, wha, ugh!”

He wanted to say something, but with his mouth pressed to the ground, dirt got in and he couldn't pronounce the words properly.

He had run away in such a hurry that he had no strength left in his body.

He used all the strength in his body to shake himself free.

In a struggle that was close to a final act of desperation, Yuria fell off, rolling on the floor.

When the student barely managed to get up.

“Ah……”

The white holy robe she usually wore was a pile of dirt.

One of her arms seemed to be broken, hanging limply toward the ground, and one of her ankles was also twisted at a grotesque angle as if sprained.

Both her wrists were swollen like balloons, and one of her eyes was swollen shut as if she had been beaten by someone.

‘Why, why that expression!’

But Yuria’s expression was serene.

A purple light, as ominous as the sky, shimmered in her eyes, but her pupils were completely dead, making it feel like a swamp that would suck you in if you looked at it.

“A body healthier than anyone else.”

“Again, again……!”

A prayer like a recited song flowed.

Then, as if turning back time, her body slowly returned to normal.

“Grant that I may stand before God with a clean body and mind.”

The swollen wounds subsided in an instant.

The skin that had been full of red and blue bruises returned to its original state without a single scar.

The bent wrist made a cracking sound and returned to its original state, and the twisted ankle soon stood firmly on the ground.

Above all, her eyes.

The one eye that had been looking at him returned to being a pair.

“And to my enemies, do not grant death easily.”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

A light purple energy enveloped the student's body.

It was holy power.

His wounds healed in an instant, just like Yuria's.

But there was one difference: Yuria’s body and stamina were all perfectly recovered, but only his wounds were healed.

Strangely, his wounds healed, but the pain remained.

His mind was clearer than usual, so he couldn't even faint.

Above all, his stamina did not recover.

His body was sturdy, but he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.

The student could only collapse on the floor and tremble.

‘I-I'm going to die…….’

No, could he even die?

Wouldn't he soon be begging for death?

As such thoughts crossed his mind, his focus blurred.

He was definitely looking at something, but it was like looking through a thick fog; nothing came into view.

“What is the meaning of this?”

With a refreshing citrus scent, his vision returned in an instant.

In front of his eyes stood a female student with her back to him, casually wearing a white Akarind Academy jacket.

He knew who she was at once.

Because a ridiculous guard's hat was on her head.

“Great General.”

“Fighting between students within the academy is a serious disciplinary matter.”

Rozalin Vürhelm.

A beggar who had dropped out of school and was now wandering around the school with some ridiculous title like guard captain.

He had heard that she lived in the moldy and musty guard's dormitory.

The academy’s representative delinquent and madwoman had clashed with a new madwoman.

“That student was plotting to trouble the Great Master soon. And he has already shamed the Great Master once in a past class.”

“What a bastard?”

It was about to be a clash.

With a thud, the student who was hit on the head with Rozalin’s scabbard lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor.

It was an anticlimactic end.

Rozalin, who was looking down at the back of the student's head and clicking her tongue, crossed her arms.

“This bastard is dead. So go now.”

“You’ve knocked him out. I was just keeping him alive.”

“You, can’t you stop using your high-grade holy power for such nonsense?”

What Yuria had done to the student was a level of control that not even ordinary priests, no, not even High Priests of a similar level to Yuria could aspire to.

Only the Holy Emperor who ruled the Holy Kingdom of Hersia, and the Archbishop right below him, could display this level of ability.

Even the current Saint was incapable of this level of control.

“He insulted the Great Master, and you’re going to let him live?”

“Uh, no, I’m going to bury him up to his shoulders in the ground and torment him for about two days.”

“You’re not going to kill him.”

“Hey, you're a Saint. You can't go around killing people like a demon, can you?”

“I have apostatized.”

“You only abandon God when it's convenient for you. Hey, didn't you mess him up in the name of God?”

“God's expiration date is still about 10 years away, so it's fine.”

“Still as self-willed as ever.”

Rozalin grabbed the unconscious student by the scruff of his neck.

Even in his unconscious state, a choking sound, ‘keck,’ could be heard.

In that voice that sounded like a death rattle, Rozalin poked the student with the tip of her sword.

He was alive.

“I'm dropping this guy off and going home. You go to sleep too. A child needs to sleep on a moonlit night to grow tall.”

Rozalin walked away with long strides and disappeared.

Yuria stared blankly at Rozalin's retreating figure, then slowly shifted her gaze to her own right hand.

She clenched and unclenched her fist.

There was no pain.

The reason she could forget the pain throughout the fight was that she had blocked her sense of pain with holy power.

While doing so, she kept the opponent's pain alive and delicately controlled their recovery.

A level of control that only the Archbishop or the Holy Emperor could achieve, and even the current Saint was incapable of.

And.

A level of control that even her past self was incapable of.

‘I’ve improved.’

It wasn't a discussion about religion.

It was just a few exchanges of words through the discipline of philosophy.

A level of holy power control that was impossible even in her previous life’s experience had become possible.

She didn't know why.

Listening to that class didn't shatter her world or lead her to some special enlightenment.

But her holy power had naturally developed.

‘If I keep listening.’

Then, couldn't she save humanity with powerful force, regardless of God or the Saint?

She slowly turned her gaze toward the old building.

It was as if the faint figure of the Great Master, who was in a place she couldn't possibly see, was emerging.

Yuria’s eyes deepened a little more.

* * *

“Ugh……”

“Shivering again? That’s all because your body is weak! Exercise! I told you to exercise more!”

“They say I have to risk my life for that exercise.”

“That’s just an excuse! Who trains without risking their life! Look at this! I dedicated my life to these biceps and triceps!”

I averted my gaze from Freutche, who was posing in a strange posture.

It wasn't a metaphorical death, but a real one I had to be prepared for, and I had no confidence in making Freutche understand that.

By the way, why was my body trembling?

Was it because winter was approaching?

But for that, Instructor Freutche was training and walking around shirtless just fine.

“So, did the textbook turn out well?”

The reason I came to the training ground at such a late hour, even after my private lesson with Yuria.

It was to show Freutche the Cassian's Basic Swordsmanship manual.

“But is it really okay to leave out Instructor Freutche’s name?”

“Ahem. I'm not that petty! I only gave some advice on the training method for creating a beautiful body! Isn't it your job to organize the theory! Then your name should be on it. Of course, if my swordsmanship had been included even a little bit, it would have become the Freutche-Cassian style swordsmanship!”

He was a simple but therefore a very good person.

I smiled lightly and handed the swordsmanship manual to Freutche.

Instructor Freutche stood still and skimmed through the book with a serious expression.

“Is it no good? Too ordinary?”

“No. It’s excellent, hmm. Amazing.”

It was a more favorable evaluation than I had expected.

Hati and Avril had given it good reviews, but I hadn't heard any praise from Rozalin.

“I think it's probably the difference in how well one knows the body.”

Rozalin's training was weighted more towards swordsmanship than physical training.

This was because the swordsmanship of the House of Marquis Vürhelm was so profound that one could not reach its depths with shallow study.

However, Hati from the north was a warrior whose body itself was a weapon, and he had easily recognized the value of this manual.

‘Then why did Avril?’

I thought he was just an ordinary merchant, but does he have a knack for moving his body?

“This is, hmm. Oh……”

“Stop just marveling and say something.”

At my urging, Freutche grinned, revealing his white teeth.

“Can you lend this to me for about a week?”

“There’s a copy. I'll give it to you.”

“Kuh, excellent. I'll prove to you myself why I said this manual is good!”

Proof, you say, the basic class students and Pan are fighting tooth and nail over that right now.

I handed the basic swordsmanship manual to Freutche without much expectation.

And when the week he spoke of had passed.

‘Huh?’

I was summoned to the Chairman's office.

In the Chairman's office where I arrived, Gwen, Freutche, and the instructors in charge of swordsmanship for the promotion and graduation classes were all gathered.

Among them, I was the one with the least experience and skill.

I glanced around furtively and was about to sit in a corner of the sofa.

“Now that the main character has arrived, let's have a serious discussion.”

“……Pardon?”

The Chairman looked at me with a benevolently creepy smile.

“I heard that Teacher Cassian has created a good textbook this time. Instructor Freutche strongly recommended it.”

“Now, look at this body!”

“Ooh.”

In that moment, Instructor Freutche shot up from his seat, took off his shirt, and began to pose.

The other instructors were genuinely impressed by the sight, and for good reason, because in just one week, Instructor Freutche’s body had changed into a firm and balanced form overall.

Until then, his body was closer to a method of pushing his muscles to their limits just to increase strength.

But this time, the muscles were.

‘Sharpened.’

I could see at a glance how those muscles would be used when swinging a sword.

It was a difference that was hard to believe had happened in just one week.

‘His level as a swordsman has risen at once.’

That was probably, as Freutche said, because he was a person who knew the muscles of the body well.

“Hahaha. Excellent. I hear that Teacher Cassian is in charge of teaching most of the basic class students now, right? Students with a solid foundation will be moving up.”

“This is all thanks to your insight, Chairman. I wondered why you placed Teacher Cassian, who can't even handle a sword properly, in that position, but it seems you had a plan all along!”

At the Chairman’s words, the head of the grade level quickly jumped in and rubbed his hands together.

As expected, he was a man who didn't fall behind in social life.

But he probably didn't summon me just to talk about this.

I swallowed dryly and waited for the Chairman's next words.

“Hahaha. So for the last final exam of this semester, how about we try that field training we've been putting off?”

“Absolutely not!”

As expected, this crazy Chairman again!

No wonder even the head of the grade level’s smiling face cracked and he faltered.

“For the students' education, wouldn't practical experience be the most important thing? I hear that high orcs have appeared in the forest a week's distance from the academy, so let's send the students to subjugate them.”

“They are still inexperienced students! And it's not a plain, but a forest! If there are high orcs, there must be an orc settlement too!”

High orcs were a much stronger species than ordinary orcs.

Their physique was also about 1.5 times larger.

Even the Orc Lord who ruled over the orcs was selected from among the high orc species, so a high orc that ruled over a region was no different from a quasi-Orc Lord.

A monster that was definitely smaller than an ogre, but much more cunning.

To think he was going to send the students to such a place for their final evaluation.

“Hahaha. How can there be education without a crisis? We have good support, and there’s a student from the Holy Kingdom studying abroad in Class C, so it will be a good experience.”

The Chairman laughed forcefully, as if it had already been decided.

“I'm counting on you, Teacher Cassian.”

Damn it.

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