I wanted to call the schools listed in the proposal slipped in with the official document to verify the authenticity of it, of course.
If the universities claim they didn’t extend such an offer to me, it means the reason they suggested my early graduation wasn’t for early admission, but for hero registration. I thought there was a strong possibility that these proposals were fake.
But… well, obviously, the proposals were real.
[…If the Saintess enrolls in our school, we can surely consider her convenience…]
[…We promise the best support…]
[…We will do our utmost for the Saintess’s future…]
Not every university had their president pick up the phone. Considering the time I called was when business was winding down, how many places would let a mere consultant switch to the president right away?
Nonetheless, most schools had someone high enough to answer.
Sometimes it was the dean, or if I were to enroll, a professor from the department that would accept me would pick up the phone.
The fact that they could react the way they did the moment they heard my name implies they were prepared for my call, right? But usually, wouldn’t they dismiss it as “The Saintess wouldn’t call us” and verify things first?
Anyway, I called on my cellphone. If these universities were connected with the government, they might have my number.
That being said, I rarely got calls on that number.
In the last call, the person went on and on about the kind of treatment and benefits I’d receive if I enrolled in their school, and after saying I got the gist of it, I hung up. The voice was filled with immense hope when I called, but unfortunately, I had called each university once. Listing benefits didn’t mean much at the moment.
“Hmm.”
As I quietly stared at the screen of my disconnected phone, Aurora, who was sitting next to me, asked.
“Did you find out anything?”
Five universities had sent me proposals, and they were so passionate that I felt bad for cutting them off, so the calls took about 20 minutes.
Aurora must have been a bit worried sitting in silence beside me. Well, my expression had certainly soured as I went on with the calls, so that was understandable. I was still not used to being elevated like this. Although I called them voluntarily, it felt a bit nauseating to hear all that flattery.
“No.”
I sighed deeply, raised my head, and then noticed the club members were surrounding me, surprised.
“…Why are you all staring at me like that?”
As I asked, the kids exchanged glances.
“So… you’re not planning to graduate early, right?”
Selena asked me carefully.
Ah, now that I think about it, I had been stacking the university proposals on my lap while making calls. It might have looked like I was trying to figure out which university would be more advantageous for me.
“Of course not. I can’t possibly adapt to university without even learning the basics in high school.”
It’s not like I was a genius getting scouted by universities. If I were, rumors would spread, and it wouldn’t just be these national universities reaching out; renowned private schools would be clamoring for me too.
The only universities I could enter solely due to the title of Saintess were either schools backed by the government or some small local colleges that needed the ‘Saintess is attending our school’ title.
At least if I were an athletic scholarship student, it might have been somewhat understandable. But considering I’d be bypassing Jian and received that recommendation, they wouldn’t fully trust me anyway.
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
I smiled back at Selena, who seemed relieved.
But it was unexpected. It wasn’t strange for Jian or Selena, or even Satsuki to worry about me. After all, both were pure-hearted heroes, deeply ingrained with a sense of justice, so naturally, they would worry about their friend making odd choices.
Aurora and Linea were concerned because it was sure I would be separated from them the moment I went to university.
Even though Rina didn’t express her worry openly, her tendency to hesitate when declining people’s requests while subtly looking after others showed she might be worried about me too, so there was no reason for me to think it was strange.
But it was quite surprising to see Ramihi looking anxious.
I had accompanied her to her hometown, participated as a key figure in the most important festival there, and even unintentionally devastated that town, yet she treated me coolly without showing much rejection. There simply wasn’t enough personal interaction to create a bond.
Of course, I had gone on trips together during our training and had casual conversations, but… you know how it is. It’s fun in a group, but when it comes to just the two of you, things get awkward. My relationship with Ramihi was more or less like that.
Then again, upon reflection, it seemed like I was the only one feeling uncomfortable while Ramihi didn’t seem to share that sentiment.
“…”
Regardless of showing a relieved expression, Ramihi also didn’t outwardly show her feelings like the other kids did, which was just like her. Or should I say, very elvish of her.
“But why did you call the universities anyway?”
Satsuki asked with pure curiosity.
Hmm, is it okay to say this? Even if it was important that the official document was tampered with…
Well, it’s not like the document itself was confidential, so I figured it wouldn’t matter too much.
“When I first heard about graduating early, it was clearly a request for me to register as a hero after the early graduation, but somehow it changed to enrolling in university afterward.”
The very first talk had originally been about university enrollment, and later someone had snuck out the document and changed the conditions, swapping it back to the original while no one noticed.
“So I called to check if this proposal was fake or not…”
“That means they were all real.”
At my words, Satsuki nodded seriously.
“Well, this building isn’t only filled with academy-related personnel.”
Upon hearing this, Selena murmured, and all the kids nearby turned their eyes to her.
“Of course. It’s a tall building located in the middle of the region, yet the entire faculty combined wouldn’t even reach 500 people. It’s not just tall but also has a huge area, right? There are many unused classrooms on just one floor.”
Indeed, it was overly spacious just for students to use. Even from what I heard, it had an extravagant setup of using one floor per grade.
“They say it serves as a command center during wartime, but of course, they don’t leave it completely empty in normal times. If a real ‘war’ breaks out, there need to be people ready to act quickly, so they must stay there during peace and manage the facilities, training to handle all transitions swiftly when needed. Usually, they’d either do it when we aren’t around or be on different floors.”
“…”
“I heard it from my sister.”
As we stared blankly at Selena, she shrugged her shoulders.
“Anyway, that means it’s quite convenient to hide even if you’re not on a mission.”
Hiding in a multi-story building would be no small feat. Sure, there were tons of CCTV, but if it were an agreed-upon stealth operation, students and teachers wouldn’t know even if they wanted to.
“But then, why would they go through the hassle of tampering with the official document?”
Linea rested her chin on her hand, her expression serious.
“If the document received was originally about hero registration, there would have been no need to discuss it with universities and have them write proposals.”
Linea crossed her arms and spoke quietly.
“…That means there was a reason to present a fake proposal before the real one.”
Aurora added her thoughts.
“So, it means it was a plot to deceive the Vice Principal from the start.”
I wrapped it up with my final words.
“Reflecting on what the Vice Principal told us, even if we received such a document, there’s a high chance it wouldn’t reach me. He’d probably reject it at his level.”
Not only the Vice Principal but also, from the teachers’ perspective, the idea of a student graduating early to become a hero seemed incredibly ludicrous. Most teachers in this school were former heroes and heroines, and they well knew how difficult that path could be.
While few regretted their decisions, hardly anyone would tell students to become heroes unconditionally. They often stressed that while becoming one is honorable, it is also a tough and challenging road.
In their eyes, the act of graduating early to become a hero might feel like observing a child soldier willingly aiming to become a soldier.
But since the government directly approached me with such a proposal, it seems it wasn’t illegal. It must be that after fighting external enemies for 500 years, some inhumane actions were socially tolerated.
…Thank goodness teachers in this school are normal in many ways.
“I don’t know much about this stuff.”
Rina, who had been sitting on the floor listening quietly, spoke up.
“Is the government really that desperate to resort to such obvious actions? Like, trying to secure you at all costs? I thought they were managing just fine against the forces of the demons.”
“…I don’t think that’s the kind of desperation they feel.”
Of course, they might feel desperate to some degree. They had barely managed to win over their rival for 500 years, and suddenly, that rival pulled out a method they’d never seen before to turn things around. And that method wasn’t even a cheat, and if left alone, they would outpace them at an alarming rate.
I could understand the desire to obtain that ‘method’ by any means necessary. I could empathize, not that I would.
No, more importantly, I didn’t want to side with either party—after all, with every move I make, I’m boosting the influence of the church quite a bit.
“So what are you going to do?”
The moment Rina asked, she looked uninterested in the answer herself.
“Are you planning to track down the person who swapped the official document? Or just let it slide?”
…
Well,
“Of course, I’m going to find them and make sure they can’t pull something like this again.”
I replied with a look that said it was obvious.
“If I don’t punish them now, they’ll keep doing this in the future.”
“…”
As I added that with a somewhat serious expression, the kids staring at me widened their eyes in surprise.
“…So, what you’re saying, in summary…”
Rina, who was representative of them, opened her mouth.
“You’re saying you plan to take on the ‘government’? So they ‘won’t do such things again?’”
“Yes, and?”
I had no idea what was so odd about emphasizing my point. So I said,
“It’s just unsettling. It’s not like people are pawns.”
“…”
The kids surrounding me shared glances again. Then they burst into muffled laughter as if they found it ridiculous.
“…Is there something wrong?”
I frowned and asked as they laughed unexpectedly, and Selena waved her hands.
“No, it’s not that. To be honest, I really like that way of thinking. Um, yeah. If the other side is acting unpleasantly, we should respond accordingly, right?”
That was my point.
But why was that so funny…?
“Then typically, people would file a lawsuit or submit a complaint to the relevant department, right?”
This was Satsuki’s comment.
“But doesn’t that take too long? Plus, the courts are government-affiliated, and the officials handling complaints all work under the government too.”
I expressed my doubts, and I could hear Rina sigh softly beside me.
“So, that’s a saying that only someone like you would say.”
Rina, who was staring at me with disbelief while everyone was laughing, voiced her thoughts.
“Logically, how many people would dare to promise to thoroughly educate agents whom they’re sure infiltrated the government? Most would be too scared to do something like that.”
Well, that much is true. No matter how bad they were, agents would have at least some basic training, and if we charged in, there could be a chance of getting beaten or seriously hurt.
But I didn’t care. The government was busy scheming to capture me, and the one they sent to plot against me? Could that even be possible?
In fact, I would be the one forgiving them for coming to plead on their knees.
And to boot, one of the people used in their schemes was Seo-A. While it wasn’t to the level of friendship yet, given the teacher-student boundary, there’s still a significant wall, but nonetheless, within this world, she was an undeniably trustworthy ally.
So in this case, it’s better to capture and properly educate them.
Because that’s how I got through things up till now…
…That thought gave me chills.
Wait a minute, I felt something creep up my arm just now.
I sensed something strange in my line of thinking. What was it like? It felt almost like the thought process of a powerful person who believes they could handle anyone’s naughty behavior, thinking they have the backing of the higher-ups.
Indeed, I was now burning with fighting spirit towards the government, which was the one and only central government comprised of all races united.
In my past life, I wouldn’t have had the audacity to feel such fighting spirit against even the small-time company I worked for.
Clap, clap, clap, applause erupted.
Rina was clearly flaunting it as she clapped her hands in front of me.
“Wow, really, I can’t keep up with the mindset of someone in a high position. I was trembling at just a few interrogators.”
“Ah, no, that’s not it.”
Realizing what I had been saying, I hastily tried to recover the situation, but,
“Clara dear, it seems you’re finally thinking of using the power you have as a Saintess!”
Aurora, my Saintess aide beside me, looked at me with shining eyes clasping her hands together.
“I mean, we often forget, but Clara is indeed someone of a high rank. Isn’t she on the same level as the Pope?”
Selena murmured, and,
“She’s not just at a similar level; they’re the same level.”
Linea corrected her.
“And…”
Jian began to speak but then stopped. The following sentence was likely about being one of the rare Demon apostles. …Yeah, it had only recently been known in the church, but judging by the attitudes of the clergy I heard, it was a matter that could undoubtedly elevate my status even further.
“Not to mention, she’s also qualified to be the leader of the elves.”
“I don’t think that has much to do with this.”
It felt awkward, but even Ramihi and Satsuki, who had been chatting more since our last short retreat, chimed in.
“…”
In the end, I couldn’t come up with a proper excuse and just let the others chatter on.
It seems I had gotten too used to my status as a Saintess.
…What if, in a few decades, I ended up sitting in the Pope’s seat without a care?
That thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I trembled.
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