Throughout the class, I racked my brain hard, but no matter how much I thought, the conclusion was just one.
boing
There’s no way to stop it.
wham
Think about it. A madman who splits flying shells with a sword, and not just at that, but striking with the very blade and cutting through with sword energy. Even if I tried to calm him with strength beside him, there’s no way I could stop it with my power when I could be sure that one swing of his would send everything flying.
whoosh
Moreover, there’s no justification for stopping him. A friend I’ve known since childhood is getting beaten up, and he wants to go take revenge on those who did it. Is there any reason to stop that?
crash
You might say there’s nothing wrong with beating up the bad guys, but if Lee Ji-An swings his sword in anger, he might actually kill someone.
swoosh
Preventing accidents or whatever, if a sword capable of splitting shells fired from artillery is swung, then any kind of shock absorption is meaningless.
thud
As I could tell just from how my morning star didn’t break their heads but left them bruised, that magic only mitigates ‘most’ of the damage, not ‘all’ of it. If even a small amount of energy from Ji-An’s sword strikes a human body, I can’t guarantee safety.
thump
Furthermore, look! He’s got this haze coming off his back until class ends.
gulp
Honestly, it’s really scary!
shudder
Why isn’t the teacher asking anything? Don’t you care about your students at all?
slap
In the end, I couldn’t come up with a suitable answer by the time class was over. Fortunately, there was still one more session left, and with the break between classes being a tad too short to dash out like that. Besides,
“Hey, can I hear about what we were talking about earlier?”
In a calm tone, Ji-An took charge of the situation. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t lost his composure yet, but his facial expression was terrifying. Calm yet scary.
creak
He wasn’t asking me; he was talking to Selena, who had just spoken before class, but it was obvious that after a few minutes the question would come back to me, “Didn’t you hear anything?”
gulp
I was already on edge about not speaking up, and if such a question was directed at me, wouldn’t it be hard to hold my composure? I’m not good at keeping a poker face.
shrug
“Hey.”
But then, a saving hand appeared.
Rina had come closer to me.
She had a look that screamed something was off. But given that she was looking at me instead of Ji-An, it seemed to stem from a different reason than him being angry.
“Some folks who said they want to meet you are here.”
flap flap
Pointing over her shoulder with her thumb, I turned to see three cadets from the officer school awkwardly smiling at me from a bit of a distance. Hmm, it didn’t seem to be a mocking sort of smile, though.
whimper
For a very brief moment, I contemplated which would be more comfortable for me: facing the cadets or staying behind and telling Ji-An what I heard till the very end. The conclusion came quickly.
If the cadets make a fuss, I can just take the loss, but I can’t do that with Ji-An.
nod
Having made a swift decision, I jumped up from my seat.
“Well, I’ll be off then.”
When Rina and Aurora tried to get up too, I quickly stopped them.
“It’s just a quick chat at the front of the classroom; you don’t have to get up.”
whistle
They stared at me for a moment, seemingly finding it very suspicious that I had beads of sweat on my forehead, but they went back to their seats.
relief sigh
With a sigh of relief inwardly, I trotted to the open back door.
As I got closer, I recognized two of the three cadets as those who tried to pick a fight with me last time but ended up getting beaten.
And the other one was—
“Sorry for bothering you during break. These guys wanted to apologize to the Saintess.”
ding ding
She looked like the embodiment of the term ‘student council president.’
Lynn Mayer. Even as a first-year, she was the student council president of the officer school and initially intended to be a side heroine in the event where the officer school and academy intertwined, but she didn’t appear in the main story.
“Apologize?”
wide eyes
As I opened my eyes wide in surprise, the two cadets nodded vigorously.
“Yes, we sincerely want to apologize to the Saintess. We are really sorry. We were at fault last time.”
“Truly sorry.”
bow bow
Watching them bow 90 degrees was quite bewildering.
But wait, just a few days ago, they didn’t hesitate to throw insults?
blink blink
…Wait, hold on a minute.
“I already received an apology then, so that’s fine. But what suddenly made you want to apologize?”
haaa
If I thought there was something behind this situation, maybe these two got caught up in something too. And if they did end up entangled, that would mean something made it so they decided to end it regarding them.
“The thing is…”
gulp
They exchanged glances, hesitantly starting to speak.
“Actually, we had some bad feelings about the academy even before hearing the rumors about the Saintess.”
“We are students who start from a place that we can never reach, no matter how hard we try.”
“But it wasn’t this severe before… At some point, we foolishly believed the rumors we heard.”
“Born as abilities users purely through luck without effort, they sounded outrageous in retrospect, but how did we fall for it…”
hum
Their story was disorganized but outright suspicious. No, it wasn’t that they were suspicious, but the circumstances they had experienced seemed questionable.
thinking
“Then, when did you start to feel like you wanted to apologize?”
They looked at each other again, scratching their heads as they replied.
“Um, it was after the duel with the Saintess.”
“Maybe it was after getting beaten or after you generously healed us after we acted arrogantly… Or it might be both.”
thinking
The last part about being touched seems like nonsense, so I’ll just skip over that for now.
grin
Oh, how interesting. So, some feelings they previously harbored got amplified due to someone’s scheming. The resentment against those born with abilities far exceeding their own skills. The despair that they could never be like them no matter how hard they tried. Those feelings can be summed up as—
“By the way, President.”
“Yes?”
blink
As my deep thoughts suddenly broke, the president blinked in surprise behind her glasses. Cute. Even with her stiff actions and speech, she looked adorable. It seemed she didn’t panic too much when I called her president; she likely thought I knew her.
“Have you ever felt any negative emotions towards the academy? It seems like everyone else does. May I ask what feelings you have towards the academy?”
head tilts
At my words suggesting everyone felt that way, the president’s face flushed slightly. Was it embarrassment or anger? Maybe it was both.
“Well, I can’t say I don’t have negative feelings at all. I have thought about wanting to fight and win, even clenching my teeth. Watching the abilities and talents the academy students have makes me disappointed with the fact that I don’t have such skills. But,”
straightens up
The student council president stood tall and looked at me confidently while saying.
“Even if my talent doesn’t reach that level, I believe my efforts have never been wasted. If I keep trying, my skills will improve, and I can fill in my shortcomings by cooperating with my classmates. Just because I can’t become a hero doesn’t mean I can’t protect society, nor do I become unrecognized by others.”
smirk
Then she slightly relaxed her shoulders, lowering her head a bit as if feeling shy while adding.
“Well, if you were to ask me if I’m envious, yes, I’m envious of those like you, Saintess. No matter how much effort I put in, I wouldn’t achieve the same feats at the same age as you. But I learned that if I just envy, I won’t even become somewhere near that level. It’s far more rewarding to try to climb up rather than just standing there doing nothing.”
nod nod
Exactly. She’s a character who thoroughly moves towards her beliefs, believing in what she thinks is right. Regardless of her shortcomings or how others are doing better, she just diligently does her assigned tasks—a ‘complete heroine.’
Originally, I intended for her to work in cooperation with Ji-An, allowing him to realize something mentally through this character, but—
“So yeah, no, I don’t feel jealous.”
With a bright grin while saying that, Lynn Mayer’s face shone like a radiant light.
thinking
‘Jealous,’ huh.
That truly encapsulated the emotions those cadets felt.
Thanks to that, the whole situation started to come into clear focus.
Jealousy is one of the names of the Seven Witches.
And as I mentioned before, one of the specialties of witches is to actively utilize the emotions tied to their names to attempt to collapse society. The emotions attached to a witch’s name are all feelings that any human must experience, and if one wants to amplify them, there are plenty of methods.
whispers
Whether through spreading rumors or casting magic.
But any method cannot create ‘that which does not exist’ into ‘that which does.’ That is the realm of gods. No matter how excellent witches are at magic, they can only expand and amplify what already exists; they cannot create what is nonexistent at all.
hmph
So, it is impossible to raise the jealousy of one who does not feel jealousy.
“The President… actually came around to try to stop us. Even back during that duel, she was trying to care for that kid who got injured…”
I imagine she must be talking about Erika’s duel that happened around the same time I fought.
Well, after I thrashed those two, although they glared at me, no one dared to challenge me. If the President was involved in helping bullied kids, she likely wouldn’t have crossed paths with me.
hmph
Maybe there’s another kid like Erika. I sure hope so.
“I’m sorry…”
As that topic came up, Lynn immediately turned gloomy. Now that I look closer, her eyes were a little dark beneath, meaning she must have been through quite a bit.
“No, it’s fine. You were a big help.”
smile
Yes. She had been an enormous help. Just bringing these cadets who wanted to apologize but couldn’t had already given me insight into what was happening.
And a solution for dealing with this too.
What did those two say?
tilt head
I’m not sure if they came to their senses after getting beaten by me or through healing, but anyway, after our duel, it seems they ended up that way.
Both could be valid points.
If these two got caught in some kind of ‘brainwashing,’ perhaps giving their heads some appropriate shock could cure them. To wake someone who’s dozing off, splashing water on them will surely do the trick; shock therapy could serve as a kind of treatment too.
If the brainwashing was due to magic, and if it were the witch’s magic, then it would be the poison to holy power, and overwhelming holy power should dispel that brainwashing.
thinking
The problem is, I don’t know which one would truly work.
Moreover, if I say I’ll grant a holy power baptism or beat them with a morning star, they certainly wouldn’t listen to me. There’s no way those brainwashed cadets would heed a proposal from an academy student. What’s more, my abilities had already been put to the test, so they wouldn’t want to start a fight either. Filtering through one battle after another would take far too long. With just over two weeks left, I can’t be sure if I can pull that off.
But—
“Hmm…”
If I’m uncertain about whether beating them continuously until they come to their senses or shooting holy magic to heal their recent cold is right, then I might as well do both!
chuckle
Then I suddenly grabbed Lynn’s wrist and greeted her with a rather strange look.
“Huh?”
surprised
Watching Lynn fluster in confusion, I leaned closer and spoke.
“Since you apologized, may I ask you for a favor?”
“Uh, yes…”
stammering
With her startled voice, Lynn answered reflexively.
“Sure!”
excited
With that, I rushed into the classroom, still firmly holding Lynn’s right wrist.
“Wait, wait…?”
panicking
As Lynn stumbled in bewilderment behind me, I heard the distant friends surrounding my empty seat by the window. Ji-An was still quietly seething, while Selena, Linea, Aurora, and Satsuki were chatting about trying to calm him down. Rina seemed lost in her own deep thoughts.
grin
Yes.
One of my friends is downright furious.
Even more, none of these cadets know this guy’s strength yet. If I can draw attention, this could be the only chance!
“Ji-An!”
shout
As I called his name, Ji-An and the others turned their gaze toward me, and upon noticing the very confused Lynn I was dragging along, they exchanged glances filled with ‘Why did you bring a cadet now?!’
What do you mean why? Because I needed her!
“Let’s just smash all of them! How about we have a duel with all the cadets at once?”
boom
Exactly!
If I can’t thrash them myself, someone else will!
I’ll just heal whomever I hit later!
Ah, how simple and straightforward this plan is!
“…Whaaaat!?”
shock
A sound of disbelief echoed, probably from several people.
*
chuckle
Did you know?
The position of a Saintess carries a certain authority.
Even if my knowledge about the gods is merely that of living in a convent, slightly better than what other nuns receive, my authority in theology is far from low.
The reason is simple. It’s much more reliable to send out a probe to photograph a star directly than to calculate its position and dimensions from far away using various formulas.
whoosh
Normally, launching a probe and getting it close enough to take a picture requires needing to calculate the star’s position and dimensions beforehand, but unlike others, I was born in another planet within the star system, allowing me to see the star directly without going through that process.
To put it plainly, the depth of understanding gained through difficult calculations versus the straightforward answer obtained easily is a bit of a cheat, but what can I say? The situation has played out exactly as such.
No matter how many high-minded theologians exist in this world, I am the one who can hear the divine voice and directly wield its powers.
gleam
Of course, when a person close to the goddess speaks about her or her adversaries, the authority in that matter will inevitably grow.
Thanks to that, it was a great relief that persuading Lynn, whom I just met today, didn’t take much effort at all.
“…I’ll give it a try, but is it even possible…?”
Despite her anxious expression, Lynn had reluctantly accepted after I argued there were no other means.
“It’ll be fine! If it’s Ji-An, it’s not a problem!”
At my words, the kids around me nodded, looking quite dubious but also somewhat relieved. Since I had barged in shouting, the entire class turned to look. Those nearby, who hadn’t experienced the magic point incident, wore expressions of skepticism, but at least they recognized Ji-An’s prowess to some extent.
swish
Among those who were silently sitting, there was one person conspicuously calm.
That person was Ji-An himself.
…It felt like looking at the eye of a storm, and it was terrifying.
*
clap clap
Of course, executing it on the same day was impossible.
The student count of over a hundred is a significant number, though not necessarily large. There hadn’t been an official combined class yet, and for the first week, the cadets were taking their separate classes in the academy to adapt, so they weren’t spread out. However, it would still take time for all the cadets to hear about the plans and get riled up.
Spread mainly by student council president Lynn Mayer, the rumors flew among the cadets. Whispers that one of the academy students boasted that he could defeat all cadets on the spot.
chatter chatter
What truth lurked within the rumor? Naturally, those who didn’t know Ji-An’s actual strength would get furious. It was a disrespectful claim against a whole group of cadets who were confident in their own skills.
While they might reason that there must be some basis behind such a statement, the thought “If we fight together, we can win, right?” would undoubtedly creep in as well.
Moreover, the gossip spread to the notion of winning simultaneously against Ji-An.
wink wink
In that regard, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that the witch who might be pulling strings was at least not the ‘Suspecting Witch.’ Of course, if she were, she wouldn’t have set up this plan.
And thankfully, the lack of proper communication among the witches had worked in our favor.
buzz buzz
While I’m not entirely sure about this point, if the witches had exchanged complete information, the moment Ji-An’s name was mentioned, the plot would have turned to dust. They would know precisely how strong Ji-An truly was.
However, as evidenced by the names of the witches, their actions stemmed from negative emotions.
snicker
Of course, they were greatly influenced by those feelings, causing distrust among themselves. They are naturally at odds regarding loyalty to the demonic realms. Thus, it’s only logical for them to share minimal information in such fierce competition. Of course, they’d share true dangerous information if needed, but—
The Suspecting Witch met her end before even sharing that vital information.
grin
Thanks to that, the rumor of Ji-An overlooking the cadets spread like wildfire.
The weekend in between ensured that the plan was set for execution by Monday afternoon.
tap tap
A tense atmosphere surrounded the school all day. Though it was the day of the first actual combined class, cadets and academy students alike avoided exchanging a word with one another. Naturally, the teachers panicked significantly, resulting in a nearly derailed class.
crash
Despite coaxing and scolding, seeing the students remain obstinate puzzled the teachers. It seemed this level of hostility had never occurred in joint classes throughout the history.
…My apologies. I’m the cause.
wink
As I internally apologized and prayed, hoping no incidents would occur until after school—
The plan somehow unfolded according to the setup.
After school, the auditorium buzzed with a great number of academy students who heard the rumors and the cadets sent to the academy, creating quite a commotion.
rustle rustle
However, rather than a lively marketplace buzz, that energy felt more like the tense atmosphere of an imminent brawl.
“Delaying may actually lead to a real fight.”
clap clap
Selena remarked.
“It’s better to start quickly.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Satsuki spoke, and Ji-An simply nodded. His expression remained tranquil. Perhaps something good had happened to calm him during the weekend?
“Um…”
A very small voice rang out, turning me around to see Erika. As everyone’s gaze focused on her, Erika fumbled and hurriedly spoke.
“Keep up your spirits.”
ohhh
Oh!
It turns out Ji-An and Erika had homes close to one another. It wasn’t unreasonable for Ji-An to have visited over the weekend.
I could only guess why there had been distance between them up until now, but well, we have work to do, so let’s sort this out first, then ask later.
“Ji-An.”
call call
I caught Ji-An just before he stepped onto the platform. In his hands was the school-provided bastard sword. Considering Ji-An’s current state, it didn’t seem likely he’d inflict serious injuries with that, but—
“Please take this.”
hand over
I presented a wooden sword I had prepared in advance. Ji-An looked slightly puzzled as he accepted it.
“Just don’t break it while hitting, alright?”
Even if I asked him to speed down the intensity somewhat, I thought it’d be best to have some kind of safety measure.
Ji-An chuckled lightly and said, “Thanks,” while smiling.
wide smile
Wow, he’s so handsome.
grumble
Ugh, it’s infuriating how good-looking he is.
whoop whoop
As I handed him the bastard sword, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. Without a doubt, it was my usual concerned friends.
Scanning those kids standing behind me with worried faces, Ji-An said, “Well then, I’ll be off. No need to worry,” before heading towards the stage.
surprise
…Err, they probably aren’t worried about you, though.
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
