Still, except for incidents related to grades, the rest of July passed by quite normally. whoosh
After losing two witches, I heard that the Witch of Resentment might be scared of me because the attacks from beasts and demons had slightly decreased. Whether they were trying to fill the sudden void left by their commander or if they were preparing a countermeasure against me, who could project tactical-grade firepower just by existing, I’m not sure.
However, I thought that this fact wasn’t entirely bad. hmm
Since I enrolled in school, almost every month, I got swept up in some trouble. I mean, I was involved in incidents that were too big to be merely called trouble. bang
Among those, three times were related to witches, and twice, we even hunted down a witch as part of the team I was in.
It seems there are government officials insisting that it would be good to take action while the enemy is reorganizing, but since I haven’t heard anything from the church, despite reading it in the news or newspapers, it seems like the government won’t actually do anything like that.
Anyway, if there were to be an attack, it would be more efficient to include me. As long as they don’t obscure my vision, there wouldn’t be much harm to our side, whereas the enemies would be met with attacks that cause them to burn and disappear? If I were a military official in the government, I wouldn’t be able to resist using that.
Separating from what the media talks about, I’m not sure if that’s a minority opinion in the government or if the church is blocking access, but from my perspective, I’m just glad they’re not calling on me.
In fact, attacking at this point would be foolish.
While two witches have died, this hasn’t been made public, so the government lacks the material to persuade most of the generals. Even if we were to defeat the enemy and seize more land, it would require a huge amount of money to quickly build a new barrier. If even a complete one can’t be built, attacking would be worse than not attacking at all.
Moreover, such a claim often comes up when the attacks have slightly decreased, so it can’t gain any traction.
Well, even if they are reorganizing, it makes no sense for them to suddenly create new witches.
In the 500 years even before I existed, there were only seven witches.
All witches were either saints or particularly high-level clerics, and as of now, all such clerics are focusing on the religious reform. It wouldn’t even cross their minds to betray the ‘heaven-sent saintess.’
In the meantime, someone might say that a dropout could become a witch, but— well, if someone has the potential to become a witch, they would know that I took down one of them in a flash and was right there when I dealt with the other.
Besides, one witch had her head cleanly chopped off, you know? chop
—Anyway, for that reason, I could spend July somewhat comfortably. There was an incident with a visit to the Vatican at the beginning of July, but I escaped quickly before it turned into a trouble.
“So I’ll just say what needs to be said quickly. You all want to go and have fun, right?” smile
Seo-A said this while standing at the podium.
Today is Friday, July 27th. It was the day the semester came to an end. ding ding
I had shown up at school, but in reality, classes had ended last week, and we were already having a shortened day with classes only in the morning. Of course, today was merely the day for the end-of-term ceremony and the vacation ceremony.
And that had already finished in the morning.
In other words, once the homeroom teacher’s closing ceremony was over, all the kids here would be free until September 1st.
I could already see some kids noticeably preparing to jump up. bounce
“Don’t do anything reckless, and don’t act foolishly. If possible, play in a healthy way. If you can’t be healthy, at least don’t get caught. And absolutely don’t commit any crimes, got it?”
“Yes!”
That was the most vigorous answer I had ever heard from students in this academy.
Well, age-wise, they’re first-year high school students. It’s their first vacation as high schoolers, so of course they’re excited.
There are moments in high teen novels or dramas where they say, “since this is the last winter vacation…” and I always thought, “Aren’t all school vacations just once?” After all, the vacation in first year and the vacation in second year are obviously different.
Even if they try to show off saying it’s the last vacation, they’ll definitely be gallivanting around traveling abroad during their college breaks.
“Alright, I’ll finish with that today. Stay healthy and see you after the vacation. That’s all!” clap clap
As Seo-A said this and quickly closed the book on the podium, the kids all jumped up at once.
As expected of St. Ariel Academy, which values personal freedom and individuality, there was no formal salute or greeting. Of course, no kid walked straight out of the classroom either. They all moved to the front of the classroom to greet Seo-A at least once.
Yes. No matter how much personal freedom and individuality St. Ariel Academy advocates, relationships are important. Especially, there wouldn’t be a student wanting to have a bad relationship with their pretty and friendly homeroom teacher, Seo-A.
While she might overlook a few greetings, well… that’s how it should be based on my perspective while setting this up outside of the story.
In the meantime, there was a group that stayed seated and relaxed.
Of course, it was us from the duel club.
In fact, a few days ago during extracurricular activity, Seo-A had given us a heads-up.
“The training camp date is set. However, only the date is set, and the schedule is not detailed yet. Once everything is organized, I’ll inform you. Let’s set it for the day of the end-of-term ceremony. Until then, I’ll create the curriculum and let you know.”
Honestly, the training camp was just an excuse, and I was filled with thoughts of playing, but as a club advisor, I couldn’t ignore what the person accompanying me said.
Actually, even though her and my real ages might be similar, outwardly, there was almost a ten-year difference, after all.
Other kids might find it a bit strange that we weren’t getting up, but they didn’t seem to care too much. The friends we got to know over the past semester, meaning a little over three months, had already recognized that we always moved around together. They probably thought we were going to stay and head somewhere else.
“Bye, see you after the vacation.”
“Yeah, let’s meet again in good health.”
But that doesn’t mean we were really just “having fun alone.”
There were always students using the auditorium, and occasionally, they would walk in and bump into us, or we’d practice together or talk after school.
Although we hadn’t become as close as those in the club, there were certainly many kids we were familiar enough with to at least ask how each other was doing.
Those kids came over to greet us. Selena greeted her other close friends, and Jian received many greetings from the girl students. Considering the vacation contact details, it seemed that he had already received quite a few.
…Well, I also know quite a few contact details of girls in my class.
However, getting someone’s contact to me is a completely different story than getting it to Jian.
Anyone can see it’s clearly an invitation to go on a date during the vacation. If we peeked into his phone, we’d likely see tons of messages like, “What are you doing today?” “What are you up to?” “You free?” “Want to grab lunch together?” Of course, he probably wouldn’t even realize those messages express romantic interest. I envy him.
Oh, by the way, even though I think I’m quite decent-looking, I haven’t had much luck with guys approaching me.
I’ve always worn a nun’s outfit, and now that I’ve become a saintess, it’s reached a nearly unreachable level to approach me. On top of that, I’ve got two nuns on either side, making it even harder to approach. Especially for students of this academy, they wouldn’t want to touch the church and risk getting hurt. That could reflect on their grades, after all.
Well, I consider it lucky. I have no desire to be confessed to by a guy.
…In that sense, the kids from the Officer School were truly something else.
While I was thinking along those lines, the remaining students in the classroom, except for us, left.
“Huuh.”
Seo-A sighed softly while looking at the classroom door through which the kids had exited with slightly misty eyes.
“There was a time when I was like that. It was during my first vacation. I went on a trip with a school senior and had a hot time right after the vacation began.”
…No, you can’t say that’s true.
As I mentioned before, back in those days, I was an obsessive middle schooler who was a complete otaku about strange things.
And a virgin, too.
The characters I created trying to make them the main heroine all had the setting of being virgins with no experience with boys. Even characters like Ramihi and Erica, who had only very brief settings and never actually appeared, had the same setup. I wrote it all tied together in that way.
Thanks to that, while the other kids showed expressions of blush and curiosity, I was the only one with a face full of suspicion and doubt, which made Seo-A wink at me charmingly, closing one eye.
“Well, it’s still too early for you to hear more detail about it.”
“…Didn’t you just say it was something that happened in our age?”
Seo-A easily ignored Selena’s objection and walked over to our side next to the podium. She leaned slightly against a nearby desk and spoke.
“As I mentioned previously, the schedule is set. The syllabus is also prepared. Whether you want to play in the valley or the sea, neither will be a problem. Both are included in the plans.”
That certainly isn’t bad. Rather than fight over which one to choose, it doesn’t hurt to do both.
“And… ah, here they come.”
Seo-A waved her hand in a gesture for someone in the distance to come over. Following her gaze, I turned my head and saw Ramihi and Erica entering through the back door of the classroom. Ramihi had entered boldly without hesitation last time, so this time, he came in confidently too, while Erica, who had a slightly shy personality, came in looking around anxiously.
Hmm, cute. I understood why Jian got so angry when he saw her being bullied. Well, Jian was upset not because he liked her but because his little sister was being bullied.
“Hello.”
As always, Ramihi greeted us coolly.
“Ah, hello…”
Erica greeted us a little nervously.
It seemed like she was more composed when she asked me about how to become popular or when we talked about underwear— oh right, Jian was here too.
That must explain why she got super shy when she was standing in front of him.
“So, as mentioned last time, we’re going to have our training camp at Erica’s private beach.”
There was a small round of applause in response to Seo-A’s words.
Erica’s face turned as red as a tomato. She already looked young as it was, but now she looked even younger. I could see why Jian would treat her like a little sister; I would treat her like that too.
“The duration is seven nights and eight days… I’ve made a rough schedule, but it won’t be too packed. It’ll be a bit more of your usual training with some added stamina training. I think you all have built quite a bit of stamina compared to the beginning of the semester, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
For sure, my stamina had increased a lot compared to the beginning. Now I could even duel with Rina without collapsing. If I put my mind to it, I could fight until I fell, but I would probably have to fight much longer than when we first fought. It would be more boring than hard.
“Four days are planned for the sea, and four days will be at the mountains. By the way, the valley is deeper than we thought, so since we’re doing this, we’ve arranged for some camping as well.”
…Honestly, I think the one most excited about this isn’t us but Seo-A.
Well, she’s been styled as someone who lives young at heart. She has a unique vibe as a teacher who interacts with students like friends, making her almost a fantastical character.
“We’ll be leaving on August 6th. As for what to bring, just change of clothes and underwear, and maybe some shower items? We’ll have everything else there, so if you’re worried, you can bring some stuff along. I’ll let you know two days in advance about the departure time, as you probably won’t remember if I mention it now. We can all gather for the departure; that’ll suffice.”
After saying that, Seo-A looked around at us and nodded once.
“Alright, that’s all I’ll say. Any questions?”
“Me!”
Selena raised her hand energetically.
“How big is the villa?”
“It’s bigger than you guys probably think. At least when I went there, I didn’t find it lacking at all. Oh, but it’s not spacious enough to give each of you a private room. I think you’ll have to share rooms with a few people. Though one person will probably have a room to themselves.”
As our gazes shifted to Jian, he scratched his head, smiling awkwardly as if troubled.
Lucky dude, I guess.
Well, he’s completely clueless about this stuff, so I suppose it doesn’t matter much. Honestly, even if it’s just the two of us in a room, I’m confident nothing particularly will happen.
What a lucky clueless guy.
I adjusted my thoughts about Jian in my head.
“Anything else?”
“Me!”
This time, Aurora raised her hand.
“Are we going by plane?”
Seeing her eyes sparkle, she seems to really like flying. I only enjoyed it for the first couple of times. I tend to fall asleep quickly once I’m on a plane.
“It’s about one hour and forty minutes by plane. I think it would be incredibly agonizing by car.”
In short, it meant we would be flying there.
“Any other questions?”
This time, no one raised their hand.
“Okay, then, stay healthy until we meet again. Don’t eat anything strange and knock yourself out, okay? The person who falls sick right before we leave for the trip is the worst.”
As I expected, she’s the one most excited.
Thinking about it, August 6th is a Monday.
I know that teachers have to come to school a certain number of days even during the break… Are they planning to pull this off as a vacation without telling anyone and just take a whole week off?
Or perhaps the reason she suggested this to us from the start was for that reason?
When I shot a suspicious glance at Seo-A, she once again smiled lightly and winked at me.
What a frustratingly charming expression.
*
“Now it’s really vacation time.”
As we walked, Selena said that.
Originally, Selena was supposed to part ways with Jian, but now she was walking with us. Rina was also absent. She had split off earlier towards her own side.
The reason Selena, who should be heading in the same direction as Jian, was walking with us is—
“It’s vacation now, and it feels a bit odd to come to school to study, right? So shouldn’t I just go over and teach you?”
“Excuse me?”
“What I was teaching you last time. You haven’t finished it all, right?”
“You’re planning to do that until the vacation?”
I asked in shock, and Selena nodded, looking at me like I was asking something obvious.
“I at least know where the cathedral is. I don’t go too often, but I drop by to pray sometimes. Though I rarely ran into you.”
Well, if you live close by, you could stop by to pray or something, I guess.
But the thought of an outsider coming in to teach the nuns residing there never crossed my mind.
Even in the cathedral, there are deacons who are quite well-versed in theory. In fact, before enrolling in the academy, I had studied late into nights under the guidance of nuns and deacons much older than me. Now that I think about it, I don’t do that anymore.
I may have become a saintess, making it awkward to teach.
…Ah, right.
“Uh, Selena.”
“Yeah?”
I calmly said to the tilting-headed Selena in a composed voice.
“Even though I might look this way, I am the only saintess in the church. It’s fine to meet at school, but if you want to meet me in person, it requires a rather complicated procedure. Do you really want to go through all that just to teach me—”
“So, are you not going to meet me?”
Selena asked me, staring at me intensely.
“Uh? Well, that…”
“…”
I couldn’t handle the silent pressure from Selena’s intense stare and finally said,
“Ah, I mean, no, that’s not it.”
“Well then, it’s settled.”
And so, I went ahead and accepted Selena’s offer.
After all, I couldn’t turn down someone who was kindly offering to take their time to help me, even if they intended to bug me.
…As a result, for the next two weeks, I managed to cram a massive amount of knowledge into my mind.
But, would it help later?
I guess, as long as I don’t forget it by the end of the vacation, it will help when studying for the second semester.
…Though, it’s kinda useless since it’s studying for an exam that has already passed.
…Next semester, I should at least put in some effort toward my grades, I thought as I sighed heavily.
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