<355 - Diligent Daily Life>
Clatter, clatter.
Today, the sight of the Mob clanking around in heavy armor made the classmates snicker.
“Wow, look at that stubborn one. Why is he coming to lectures when he could take a break during the weekly event?”
“Just look at him. Does he look like he knows how to rest, wearing full-body armor all day? That dude probably wears it even when he’s in the coffin.”
“Aren’t they saying he’s going to extra classes right now? Isn’t it just because he’s an inferior student who doesn’t know how to take a break?”
“Haha, so mean. He might just end up crying.”
I really want to cry, you awful people.
The Mob felt melancholic.
While others were out enjoying the fun exorcism event, flaunting the exorcism equipment they got from the church for points, he was stuck attending lectures.
Honestly, he had been studying hard, so he wished he could get some time off and have fun thanks to the principal’s consideration.
━━━
☆Attention All Members☆
We, the Organization that Plays with Oknodie, usually indulge in lots of fun, so we hope you focus on studying this week and refrain from playing during the weekly event!
If anyone is caught playing, they might end up having a special playtime with me this weekend!!
But whatever you do, don’t get caught by me while playing exorcism games!!!
━━━
The cute handwriting that seemed to be taken down with small hands showed an unexpected hint of fear in Oknodie’s warning message.
If one braved a thought of going out to play exorcism after reading this, that in itself would have to be respected.
Of course, the Mob didn’t particularly yearn for others’ respect, but he found himself adding another page to his image as a training fanatic.
Am I frustrated because I can’t play like everyone else?
At first, that was his thought.
But it was different.
The Mob realized the emotions he was feeling.
A different thought slowly began to bloom.
“Mob, you’re coming to class even on a day like today?”
“Surprisingly, yeah. I figured Mob wouldn’t show up.”
The professors’ expressions also showed they weren’t expecting him.
Why was a student they thought would drop out crawling into the classroom?
He had seen such expressions before.
“Mob, first-year. Why are you wearing full-body armor in class…?”
“…There are various reasons.”
“If it’s body-enhancing armor, you need to pay a hefty equipment point to use it in school.”
“It’s not body-enhancing armor.”
“Let’s see, according to the registered equipment application, that armor is… whoa, training equipment?”
You’ve got to be kidding.
What a fuss for nothing.
Let’s see how long you can last.
The same disdainful gazes poured over him as his classmates.
Even the professors weren’t any different.
Needless to say, he was exhausted from holding on stubbornly.
He wanted to take it off.
There were days he felt so tired he wanted to cry and cling on to someone.
But Oknodie said.
“Mob really is someone who ‘makes it work’! It’s worth teaching the weight course. I wonder if Jonnas felt like this when he saw me?”
You say I can make it?
You believe I can hold on?
The one person who believed in him, when no one else did, was his class’s top student, Oknodie.
His heart swelled with pride.
What am I thinking? This is so frustrating.
It wasn’t the professors.
The one who truly taught him was…
The one who reached out and pulled him up to a higher view, believing in him, was…
The academy’s smallest girl, Oknodie.
I won’t break. No, I can’t break!
Not just for myself, but to uphold Oknodie’s belief in me, I will endure.
That single stubbornness held back the wavering and weakening heart he had and allowed him to stand again from the very bottom.
“Mob, you’re present again today.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, I thought you would.”
It’s a pointless effort that won’t last long anyway.
It’s just a bit longer than others.
The skepticism with which the professor gazed now changed.
Amidst other students who desired rest above all else, Mob’s diligence in coming to class was finally acknowledged by his professor.
Thank goodness for the helmet.
Mob thought.
Honestly, he was holding back tears a little.
He didn’t want to show this embarrassing side to anyone.
The painful, toilsome, and strenuous days.
Just enduring it drained his heart in the cruel academy routine.
But today, he felt joyful.
He realized he had rediscovered his initial resolve.
At the same time, he could see how he had grown stronger.
“Mob, 65 points. A pretty average score.”
“Yeah…”
“But that’s quite an improvement. Considering the 22 points you got when you first took this class.”
I remember.
It was disappointing to see how sluggish I was, both in my head and body.
Struggling during break and still being unable to escape the lower class felt pathetic.
Yet, the results of enduring it without despair had finally come.
The moment his effort was recognized.
I want to convey this.
Like a child looking for their parents after receiving good evaluations at school, the first person that came to Mob’s mind was Oknodie.
The one who brought him to this moment and allowed him to feel this joy was Oknodie.
“Oh! Black Knight Mob. Still keeping at it with the armor play, huh?”
“Hey, where’s Oknodie?”
A student who joined Oknodie’s organization as a foundation scholarship student glanced at their watch and replied.
“In the lecture hall.”
“After the lecture ends?”
“Next lecture hall.”
“What about after that?”
“Lunch and then back to the lecture hall.”
“…”
That’s right.
Oknodie was taking a whopping 38 credits.
Compared to that, he was nothing.
Somehow, he felt a bit deflated.
Going to visit a kid who was suffering and bragging about something so trivial felt oddly embarrassing.
A thank-you just felt too much.
Nonetheless, he vowed.
To cherish this overwhelming feeling and keep pushing himself day by day.
And eventually, there would come a chance to meet Oknodie naturally and express his gratitude.
“Emergency! Everyone in the hideout, get out now!”
“What’s going on? Whoa, you’re covered in blood!”
But that opportunity came sooner than expected.
A student who was informing others of Oknodie’s timetable gasped as they spoke to the newcomer.
“Those lunatics obsessed with exorcism have started causing trouble.”
“What does exorcism have to do with a perfectly fine person bleeding from the forehead?”
“The seniors are sweeping away the ghosts to exorcise them, leaving the first-years participating in the festival without prey to target!”
“Then isn’t that even more irrelevant?”
“They’re posing as if they chased off the ghost by beating up perfectly fine people to earn church points, so trouble is brewing!”
…Those crazy bastards!
That’s serious!
The Mob strapped on his training steel spear.
“Lead the way.”
“Oh! Black Knight Mob is joining too? This is reassuring.”
“Don’t be a fool. Just go find a healing team.”
The exorcist scammers had taken control of the passageway connecting the buildings and were threatening the classmates with exorcism equipment.
“Didn’t you say you were going to class? Hand over some points on the way, or face exorcism?”
“You worthless jerks! What did we do wrong? We’re just diligent students desperately needing an extra class!”
“Shut up! Do you think I’ll forgive those conscience-stricken nerds who stuck out on a day everyone decided to take a break? If you’re sane, you’re possessed by a study bug, and if you’re not, you should be getting more beatings!”
“Ack! Ahh!”
The sight wasn’t pleasing even to the Mob.
Students who bravely held back their urge to play and showed up to class were getting beaten up.
Even the Jigoku Pirate Group wouldn’t stoop this low, and it was infuriating to watch.
“Attack the ones hitting the students first!”
“What are you guys! Aren’t you the Organization that Plays with Oknodie? Are you obstructing us?”
“Some of our fans are with you!”
In the ensuing melee, Mob joined in, swinging a blunted wooden sword.
The synergy from his diligently enhanced body due to hard training turned his movements into a completely different power, twisting his opponents’ expressions.
“You pack a punch!”
“You’re nothing but a nasty thug worse than a pirate, yet you’ve got solid skills.”
“Of course! We’re stronger than those attending extra classes!”
“I recognize your skills, but your resolve is lacking.”
What resolve?
“Resolve to endure and grow by training diligently instead of exploiting others easily and comfortably.”
The Mob accepted the opponent’s threatening move with his body.
Then he stepped forward, gripped the opponent’s wrist with force.
Grrk!
The wooden sword the opponent was swinging fell to the ground as his wrist twisted painfully.
Utilizing the acrobatics he’d learned from Oknodie, he smoothly executed martial arts, twisting arms behind their back, kicking their legs out from under them, and stomping down on their back.
“Evil deeds stop here. You cannot obtain justice by threatening classmates just because seniors took away the ghosts to exorcise!”
“What do you intend to do with us!”
“I’ll tie you all up and take you to the professor.”
“Cough! Are you planning to toss us into the Great Prison?”
“No, I’ll just ask to be tied to chairs and forced to attend lectures.”
“Craaack! I’d rather be sent to jail! I don’t want to attend lectures until the festival day!”
With miserable wails, the subdued students were dragged off toward the lecture hall.
Mob, who had righted the school’s justice, wore a refreshing expression as he helped transport the captured students.
“Damn it. If it had just been the Jigoku Pirate Group causing trouble, we wouldn’t have been caught!”
“Huh? What do you mean by us?”
The students wearing shabby pirate bandanas who had been taking notes in the back looked up.
“No, why are you here? Did you get caught before us!?”
“No, we were just attending class.”
Crazy. We were really behaving worse than pirates.
Even the Jigoku Pirate Group, who had returned from their boating trip with no need for rewards from the exorcism festival, were now a group of sated carnivores who do not hunt!
