Episode 60
That day, at 4 PM.
The heroes of the Church visited the Academia once again.
The auditorium was packed with first-year students.
Current students were bubbling with anticipation, as if they didn’t know what to expect. Normally, this would just be a simple announcement of the established mentor-mentee relationships, so there shouldn’t have been any commotion.
However, this time things were a bit different.
The gloomy hero, whom I call “the dark hero,” had given up his mentoring position. That hero, Craine, who was originally Vargan’s mentor, was still pursuing me, sending letters and showing up in person to request that I become his mentee, but when I refused, he passed on his authority.
It’s pathetic for a hero to act this way.
Anyway, his prospective mentee spots were taken by other heroes. Who those two were remains unknown, but I heard Helion wasn’t one of them.
Still, for the students, it was once again a chance to grab the lifeline.
“Maybe it could be you,” I joked to Emily, who was nearby, but she shook her head. She said she knew her own level and that it wouldn’t happen.
“I’m not an idiot.”
That was somewhat surprising.
“Why are you making that face?”
“Emily, finally you’ve learned to grasp the topic. One could say my influence in your development has been significant.”
“Ugh! Come on!”
Emily frowned and pouted, but something felt off. She might not notice, but as someone who’s great at reading expressions, I could tell for sure.
“When I heard that Finn became Helion’s prospective mentee, I saw the same two emotions coexisting like now.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Surprise and congratulations on the outside while harboring dark emotions contrasting those feelings on the inside.”
“That, that’s….”
Emily averted her eyes and fell silent.
It seemed she was reflecting on the moment when those ugly feelings emerged.
There’s no need for that.
“People can feel multiple emotions about a single incident, and even a single statement can hold various meanings. It’s not strange at all for you to have felt jealousy back then.”
“…Why are you saying something so out of character? You don’t need to sugarcoat it… Ah, whatever. You’re just stating facts for my sake, right? Alright, I get it. Now stop looking at me like I’m trash.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
As we casually chatted, the hall grew louder. Everyone’s attention was on the nine figures making their way forward.
The heroes walked in confidently and greeted everyone. Some waved their hands while others flashed smiles.
*Bzzzzzt!*
Just like when the microphone was first turned on. The high-pitched noise assaulted my ears. The culprit who activated the magic device seemed to find it loud too, covering one ear while squinting his eyes and quickly opening them.
It was like turning it on for the first time. A high-pitched noise blasted into my ear. Even the one who switched on the magical tool covered one ear and squinted hard before finally blinking them open.
“Ah, can you hear me well?”
The hero who was leading the event was a girl with messy hair. I recognized her. She played a somewhat important role in the story.
Her name was…
“As you all probably already know, due to some circumstances, we’re selecting additional prospective mentees. In this announcement, there will be a team with three mentees. It’s not a mistake, so please don’t misunderstand. Understood?”
The messy-haired hero smiled brightly.
She then added, “The newly selected students can exercise their right to refuse. If you dislike it, just let the Academia know later.”
Though there was little chance of that happening, she still had to mention it for procedural reasons.
“Oh, by the way. One of the two heroes who got selected as additional prospective mentees is me. I’ll kindly and gently teach you, so if you’re considering refusing, I’d appreciate it if you thought about it again.”
The hero cut down on the preliminaries and began the countdown.
A huge number appeared in mid-air through video magic.
Anyone who saw it might mistake it for a recreational event being hosted at an expensive venue.
Well, looking around, there were definitely a lot of tense current students, so at least it served its purpose.
And when the remaining numbers all vanished…
A video in a list format popped up.
– Helion
Class 1 Schugenharz Troa Vargan · Class 1 Toylen Troa Finn – Charlotte
Class 1 Alicia · Class 1 Liam · Class 1 Emily
– Portlane
Class 4 Belyar Troa Bantlo · Class 1 Serena
– Prehaind
Class 2 Ocell Bui Arterion · Class 2 Ocell Solus Lauga
…….
With her hopes as low as possible, Emily scanned the list.
Of course, she didn’t expect to see her name, but there was still a flicker of hope.
“Uh, uh?!”
With her eyes wide open, Emily wiped her eyes repeatedly, rechecking. She seemed unable to believe the screen before her. Again and again, it still clearly said “Class 1 Emily.”
There was only one person with the name Emily in Class 1.
Emily covered her mouth, unable to contain her surprise.
I was a bit shocked too. I can’t exactly say Emily didn’t make a splash in the class battle, but she certainly wasn’t very prominent.
Could Helion have given her a hint?
That suspicion even crossed my mind.
“Emily! That’s amazing! …Really, really amazing…!”
“Aah, Alicia… Huh, huuuuh!”
Emily began to cry loudly, hugging Alicia, who was standing beside her.
Alicia gently stroked her hair, comforting her. She whispered soft congratulations. Tears welled up in Alicia’s eyes too.
I must admit, they really have exceptional empathy.
Eyes were focused on the pair, but Emily’s cries didn’t stop. Alicia continued to hold her tightly until she was satisfied.
At the same time, Alicia stole glances at the hero leading the event through her tearful eyes.
It made sense that Alicia was showing interest in her. This aspect was also true to the original.
“Thank you for being so happy for me! Let’s get along well moving forward!”
The messy-haired hero, her name was Charlotte.
She shared a name with Alicia’s sister, buried in the past.
*
After the announcement ceremony, Finn and I had an interview with Helion. It wasn’t a grand occasion; it was just to have a simple chat and inform us about the upcoming mentoring schedule.
I was about to have a meeting. It wasn’t a grand occasion, just a simple chat to inform about the upcoming mentoring schedule.
“Ma, ma-ma, it’s an honor to meet you…! I-I’m Toylen Troa Finn!!”
Finn bowed perfectly at a 90-degree angle while reaching out his hand. Even if a god were to descend from the celestial realm, I doubt they would be this polite.
“Nice to meet you, Finn.”
Helion shook his hand and then made him take a seat.
Finn stared at Helion’s hand as if it were a treasure, his teeth chattering like a maraca.
Unable to bear it any longer, I pressed down on Finn’s shoulder, forcing him to sit.
What a fuss!
“Mentoring will officially start during summer vacation. Until then, we’ll be preparing for the break.”
The preliminary mentee will be with us until summer vacation, and only just before the second semester begins will one official mentee be selected.
That means, at least until summer vacation, all preliminary mentees will definitely have the opportunity to receive teaching and hands-on practice.
“When vacation starts, you’ll be with my teammates for two months. I can’t confirm what tasks we’ll be doing yet, as we haven’t received any missions from the Central Church, but I suspect we’ll be tasked with hunting down a bishop-level Altife and destroying their ‘nest.’”
Helion glanced at me while speaking.
It was as if he wanted to see my reaction.
“That sounds exciting.”
I unconsciously let the excitement slip.
He still harbored suspicions about me having some prophetic power. He must have been thinking of using my reaction as a reference for whatever conclusions he reached.
Sorry, Helion.
I won’t give you even the slightest hint.
The incident you’ll face during this vacation will significantly contribute to your illustrious rise, after all.
Why throw rocks in a stream that will flow smoothly on its own? Watching quietly is the best approach.
“With the nest being so dangerous, I’ll only participate as a bystander or assistant, but you should be able to handle priest-level beings without any problem. If you can’t even take down mindless creatures, you’d just be a burden.”
Finn swallowed hard.
He painfully realized his own weakness. Even though he’s been training tirelessly since the class battle, the tension must still be there.
“So you’re saying this is to prevent that?”
“Exactly. I heard that Vargan managed to take down a bishop-level. Quite the achievement for a first-year, huh?”
“Yet, saying something like this means… dealing with the nest is a different story, right?”
“Speeding things along is one of Vargan’s strengths.”
Helion smiled as if he found it amusingly accurate.
“The Altife, Caliculea, that Vargan defeated didn’t have a nest. If it had, even Vargan would have had a tough time against it.”
The nests created by intelligent Altifes.
They refer to their defensive bases as temples, residing there. They offer humans as sacrifices and pray to the goddess, and the nests serve as a sort of living quarters for them.
However, given that it’s the lair of monsters, their appearance is anything but ordinary.
“The nest is a living organism. Entering a nest is similar to stepping into a predator’s mouth or a dangerous dungeon.”
Inside the nest, there are mindless beings that follow the intelligent owner of the nest. The nest itself can sense intruders and transforms, setting traps to try to eliminate them.
The inside teems with mindless entities following the intellect of the nest’s master. Moreover, the nest itself detects intruders, transforming into pre-set traps to eliminate them.
Amid such chaos, having to deal with the intellect, one can easily guess how bothersome the existence of the nest is.
Caliculea, having lived among humans, didn’t create a nest, but as Helion said, if he had one, even I would have suffered.
Helion handed over two books.
They were supplies prepared for each of us.
“This book covers learning about the nest itself, along with response strategies and rules to follow. Originally, this would be advanced material for second-year students, but think of it as pre-learning.”
“Yes, that’s right! Thank you!”
“Let’s refer to it.”
“It’s interesting how each reaction is different.”
For someone saying it’s interesting, he sure wasn’t smiling at all. If he had at least pretended to laugh like earlier, it might have been a bit more convincing.
“And this is a relic for training.”
“A relic! I can’t accept something so precious!”
“Even though it’s a relic, it’s one cursed.”
“Eh…?”
Amid Finn’s clueless remarks, I examined the information of the bracelet-shaped relic. It was to determine what curse it contained.
“It’s a relic that limits mana.”
I continued, “And it’s quite powerful.”
Helion smiled at my words. Although that smile was acting, it was more natural than not doing it at all.
Unlike Liam, who conveniently gets detailed descriptions with the names of relics, I could only guess their power.
This relic is a contract-type relic that activates its effects based on mutual agreement.
The ‘subordinate’ wearing the relic decides the duration and intensity of the effect based on the agreement with the ‘master’ who owns the relic. As the intensity increases, the maximum output of the subordinate decreases, adding a much greater burden to casting general magic than before.
Of course, even as a relic, it’s not omnipotent; the maximum limit it can impose can vary based on performance and condition, even with a contract in place.
Right now, this one is top-notch among the top-notch. It can control about 80% of my maximum mana output.
“I don’t think an explanation is necessary.”
“…….”
“Why is there no need for an explanation…? Vargan?”
I smiled brightly.
Coincidentally, I needed a material to limit mana to study unique spells. Helion casually handed it over, but this relic’s grade is among the highest. Just like Naias, a First-Class (品).
There’s a reason why a relic controlling mana under a contract matches the grade of one of the protagonist Liam’s swords, Naias.
First and foremost, there are extremely few of these, and aspiring heroes yearning to train are practically blind with desire. The demand is 100, while supply approaches 0.
Moreover, after one month of use, it automatically breaks.
It’s a treasure that ordinary nobles desire but can’t obtain.
Even I, a member of the Schugenhartz Family, only used a high-grade one once during my childhood. With such a generous gift being offered for free, why should I refuse?
“Alright. Let’s start training.”
“That’s the answer I expected. Then, the control I’ll impose on you, Vargan student, will be ….”
“Maximum.”
“Vargan?! What will you do if you limit your mana to the maximum?”
Finn’s blabbering flew in one ear and out the other as I announced clearly, “I will limit the mana to the maximum.”
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