“Walking side by side like this feels quite magical, doesn’t it?”
“I think so too.”
After a weekend filled with joy and the end of final exams, it was the last week of Monday before the semester ended.
We were heading to class with a totally different atmosphere than before.
“It’s like a dream that we’re walking to class on our own two feet. This should have been normal all along.”
First up was Karina.
Thanks to her powers as a Saint, she walked as if she had been normal from the start, unlike other patients who would take time to recover.
Sure, it felt a bit awkward at first, but as the day went on and she walked around, she quickly adjusted and walked just like anyone else.
“I’m so happy to be walking with you, Karina!”
“Phew, thank you, Millia.”
For some reason, it was Millia clinging to Karina’s arm, rubbing her cheek against it like a puppy instead of mine. Millia didn’t seem to mind having Karina, who adored her cuteness, cling to her.
In her place, Elisa took her spot. Normally, she would be pushing a wheelchair, so she ended up holding onto just one arm now that they stood side by side.
Still, her pose of holding onto the sleeve with her hand screamed shyness.
“Did Karina… just stand up?”
“Karina’s legs are healed!”
The reactions of the students as we passed by were quite the spectacle. Of course! If the Saint, who had difficulty walking and always used a wheelchair, suddenly was walking on her own two legs, who wouldn’t be shocked?
For someone with leg trouble to walk perfectly overnight is close to a miracle.
Of course, we knew it was because we couldn’t use our strength properly due to a curse and thus couldn’t use a wheelchair, but the other students were in the dark about that.
“Uh, Karina?”
“Viola. It’s been two days.”
“Uh… is your leg better now?”
Viola stared at Karina with wide eyes, her expression no different from other passing students. It was only natural.
“Yeah. As of yesterday, my condition improved…and I can walk now!”
“Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
While their conversation drifted past me, I casually scanned the surroundings. Karina being out of her wheelchair could also mark the beginning of another hassle.
Until now, I could block off people’s approaches under the guise of being a ‘patient,’ but now that the shield of being a patient was gone, people might start approaching me for various reasons.
Most would back off if I glared, but you can never be sure there won’t be any crazies either. Especially with next year’s new students coming in, things were bound to get busier.
“Ah, and Uncle… it’s been a while. What happened to that demon, Harpas?”
“I killed him. If you want, I can show you the crow’s head I hung on my wall.”
“What?”
Viola looked up at me with a face uncertain if I was kidding or serious. Quite a cute face for someone with such a rough personality.
“No, I’m not kidding! It’s really the head of Harpas on my wall…”
“Really? Uncle, can I go see it?”
“I won’t stop you.”
She would likely freak out like Elisa did when she saw the head, but I had no intention of stopping her. Judging by the enthusiasm in her eyes, even if I did, she’d keep asking anyway.
Besides, it’s not like a half-mounted head posed any threat.
“Then I’ll go after class today!”
Viola seemed thrilled at the prospect of seeing a demon’s head, her voice going up an octave.
She’s got her cute moments, I guess.
“Johann, is it really okay? It is a demon’s head after all…”
“As long as I’m around, it’s no problem.”
Even if there’s lingering energy from the demon, the moment it tries anything, I could just blast it away with my Phoenix power.
If it was the main body of Harpas, maybe, but with just the residual energy? No way.
“Yeah, yeah! Johann showed it to me and I was totally fine!”
With Millia backing me up, Karina, who seemed hesitant about Harpas’s head, nodded in acknowledgment.
“Okay. But if anything happens, you have to come to me, okay?”
“Thank you, Karina.”
“It’s no problem. Just friends helping each other out…”
“Oh my! Karina! Is your leg better?”
“Yes, it is.”
Like bees drawn to a flower, Martina, with her bright yellow hair, came over with an astonished look. Now, if only Lewis and Shuri show up, we’ll have the whole gang.
“Have you seen Lewis and Shuri?”
“They probably went ahead to the classroom, right? They’re quite diligent.”
Everyone nodded at Martina’s response. Thinking back, that made sense. Lewis was quite the diligent protagonist, and Shuri was living a very diligent life too.
Well, we’d see them in class anyway, so there was no need to search.
“Shall we head to the classroom then?”
“Let’s! Hehe, everyone will be shocked to see Karina!”
“Surely not.”
“If someone who struggled with walking suddenly starts walking fine overnight, think about it! How could they not be shocked?”
“Th, that’s true. O, others will be s, shocked too.”
Even Elisa, who rarely agreed, nodded for once, and Karina looked up at me with a bit of embarrassment.
Why was she looking at me?
As eyes naturally fell on my face, I tossed out a light joke.
“Don’t worry. Once I glare, they’ll figure out how to manage their own expressions.”
—————–
“Everyone, I have good news today.”
The professor teaching the history of the continent looked considerably relieved when he stepped to the podium and started talking. I could see the students’ expressions tense up uniformly at his words.
Ah, I hope it’s not…
“Everyone! The exam results are out! This time, the top scorer is… Millia! She got a perfect score!”
With her name called, Millia stood up, and everyone turned to look at her. She blushed a bit and flashed a childlike smile.
Wow, wow, wow, has that professor fallen for Millia or what? He’s totally starry-eyed!
“Hehe, it’s all thanks to the professor’s great teaching!”
Millia, that’s not quite right.
The students staring at her with doubtful eyes told me so. In that moment, I acutely felt how students viewed this lecture.
“Hahaha, you’re making this old professor’s face shine.”
The professor’s gaze wasn’t admiration; it was touched. He looked like he might whisk Millia away to graduate school if he relaxed even slightly, and I couldn’t help but glance at Millia.
“Hahaha, actually calling the exam results good news was a joke. The real good news is… the war happening in the West has ended! And it was a victory for the Empire!”
“The war has ended?”
“Really?”
The classroom erupted into chaos at the professor’s bombshell declaration.
Thinking it through, we’re not in the 21st century, so the information must flow slowly.
Still, being in the academy at the center of the Empire, the news seemed to travel fairly quickly. Well, unless Merlin, our principal, talked about it during the weekend while portal-hopping back.
“Professor! I heard this war was instigated by Harpas, the demon that the first Saint barely managed to deal with hundreds of years ago! How did we defeat such a being?”
An unknown male student raised his hand and asked the professor, clearly in disbelief. The professor gave a playful smile before responding to the student’s query.
“Good question, James. But that’s something I don’t need to answer. The one who defeated that demon is right here.”
The gazes that had been on the professor naturally shifted towards me. I felt a wave of attention weighing down on me, and I sighed inwardly.
With that kind of achievement, it was impossible to hide.
While I felt like I was tooting my own horn, there’s a saying for a reason: “You can’t hide your brilliance.”
I scanned the curious gazes of my fellow students and said to the professor,
“Has the rumor already spread so far just a few days after the war ended?”
“With age, I’ve made quite a few connections. Sir Quartz, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to substitute today’s class with your tale. Is that okay?”
Suddenly?
I’m not very good at talking.
Well, rejecting it… In that moment, I met the eager eyes of students looking at me.
The faces saying they preferred my stories over the professor’s boring class.
Reflecting on my own school days made me chuckle. I recalled the emotions I might’ve felt back then, and I walked up to the lectern.
“The story might be duller than expected, but talking about it shouldn’t be a problem.”
The classroom filled with cheers.
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