“So you were just playing in your room, huh?”
I nod vigorously at Lucia, who’s crossing her arms and looking at me. I tried to clear up the strangely awkward misunderstanding, but her expression wasn’t very bright.
More importantly, the fact that the resurrection saint, Lucia, who is currently receiving a lot of attention in the newspapers, had her first destination at the hotel we’re staying at felt huge.
It wouldn’t be strange if it took up the front page, but unfortunately, only we knew about it.
“So why are you two together?”
Just as I expected, May, who was hit by Michaela while trying to protect Lucia, threw a question. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I bluntly entangled Lucia and Ares’ names in the conversation.
However, Lucia handled it with a saint-like composure.
“I was talking about the mark of Helios on Ares’ hand. From the Cathedral’s perspective, he’s a chosen one by the God.”
That wasn’t wrong. If even Eris, the guardian of Yggdrasil, came looking for him, it showed how precious that mark really was.
And thanks to that, Ares ended up being granted the title of Honorary Paladin at a young age.
Of course, it didn’t mean he could do anything with it; it was just a title given to him. For now, they just needed to keep Ares close to the Cathedral.
Ares didn’t really refuse either.
Though it was just a puppet title that couldn’t exercise voting rights or any real power like the other Paladins, he was getting ample support.
Besides, for Ares, who had many questions about that mark, it was like having a backing that would investigate and research the power he possessed.
“So, is this a farewell visit?”
As May grumbled that her attack failed, I asked instead. Lucia nodded slightly.
“Yeah, I heard I’ll be leaving Batian tomorrow. I just wanted to say goodbye.”
“You must be too busy preparing for the saint’s inauguration ceremony.”
As I mentioned the upcoming ceremony, Lucia pressed her forehead, looking as if she already had a headache.
“Don’t even get me started. The Archbishop’s position weakened because of Michaela brainwashing him, and now there’s a power struggle and containment wars among the bishops and Paladins.”
“Haha…”
Ares, feeling awkwardly connected to that indirectly, scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile.
I thought we had reached some peace after a lot of work, but it seems that whenever one thing ends, there’s always something else up next.
“Well, it’ll be okay. I’ve learned a lot from this, so I’m confident I won’t be shaken by the fights of old folks.”
Lucia clenched her fist with determination. No one could say she was a perfect saint. In reality, she still had a lot to work on.
Even if she has gained growth from this experience, the role of a saint isn’t something you can just sit in easily.
Still, this incident will surely help Lucia. Even if the darkness and deep despair that had once trapped her in the underground storeroom rolls in again, she will endure and overcome by recalling the memories of that day.
“You can do it.”
I don’t fully believe it, but I wish for the blessing of the God she loves to be with her, and Lucia gazes at me thoughtfully.
Feeling the strange atmosphere, May immediately blocked Lucia’s gaze with her own.
“Hey, don’t make it weird. If you try to give a farewell kiss or something…”
May threatened Lucia with her fist. The saint shook her head with a smile.
“Sadly, I don’t think I’ll have the time for that. You’d think being a saint means having free time if there are no external activities, but it’s not really like that.”
Lucia slowly prepared to leave, accompanied by Ares. It felt urgent for her to not spend any more time than this.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going… Thank you so much, May.”
“I didn’t expect to have a saint as a friend.”
The two, who were just playfully pushing each other a moment ago, exchanged a brief hug for goodbye. After saying goodbye to May, Lucia slowly approached me.
“Having your first love overlap with your friend as a saint… isn’t really a good look, right?”
Suddenly hit by Lucia’s remark, I was left momentarily speechless. But she wasn’t looking for a reply.
“I have a lot to do, and as a saint, I should be someone who loves the God wholeheartedly. So I’ll carefully tuck this feeling away.”
She lightly tapped my chest with her fist.
“Thanks for helping me create a good memory.”
With that, she smiled gently and said.
“May, don’t cry, okay?”
*
I never felt a sense of belonging at Aios Academy.
After all, I transferred in during my third year, and I couldn’t say this place had particularly good memories for me.
Nevertheless, maybe because I went through various incidents in Batian, the silhouette of the academy building I saw from the carriage gave me some comfort.
The guards at the main gate waved brightly, and even though this isn’t my hometown, I felt the stable feeling of returning home as I got off the carriage.
Lastly, the faculty gathered the students to submit reports on what they experienced during the field trip, but Dianna and I naturally slipped away.
Dianna was in fifth grade anyway, and I was officially unavailable for the trip.
May and Rin glared at me, saying it was unfair, but I ignored them and headed straight to the dormitory.
“Well then, rest well.”
“Yeah, you worked hard too, sis.”
Dianna went off to the fifth-grade dormitory building, and since I felt stiff from the carriage ride, I just planned to do some light stretching and take a shower before heading to bed.
However, there were quite a few students wandering around the dormitory, where no one should be, suggesting that those who went on the field trip to Taemin Plateau were returning.
“Tana and Eve must have come back too.”
I thought about saying hello, but after the last time those kids came to my room, I didn’t feel like casually heading to the girls’ floor.
“Oh well, I can see them tomorrow.”
Since it was a rest day and there were no lectures, surely I’d bump into them at least once.
“Hmm?”
As I headed straight to my room, I felt strange gazes from the scattered male students on the way. Wondering why, I suddenly recalled what the Dean had once told me.
“Come to think of it, the kids frequently came to visit, so there were a lot of talks among the male students.”
Feeling a bit guilty, I mentally apologized as I got to my room, noticing a note stuck to the door.
“What’s this?”
I peeled it off and read it once I was inside, and it didn’t take long.
It was such a simple word.
[Kill you.]
“Wait, what?”
I felt that even threatening letters were a bit much. If they were in my position, they might understand how bothersome this situation was.
Anyway, I crumpled the clearly resentful curse note and tossed it in the trash, then proceeded with my original plan of stretching and showering before collapsing onto my bed.
“Yeah, home is the best.”
Not that this place is actually my home, and I don’t even think of it that way, but I said it just to say it. The mood is what’s important, right?
After a brief sleep, I woke up to find it had gotten dark outside. I opened the locked window, which I had secured just in case Sen might invade, and savored the slightly damp night air.
Just as I was stepping outside my room to head out for some dinner, I heard a bunch of papers dropping with a thud.
“What’s this?”
Letters all milled up, pushed by the opening door.
The different paper colors and handwriting suggested that quite a few students left them behind.
There were letters, but there were also warning papers visible at a glance.
[I’ll kill you, Daniel McLean.]
[Curse you, and may all your hair fall out and die.]
[I’ll say it just once. Don’t approach Senior Seria.]
[You have a lot of girls, you jerk! Don’t touch Senior Seria!]
“……What in the world is this? Is Seria in the fourth grade? Was she in the academy with me?”
Frowning in confusion, as I picked up the papers, I felt eyes on me.
The boys from the other rooms looked surprised and slammed their doors shut the moment our eyes met.
Is this what they meant when they couldn’t say anything to my face while pulling this kind of stuff?
Then, a cold gaze suddenly pierced into my back.
I unconsciously turned around, and the owner of that gaze wasn’t avoiding me but was staring blankly at me.
“Rin?”
She couldn’t enter the boys’ floor, so I found myself meeting the clear gaze of Rin, who was standing by the stairs leading to the girls’ floor.
“Oh, I should sleep more.”
Feeling a chill, I quickly reopened my door and stepped back inside. Usually, she’s fine, but when she goes out of line, she gets weird.
“Still, I’ve managed to control my power well lately…”
“Is it true?”
“Gah! What the?!”
Inside my room was Rin, waiting for me by the door. She approached slowly, with the same eerie vibe she had back when the end came.
“While everyone was on the field trip, you two were dating, is that true?”
Her broken speech style was even more frightening.
No, more than that, how the heck did she get inside while I was in the hallway just a moment ago?
Rin drew closer, her chest emanating a swirl of black energy that was almost touching my nose, and I desperately shook my head.
“Of course not!”
At my answer, Rin slightly lowered her head and took a deep breath. Her long hair hid her expression, but soon she raised her face, and there stood Rin with a cheerful smile as usual.
“Right? You got me worried for nothing. Aren’t you hungry? Let’s go eat.”
“Yeah, I’m not hungry.”
Thanks to you, I’m feeling queasy.
