Chapter 15: Someday women

The day of the new student spars arrived.

Perhaps because the short holiday had ended, everyone seemed to be in a bad mood, but surprisingly, there was also a hint of anticipation.

Spars.

As the saying goes, watching a fight is the most entertaining, and the academy students also enjoy watching the spars.

Especially for the fresh new students who have just come of age.

– Boom!

White smoke billowed from the center of the wide arena where a spar was in full swing.

Along with it, the awed voices of students could be heard from the surroundings.

On the opposite side of where the smoke rose, a student who had just finished their spar with a fire-attribute attack stood with a triumphant expression.

“Cough, I… surrender…”

As someone from the smoky side declared surrender, the referee immediately stopped the spar.

“The winner of this spar is student Helen!”

As the winner was announced, the students watching the spar clapped and cheered.

Meanwhile, medical staff moved busily, placing the fallen student onto a stretcher and carrying them away.

“As expected of Helen!”

“There’s a reason she’s nicknamed ‘Daughter of the Incarnation’.”

“She fights well… It’s my turn soon, I’m nervous…”

The two who had just finished their spar were quite famous among the new students.

Their names could occasionally be heard while moving around the academy for classes.

As such, when the bracket was revealed, it was one of the spars that garnered much anticipation from the students.

Everyone seemed satisfied, thinking they had witnessed an excellent spar… Well, how could I possibly think highly of a spar between kids who loudly shout “Fireball!”?

Even if words hold power, that’s a bit much.

If they fought for too long, their voices would give out first.

In any case, the victorious Daughter of the Incarnation left, and the next students ascended to the arena.

Unfortunately, those two who just came up were poor souls treated as ‘rest matches,’ like Pascal and me.

A ‘rest match’ refers to a spar where the skill gap is so vast that one side is overwhelmingly defeated, or simply a dull spar between those with genuinely low skill.

Those two fall into the latter category, while my spar with Pascal is closer to the former.

It should normally be me who gets overwhelmingly defeated, but…

Well, somehow, it ended up being the other way around.

As expected, the spar proceeded without incident.

Although not as exciting as the previous spar, the students’ reactions were surprisingly not bad.

On the contrary, some seemed motivated by watching two individuals of similar skill fight fiercely.

Is this what they call positive influence?

Anyway, while I was killing time until my turn came.

Suddenly, someone sat down next to me.

“Heh heh.”

A familiar laugh.

‘…Indeed, it was about time for her to approach.’

Turning my head, I saw a woman with snow-white hair like snowflakes…

She was gazing at me with suspiciously narrowed eyes.

‘It feels like it’s been a while since I last saw her.’

In fact, ever since I stole the cross necklace and fled, she had been dragged around for investigations, so there had been no direct encounters.

The Holy Maiden, Arie.

She is a somewhat strange woman who insisted on enrolling, claiming she wanted to become the academy’s mastermind.

“Are you well?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

As the Holy Maiden offered a light greeting, I also responded casually.

Leaving her, who was quietly smiling, I looked around.

As expected, her escort named Yulia doesn’t seem to be by her side right now.

Up to this point, there are no significant differences from the previous regression.

In that case, her business is obvious.

She must have called me just to play.

“What are you looking for so intently?”

“It’s nothing. By the way, for what reason did you call me?”

“Hmm…”

The Holy Maiden stared intently at me with narrowed eyes.

It was a bit burdensome, but I waited patiently without saying anything.

After all, as a seemingly ordinary student, I couldn’t exactly order the Holy Maiden, who was practically the head of the church, to stop staring.

“Hrmm…”

“……”

“I still can’t quite tell… Do you know who I am?”

“You are the Holy Maiden.”

“Heh heh, you can call me Arie.”

“Understood, Lady Arie.”

Perhaps pleased by my quick response, Arie clasped her hands together and smiled brightly.

“You asked why I called you, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“My business… Hmm, actually, I don’t have any right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, for now, that is. Heh heh…”

Arie laughed again, speaking in a meaningful way.

If it were a typical student, they would be scrambling to interpret the hidden meaning in the Holy Maiden’s words, but I understood her intentions very well.

As I mentioned before, the Holy Maiden Arie is looking for pawns to realize her dreams and desires.

What she wants is to become the head of a cool mastermind organization…

To do that, she would naturally need subordinates, and somehow, I was just marked as a candidate.

Right, she must have lived a boring life in the church her whole life, so I can humor her and play along.

She seems serious in her own way, but someone as kind-hearted as Arie could never truly be a mastermind.

The proof is that, aside from her corruption in the first regression, she never once strayed onto a bad path.

Well, regardless of that, the current Arie is indeed just bored.

If not, there’s no reason for her to approach me specifically now.

In the previous regression, she approached in the exact same way, said a few meaningful words, and then just sat beside me without stating her business.

It’s an action whose intention is hard to grasp, but my guess is it’s because Arie’s escort, Yulia, who was always by her side, is absent.

Since she’s bored without her, she’s probably trying to kill time and also leave an impression on her future subordinate…

Leaving Arie to watch the match, I quietly stood up.

“That person is the Hero. It’s my first time seeing her fight… Oh? Where are you going?”

“It’s my turn next. I’ll take my leave now.”

If another member of the church had seen me leave without a word, abandoning the Holy Maiden who was more than just a superior, practically the face of the church, I would have been immediately forced to my knees.

However, Arie didn’t seem to mind much and waved goodbye.

“Then, see you next time.”

“Yes, if the opportunity arises…”

“Heh heh, well… Perhaps we might see each other again very soon.”

‘What do you mean, “well”? She’ll just pretend to know me again on the way down after the spar…’

“Ah, yes. Is that so?”

“Anyway, I’ll be watching, so make sure to win.”

“I will bear that in mind.”

I gave a perfunctory greeting to her, who was cheering me on, and headed towards the arena.

Arie seems to be expecting me to show something in the spar.

I’ve never particularly wanted to meet her expectations, but it will be a spar worth watching, enough to satisfy them.

****

When talking about the spars, I didn’t mention the Regressor.

It’s not that I wasn’t paying attention or anything like that.

It was simply that there was no need to mention her together with the others.

The Hero, Hestia, looked at the person who had ascended as her spar opponent.

A woman with sky-blue hair and azure eyes.

Although her attire and equipment didn’t seem exceptional, Hestia sensed an unusual aura from her.

“Hello, Hero. It seems like we haven’t met before?”

“Greetings. You are…?”

“Just call me Elisha. In return, is it alright if I comfortably call you Hestia?”

Hestia, facing the woman who introduced herself as Elisha, was a little flustered.

It was because no one had ever approached her so familiarly before.

Clearly, other students, not him, had even avoided speaking to her…

Hestia hid her joy and replied to Elisha’s words.

“Yes, you can just call me Hestia.”

“Understood, Hestia…”

After a brief exchange of names, Hestia drew her holy sword, and Elisha pulled out an ordinary-looking spear.

Just before the referee raised their arm to signal the start of the spar, Hestia heard Elisha muttering.

“…This time, it will be different.”

Elisha’s voice, which for some reason sounded slightly wistful.

‘I wonder what she’s talking about.’

However, Hestia had no way of knowing the true feelings of Elisha, whom she had just met today.

Postponing her thoughts, she recalled the image of her only friend, who would be watching from the spectator stands.

‘This spar… he must be watching too.’

As a friend, she couldn’t show a weak defeat.

She, who always wanted to present a good image, shook off her thoughts and straightened her posture.

“Begin!”

Simultaneously with the referee’s signal, extraordinary magical power erupted from both sides.

Sounds of admiration came from various parts of the spectator stands, but both of them were focused only on the opponent before their eyes.

The spar between the Hero and the Regressor, who would one day reach transcendence, began.

****

A period of waiting.

When I arrived, Hestia and Elisha’s spar had already begun.

– Bang! Bang!

From the tip of Elisha’s spear came a terrifying explosive sound, just like last time.

In contrast, Hestia’s sword was silent.

Even though she was clearly swinging it, not even the sound of it cutting through the air could be heard.

Only occasionally, when it clashed with Elisha’s spear, did a thunderous sound reverberate; otherwise, she produced almost no noise with her movements.

‘They both fight well.’

Up until the previous regression, Elisha’s skill was such that a spar with Hestia couldn’t even be established.

More accurately, it would be correct to say she lacked time to grow.

She continues to strive to become stronger, but it’s difficult to become as strong as the Hero in a short amount of time.

I don’t know for sure since I’m not Elisha herself, but it seems there aren’t many immediate ways for her to get stronger.

Perhaps because of that, despite multiple regressions, Elisha had never won against Hestia in a new student spar.

‘Actually, that’s only natural.’

From the outset, the Hero and the Holy Maiden have a different starting point.

Why do people fear the Hero and the Holy Maiden yet strive to curry favor with them?

Of course, their high status plays a part, but there’s a bigger reason.

It’s because the Hero and the Holy Maiden are ‘guaranteed winning lottery tickets’.

Both are beings destined to definitively reach transcendence someday.

While lucky and talented individuals sometimes become Transcendents, they are on a different level.

The Hero and the Holy Maiden are almost guaranteed to become Transcendents, to the point where it can be considered fate.

Because they are born with such immense talent, their starting point is incomparably ahead of ordinary people.

The Transcendent Paeren, who has been watching from the spectator stands for some time, isn’t just watching the Hero and Holy Maiden’s spar for no reason.

Just as others try to make a good impression without incurring the wrath of those who will someday become Transcendents, he also wants to borrow their power when they eventually transcend.

‘As for the reason… he probably wants to catch me.’

And Elisha, remarkably, is not being pushed back at all, even against the talent desired by the Great Pioneer.

Normally, this would be impossible, but the ‘forgotten martial art’ she acquired made it possible.

Thanks to learning a new martial art, Elisha’s strength at this point was almost equal to Hestia’s.

– Boom!

I thought as I watched the arena, where immense magical power raged like a storm.

‘This is going to take a while.’