The Birth of a Hero

1.

Summoning Magic professor, Ethel.

Black hair with sparse gray strands.

Round glasses that soften his already gentle impression.

His tone might sound arrogant to some, but his deep voice pleasantly permeates the eardrums.

“Aren’t you the Saintess?”

Ethel recognized the Saintess and showed his respect.

Within the academy, professors are at the top.

But before being a professor, as a citizen of the empire, it was natural to show respect to a woman of the national religion, the Celestial God Church.

“Hello.”

The Saintess greeted him with a bright smile.

“Are you Professor Ethel?”

Ethel nodded once.

“I am Ethel Hauserd, professor of Summoning Magic.”

It was a neat greeting befitting his tidy appearance.

“What brings such a precious person to this humble place?”

The Saintess looked up at Professor Ethel.

It felt as if she would be sucked into his sparkling, blood-red eyes.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“No.”

The Saintess shook her head and immediately got to the point.

“Actually, I came to find out how the last incident is progressing.”

“The last incident… Ah, you mean the incident during the entrance exam?”

“Is there another incident?”

“Incidents and accidents are never-ending in the Faculty of Magic. While researching magic, summoned creatures often escape and run around the hallways, or magic circles explode and blow away the outer walls of buildings.”

Ethel chuckled.

“It’s a bit difficult to talk here, so let’s go inside.”

Ethel tapped on the doorknob.

A magic circle resembling clockwork appeared above the doorknob.

The complex circuits composing the magic circle each rotated, then disappeared with a click and a crumbling sound.

-Creak

The door opened.

“Please, come in.”

Ethel entered the lab first.

“Ugh…!”

The Saintess, about to step into the lab, frowned just before stepping in.

Stench.

A terrible smell stung her nose.

It was a familiar smell.

The stench she hadn’t smelled in decades.

It was what always lingered on the battlefields of the Demon Realm.

Why is that coming from a place like this?

The Saintess looked at Ethel, who was holding the doorknob.

Ethel smiled gently.

It was an ordinary, kind smile.

“Rael Hyung.”

“Yes.”

“Hyung, do you smell anything?”

At the Saintess’s question, Rael sniffed.

“Not really… I don’t smell anything?”

The smell of paper.

The cool smell of magical reagents.

Other than that, there was nothing unpleasant enough to make him frown.

“Really? That’s strange…”

The Saintess tilted her head.

“The Demonic energy smell is overwhelming, though.”

Beneath her long eyelashes, the Saintess’s blood-red eyes sparkled sharply.

The place where that gaze was directed was Ethel.

“Oh, you can sense it?”

Ethel reacted as if surprised.

“Perhaps, it’s the smell of this.”

As he said that, he showed her a piece of parchment.

A magic circle was drawn on the parchment.

“What is this?”

“It’s a restoration of the Spell that was on the dagger you found last time, Saintess. I’m analyzing it to find out the identity of the Spell.”

“Really? But is a Summoning Magic professor doing that?”

“Before I taught Summoning Magic, I used to research things related to these Spells. So I was put in charge of this matter.”

Ethel gestured to the Saintess as if telling her to come in again.

“I’m sorry, but let’s talk here.”

It was too unsettling to go inside.

She didn’t know exactly what was giving her a sense of foreboding.

Intuitively, she felt like she shouldn’t go in.

“It seems you are sensitive to Demonic energy, Saintess. I understand. Then let’s go out to the terrace.”

Following Ethel, they went out to the terrace at the end of the fifth floor.

“How is the incident progressing?”

“It’s at a standstill. As I said just now, I haven’t even figured out the identity of the Spell yet, and I’ve investigated all the people around, but there was no one who seemed to be related to this incident.”

“Surely it’s inside…”

“For now, we are investigating while considering various possibilities.”

Not having figured out the whole story of the incident yet meant that there was a possibility of danger lurking.

The academy knew that too, so they were investigating diligently, but they couldn’t figure out anything at all.

They were dissecting the Spell, which was the biggest clue.

It was such a high-level Spell that even the academy professors were struggling with it.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

The Saintess bowed to Professor Ethel and left the spot.

“Saintess.”

As she turned around and took a few steps, Professor Ethel called out to the Saintess.

The Saintess turned around.

“Do you like dogs, Saintess? Or do you like cats?”

“Pardon?”

At the sudden question, the Saintess tilted her head.

“Um… I like dogs.”

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Keep it in mind?”

“We have a small congratulatory event prepared for the entrance ceremony. We plan to congratulate the new students with cute summoned creatures at that time.”

“Ah, I look forward to it.”

“I will live up to your expectations.”

With that, the conversation ended.

The Saintess walked down the hallway again.

Then, she suddenly turned around.

Professor Ethel had already disappeared into the lab.

“Rael.”

“Yes.”

“Monitor Professor Ethel.”

“Understood.”

He did not question the Saintess’s command.

His loyal obedience pleased the Saintess.

2.

It was evening.

I threw off the Nun’s Habit.

“Agh… I’m tired.”

Living as a Saintess is a continuous cycle of exhaustion.

People talk to me every time I walk down the street.

There were even duties I had to perform as a Saintess.

Also, even after entering the academy, I had to steadily take Saintess classes.

“Finally, I can rest a bit.”

I unhooked my bra.

My plump breasts sagged.

I also took off my panties.

Slightly racy panties with lace.

I was so embarrassed when I first wore these.

How uncomfortable it was to have fabric stuck between my crotch and butt…

Now I’m used to it, and I feel uneasy if I don’t wear these because my crotch feels empty.

Naked, I headed to the bathroom.

Each time I walked, my slender hair tickled my plump butt.

“Hooah… That’s refreshing.”

I soaked my body in the bathtub where hot steam was rising.

A cool energy roamed every corner of my body.

This time of day is the best.

The time to take a bath before going to bed after finishing all my work.

I liked this time the most even when I was on the battlefield. It felt like all the fatigue was washed away.

For the first few days, I couldn’t enjoy this leisure.

Because four nuns barged in, saying they would help me wash.

I couldn’t relax because four people surrounded me and rubbed my body with foam.

So I thanked them but told them not to do that.

I want to be comfortable, at least when I’m in my room.

I swept my damp bangs back.

“Ethel Hauserd…”

I thought of the Faculty of Magic professor I met during the day.

He was a man with a kind impression but with a somewhat unsettling feeling.

I felt disgusted every time I thought of that man.

It’s not like he did anything wrong to me.

A strong intuition loathed that guy.

I told Rael to monitor Professor Ethel, but the unease was still there.

It felt like sticky mud was being applied all over my body.

A strong Demonic energy smell was coming from his lab, but I didn’t feel any Demonic energy from the person himself.

“Hmm…”

This won’t do.

I have to go to Professor Ethel’s lab again to find out the cause of this unease.

I jumped up.

And it was at that moment.

I felt someone crossing the window and entering the room.

I held my breath.

I pricked up my ears and listened outside the bathroom.

The presence disappeared as if melting away.

Was it just my imagination?

The moment the disappeared presence was felt again was right then.

A chill ran down my spine.

I immediately turned around.

Darkness was wriggling.

“Ugh…!”

A stench stung my nose.

It was the smell of terrible Demonic energy.

Thud!

The darkness, which had been quietly wriggling, sprang up and tried to pounce on me.

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

I made Divinity bloom in my left hand.

Divinity cleared away the darkness.

Then, the face of a person with rolled-back eyes was revealed in the darkness.

I lashed out with my right hand.

I grabbed the guy by the scruff of his neck.

Darkness stubbornly clung on, but I was able to pull him out by pushing it away with Divinity.

“A student?”

What was in the darkness was a male student wearing the academy uniform.

He was unconscious.

He was showing the whites of his eyes and foaming at the mouth.

The darkness opened its maw again to swallow the male student.

“Get lost.”

I shoved my fist into the maw and released Divinity.

The darkness, which had been gulping down Divinity, scattered darkness everywhere as if its stomach was bursting.

It became even clearer.

There is a minion of the demons somewhere in the academy.