Ch.123Academy Transfer – 4

“Civil war.”

It wasn’t particularly surprising. With the Demon Lord gone, who wouldn’t try to seize the opportunity?

Given the nature of demon society, where strength equals justice and power is everything, the position of ruler over all demons is a title that anyone with decent power would be tempted to pursue.

Whether the Legion Commanders participated in this power struggle or not, I couldn’t say.

“Do you have any suspicions about what happened?”

I asked, feigning ignorance.

Elishier’s disappearance was classified as top-secret information. Even demons wouldn’t carelessly reveal such information, so I naturally had to pretend I knew nothing.

“I’m not sure.”

The Sword Saint shook his head.

“Some have suggested that there might have been a conflict of opinion among the Legion Commanders. But the civil war has spread too widely for that to be the case, and there are reports of substantial casualties among the demon forces, making the situation unclear.”

“You mean there are too many dead to dismiss it as a mere difference of opinion.”

“That’s what I think, but I can’t completely rule out the possibility that they’ve set a trap worth sacrificing so many lives for. Because the Demon Lord—”

The Sword Saint stopped mid-sentence after saying “the Demon Lord.” His tightly clenched lips twisted with all his might. His front teeth dug into his lower lip, causing blood to burst forth instantly. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

His right arm trembled uncontrollably, and his left hand, which was trying to massage it, was applying more and more pressure. Since he wasn’t wearing loose-sleeved clothing as usual, it was clearly visible.

It was a sign that the Sword Saint’s trauma was flaring up.

The sight wasn’t unfamiliar to me. I also had similar trauma, just with a different trigger and intensity. The only difference was that I had forcibly tried to forget mine and had partially succeeded.

That’s why I knew how to resolve the current situation more quickly. I gently took the Sword Saint’s right hand, which was trembling as he tried to leave his seat in a cold sweat, and pulled it toward me.

The Sword Saint, his face drenched in cold sweat in that brief moment, looked at me.

“What are you doing?”

“I find this helps.”

I learned it from Priscilla. She was more aggressive about it, but I don’t have that kind of relationship with the Sword Saint.

His eyes, seemingly asking what I was talking about, looked at his captured right hand before quickly filling with surprise. As I said, the Sword Saint was no longer sweating cold or gritting his teeth in pain.

“You’re right, this… This is the first time this has happened…”

The Sword Saint, seemingly amazed that such a simple action could alleviate his pain, fidgeted with our joined hands for a while before realizing what he was doing and offering an awkward smile.

“…Was it that obvious, child?”

“You were biting your lip hard enough to draw blood, so yes.”

Delicate fingers moved to check his lip. When the fingertips came away stained with bright red blood, another awkward smile appeared.

I took his hand to his mouth and gently caressed it while using healing magic. With a soft green light, the split lip healed instantly.

After confirming the Sword Saint had calmed down, I released his hand. It lingered as if reluctant to let go, hesitated for a moment, then slowly withdrew.

“There must be a reason for the demon army’s behavior. The fact that you’ve shared this with me suggests you’ll explain it properly later, right?”

“…That’s right. Besides, there are other matters to attend to here.”

“Other matters…?”

Just as I was about to ask my next question.

“How dare you act so arrogantly when you didn’t even take the entrance exam?”

There was a commotion in Elishier’s direction. Curious about what was happening, I looked over.

At a glance, a male student who appeared to be from a noble family was standing in front of Elishier with several friends.

“If you’ve come to pick a fight, leave. I don’t have time for such base activities.”

Elishier spoke without even looking at them. The male student slammed his fist on the desk with a bang! All eyes immediately turned to them.

“You’re the one picking a fight. Everyone here earned their place at this academy by struggling through the entrance exam. But you? You got in simply because someone vouched for your identity and skills. An unprecedented special exception was made for you. Did you know that?”

“I know.”

“Fine. I can understand that much. If you’re truly that exceptional, I can accept it. But why do you, a transfer student, completely ignore us? Did I ask you to kneel on the ground or gouge out your eyes? I’m just saying we should maintain basic courtesy between classmates. Am I wrong?”

He wasn’t wrong. Looking at the situation objectively, Elishier was clearly the one with the inappropriate attitude.

While it might be understandable that he received the first-ever special exception in Bellium Academy’s history, his blatant disregard for others despite his status would naturally provoke anger.

“This is unexpected. I heard this academy operated strictly on merit. I never thought I’d hear such words.”

However, that’s only if this weren’t Bellium Academy.

“What about you? Can you treat a commoner with lower grades the same way you treat other students in your year? If you can, prove it right now. There are some over there—go greet them with the same courtesy you’d show a fellow noble. If you do, I’ll acknowledge what you said.”

“……”

“You can’t, can you? I understand. You wouldn’t want to treat a commoner with lower grades the same as a noble just because they’re in the same year. I feel the same way. I don’t want to treat someone clearly inferior to me in every aspect the same just because they’re in the same year.”

It was a sound argument. The moment the person who raised the issue admitted he didn’t treat all first-years equally, Elishier had grounds to maintain his attitude.

If the person had been capable of acting as Elishier suggested, Elishier probably wouldn’t have responded so sharply. He would have been more accommodating.

“And if you doubt my skills, I clearly told you to come to the training ground after afternoon classes. I said I’d be there all week to demonstrate my abilities. If you’re not just here to run your mouth because you lack confidence in your own skills, then get lost. I’ll show you then.”

Despite having the moral high ground initially, the noble student who had come to pick a fight had to quietly retreat, trapped in his own contradiction by his actions.

Talk of nobles and commoners meant nothing here. This was Bellium Academy, where, in extreme cases, a commoner could speak informally to royalty if the commoner’s grades were higher.

After that incident, the area around Elishier became even emptier. Meanwhile, Karna’s reputation soared as he continued to converse freely with other students.

“That child has great confidence in his abilities.”

The Sword Saint, who had observed Elishier’s entire exchange, smiled with interest.

“Yes. I can vouch for him.”

“Hmm… I see. But isn’t that insufficient?”

“Pardon?”

“Since we first met, I don’t believe we’ve had our second lesson yet… is my memory correct?”

Fortunately, the ironic situation of the Demon Lord receiving instruction from the Sword Saint didn’t materialize. There was a much more urgent matter at hand.

“Me…?”

“Yes. His Imperial Majesty has suggested that the Saint boost the morale of our soldiers as we begin our counterattack. Even now, the Saint is a symbol of hope for humanity, just like the Hero.”

It was a request for the Saint to participate in the war.

“Of course, this isn’t mandatory. How could we dare impose such an impious act on one chosen by God? Healing magic will be handled entirely by our mages, so you won’t need to go to the front lines. Saint, you just need to be a symbol of hope while under the protection of our Royal Guard.”

“…But I still have to leave the academy, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Having received confirmation, Rosaria glared at me with furious eyes.

‘You.said.nothing.would.happen.’

Her anger-filled lips formed the words. Considering that Rosaria became the real Saint because of my plan, her reaction was understandable.

Thanks to Rosaria being chosen as the Saint after performing a miracle, the religious conflict that erupted when the church collapsed was resolved at an incredible pace, but Rosaria’s position also skyrocketed.

For someone who just wanted to play the role of Saint without doing anything, this was like a bolt from the blue.

‘I have things to say in my defense, but…’

I felt somewhat wronged too. How could I have known the goddess would choose Rosaria as the Saint? That same goddess who’s been ignoring my attempts to talk for days now.

But I kept it to myself. There was no point in claiming innocence when it would only make things worse.

“…Fine. But I have a condition.”

“What is it?”

Rosaria agreed more readily than I expected. While I was thinking how surprising this was, Rosaria looked at me and smirked.

“Assign Mira Crate as my guard. That’s my condition.”

“……”

She doesn’t want to go alone, is that it? When our eyes met, Rosaria gave me a “so what?” expression.

In truth, I was planning to take responsibility anyway. Whether intentional or not, it was ultimately because of me. The situation had turned out well since she made the first move.

‘I’ll just think of it as a few days’ break.’

Dealing with the remnants of the Demon Lord’s army would be easier than memorizing the upcoming final exam material.

With the Royal Guard present, even if a Legion Commander appeared, the challenge wouldn’t be how to capture them, but how to do so while maintaining the appearance of an ordinary student.

“When do we depart?”

“The demon army is continuously retreating even as we speak, so it’s not certain, but I believe it will be in about two weeks.”

“Two weeks… I understand.”

Having received my confirmation, the Royal Guard bowed deeply—more than befitting his position—and left with light steps. As soon as we were alone, Rosaria laughed like a villain.

“You’re not dying alone…! You’re coming with me…!”

“I know. I was planning to take responsibility anyway.”

“Huh? What?”

“It’s half my fault that things turned out this way. So I should take responsibility, right?”

“Well… that’s not wrong, but…”

Rosaria pouted with a disgruntled face. It wasn’t the reaction she had expected.

Of course, she quickly cheered up when I smiled and patted her head a few times.

The very next day.

“This is our second time, isn’t it? Come at me as much as you want.”

We were facing the Sword Saint, who was holding a wooden sword. Not the Sword Saint with a random stick or teaspoon, but the Sword Saint with an actual wooden sword.

Considering our previous sparring session, where he couldn’t even hold anything resembling a sword due to his trauma related to the Demon Lord and fought with a teaspoon instead, this was remarkable progress.

Everyone was amazed, but I alone had to hide my uneasy thoughts.

‘…Surely it’s not because of me.’

Right. There’s no way he could suddenly hold a wooden sword just because I held his hand to calm him down.

It must be my self-consciousness.