Ch.191191 – Survival

<191 – Surviving Unharmed>

The hero, interrupted in her fight, showed intense rejection.

“Professor, you saw it too! This might be our only chance to stop that child. Do you intend to nurture evil at the Academy?”

“Hero Ishtar. Have you ever considered Gift Academy’s educational philosophy?”

“I hadn’t. Not until today, not until this very moment.”

The killing intent piercing the skin truly evokes admiration for the hero’s prowess.

This isn’t the strength of a first-year.

A lower-class student would be pulverized if pitted against a student about to graduate.

Even upper-class students would find it difficult to boast of surpassing the hero unless they were among the very top.

It was natural strength for a hero who entered the academy not to receive education due to deficiency, but to find the best companions.

Other students or professors might feel the unfairness of such strength, but Monk Myungho was skilled in Buddhist and Taoist mental and physical techniques for controlling greed and anger.

“The Academy isn’t a place to teach good and evil. It’s a place to teach how to live in the world.”

“Even if that’s evil?”

“What matters isn’t good or evil. If we only teach how crops grow in good soil, no teaching will be useful in poor soil. How could good things be more abundant than bad in this world?”

The topic he presented didn’t break the hero’s anger but made the hero calm her emotions herself.

Broken emotions become stronger, but self-calmed emotions quietly subside and disappear.

Education through understanding.

A professor teaching meditation and mana breathing.

This was the effect of Monk Myungho’s educational philosophy.

“…You’re remarkable, Professor. To maintain such compassionate heart even after seeing that child’s reaction to the holy sword. Aren’t you afraid of when your teaching fails?”

Monk Myungho also knew what the hero was trying to say.

How could he not?

He had secretly watched her longer than anyone else.

“Of course I’m afraid.”

“Then why are you stopping me?”

“Because I’m afraid of that too.”

The hero’s fear and Monk Myungho’s fear were different.

The hero feared the Dark Princess’s growth and the consequent rise of a new evil overlord covering the continent, the birth of a Demon King.

Monk Myungho’s fear stemmed from not being able to ultimately guide Oknodie to the right path, from failing to save a child’s future.

“First-year Ishtar. You’ll be fined for an unauthorized duel. Please understand that even the mercy of Buddha and the Heavenly Venerable cannot overlook violations of school rules.”

“…Hmph. I don’t want the mercy of defeated gods. Just don’t forget that I am a hero carrying out the will of Sophemia, the one true god of gods.”

The hero sheathed her holy sword and turned away.

She glared at Oknodie before leaving.

“What? Ugh. I almost hit her.”

“…”

I don’t know what to think anymore.

Ishtar shook her head and walked away.

* *

Monk Myungho actively handled the aftermath.

He hospitalized the collapsed Irene and Zhang in the medical wing and called instructors to direct the repair of damaged facilities.

The instructors then called assistants to pass down the work, and the senior students with third-year emblems under their assistant jackets silently cursed while restoring the devastated corridor.

“You showed great restraint.”

“About what?”

“The dark mana you possess, Oknodie. You clearly could have used more power, but you held back because you didn’t want to hurt the hero, right?”

“I wasn’t planning to hold back at the end. I guess I’m not a good person.”

“After taking that much, it’s natural to have limits to patience. Buddha said to turn the other cheek when slapped, but also to strike the head of an attacker with a sword using a monk’s staff.”

“Really?”

“What else would be better? It’s better than monks losing their lives due to misplaced compassion.”

Indeed, a professor who understands.

I felt my anger gauge, which had risen to the top of my head because of the hero, coming down considerably.

[You have survived the hero’s wrath unharmed.]

[You have completed the Hero’s Wrath event.]

[You acquire 100,000 points as completion reward.]

[You acquire 30,000 points as assistance bonus.]

[Mana Control skill experience +25]

[Swordsmanship experience +25]

[Magic Studies experience +25]

[Breathing experience +10]

[Boldness experience +10]

[Evasion experience +10]

[Mana Breathing experience +3]

[Rapid Movement experience +3]

[Your accumulated points have exceeded 1,000,000. The Point Shop is now open free of charge to encourage spending.]

[Point Shop has been opened. Point Banking is opened as a linked function.]

[Point loans through Point Banking are now available. Please visit the Academy’s General Affairs Office or Student Council for loan consultations.]

The rewards weren’t bad either.

It’s about time to spend the 1.05 million points I’ve accumulated while achieving various small achievements.

But this isn’t the important fact.

The event to spend points is still ahead.

I don’t plan to spend them at least until after the midterm exams.

*What Are Points?* : Complete exams without using points for one semester.

-Achievement Effect: 1% increase in point acquisition

*Why Should I Use Points?* : Achieve good grades without using points for one semester.

-Achievement Effect: 2% increase in point acquisition

*Aren’t Points Just for Rescuing Poor Students?* : Achieve outstanding grades without using points for one semester.

-Achievement Effect: 3% increase in point acquisition

Just saving points that have no effect whether used or not increases point acquisition significantly.

First midterm exam schedule – Two days later.

Course – Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage.

Location and time – See details.

Unlike points that will grow on their own, the exam in two days won’t resolve itself.

“Are we done talking? I need to prepare for midterms now.”

“Even if you’re confident in controlling dark mana, please continue to exercise restraint as you have been. While you might be fine, other students’ lives could be in danger.”

“Yes~.”

* *

Midterm D-1.

The day before the first exam, the upper-class classroom was in chaos again.

“Keek! Kukeekeek!!”

“Grrrrrrawrr”

“Pwoooooo━!”

The mounts, who had unintentionally been put on a diet after their food from the food encyclopedia was stolen, were thoroughly angry.

“Waaah, what’s wrong with this thing! It was so obedient until last week!”

“Aaaaargh, that’s a tree. Why is it suddenly stopping to chew on a tree~!”

“Professor… my turtle disappeared digging into the ground to catch worms…”

The upper-class physical training class was in chaos.

The state of the final mount riding test was too disastrous to describe even with kind words.

“Zhang. How’s your arm?”

“Fine. That hero is skilled. She avoided vital spots and just knocked me out with blows.”

“Let’s show her in the exam!”

“…I wish. If only this cheetah would follow instructions obediently.”

Today again, Zhang was wrestling with the cheetah, trying to put a leash around its neck, while the cheetah was snarling.

The fierce power struggle, clashing claws against daggers, seemed likely to continue until exam day.

Considering what happened yesterday, it seemed questionable whether they should be attending such an intense class after just one day, but thanks to Monk Myungho, the hero, and the two victims all keeping quiet, no rumors had spread.

While some people were noticeably wary of the hero’s tense demeanor, no one seemed to connect it to us.

Glare.

The hero’s expression remained unfriendly.

She seemed determined to settle the unfinished battle in the exam.

Hmph. That’s exactly what I want too.

“Holy Detected.”

But what is this person suddenly doing here?

Unlike most students in school uniforms, the holy-hearted woman Yufi, who insisted on wearing a nun’s outfit, displayed her devout faith as a female saint.

Befitting a saint who believed in <Golgotha of Beheading>, representing one of the 12 gods, a guillotine flickered through her holy spell before disappearing with a “poof.”

“What are you doing?”

“…Sorry. I briefly sensed the presence of an evil being.”

“From me?”

Gasp! Could she have noticed the fake Lin from the ring!?

As I flinched in surprise, the saint looked at me suspiciously and asked.

“May I scan once more?”

“No.”

Arcadia shouted from a distance, raising her fan.

“You there, what business do you have with Oknodie?”

“…Nothing at all.”

The saint, conscious of Arcadia, tucked her tail and fled.

Friends and colleagues are good, but at times like this, having a reliable adult like Arcadia is better.

“Tell me right away if anyone bothers you, Di. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

“Thank you, Arcadia!”

“Call me unnie, remember?”

“Yes, unnie!”

“Hehe. Well done, Di.”

But how did fake Lin avoid the holy detection spell?

The mystery was solved when I saw Lin’s head popping out from the shadow at my feet.

Like someone she takes after, she’s quite the ghost at hiding.

The laughter was brief.

After a minor incident and last-minute preparations.

At the end of anxious waiting.

D-day.

First midterm exam.

The day had arrived for the inter-class competition in <Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage>.

‘If I knock down the students, the hero might dislike it, but that’s not my concern.’

Before the competition, Professor Layve explained the rules.

“This magic competition will be conducted as a winner-stays-on format. We’ll measure scores considering the difference in abilities, so don’t fear strong opponents or underestimate weaker ones.”

“Can we start already? I’m craving photosynthesis in this sunny clearing.”

Professor Layve, who had been waiting for this day with cold eyes, and Professor Warerd, with a face that said everything in the world was bothersome.

Under the supervision of the two professors, the momentous first midterm exam of the first year’s first semester finally began.