Ch.9494 – Weekly Event

<94 – Weekly Event>

“What the fuck, where did Sunday go?”

“Why is it Monday when I open my eyes?”

Monday began with the indignant cries of students.

From the first period homeroom lecture, the morale of the senior students plummeted.

Of course, even as someone who spent the weekend productively, I couldn’t escape that typical Monday feeling, so I was sitting at my desk with a slightly gloomier face than usual.

“Good morning, Oknodie.”

“Good morning, Hestia.”

“Did you go to the mountains this weekend, Oknodie?”

“No. I didn’t have sunscreen.”

“You should definitely go sometime. It’s fun when rocks suddenly get up and attack you.”

“Oh.”

We agreed to call those golems.

“You managed to survive, I see.”

“Right? It was quite a struggle to keep it alive.”

Hestia rummaged around inside her clothes and pulled out a stone about the size of her palm.

“Hey, wake up.”

“…?”

“I’ll crush you if you don’t get up.”

When Hestia projected her killing intent, the stone twitched and then, like a transforming robot, extended limbs from its corners and stood up on her palm.

“Mini golem!”

“When I made it as small as possible without damaging the core, it turned out like this.”

Usually when meeting a golem, humans worry about how to survive, but Hestia was concerned about how to keep the golem alive.

Chapter bosses really were different.

“I’ll give it to you.”

“This little one? To me?”

“You like stones, don’t you, Oknodie?”

I do like them, but…

This mini golem has been eyeing my stone pouch for a while now.

The pouch obviously contains stat stones.

“I don’t like stones that move.”

“Really? Then should I crush it so it can’t move?”

The mini golem trembled like an aspen leaf.

“Why don’t you keep it, Hestia?”

“Me? This weak thing?”

“It’s weak because it eats any random stone it finds on the road. Golems get stronger if you feed them expensive and sturdy stones.”

While most monsters evolve like Pokémon and can’t devolve, golems are more like Digimon.

As long as the core remains, they can be reset to baby mini golems and raised from scratch.

“Then maybe I should crush all the useless stones and feed it iron from the start.”

The mini golem trembled pitifully again, like an abused puppy.

“They say a golem’s core becomes much less durable without minerals attached to it.”

“Really? Lucky for it. It should know it’s alive thanks to you, Oknodie.”

“……”

“Hey. Turn back into a stone so I can put you in my pocket.”

The mini golem bowed its head weakly in gratitude, folded its limbs, and became a proper stone again.

The stone returned to the inside pocket of Hestia’s uniform.

I hope that poor thing is male.

If it’s a male golem, it could at least consider it fortunate to live in a woman’s bosom, right?

Though golems don’t have genders.

‘Has Hestia’s affection increased quite a bit?’

Trying to give a pet as a gift first thing in the morning suggests her affection must be pretty high.

[Your understanding of <Hestia> has increased.]

━━━

Hestia’s Understanding

No Friends (Understanding 10) – Hestia, who transitioned to the Berserker class, has lived a life without friends.

Monsters are Toys (Understanding 20) – The warrior who gained strength inversely proportional to her peer relationships treats monsters that others find burdensome as mere post-meal exercise.

Admiration for the Strong (Understanding 30) – Having grown up watching weaker people engage in jealousy, envy, and slander, Hestia despises the weak and conversely feels comfortable around the strong.

━━━

[Your understanding of <Hestia> has exceeded 20.]

[You are already enjoying the first special benefit <Hestia’s Monster Friend>.]

[The rate of increase for <Hestia>’s affection has increased.]

[Your understanding of <Hestia> has exceeded 25.]

[You have acquired the connection feature <Empathy – Hestia>.]

[You have become sensitive to Hestia’s emotional changes.]

It’s all good, but having no friends is a bit sad…

I should help her make many new friends in the future.

“Gyahahat! Have you guys ever tried giant king crab meat? It’s a hit, I tell you, a hit!”

Except for the pirate who’s putting fishy-smelling giant king crab legs on his desk first thing in the morning!

“Zigoku. Did you go to the beach?”

“They were delicious creatures. It’s hard to find king crabs over 3m even in the south, but here at the academy, 5m king crabs wash up all over the beach. Isn’t it paradise?”

“You hunted them well. It couldn’t have been easy to crack the shell of a 5m giant king crab with revolver shots.”

“Oh, that?”

Zigoku pulled out a backpack-sized rock from the backpack he was carrying.

“When I hit the shell with a rock, it cracked easily.”

“……”

Why is this person carrying rocks around?

“I understand why Oknodie carries stones now. It’s very convenient. If you can’t catch a monster with a stone, just consider whether the weight was insufficient! Gyahahat!”

“So stones had such a use… As expected, there was a reason Oknodie carried stones…”

Irene, the Northern Grand Duchess, muttered from the corner, making me feel unnecessarily guilty.

It seems people who saw me collecting stones for stat stones have started to misunderstand and develop an interest in stone collecting.

“Wow. Aren’t stones surprisingly great weapons?”

“You don’t have to worry about the blade breaking like with edged weapons.”

“Did you see that mini golem just now? It was cute.”

“Ah. Maybe I should pick up a pet stone too.”

“Idiot. It’s not a pet stone, it’s a pet golem.”

“Who knows, maybe if I call it pretty enough, arms and legs will sprout? I’ve already named it. I’ll call it Elizabethstone.”

…I don’t know anything about this.

Not my responsibility.

“You should really moderate your stone collecting.”

“I’m reflecting on it…”

I hung my head at Isabelle’s reproach.

What saved me from feeling like an unintentional criminal was the giant stone golem that entered to conduct homeroom.

“Monday first period, it’s time for our enjoyable homeroom. You haven’t forgotten my face already just because we don’t see each other often, have you? I’m Mahabharata, the first-year student affairs director!”

“…Professor. Why have you appeared as a stone golem today?”

“Because I saw you all happily talking about stones. I thought young people these days might like this sort of thing.”

He wasn’t coming to save me; he was just adding another victim.

I really couldn’t face anyone.

* *

Transformation Specialist Professor Mahabharata soon popped back to human size.

Aside from his mischievous personality that enjoys scaring students, the professor is in the top 10% of academy professors with no personality controversies or murderous assignment loads.

“Now, everyone focus. I understand you’re feeling down because it’s Monday, but today I have an important announcement. You’ll deeply regret it if you miss this.”

The senior students, who had already experienced an unusual first week at Gift Academy, tensed up and paid close attention.

“The important announcement is about a special event that comes to the academy every week. It’s the Weekly Event!”

Homeroom exists for us to hear this.

And the start of the weekly events marks the true beginning of academy life.

“When there’s a disaster situation without water, <Weekly Event – Drought> occurs, and when the cosmic alignment becomes unstable, <Weekly Event – Meteor Warning> is issued.”

Andersen, the number one in the Western Continent and someone who’s good at picking out flawed lectures, raised his hand.

“Why must such unreasonable weekly events exist at the academy?”

“Because they make the principal happy.”

“…”

At an academy ruled by a dragon beyond the reach of education departments from countries worldwide or the International Education Federation, the dragon principal’s will is practically law!

If the principal wants it that way, what can we do?

“For your information, this week is <Weekly Event – Heavy Rain Week>. Please be especially careful with outdoor lectures and activities in low-lying areas.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a pouring sound began outside the window.

When students sitting by the window looked outside in surprise, torrential rain was falling so heavily that they could barely make out the shape of the tree right in front of the school grounds.

“Oh no. We’re supposed to have our second period <How to Use Divine Magic Without Faith> lecture outdoors today. What should we do?”

“Andersen. Is there any chance the lecture will be canceled?”

“…It would be faster to prepare raincoats. Everyone, get ready to stop by the school store.”

The students became noticeably gloomier.

Among the students with long faces, I was the only one smiling.

“Our little lady seems to be in a good mood because of the rain.”

“Do you like it that much, Oknodie?”

“When it rains, clothes get wet!”

“What’s good about that? Getting soaked in the rain makes clothes stick to you and your body feels heavy…”

Isabelle narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

Her eyes, almost as narrow as Giselle’s, stared through me as if piercing my soul.

“Oknodie, you’re a girl, so why do you keep thinking about such perverted things?”

“Uhahat. It’s fine to care about such things! I support this one’s admirable taste. After all, women’s wet clothes on rainy days are worth seeing.”

As Son Ocheon loudly came out about his preferences, sharp glares from female students shot at him from all directions as if looking at garbage.

Among the female students, even Arcadia gave Son Ocheon a disappointed look before turning her gaze to me.

“D-Did you also have such indecent thoughts?”

“Not really? Not at all? I didn’t?”

“You little rat! Are you cutting ties with me now?!”

Good children don’t know about naughty things.

I wasn’t thinking anything.