chapter_0025

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
25

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
25

What is this? There’s no one
here but me.

When I lifted my eyelids
again, I saw a translucent barrier in front of me.

I recognized this effect.

Brooch of Protection.

The reward I received after
defeating the Golem last time was protecting me.

Ha ha. So what.

I’m going to die now anyway.

As I watched the Minotaur
raise its arm again and lamented my fate, the creature suddenly
stopped moving.

What? What’s going on?

Before long, I realised the
reason.

The Minotaur’s body was
slowly disappearing from the bottom up.

The time limit for the Trial
of Guardians had ended.

“The trial is over. You have
proven your guardian spirit, and thus you are granted the right to
take the next trial.”

As Grandpa’s voice finished
speaking, I heard the sound of a door creaking open in the distance.

‘You… bastard…’

“Bastard… lower than a
dog… You mongrel old man.”

There was no reply.

Damn old man.

He must feel a prick of
conscience since he’s not saying anything, right?

This pathetic, trashy old
geezer.

Just watch.

When I enter the Academy, I’ll
spread rumours about what kind of person Paladin Ruel really is.

You can look forward to it.

Grandpa, you may not know
this, but I am a possessor.

Spreading plausible infamy
among people is a piece of cake for me!

Wait for the day when I
tarnish your honour!

Whatever it takes, I’ll drag
you down from your position as a hero!

Once the Minotaur disappeared,
my skills began to function properly again.

[Unyielding Will] forcefully
made my body move.

[Overcoming Fear] drove away
the fear of the impending pain.

Thanks to that, I could force
myself to stand.

The first thing I did after
getting up was to retch.

Something kept rising from my
stomach that I couldn’t endure.

Maybe some of my internal
organs were damaged when I got hit by the Minotaur.

As I vomited, blood mixed with
whatever was in my stomach oozed out.

At this rate, when I finish
the trial and meet Possell, I’m surely going to get an earful.

No, wait. My condition is too
severe; before he nags me, he might first take me to a doctor.

Imagining Possell running at
full speed with me on his back seemed amusing.

I wonder how fast he could go.

He’d probably be faster than a
horse, I’d guess.

…Ah, but won’t Karl get
punished unnecessarily for not protecting me properly? If that
happens, I’ll defend him, arguing that it’s not just his fault.

After all, Karl got dragged
into this because of me.

He shouldn’t get scolded.

Once I regained some
stability, I took a deep breath and raised my head again.

Where are my shield and mace?

I won’t need them for any
future trials, but I’ve become quite attached to them and want to
take them with me.

As I turned my head to look
for my gear, I noticed a potion bottle placed in front of me.

The liquid inside was a pale
red hue, sparkling with starlight-like specks shimmering within.

Is this what I think it is?

In the Soul Academy game,
there’s only one liquid that looks like this.

A potion containing the
miracle of healing.

This potion is far from an
ordinary HP potion. It’s an incredible item that removes all status
ailments and restores 50% of lost health.

Why is this here?

Could it be that Grandpa gave
it to me?

After summoning the Minotaur
and nearly getting me killed, did he give me this to heal?

That’s crazy.

This isn’t just giving a
disease and then offering a cure.

I almost died just now.

If I hadn’t obtained the
Brooch of Protection by chance yesterday, I would have been crushed
by the Minotaur’s fist.

And he expects everything to
be fine with just this potion?

Where’s your conscience, Mr.
Paladin?

Maybe you sacrificed your
conscience along with your body to the gods? You bastard.

I was about to kick the potion
away in a fit of anger but stopped myself.

As much as that old man
infuriates me, the potion is innocent.

Drinking this should make me
feel a bit better.

I’m not sure how the healing
effect works, but it should at least improve my current state.

Thinking that, I reached to
open the potion bottle but hesitated.

What if Grandpa set a trap in
this too?

Since such an event didn’t
occur in the game, I couldn’t be sure about anything. Given that he
sent the Minotaur just because he was upset, it’s clear that guy is
petty to the core.

There’s no guarantee he
didn’t do something weird to this too.

Regrettably, I’ll have to
postpone drinking the potion.

Anyway, none of the upcoming
tests require physical activity.

So as long as I can move my
limbs until the trials are over, that should be enough.

I can get treatment once I’m
out.

Of course, that means I can’t
enter the dungeon again while receiving treatment, so I won’t be able
to level up any further.

Ugh. My plan to reach level 10
is going down the drain.

But I really had no other
choice.

Playing it safe is better than
dying.

In a reality where there’s
no save and reload, I didn’t want to take any risks.

Tucking the potion into my
pocket, I searched for my shield and mace.

It wasn’t hard to find
either of them.

The shield was dented, with a
deep indentation in the middle.

In its bent state, the shield
was no longer functional.

The mace was in a similar
condition.

The handle and the head had
split into two, turning the weapon into more of a burden than
anything else.

Both of these items had been
reliable companions over the past few weeks, but now it’s time to let
them go. Carrying this in my current state, where even walking is
hard, isn’t an option.

Goodbye, friends. May you be
reborn as legendary items made from precious materials in your next
life.

Leaving the two behind, I
hobbled toward the open door.

It was time for the next
trial.

The room beyond the door
wasn’t much different from the previous one.

There was just one difference.

In the centre, instead of a
statue, there was a stone tablet.

“This trial is the Trial
of Divinity. It is here to test the faith harboured within you…”

Ignoring Grandpa’s ramblings,
I approached the stone tablet.

The inscription on it
recounted a story about Armadi, the Creator God and Lord of many
deities.

The story went as follows:

While Armadi was enjoying a
feast with his subordinate gods, they ran out of wine.

Armadi ordered a servant to
fetch water, and when the servant brought a jug of water, Armadi
dipped his hand into it.

The water slowly turned red
and then transformed into wine.

As you can see, they’ve
borrowed a story from the Bible.

And below the story, there was
a line that read:

“Summarise this story in
one sentence.”

That’s the question, huh.

This question is quite unusual
even among the Trials of Divinity. You can find the answer to the
question both inside and outside the game.

This question is based on an
anecdote from the French poet, Byron.

Naturally, the answer to the
question is the same as Byron’s response to this anecdote.

“…Think carefully and
answer.”

‘When the water met its
master, it blushed.’

“The sloppy water blushed
sloppily in front of its master.”

This “sloppily” term
again, really?

Can’t I just say it normally
for once?

Sigh.
At least it got the gist of it right.

When I suddenly answered,
Grandpa stopped talking.

Grandpa, this is the correct
answer.

I’ve memorised all the
questions that appear in these trials, so don’t try to pull a fast
one on me.

Just acknowledge it’s
correct and let’s move on quickly.

I dare you to say it’s
incorrect.

Then I’ll make you explain
the right answer.

As I stared sharply in the
direction the voice was coming from, a cough followed, and then he
said:

“That is correct.”

With those words, the door to
the next room opened.

If only it had been this
straightforward from the start.

Let’s finish the next trial
quickly too.

I can feel my condition
getting worse.

Right now, I’m barely
standing because of my [Unyielding Will]. It wouldn’t be surprising
if I collapsed at any moment.

My body has already reached
its limit.

I’m holding on mentally, but
that won’t last much longer.

At the very least, I need to
finish this trial and collapse outside so Possell or Karl can find
me.

As I limped into the next
room, a fully intact temple appeared before me.

Majestic murals adorned the
walls and ceiling.

Chandeliers hung overhead, and
rows of chairs were set up like a chapel.

As I walked along the path in
the centre, a Statue of the Goddess greeted me.

“The last trial is the Trial
of Endurance. From now on, you will face the deepest nightmare within
you. Witness it and…”

‘Just get it over with
already.’

“Sloppy Grandpa. Shut up and
hurry up, will you?”

When I urged him, Grandpa fell
silent.

Sulking, are we?

So what.

What else can you even do now?

In the Trial of Endurance,
unlike in the Trial of Guardians, you can’t go ahead and summon
another Minotaur.

After all, this trial takes
place in the mental world, and there’s nothing you can interfere
with.

So skip the explanation.

I feel like I’m going to
collapse any moment now.

“Understood. Let’s begin the
trial.”

As soon as Grandpa spoke, my
vision went dark.

When I came to, I found myself
standing in the middle of a lavish banquet hall.

Where am I?

It looks just like the kind of
party nobles would have in a fantasy world.

People in the banquet hall
gathered in groups, dressed in immaculate suits and extravagant
dresses.

While everyone else smiled and
chatted, I was left standing alone.

What is this?

This doesn’t seem like the
Trial of Endurance I know.

The one I saw in the game was
much more brutal, disgusting, and chaotic.

What kind of strange stunt has
Grandpa pulled now?

He’s really narrow-minded,
isn’t he?

Just as I was grumbling and
looking around, I heard voices nearby.

“Is that her? The
disgraceful Lady of the Allen Family?”

“Aha, disgraceful Lady? How
can you use such a crude term?”

“But it suits her perfectly,
doesn’t it?”

“There’s even a better
term for her: the shame of the Allen Family.”

“Heh. Shame, indeed.”

“Isn’t that even worse?”

The relentless criticism from
everyone around me seemed never-ending.

It was as if they could fill a
vast aquarium entirely with their scorn.

As I watched the scene
impassively, I realised that this wasn’t my nightmare.

There’s no way a banquet
hall like this would appear in my nightmares.

If it were my nightmare, it
would be something like Soul Academy 2 being released and it turning
out to be a horrible game.

Or showing me having to rejoin
the military.

If not that, it would show me
the scenes from when I had just left the orphanage and was wandering
aimlessly.

It was clear.

This was Lucy’s nightmare.

I was witnessing Lucy’s
deepest fears.

Could this actually be
something Lucy experienced in the past?

I didn’t particularly feel
sympathetic. It was likely the result of Lucy’s own actions leading
up to this moment.

What concerned me more was
something else.

If this was something Lucy had
truly experienced,

How low was Lucy’s
reputation?

If she heard such things in a
public social setting, it meant she was almost an enemy to everyone.

Is this… an outcast
situation?

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