episode_0089

Southern part of Academy City.

There was a plain with huge fields extending beyond the horizon. There, various cultivation facilities and agricultural vehicles were busy.

The agricultural students of were also busy running around under the hot midsummer sun.

Although students of other races would have had trouble sticking out their tongues and having a hard time walking around for just an hour, the faces of the elf students were calm even under the hot sunlight.

Thanks to their ability to quickly adapt to the natural environment, they were able to harvest crops at the right time throughout the four seasons.

The main crop currently being harvested was corn.

Originally, it would have been difficult to carry out corn farming on such a large scale, which consumes a lot of intellectual power, but the blessing of the World Tree made it possible.

A bountiful harvest that always lasts.

The blessings of the World Tree, which has protected humanity for over a thousand years, are generous in distributing daily bread to believers who live near the great light.

‘… Even so, this is a bit much.’

A senior elf student, wearing a straw hat that covered his face, spoke to a junior moving a sack of corn next to him.

“D-How much corn was produced in number 21?”

“Looking at the records, it is roughly double that of last year… No, almost three times as much.”

“This year is strange… No matter what I plant, more comes out than last year… ”

At least twice… Some crops are harvested more than ten times the average.

Potatoes, which until recently had saturated all the school warehouses, were a representative example.

‘I didn’t have room to store them in the warehouse, so I just piled them up on the plain. Now we have to do that with corn too?’

When the senior student recalled the memory of that time, his head began to pound.

Schools that like free stuff like took a large amount of potatoes, so it was barely able to return to an acceptable level. I have a feeling that corn will cause trouble now.

“… ”

Clearly, a good harvest was not a bad thing. There are a lot of schools that like freebies anyway, so if you let them know about the sharing, they will take care of it.

‘But something feels off.’

This continued unusually good harvest did not necessarily sound like good news. Because all this energy comes from the World Tree.

“… ”

Changes in the world tree do not always move in a positive direction. And its influence is in line with the situation in , which is closest to the World Tree.

‘Academy City was a mess during the first semester, and this year, something happened… I think something more is going to happen… ‘

Trouble abounds in , and the is said to be working to resolve the trouble that occurred this year…

Something was strange.

I had an uneasy feeling.

‘The spirit of the sword, who always quietly retreats, gave an unusual revelation to the students of the theology department… ‘

The senior elf student muttered with a serious expression.

“… Something is strange.”

“Is this strange? It’s a bit much, but isn’t it because you have the World Tree’s blessing, and your intelligence recovers quickly?”

“… ”

The most common and valid conclusion.

However, the senior in the straw hat still had a serious expression on his face even after hearing that.

A second-year junior threw a sack of corn larger than his body into the car and tilted his head.

“… ?”

“… ”

The senior, who was silent for a while, put the straw hat he was wearing on his junior and walked away toward the corn fields filled with the horizon.

Sarah—

When the senior took off his straw hat, his long blond hair swayed and moved. And the green ether sparkled softly.

[Dark Green’s Great Palace], Anna said as she took a step forward.

“I have to go see Nella.”

“Dean of the Department of Theology?”

“Yes, I should go and listen to what the Sword Spirit had to say. Suddenly, it seems like there is an additional reason for bringing Clara and the students from .”

Anna walked forward, leaving behind her junior who had gone to move the corn sack again. Then, suddenly, I looked back again.

“… ”

Alma mater boasts the largest site among the schools in … I could see the scenery of ,

Rice fields covered tens of kilometers beyond the horizon.

Elf students from the Department of Agriculture passing by in comfortable clothes.

And the white buildings that lead straight to Golden Street.

Following the world tree as a personal god,

A life of caring for plants the way he lived.

A life lived according to the [fate] that He has determined.

Familiar scenery.

A place where you have to graduate soon.

‘For us, graduation is… ‘What does it mean?’

In the first place…

The reason for establishing a ‘school’ rather than a ‘temple’ at the ‘place closest to God’ is… What did it mean?

Anna let countless thoughts flow through her mind and started walking again. However, the sticky mud stuck to the boots I was wearing, making it difficult to walk.

*

The first class ride on the ether train that I rode for the first time was amazing.

We were already halfway there, and thanks to the soft seats, there was no discomfort. Because it crossed various rice fields and plains, the road to , which was quite far away, felt very short.

And the service I encountered there was more luxurious than I imagined.

Theology department members from .

They took care of our convenience more seriously than the airplane crew.

‘At first he rushed at me with the intention of kidnapping me, but his attitude suddenly changed… I saw this scene in the main story too, but when I saw it for real, it seemed a bit crazy.’

In the original, they only moved for the [Hero] who had been divined by the [Nameless Hawk], but the difference this time was that they also took care of the [Saint].

‘what… There are a lot of things I can guess, but… ‘

anyway…

They arranged for a top-class ether train to take three students and a bird to .

Me, Albit, Kara, and Piyak received excellent service there.

For reference, Lothar said he would go to alone to study the knowledge he heard from Urud. She was taking very seriously what Urd had told her.

‘If you think about it, the one who was the most intelligent among them, and who believed what I and Urd said faster than anyone else… ‘That’s a bit surprising.’

I’m not really trying to deceive you… Rather, it was no different from the act of handing out answer sheets. It was truly unexpected that I could believe so easily.

In response to my question, Lotta said this.

-Seeing the phenomenon unfolding before your eyes and denying it is disqualification as a wizard! Maybe the law you thought was true may actually be a very small flaw! … That’s what the [Golden Witch] said at the end… lol.

-huh? So do you believe that I am a ‘friend of the goddess’?~☆

-huh! of course! Because the seniors I have seen so far were not people who deceive others to do bad things!

So, it is your job to analyze the fragmented facts and uncover a new path… If the process is wrong, it is the believer’s responsibility…

Lotta answered like that and got on the train.

“… ”

I thought I was pretty smart, but

I felt humbled after hearing Lothar’s words, which I saw as young.

‘Maybe what you thought was the truth may not be the truth… ‘

When you’re thinking like that.

A soft voice came from next to me.

“Saint! Ah, try it!”

“Ah~☆”

“Good job!”

A piece of fluffy, high-quality corn muffin automatically pops into your mouth. The fragrant scent of corn spreads inside your nose, and it melts away with the sweet taste that builds up in your saliva.

Before you know it, a taste reminiscent of the smile of an elf girl harvesting corn with her ears perking up fills my mouth. Finely chewed sweet sugar is a bonus.

Muttering—☆

It’s a sweet taste that I taste again and again, but this bombardment of primitive carbohydrates made my mouth feel watery.

This is it.

This is life.

This taste is not good for your health… !

Lots of sugar, full of carbohydrates… !

Right now.

I let go of the man’s soul for a moment and became a girl, greedily craving sweetness.

‘Life is not sweet, but hard… !’

Originally, on Earth, ‘sweetness’ itself was a precious resource, so it was not easily accessible until technological development occurred.

In this academy city created only for girls, ‘somehow’ it was very easy to get various sweeteners. So, each school made and ate dessert in different ways.

‘Among them, the ghost of , which has the most developed eating culture… It can be said that the desserts prepared by friendly fairy students are undisputed number one.’

The threat of various diseases and belly fat that I have lived with since I got a job in my mid-20s. Free from all that, the taste of the dessert I could eat as much as I wanted was exquisite.

Perhaps, ‘being able to eat whatever you want’ was the most beneficial part of becoming Clara’s body.

‘The basal metabolic rate of teenagers who exercise is nothing short of a blessing… !’

Gulp—!

After swallowing all the bread in my mouth, I opened my mouth like a baby bird asking for food. Then he shrugged his shoulders and conveyed his thoughts to the elf student next to him.

“Ah~☆ Give it to me again! Give it to me again!”

“Yes! I’ll give it to you again. I’m glad it suits your taste!”

“Yes! Delicious—☆”

“Oh my… ! All first-year students in the theology department will be happy to hear this!”

Then, the second-year elf girl sitting next to me who was looking after me smiled and fed me bread again with a fork.

“Here, saintess!”

“Yam—☆”

I took it and ate it, and my mouth was again bombarded with happy sweetness. A sugary Jindo dog was sent into my mouth.

Muttering—☆

How many calories have you absorbed so far?

‘Maybe I should chase this ether train on a Red Tomb… ‘

Now I am a thermal power plant in the shape of a girl.

Clara’s flame was still burning.

Wow—☆

There was someone who spoke to the burning calorie flame. Kara was hiding next to me because she felt burdened by the immediate hospitality she received.

“… Well, do you think your senior comrade is used to this kind of luxurious treatment? Is that because you received it a lot during the [Pink Spiral] days?”

What is he talking about?

The [Pink Spiral] era was the peak of my beggar career…

“Wungnyamnyam—☆ This is my first time being treated like this~?”

“… ”

Hilde, who was my best friend, was also a guy who was sleeping in a dust pit with canned sauce on his mouth. I don’t remember ever receiving VIP treatment at any school in particular.

Rather, the most recent wedding dress make-up and the treatment I received when I went to Belle’s Garrison were the pinnacle of my rich career.

Kara sighed and said with an absurd expression.

“No, then what on earth does this adaptability mean?”

“What? Isn’t this normal?—♪”

“… If that were normal, this world would be on fire, engulfed in the sins of pretentiousness and greed.”

Kara shook her head and touched her forehead.

“… ?”

I just entrusted myself to him because he said he would give me a foot massage… He said he would feed me dessert next to me, so I just left it to him.

And since they take care of your nails right next to you, you can leave your hands in charge…

hmm?

“… ”

I slightly raised my head and saw Piyak and Albit sitting in the back seat.

Albit was frozen and quietly refusing the students’ invitations, and Piyak was quite calmly pecking at the dessert placed in front of him with his beak.

hmm…

I guess I started a bit of a rich movement.

…

What do you think?

I looked back at Kara and said.

“In the first place, you have to accept something like this when it is given☆ It is rude to refuse—☆”

“Phew… If I hadn’t known for a long time how simple and simple my senior comrade was, I would have raised the flag of my revolution here.”

“Eight, eight—☆ Instead, how about coming here and getting a massage together?”

“I politely decline.”

“Shy—☆”

“… By the way, it is impossible to believe that Comrade Arbit and Senior Comrade also received such an important [fate]… The same goes for Comrade Rota, who is walking the path of becoming a [Golden Witch], and I don’t know what has become of this school.”

Kara said with a shrug.

“[Witch], [Hero], [Saint]… Huh, really… Now I am confident that I will not be surprised if [the rider] suddenly appears.”

“… ”

‘That’s you.’

But I didn’t give a spoiler myself.

‘Honestly, in the current situation, the one who sincerely believes that he will be ordinary until the end is more extraordinary… ‘

I looked at the side of Kara’s face for a moment, then looked out the window of the train.

“… ”

Endless rice fields.

A plain full of green plants and trees.

The land where the Holy Sword and the ‘Sword Spirit’ reside.

‘Rotta found it first now, but originally it was the place where [the fate of the three heroes] would be found for the first time… ‘

We arrived at .