Harvest Festival

1.

The academy was swept up in controversy.

Incidents occurring in succession.

Following a Demon, this time it was a Demon King Army Commander.

Contact from various families was flooding the president’s office.

Letters protesting the academy’s security.

The main content was the concern of parents who had enrolled their children, questioning how such incidents could occur one after another in just a few months, and how security management was being handled.

However, some were defending the academy.

Although problems had occurred, they had ultimately been dealt with and resolved well.

Even this time, the damage was minimal compared to the scale of the incident.

There were injuries, but no deaths.

Originally, this would have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

After all, it was an incident where a Demon King Army Commander had directly visited the academy.

The academy had resolved a situation that the Hero party should have handled.

“What is this…”

The academy president, Croto, murmured.

The flood of protest letters was giving him a headache, but what troubled him the most was the report on this incident.

“Is this even possible?”

The Demon King Army Commander subjugation report.

It was directly written and shared by the Imperial Knights.

The content was shocking.

The Demon King Army Commander, Mortis, appeared in the western forest of the academy.

A girl single-handedly defeated that Commander.

And that girl was a student of the academy.

Elia, a first-year in the Theology department.

A Saintess.

Considering that this Commander was an Undead, the Saintess’s Divinity could be fatal. However, being fatal doesn’t necessarily mean she could defeat him.

Mortis was a transcendent Wizard with the body of an ancient Wizard.

He possessed the power to annihilate an entire kingdom.

For such a being to be subjugated by a frail girl alone was logically impossible.

“They couldn’t have falsely reported it…”

It was a report that seemed to be mocking him.

Not only was it a Saintess who defeated him.

It also seemed like a lie that the Saintess used swordsmanship comparable to a Sword Saint.

But would the Imperial Knights have any reason to lie to the academy president?

President Croto pressed his forehead.

2.

“Ughhh…!”

She stretched her arms upwards and yawned.

“Haa…”

Exhaling, she slumped her shoulders.

She was tired.

Was it okay to work someone this hard?

From morning till evening, it was all treatment, treatment, treatment.

All day long, she had been treating students suffering from the aftereffects of Demon Energy Poisoning.

“Saintess exploitation, Saintess exploitation.”

When she got back to the dormitory, she would take a hot bath and rest well.

Her body hadn’t fully recovered yet either.

Her Divinity was abundant, but her Magical power was lacking.

She had used too much Magical power in the battle, so it seemed it would take time to recover.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Rael was waiting in front of the temple.

“You’re back early?”

Rael, who had been summoned by the Papal Authority and had gone to the Holy Nation.

He had returned in less than a week.

“I was worried about leaving the Saintess alone, so I came back quickly.”

“The temple guards are protecting me.”

While Rael, her Holy Knight, was away, the guards inside the temple had been protecting her instead.

“And, I can protect myself.”

Rather, it was more uncomfortable to be protected by someone else.

Seeing them hovering around in front of her was frustrating, one might say?

It was 100 or 1000 times better for her to step up herself.

“Ah… that’s right.”

Rael wore a gloomy expression.

Oops, what she had just said was like saying ‘I don’t need a Holy Knight like you’ in front of her Holy Knight.

“Still, I’m glad Rael is by my side, it makes me feel secure. And relieved.”

Smiling brightly, she soothed Rael with appropriate words.

Rael smiled, looking pleased.

“Is that so?”

Even one of the five Holy Knights of the Holy Nation was still young.

He was simple-minded.

He had the kind of personality that would easily get his money taken in a bar.

“You were summoned because of this incident, right?”

She asked, walking along the corridor connecting the temple to the dormitory.

“That’s right. Since the Demon King Army Commander was directly involved, I went to report the detailed circumstances.”

“So, what did they say?”

If he had reported, he would have certainly reported about her as well.

The Pope knew what kind of person she was, but the entire Papal Authority didn’t know.

They would have found out through this opportunity.

Whether her swordsmanship was excellent or not.

The conservative Cardinals would have criticized her for wielding a sword, saying that the Saintess was being vulgar and not maintaining her dignity.

She could see it, she could see it.

Tsk tsk, those old fogeys.

Of course, it wasn’t that they were wrong.

She knew that maintaining dignity was important.

The higher the position, the more one should be a role model for others.

But she had given up.

She was already upset about being forced to become a Saintess.

To have to act while maintaining the dignity of a Saintess on top of that.

She was exhausted.

“There were many opinions.”

“Specifically?”

“There were good ones and bad ones.”

“I think I know what the bad ones would have said, but what did the good ones say?”

“There was a celebratory atmosphere, saying that she was indeed the daughter of the Celestial God.”

Usually, such Cardinals were more interested in the development of the Holy Nation than in the traditions of religion.

Religion was the main thing, but the Holy Nation was still a nation.

Faith alone couldn’t protect the country.

In this case, they would be seeing her as a great force for the Holy Nation.

She preferred it when they thought of her that way.

“And, the Pope left a message.”

“What was it?”

“He said he was sorry for tying up someone so free…”

That was good to hear.

“Does that mean I don’t have to be a Saintess anymore?”

“Wh-What are you talking about?!”

Rael exclaimed in surprise.

“Eugh!”

Her ears were ringing because of the loud voice right next to her.

She pressed her fingers into her ears.

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Rael immediately apologized politely.

“What are you saying? That you’re quitting being a Saintess?”

“Isn’t that it?”

“There was no such talk at all. The Saintess is still the Saintess. The most definitive Saintess among Saintesses.”

Rael was pouring out words as if he was worried that she was going to leave.

It was like he was trying to brainwash her.

Tsk.

What a shame.

She thought that after hearing the Pope’s words, they were going to release her.

Even if that wasn’t the case, it could be interpreted in a positive way.

It meant that she was free to act as she pleased from now on.

Of course, while keeping to some extent what she had to as a Saintess.

After all, she was one of the figures symbolizing the Celestial God Church.

“If the Saintess isn’t the Saintess, then who is…”

“Stop. Stop saying Saintess, Saintess.”

“I’m sorry. Just one last thing…”

“Tsk.”

He was really extreme.

She liked his loyalty, though.

“Saintess!”

As they arrived at the dormitory, a maid came running up in a hurry.

“What’s wrong?”

“The president is waiting for you.”

“The president?”

She hadn’t made an appointment.

“He said he has something to ask you…”

Ah.

She knew why he had come.

He must have come to ask about this incident.

“Please lead the way.”

Following the maid’s guidance, she went to the reception room in the dormitory.

“Hello.”

President Croto was waiting in the reception room, drinking tea.

His face was full of fatigue.

His wrinkles were also clear.

He seemed to be having a hard time dealing with the incident.

“I should have come to you if you had called. Thank you for coming all the way here.”

She greeted him and sat down opposite him.

“You said you had something to ask me?”

“I’ll ask simply. Is all of this true?”

President Croto slid a piece of paper over.

It was a report.

The incident report submitted by the Imperial Knights.

The detailed process of defeating the Demon King Army Commander was missing, but the overall content was correct. She had explained it to Gale, after all.

“Yes, it’s true.”

“That the Saintess defeated the Commander as well?”

“Yes, that’s also true.”

President Croto tilted his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

“It was simple. I cut off the Commander’s head with a sword and finished it off with Divinity.”

That was really the end of it.

She hadn’t come up with any special strategies.

It wasn’t like several people had joined forces to defeat him.

“You can believe it or not. It’s up to the president.”

She didn’t want to persuade him and prove that she had defeated him.

Maybe if she was interested in honor.

She cared more about the fact that she had defeated a Demon King Army Commander than about honor.

“Haha… What would change if I didn’t believe it?”

He knew it well.

President Croto straightened his posture.

He straightened his slumped shoulders and sat up straight.

“It’s late. I don’t know how to express my gratitude. Thank you for protecting the academy.”

President Croto bowed and expressed his gratitude very politely.

“You immediately dealt with the situation as soon as it happened, and even defeated the Demon King Army Commander. I can’t do much, but please tell me if there’s anything you want.”

She waved her hand.

“You’re welcome. I was just doing my job.”

Yes, wasn’t this the purpose of her reincarnation?

To defeat the Demon King.

Defeating the Demon King Army Commander could be said to be part of that.

“It’s the will of the Celestial God.”

That wasn’t wrong.

Who was it that reincarnated her?

President Croto put his hands together.

He was also a citizen of the Empire and a follower of the Celestial God Church.

“Ah… There is one thing I want…”

“Please tell me. I’ll gladly grant it if it’s something I can do.”

A way to have an enjoyable academy life came to mind.