episode_0113

Merlin Gregory, dean of the Continent’s First Academy and one of the four masters of the modern era.

The dean, who was clearly old but still had glossy, pure white skin, was preparing to give a speech in front of hundreds of students.

One, why?

Merlin’s green eyes were not focused on the speech he was to recite, but on a letter in his hand.

Only a few words were briefly written in black letters on the white paper.

It wasn’t good news. Merlin leaned his back against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

A darkened world, clearer thoughts. A completely white mask appeared in Merlin’s thoughts.

‘Where on earth are you…? Suoka… .’

The identity of the mask was that of a hunter from the Demon Forest. From what Merlin knew, it was.

However, as he tracked down ‘Suoka’ over the past decades, Merlin began to gradually question what he knew.

Because there wasn’t one. The Suokaran hunter who was said to have killed a person and escaped.

I thought he might have used a false name, so I entrusted the request and conducted a search based on the circumstances alone, but in the southern part of the empire, where the criminal arrest rate is as high as 99%, there was no criminal who committed a major murder and was not caught.

‘Obviously, I didn’t fly the meteor at that time… It was a bit vague at the time, but now it’s clear. There’s no way someone as good as the Dragon King would die from being crushed by a single meteor.’

There is a saying that you see as much as you know. This means that things that were originally invisible become visible as the breadth of knowledge or vision expands. Great Sage Merlin strongly agreed with that statement.

When hunting the dragon king Endros in the past, Merlin expected that he would die if he had magic of Meteor’s level. Because the strongest magic he knew was Meteor.

But now that he has reached the 9th circle, he realizes how foolish that thought was. The Dragon King was not a monster that could die with just a meteor. Even if I were to come forward, my opponent would only have an 80% chance of winning. The Dragon King was the strongest monster worthy of the title of king.

Why on earth did he die and be buried in Meteor? The answer was simple. At the time, when everyone in the room, including himself, lost consciousness or lost their lives, he was the only one who maintained his sanity.

Mashu Forest Hunter, Suoka.

Ever since he sensed doubt about that fact, Merlin had been following the traces of ‘Suoka’. He even submitted a request to the continent’s best intelligence organization.

What a strange thing, the progress of the work has not improved at all since the first request was given.

‘John? Are you right, John? ?’

One day, a man named Yohan, who was in Suoka’s group, came to visit. Accompanied by a fierce swordsman named Beatrice.

‘Merlin, please make me a teacher.’

He recklessly requested that he be made a student at the academy. Merlin said he would grant the request and asked him to tell him everything he knew about Suoka.

‘Suoka? ‘I don’t know anyone like that.’

‘Well, what do you mean… !’

‘There is no one called Suoka. It’s true. ‘I don’t lie.’

The only answer I got was that I didn’t know. Merlin was speechless.

A considerable amount of time passed after that, and before I knew it, it was the day of the entrance ceremony, which had been held dozens of times. That’s today.

“Dean! It is your turn to give ‘Dean’s words of encouragement and encouragement’ to new students!”

“Ah, it’s already so late… ?”

“Yes! Everyone is waiting!”

At the sound of a teacher calling him, Merlin stood up. Wearing a magical robe that has not faded at all, whether it was when I was young or not.

‘Now that I think about it, there were some hot topics among the new students… Frey, the princess who carries the fate of a warrior, Albrecht, and Maria, who was chosen to become a saint… Will there be anyone among them who can surpass the Heavenly Heroes of two years ago? .’

Time makes humans old. Even though nearly a hundred years could not change Merlin’s body, it did not mean that his spirit did not grow during that time.

‘What kind of children will come?’ I’m looking forward to it.’

*****

After greeting the warrior, Maria returned to her seat and sat next to me. The fact that I met a hero who would destroy the continent in the distant future… I don’t know, but Maria’s hands were shaking slightly, as if she was quite excited.

“Well, that person is a saint… ! This is my first time seeing a saint in person… !”

“Me too. I occasionally saw it in newspaper articles. She’s really wearing a normal nun’s outfit.”

“Wow… It’s truly sacredly beautiful… But who is that guy next to me? The one with bangs covering his eyes.”

“Bangs? Are you talking about the guy with his bangs pulled back like a sheepish guy?”

“What are you two talking about? The guy next to the saint is bald and has no hair. But is that right? Even though Eden Academy is an equal place, why does it even accept baldness?”

“Hmm… Surely that might be controversial… .”

Nowadays, there is no one among new students who does not know that Mary is a saint. He came out openly and said hello to the warrior, so there was no way he wouldn’t know.

So, a lot of attention was paid to it. In real time. At the same time, I can hear people wondering about me and Aru.

“Maria, don’t you talk to the hero anymore?”

“You can do it later when the kite arrives. We are currently in the middle of an entrance ceremony welcoming new students, so we need to act accordingly.”

“But you didn’t have to sit next to me.”

From Maria’s perspective now, I am just an ordinary student. A warrior must build friendships for the future.

But why did he come back and sit next to me? I was curious about that and asked a question, and Maria pouted.

“Do you hate me? Are you uncomfortable with me being next to you?”

“Huh? No?”

“Then that’s it. There is no rule that says you have to sit only next to the warrior.”

“But, they are a hero and a saint. Wouldn’t it be better to sit next to the hero rather than me? What do others think?”

He asked back sarcastically. The saint answered without hesitation.

“I learned that other people’s opinions are not important. I also learned that the important thing is to follow my heart.”

“That means… Do you really want to sit next to me no matter what others say? Why?”

“Well, I don’t know why, but I feel at ease when I’m with Mr. Evans. I would say it feels familiar, as if it has been around for a long time. I felt that way ever since I first came into the freshman entrance ceremony and saw Mr. Evans.”

“Ho… okay… That could be… .”

This was unexpected, but it seems that my existence was imprinted on Maria’s soul.

That’s quite possible. Although Maria is a younger person now, her soul has not changed. This means that over the past hundreds of years, communication between the saint and me using the rosary has not been unheard of.

It’s a whopping 500 years. For five centuries, Mary spent every day longing for communication with me. Sometimes, when my communication was delayed, I would gasp and panic.

This means that the soul has already become so that it has no choice but to respond to the being like me. It’s not what I intended, but it’s not a bad change.

“Anyway, that’s why. Ok, fine. Actually, I also wanted to be with Maria. I was just a little curious about not going to the hero. That’s why I asked.”

“Really? Mr. Evans also wanted me to be with him… .”

“Huh? That’s the dean, right? Great Sage Merlin. I guess you’re about to give a welcome speech to new students?”

A boy goes up to the podium, surrounded by many students. I interrupted Maria and pointed to the boy.

A navy blue robe covered all the way to the top of the head and a lot of green hair sticking out from under the robe. It’s Merlin.

“Oh, you are a great sage!”

“The Great Sage himself appears at the entrance ceremony… ! It truly is the best academy on the continent.”

Soon, when Merlin stood on the podium, put his mouth to the microphone and removed his robe, exclamations poured out.

“What, what is it? You look like a boy, right? Even the line is very kind… !”

“Didn’t you see the newspaper article or the Great Sage’s interview? He doesn’t age because of magic. He is said to have achieved immortality among immortals.”

“There will be quite a few people in spring and autumn… That’s really cool. Are you disguising yourself with magic?”

“No, you really don’t age. I heard that your magical abilities have reached a very noble level. Dragons don’t age, right?”

Merlin was the same as when I first met him. His eyes became a little harsher, but other than that, his face didn’t change at all. Glad to see you, I raised my hand and waved.

“Woof? Does Evans know someone?”

Maria was looking in the direction of Merlin and didn’t see it, but Aru, who was only focusing on me, caught my greeting and expressed a question.

“Well, you don’t have to know to say hello.”

“Say hello even if you don’t know? Woof?”

“There is no legal provision that says you cannot do it. There are many cases where people get scolded for being rude for not saying hello to someone they know.”

“I see. bruise! hi! Nice to meet you!”

After trying a little without thinking, Aru understood clearly and got up and waved at Merlin. Ugh, what should I do with this idiot who has no common sense?

“Aru? Are you acquainted with the dean?”

“No! doesn’t exist! First time seeing this!”

“… ?”

Maria’s expression changes to that of seeing a slightly sick friend. I sighed and focused on Merlin’s speech that was about to be heard.

They say that the lectures of deans from generation to generation are the most boring thing in the world, but in my memory, Merlin is a handsome boy full of cuteness. I was looking forward to seeing how he would pull off the congratulatory speech at the entrance ceremony.

But when Merlin opened his mouth, my expectations were shattered.

In “… First of all, we sincerely congratulate the new students who have been admitted to our academy… to… I would also like to express my gratitude to the teachers who will work hard in the coming year… When I was your age, I did my best in everything I did… I sincerely hope that you can do the same… to… And finally… .”

“… .”

Sreuk-.

I don’t know what happens after that. As soon as I started listening to Merlin’s sermon, I fell into the spell of sleep as if under a spell. Frequently, ‘Eh… ‘ and a tongue-clicking tone and ‘Finally… ‘ and increasing the number of sermons was literally no different from a lullaby.

I wasn’t the only one who fell asleep during the speech. Through my fading vision, I could see all the students dozing off or leaning their heads against the backs of the people in front of them, falling into a deep sleep.

In my memory, whenever I hit Merlin on the butt, he would say, ‘Huhhh…’ !’ He was a handsome boy with a taste for teasing others, but in the end, he was no different from any other dean.

I couldn’t even resist properly and leaned my head to the right.

*****

“Oh.”

Maria was quite surprised when something fell on her thigh.

Maria, along with Albrecht, who had brought earplugs in advance, was the only one of those who heard the sermon to not faint.

“Keoaaaa… .”

A girl who was a beast fell to the right and rested her head on a boy’s pelvis.

The boy fell down in a similar position to the prisoner girl and rested his head on the flesh of his thigh.

“Keueunnnn… .”

“Ah, ugh… Uh, what should I do… .”

No matter how thick the clothes are, a woman’s thighs are an inevitably sensitive area. Maria trembled.

However, when she saw the boy with his head buried on her thigh and breathing lightly with a relaxed face, Maria’s trembling gradually eased.

An inexplicable feeling of familiarity settled into the girl’s heart. The girl looked down at the boy who was resting his face on her thigh.

‘I feel at ease… Just like it was originally… .’

It was the student’s duty to wake him up immediately and have him continue listening to the dean’s sermon. However, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to maintain his sanity.

The girl gently raised her hand and slightly moved the position of the boy’s head. It was a small consideration to prevent the boy from having a sore throat when he woke up.

‘Something… It’s like I’ve finally met someone I miss so much… .’

Sharak-.

Maria lifted her pale, delicate hand and placed it on the boy’s forehead. Then, I slowly straightened my hair, which was blowing in the outdoor breeze. Thin fingertips brushed against the boy’s skin.

The wind blew for a long time.