Closing Ceremony
Closing Ceremony
Early morning.
"Baaah..."
Seo-yul stretched both arms out toward me.
I lifted her into my arms with a now-familiar motion. She wriggled with equal familiarity, burrowing into my embrace.
My expression turned odd as I carefully gauged the sensation in my arms.
The weight settling onto my forearm was heavier than before.
The body nestling into my arms was bigger than before, too.
Her limbs had grown noticeably longer, and she was taller. She'd grown all over.
I didn't even need the Authority of Observation. The difference was obvious to the naked eye.
And that wasn't all.
After patting her back a few times, I carefully lowered Seo-yul to the floor.
Then.
"Oooh..."
Seo-yul... stood up on two legs. Her pure-white hair, long enough to brush the small of her back, settled softly around her.
The soles of her feet planted against the ground, her legs straightening. They trembled faintly, but she was standing on her own two feet.
This was a baby who'd been crawling just days ago.
[Wow.]
[Our Seo-yul stood up?]
"Yes! I, stood up!"
[That's amazing!]
I gave her a bright smile, stroked her head in praise—
'Sh-She's growing so fast...'
—while hiding my bewilderment inside.
Children grow quickly. Babies especially show visible growth after even a short time.
Seo-yul is a fairy. I'd known fairies grow faster than humans.
Experiencing it firsthand was disconcerting in more ways than one.
The Blank Period was barely two weeks long.
In that span, a baby who had been crawling stood upright on her own legs.
A downright terrifying growth rate.
I was aghast, but outwardly I simply kept praising Seo-yul for standing up.
'What am I supposed to do about this...'
A sense of helplessness crept in.
Seo-yul was growing at an incredible pace.
Her body was growing.
Which meant, naturally, that the mind to move that body was growing too.
I had studied childcare, however superficially. Ever since Seo-yul was born, I'd been devouring parenting knowledge without even sleeping.
My knowledge was still pathetically shallow, but...
I understood that an infant's emotions, experiences, and bond with their guardian during the first few years were vitally important to their emotional development.
Especially for Seo-yul, who was a different species and growing so fast.
It was only natural that I should stay by her side, care for her devotedly, and teach her all sorts of things during this crucial period...
"Ha-yul, are you all ready? It's about time to head out."
[I'm all ready.]
—But this worthless, trash guardian had plans to be absent for the next month or so.
Ellia, who had just opened the door to the empty room and stepped out, was wearing ceremonial robes, not casual clothes or her cadet uniform.
The attire was more ornate in various ways, slightly different from the clean, neat cadet uniform.
...Though the highly pronounced curves of her body somewhat diluted the impression of elegant ornamentation...
The ceremonial robes had been issued along with the cadet uniform, to be worn only on days with special events.
I was dressed identically.
I swallowed the sigh rising unbidden inside me and stood up.
Seo-yul's quietly beaming expression instantly clouded into a pout.
Her chubby, puffed-out cheeks broadcast her displeasure openly.
"...You're, mean."
And when moisture glistened in her white eyes, so unlike her usual self, my heart plummeted.
It felt like my heart was being torn to shreds. A far, far more devastating sensation than having Aerus's claws gouge out chunks of my flesh.
[I'm sorry...]
Before I knew it, I was on my knees, pulling the deeply hurt Seo-yul into an embrace.
Today was the day the Blank Period ended.
The day of the end-of-term ceremony marking the close of the first semester.
.
.
.
"...Before we proceed, I would like to offer a word of commendation to the cadets who have honed their bodies and minds this past semester in the pursuit of becoming heroes."
The end-of-term ceremony was held in the enormous auditorium.
The presiding officer was the Vice Headmaster, the same as at the Freshman Welcome Party.
She stood atop the dais, delivering her address with the same impassive expression as always.
The Vice Headmaster's voice, amplified by a magical device, resonated into every corner of the auditorium.
The difference from the Freshman Welcome Party was that this gathering included not only the first years but all the other cohorts as well.
Each year sat in designated sections.
In other sections sat the faculty and related personnel. Among them were Professor Liana and my master.
The first-year class numbered around six hundred. The second, third, and fourth-year cohorts were smaller—partly because some upperclassmen were away from Siyoram on off-campus activities.
Still, even smaller than the first year, each year still contained hundreds.
The auditorium was vast enough to accommodate such a crowd with room to spare, but the overall impression of being surrounded by a bustling throng was undeniable.
With a slightly novel feeling, I deployed the Authority of Observation to scan the faces of the cadets gathered in the hall.
There were cadets from my own Ipchun Class whom I ran into every school day, and prominent figures from the story I had yet to build much of a rapport with.
There were also key figures I hadn't even met yet because they were in different years.
Among the crowd, two in particular drew my attention.
'Katsuki Yusei.'
A male cadet distinguished by his sharp impression and hair and eyes the color of muted moonlight—a standout talent even within the Three-Form Sword.
Our only real contact had been back at the Freshman Welcome Party, when Hong Yeon-hwa had slugged him, he'd crashed into me and knocked me out, and then offered a formal apology. Since then, almost nothing.
At most, we exchanged greetings in the mornings.
'The Three-Form Sword faction... the internal incident breaks out during the first-semester break, right.'
The Three-Form Sword was a martial sect representing the Japan region. Every first-semester break, the same incident occurred there.
If you got involved skillfully, you could earn goodwill from the Three-Form Sword and its affiliated forces.
Right now, I didn't have the leisure for that.
I briefly considered giving Katsuki Yusei a heads-up, then immediately tossed the idea in the trash.
Even if my status carried some weight, I didn't think I'd be trusted if I started talking about an incident that hadn't even occurred yet.
And although it was an accident, casualties were minimal. Even in iterations where the player didn't intervene, things resolved themselves fine. It would be all right.
And... the other person was Lee Ji-yeon.
Unfailingly neat brown hair tied back, and pale yellow-green eyes.
Her face outwardly looked blank, but there was a subtle hint of boredom seeping through.
I refined my observation and examined her closely.
The mana she carried within her. Its nature was so distinctive that it drew my interest regardless of my attention.
Just as Calamity Flame held Fire Energy and Azure Sea held Water Energy and Cold Energy, the mana of Lee Ji-yeon, the Manifestor of Taesan, bore Earth Energy.
Her Unique Ability, 'Taesan,' was observable, but since it wasn't actively being deployed, I couldn't collect proper information.
That was quite a shame.
Taesan's earth dominance, and the manipulation of Vitality Energy and necromancy that stemmed from it—securing her would clearly be a major boost in fighting strength.
'I'll probably only get to meet her properly once second semester starts.'
If things went according to plan, that was when our paths would cross.
"...Next, we will proceed with the award ceremony for cadets who have demonstrated outstanding achievements. Cadets whose names are called, please come up to the stage."
The ceremony was already nearing its end.
After the brief formal address came the procedure of calling up cadets with top grades—among others—to the dais to receive praise and certificates.
The order began with the first years.
Around ten cadets per year were selected to ascend the stage.
"Baek A-rin. The aforementioned cadet, as the Siyoram 121st Cohort's Top Seat at admission, first place in the first-semester midterm written exam, second place in practical, first place overall, runner-up in the first-semester tournament, and through numerous other outstanding achievements, has proven the qualities of a hero destined to lead the future. These accomplishments are hereby honored."
"I will continue to devote myself."
Unsurprisingly, Baek A-rin, the cohort's Top Seat, ascended as well.
The format involved the Vice Headmaster reading the achievement certificate, announcing the cadet's feats, then tapping the cadet lightly on the shoulders with an antique-looking magic staff.
It looked roughly like a simplified version of a knight's dubbing ceremony.
"Hong Yeon-hwa. The aforementioned cadet, as the Siyoram 121st Cohort's second seat at admission, eleventh place in the first-semester midterm written exam, first place in practical, second place overall, winner of the first-semester tournament, and through numerous other outstanding achievements, has proven the qualities of a hero destined to lead the future. These accomplishments are hereby honored."
"I will devote myself."
From the first years, the cohort's Top Seat and second seat, Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin.
"Katsuki Yusei. The aforementioned cadet..."
"Lee Hyeon. The aforementioned cadet..."
And other key figures I hadn't yet grown close to were also award recipients.
And then.
"Lee Ha-yul."
I, too, went up to the stage.
Eyes swarmed onto me in droves. I'd felt plenty of stares even standing among the first years, but the intensity was now markedly stronger.
I climbed to the stage and stood before the Vice Headmaster.
The Vice Headmaster's violet eyes rested on me in silence.
The ceremony continued as her momentarily closed lips parted.
"The aforementioned cadet, admitted as the Siyoram 121st Cohort's Special Admission Cadet, ninth place in the first-semester midterm written exam, third place in practical, seventh place overall, advancing to the Round of 16 in the first-semester tournament, and in addition— "
The words leaving the Vice Headmaster's mouth stirred a complicated tangle of feelings.
From the perspective of someone who'd crash-landed in this world and had to learn everything from scratch, I felt satisfaction with my current results.
From the perspective of someone who would one day face the monsters that would trample the world, I felt dissatisfaction.
'...The latter is probably the healthier emotion.'
Rather than being content and settling for this, dissatisfaction and striving further would be the better sentiment to hold.
As the Vice Headmaster's recitation drew to a close, I readied myself to control the Confession Necklace.
I would just deliver the same line as those before me—that I would continue to devote myself.
"—has demonstrated outstanding achievements, and thereby proven the qualities of a hero destined to lead the future. These accomplishments are hereby honored."
Tap— The staff touched my right shoulder.
The Vice Headmaster's speech ended.
Now I would receive the certificate...
"Furthermore."
'?'
The Vice Headmaster's words continued, not stopping there.
"The aforementioned Hero."
Cadet to Hero.
The form of address had changed.
"Did offer their very body for the innocent and powerless amidst a Catastrophe encountered in a far-distant foreign land."
Tap— The staff touched my left shoulder. The empty sleeve stirred a reminder of absence.
"This is a hero's deed that all will affirm, a legendary trajectory that a hero shall sketch, beyond a shadow of doubt."
The staff lifted from my shoulder. The Vice Headmaster grasped it in both hands.
"...Therefore, does Venus Litera, Acting Headmaster and Vice Headmaster of Siyoram, take this occasion to bless the hero's great achievement."
With those final words, the Vice Headmaster inclined her head slightly toward me.
Silence spread through the auditorium.
Then.
—Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
As if on cue, everyone seated began rising from their seats one by one and applauding.
A tremendous, countless wave of applause, like a thunderclap, filled my ears.
The click of camera shutters pressed in among the noise.
[Uh... wha...]
My mouth fell open at the utterly unimagined scene.
* * *
[The Tower Master of Harmonization nods proudly.]
...
[The Tower Master of Harmonization discreetly manifests the Authority "Harmonization."]
[Uses Points.]
[The Tower Master of Harmonization is modifying the system...]
[......]
[......]
[...Failure.]
[The Tower Master of Harmonization tears at her hair.]
[#$%&Gah!]
[*Damn it!]
[Uses Points.]