Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Upon the Vast Plains ☆ (1)
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The southern part of the Academy City.
A plain stretched out, vast fields extending beyond the horizon. There, various cultivation facilities and agricultural vehicles were busily at work.
The students of Holy Alfheim High School’s agriculture department were also bustling about under the scorching midsummer sun.
It was a heat that would have students of other races panting in exhaustion after just an hour, yet the faces of the elf students remained composed under the blazing sun.
Thanks to their innate ability to quickly adapt to natural environments, they were able to harvest crops appropriate for the season all year round.
The main crop they were currently harvesting was corn.
Normally, cultivating corn on such a large scale would have been difficult as it severely depletes the soil, but the blessing of the World Tree made it possible.
An ever-abundant harvest.
The blessing of the World Tree, which had protected humanity for over a thousand years, was generous in providing daily bread to the apostles living near its great light.
*…Even so, this is a bit much.*
A senior elf student, wearing a straw hat that shielded her face, spoke to a junior who was moving sacks of corn beside her.
“How much corn did they say came from D-21?”
“Looking at the records, about twice as much as last year… no, almost three times.”
“This year is strange… no matter what we plant, we get more than last year…”
At least double… some crops were yielding more than ten times the average.
The potatoes that had filled every one of the school’s warehouses to capacity until just recently were a prime example.
*We ran out of storage space and just had to pile them up on the plains. Now we have to do the same with the corn?*
As the senior student recalled that memory, her head began to throb.
Thanks to schools like Scarlet Academy, who love freebies, taking large quantities of the potatoes, the situation had barely returned to a manageable level. Now, she had a feeling the corn was going to be a headache.
“…”
A good harvest certainly wasn't a bad thing. There were plenty of schools that loved free stuff, so if they announced they were giving it away, they would come and take it themselves.
*But something feels off.*
This string of unusual bumper crops didn't feel entirely like good news. Because all this energy originated from the World Tree.
“…”
The changes in the World Tree don't always move in a positive direction. And their effects were directly linked to the situation in Academy City Yggd, the place closest to the World Tree.
*The chaos in the Academy City during the first semester, and now this… It feels like something… something more is going to happen this year…*
Troubles were abundant in Academy City Yggd, and although the United Student Council was supposedly moving to resolve this year's issues…
Something was strange.
She had an unsettling premonition.
*And the fact that the Sword Spirit, who always remains quietly in seclusion, gave a rare revelation to the theology kids…*
The senior elf student muttered with a serious expression.
“…Something is strange.”
“Is it strange? It’s a bit much, but—with the World Tree’s blessing, maybe the soil is just recovering that much faster?”
“…”
The most common and plausible conclusion.
But the senior in the straw hat still wore a serious expression after hearing it.
The second-year junior tossed a sack of corn larger than her own torso onto the vehicle and tilted her head.
“…?”
“…”
After a moment of silence, the senior placed her straw hat on the junior’s head and strode toward the edge of the cornfields that filled the horizon.
*Rustle—*
As the senior took off the straw hat, her long, tied-up blonde hair swayed and moved. And a faint green ether shimmered around her.
[The Verdant Greatbow], Anna, said as she walked.
“I need to go see Nella.”
“The head of the theology department?”
“Yes, I need to go and hear what the Sword Spirit said. There must be another reason why they suddenly brought Clara and the students from Central Prism Academy.”
Leaving the junior, who had gone back to moving sacks of corn, behind, Anna walked forward. Then, she suddenly looked back.
“…”
The scenery of her alma mater, Holy Alfheim High School—which boasted the largest campus among all the schools in Academy City Yggd—came into view.
Rice paddies and fields covering tens of kilometers beyond the horizon.
The elf students of the agriculture department passing by in comfortable attire.
And the white buildings that stretched in a straight line to the Golden Street.
Following the World Tree as a personal god,
a life of cultivating plants according to the way He lives.
a life lived according to the [Fate] He has decided.
A familiar scene.
A place she would soon have to graduate from.
*For us, graduation… what does it even mean?*
In the first place…
*Building a ‘school’ instead of a ‘temple’ in the ‘place closest to god’… what was the meaning of that?*
Anna let the countless thoughts drift through her mind and began walking again. But the sticky mud clinging to her boots made it difficult to walk.
***
The first-class cabin of the ether train, which I was riding for the first time, was incredible.
We were already about halfway there, and thanks to the plush seats, I wasn't the least bit uncomfortable. The journey to the rather distant Holy Alfheim High School, crossing various fields and plains, felt incredibly short.
And the service we received there was more luxurious than I could have imagined.
The members of the theology department from Holy Alfheim High School.
They took care of us more attentively than a flight crew.
*At first, they rushed at us like they were about to kidnap us, but then their attitude did a complete one-eighty… It was a scene I’d seen in the main story, but seeing it in person felt a little insane.*
In the original story, they moved only for the [Hero] chosen by [The Nameless Hawk], but the difference this time was that they were also taking care of the [Saintess].
*Well… I have a few guesses as to why…*
Anyway…
They had arranged for a top-of-the-line ether train to escort three students and one bird to Holy Alfheim High School.
Alvitt, Kara, Ppiyak, and I received the utmost service there.
For reference, Lotha had said she was going to Public Vana Boarding School by herself to research the knowledge she'd heard from Urðr. She was taking what Urðr had told her very seriously.
*Come to think of it, it’s a bit surprising that the smartest one of the group was also the quickest to believe me and Urðr…*
It wasn't like I was just trying to deceive her… if anything, it was more like handing her the answer key. But for her to believe it so easily was truly unexpected.
To my unspoken question, Lotha had said this.
-To deny the phenomena unfolding before your eyes is to be disqualified as a mage! What we think of as truth might just be a tiny fragment! …is what [The Golden Witch] said at the end… hehe.
-Oh? Then do you believe me when I say I’m a ‘friend of the goddess’~☆
-Yes! Of course! Because the senior I've known until now isn't someone who would deceive others for malicious reasons!
Therefore, it was her job to analyze the fragmented truths and illuminate a new path… And if that process went wrong, it was her responsibility for having believed…
Lotha had replied as such before boarding her train.
“…”
I thought of myself as pretty smart,
but hearing Lotha’s words, whom I had seen as just a kid, was a humbling experience.
*Perhaps what I thought was truth might not be truth at all…*
As I was lost in such thoughts.
A gentle voice came from beside me.
“Saintess! Say ah~!”
“Ah~☆”
“Good job!”
A piece of fluffy, high-quality corn muffin automatically entered my mouth. The savory aroma of corn spread inside my nose, and it melted away with the sweetness that came from my pooling saliva.
Before I knew it, my mouth was filled with a taste that brought to mind the smile of an elf girl harvesting corn with her ears perked. The sweet, finely crushed sugar was a bonus.
*Nom, nom—☆*
I’d tasted this sweetness many times, but this primitive bombardment of carbohydrates made the corners of my mouth go limp.
This is it.
This is life.
This unhealthy taste…!
Loaded with sugar, full of carbs…!
At this very moment.
I had let my manly soul take a brief exit and, as a young girl, was greedily craving sweetness.
*Life isn’t sweet and salty, it’s sweet and sweet…!*
On Earth, ‘sweetness’ itself was a precious resource, something not easily accessible before technological advancements.
But in this academy city, made solely for girls, various sweeteners were ‘for some reason’ very easy to come by. So, each school made and ate desserts in their own various ways.
*Among them, the desserts made by the pointy-ears… I mean, the kind elf students of Holy Alfheim High School, which has the most developed food culture, are the undisputed number one.*
The threat of various diseases and belly fat that had plagued me since I started working in my mid-twenties. Freed from all that, the taste of desserts I could eat to my heart’s content was exquisite.
Perhaps ‘eating whatever I want to my heart’s content’ was the greatest benefit of being in Clara’s body.
*The basal metabolic rate of an active teenager is nothing short of a blessing…!*
*Gulp—!*
After swallowing all the bread in my mouth, I opened my mouth like a baby bird begging for food. Then I shrugged my shoulders, conveying my intentions to the elf student beside me.
“Ah~☆ More! Give me more!”
“Yes! I’ll give you more. I’m so glad you like it!”
“Yep! It’s delicious—☆”
“Oh my…! The first-years in the theology department will be so happy to hear that!”
At that, the second-year elf student attending to me in the next seat giggled and fed me another piece of bread with a fork.
“Here you go, Saintess!”
“Nom—☆”
I accepted it, and another happy bombardment of sweetness followed in my mouth. A high-level sugar warning had been declared inside my mouth.
*Nom, nom—☆*
Just how many calories have I consumed so far?
*I might have to chase this ether train on a Red Hare to burn it all off…*
Right now, I was a thermal power plant in the shape of a girl.
Clara’s flame was still burning.
*Rooar—☆*
Someone spoke to that blazing calorie flame. It was Kara, who had been hiding next to me, burdened by the overwhelming V.I.P. treatment.
“…Say, senior comrade, you seem accustomed to such luxurious treatment? Is it because you received it often during your time as [The Pink Spiral]?”
What is she talking about?
My time as [The Pink Spiral] was the peak of my beggar career…
“Nom nom nom—☆ This is the first time I’ve been treated like this~?”
“…”
My best friend Hilde was the type to sleep in dusty pits with canned sauce smeared around her mouth. I had no memory of receiving VIP treatment at any school.
If anything, the wedding dress makeup I got recently and the treatment I received when I visited Vel’s garrison were the peaks of my rich-life career.
Kara sighed with a baffled expression.
“Then what in the world is this adaptability of yours?”
“What about it? Isn’t this pretty normal—♪”
“…If that’s normal, then this world would be engulfed in the sins of vanity and greed and burn to the ground.”
Kara shook her head and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“…?”
They offered to give me a foot massage from the front, so I just let them… They offered to feed me dessert from the side, so I just let them.
And they offered to do my nails, so I let them have my hands…
Hmm?
“…”
I lifted my head slightly to look at Ppiyak and Alvitt sitting in the back.
Alvitt was frozen stiff, quietly refusing the students’ offers, while Ppiyak was quite calmly pecking at the dessert placed in front of it with its beak.
Hmm…
I guess I have been pulling some nouveau riche moves.
…
Who cares?
I turned back to Kara and said.
“You’re supposed to accept these things when they’re offered☆ It’s rude to refuse—☆”
“Hoo… If I hadn’t known your easygoing and humble side for so long, senior comrade, I might have raised the banner of my revolution right here.”
“Hey, hey—☆ Don’t be like that, why don’t you come get a massage with me?”
“I must respectfully decline.”
“So shy—☆”
“…By the way, to think that comrade Alvitt and you, senior comrade, have also received such important [Fates]… And with comrade Lotha walking the path of [The Golden Witch], I don’t know what’s become of this school.”
Kara said with a shrug.
“[Witch], [Hero], [Saintess]… Hah, really… At this point, I’m confident I wouldn’t be surprised even if a [Standard-Bearer] suddenly appeared.”
“…”
*That’s you.*
But I didn’t spoil it for her directly.
*Honestly, in this situation, the one who seriously believes she’ll stay ordinary until the end is the more extraordinary one…*
I glanced at Kara’s profile for a moment before looking out the train window.
“…”
Endless fields and paddies.
A plain full of green plants and trees.
The land where the Holy Sword and the ‘Sword Spirit’ resided.
*Lotha may have found it first this time, but this is originally the place where the [Fate of the Three Heroes] is first discovered…*
We had arrived at Holy Alfheim High School.