Practical Exam (2)
I arrived at the Temple in the late afternoon, just as the sun was beginning to sink.
It might have seemed a little odd to visit the Temple so late in the day, but since no one could predict when an injured patient might show up, its doors stayed open twenty-four hours a day.
Thanks to that, I was able to go inside without any trouble.
“Oh? Aren’t you the one who left here this morning?”
I ran into the priestess who had examined me before I went to take the recommendation entrance exam.
“Hello.”
“Your wounds should be healed by now. What brings you back?”
At her question, I got straight to the point.
“I came to meet the priests and priestesses who attend the Academy. If it’s all right with you, could you show me around?”
“Hmm. I don’t mind, but I’m very busy right now. I don’t think I’ll be able to guide you myself.”
She must have really been swamped, because the priestess turned as if she were about to leave without even looking back.
I could have stopped someone else and asked for directions, sure, but it felt better to be shown around by someone I at least knew.
“I’ll help you.”
At my words, the priestess who had been about to leave stopped in her tracks.
Then she turned back with a smile.
“Oh? Really?”
“Yes. I’ve got time to spare anyway, so I’ll help you first and then have you guide me afterward, ma’am.”
“You could always just ask someone else to show you around, but... well, since you’re offering, I’m glad. Come with me.”
So I followed the priestess and helped out with errands.
Most of it involved caring for patients.
“This one’s bleeding badly. I’ll prepare healing magic, so when I give the signal, please remove the bandage.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Following the priestess’s instructions, I moved to the patient’s side and got ready to remove the bandage.
“Now.”
At her signal, I peeled the bandage away.
Spurt!
As soon as the bandage came off, blood poured from the wound.
If we left it like that, it wouldn’t have been strange if the patient went into shock from blood loss and died on the spot.
Then the priestess quietly spoke.
“May the hand of the god who shaped all things descend upon this place.”
A warm light gathered in her hand.
Divine Power.
She brought her hand, full of Divine Power, to the bleeding wound.
And the blood stopped.
Not only that, but the torn flesh knitted itself closed without leaving even a scar behind.
“Whew. Luckily, the wound wasn’t that large, so that was over quickly.”
The priestess wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, “This was the last patient I was supposed to see today. Normally, I’d still have a long line left to handle, so thanks to you I got done early. Thank you.”
“It was nothing.”
I shrugged as if it were no big deal, and the priestess continued with a pleased smile.
“Oh, right. You said you wanted to meet the priests and priestesses attending the Academy, yes?”
“Yes.”
“It’s getting late, so I’ll take you there quickly. Come along.”
The place she led me to was the chapel.
“The priests and priestesses attending the Academy all gather here after class to pray to God. Their prayers should be ending soon, so please wait just a little.”
It wasn’t long before the priests and priestesses who had finished praying began standing up one by one.
Then, as they were leaving the chapel, one of them came over this way.
More precisely, he headed toward the priestess standing beside me.
“Sister! What are you doing here? At this hour, shouldn’t you be taking care of patients?”
“There was someone here helping me today, so I finished early.”
At the priestess’s words, the boy who looked about my age turned his gaze toward me.
Then he bowed politely.
“Thank you for helping my sister.”
I hadn’t really done much, so his gratitude made me feel weirdly embarrassed.
I waved a hand dismissively and said, “I didn’t really do much. Your sister handled most of it.”
“Not at all. Normally, my sister wouldn’t come to the chapel at this hour. You must have helped her a great deal.”
“Haha...”
While I was smiling awkwardly, the priestess opened her mouth.
“This is my younger brother, Lian. He’s a priest attending the Academy.”
She looked between Lian and me and smiled.
“I’ll step aside, so you two can talk comfortably. Oh, and thank you again for helping today.”
***
After Lian’s sister left, an awkward silence hung between us for a moment.
I was the one who spoke first.
“Is it all right if I call you Lian?”
“You may call me whatever is comfortable for you.”
“All right. I’m Kael.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kael.”
That seemed like enough introductions, so I got straight to the point.
“Lian, you’re taking part in this practical exam too, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Any Academy student has to participate in the practical exam.”
“Good. I was just looking for someone to take the test with. Would you like to be on the same team as me?”
“On the same team?”
“Yeah.”
Lian fell into thought for a moment.
Then, with an apologetic expression, he answered, “I’m truly grateful that you helped my sister.”
He lowered his head slightly.
“But the practical exam is important, and it counts toward our grades. I’m sorry, but it’s difficult to form a team so easily with someone I’ve only just met.”
What he said made sense.
It wasn’t easy to get good results when you teamed up with a complete stranger.
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand how he felt.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was about to back down obediently, either.
“What if I told you that if you came with me, you could place first on the exam?”
“...Pardon?”
While Lian still wore a dazed expression, I drew my sword from its sheath.
Shing!
Then I drew up my mana and wrapped the blade in aura sword.
Woooong!
My aura was nothing like it had been before; it didn’t tremble wildly, nor was it hazy.
That was because, after my duel with Hate, the quality of my aura had risen by another level.
“A-aura?!”
Lian’s eyes shook wide.
He looked back and forth between the sword and my face in disbelief.
There weren’t many Academy students who could use aura in the first place.
And among them, students who could control aura with this level of refinement could probably be counted on one hand.
It was only natural that Lian was shocked.
I looked at him and asked, “So? What’ll it be?”
That should be enough proof of my skill.
The choice was Lian’s.
If he didn’t want to team up with me, that was unfortunate, but there were still plenty of priests and priestesses left in the Temple.
In other words, it didn’t have to be Lian.
But it seemed Lian had already made up his mind after seeing my aura.
“I-I’ll do it. I’ll team up with you.”
Good.
That completed the team for the practical exam.
***
While Kael was forming a team with Lian, Ileyna, the Academy principal, was busy preparing for the practical exam.
“So this practical exam is going to be held in the Public Cemetery?”
“Yes. Since there are so many students participating, it isn’t easy to prepare monsters in the necessary numbers.”
Ileyna’s secretary adjusted his glasses and went on.
“That’s why we decided on the Public Cemetery as the test site. With a little necromancy there, we can create large numbers of undead monsters.”
“Uh... won’t that put the students in danger?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. When we sent the exam plan to the Temple, they said it was a good opportunity and that they’d cooperate wholeheartedly. If the students are ever in danger, the Temple will intervene immediately.”
Undead-type monsters were vulnerable to Divine Power.
If priests and priestesses were dispatched from the Temple, then unless a high-ranking undead like a death knight appeared, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
“More importantly, why have you been acting like that ever since earlier?”
“Huh? Acting like what?”
“You look like someone who just got punched in the face by some nobody you’ve never heard of. What happened today?”
“W-what do you mean, ‘what happened’! I’m totally fine!”
“...So you weren’t punched. I guess you got thoroughly beaten up.”
“Ugh...”
Ileyna didn’t bother denying it.
It wasn’t like she had actually been physically struck, but mentally, she’d taken a serious blow.
“So something did happen, after all.”
Under the secretary’s relentless questioning, Ileyna finally surrendered.
“Fine. Something happened. Happy now?”
“For the principal to be this rattled, I’m very curious. Would you tell me about it?”
“No. I’m not telling you.”
“How unfortunate... I’m so sad I don’t feel like working anymore. You’ll have to deal with the remaining paperwork on your own.”
“A-all right! I’ll tell you, so just tell you I will!”
After that, Ileyna spilled everything about the recommendation entrance exam that had taken place during the day.
“So this student named Kael dodged every one of the principal’s attacks?”
“Yeah.”
“And the final attack was one you threw with full seriousness.”
“...”
Ileyna didn’t answer.
The fact that, as a great mage, she had failed to land even a single spell properly on a mere student was humiliating enough that she couldn’t bring herself to speak.
“That’s impressive. I’m interested now.”
At the secretary’s words, Ileyna scowled.
Every time he became interested in something, trouble always followed.
“Don’t go doing anything weird.”
“I won’t.”
“...”
Ileyna prayed that nothing at all would happen as she worked her way through the mountain of paperwork.
---