Meeting the Saint Candidate at the Academy (1)
I really hadn't intended for things to go that far.
I had just learned martial arts for the very first time, and I merely wanted to make a modest statement against the Changgeom Gate for treating us like dirt. That was all.
I swear on everything, I never meant for it to end like that.
"Hey! You told me it was indestructible! Why the hell did it shatter like a cheap porcelain bowl?!"
｢I didn't think it would be that strong either!｣
In all honesty, the picture I had envisioned went something like this:
A straight punch delivered with everything I had! Followed by a neat fist imprint stamped into the diamond.
I had assumed it would stop at roughly that level.
As the diamond crumbled away like a shattered pane of glass, Jeonghye muttered in a hollow daze,
｢...That thing was insanely expensive.｣
"...How much?"
｢About five years of an academy professor's salary...?｣
From what I gathered, it was technically a consumable item, but one replaced once every few years at best. In fact, when I had examined it earlier, the surface had been covered in countless faint scuffs left behind by swords.
"W-What was that noise, Young Lady?! Good heavens, what in the world happened?!"
Darting past the old man who came sprinting toward the sound of pulverized diamond, I bolted straight outside.
Forgive me, grandfather. You seemed like you were genuinely trying to treat us well earlier, too.
｢Hang a left here!｣
Following Jeonghye's directions, I veered left, and the stables came into view.
｢Just grab any random one!｣
"I've never ridden a horse in my life?!"
｢Hurry!｣
Jeonghye practically shoved my hesitating back. Having no other choice, I hauled a horse out of its stall as instructed and scrambled straight into the saddle.
｢Tell it to run!｣
"Uh... hey, run!"
At my cue, the horse took off in a dead sprint toward the front gates. The one saving grace was that handling it proved vastly easier than I had imagined.
"Wait, it's steering itself?"
｢It's thoroughly trained. A beast like this probably costs as much as an entire house.｣
I made a deliberate effort to ignore that last part. My sense of financial scale had been spiraling out of control for the past hour anyway.
"H-Hold it right there! What do you think you're doing?!"
Ignoring the guards barking behind us, we tore down the road toward the Academy.
After what felt like several hours of riding, we finally arrived near the Academy grounds. The horse that had carried us the entire way let out a soft snort, then turned its head back toward the path we had come.
"Is it really okay to just leave it like that?"
｢It knows how to find its own way home.｣
Fair enough. If a horse was worth the price of a house, it ought to come equipped with self-driving capabilities. Mulling over that absurd thought, I slipped back into the dormitories through a small gap behind the Academy grounds.
"Haaah—!"
The second I crossed the threshold into my room, I flung myself face-first onto the bed.
｢Wash up before you sleep! You're drenched in sweat.｣
"I'll... leave that to tomorrow's me..."
Lying limp against the mattress, I closed my eyes. Far too much had happened in the span of a single day. Jeonghye's secret parentage, the insufferable pricks at the Changgeom Gate, a brand-new martial art... oh, and learning to ride a horse, too.
As I tried to sift through the day's chaos, the heaviness dragging at my eyelids became impossible to fight off.
"...Zzz."
And just like that, I drifted off. Setting aside how utterly battered my body felt, it had been a very long time since I had fallen into such a deep, untroubled slumber.
The following morning.
"Nnnnghh...!"
I stretched my limbs wide as I sat up, greeting an astonishingly refreshed body. Beyond the window, birds were chirping away in the morning light.
An instinct kicked in immediately.
"I overslept."
｢As if that's anything new.｣
Well, Jeonghye wasn't wrong. Since when had I ever cared about attendance anyway? Besides, I hadn't properly registered for classes, so there was barely anything on my schedule to begin with. Dropping by every now and then to show my face to Professor Maria was more than enough.
"Looks like another self-declared holiday."
Sliding out of bed, I headed straight for the bathroom. I did my absolute best to keep my eyes shut, avoid the mirror, and never, under any circumstances, glance downward.
｢Are you even washing properly like that?｣
Jeonghye, completely failing to understand my delicate struggle, sounded distinctly unimpressed.
"I've got it under control."
｢It's my body, so what the hell are you—｣
"Zip it."
After a great deal of awkward maneuvering, I finished washing up and stepped out the door. To be frank, I had nowhere specific to go; I was just heading out to catch some fresh air. If I wanted to train, sparring with Jeonghye inside the mindscape was infinitely more productive anyway.
As I strolled across the grounds away from the dormitory—
"Ah... Lady Saintess!"
"Please, just look this way once!"
A buzzing chorus of excited voices drifted through the air.
｢Looks like a celebrity's in town.｣
Turning toward the commotion, I spotted a massive crowd huddled together. At the center of that gathering stood several knights clad in pristine white armor—and a single young woman.
Hair shimmering with a delicate sky-blue hue, skin as pure and clear as white jade, and robes of immaculate white draped over her frame. Everything about her, down to the clothes she wore, radiated an overwhelming aura of divinity that commanded every gaze in the vicinity.
The Saintess—or more precisely, Saint Candidate Meyril—had finally arrived at the Academy.
In this world, the authority commanded by the title of Saintess pierced the heavens. Think of the Pope's standing in Vatican City back on Earth. Even there, where countless religions coexisted, the supreme leader of a single faith wielded staggering global influence.
Now consider what that meant in a world where literal deities bestowed tangible divine power out in the open. Their authority was, quite literally, monumental.
Among their ranks, the figure known as the Saintess held immense symbolic weight. Yet becoming one required undergoing a rigorous trial. Each year, three young women bearing the sacred stigmata upon the backs of their hands were selected as candidates. Over roughly three years of trials, God would personally choose which among them proved most worthy of the mantle.
For that reason, every candidate spared no effort to prove she belonged in that seat. Meyril, too, had apparently come to the Academy with some grand ambition in mind.
However, in the pages of Regression Dunce, Meyril had not been the one selected.
The candidate ultimately chosen was Olga, who had made a name for herself exterminating monsters alongside the Hero along the frontier. Of course, once the Hero turned out to be an utter loser, Olga had ended up defecting straight to Leon's retinue... though none of that mattered anymore.
Right now, Meyril occupied a pivotal role in my plan to eradicate the Azure Heaven Cult. If my strategy was to hold together, I needed to make sure she claimed the title of Saintess. And throughout that entire journey, I had to cement myself as her indispensable benefactor.
While the broader framework was already set, one immediate, glaring hurdle stood in my way.
...How the hell am I supposed to start a conversation with her?
Even if she was merely a candidate rather than the ordained Saintess, her status remained exceedingly high. Plenty of people sought her out simply for the immense prestige she carried, while others approached her as an investment for the future. You only had to look at the surrounding throng to see the reality.
Meyril offered a warm handshake and gentle eye contact to everyone who approached, but not a single soul could exchange so much as a personal word with her. With towering knights glaring daggers at anyone who took half a step too close, how was any ordinary student supposed to casually strike up a chat?
Most had to settle for a fleeting touch of hands and the privilege of hearing her voice. Walking over there myself didn't seem likely to yield a vastly different result.
｢...What are you daydreaming about? Don't tell me you're—｣
"It's definitely not what you're thinking."
Whatever conclusion Jeonghye had leaped to while watching me space out, her voice dripped with suspicion.
"Well, standing here brooding won't magically solve anything."
I racked my brain from every angle, but no brilliant idea came to mind. It would work itself out somehow. Worst-case scenario, I could always pry open an angle using future knowledge from the novel.
Since I was already outside, I headed to the dining hall to quiet my growling stomach. Once finished, I made a straight line back to the dorms. Slipping inside, I sat on the edge of the mattress and shut my eyes.
When I opened them again, the serene azure mindscape stretched out before me, with Jeonghye waiting on the other side.
｢You know we've got sparring tomorrow, right?｣
Come to think of it, she was right. The season of back-to-back sparring bouts had officially arrived.
｢Now that you've learned the Po Chang Kwon, small fry like Henry won't be a problem at all.｣
"I'd imagine so."
She wasn't exaggerating. The difference between where I stood now and two days ago felt like night and day.
｢Still... it's time to move past simply learning the forms and step into genuine mastery.｣
With those words, Jeonghye slipped into a stance I had seen so often over the past several days that it had practically burned itself into my retinas. In response, I tightened my fists and matched her posture.
"Don't take it too easy on me, or you might end up eating dirt."
I tossed out a cheeky little taunt to kick things off.
｢...Oh? Is that so?｣
Rather than letting it slide, Jeonghye broke into a wide, menacing grin.
...Shit. She definitely took that completely seriously.
"You know I was joking, right?"
｢Well, we'll see whether it was a joke once we get going. Feeling pretty full of yourself, aren't you?｣
Before the last syllable faded, Jeonghye kicked off the ground and rocketed straight toward me.
"Wait, wait! I'm sorry! Go a little easy on—!"
｢Treat every spar like a real battle! Didn't the instructor teach you that?｣
"I'm your disciple, dammit—!"
That day, I took a worse beating than in every single sparring session that had preceded it combined.
The following morning.
"Jeonghye. While your performance during the last bout was undeniably remarkable, aren't you slacking off far too much when it comes to attending lectures?"
"...I apologize."
I stood right in the center of the sparring ring, taking an earful from Zaphia. Even though the instructor had taken quite a liking to me, there was no denying that from an educator's standpoint, my record was an absolute disaster.
Standing directly across from me was Meyril, outfitted in polished, snow-white armor and gripping a viciously spiked morning star.
"Haha... You certainly seem like a colorful individual."
At Meyril's gentle, airy remark, Jeonghye grumbled irritably from within.
｢Look at that. And here you were twisting yourself into knots wondering how to talk to her.｣
...I suppose?
Gaining an opportunity to break the ice was certainly great, but for some bizarre reason, it felt like the sparring grounds had just transformed into a blind-dating venue.