Academy (17)
I sat bolt upright in bed.
“Sister Mary?! Are you awake!”
Sister Mary had come to. She even moved her lips, and her eyes were no longer vacant—they fixed straight on me.
“Saintess…?”
“Yes, it’s me. Are you with us? Do you know who you are?”
“Yes.”
Thank goodness….
“How long has it been?”
She was trying to grasp the situation first.
“Four days.”
I gave her a rough rundown—how I had taken down the Death Knight after she collapsed, then gathered her up and rested nearby for a day.
“I see….”
“I couldn’t just wait for you to wake up on the roadside, so we came back to the city.”
“You did well.”
I clasped Sister Mary’s hand tightly.
“I was really worried about you….”
“I’m sorry.”
I held on to her and explained everything else—how we had collected the reward, and that we now needed to decide what to do next.
Just then a thunderous rumble rose from Sister Mary’s stomach.
Grrroowl.
“I… I’m so sorry.”
Sister Mary’s face flushed faintly with embarrassment.
“N-no, I’m the one who should apologize! You haven’t eaten in four days—of course you’re starving!”
“I-it’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t. I’ll bring something right away.”
I sprang up, grabbed my coin purse, and left the room.
“Just wait quietly!”
“J-Julian!”
I thought I heard Sister Mary calling after me. I had to get food to her fast!
“Heavy food right after waking would be bad, so soup’s the way to go, right?”
Down on the first floor I ordered two bowls of soup from the clerk.
It was early morning, so they said they had only just started boiling it and I would have to wait a little.
“Please hurry.”
Rushing them wouldn’t make the food cook faster. Still, my heart was racing.
I stamped my feet waiting for the soup to appear.
“Here you are.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Carrying the thin soup of unknown ingredients, I climbed the stairs. I carefully nudged the door open with my foot and stepped inside.
“I brought breakfast.”
Sister Mary had gotten out of bed and was sitting in a chair. Emma, meanwhile, was still fast asleep, completely oblivious.
Ugh, it’s morning and she has no intention of getting up.
“Here, eat up.”
I set the warm soup down in front of Sister Mary.
“Thank you.”
I examined her carefully. This was someone who had been unconscious for four whole days.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Someone who slept for four days does not get to say they’re perfectly fine!
“That’s not something a person who just slept four days should be saying….”
I shot her a mild glare, but Sister Mary was too busy eating her soup. She must have been ravenous; she polished off both bowls in no time.
“Whew, I feel a little more alive now.”
“I’m glad.”
I still needed breakfast myself, but I could eat later.
“So why did you collapse?”
I asked her straight out.
“That… I drained my Holy Power down to the very last drop.”
She had even burned through her life force, so her body had shut down to recover.
“That’s incredibly dangerous.”
I had done something similar once myself and gotten a thorough scolding from the Master for it.
“Yes. I decided that was what it would take to break the situation.”
“There were plenty of other ways to help.”
I pressed her almost like an interrogation. It was true she had saved us, but she hadn’t needed a large-scale Holy Magic like that to aid me, the Young Master, or Emma.
“Was that so?”
Huh…? Sister Mary’s reaction isn’t what I expected.
“I suppose I made a mistake because I lack real combat experience. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“N-no, I mean, thanks to you we won without any casualties anyway.”
I was flustered watching Sister Mary bow her head in apology. I never thought she would admit it so readily….
“So what kind of Holy Magic was it that did that to you?”
Even if she had spent Holy Power for battle, the spell hadn’t lasted long.
“It’s a Holy Magic called Holy Territory.”
Sister Mary slowly explained the Holy Magic known as Holy Territory.
Holy Territory—a wide-area combat Holy Magic developed by the Church.
It was a large-scale spell that granted healing and blessings to allies while weakening enemies and worsening their wounds.
“Hmm, so how is it different from a regular blessing?”
“It stacks.”
Normally, blessings of the same type do not stack. That is why people layer different blessings for multi-directional reinforcement. Holy Territory was different.
It strengthened allies like a blessing, yet operated on a separate principle. Receiving both a blessing’s reinforcement and Holy Territory’s reinforcement made one even stronger.
“I-I see….”
“Originally it is a Holy Magic that requires ten or more priests casting together.”
Ten or more….
The more people involved, the stronger the reinforcement and healing effects became, and the wider the area grew.
“That’s an incredible Holy Magic.”
“Yes. The drain on Holy Power and mental strength is equally massive. Using it alone is basically suicide.”
At minimum, three bishop-level priests were needed to cast it properly, or so she said.
“And you used it by yourself?”
“W-well… to me it looked like the only way to break that situation….”
With her limited combat experience, our fight must have looked far too precarious. Fair enough—I had been pinned by the foot, and the Young Master had been fully occupied just blocking the Death Knight’s attacks.
“I understand….”
I had had a way out. Holy Territory had made the escape easy, but other options had definitely existed.
“My judgment was wrong, then.”
“Don’t blame yourself like that.”
Hadn’t she decided and acted for everyone’s sake?
“Next time, please trust your companions—and me—a little more.”
“Yes.”
Enough lecturing….
“You’re truly all right now?”
“Yes. I could go straight back to work. If anything, I’ve rested so much I’m getting restless.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
I was eager to head for the capital soon.
Sister Mary and I chatted about this and that until Emma finally woke, and then we all had breakfast.
After a hearty meal we waited on the first floor for the Young Master to appear.
“What’s the Young Master doing that he still hasn’t come down?”
Don’t tell me he’s avoiding me because of what happened the other day?
I’m the one who should be embarrassed, honestly.
Just then I sensed someone on the stairs.
I whipped my head around and saw the Young Master’s face.
“Young Master?”
The moment I called him, he flinched in surprise and bolted back up the stairs.
“Hey!”
Sister Mary was right here, yet instead of coming down he was running away?
“Where do you think you’re going!”
I shouted and started after him.
I took the stairs two at a time, trying to catch him, but he was quicker.
“W-why are you running away right now!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
I chased hard, but he was faster and was about to duck into his room.
“If you go in there, I’ll take it that you never want to see me again!”
I had no idea why I said that. It was the sort of thing someone would say if they mistakenly believed he thought of them as special.
Yet the Young Master flinched and stopped.
“I’m sorry.”
He suddenly dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.
If you’re going to apologize, don’t run in the first place! And if you were going to apologize, you shouldn’t have done it to begin with!
“Sigh.”
When I let out a long breath, the Young Master’s shoulders slumped.
“Sister Mary’s awake, so come downstairs already.”
“I-is that true?!”
Why do I have to be the one handling this? Aren’t I the victim here?
“Honestly, Young Master, you really need to be careful with alcohol.”
He made a low sound and avoided my eyes.
“I’m sorry….”
“Why did you do something you had to apologize for?”
“I’m sorry.”
You’re supposed to explain why….
“Ugh, fine. Forget it.”
When we came down to the first floor, Sister Mary and Emma greeted us.
“Why did you run away?”
Sister Mary asked, and the Young Master averted his gaze.
“Ahem! Let’s talk about the schedule instead.”
Explaining the reason would mean recounting what had happened the other day. That was embarrassing for me too.
We discussed whether it was time to leave the city and head for the capital.
“As long as Miss Mary is well enough, I have no objection.”
“I’m fine. If it becomes too much we can just take it slow.”
“Then shall we leave today?”
It was still morning; preparing and setting out now wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
I was a little worried about Sister Mary, but she herself said she was fine… so it should be all right, right?
Once the discussion ended we went straight upstairs to pack and check out of the rooms.
I changed clothes, gathered our belongings….
I strapped a pouch to my waist and tucked two Frams inside.
“Sister Mary.”
“Yes?”
“Here.”
I handed her one Fram.
“This is….”
“It worked well when we used it last time. Keep it for emergencies.”
I showed her the two remaining in my pouch.
“You should have one too, Sister Mary.”
Then I gave her a quick rundown of how to use it: channel Holy Power into it, the red sigil would start moving, and when it hit the critical point and glowed, throw it immediately.
“Understood.”
When everything was ready we carried our luggage downstairs, settled the inn bill….
“Well then, let’s be off.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
I was still a tiny bit worried about Sister Mary, but it would be fine.
Before leaving the city we stopped at a provisioner’s and bought some food—long-lasting black bread, jerky, dried mushrooms, and the like.
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Better too much than too little.”
I remembered the last time we had assumed the trip would be short and hadn’t packed enough rations.
We hadn’t been completely without food, but it had still been a close call.
“That’s true enough.”
Buying a lot didn’t mean we couldn’t eat it, and nothing would go to waste. Think of it as stocking up early.
Once we had the food we moved quickly, passed through the city gate, and were on the road before the sun reached its zenith.
“Destination: the capital!”
“Yes—destination: the royal capital, Barga.”
“Let’s go!”
Now we were truly heading for the capital!