Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Apprentice Priest Leo (1)
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After Helena's bombshell declaration, Ophelia Hall must have been thrown into utter chaos—no need to spell that out for anyone to know.
"H-He-H-He... Helena! What in the world are you talking about?!"
Elise's face turned beet red as she flailed her hands wildly.
Holy power followed in the wake of her frantic gestures. Her composure had shattered.
Crash! All sorts of furniture flew through the air, and the head maid came rushing in barefoot after sensing the commotion—but again, no need to belabor the point.
"...My lady, I can help you. Just trust me."
Only after everything had settled down and Helena earnestly promised, with a serious expression, to help connect her with Priest Leo did Elise regain her calm.
Well, calling it "regaining her calm" might be a stretch.
Her ears were still bright red, and the pursed lips and trembling mouth—curved into a w-shape—betrayed the embarrassment unique to a girl whose feelings had been exposed.
"S-So... Helena... how in the world did you know?"
Elise rubbed her face repeatedly, as if ashamed, while Helena puffed out her nonexistent chest.
"It's obvious at a glance. When a girl's in lo—"
"Say that word 'love' one more time, and you're done for."
"...It's plain as day that the man you've given your heart to is that priest. How long do you think I've known you, my lady?"
"...Ugh."
Elise pulled the hood of her clerical robe down over her face and let out a small groan.
The sight was so reminiscent of the old Elise that Helena couldn't help but smile unwittingly.
'She must have been so lonely, after all.'
Helena was a maid of Ophelia Hall, but she'd known Elise even before she enrolled at the academy.
More precisely, she'd been attending Elise ever since House de Lua designated her as a saintess candidate and moved her residence to the grand cathedral.
In a way, that made her something like a childhood friend.
Elise seemed to think she could let her guard down around Helena, so she let out a small sigh and confessed.
"...You're right, Helena."
Helena gave her a warm smile in response.
"Just leave it to me."
Of course, plenty of women were circling Priest Leo.
The mad dog of the Knight Faculty, the stalker from the Magic Faculty, and so on.
But they could all be dismissed as flawed rejects.
None could compare to Elise, the saintess candidate who wielded overwhelming authority even in the academy.
At the very least, her position in this race was overwhelmingly advantageous, no matter what happened.
"By the way, Helena."
"Yes?"
"Have you... ever been in love?"
At Elise's question, Helena blinked blankly.
"...No?"
As if she would have.
She'd been trained as a maid of Ophelia Hall since childhood.
"..."
Elise's eyes narrowed at Helena's nonchalant reply, but Helena stood her ground. Experience wasn't the point.
What mattered right now was...
"A cool-headed assessment of the situation and 'strategy'."
"St-Strategy...!"
Elise straightened up at the promising word.
Helena explained what Priest Leo had done that day, and Elise scowled as she listened.
"That mongrel finally..."
"Exactly. That mongrel's on the verge of snatching him first. So we need to make our move even faster."
"...But how? I already visit the confessional twice a week just to chat with him..."
"We take it to the next level."
It was time to advance things.
Just endlessly chatting like now would likely lead to them running parallel forever.
Truth be told, Helena had no idea how to actually advance things. Her knowledge of romance came solely from novels. But one thing was certain...
"Give and take. If you give something, you get something in return."
"Ah! Like that earring!"
"...Um."
That earring... was utterly hideous.
But she couldn't badmouth it in front of her lady, so she just gave an awkward smile.
Elise's golden eyes sparkled as she asked,
"All right, Helena. So what exactly should we do?"
"First, we figure out what that man needs most."
Helena pondered deeply.
During the outing that afternoon, Priest Leo had said he didn't need money.
'Honor... probably not that either.'
Rumor had it he'd turned down a position as a Magic Faculty advising professor.
A human who rejected money and honor—things everyone craved.
Tricky.
So then...
"I'll tail him and find out what the priest really wants. Then you reveal that you can provide it better than anyone. He'll fall right into your lap."
"...I see."
Elise nodded along to Helena's persuasive words.
"Then, Helena, what's our operation name?"
"...Pardon?"
"Don't we need an operation name...?"
For some reason, Elise had latched onto the word "operation."
It wasn't anything grandiose enough to call an operation, but...
"Hm."
Helena had no intention of trampling on her lady's pure heart.
After a moment's thought, she spoke.
"How about Leviathan?"
"Oh, that monster from the scriptures? Not bad."
Operation Leviathan.
Begin.
In exchange for providing Sophia's meals, our deal for her to keep me company started the very next day.
Sure enough, she came straight to me.
"*Nom nom*"
"No need to eat so hurriedly."
"It'th delithouth!"
Of course it was.
Compared to digging through cold leftovers, this was heavenly.
Sophia's cheeks puffed out like a hamster stuffing its face with sunflower seeds. I desperately wanted to poke them with a finger but exercised supreme self-control and held back.
"...There's plenty more, so eat comfortably."
Judging by her enthusiasm for inhaling the stew, Sophia would probably show up at the chapel for every meal from now on.
That meant I'd have to consider nutritional balance when preparing meals.
It was ironic that I, possessed into this game world, was now playing cafeteria nutritionist against my will...
"Thank you!"
Seeing Sophia's improved complexion after a hearty meal made me smile involuntarily.
'...Well, it's partly my fault she's been rummaging through scraps.'
From what she'd told me, Sophia could originally use the dorms and student cafeterias for free.
But after losing his daughter at the last full moon festival, Count Kreuz of House Kreuz flew into a rage and petitioned the academy, resulting in all Knight Faculty privileges being revoked.
At least she still had her tiny dorm room—that was a relief.
I couldn't deny responsibility for the young lady of House Kreuz's death, so the fallout was shit I had to clean up.
"By the way, how's the atmosphere in the Knight Faculty?"
"Normal. Now that my right arm's back in shape, no one's messing with me. I might even take top spot this year, and they say that could mean a scholarship!"
Sophia wagged her tail expectantly, craving praise.
Not her tail, mind you—the scabbard of her Ink Sword.
I stroked her head while reviewing the situation ahead.
'Act 3... This is where the academy starts going to hell...'
Throne of the Academy was a game structured in six acts.
Act 3 served as the turning point of the story.
While the Predator summoning in Act 2 was confined to the Magic Faculty, Act 3 escalated to shake the entire academy—and even the kingdom.
In the original plot, First Princess Ciris Leisander's visit happened after Act 3 ended and Act 4 began.
'Archbishop Balua. That guy's the biggest threat.'
The mastermind of Act 3 wasn't some shadowy evil organization but Archbishop Balua.
The archbishop overseeing the Erebos Academy cathedral district plotted to summon a divine manifestation using saintess candidate Elise Aurora de Lua as a sacrifice.
In another sense, it was Elise's awakening episode.
However...
'Looking at Elise now... it's not going to follow the original.'
Like Sophia, Elise's personality had changed somewhat due to my interference.
No guarantee the faculty exchange matches fiasco wouldn't repeat.
'Tricky.'
Either way.
Even in Act 2, I nearly died to the chimera intrusion. Without Elise, I'd have lost an arm for sure.
Act 3 wouldn't be much different.
No—probably more dangerous than Act 2.
Before full-blown Act 3 kicked off, I needed to at least safeguard my own body.
I felt the need to get stronger, somewhat.
So then...
"Um... Sophia."
"Yes!"
The alley cat Sophia, reveling in her grooming, looked up.
I hesitated, then pointed at her Ink Sword and asked,
"Is swordsmanship... hard?"
"No! Not hard at all! You just swing it!"
"...Hm."
Learning swordsmanship from Sophia might let me handle a chimera or two.
I entertained the hope but quickly gave it up.
She was the one who'd roundhouse-kicked Great Witch Isolde's temple into oblivion. Learning from Sophia would leave me in pieces.
"...Never mind."
"Huh?"
"Ah, take all this too? I have a small appetite and can't finish it."
"Yay!"
I packed extra bread in case Sophia got hungry again, and she wagged her tail furiously, eyes misty with emotion.
After sending her off, I let out a sigh.
"Nothing's going right."
This talentless body was truly pitiful.
I'd come to a fantasy world and wanted to at least cast one proper spell.
'Maybe I should learn real magic for once.'
But magic supposedly depended heavily on bloodline. No wonder pure-bloodism ran rampant in the Magic Faculty.
Holy magic... I'd asked Uncle Lowen, and he said you needed to reach high priest rank to learn it properly.
Above all, the orphanage director priest had said I had no talent for it.
I raised my hand and tried gathering holy power or whatever. It was the only holy spell the director had taught me back at the relief orphanage. If I couldn't even manage this, I should give up cleanly, he'd said.
But...
"Nope. Nothing."
Not even a wisp of haze rose, so I gave up neatly.
"A priest who can't use holy magic... what a joke."
I was a quack priest, so no helping it, but it still stung.
I was sweeping dust piled in a corner of the chapel with a broom when—
Clack, clack.
Lately, I'd gotten good at distinguishing people by their footsteps.
Sophia: quick steps. Thud thud.
Otilie: shuffling shoes. Swish swish.
And this heel click, clack clack...
"Hello, Father. Hard at work again today, I see."
Saintess candidate Elise stood before me, her face slightly flushed for some reason.
I set the broom against the wall, forcing the kindest smile I could muster.
"What brings you here, Sister?"
Probably confession again today.
More precisely, chatting under the guise of confession.
But contrary to my expectation, Elise hesitated, cleared her throat, and approached me. Then she suddenly grabbed my hand.
"...Sister?"
I furrowed my brow, but Elise ignored it, caressing my hand with both of hers before widening her eyes.
"*Sniff* ...S-See? My guess was right."
"Guess?"
I tilted my head, and Elise cleared her throat again before continuing.
"You were just using holy power, weren't you?"
"...Holy power?"
Well, I'd tried gathering it or whatever.
Nothing happened, though.
But Elise seemed to see something different. She gently stroked my palm and said,
"Exactly! You have excellent talent, Father."
"...Talent? Me?"
No way.
As I frowned, Elise flashed a suspiciously creepy smile.
"Sh-Sh-Should I... teach you? Holy magic?"
"..."
"With your outst-standing talent, you can definitely master it!"
"Uh... um..."
I was flustered by her sudden appearance at this perfect timing and her offer to teach me holy magic.
'...But it doesn't sound bad?'
At worst, saintess candidate Elise was surely better than the orphanage director priest—probably.
If she said I had talent, it must be true.
A strange hope sprouted.
"Well... please do...?"
"Yes! Me too!"
At my response, Elise beamed as if she'd been waiting for it.