140. The Stormy Transfer Student (4)
140. The Stormy Transfer Student (4)
"Karina..."
"I'm all right. It's bearable..."
Guided to her seat by the other students, Karina forced a smile and took out her textbook. At a glance, it was the sort of book with a spine thick enough to use as a pillow.
How much longer did these bastards plan to stare? They wouldn't have gawked this hard even if a celebrity had appeared. I glared at the suffocating gazes fixed on Karina, but against such fervent piety, my glare apparently carried less force than an alley cat's.
The best I could manage was keeping everyone outside a three-meter radius. Even that was something I'd barely accomplished through desperate intimidation.
There was nothing I could do about the fanatics clinging to the windows high above the ground.
Those windows were at least two stories up. What were they doing hanging from them and staring? Were these people priests or ninjas? Could someone with his face pressed grotesquely against the glass really be a theology student?
My heart filled with the desperate wish for the lecture to end.
The problem was, this wasn't the only theology lecture. Once Basic Theology ended, History of the Church of Kalon and Understanding the Church of Kalon were waiting—a three-hit combo of theology classes.
In other words, we had to endure this endless hell three times before we could escape this den of demons.
"Just look at her hair, how on earth..."
"Saintess Karina looked at me!"
"I-I could die now with no regrets..."
"Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal! That's the fourth time already! His heart stopped!"
...If Karina were to sing, it would literally become a funeral dirge.
At the very least, every student in this lecture hall would no doubt clutch their hearts and collapse. Hell, maybe just one sigh from her would do it. Guarding Karina among people like that was an utterly exhausting task.
I'd rather fight the Hydra one more time.
No, make it two.
"Ahaha..."
Karina let out a laugh that sounded half out of her mind. The mere sound was enough to make me feel her mental state crumbling, so under all those gazes like a pack of starving dogs, I couldn't bring myself to touch her shoulder and simply whispered quietly from behind.
"Karina. Steel yourself. The lecture hasn't even started yet."
Amazingly, it was still five minutes before the start of class.
We'd sat down at the very back of the lecture hall roughly five minutes ago. An eon-like five minutes had passed, and yet another eternity of five minutes remained. This was nothing short of torture disguised as break time.
Still, things would get a bit better when the Basic Theology professor arrived, right? He was something of a superior to them, so surely he'd get things under control. Clinging to a futile hope, I stared fervently at the lecture hall entrance. The door was beginning to open amid the clamorous atmosphere.
Creeeak—
"H-hurk, Saintess Karina...!"
An elderly professor with a gleaming bald head met eyes with Karina, then clutched his heart and collapsed. The reaction was exactly the same as several of the students. Even so, the fact that his face alone looked blissful was truly grotesque.
Anyone watching would have thought he was dying of natural causes.
"The professor collapsed!"
I pressed a hand to my forehead as I watched the professor flop to the floor in front of the door.
Ah, what a headache.
I wanted to take Karina back to Dawn Hall immediately.
"Use Healing Magic, quickly!"
"Let's ask the Saintess!"
"Are you insane!? How could you even think of making such a request of the Saintess!?"
The theology students rushed to the professor, squabbling among themselves in a scene that could have come out of a sitcom, though to us it felt more like a thriller disguised as a sitcom. They looked like they were worried about the professor, but the topic always circled back to Karina.
Saintess. Saintess. Saintess. Saintess.
Merely listening made me feel as though I was developing a neurosis. How much worse was it for Karina?
"Heal! Heal! Heal! Heal!"
Pure white light flickered before the professor. It was the Healing Magic Karina had used before. Compared with Karina's Healing Magic, it was no brighter than a firefly, but Healing Magic was still Healing Magic. The professor opened his eyes and sat up.
"Th-thank you, Taylor."
"I merely did what needed to be done."
"Then let us begin the lecture aga—hurgh."
"Professooooooor!"
"Yohan... I'm dizzy."
"So am I."
This place was a madhouse.
That much, at least, was certain.
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"I-I'm exhausted..."
After completing all her Theology Department obligations, Karina looked more haggard than when she had first been cursed—no, than when she had first opened her eyes on the uninhabited island. Considering that she would face this every day, it would have been stranger if she had not felt that way.
Even someone fairly drunk on ambition would have that ambition and everything else blown clean away after witnessing a spectacle like that.
"Hang in there. Dawn Hall's right in front of us now."
"Am I going to have to spend every day like this from now on?"
The students couldn't even approach her. They were too overcome with awe and nearly fainted merely from looking at her.
Afraid that even asking might cause offense, the professor didn't solicit her opinion as he did the other students.
This was less a student attending a class and more like some august personage paying an inspection visit.
Even I, watching from behind, felt like I was sitting on pins and needles—how must Karina feel?
It was only natural she'd be worn out.
And thinking she had to do this every day, her haggard face was all too understandable. Though even that haggard look was the face of a beauty who could bring kingdoms to ruin, which made it impossible to tear my eyes away anyway.
"Today... I'll just eat dinner... and get plenty of rest."
Normally, she'd have set aside time to review, but the utterly exhausted Karina didn't look like she had any energy for it. I doubted she could even eat dinner. Maybe she'd just take to her bed. Honestly, it wouldn't have been strange if she'd pretended to be sick.
If it had been me, I'd have taken a mild poison and pretended to be sick by now.
But Karina, kind as she was, wouldn't even dream of such a thing, so about all I could do for her was guide her to her room as comfortably as possible.
[Whoa, there are a bunch of creepy bastards staring...]
Were those theology bastards resorting to stalking now?
At Rue's words, I resisted the urge to look around, opened Dawn Hall's front gate, and went inside. The walls would free us from people's stares from this point on.
"...Living as a Saintess must truly be exhausting."
"...Hehe. I can't deny that. Today was genuinely hard..."
"You did well, Karina."
"Thank you, Yohan."
A faint smile formed on Karina's face.
Clearly the face of a patient, yet a smile like a beautiful flower on the verge of wilting.
Looking at that smile, I felt a sense of crisis more acute than ever before.
At that rate, stress would kill her before the curse did.
I had to find a solution as soon as possible. Preferably a reliable one.
"Karina. I'll sort something out."
"But..."
"I know it's not easy."
But I couldn't leave Karina to keep suffering like this. She was my companion.
No... a friend?
...I'd think about that later. Right now, it was time to look for a solution.
"Yohan?"
"Ah, Millia. You were here first."
"Yeah! I only had two afternoon classes! But what's wrong with Karina?"
"Hello... Millia. Did your classes go well...?"
"A doctor! Should I call a doctor?!"
"Let's just get her lying down in her room for now."
"Okay! Let's go right now!"
We hurried through Dawn Hall and laid Karina on the bed in her room. By the time I'd carried her there and set her down, she was already half-asleep. She must have been completely exhausted.
"Millia. Keep an eye on Karina's condition."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to discuss this problem with Reni."
Because this looked as though it might kill her.
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"So that's what happened..."
After hearing me out, Reni raised her tired eyes and glared at the desk with an irritated expression. She looked ready to fall asleep at any moment, but because the matter concerned Karina, she was desperately fighting her drowsiness. It was pitiful to watch.
"At this rate, she won't even be able to attend class properly. She'll be worse off than if she studied alone from a bed in Dawn Hall."
"Ugh. It's just one thing after another. I'd heard the previous Saintess didn't really have this kind of trouble..."
"The previous Saintess?"
"When Saintess Cassandra enrolled at the academy about a hundred years ago, there weren't any stories of anything like this. The Church of Kalon's influence has grown a lot over the past century, but even so, I never expected anything as crazy as what you described..."
"Was that part of the setting...?"
"What?"
"Nothing."
Damn mouth of mine. Perhaps because the day had worn me down so badly, I'd failed to keep my thoughts from slipping out.
"What I wanted to ask was whether you could take over her escort for a day."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I intend to build a solution."
"What are you planning to make?"
"I thought of several things on the way here. I plan to make all of them and see what works."
At my words, Reni looked conflicted for a moment before nodding as though she had no choice.
"...Fine by me, but it really will be done in a day, right?"
"Trust me."
"...Okay. I'll take good care of Karina, so hurry up and make it."
"Of course."
It had been a while. I'd have to call Sif.
Formulating a plan in my head, I exited the office.