The Holy Studies Department (2)
Class was about to start.
Naturally, since students at the academy took different courses, our classrooms and even our lecture buildings were completely separate. Though we each had an assigned homeroom, we only gathered there for basic foundational lectures; when it came to our major coursework, everyone had to disperse to their respective departments.
And we had to part ways right after meeting…
In other words, no sooner had we found each other than we had to say goodbye again, all to attend our respective department lectures. Evan headed off to the Swordsmanship Department to study bladecraft, while Stella went toward the Magic Department.
And as for me, I naturally ended up stepping into the Holy Studies Department, where the clergy congregated.
The Holy Studies Department.
Just hearing the name, one would naturally expect lectures covering theology or religious scholarship. Truth be told, until I first heard the name, I had genuinely assumed it would be an academic department where one studied religion itself as a scholarly discipline.
And yet…
Calling this the Holy Studies Department was a bit of a stretch.
Isn't this just a church?!
It wasn't even a classroom building—it was literally a full-blown cathedral sitting right in the middle of academy grounds. Granted, it made sense that priests and nuns had to purify their bodies, offer prayers to God, and lead pious lives in a chapel if they wanted their divine power to become more exalted, but still…
Th-this isn't…
This wasn't what I had envisioned for my academy life at all. I wanted to bump shoulders with other students in a crowded lecture hall, study the secrets of this world that I knew nothing about, and build rivalries while competing with my peers. But what clergy did inside a cathedral was the exact same everywhere!
I… I had no idea…!
Granted, aside from classes where major plot incidents erupted, most academic lectures were just glossed over in the game with a brief text prompt stating that classes took place before moving on, so I hadn't known exactly what the coursework entailed—but wasn't this a bit excessive? If anything, that was why I had been looking forward to seeing what kinds of classes I would be taking…
Only then did I belatedly recall that there was indeed a cathedral-like structure on the academy campus in the original game. It had been such a fleeting, throwaway background asset that it had completely slipped my mind until the visual of the cathedral hit me like a slap to the face. No, honestly speaking, it barely held any significance in the story at all. After living in this world for over two years, wouldn't it be weirder if I remembered every minor background prop like that?
As I stood silently before the cathedral, gazing up at its facade, a woman sweeping the paving stones near the entrance spotted me. She walked over with a practiced, steady stride, then looked at my face, her expression momentarily freezing. Evidently, seeing my closed eyes, she seemed to have roughly grasped that I had a disability.
I decided to reassure her beforehand.
"[It is quite alright.]"
"Ah… Are you perhaps an incoming first-year student?"
"[Yes.]"
Nodding at my telepathic reply, the nun ceased sweeping the courtyard and led me inside, gesturing for me to follow.
It felt a bit irreverent to think this in front of a church, but surely I wouldn't have to spend my classes here offering prayers and singing sacred hymns, would I? Prayers were one thing, but singing hymns was truly agonizing for me. Even back at the Great Cathedral, my vocal attempts had been so hopeless that I had been permanently excused from choir duty. I wondered if I would manage alright here.
Not that I had enrolled to obsess over grades, but telling myself my academic record didn't matter at all would be a total lie.
In the end, despite all my lofty expectations of the academy, what lay waiting for me was yet another identical church.
Scanning the strangely familiar interior of the cathedral through my spatial awareness, I quietly let out an inward sigh.
A week had passed since that incident.
The academy was flowing along in an astonishing state of peace—so serene that it was hard to recall the sheer despair of that day. Aria had likely judged that an unprepared academy would hardly be able to bear the reality of what had occurred, which was why she had requested the incident be kept under wraps.
Her judgment was half-right. Even if this was an institution where youths came to refine their gifts so they could fully manifest them in the future, they were still just students. If they were thrust into confronting demons mounting sudden incursions into the academy, casualties were an absolute certainty. Having a catastrophe like that blow up at an academy meant for learning would undoubtedly spawn endless complications.
—Evan… Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?
"I can handle this much."
—…
Though Estelle asked in concern, Evan dragged his heavy, aching body forward toward the academy.
That day.
The moment he had first stood face-to-face with a demon.
For the first time in his life, he had tasted the sheer helplessness of being utterly powerless.
Aria was the Saint. Yet before being a saint, she was merely a girl of his own age. A girl no older than him had thrown herself into harm's way, standing alone against a demon. Even though her opponent was none other than a Superior Devil—an entity vastly beyond their current level that inevitably drove her back—she had faced it head-on with solitary courage.
Meanwhile, when the demon stood right before his eyes, he had frozen in terror, unable to fight properly.
I have to get stronger.
Evan's resolve was simple. He was the Hero, and Aria was the Saint. Despite possessing an innate power that held an absolute affinity advantage against demons, he had struggled even to sever a single arm; the moment the fiend unleashed its true might, he had been helpless before it.
Aria had deflected the demon's onslaught and even managed to purify a portion of its foul demonic energy. Yet he, the Hero who wielded an exorcising power even greater than that of the Saint, had barely managed to capitalize on the opening she bought with her very life—and lacking the strength to finish the job, he had nearly died on the spot.
He had never considered his training lacking before, but that battle had forced him to keenly confront his own inadequacy and weakness. He was deficient as the Hero.
I never want to see that again…
—Evan…
I never want to see someone close to me—no, I never want to see Aria gravely wounded like that ever again.
If only to prevent that, he had to become stronger. Not having Aria throw her body onto the line to forge openings for him, but standing beside her on equal footing to slay demons… and ultimately, to vanquish the Demon King.
It was then.
"Looks like… you and I are thinking the same thing."
At the sound of a voice beside him, Evan turned his head. There stood Stella Starnamis, Aria's roommate and the top student of the Magic Department.
"You're…"
He didn't need to ask who she was. Or rather, it was impossible for him not to know. On the day of the entrance ceremony, it was only because he had followed behind her that he managed to find Aria facing the demon all alone. He had later learned that she was the very first one to realize a battle against a demon was unfolding.
"Aria is like family to me… So I want to protect her."
She had said as much before lamenting with a sorrowful look that, in the end, she had been the one protected instead. Yet seeing that side of Stella was enough for Evan to sense beyond a shadow of a doubt how deeply she cherished Aria.
Though their only prior connection was having fought alongside one another against a demon, that singular bond had forged a shared purpose between them.
Perhaps that was why.
"Seems like we'll be running into each other often. Let's look out for each other from now on."
"Likewise."
Having shared a common objective and bled on the same battlefield, the two warmed up to each other at remarkable speed once the ice was broken—so swiftly that it was hard to believe they hadn't exchanged a single glance, let alone a conversation, until just a moment ago.
Unlike the Holy Studies Department, which was situated far off on the campus, the Swordsmanship Department and the Magic Department were not located far apart. Thus, while their parting with Aria had been brief, the two of them walked together for quite a while.
"…Ah, we're already here."
Even with their buildings in close proximity, their destinations ultimately differed, meaning the time to part had arrived. Looking at her, Evan was suddenly reminded of how she had been grumbling beside Aria earlier, insisting that she didn't want to go to the academy.
Back then, he had wondered whether it was right for someone who had endured such an ordeal to whine like that, but after talking with her, he realized that wasn't the case at all.
Evan probed gently.
"…Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to go back to the dorms?"
"Ah… that?"
Contrary to his expectation that she would look guilty or caught off guard, Stella answered with a tired, nonchalant shrug, as if she had anticipated the question all along.
"Well… it felt like she wanted me to act normal again."
Actually, rather than looking annoyed, she seemed a little embarrassed.
"…Ah."
Only then did Evan grasp Stella's intention. Stella simply hadn't wanted Aria to worry about her. And so, to show that she had thoroughly recovered from the shock and returned to her usual self, she had deliberately put on that grumbling act.
"I'm heading in. Work hard yourself."
Turning her back to Evan, Stella waved a hand as she headed toward the building. Evan watched her retreating figure for a brief moment before renewing his resolve and stepping toward the grounds of the Swordsmanship Department.