Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Chapter 67
EP18 - Over the Snow-Covered Ruins, Christmas Bells Ring (12)
This was it. The final exam I had prepared.
Fortunately, it ended successfully. The Students were also pouring out their intense thoughts through 【Script】.
Honestly, it was really tough. It cost a lot of money. Still, it was good that Gray created a 900-point difference, allowing me to recoup the cost of the elixirs.
At any rate, from here on, it was out of my hands. Since I had barely slept during that time, I planned to sleep soundly once I returned to the mansion.
With that thought, I lightly bowed to the Professors who had helped me and turned my body. That was when it happened.
Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation. Something descended from the sky and touched the crown of my head. A very soft and warm sensation.
At first, I thought it was an effect of the [Illusion Magic] I had created. This was because I had infused the light of Illusion Magic with a calming aura that put people at ease.
But it wasn't. It was a sensation of a different quality, on a different level from what I had created.
For a moment, I felt like I was in my mother's embrace.
Not my mother… but the very concept of 'mother,' a state of peace in which a person could be embraced, felt like it had become an aura and touched me.
Sensing something strange, I looked up at the sky.
And I was met with something astonishing.
The source of the aura touching the crown of my head extended all the way up to the heavens, connecting to a star that illuminated the night sky.
I got goosebumps.
< "Peacefulness☮" looks down on you with a warm gaze. >
The star was reacting to me. Normally, this event was supposed to appear in Chapter 4 or 5 of the story.
Even though it was merely the transition from 1 to 2. The star was watching me.
< "Peacefulness☮" is greatly pleased with your footsteps and wishes to bestow two gifts. >
┃ Gift [Peacefulness☮]
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × 100
Unbelievable.
I marveled inwardly. To receive a hundred Star Fragments at once?
Indeed, the rewards bestowed directly by a star were of a different caliber.
< Furthermore, "Peacefulness☮" will, from this moment on, bestow its divine power of the 『Great Recovery』 [Stigmata] upon all places touched by the sound of bells for three days. >
Stigmata!
This was an even greater gift than the previous one, as "Peacefulness☮" was a being that disliked humans and rarely bestowed its divine power or blessings.
However, [Stigmata] were divine powers that could heal poison with plain water, kill a tiger with straw, and create humans from clay.
With "Peacefulness☮"'s 『Great Recovery』, an immense healing effect would be applied.
< "Peacefulness☮" likes you. >
< "Peacefulness☮" kisses you. >
The next moment, something soft touched my cheek.
<"Peacefulness☮" : ㅇ3ㅇ ㅇ3ㅇ ㅇ3ㅇ >
Startled, I turned my head.
What touched my cheek also touched my lips.
"Peacefulness☮" : Oh my! Hmm!? What is this? >
Ah, sorry.
“Professor Dante! What is this?”
The first to sense the [Stigmata] was Head Professor Galua. He flew next to me with a 『Blink』, unable to hide his excitement, and shouted. What was happening?
“It’s a Stigmata. From "Peacefulness☮".”
“What? "Peacefulness☮" bestowed a Stigmata? Ah, no, how… why would that ill-tempered misanthrope bestow [Stigmata] here?”
You should be careful with your words.
Because He was still by my side.
"Peacefulness☮" : Hmm, what is this?? -ㅅ-? >
As expected, He began to get angry.
Peacefulness always traveled in threes. Each represented inner peace, relational peace, and world peace. They could not achieve peace without being together.
Moreover, despite His name being Peacefulness, He was ironically one of the most easily angered stars.
<"Peacefulness☮" : └(ㅠД└(｀ﾟДﾟ´)┘*-Д-)┘ >
Look at this.
He was already getting heated in a gradient by Himself. It was as if He was thinking, 'I was trying to be nice, but you're cursing me to my face? Come to think of it, this is bullshit.'
No.
If I left Him be, He might even recall the [Stigmata].
“…Head Professor. I am truly sorry, but given that I have received a [Stigmata], I cannot agree.”
“What?”
“I believe "Peacefulness☮" is a benevolent star. It is humans who uniquely shatter peace, isn't it?”
I decided to gain some points this time.
Subtly glancing towards the sky.
【 Head Professor Galua : ‘Hmm…?’ 】
【 Head Professor Galua : ‘Ah!’ 】
【 Head Professor Galua : ‘It’s still here.’ 】
Then, the quick-witted Professor Galua nodded.
“Hmm… Hearing you say that, you are right. Shattering peace has been a chronic problem for us humans since prehistoric times.”
“That’s right.”
“Actually, I hate humans too!”
“Huh?”
“I’ve hated them since a very long time ago! Monsters that destroy the world in the name of progress! No creature on this earth is as base as humans! They should all be ground into meat paste on a grater!”
“Head Professor, that’s a bit…”
“Silence!! If you are human, live with a sense of apology! Humans are trash—!!”
Misanthropy poured out in an instant.
Ah.
As expected of Head Professor Galua.
A monster of top-tier social skills, who overcame his image with mere tact despite plagiarizing his thesis!
I admired him with pure heart.
The reaction?
"Peacefulness☮" : ㅇㅂㅇ,, ㅇㅂㅇ,,,♥ ㅇㅂㅇ,, >
Excellent!
Isn't this just wonderful!
“No, but setting aside what that star is like, why did it suddenly appear here… Could it be because of that?”
“Yes. I believe that’s the case.”
Galua and I looked up at the Christmas tree.
“The Stigmata is 『Great Recovery』….”
“It seems to apply to wherever the sound of bells reaches.”
“How far does it reach? The sound isn’t loud from here. Did you perhaps install a [Distance Equilibrium] circuit?”
“Yes. It will resonate faintly throughout the entire Academy. No matter how far.”
Turning my head, He followed my gaze.
And so, we looked.
Ding—
Still reaching,
Ding—
Towards the distant Zone 0 and Zone 2.
Ding—
The sound of bells rings.
Ding—
Over Elise and Gray, who had finished their exams.
Ding—
To Rebecca, who was smoking a cigarette alone in a corner of the academy.
Ding—
To Balmung, who was crouched on a snow-covered mountainside.
Ding—
To Kaiser, who sat blankly before the grave of his deceased friend.
Ding—
To Kendrake, who was locked up in the Discipline Department prison for causing a disturbance in Zone 0, insisting he had to leave.
Ding—
To Eve, who fell asleep clutching her wounds in a cave.
She, who saw and heard nothing.
“……?”
Eve’s eyes snapped open. She then went outside and heard the sound of bells.
It was a sound she had never heard before, yet it felt incredibly familiar and welcome.
Eve looked down at her pale arm, her wounds healing as if washed away. One thing became certain.
“…….”
'Human' was alive.
It was a dark room. Head Professor Battalion, in bed, held a warm and beautiful body in his arms. He reveled in her cloud-like hair.
“I’m so happy. Gloomy.”
“…….”
It was an affair. He had a wife, and Gloomy had a husband, but such things were secondary. It was not strange for physical intimacy to develop between those who had led a national betrayal together.
Low-level warriors aged quickly. It was common for aging Rankers to abandon their families and fall for each other. It was the same here. Only men and women who looked to be in their mid-thirties, despite being decades older, existed.
Then, Battalion’s playful question arose.
“Are you ‘real’?”
He thought he was being amusing.
He didn’t know how much everyone who focused on [Illusion Magic] disliked that joke.
“…….”
Gloomy got out of bed and put a cigarette in her mouth. Her heart instantly grew cold.
“What is it? Why are you smoking alone? Give me one too.”
“…….”
“You’re not mad, are you?”
“…….”
She threw the cigarette at the annoying man. Then, she stared blankly out the window.
“……?”
Something strange caught Gloomy’s eye.
“What the hell is that…?”
“Huh? Did you just curse at me?”
Gloomy scrunched up her face.
“Come here. Stop talking bullshit.”
“…What?”
“Come here! Now!”
Her voice, filled with anger for the first time, made Battalion feel humiliated, but he went to Gloomy’s side.
Through the 『Mirage』 she had spread out, something strange was visible in Hiaka Academy.
“Huh? What the hell, that……”
Something that absolutely should not be in Hiaka.
After the tree bloomed, much was overturned in an instant. Humans knew it, animals knew it, and enemies knew it. And one Spirit could not be unaware.
│▽ㅇ)
He was a Spirit of "Peeping Star│ㅅㅇ)", who enjoyed watching people who were weary or sad.
│▽ㅇ) ....
Having toured various 'restaurants' for nearly a month, He was starting to feel a subtle shift in his mood. It was because of the extremely unpleasant Christmas tree.
Ding—
A soft bell sound resonated among people. It was Illusion Magic, so it wasn't jarring, loud, or frightening… truly a sublime sound.
And the Spirit did not like sublimity or peace.
│▽ㅇ)
│ㅁㅇ)
│_ㅇ)
This was going to be a bust.
The Spirit thought and headed somewhere, to a particularly unique 'restaurant' among the many. It was a child who rarely cried. He had saved this up, wanting to make it cry with his own hands someday.
Not crying amidst everyone's unhappiness was an expectation. Since the Spirit could exert a small interference, He wanted to savor the 'restaurant' a little longer when the other 'restaurants' began to calm down.
But then.
"Peacefulness☮", whom He sometimes liked and sometimes disliked, seemed to have done something useless.
“Ugh… What is this bell sound…?”
The child’s father regained consciousness.
“Darling!!”
“Huh!?”
His wife, who had been fighting moments ago, and her brother rushed over to greet the man. Then, they embraced him and began to cry.
The child was there too.
The child, who didn’t cry.
Held by his father, who had woken up, the child was flustered. When his father fell asleep again, the child ran out of the house. Into the snow-covered ruins.
Laughing brightly, the child ran for a long time, then stopped at the alleyway. Seeing the giant Christmas tree in the distance.
The child sat down blankly. Then, clasping his hands, he began to cry, muttering thanks and such.
The Spirit found it strange.
│_ㅇ)a Why are you crying?
You didn't even pretend to cry when I desperately wanted you to, but now, even though your father woke up and things resolved well, why are you crying? And why is it not fun even when you finally cry?
After pondering deeply, He realized. There was a concept among human emotions that the Spirit hated the most and found the least interesting. It was present on the faces of all humans in Hiaka Academy, and on that child’s face.
Hope.
│_ㅇ)
│ㅇ)
│)
│
EP18
Over the Snow-Covered Ruins, Christmas Bells Ring
END