137. Code of Conduct
137. Code of Conduct
The moment Bishop entered, his bombshell announcement threw the academy into chaos.
That was because the imperial nobles couldn't exactly push around Bishop, who belonged to the Holy See.
"Andy sunbae, did you know about this?"
"There's no way I would've known... I saw those people for the first time today, too."
Andy let out a heavy sigh.
He'd just been discharged from the hospital today after suffering a severe headache from the Authority of Dominion, and now this bizarre official notice had left him completely dumbfounded.
"Honestly, after being targeted by a demon once already, I'm glad people like that are here. Being controlled by an Authority... it was terrifying. With people like them around, aren't we safe from demons?"
Andy, who had been directly controlled by an Authority, said he was practically traumatized by the Demon Archbishop.
He said it wasn't that he was completely unconscious, but his body wouldn't move according to his will. He described it like riding a horse that runs wild, completely out of your control.
"You stopped me, right? I'm grateful, but you could've gone a little easier on me."
He apparently wanted to bring up the matter of me breaking his legs to immobilize him because he was being controlled.
He wasn't saying it all that seriously, but heat suddenly rushed to my head.
-Peok!!
"Ack!!"
"Do you have any idea how much trouble Casey went through to stop you, sunbae? Even if you were controlled, if you had actually killed a student, wouldn't that have been a complete disaster?"
"It was a joke, a joke..."
-Peok!!
"Aack?!!"
"There's a time and place for jokes."
He was talking nonsense, so I pummeled him a few times with my fist, and he shrank back.
He says Casey, who had recovered, is the most annoying one... I barely managed to stop her from cutting off one arm each from the Headmaster and Andy, and yet he was saying this kind of crap. I needed to hit him some more.
"It's already hard enough keeping an eye on the other professors, and now we have to watch out for the Church people too..."
"We'll just have to put up with that much, won't we? What else can we do."
Sunbae and I leaned blankly against the balcony railing and glared out at the hallway.
On the walls of the academy hallway where people occasionally passed by, a large poster about the Code of Conduct Bishop had mentioned earlier was pasted up.
Prohibition of Corruption and Prohibition of Impure Heterosocial Interactions.
Only those two clauses, but they were clearly going to cause a huge stir.
I hadn't seen it myself, but by now the Newspaper Club was probably happily writing articles about it.
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Bishop's unscheduled speech was a fresh shock.
Most of the students didn't think for a second that he was being serious.
Corruption within a group and romance—how on earth could those two things be completely eradicated?
It was posted as plainly as a barn door, but everyone just laughed it off.
"Prohibition of impure heterosocial interactions... what era are they talking about?"
"Do they really think they can prohibit that?"
Riber tapped her cup rhythmically with a thin silver spoon, making a light clinking sound.
After talking briefly with Senior Andy, I had come into the cafe with Riber.
I called Amy too, but she wasn't here.
She apparently had something to talk about with Rio sunbae.
While everyone else was treating this new Code of Conduct as a joke, Riber seemed to feel that Bishop's words were quite sincere.
"Well, with a face like that, would he joke around?"
"It is a face that looks like it strictly follows principles."
It was the logic that his physiognomy was a face that wouldn't joke around.
It was probably just a remark based on feeling, but it was true.
Bishops were a position only reached by iron-blooded people who knew little of compromise.
"Is it really true that this Code of Conduct is the right way to deal with demons?"
"The Code of Conduct isn't exactly pie-in-the-sky talk. It's true that emotional highs and lows become extremely severe during romantic relationships, and that's why monasteries often prohibit relationships."
Demons directly entering from outside would now be blocked by Bishop strengthening the barrier further, but it was difficult to find demons that spawned naturally from within.
The troublesome thing about demons was that while you could block those coming in from outside, there was no way to block them from crossing over from hell.
And when demons crossed over from hell, there were broadly two necessary conditions. First, a ritual to summon the demon, and second, a terribly negative emotion powerful enough for a demon to sense.
So the Holy See tried to keep emotions as consistent as possible, suppressing demonic invasions to the maximum extent.
"Forcing that onto students seems like too much."
What immediately resonated with ordinary students upon hearing it was the prohibition on impure heterosocial interactions.
In an academy where young men and women gathered, the number of students who had developed into romantic relationships was considerable.
I was one of them myself, after all.
Naturally, there was no reason for the academy to regulate this.
They had banned men from entering the female dormitory to prevent any needless dangerous incidents, but aside from that, there were no other restrictions.
I placed my hand over Riber's hand as she fiddled with the silver spoon and grumbled.
She swung a sword a lot, too, but her hand was soft enough for me.
"Want to go out and have fun like I mentioned before? The three of us, with Amy."
It was questionable whether the Demon Church, having been struck down like that, would send terrorists again.
They must know that ordinary methods wouldn't work now that Bishop had been fended off, so surely they wouldn't try again.
But if they could think rationally, it would be normal for them not to do this kind of thing in the first place.
It was always good to stay vigilant.
"It's a very attractive proposal, but I really have to prepare for the final skills assessment now. Let's go after that's over."
"I don't really care about that."
"Just because amazing you doesn't care, doesn't mean Amy and I don't care."
"You're amazing too. So for the skills assessment, just use your usual skills..."
"What kind of logic is that?"
Come to think of it, we had passed the midterm skills assessment, but the final skills assessment was slowly approaching.
From my position of not caring about grades, I just thought, 'Ah, once this is over, it's vacation.'
"Remember what I said before? That we should study together."
"Yeah, let's do that."
Leaning back, I thought about it.
Amy had said she went to see Rio.
Seeing as she left right after the announcement, it was clearly a fairly important matter.
"If it's nothing serious, that's a relief."
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We left the cafe and moved to the lab.
It had been a while; I should see Professor Praha.
"Professor Praha, what is that?"
"Waaaah?!"
Professor Praha, who was engrossed in writing something, shot up violently like a spring-loaded toy when I went up beside her and whispered.
"What a surprise! Make some noise when you come in..!!!"
"I did knock, but you didn't notice?"
"Well, that doesn't mean you should just barge in??"
I had knocked several times from outside, but Professor Praha hadn't heard.
I felt a presence inside, but there was no response, so I had entered.
"Haa... what brings you here...?"
"Why would I need a reason? I came for a checkup, and also to see the progress of the research for the first time in a while."
"Ah, right, that too."
Hearing my business, Professor Praha put aside the document she was working on and pulled out some files from somewhere.
Watching her, the documents my younger sister had given me suddenly came to mind.
Was she still sending research results to Titan even now?
"Are you still in contact with Titan?"
"Yes... actually, just last week, I organized everything we've had up until now and sent it once more..."
"If it's everything up until now, you sent the story about me taking the medicine and growing a little bit?"
"Yes."
"Did they happen to say anything?"
"...Are you perhaps not in contact with Titan...?"
The carefully asked question stabbed at my heart.
"It's not that I'm not in contact, I just don't do it often."
I wasn't not in contact with Titan, but I didn't do it often.
Sending letters that way was just profoundly awkward.
Even though there was nothing to feel awkward about after my father and mother died, I was still uncomfortable.
"Uh...? Have you still been measuring your height these days?"
First, Professor Praha measured my height and then was surprised.
Judging by that reaction, did I perhaps get taller?
"Recently, too many strange things have been happening, so I haven't been able to measure it... what's going on?"
"You grew, you know? 149.9... now 150 is truly right in front of you... did something happen recently??"
"Really?"
Looking at the number again, it was 149.9.
In an instant, various emotions flashed by.
Surprise, joy, and... bewilderment, among others, flickered through my mind.
I was so happy I wanted to run out right then and there, but I held back.
"If it's things that happened recently..."
When asked what happened, too much had happened, which was a problem.
I had practically beaten up three or so Demon Archbishops, after all.
Seeing me deep in thought, Professor Praha carefully opened her mouth.
"Actually... it's a thought I've had for a long time. The original medicine you made is already working well... Could it be that the inability to grow until now might have been largely due to psychological issues?"
"Psychological issues? You said that wasn't related."
"The medicine I made was a method that spreads growth-promoting hormones secreted by the brain and the nutrients essential for rapid growth to the right places all at once to induce instant growth... but I didn't account for the fact that someone at the Expert level can regulate their body's condition through mind control. The medicine is already effective, so perhaps something that suppresses growth, depending on Sponsor-nim's mental state, is being gradually released, leading to this slow growth."
It was quite plausible.
Someone at the level of Expert or higher could do many things with just their mindscape.
After all, the thing that holds the greatest weight in determining the form and properties of an Aura Blade was the mindscape.
"Come to think of it, all the successful cases so far were ordinary people, and since we have no data on anyone Expert-level or higher, we might have to try investigating in this direction."
"So no one Expert-level or higher has tried that drug until now?"
"Well... typically, Experts grow robust bodies during their training process..."
Professor Praha trailed off, refraining from saying more.
Typical Experts grew physically very well during their training, but I was probably the only one who still looked like this even after reaching Master.
"If it's a psychological issue... then this won't be necessary."
"This is...?"
I tucked the items I had brought back inside my coat.
"It's the spinal fluid of a Hydra, Orthos, and Cyclops. All three are magical beasts with powerful regenerative abilities, so I thought it might help, but I guess it wasn't needed."
"That stuff?? I gave it some more thought, and I think it's actually essential after all!!"
It was when Professor Praha, not wanting to miss the chance to research the spinal fluid of legendary magical beasts, started blurting out whatever came to mind.
-Crash!!!
Suddenly, the sound of something shattering came from out in the hallway.