164. Nah, No Way?
164. Nah, No Way?
Shara Phrygia hated the Hunting Festival.
While it was in full swing, she had been all smiles at the thought of knocking Woodville down a peg and receiving a reward, but reality turned out completely different.
Because of the horrific incident during the festival, the comparison of booth sales had been swept under the rug. To make matters worse, Atlas became so busy afterward—whether due to the festival's aftermath or some other unknown reason—that it was hard to even catch a glimpse of him around the academy.
And now he was even hospitalized...
Indeed.
Since then, Shara had not been able to have a single private audience with Atlas.
Just before the Hunting Festival, she had met him privately at least once or twice a week, so this was excessively harsh treatment.
It wasn't that she hated him or anything... but she felt that he could at least meet with her once.
She wanted to be commanded coercively.
She wanted to be demanded of intensely.
She wished he would say that he needed her.
She didn't question why he had suddenly become so busy running around.
She had known from the beginning that he was no ordinary student.
Such a remarkable person could not possibly be a mere student.
She also knew that he was hiding his identity.
She hadn't gone out of her way to investigate, but piecing together the truth about him from the given information alone was like solving a puzzle, and it was one of the games she frequently played when alone.
Shara had come up with about five theories regarding Atlas's true identity, and no one yet knew that one of them was about ninety percent correct.
She also knew that only a handful of people at the academy knew that truth.
It was incredibly sad that she was not one of them.
She hadn't shown it outwardly, but she had wanted to maintain a special relationship with him, in her own way.
She knew that even thinking such thoughts was irreverent, but the new emotions that had arisen from meeting him did not easily fade away.
-You're feeling lonely, aren't you... Shall I help you?
At that moment, someone whispered sweet words from the deep darkness.
-------------------------------------------
"So you were making something like this."
"How did you know to come here?"
"I was exploring the academy and happened to discover it."
The one who had come looking was Saintess Carmel.
She, who usually wore a white liturgical robe, was now dressed in casual clothes in accordance with the academy's dress code.
She was wearing a pink blouse and a miniskirt, which cinched her waist and revealed her bare legs—a devastatingly alluring sight.
I knew her well enough to endure it, but others did not.
"Whoa..."
"Beautiful... No, wait, towards a human...? Unbelievable!"
Not only sunbae Rio and Lucia, but even the dwarven artisans could not take their eyes off the Saintess.
The thought crossed my mind that she was a bewitching creature who could mesmerize people just by walking around, yet she had somehow managed to get here.
Surely, simply walking through the academy would have caused trouble.
Ignoring the people staring at her with their mouths agape, Carmel looked with interest at the lodging I was living in while it was still under construction.
"Shouldn't students be in the dormitory?"
"It got wrecked, thanks to some people, you see. So I figured I'd just build a new one."
"Fufu, there's a barb hidden in your words."
When I spoke bluntly, she simply laughed.
It was fine to continue the conversation like this, but with Carmel, I only felt comfortable when we were alone.
Other people became flustered by the charm she unconsciously exuded, which made group interactions difficult.
Lucia was gauging the mood of Carmel, whom she was meeting for the first time, and Emy, having been indebted to her several times, held a favorable impression.
The only one here who could be suspicious of her was Riber-nuna.
"May I have a brief word with you?"
At that point, the Saintess spoke up a step faster.
She had requested a private audience with me.
"Is it something difficult to discuss here?"
Riber, finding it suspicious, tried to stop her, but I knew that if it was work-related, it was better if the others didn't hear.
"No, I'll be back in a moment. Don't worry and just wait."
When I insisted so firmly, she could no longer dissuade me.
.
.
.
.
.
As soon as we moved to a secluded place, the first thought that came to mind spilled out.
"You're not going around causing trouble, are you?"
"Me? Causing trouble?"
Carmel smiled alluringly.
"You, walking around dressed like that with nothing to suppress your power, that's dangerous around here, you know."
"Oh my, are you worrying about me right now?"
"I'm not worrying about you, I'm worrying about this academy!!"
Whenever she stood on the dais in the Holy See, she always wore clothes that showed the bare minimum of skin.
It was the only way to suppress Carmel's power to be loved by all creation.
"I only moved through secluded areas, so please don't worry... and take this."
Carmel pulled an envelope from her bosom and handed it to me.
As it had been taken from her bosom, the envelope was heavily imbued with her scent.
"An invitation has arrived."
It was a small envelope stamped with the seal of the Holy See.
Even without being told, I knew what this was.
It was the invitation to the meeting of masters she had forewarned about last time... the Summit.
"When does it start?"
"In two weeks."
"Ugh, that's right during exams. No consideration at all. If people don't teleport, some might take a week just to reach the Holy See. Is that okay?"
"This invitation is also a scroll inscribed with teleportation magic, so it's fine."
So that was it... I felt a bit embarrassed.
I had never once attended a Summit before, so I hadn't known.
It was because the Shadows, who roamed while hiding their identities, could not be located by the Holy See in the first place.
"So, what's the main point? You didn't call me over just to give me the invitation."
"Actually...."
She pulled out one more invitation from her bosom.
I could guess whose it was.
"...Is it Hulan's?"
"Yes."
Currently, there was one more Master residing at the academy.
Hulan, the dragon beastman and Master—the powerful Master I had been indebted to last time.
The Holy See greatly liked Hulan, who had little greed and roamed the whole world like a chivalrous hero, helping people.
However, he was a wandering Master and was severely directionally challenged, so he didn't even know where he was going himself.
Last time, he had even ended up in hell, after all.
Until now, it had been difficult to even pinpoint his location, but since they finally knew where he was after so long, they wanted to invite him.
"You could just invite him yourself."
"I did, but he wouldn't accept it."
It was amazing that he had refused an offer from Carmel, who exuded likability just by being near her.
Even now, in an open space, I was struggling to keep my wits about me.
"He refused your offer?"
"You're talking as if it's unusual, when you, Atlas, also refuse me all the time~."
"Come to think of it, that guy was a dragon beastman, wasn't he."
There were only very few people who could resist the Saintess's god-given talent.
Masters could resist to some extent, but they still suffered a little, and the most famous race for being completely unaffected was dragons.
That was why McIntosh could converse with her without any burden.
Aside from the Pope and McIntosh, even the Bishops sweat buckets under the Saintess's talent.
Dragon beastmen had hardly ever encountered a Saintess, so it was unknown, but it seemed they had resistance.
Or perhaps he had simply gritted his teeth and endured it, just like me.
Carmel, looking sad that her offer had been ignored, pouted her lips and spoke.
"I thought it might be different if a Master made the offer personally."
"Wouldn't it be similar? Maybe he just doesn't want to attend because it's bothersome?"
"Couldn't it be that he doesn't want to go to an unfamiliar place full of strangers, with no friend to go with?"
Carmel gave a bitter smile.
It was an incredibly specific and realistic point, but still, surely that couldn't be it.
---------------------------
"A 'Summit' is scheduled to be held at the Holy See. We would be honored if Hulan-nim, who has always exerted a positive influence, would grace the occasion. Would that be acceptable?"
Hulan looked indifferently at the woman called the Saintess who had come from the Holy See.
The message was a request for him to attend a gathering called the Summit, but Hulan could only tilt his head.
'What's a Summit...?'
He was hearing the very word 'Summit' for the first time in his life.
After becoming a Master, he had left the Beastman Union and always moved wherever his feet took him, acting only as his heart led, so he was utterly ignorant of the ways of the world.
It was always the cities with many people that changed rapidly, and he had always wandered through rural backwaters.
'The Holy See... I know what that is. It was the headquarters of the Church people, I think. And a Summit there? If it's a summit where leaders gather, doesn't that mean kings are meeting? Why are they calling me there?'
No matter how he thought about it, Hulan concluded it wasn't a place for him and made up his mind to politely decline the offer.
"It doesn't seem like a place where I belong. I shall pretend I didn't hear this."
"No, you are mistaken. If anyone, Hulan-nim is the one most suited to attend the Summit."
'Why me?'
He couldn't understand why the Holy See kept asking him to attend.
Why on earth were they calling a mere idler like himself to a Summit?
He could only think they intended to make a mockery of him.
'If it's a Summit, wouldn't the current Great Chieftain of the Beastman Union also be attending? That fellow is still awkward to deal with...'
Hulan recalled the tiger beastman who had taken over as the Great Chieftain of the Beastman Union after Hulan himself had fallen behind and left.
Quite some time had passed since he had stormed out of the Union.
He didn't know if that person was still alive, but if he had lived long, he'd still be serving as the Great Chieftain.
They had fought very emotionally when they last parted ways, so even now, after so much time, he was reluctant to meet him.
He didn't know what kind of meeting it was, there was no one he knew, and there was nothing for him to do there, so did he really need to go?
After that, the Saintess made several proposals that might have changed Hulan's mind.
She spoke of benefits that would be given if he attended, but he didn't really listen.
He was too accustomed to the wandering life to have any greed for material wealth now.
'I don't particularly want to go to a place where I know no one and don't even know what they do.'
It wasn't that he was shy, but he simply didn't want to go to an awkward gathering.