167. Finals Begin
167. Finals Begin
After academy lectures, they gathered every day at Atlas's mansion to prepare for the test.
Previously, it was all about preparing reports and assignments, but this time there was one more thing.
It was practice for the newly added test: sparring.
"We might face each other, and showing our best performance will be tied to our grades, so let's treat it as an extension of morning practice."
"Do I have to do it too?"
"You have to help. Did you forget you said you'd make me top-tier by graduation?"
"At this rate, you'll reach it without trouble before graduation."
"Faster is better."
I didn't really want to, but Liber insisted, so I went along.
However carefully the mansion was designed, it wasn't made for swinging swords inside, so they gathered at the usual clearing.
With exactly four participants, no one had to sit out, and the pairs matched up well.
They tried taking turns sparring one-on-one...
"Hmm... I'm strong..."
Excluding me, Lucia was definitely the strongest.
In terms of ranking... it would be me > Lucia > Emy > Liber.
Liber and Emy couldn't even properly approach Lucia.
Russell swordsmanship, similar in nature to Titan's, was a sword art that dominated space—so a single swing of the sword affected the entire area around her.
The two who tried to quickly close the distance had their knees buckle and were defeated the moment Lucia swung her sword once.
Lucia kept getting stronger even though she wasn't doing anything extraordinary during the semester.
I knew her talent was outstanding, but her rate of improvement was terrifying.
If Liber seemed like he'd reach top-tier without trouble by graduation... Lucia might reach it within the year.
Even if she didn't attain enlightenment, she would reach that threshold quickly.
Liber and Emy had improved since they first enrolled, but Lucia was on an entirely different level.
When Edgar kept picking a fight and challenging her, if they had actually gone at it seriously, I suspected Edgar's skull would have been smashed even without me stepping in.
In terms of the realm they'd each reached, they were all similar, but Lucia's muscle strength and the aura output she could muster at once were so exceptional that one might mistake her for a higher realm.
Should I say she was born different?
A vast aura reservoir like the ocean, innate muscle strength, and a tall stature to support it all... The heir Titan must have wanted was someone like that.
'No, I'm not jealous.'
The moment Titan came to mind, I felt disgusted and shook my head.
"I... haven't been able to give it my all so far."
"You're talking about sparring, right?"
After the rough practice session ended, Lucia spoke to me.
She seemed to be dwelling on the fact that she had only lost to me.
Her face was slightly flushed—she seemed to be holding back frustration, or perhaps harboring some other emotion.
Was she bothered by being subdued before she could bring her sword down?
If Lucia had used her full ability, a single sword swing could have overturned all the dirt in this clearing, but she'd obviously held back immensely.
But none of them would have gone all out in earnest.
Emy hadn't used her main weapon, and Liber hadn't used the Wolf God's Essence either.
"...If Atlas becomes my opponent during the test, I'll face you with everything I have. So... don't go easy on me, and answer with sincerity."
"You are talking about sparring, right??"
So she knew I was going easy, and was telling me to fight seriously?
Once again, she left out the subject and made it ambiguous.
But this time I'd decided to half-ass it and be done, so I probably wouldn't fulfill her wish.
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After several meetings, the test format was decided: two students from the entire grade, randomly drawn, would compete against each other.
There had been thoughts about class-versus-class matches, but it ended up quite ordinary.
It seemed the ideas had run wild before being tidied up nicely.
"If we're going to watch the entire grade, won't it take too long?"
"They'll watch several at once, so it's fine."
"People who only do fundamentals without showing flashy techniques won't stand out and will get low scores, huh?"
"....You're way too quick on the uptake."
The basic fitness test had clear standards, so lining everyone up and having them do it once was enough, but since sparring was about assessing the realms of the two students, they couldn't just assign scores based solely on wins and losses.
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While I was wandering the outskirts after my lecture ended early, a scene caught my eye.
It was Carmel, dressed in casual clothes that showed off her figure, much like yesterday.
She was dressed similarly to the academy students and even wore a wide-brimmed white hat that concealed her face, but beside her was a student I'd never seen before.
Judging by his brooch, he was a second-year.
"You must take responsibility. For you are so enchanting that my heart has been captured! Is there any woman in this world who possesses such attractive beauty as you? Your beauty is not mere appearance—it is like magic that ignites a fire within me and melts my heart."
The second-year male student passionately confessed his love to Carmel, proudly showing off his stylishly groomed mustache, but she, already accustomed to such situations, paid him no attention whatsoever.
Because of the mustache, he looked at least 15 years older.
As I'd seen before, the Saintess wasn't particularly strong in personal combat, so I worried about whether she should be walking around alone like that.
Was it because she was loved by all creation that people could annoy her but none could harm her?
Even now, that male student was being a nuisance, but he showed no sign of harming Carmel, who was ignoring him.
Still, that one nuisance might draw others, so I decided to extract her quickly.
"What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Don't touch me so casually... Oh my, Atlas?"
When I lightly tapped her forearm to extract her, Carmel reacted sharply.
It was the first time I'd seen Carmel frown.
Though she returned to normal right away.
Her eyes had been quite fierce... Could it be she normally walked around like that?
"I told you not to loiter where there are lots of people. Don't you have any escorts?"
"Isn't this place pretty much deserted? And... it's unfair of you to say that after you took out all the church forces."
"Then bring some from the Holy See."
"I went through all the trouble of stealing a holy relic, and I should have come with another person from the Holy See? Isn't that too much??"
Come to think of it, that was true.
It was true that she was only circling the deserted outskirts of the academy, and it seemed she'd simply had the bad luck of running into someone like him.
Just as I was about to shake off the nuisance and take the Saintess somewhere out of sight, the mustachioed sunbae grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey..! Who are you to interfere between her and me? You look like a freshman, but I am... Ow ow ow ow ow!!"
Since he was about to spout bullshit, I twisted his wrist.
He'd been bewitched by Carmel, but if I gave him a dose of pain and fear, he'd snap out of it quickly.
"Don't be a nuisance."
"Yes.. yes yes!!"
Sure enough, when I exuded a murderous killing intent, the mustachioed sunbae's cocky demeanor vanished and he turned humble.
I sent off the victim who'd been struck by Carmel and grabbed her wrist again.
"Thank you. I was just about to tell him to go far away, but you did it for me. Well done, well done. Shall I reward you with a hug?"
"A hug my ass. Why the hell are you coming outside without any escort at all?"
"I'm cooped up inside all day in the Holy See, and you expect me to do the same here? Stay alone like that and you'll get sick to death."
As the Saintess, Carmel couldn't move freely in the Holy See.
Because whenever she moved, countless people moved with her.
It seemed she wanted to experience even a brief taste of freedom.
But for that, moving her to a different location would be better.
"Let's go."
"Where to?"
"A nice place out of sight."
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The place we moved to was the mansion I had built.
Carmel sat on a suitable sofa in the spacious, undecorated reception room.
"Oh my, just the two of us in a place like this... "
"Don't say weird things."
Since she was emphasizing that we were alone together, I said something.
"I told you not to cause trouble, didn't I?"
"Atlas is the one who causes a lot of trouble."
"Suddenly changing the test categories made everyone confused."
"Hmm... So you're referring to that... But that's not my fault! Even if someone else had come, it would have been the same, you know? No, even if I hadn't come, it would have been decided the moment Master Hulan arrived. Starting with the Headmaster, everyone seemed to want to show how hard they're working. They even said they'd be releasing academy internal information to the outside this time, which is rare."
Carmel denied that it was because of her secret visit in any way.
She said they had already been preparing press materials for the outside, and it would have been the same even if she hadn't come.
"But... I'm envious. This kind of school life. I grew up only in the church since I was young, so I've always longed for it. Cute clothes, time spent with friends... "
"Don't try to evoke sympathy. I'm not falling for that."
"Oh? It didn't work? Wasn't it pitiful?"
"You said last time that you're satisfied with your current life in your own way, so asking for sympathy now is a bit much."
"Even so, it's true that I long for these things. Couldn't Atlas give me a little tour? I came all the way to the academy, but I can't even properly enter the buildings... It's lonely."
Carmel was moving around unseen by the students because of her unique power.
Her current residence was the church, but because of her duties she stayed near the academy—though the situation made it difficult for her to enter the academy, so she seemed frustrated.
"So, what, you're saying you want to wander around empty lecture halls in the middle of the night and quench your thirst for a school life you've never experienced?"
"You know me well! Don't you think it's unfair that I'm dressed up so prettily like this and no one even gets to see it?"
Carmel said that and spun around once.
Her skirt, short even by her standards, twirled up as she spun, briefly revealing a glimpse of her pale thighs—dangerous.
If other students had been there, they would have fallen for that sight.
"...I'll think about it once the Summit ends well."
"Really? "
"I'm saying I'll just think about it first. Whether I'll do it, I don't know."
"I'll look forward to it!"
"Don't get your hopes up."
"I will look forward to it. Atlas, you've never let me down since our first meeting, you know!"
Carmel took my hand and smiled brightly like a blooming flower.
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The final test began.
It was a fierce test upon which first-semester grades depended.
I had submitted three reports on the first day and was wandering around with nothing to do when Casey suddenly caught my eye.
"Do you think your grades will come out well?"
"No, I have no idea."
Casey said it with incredible confidence.
"You attended the lectures."
"I started from the middle of the semester, so how would I know?"
She said that since she'd joined partway through and didn't know the earlier content, it would be hard unless it was open-book, but she was confident in all the combat-related subjects like magic and swordsmanship.
It was just history and stuff like that she found difficult.
"This won't do. You need to study some too... ."
"You're going to teach me, mister?"
"Yeah. Because you're my family. It's a bit troublesome if my family lacks common sense, you know?"
"When it's time to abandon me to Mother Nature, you're nowhere to be found, but you only act like a guardian at times like this."
"Can't you say I was prioritizing your free will??"
At that, Casey stuck her tongue out at me and ran away.
She dashed out, ran into Woodville, linked arms with her, and disappeared somewhere.
It was nice to see they were still close, but it also worried me.
What should I do about that dummy?
I'd definitely have to teach her history at least.
As I was sighing and heading to check if the others' tests were over, the atmosphere felt strange.
The hallway was blocked.
The academy's hallways weren't narrow, but dozens of students were swarming, so there wasn't even room for a single person to pass through.
"What, did a fight break out?"