Visiting the Sick (3)
"By the way, have you all eaten before coming?"
"No, not yet!"
"L-Lloyd dragged me out first thing this morning... so I haven't eaten either. Still, everyone brought so much fruit that..."
"I had no idea there'd be this much fruit. Adding up what everyone else brought on top of mine, it's practically a mountain. We could probably just eat this and be completely full, right?"
"Seems that way."
Well, it was true. Besides Ian, the other guys had brought an absurd amount of fruit. We wouldn't need a proper meal at all. And oddly enough, even though I'd woken up after four full days, I didn't feel any real hunger. So I'd simply kept eating the fruit the kids had bought the whole time. Sitting there, listening to their chatter while I ate somehow made the fruit taste even better. Or maybe it was just the fact that we were all sharing it together.
"Anyway, since it's just us, I'll say it. If the Saintess hadn't healed Ron back then... it would've been a total disaster! I really thought he was going to die!"
"But she just abandoned us and left... So it was only because Bern protected us that we survived..."
"That was..."
"Wait, what? The Saintess left you guys behind? Why? I've never heard anything about that."
"Oh no..."
"W-was I not supposed to mention that...?"
Well, that kind of thing had happened during the practical exam. Afterward, when I'd been briefly pulled aside by the academy for some simple questioning, they'd instructed me to keep everything regarding the Saintess strictly quiet.
The church the Saintess belongs to worships the Goddess of Light, known as the Mother of Dawn. They also serve the God of Love, the God of Order, the God of War, and several others—seven major deities in total. Among them, the Church of Light where the Saintess resides holds the greatest influence. In reality, it wouldn't be wrong to say the entire continent revolves around that single church. Anyone who worships gods outside the seven majors is branded a heretic and executed. It's also a place that fiercely rejects the demon race, with whom relations are already hostile.
Because of that, it has problems in many ways, which is why its image among players was never particularly good. At their core, churches are institutions that grow stagnant over time and eventually rot from within. The Saintess herself is genuinely kind, but the rotten old men above her are the real issue. In truth, there are far more gods than just the seven majors, but the churches' immense power—which can sway entire kingdoms—has led them to label all others as heretics, causing those faiths to gradually disappear.
That's why the academy is extremely cautious when it comes to teaching anything related to the gods. That said, we don't need to watch our words here. This is the academy—a place even the kingdom can't touch. Even if the Saintess herself attends, they can't lay a finger on us within these walls.
"There's no point in hiding it. The fact that the Saintess's party abandoned you is undeniable."
"B-but still..."
"Hmm..."
"However, the one who left you behind wasn't the Saintess. It was that blond priest."
"Ah, the one who knocked the Saintess unconscious and carried her off..."
"Knocked the Saintess unconscious? What are you talking about...?"
"The Saintess was determined to protect these fallen students until the very end. But that blond priest claimed it was too dangerous, so he knocked her out and took her away."
"How could priests of the church do something like that!"
"Still... I can understand where he was coming from. The only reason I managed to defeat that chimera was pure luck. It was an incomplete, imperfect specimen. If it had been a finished one... everyone there would have died."
"Even so...! Leaving people collapsed on the ground like that...!"
"But we survived thanks to Bern, so isn't that what matters? Kha ha ha!"
"Y-yeah. What kind of place is the church anyway...? As long as we're alive, that's enough. If the Saintess somehow hears us talking about this..."
"...."
Ian looked like he couldn't accept it and tried to speak up, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. In the end, he stayed silent. I could understand how he felt. He was obviously a good-natured guy, so he must have been harboring doubts about what happened to his friends. To him, the idea that the next Saintess—or rather, the priest serving her—would abandon people and flee was probably incomprehensible.
From what I'd heard, Ian had spent the practical training running around saving people too. He'd gathered them together, stopped the Requiem members waiting at the summit, and disabled their barrier. The academy claims everyone is equal and that everyone can shine. But if you look beneath the surface, neither the academy nor this world is fair or equal in the slightest. The people destined to shine are already chosen, and those stuck at the bottom can never escape their place.
When I'd only experienced it as a game, those words hadn't really sunk in. I'd lived an ordinary life as an ordinary person. But living in this world directly had slowly begun to change my perspective. Just looking at Elin and Lucy around me made it obvious. This academy—no, this entire world—wasn't some happy paradise. Where there is light, there is also darkness. Coming here had forced me to confront the academy's ugly underbelly firsthand.
The divide between nobles and commoners remained unbridgeable. People who envied the beautiful or the talented never disappeared. Clever, persistent bullying continued in ways no one else could see. No matter how unfair or unjust, nothing ever changed. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't change a single thing. That must have been why Elin, Lucy, and Silia had been slowly wearing down. Comparing the Elin I'd first met to the one now, the difference was night and day. Back then she couldn't even meet my eyes, spoke haltingly, wore a dark expression like she wasn't truly alive, and had the eyes of someone already dead. Now she was completely different.
Seeing her smile so brightly, those eyes shining beautifully, filled even me with pride.
Anyway.
"Well, the priest was clearly in the wrong. But it's not entirely incomprehensible. He had a duty to protect the Saintess, after all."
"Still, I disagree. If someone's struggling, if someone's in pain, you should help them. You shouldn't turn a blind eye."
Ian's expression had grown noticeably darker as he spoke. Had something unpleasant happened to him? It felt strange seeing the usually bright and smiling guy suddenly deflate like that.
The suddenly heavy atmosphere left no one willing to speak. But someone eventually broke the silence.
"Hahaha! Still, we're alive, aren't we? Yeah! If someone's in trouble, we should help them! At least we can do that much!"
"Right, so... let's drop that topic."
"Yeah, let's."
....
After that, the conversation returned to normal. We talked about what had happened during the sparring matches that replaced the practical exam, and about the club.
"So you really made a club?"
"Yeah. It's called the Flame Refinement Club. A place to temper and polish yourself."
"This is a bit awkward to say, but... I realized once again that the gods really are fair..."
"Bern, just asking, but would it be okay if I came by the club to hang out sometimes? I don't really plan on joining any clubs myself."
Oh. If the protagonist wanted to visit our club, there was no reason to refuse. I could keep checking on his condition and even create chances to spar with him. That would let me gauge exactly how strong the current Ian was. For me, it was all upside.
"Do as you like. We don't have many members anyway."
"Oh, thanks!"
"By the way, were there any announcements from the academy? Anything about the next exam?"
"Ah, there was one. It was about..."
"Dungeon exploration."
As Lloyd started to explain, someone appeared behind him. Delicate features, brilliantly shining silver hair, and eyes as blue as the sky. It was Elisha Isis.
"Is the story over?"
"Yeah, the girls had some things to talk about among themselves. We hit it off so well that we lost track of time. Well, except for one person."
She must have been referring to Silia. The others seemed to have gotten close quickly, but Elisha and Silia alone appeared to have a particularly bad relationship. Maybe it was because their hair colors were complete opposites and their personalities were polar opposites too. Anyway.
"Tell me more about this dungeon exploration."
"Sure. It's done by pairing two classes together. This time they're pairing them completely at random. And..."
"And the dungeon exploration is next Friday. The class pairings will be announced next Monday."
As Elisha spoke, someone cut in. She had the same deep black hair and black eyes as me, and possessed a beauty so perfect it looked like a sculptor had poured his soul into every feature. It was Silia.
"Hey, I was talking."
"What? I was just sharing the information I know."
"Even so, how could you interrupt someone speaking?"
"Ha, that's ridiculous. You call that interrupting? I simply provided information."
"....."
Hey, Elisha. Why are you giving her such a terrifying look? And Silia, what's with that attitude? The mood had been perfectly fine just moments ago. Why had it suddenly turned so hostile?
As Elisha and Silia began glaring daggers at each other, starting a silent battle of wills, the three guys near me—Ron, Lloyd, and Ian—quietly huddled closer to my side and kept their mouths shut. I also got the strong feeling that I shouldn't say anything, so I observed the situation in silence along with them.
While the two of them continued their standoff, Elin and Lucy, who had approached at some point, began trying to intervene.
"L-Luna... you shouldn't fight again. You promised earlier..."
"Y-yeah. Elisha, it's not polite to fight when we're here for a get-well visit..."
Perfect. Nice timing! I had no idea why they were suddenly at each other's throats, but for now, please just stop them. The atmosphere had gotten way too murderous!
As Elin and Lucy tried to calm the two angry girls, a sound came from outside the door.
Knock, knock.
Along with the sound of knocking, the door began to slide open. Everyone in the room instantly fell silent and turned to look.
The man who entered from beyond the door had black hair streaked with white, unable to escape the passage of time. His eyes were as black as endless darkness. But one of them had been badly injured long ago—its color had faded completely. And the middle-aged man who looked strikingly similar to me—no, who was practically my spitting image—was Jeron Flame, the current head of the Flame family.