Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Teachings for the Disciple
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* * *
Changing is easy.
Reversing it is what's hard.
『Second Western Pioneering Memorandum – Last Words of a Forest Resident』
***
The morning all the current students of Lord Howe Academy had been waiting for arrived alongside the tail end of spring.
Beneath the pale blue sky stained with the hues of dawn, young leaves silently endured the cold wind, while flowers that still clung to spring shed their dew.
It was too early for the students to wake, but every single one in the first-year dormitory was already up.
Yet the usual morning chaos was nowhere to be felt.
The martial arts students who rushed to the training hall at dawn every day, the magic students busy preparing for meditation—they were all wrestling with a single sheet of paper.
[Special Lecture Application Form]
A single piece of paper that could be submitted to the administrative office starting today.
It was densely packed with names of graduates, renowned academics, and famous superhumans whose fame preceded them.
It was a list that made hearts race just to look at, but the students couldn't easily fill out the form.
Was it because of happy dilemmas like which teacher's lecture to attend? No, the students were plagued by a different worry altogether.
At the very bottom of the flashy document, in tiny print, was a single line.
– Selection of special lecture participants is at the discretion of each instructor.
No one had explained it, but the students understood what it meant immediately.
The teacher chooses the student. In other words, if you're not chosen, you're out.
The academy had kindly allowed additional applications out of consideration, but even that was limited to five tries.
What if you weren't selected even up to your fifth choice?
It went without saying. At best, you'd end up with whatever teacher was left, and at worst, the special lectures would pass you by entirely.
By that point, the students were all engaged in a game of chicken.
A fierce battle of wits to get picked by the most famous, most desirable visiting instructors.
Which teachers were getting swarmed, which weren't?
They gauged preferences by grade, avoided students like the 'Saintess' or the 'Vessel' who were sure to be picked, selected first-choice teachers likely to be crowded...
In the end, plenty of students reached application morning without making a single choice.
– Damn, Michele's special lecture is gonna draw everyone from all grades.
– Wang Bao Guo's practical class already has three digits confirmed.
– Why are the magic wannabes applying for Hoana Tule's class? You gonna be priests or what?!
Students gathered in dormitory hallways, lounges, and lobbies, exchanging info or venting worries.
And amid that, someone cautiously spoke up.
– So... what about Cheon Yeomyeong? Who’s he applying for?
The one who spoke probably meant to lighten the mood, but the students mired in their hopeless dilemmas instantly switched topics.
– He probably applied wherever he wanted. Who’d turn him down flat-out?
– Thinking back to how he stopped that terrorist... Hell, I'd pick him myself.
– What if the teachers start fighting over who gets him as a disciple?
The students spun wild imaginings, chattering about Cheon Yeomyeong.
From his mercenary days leaked by the press, to his skills and martial arts, even unconfirmed dating rumors.
Only when the dorm supervisor cleared their throat did they finally stop.
Or more accurately, it was as if all questions had been answered.
– Just go ask him directly, duh? It's not like we're prying some big secret.
Someone said it, but no one actually went to Cheon Yeomyeong's room.
– So... anyone close to Cheon Yeomyeong?
– Magic and faith majors are out. Has to be martial arts.
– Even in martial arts, not really... He's always hanging with that roommate of his and the girl with the weird name.
After a brief huddle, someone sitting in the lobby shot to their feet.
“Jeez, you guys are yapping forever.”
Wesley. The black-haired guy who'd battled Dawn over their room at enrollment slammed the table.
“Hey! I'll go ask him, so cut the gossip right there, you stingy bastards.”
A few students grumbled that they hadn't gossiped or called him out, but no one stopped Wesley.
If he was volunteering to ask what everyone wanted to know, there was no reason to block him.
With the supervisor and students watching his back, Wesley headed to Cheon Yeomyeong's room.
***
Unlike the dormitory buzz, Cheon Yeomyeong's room was quiet.
Morning sunlight peeked cautiously through the window, but the two boys facing each other in chairs didn't even notice.
As silence stretched under the sunbeams, Dawn set down his papers and spoke.
“Disappointing. Baonic.”
The named boy flinched. Avoiding Dawn's eyes, he protested.
“I-I did my best! Finding the guy with the Imperial Knight sword in this huge academy. That's not exactly ea—”
Dawn stared silently at Baonic.
His golden eyes gleamed murderously in the sunlight. Sensing the killing intent, Baonic swallowed and continued.
“...easy, but I'll definitely find him. J-Just give me a bit more of a hint...”
A hint. Dawn leaned back in his chair, thinking of the Player.
His mockery, his swung sword, even his claim that this was a game.
“He'll go after opportunities.”
“...Opportunities?”
“Yeah. High chance he knows all the opportunities in the academy. Especially... the ones from the game.”
No sooner had Dawn finished than Baonic narrowed his eyes, as if recalling something.
“You know something?”
“W-Well... after the last terrorist attack, a few opportunities in the second-year main building vanished.”
“...Why didn't you mention something that important until now?”
“I-I figured you must've taken them.”
Baonic finished and stealthily gauged Dawn's mood. Fortunately, Dawn's gaze wasn't on him.
His burning eyes stared out the window toward the second-year main building.
‘Second-years... Figures there were none in first-year.’
The net tightened once more. Dawn suppressed the writhing killing intent in his chest and reached for the desk.
“What special lecture do second-years flock to most? Guess.”
He picked up the special lecture form and asked.
“Uh... probably Sir Daluan's, the former Imperial Knight? Second-years have the Imperial Prince... Why're you looking at me like that?”
Dawn smiled faintly.
“Apply. For Sir Daluan's lecture.”
“...Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
Baonic started to say something, then shut his mouth.
He wanted to argue, but no counter came to mind. Special lectures weren't even in the original story he knew.
As he sat silent for a long stretch, Dawn shoved the form at him.
“In exchange, I'll give you one academy opportunity.”
“...For real?”
“For real.”
In that instant, Baonic's worries vanished. He snatched the form from Dawn's hand.
“...No take-backs later?”
“If you find the guy with the Imperial Knight sword, I'll give you something even better. Quit yapping and apply.”
Baonic's face bloomed with a grin at the firm promise.
What to ask for? Martial arts?
Nah, not even sure where his talents lie yet. In that case... yeah, ask for a spiritual medicine.
With that decided, Baonic added applications for Sir Daluan and other Imperial Prince-related teachers.
Dawn hadn't ordered it, but better safe than sorry if he got rejected from Daluan's class.
“There, done.”
He finished filling out the forms and waved them proudly.
Like a dog bragging about its leash, but he felt no shame.
In this damned world, he'd wag his tail all day if it meant eating and living well.
“...Good. Any opportunity you want in particular? I'll get it before lectures start.”
Luckily, Dawn was a good master. For now.
“Th-Then... could you get me one spiritual medicine? I'm not a full superhuman yet...”
“Spiritual medicine?”
“...Y'know, the giant clam's inner core under the bridge to the northern island. That should do it.”
“That much? I'll get it today.”
Dawn patted Baonic's shoulder in affirmation, then sat back down.
As Baonic eyed his back oddly and Dawn reached for another form.
Someone knocked.
– Hey, Dawn! It's Wesley. Mind if I come in?
***
Inside the Lord Howe Academy first-year girls' dormitory, in the makeshift temple for students.
Natsukawa, the priest teaching Mordak's doctrines, felt equal parts bewilderment and fluster.
“Pl-Please, Saintess!”
“No! I said no!”
What flustered her was the Saintess she revered. Or rather, the Saintess's attitude.
“Saintess, please. You have to apply for Sir Hoana Tule's lecture. It's a direct order from the Holy Kingdom!”
“The old fogeys aren't here! We can ignore that order!”
“Ol-Old fogeys? Calling the cardinals that...”
“Old fogeys are old fogeys—what else you gonna call 'em? No matter what they say from up top, I'm not taking Grandma Hoana's class. Absolutely, positively not!!”
The Saintess declared this while rolling on the temple floor.
Her pristine priestess robes rustled, her white shoulder cape and hair splayed across the ground.
If Natsukawa weren't a priest of the black-clad Mordak, who prized composure, she might have fainted at the shocking sight.
Natsukawa squeezed her eyes shut and pressed on.
“...Do you know how many voices called for bringing you back to the Holy Kingdom after the terrorist attack?”
“...”
“Sending Sir Hoana was the cardin—er, not old fogeys' consideration. Even a Holy Knight by your side would reassure the faithful, right?”
The old fogeys' concession allowing her to attend the academy.
It was irrefutable, so the Saintess stayed silent.
But that didn't mean she'd heed Natsukawa's plea.
“...But I don't have to take Hoana's class specifically.”
“Saintess...”
Finding a compromise here? Natsukawa shook her head.
“At least think of the faithful worrying about you...”
She pleaded earnestly, but the Saintess ignored her.
Instead, she tucked the special lecture form into her bosom and clamped her mouth shut, as if daring someone to take it.
“...Saintess. Must you do this?”
The Saintess remained mute. No telling what lay in her eyepatch-hidden eyes, but talk seemed futile.
Natsukawa sighed and pulled out her phone, calling somewhere.
– Yes... the Saintess... Yes, you need to come now... Yes, quickly... Please...
The Saintess, eavesdropping, sensed doom and tried to flee the temple, but Natsukawa shut the door first.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“Ugh, come on! Just let me go!”
“Now, now, wait.”
With the only exit blocked, even an invisibility cloak was useless, so the Saintess plopped into a temple chair, pouting.
They kept her confined like that for a while.
Knock knock.
Someone rapped on the temple door.
– Still there?
A gruff, womanly voice.
Natsukawa brightened and opened the door, while the Saintess yelped and hid behind her chair.
“Sir Hoana. Thank you for coming.”
Entering was a white-haired grandma etched with wrinkles.
But no one would call her 'old.'
Her aura alone was imposing, and the massive scar from right eye to lips, paired with a bodybuilder's physique, made age just a number.
“Saintess! It's been ages!”
Hoana Tule. The retired Vice Captain of the Holy Knight Order beamed at the Saintess and spread her arms.
The Saintess tried to flee in horror but couldn't outpace a perfected Holy Knight. She was caught and hugged against muscle.
“You grow more unrecognizable every time, Saintess!”
The Saintess flailed to escape the embrace, realized brute force wouldn't work, went limp, and accepted it.
After a long, heartfelt hug, Hoana chuckled heartily and set her down.
“I heard everything from Natsukawa, Saintess. Throwing a fit because you don't want my protection?”
“...Wasn't throwing a fit.”
Natsukawa, watching from behind, looked exasperated, but the Saintess pressed on undeterred.
“It's not that I hate protection... I just don't want to use my special lecture slot on you.”
“Why's that?”
“It's...”
The Saintess mumbled, unable to answer. She couldn't admit she wanted to take classes with her favorite people.
She was the Saintess, and they were Holy Knights, after all.
So she answered differently.
“Because... I want to take classes with my friend.”
“Ah, it's for a friend. But Saintess, with classmates, you can take regular classes together without special lectures, right?”
“...Different majors, so not many shared classes. Special lectures don't have that issue, so...”
“Hmm...”
Hoana raised a brow at Natsukawa.
*Who’s this friend?* her expression asked, but Natsukawa shook her head: *No idea.*
Brief silence passed, then Hoana offered another solution.
“Then just have your friends take my class.”
“No, that's...”
“Why? Don't your friends want my class?”
Hoana chuckled and asked. The Saintess fidgeted with her fingers before answering carefully.
“It's not that... but dragging them into Hoana's class on my whim would be a bother.”
Flushed cheeks, hesitant tone, fidgeting fingers.
Hoana's smile vanished. With a steely Holy Knight face, she asked:
“...Must be some friend.”
The Holy Knight's words dripped suspicion, but the oblivious Saintess took them at face value.
“Yeah, an amazing person.”
“...”
Inexperienced Natsukawa sighed at the Saintess's reply, but Hoana was different.
She'd seen a Holy Knight blinded by love, abandoning holy sword and future.
The Saintess's expression now resembled that knight's... Was it her imagination, or bloodline coincidence?
Either way, Hoana couldn't accept it.
“...Saintess.”
She knelt to meet the Saintess's eyes.
“If you dislike it, I won't force the special lecture. Your will is what matters.”
It was sudden. Natsukawa startled behind her, but Hoana continued.
“But your safety matters too. I can't back off without knowing who this friend is.”
“Oh... no need to worry. That person... whatever else, their feelings for me are genuine.”
“...Feelings for you?”
“Yeah.”
In that moment, a young man's face flashed in Hoana's mind.
The Saintess thought of Seti first... then Dawn, squeezing her eyepatch-hidden eye shut.
Oblivious to her heart, Hoana stood with a stern face.
“...Hoana?”
“Saintess, steel must be hammered while hot.”
“...Huh?”
“Go to that friend right now. I need to see for myself.”
“No, Hoana, wait...!”
Realizing Hoana's intent too late, the Saintess tried to run, but Hoana grabbed her hand faster.
“Come on, let's go.”
“Wh-where?”
“The boys' dorm, obviously?”
“No, no, there's a misunderstanding...! Hoana! Hold on...!”
The Saintess protested, but Hoana dragged her out of the temple immediately.
Watching the Saintess dragged away limply, Natsukawa sighed in the empty temple and prayed.
“Five Gods...”
* * *