It was an unexpected variable.
I hadn’t paid much attention to the Headmaster, who barely even appeared in the original story, but thinking about it now, he was the highest authority in this academy. Creating a sudden event like this would have been nothing for him.
Hmm.
Even so, for causing such a hassle, I sincerely hoped the Headmaster would live a long life burdened with illness. Since it was a prayer from a devout priest of Elohim, it would probably come true.
At any rate, if this incident ended up preventing me from becoming Lutz’s advisor, that would be a significant problem.
After all, every major event in the story was bound to happen around Lutz, the protagonist. And if I had to identify those who would eventually need to be eliminated, it only made sense to start with the troublesome villains lurking around him.
Besides, doing so would also contribute to my peaceful academy life.
On top of that, theology studies wasn’t a required course. If I didn’t end up as Lutz’s homeroom professor, I might hardly have any contact with him at all.
Well… it would be fine. There was nothing I could do about it, so all I could do was pray. I just had to hope that Lutz and the other students performed at a similar level in the duels.
Life was always about relying on prayer. Praise be to Elohim.
“This is what the Headmaster mentioned in his office earlier. He said he was adding duels for the incoming students.”
“Ah… right.”
“Pfft, so you weren’t really listening, were you?”
I had wondered what on earth could be so important that there was so much to discuss before the entrance ceremony. I had assumed it was just the usual small talk from a bored old man, but I hadn’t expected to get slapped in the face by my own negligence right from the start.
Then again, let’s be honest. Wasn’t it an unspoken rule to not listen to the Headmaster’s or the principal’s speeches? Even as a professor… it wasn’t unreasonable to ignore whatever the Headmaster was saying.
“I had something on my mind earlier.”
“I saw you nodding along with a smile the whole time.”
“……”
What the hell was with this woman?
What on earth was going on for her to know everything, as if she had been watching only me in the Headmaster’s office? From what I remembered, Elia wasn’t the type to take an interest in others.
Besides, while we were both professors, I was a priest of the Church responsible for teaching theology, whereas Elia was a high-ranking noble of the Empire and a swordsman. In other words, we had no real connection whatsoever.
Of course, there was also the issue that the original story focused on the student protagonist, Lutz, meaning it never covered anything from a faculty member’s perspective. Still, there hadn’t been any scenes where the two of them were together, nor was there any mention of Elia having a crush on Nygor.
– Sorry, but I don’t have the confidence to spend my life looking at an ugly face. I’ll find my own fiancé, so please, Father, stop picking one for me.
Ah.
Right, now I remembered. Elia was the ultimate appearance supremacist in the story. Those were the words she had thrown at her father, Count Claudius, right in front of the fiancé he had painstakingly chosen for her.
Of course, the fiancé was a bit ugly, but still…..Elia was definitely more favorable toward attractive people.
And as for me, Nygor Caritas. Well, even I had to admit that I was a man of exceptional looks. So it wasn’t all that strange for Elia to take some interest in me.
Even so, the reason the two of them had never developed a romantic relationship was probably because Nygor was both an Elohim fanatic and a serial killer. Even if she didn’t know about the killer part, there was no way she could ever like a fanatic.
Now, with the personality of a crazy lunatic and serialized novel writer added on top, I was practically madness incarnate. Just thinking about it made my lower body tremble.
“Professor Nygor? Are you feeling unwell today?”
“It’s just… I seem to have a lot on my mind today. But there’s no need to worry. Elohim watches over us.”
“Hmm, you really are acting strange today….”
“I’m really fine. You should focus on the freshmen now. They’ve already begun their sparring, haven’t they?”
Between all my stray thoughts and my conversation with Elia, the freshmen’s duels had already begun.
***
Ah, seriously. He’s so handsome.
Nygor Caritas. A priest of the Elohim Church and the man I met three years ago when he became the academy’s professor of theology class.
As always, I took the seat beside him and stole glances at him throughout the day. How could someone be this good-looking for three years straight without me ever getting tired of it?
Of course, the fact that he was a fanatic who couldn’t go a day without preaching about Elohim’s grace was a huge problem. But with a face like that, as if he really had been blessed by Elohim, I couldn’t even argue against it.
What a shame. If only he weren’t so religious, I would have whisked him away to the count’s territory by now. But since he was devout to the point of madness, I had long given up on that idea.
I had heard that priests rarely married. There wasn’t exactly a doctrine forbidding it, but every single one of them claimed that Elohim’s love alone was more than enough for them.
Not that I had ever directly asked Professor Nygor about it… but after three years of watching his words and actions, even a passing mutt could figure it out.
– It’s all thanks to Elohim’s grace.
– I’m fine, thanks to Elohim’s grace.
– None of this would be possible without Elohim’s grace.
– Elohim…
– Elohim’s grace…
He couldn’t open his mouth without invoking Elohim’s name. If anything, he was getting worse, not better.
Ah… this cursed world. Why had it given such a blessed face to a religious fanatic?
Still, something about today felt different.
Instead of his usual heavy presence, Professor Nygor seemed gentler, brighter. He was always rigid and composed, yet today, he looked oddly absentminded. It wasn’t as if he never smiled before, but the atmosphere around him had definitely changed.
…Wait. Was he in the middle of apostasy?
It might have been a crazy thought, even to me, but still….wasn’t it possible for a person’s personality to change significantly over the course of a break? Hmm, with a face like that, even if he were an apostate, it wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, if someone with such looks ended up leaving the faith, wouldn’t that mean there was something wrong with the religion itself?
Hmm…
For someone with a face like that to live and die alone would be a loss to the entire world. Hopefully, he would choose apostasy.
With that thought in mind, I tried speaking to Professor Nygor several times, but he simply shook his head with a smile and responded.
“I’m really fine. You should focus on the freshmen now. They’ve already begun their sparring, haven’t they?”
Just as he said, the freshmen were already in the middle of their matches. Hmm… their overall level wasn’t bad. A few promising students stood out, but there wasn’t anyone particularly worth coveting.
To begin with, the second and third-year students were already more than competent, and most of them had received thorough training from their noble families before even entering the academy. Any truly exceptional talents had already made a name for themselves.
Just like that student over there who was completely overwhelming their opponent.
Bellatrix Feltner, the young lady of the Feltner’s Duchy. She had been famous even before entering the academy. Thanks to her innate mana, there were already plenty of rumors claiming she had the skills of a first-rank mage. Why someone like that had chosen to enroll in the academy, I had no idea.
And the student being utterly crushed by Bellatrix… a male student. I wasn’t sure which noble house he belonged to. Since his face was unfamiliar, he was probably a commoner. Unfortunately for him, he had the misfortune of facing Bellatrix and was getting beaten like dust in a rainstorm.
“Professor Nygor, do you see those two students over there?”
“…..…”
“Professor Nygor?”
“…..…”
Even after calling him twice, there was no response. When I turned to look, I was met with an expression completely uncharacteristic of the ever-composed Professor Nygor. He looked troubled as he stared intently at the two students I had been watching. More specifically, at the male student.
What? What’s going on?
Did he know that student?
***
No, please… You’re the future Sword Saint. Stop getting beaten like a dog and at least try to fight back.
Despite my silent, desperate encouragement, Lutz was getting beaten like a dog in the summer heat by Bellatrix’s magic.
Ah, this was seriously giving me a headache.
Honestly, this was exactly what I had been worried about ever since they announced the entrance duel. Lutz was the textbook definition of a late-blooming protagonist. As an orphan with humble beginnings, he had entered the academy with mid-to-low rankings, only to grow at an insane rate over time. He eventually rose to the position of the Sword Saint who would save the world.
In other words, he was utterly incompetent right now. Having learned nothing properly, having trained only through self-study, he lacked both the skills and the knowledge, making it all too easy for others to look down on him. That was the Lutz of today.
Honestly, the fact that an orphan even managed to get into a prestigious academy through self-study was a blatant plot hole, but what could I do? The author himself had declared him a growth-type genius.
And, as I’ve said time and time again, I still had no idea why I had set him up like that. Not just him, but the other characters as well; I had just written whatever I felt like.
In any case, with him getting pummeled like that in the duel, his mid-to-low entrance ranking would definitely plummet straight to the bottom. And if that happened, my chances of becoming his homeroom teacher would also drop significantly.
Please, Lutz, hang in there.
Even if you’re incompetent now, if you keep letting your future heroine beat you to a pulp like that, you’re going to end up alone forever. The one who’s knocking the dust out of you right now…Bellatrix. She’s supposed to be your main heroine in the future. So, for the love of God, fight back.
I poured every ounce of my heart into my silent support, but all I got in return were pained groans and the all-too-cheerful sound of impact.
“Professor Nygor… those two stu—”
Just once, seriously, just once—can’t you at least try to fight back? Come on, if you’re the future Sword Saint, swinging a sword even once shouldn’t be too much to ask.
“Professor Nygor…?”
Oh, for crying out loud. If you were just going to stand there and take hits with a sword in your hand, you might as well have grabbed two shields and declared yourself a tank instead.
There was no saving him.
Just looking at that fool, it was clear. Lutz was definitely going to end up in a different class. Useless bastard. At this point, you might as well live a long and uneventful life alongside the Headmaster. And I’ll say it again; this is the sincere prayer of a devout priest, so Elohim Himself will surely see to it that divine punishment is delivered.
“…Professor Nygor! What’s wrong!”
“Hmm…? Is something the matter?”
I turned my head at the sound of someone calling me and replied automatically. The firm grip on my shoulder, shaking me back to my senses, was surprisingly strong.
“I’ve been calling you for a while now, but you weren’t responding. You just kept staring at that student with such a serious expression. Is something wrong? Do you know him?”
“Ah… no, not at all. I was just so engrossed in their duel that I must have tensed up without realizing it.”
I’m just shaken because that so-called protagonist looks like that, Professor Elia. Thanks to that clueless fool who’s too busy getting beaten to a pulp, the carefully crafted plans of both myself and the serial killer are about to go up in smoke.
“No matter how you look at it, that’s not the kind of expression someone makes from simple interest. Is it because that male student is losing so badly?”
“It’s not… quite like that. I suppose I just got a little too emotionally involved, seeing him get completely beaten like that. After all, Elohim has always taught us to stand up for the weak.”
“Then why not secretly help him? I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”
“…Huh?”
“A subtle strengthening buff should be enough to let him land at least one counterattack, don’t you think?”
“…Huh?”
Professor… what in the world are you even saying right now?
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