Chapter 65 "Academy"

　The sun rises and the day begins.

　I - Rick - wake up in my rented room.

　I sit up and lightly twist and untwist myself.

When I am fully awake, I get out of bed and get dressed.

After that, I put on the light armor provided and put the sword, also provided, on my waist, and I'm ready to go.

Leaving the room, I go downstairs.

　"Good morning Rick, you're up early again."

Angie, the landlady and owner of this place, was getting ready to open for business.

　"Good morning, Angie-san."

　The first floor is a restaurant by day and a bar by night.

　The second floor is rented out as a boarding house, and I rent a room here to live in.

The room rent is surprisingly cheap, and I think it is thanks to her that a student like me, who earns very little money, is able to manage to get by.

　My title is "Theology Student."

　This city is "Aldia", the center of Nordia.

　The Gnostic Theological Academy is located there. I am a student there.

　The Academy is a gateway to success to become a Gnostic holy knight or priest.

　There, in addition to sword, magic, and other combat skills, they also teach arithmetic, history, and other subjects.

　And it's free! However, in order to enter the academy, one must take a high-stakes exam.

　Only about 20% of the students will pass.

　If you achieve a high score in the exam, they will even provide you with living expenses!

　In other words, if you maintain high grades at the school, you will receive money and have a wonderful future as a holy knight.

Unlike the country's knighthood, which requires family background and achievements, the path to become a holy knight is open to everyone once you enter the academy, so a young man like me with no experience or achievements has the potential to rise in the ranks.

　I dreamed of this and set my sights on Nordia, where there are only three schools in the country, and took the entrance examinations.

　The result was a slip, but I passed.

　Out of 120 examinees, 18 passed, and I was ranked 16th.

　The test consisted of three categories: classroom learning, magical combat, and direct combat.

　If the total score of the three is above a certain level, you pass the exam.

　I threw away magic and risked everything on classroom learning and managed to pass the exam.

　And when I was able to pass the exam but had to make ends meet, it was Angie who approached me.

　In exchange for a cheap place to stay, she offered to help out at her restaurant at night.

　The "Kaiko-tei" is a bar at night, and due to its nature as a bar, there are many rowdy customers, so she wanted a man to help her keep them in check.

　In my case, Angie said she could trust me because my status as a student was guaranteed.

She lost her husband a few years ago, and until I came along, she and her daughter had been running the place, so she wanted a worker she could trust.

　"Oh, Ricky. Good morning."

　"Good morning. Sania."

Speak of the devil, here she is.

　Her name is Sania. She's Angie's daughter and the showgirl of this place.

　She is very pretty with her light red hair and her face that still has a childish look.

"What a hard task it is to be at the school this early."

Looking outside, the sun has finally risen and it's getting brighter.

　"It's not so bad. Sania is also up at this hour helping out at the store."

I patted Sania on the head and said, "Good job, good job."

Sania blushed and said, "No, don't do that," and gently moved my hand away.

　I was so soothed by her reaction that I decided it was time for me to leave.

"Then, I'm leaving."

"Okay. Study hard!"

　"Have a good day. Don't be reckless, okay?"

　I said, "I'm off," and ran out the door.

　When I arrived at the school, I was braced by the sight of the majestic building.

　Churches of all sizes lined the grounds, and behind them I saw a large building.

　It was a work of art that had been created as a school building, keeping the appearance of a church.

　I entered the building and headed for my classroom.

　There were already a few people in the classroom who had arrived earlier, each studying or sleeping on their desks.

　"Hey, Rick! You're up early again today."

　One of them called out to me in a light tone.

　It was Gervas, my best friend.

"Well, I lost to you."

　I chuckled as I put my bags on the desk and took my seat next to Gervase.

　"What's today's class?"

　"In the morning, we'll be doing physical training and mock battles, as usual. Then at noon, we're going to practice building magic."

"Ugh... I'm not very good at building magic formations."

Gervas has his head in his hands.

　This guy is pretty good at direct combat, but he's not very good at anything magic-related.

　"I'm more comfortable with the anti-magic exercises."

　Gervase turns his body toward me.

　"Hey, man, I got something from yesterday!"

　"What is it now?"

　"A couple of days ago. You know a place called Bayser?"

　Bayser? Where is it?

　"Uh, Tirani, you know?"

　"........."

"You know, when you're officially knighted, you'll be sent around a lot, so you should remember all this stuff."

　"Shut up. I've covered all the famous places. Where is it?"

　"It's the territory west of Delord."

Gervas said, "Surely you know about the quirky Delord, don't you?" He added.

　Don't be ridiculous. We live next door, right? I know that much.

　It's famous for its arena and labyrinth, right?

　"So...what happened in this Tirani place?"

　"They say a new species of monster has appeared."

　"A new species?"

　That's not very nice.

　I don't even know how dangerous this new species is.

I've been trying to gather information on monsters for a while now, just in case I run into one in the future.

　"Oh, and it's a new species. Don't be surprised. It's been running amok in the middle of Bayser."

　"You mean in the middle of the city?"

　"Yeah, in the middle of the city."

　I thought for a second, "Are you kidding me?" But from the looks of Gervas, I guess he wasn't lying.

　"How many?"

　"I heard one."

　"What... how many were killed?"

"I don't know exactly, but I heard it was more than 10 or 20."

"Isn't that pretty big of a deal?"

A monster attacking a town by itself?

　It is an impossible story in the normal sense of the word.

　It is like jumping into a crowd of monsters alone, which is beyond dangerous and suicidal.

It is true that most monsters are unintelligent.

　However, they have instincts to compensate for this.

　They protect their lives from danger and survive by doing so.

I have never heard of them attacking the cities of their natural enemies, humans, alone.

Was it manipulated by someone to do so?

　"What do you think?"

　I say exactly what I was thinking.

　Gervas nodded several times in agreement.

"It's an interesting idea, being manipulated. In fact, there are a small number of people who call themselves beast tamers and use monsters. Besides, here's where it gets interesting."

　"What?"

"That monster. It was defeated the next day."

　The next day? That took a long time.

"...And it was a second-grade yellow party that took down the monster."

　"Yellow? That's a pretty low rank to take it down, isn't it?"

　"You'd think so, wouldn't you? Apparently, these guys are using earth dragon as their pawn."

"H... huh?"

　A dragon? Isn't that what they are? They're fast, carnivorous creatures that live in some prairie area, aren't they?

　You mean the ones that attack anyone they see that looks edible other than themselves?

And they tame it?

　"You're kidding, right?"

　"No, it seems to be true. Several people have seen two people, a man and a woman, riding a dragon into town."

"I wonder what kind of magic they used...you mean they had the earth dragon they used finish it off?"

　Gervas frowns and shushes.

　"What's wrong?"

　"Maybe so, but I have other things on my mind."

　"What do you mean?"

"I'm thinking that this adventurer, I don't know how, can control monsters."

　"That's right."

"Then what if he's controlling this new species that attacked there?"

　Hey, hey, that's...

　"You want to call it a self-made match pump?"

　"Yeah, it's a good way for low-level adventurers to boost their reputations quickly, isn't it?"

　"Well, if that's the case, it's unforgivable."

　"It's a little suspicious, don't you think?"

　If I see him, I'll be careful.

　"I'll be on the lookout for them if I see them. Did you get that story from the guild?"

"Yes, it's very useful to have this. Why don't you take it?"

　Gervas showed a blue plate around his neck.

　"The cost of living is ridiculous. I can't keep doing it once I'm officially a knight, but I can make a little money, so it's very useful."

　"I have to help out at the store."

"Ah. That's right. Sania, right? She's so cute. Angie is quite pretty, too, and I wish I could live with them."

"It's not like that. I've been indebted to them all the time, so it's only natural that I should return the favor, right?"

　I think Angie is beautiful and Sania is pretty, but I have no such ulterior motives.

"You, I envy you even for free...and here they come."

　I hear footsteps behind me and a light tap on my shoulder.

　"Good morning. Rick, and by the way, Gervas."

　"Good morning, LeFeuer."

　"Good morning. I mean, am I just tag along?"

　The one who approached us was LeFeuer.

　She is a beautiful girl who joined us in the same year. She has long golden hair and blue eyes with a confident look.

　We became friends because we sat next to each other and talked a lot.

　"What are you talking about? If you have an interesting story, you should include me in it."

　Gervas smiled wryly.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it's appropriate for Miss LeFeure to hear."

　I simply told her what Gervas had told me.

"What is it with them? What a bunch of assholes! They set monsters against each other, and then they kill the monsters themselves to score points!"

　LeFeure snorted.

　"Well, it's hard to say, because it's not a definite thing."

　"But it's sure suspicious, isn't it? It was black when he conveniently showed up in town in the first place."

　Gervas laughed again.

"It's not that far away, and if there are people like that, you should be careful. And this is the real story."

　"What is it? What?"

Gervas's expression tightens.

"It's a story that's been happening here in Oldia. It hasn't been publicized yet, but I hear there are a lot of people missing."

　"Missing? You don't mean they ran away from home or something?"

　I asked back, and Gervas nodded and continued.

"Some people, mostly women and children, have been missing for the past few days."

　"Some people, you mean not many so far?"

　"Yeah, a few so far, but I've got some shady stories to go along with them."

　"What's that?"

　"Darzain."