The end of the sester assessnts. It was the final stretch of the Year 2 Sester 1
The academy was eager to end the suspension of classes as soon as possible for the students.
So, imdiately after my discussion with Emperor Carlos ended, it was decided that classes would resu the following day.
Before class, I contemplated.
Considering the Heavenly Beings, Fairies, and the EX-level variables, consistent training and growth were still vital.
This ti, I had hastily learned the 7-star spell, [Icebolt], in preparation for the Abyss, which resulted in a sowhat superficial mastery of the spell.
It was necessary to delve deeper into each magic as an intensive course. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to pursue mastery over other 7-star ice spells, and I also needed to hone my rock magic.
In this respect, instead of solely focusing on training, taking advantage of the prestigious lectures at Märchen Academy was beneficial.
This was why I had been diligently attending classes and beca known as a model student.
For the record, I didn’t enroll in courses that didn’t help with my training such as Magic Beast Ecology.
Considering the future, it would be good to take such courses, but I had to deal with the imdiate challenge of the Evil God first.
The periods for courses I didn’t sign up for were considered free ti.
In other words, I only took courses that were practical magic courses. It was all about selection and concentration.
“I’ve finished sothing huge…”
In Elma Hall Dormitory.
I sat on the floor and leaned against the bed to relish the aftermath of 「Act 9, Alice Subjugation」, which had finally concluded.
The thought that I didn’t need to be wary of Alice or the Phantom Cat Cheshire was a relief.
Now… no one can stop .
However, the realization that I still had a long way to go pulled back to reality. It seed my mind couldn’t fully relax yet.
I leaned my head back and laid it on the bed. Always looking down at books, the ceiling sohow seed unfamiliar.
It was quiet.
Suddenly, Alice’s face ca to mind.
“I ended up kissing her…”
I was caught off guard.
I had noticed that Alice saw as a man, but I hadn’t expected her to actually end up kissing .
Due to her unique trait, [Red Queen’s Paradox], I was unable to read her psychology. Even though the effect had weakened since she beca my subordinate, it was still difficult to read.
The stimulation from the kiss was stronger than I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because it was my first sober kiss despite a doubtful kiss with Dorothy.
Maybe because Alice had completely beco my ally, I felt a deep affection built up from the ti we spent together. That made the aftereffects of the kiss even more intense.
The blissful sensation of Alice’s smiling face lingered in my mind. It was the scenario I had feared the most. This would definitely disrupt my concentration during training.
With no other choice, I sang the national anthem in my mind to calm myself. It was better to keep this as just a pleasant mory for now.
When the ti ca, I grabbed my books, writing tools, and bag and left the dorm.
The ti has co.
Finally, the mont to face the uncomfortable stares had arrived.
And as soon as I stepped out of my dorm, the situation I had dreaded occurred.
“Hubh…!”
“Gasp…!”
As befitting the scale of the middle-high ranked Elma Hall, there were many students in uniform leaving the dorm.
They were all chatting and heading towards the gate, but it suddenly fell silent when I appeared.
Only the occasional nervous breath could be heard.
The students, sweating, looked at as if they were seeing soone frightening.
Despite the wide path, like the parting of the Red Sea, the students split to the left and right, opening a clear way to the gate of the dorm.
“…”
I continued on my path, feeling a trendous amount of pressure.
As I exited the dorm gates, I locked eyes with a female student with rose-gold hair standing in front of the roadside trees holding her bag.
She had a dainty, graceful lady deanor, but there were dark shadows around her eyes. Her stern gaze made stiffen up.
“Hello, Isaac.”
“Hello, Luce… Are you feeling better now?”
***
As we walked towards Orphin Hall of the Magic Departnt, I explained my situation to Luce.
It wasn’t much different from what I had told the Emperor. I had explained that I ca to Märchen Academy because of the demons and that I planned to continue protecting the people.
Going into more detail would only complicate things. I thought this explanation should be sufficient for Luce to understand and support .
However…
I had accumulated a lot of karma over ti. I knew perfectly well that Luce liked my disguised appearance, yet I pretended not to notice.
Fortunately, I was now stronger than Luce.
I wasn’t too worried anymore, but if Luce were to suddenly enact the bad ending「Bird Cage」, it wouldn’t be too big of an issue.
Yet, Luce seed very calm even after hearing my story.
“You don’t seem too surprised.”
“Yeah, actually, from the beginning… no, I was completely shocked.”
Luce maintained her poker face and hurriedly changed the subject. Her tone was awkward as if she was reading from a textbook.
It seed like she was avoiding saying, “I had suspected from the start,” because it would an admitting she had liked , Isaac, from the beginning.
“Is that so?”
She looked adorable. It helped ease my tension, making smile.
“I heard you slept a lot these past few days? What did you do after waking up?”
“I confronted Galia. I asked why he hadn’t told about your identity. He played dumb.”
I’m sorry, Galia.
“Anyway… why did you train so hard if you were that strong, Isaac? It always seed like you were pushing your limits. It didn’t seem like an act…”
“I have my reasons. I’ll explain when it’s just the two of us.”
Explaining things like ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, possession, or the status window might be too difficult to understand.
So, it seed better to vaguely tell Luce that I had a unique constitution to make it believable.
The difficult parts could be ignored just as Galia had done… with a dismissive attitude.
Anyway, it’s not like anyone can stop from training if I don’t explain.
People would naturally co up with their own reasons that made sense if I just lived as usual.
“Just the two of us…”
anwhile, Luce seed pleased at the thought of being alone with .
Soon, we arrived at Orphin Hall of the Magic Departnt.
Even as we passed through the corridors, students glanced at out of the corner of their eyes, holding their breath. They were either scared of , admired , or thought I was cool… all their thoughts revolved around .
Luce, generally indifferent to people’s stares, didn’t seem to care. I tried to ignore it too.
“Isaac, you can’t sleep in class just because you don’t need to study.”
“Why would I doze off?”
Luce tossed a playful joke and giggled.
Since we had different classrooms, we had to part ways here.
Usually, Luce liked to stay by my side until class started.
However, for the ti being, I had told her I needed so ti to explain things to my classmates, so we couldn’t hang out together.
Luce seed displeased but tried to understand. I could tell she had grown in her own way.
“Luce.”
“Yeah?”
It was awkward, but it seed the right ti to speak my mind.
“I heard about what happened when I was swallowed by the demon.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“Umm…”
Luce seed unsure of what to say, then she ca closer and gently tapped the back of my hand with her finger.
Her head was slightly lowered, and through her cascading hair, I could see her cheeks flushed a subtle red.
“...Then, return the favor. When it’s just the two of us.”
Luce whispered then turned around and headed towards the Class A room.
“What favor?”
Luce didn’t answer my question and went into her classroom.
It seed like she was hoping for sothing romantic that could cross the line of friendship. Unfortunately, it was still too early for that. I’d have to find sothing nice to give her instead.
I entered the classroom of Class B. The classroom, which had been noisy, fell silent as soon as I entered.
Tristan Humphrey, who often picked fights with , Mateo Jordana, who I was close with, and Amy Holloway, who had always been affectionate towards .
All of them just looked at with tense faces without saying a word.
I walked robotically to an available seat in the middle.
This is so uncomfortable…
As I reached my seat, I reflected on how I had lived in the academy.
Am I a deceiver?
To them, I might have seed like nothing more than soone pretending to be a student.
Of course, I had been protecting the academy, so everyone should understand my situation.
I just hoped this suffocating vibe would dissipate soon.
I sat down and pulled out a book from my bag.
“Tsk.”
Tristan, sitting at the front, glanced at , then clicked his tongue and turned his head toward the professor’s desk.
He was soone who aid to surpass . I knew well that he had been tirelessly training to catch up to .
But now that it was revealed I was the Naless Hero, he seed to be experiencing a myriad of complex emotions.
I was quietly observing the back of Tristan’s head as he was lost in thought, when…
“Uhm…”
A female student approached .
We had hardly spoken in class. She was just a regular NPC in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
But her nervous deanor with hands clasped together was unusual. It seed she felt a mix of admiration, guilt, and affection towards .
“How should we address you from now on…?”
I see. She must be torn.
Whether to use informal or formal speech.
What to address as.
Just calling Isaac might seem too casual now that my status has risen.
I knew what being an Elental King entailed. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Elental Kings were the central force of this world.
Since the students’ attention was focused on , it might be a good ti to clarify things.
“Just do as you usually do. Call Isaac.”
“I-Isaac… Then, uhm… I’m really sorry, no, I apologize… I’ve wanted to say this for a while… I didn’t recognize you last year and ignored you, I’m really sorry.”
She stamred a lot.
I didn’t realize she had been part of the group that ignored during the first sester of my freshman year.
I wasn’t particularly bothered by it.
“It’s okay. And don’t bother speaking formally, it’s too burdenso.”
Her expression gradually brightened as I treated her normally.
She handed a small gift as an apology, telling it was cookies that she made herself.
Suddenly, I rembered Luce trying to sneak into my room to leave cookies and couldn’t help but laugh.
It was a gift that clearly contained affection, so I thought I shouldn’t ignore it. I thanked her and accepted it, and she was filled with joy.
“Isaac.”
This ti, a male student I was sowhat friendly with approached.
He was one of the guys who used to hang around Mateo’s group during the first sester of my freshman year. After Mateo’s group disbanded, he seed to have gained so insight and matured.
“The demon that appeared in the sky, the Starry Sky Demon… You were swallowed by that demon but you were able to defeat it.”
The students seed very tense.
The Empire referred to the Abyss as “Starry Sky”, similar to the “Floating Island”. Since the inside of the Abyss was unknown, it was nad based only on its appearance.
“What happened then?”
The students hesitated to approach but showed great interest.
I was thankful they asked.
“Are you curious?”
“Y-you don’t have to tell us…!”
“I might be able to tell you guys a little bit.”
I said smugly as I pushed up my glasses. Encouraged by my approachable response, the students gradually let down their guard and slowly gathered around.
I ntioned the inside of the Abyss as much as it was safe to share.
Before I knew it, all my classmates from Class B, except for Tristan, had gathered around , bombarding with all sorts of questions.
The atmosphere gradually softened. Everyone seed to be letting go of their reservations about . So students praised my fighting prowess.
Questions about the Naless Hero, my secrets, and demons ca one after another. However, I refused to answer questions about sensitive information, stating they should be discussed with the Empire and the academy. They seed to understand.
“Hey, Isaac, is the academy still in danger?”
A serious question from a female student got everyone’s attention.
For them, now that the traitor was exposed and major incidents were resolved, whether the academy was safe was their most pressing concern.
Well.
Villains would erge outside of the academy, unlike before.
The main bosses of the Sester 2 Year 2…
Vuel the Treacherous Celestial.
Rachnil the Iron Fairy.
Calgart the Necromancer.
Thanatos the Ruination.
I plan to find and defeat the final boss of Sester 1 Year 3, phisto the Contractor.
The Abyss was supposed to be with phisto during our junior year, but I’d already dealt with him, so if I could just get the dangerous bosses from the second sester of our sophomore year taken care of, there would be a few scenario gaps during our junior year.
It was uncertain whether the Evil God would fill those gaps. It might be starting to prepare for its resurrection, so maybe I should save up my mana…
But, I’d gladly accept more EXP to take down the Evil God.
I shook my head and reassured everyone that demons wouldn’t be popping out of the academy anymore.
Of course, there was still the Evil God, but that wasn’t sothing to ntion here.
The students cheered. They must have been quite anxious.
Finally, the atmosphere turned into one of praising my greatness.
I’m enjoying the popularity I never had in my past life…
Recalling my quiet school days in the past brought a new sense of nostalgia.
It wasn’t a bad /genesisforsaken
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