“It went up… My Level went up!” shouted Eisam.
Over this past month, after receiving harsh training from his teacher for a month, his Level had finally increased by 1.
One might think that he was over-celebrating, given that his Level had only increased by 1. But for him, an instructor at the Hero Preparatory School… it was great progress.
Eisam had encountered walls in his developnt nurous tis in the past. But he had overco them every ti. With diligent training and repeatedly defeating monsters that he couldn’t defeat without pushing himself too hard, he had steadily clawed his way over those walls.
But this last wall had simply been too high. Even with consistent efforts for over a year, and then a second year, he couldn’t overco it at all.
At the ti he encountered this wall, Eisam had been a C-class adventurer. C-class adventurers were the kind that would be seen as local heroes, and many of them acquired Titles such as ‘Strong Arm’ or ‘Sword of Ice,’ though Eisam hadn’t acquired a Title himself.
C-class adventurers also received favorable treatnt at the Guild compared to those of D-class and below.
Eisam had reached C-class, which was nothing to scoff at, given that the majority of adventurers only ever reached D-class despite their greatest efforts. In fact, he deserved praise for this achievent.
Satisfied with this, Eisam had retired. The Adventurers’ Guild had recognized his good character and his admirable career, and written him a letter of recomndation, which had allowed him to find employnt at the Hero Preparatory School.
And so, Eisam had taught passionately, wanting to pass on the skills that he had cultivated to his students. He did feel satisfaction as his students grew stronger and then graduated from the school, but he also felt a little sad.
And then he had co to a realization – He didn’t want to give up yet.
But this was a thorny path for Eisam. It was true that if he were to continue defeating the monsters that he was able to defeat, without giving up, then it might be possible that he would be able to overco this wall in his developnt one day. But there was no telling when that day would co. Almost ten years had already passed since he encountered this wall.
He would need to go into a Devil’s Nest or Dungeon every morning. He would have to fight against monsters that he had more than a ninety percent chance of defeating, but he would still be risking his life. He would be returning ho covered in sweat, the blood of the monsters he killed, and his own blood as well.
He already had enough savings. Rather than living his life that way, perhaps it would be better for him to continue his stable job as an instructor, maybe even have a family, and live a comfortable life.
As he struggled with this decision, he encountered his teacher, who beat him handily. His ‘Spear Technique,’ which had plenty of diligent training and experience behind it, was rendered completely useless, and he was defeated easily, as if he were a child.
Although Eisam had gone all-out, his teacher had held back so that he wouldn’t be injured, and even complinted his technique. His pride was broken… no, it was ground to dust.
But the difference in strength between Eisam and his teacher was so great that his teacher had no choice but to treat him that way.
Beginning from the next day, he had earnestly requested the teacher for training. The training imposed on him by the teacher consisted only of repeated practice battles with advice on things to improve. Eisam had spent every day fighting practice battles against his teacher, the students, and his colleagues who had also asked the teacher for training.
The training had helped them improve their flaws. The teacher had watched over Eisam and the others as if he had more than one pair of eyes, pointing out their problems and what they were lacking.
After a month of this training, Eisam had finally overco the wall in his developnt.
“Sensei! I’m going to graduate this sester and return to being an adventurer! Thank you for your instruction!” he said, tears flowing from his eyes.
Vandalieu took his hands and nodded. “Good work on keeping up with the training. Everything is the result of your hard work, Eisam-sensei. I’m very proud of you… But I’ve said this multiple tis, and I’ve almost given up on reminding you – I’m the student, and you’re the teacher.”
Eisam had indeed trained hard, and given that there were no obvious signs in his speech or behavior, he probably hadn’t received Vandalieu’s divine protection. But it was likely that he had been guided. But why was a teacher telling him about his graduation (change of occupation) and thanking him?
Vandalieu was living a fulfilling school life, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that sothing was a little off.
orilith sighed as she spread three docunts across her desk.
“I don’t know whether to be relieved that it wasn’t worse, or whether to be afraid that this is just the beginning… I an, well, I personally think he did very well, and I do intend to celebrate and support Eisam and the others as they depart our school and move on,” she said, feeling conflicted.
“It could have been worse, couldn’t it?” said Dandolip, otherwise known as Randolf ‘the True,’ with a complicated expression that could be interpreted as both a smile and a grimace. “It’s only the end of April. Eisam and the others will be leaving at the end of the sester… There are still five months between now and the end of September. You just need to find new instructors before then. The situation is far less severe than I imagined.”
Among the five instructors that had been receiving Vandalieu’s training along with the other students, three of them, including Eisam, had voiced a desire to resign. However, this was not terrible news, as the reason for their resignation was because they wanted to give adventuring another try… and it seed that all three of them had overco the walls in their developnt.
Incidentally, the worst-case scenario imagined by Randolf was all of Vandalieu’s instructors and classmates having their spirits broken and leaving the school.
“Honestly, it’s difficult for to believe that he helped instructors who are forr C-class adventurers overco walls in their developnt with nothing but practice battles,” said Randolf. “If it were just one of them, I might have considered it a coincidence that they overca the wall in their developnt at the sa ti Vandalieu enrolled at the school, but… there are three of them. It’s safe to assu that Vandalieu has a Skill that promotes developnt in people.”
“I see… But it seems to be of a different kind to the senior student nad Alex. Alex has found dormant talent in people and helped those talents bloom. But Vandalieu can promote developnt in veteran instructors who surely have no further talents to bring out,” said orilith. “Could it be that he is a ‘Guider?’”
orilith was a forr A-class adventurer, and she was an Elf who had lived for over a hundred years, over which she had gained a wealth of experience. She had so knowledge about ‘Guider’ Jobs.
She had never actually t a Guider before, but from the literature that had been written about Guiders and their companions, she knew that they could grant their companions sothing similar to the divine protections of gods, despite being mortal.
Randolf didn’t deny this possibility. “It’s possible… In fact, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t.”
He had t Heinz on just one occasion, so he had already t a Guider other than Vandalieu before… though he had received instruction from and perford on stage with Kanako for much longer.
“Everyone around him is far too powerful, including his mother. If he really is serving the Alcrem Duchy, Takkard could probably turn the Orbau Kingdom into the Alcrem Kingdom if he wanted to,” Randolf continued. “I don’t have any doubt that the boy is a Guider. He has the agreeable ideologies and thoughts of a Guider, too.”
“The reforms that everyone is talking about… I can agree with them too, but I find it hard to believe that Eisam beca friendly with Vandalieu because he agrees with the reforms,” said orilith.
“I agree with you on that point,” said Randolf.
Guider’s powers extended only to their companions. They targeted far more people than just their party mbers, but even so, the range of their power had their limits. It was difficult to imagine that the instructors had entered the range of Vandalieu’s guidance just by receiving training in combat from him.
If the literature was correct, it wasn’t just respect and trust for Vandalieu that Eisam needed; it would be strange for him to beco guided unless he supported the reforms being pushed by Duke Alcrem as well.
And if he had been guided, Eisam’s reason for leaving his job would be because he wanted to serve Vandalieu rather than because he wanted to beco an adventurer again – though perhaps it wasn’t actually as straightforward as that.
“Well, whether he’s a Guider or not doesn’t matter to ,” said orilith. “It’s problematic for us when our teaching staff leave, but we’ll manage. It’s impossible to do anything about a Guider, after all.”
A Guider’s guidance was their ideals. Thus, if one didn’t want to beco guided by Vandalieu, all they had to do was not communicate with him. They needed to not exchange words with him, make eye contact with him, or read things that he had written. If one did that, they wouldn’t be guided, as far as orilith knew.
… In truth, Vandalieu was able to guide people in his dreams, so even doing all of the above wouldn’t guarantee that one wouldn’t be guided, but such asures would still have so effect.
However, taking those asures would be impossible, as this place was a school, and Vandalieu was a student… though recently, more and more of the staff had stopped treating him as one.
If orilith and Randolf were going to take such asures, it would have been better to forcibly give him a failing result at the entrance examination to begin with.
“It’s gotten to the point where so of the teaching staff are so frank with him that he’s recently started attending staff etings – though Eisam and the others apparently dragged him there, causing him much confusion,” said orilith.
“Yeah, and Eisam apparently doesn’t find it unnatural at all for Vandalieu to be there… Maybe it’s a good thing that he quit?” said Randolf.
“You might be right about that. His behavior is problematic for an educational staff mber. It was so unnatural that I was too late to deal with it, though,” said orilith.
Though it was a little late at this point, she would implent heavy-handed asures now, such as banning Vandalieu from staff facilities and strictly telling the staff to treat him as a student. She didn’t think he would be bothered by that.
“Now then, it’s been a month since he enrolled. I’m sure Vandalieu will formally join Elizabeth’s party, just as he said he would, but… do you think everything will be alright?” orilith asked.
The Hero Preparatory School had a rule that forced new students to only form parties with other students from the sa class until a month after their enrollnt.
Thus, Vandalieu would submit the paperwork and officially join Elizabeth’s party tomorrow.
Incidentally, up until this point, he had been a free solo student who hadn’t submitted any paperwork to the school or joined any party, despite his declaration that he would join Elizabeth’s party.
Thus, neither Vandalieu nor Elizabeth had broken any of the school regulations… Ordinarily, the instructors would have warned Vandalieu that he wouldn’t last in the practical training, and Elizabeth would have been criticized for clearly recruiting him before the one month had passed.
But the instructors were the ones receiving instruction from Vandalieu, so there was no way they could tell him that he would not last in the practical training, and people were impressed with Elizabeth for managing to recruit the son of Honorary Countess Zakkart, rather than criticizing her.
“I’m sure there will be no trouble. Given Vandalieu’s behavior thus far, he is generally a composed person. Even if an upperclassman were to pick a fight with him, he would let it slide without incident… Even if so fool were to insult the lunch boxes his mother makes or try to ss with his sister Pauvina or his familiars, he will surely use so cunning trick to make sure that no trouble arises,” said Randolf.
“I feel like the latter would be a problem. But if that’s the extent of it, I’m sure we’ll manage. Our school has few events, and… from now on, it’ll be the duty of Elizabeth, his party’s leader, to keep him in check,” said orilith.
The Hero Preparatory School didn’t have school events like the school camps, cultural festivals, and sports days of schools on Earth. There was practical training that involved spending the night in a Devil’s Nest or Dungeon, or assignnts where students would actually accompany an adult adventurer to guard a rchant caravan for a week, but it was still just practical training. It wasn’t mandatory; students were free to opt in or out of them.
“If possible, I would like them to achieve their stunning grades and hurry up and graduate,” orilith said.
anwhile, Alex was writing sothing in his room at the school’s dormitory. His room was so large that one would never imagine that it was a student’s dorm room, and its furnishings were of high quality as well. It wasn’t quite large enough to fit the entire house he had lived in back in his ho village, but to him, it felt too luxurious for two people to live in.
But students from noble families in other duchies sotis lived in this dormitory, so it would cause trouble if the rooms were the sa as those in the dormitories of ordinary Adventurers’ Schools… which were often only slightly better than the cheapest lodging houses, with two creaky bunk beds squeezed in.
Thus, this dorm’s rooms were completely furnished with high-quality beds, as well as individual writing desks, storage spaces, and Magic Items for lighting.
The school didn’t charge rent for these rooms, so Alex was very grateful.
“I’m in the black this month, too,” he murmured.
What he was writing was his financial records. The school recomnded that students keep such records.
Adventuring was a dangerous profession, and each day could be an adventurer’s last. Perhaps because of this, many of them spent all the money they earned, enjoying their ti as much as they could.
But if they did that, they wouldn’t be able to support themselves when the ti ca for them to retire. There were also so who couldn’t buy new equipnt due to spending all their money on drinking and gambling, which ended up being the reason they were killed.
To change this situation, each Adventurers’ School recomnded that students keep a record of their finances. Like the students who had co before him, Alex was recording his finances.
“But… I’m deep in the red when it cos to dealing with Pauvina and Vandalieu,” he whispered to himself, checking that his roommate was sound asleep before letting out a heavy sigh.
Ever since that incident, it seed that Vandalieu and Pauvina were treating Alex like so kind of pervert. Every ti he even ca close to them, Vandalieu’s familiars, as well as the students and instructors that were friendly with him, would suddenly raise their guard.
There was no way he could see their Statuses… He had been able to see the Status of Vandalieu’s familiars, but as expected, he hadn’t been able to learn anything about them because they had been censored. Given the number of censored items on their Statuses, he did know that they possessed a great number of Skills.
Of course, he couldn’t invite them to join him, either. For the past month, they had been doing training similar to real battles sowhere outside the city, so Alex had little contact with them.
At this rate, perhaps it would be better to give up on having them beco his companions.
He was also now interested in Elizabeth Sauron and the rest of her party, whom he’d had no interest in until this sester.
Interested in the special training that Vandalieu and the others were doing, he had checked Elizabeth and her party’s Statuses again with his ‘Demon Eyes of Great Appraisal.’
In doing so, he had learned that Elizabeth had overco the wall in her growth that she had been struggling with, and Mahelia, Zona, and the rest had seen increases in their Levels and Attribute Values.
Of course, Alex had improved over the past month as well, but… the pace of their developnt was clearly abnormal.
Rumors said that their special training consisted of fighting against monsters that had been dragged out of their natural habitats by adventurers. Could they be true?
Even adventurers, who essentially do that every day, don’t have their Levels increase at that pace. The possibility of the adventurers not just capturing the monsters, but weakening them as well for Elizabeth and the others to finish off… is out of the question, since their Skill Levels are increasing as well, Alex thought. What’s the secret behind their strength? I’ve heard that it’s beco more common to be granted divine protections from gods since a few years back, but they don’t have any…
Alex’s only knowledge of Guiders was what legends said of them, so he was completely bewildered as to how Elizabeth and her companions had grown so strong in such a short period of ti. He had been particularly surprised when he used his ‘Demon Eyes of Appraisal’ to check Elizabeth’s Status and saw that she had overco the wall in her developnt… which had been considerably high, the last ti he had checked it.
But Elizabeth and her companions hadn’t received ‘Vandalieu’s Divine Protection’ yet. As they had only been guided, there was nothing for Alex to see with the ‘Demon Eyes of Great Appraisal.’
Is it Vandalieu after all? Does he have a Unique Skill or sothing that promotes the developnt of others? If so… I’ll have to check his Status during the practical training. If it’s during training, his familiars might still get in my way, but the instructors won’t. But… if his Status is going to be censored as well, then it’ll be pointless, won’t it?
In Orbau’s castle, Pri Minister Urgen Tercatanis was reporting on the progress of the tasks that he had been assigned.
“I have already gathered ten fragnts of the Demon King in the sanctuary in the royal castle, including the fragnt that has been safeguarded by the Tercatanis house,” he said.
He was leaning over a piece of paper bearing sothing resembling an unusual holy symbol. Apparently, this was serving as an improvised altar.
“Fake seals have already been prepared to take their place… Do you require five more? I will need a little more ti for that.”
So ti ago, Tercatanis had received a Divine ssage from a god who called himself ‘Rikudou Hijiri,’ and at his request, he had been gathering fragnts of the Demon King.
He’d heard from the head of the Church of Alda that Divine ssages had originally instructed the Churches to keep a strict guard over the Demon King fragnts, so it had been a simple matter of issuing official notices to each Church, informing them that the fragnts needed to be sealed and managed in the sacred grounds of the royal castle.
In reality, however, sacred grounds were just spaces that were consecrated through rituals carried out by priests and clerics, casting spells that made it difficult for outsiders to trespass. The sacred grounds in the royal castle weren’t much different from those in the Churches.
The royal castle was superior in the sense that it was more heavily guarded, as it had the protection of the ‘Six Phalanxes of Orbau’ that were the Orbau Kingdom’s prided fighting force, but even so, given the risk that ca with moving the Demon King fragnts, there wasn’t much point in moving them.
“Yes. Please leave it to ,” said Tercatanis, who seed to have received the ti extension that he had requested from the god he was talking to.
He stood up and put the piece of paper with the holy symbol on it, which had turned his desk into an improvised altar, into his breast pocket.
“It will take so ti to gather the fragnts that are being kept in the other duchies. There is also a high risk of information being leaked. Do I have no choice but to move the Demon King fragnt that is sealed in the depths of the royal castle’s treasury? But in order to do that, I would need the royal crown, which is one of its keys. What shall I do?” he murmured to himself.
He didn’t doubt that Rikudou Hijiri was a god. He had investigated the possibility that his Divine ssage was so form of magical communication pretending to be a Divine ssage, and whether he had sohow been brainwashed through drugs, but Rikudou Hijiri’s words were not the creation of a spell or drugs… And nobody was hiding nearby and whispering in his ear, of course.
Rikudou Hijiri had also given Tercatanis information that only a god could know. Vandalieu’s true history and nature. The nation of Vida’s races and Undead beyond the Boundary Mountain Range, which had its fangs bared at the rest of the continent. The defeat of the ‘Blue-flad Sword’ Heinz.
Tercatanis had believed that as long as the Orbau Kingdom didn’t make a mistake in dealing with Vandalieu, it could overco the reforms being pushed by Duke Alcrem and Vandalieu’s existence while maintaining its order. Vida’s races would have to be given more rights than what was accepted by Alda’s peaceful faction, including the acknowledgent of Ghouls as one of Vida’s races, but no further damage would be caused.
But in reality, this wasn’t the case. Duke Alcrem had already beco a tool of the nation ruled by Vandalieu, and he was trying to sell out the Orbau Kingdom.
Perhaps this would bring more happiness to the mbers of Vida’s races and the worshipers of Vida living in the kingdom. Perhaps a portion of the poor would gain the chance to change their lives.
But Urgen Tercatanis and his family, which had strong connections to the Church of Alda, would lose their social status and their power. It was possible that they could even lose their assets and their lives.
Tercatanis wouldn’t stand for this. It was he and his house that had supported the Orbau Kingdom and protected its order. After all that his house had done for the kingdom, he could not accept that it would et such a pitiful end.
“It is absolutely absurd to sacrifice us, the ones who rule and lead the people, as well as a great number of citizens, in order to save a small number of the poor. I must prevent it at all costs,” he muttered to himself.
He couldn’t leave this matter in the hands of a youngster who had already been defeated once. He had been chosen by a god, and it was he that would wield his power to save the nation.
Rikudou, who remained in Rodcorte’s Divine Realm, looked down upon Urgen Tercatanis with a satisfied expression.
“Da, thanks to your ‘Sahadeva,’ I’ve managed to manipulate him very nicely,” he said.
“It was my honor,” said the ‘Sahadeva’ Da, one of the reincarnated individuals who served Rikudou, with a bow.
It wasn’t magic or drugs that had made Pri Minister Tercatanis believe that he had received a Divine ssage. It was a cheat-like ability.
Da’s ‘Sahadeva’ was an ability that could possess a target to make him constantly aware of their state, and it also allowed reciprocal communication in the form of telepathy.
He had used this ability with Tercatanis as the target and communicated Rikudou’s will to him, making it possible for Tercatanis to hear Rikudou’s voice at any ti, just like an ordinary conversation.
But it would be too harsh to expect Tercatanis to realize that on his own. After all, he didn’t know about the existence of cheat-like abilities that were not spells, drugs, or Skills.
And like the majority of Lambda’s population, he had no prior experience of receiving a Divine ssage. Thus, he couldn’t tell the difference between ordinary Divine ssages and the conversations he’d been having with Rikudou.
Of course, he’d quickly realize the difference if he were to read past records of Divine ssages or asked the head of the Church of Alda, with which he had deep connections, but because Rikudou had given him information that ‘only a god could know,’ Tercatanis’s doubts had vanished… though the source of this information was Rodcorte.
As for his na, Rikudou had told him that he was a god from another world, and that he needed the fragnts of the Demon King in order to descend upon Lambda.
Da’s ability normally required him to be within about a ter of the target to activate it, but –
“I am the one who strengthened his ability so that it can be used without needing to et the target, and even use it from my Divine Realm,” said Rodcorte. “Well, I am not seeking your gratitude; I am just ensuring that you do not grow impudent.”
Da had been able to use his cheat-like ability with the support of Rodcorte, the one who had given it to him.
“I know. I haven’t forgotten that your assistance is vital here,” said Da.
Seemingly satisfied with this, Rodcorte looked away. anwhile, Rikudou was paying him no attention; he was simply waiting impatiently for the Demon King fragnts to be gathered.
“I have beco a demigod, and I need a god’s body that is worthy… the fragnts of the body of Guduranis. Once I have gathered enough of them, I shall be resurrected and defeat the repulsive ‘Undead,’ and beco a true god,” Rikudou murmured.
Inside his chest were crystal-like objects… fragnts of Guduranis’s soul.
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