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117. Childhood Friend – New Auditing Student

“Wow! This, this is the Monastery Church!”

On a snowy winter day, Lena exclaimed as she arrived at the Monastery Church.

She still found it hard to believe whether this was a dream or reality, so she pinched her cheek hard!

Her cheek turned as red as her pinch, protesting to her master, and Lena marveled while soothing her sore cheek.

What followed was a series of events that were almost unbelievable and filled with gratitude.

The priestess, Ophelia, who brought Lena here, was surprisingly a remarkable high-ranking clergyman, despite being a woman.

Thanks to her recommendation, which was close to that of the High Priest, Lena was granted the right to audit classes and receive a cell.

Thus began Lena’s life at the Monastery Church. She chose classes such as ‘Ancient Theology’ and ‘Acaian Empire Etiquette,’ which she was either unfamiliar with or interested in.

During this time, she also became acquainted with an auditing student named Daniel, who, despite his gentle demeanor, was somewhat uptight yet very kind.

Moreover, he was an excellent student who could always be found in the library.

The two occasionally exchanged theological theories while focusing on their studies.

As spring approached, Lena needed to take regular classes and various exams, so she wanted to strengthen her weaker areas.

Days of intense, happy, and blessed learning continued. However, it was quite noteworthy that a new auditing student appeared less than a week after Lena arrived at the Monastery Church.

In fact, it was rare for someone to enroll in the middle of the semester like Lena. Especially during winter, new apprentices were seldom seen because the Monastery Church accepted new students in the autumn.

The only institution that trains priests across the continent is the Monastery Church. While clergy can be educated anywhere, the issue lies with baptism.

The baptism that receives divine power from a priest. The ceremony to verify if one is worthy or not is presided over by the Holy Woman, and as a result, it became customary to enter the Monastery Church’s educational institution to become a priest.

Thus, the Monastery Church accepted countless aspiring priests from all over the continent for training. The reason new students are accepted in autumn is to ensure they do not encounter winter during their travels.

The ceremony to verify if one can efficiently accept divine power is also held in autumn. At that time, the Monastery Church excluded graduated priests or monks from its educational institution and accepted new students equivalent to those who had left.

So, having new students in winter was undoubtedly an unusual occurrence due to the educational facility being at full capacity shortly after accepting newcomers.

Of course, there was always room to accept a couple more. This was because highly ranked clergy’s recommendations or sudden applications from nobles occasionally occurred.

Lena was precisely in the former category, which was why she was granted a cell.

The newly arrived auditing student was in a similar situation as hers.

After the ‘Ancient Theology’ class ended, the apprentice approached hesitantly to ask a question.

“Excuse me. I have a question since I just joined… Where can I borrow the ‘Ancient Theology’ book? Or should I buy it separately?”

He wasn’t asking Lena. The apprentice sitting behind Lena with two braids responded.

“Are you an auditing student? If you are, they’ll let you borrow books from the library. Once the spring semester starts, you’ll need to buy it. Oh, since you probably came in with a recommendation, it might be provided for free. It’s best to check with the office about that.”

“I see. Thank you.”

The young man seemed to want to ask something more, but he turned around as if embarrassed.

Lena quickly figured out what he wanted to ask (since she had a similar experience) and followed him.

Sure enough, he was wandering around, unable to find the library.

“Excuse me.”

“Y-yes?! D-did you call me?”

When Lena called from behind, the young man jumped as if startled, visibly shocked.

The young man turned around and looked pitifully skinny and feeble.

His hair was a cloudy gray with a lot of white, and he was as tall as Lena.

Still, despite his lackluster features, his eyes sparkled with intelligence, making Lena feel like he could see right through her.

“Were you perhaps looking for the library? Sorry, but I overheard what you asked earlier.”

“Y-yes. Could I ask where the library is? I just entered the Monastery Church yesterday and don’t know my way.”

“Conveniently, I’m going that way too, so let me show you. Follow me.”

Although Lena had only been here a short while, she felt happy that she could help someone after receiving help from Daniel all the time.

As they walked side by side, silence fell. Lena thought that she would have been asking a million questions if it were her ─ so she decided to start a conversation.

“I heard you’re an auditing student. Nice to meet you. Actually, I’m also an auditing student.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“…”

“…”

‘What a quiet person.’

Somehow the conversation didn’t continue, but Lena shrugged it off.

Leo was a bit like that too, so it wasn’t that strange for her to face this kind of situation.

Walking quietly, Lena thought of Leo who had just crossed her mind.

‘I wonder how Leo is doing?’

Leo? Who is Leo?

Lena chuckled as she stood in front of the library. She thought she had been experiencing some mild amnesia lately.

‘Why do I keep thinking of Reb’s name as Leo? By the way, that’s a funny-sounding name. The “o-” ending is amusing.’

She made a mental note to tell Reb later as she said, “This is the library. Well, it was nice to meet you. See you again.”

“Th-thank you.”

Lena parted ways with the stuttering young man and began searching for a place to sit in the library.

Before going to her next class, she wanted to review what she had just learned, but the young man caught her eye again.

He seemed to be lost among the hundreds of bookshelves, wandering around.

‘That’s not where the theology books are…’

‘What a helpless older brother.’

Thinking that, Lena called out to him again. Keeping in mind that he had been startled previously, she waved her hand to make her presence known, but, regardless of her consideration, he jumped again in shock.

“Ah!”

“Oops, sorry! Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes, I-I’m fine. W-what is it?”

“This area doesn’t have theology books. You’re looking for Ancient Theology, right? That one is over there, to the right.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you. Thank you for your help.”

But she wasn’t done helping him yet. After finishing her review, as she stepped outside, she spotted him struggling to handle a thick ‘Ancient Theology’ book.

Lena took him to the librarian, and seeing how lost he was, she guided him back to his dorm.

The young man, who looked about three years older than Lena, mumbled hesitantly.

“Th-thank you. I won’t forget your kindness. W-what’s your name? I’m Veronian.”

She thought he seemed quite clumsy, and his lips trembled when he asked for her name.

Only then did Lena understand why this man was stuttering and jumping every time she called him.

He was the type who got flustered in front of women. A long time ago, Hans had been like that too.

“I’m Lena.”

“Lena?”

“No, it’s Le. Na. Nice to meet you. I should get going since I have class. See you next time.”

“Oh, thank you so much for today.”

Veronian bowed his head, and in doing so, knocked against the wall with his rear, losing balance, which made Lena chuckle.

She thought he was a bit adorable and ran off to attend her ‘Acaian Empire Etiquette’ class.

Naturally, there was no nobleman named Gilbert Forte in that class.

*

“Oh… So, Mr. Veronian, you must have studied theology from a young age?”

Lena asked as she tore off a piece of coarse bread. Veronian, sitting across from her, munched on the free potatoes provided at the Monastery Church.

“More than study, I followed my father around cleaning the church and read a little.”

Lena started spending much time with Veronian.

This was due to the many overlapping classes they had, especially since the ‘Udean Reading’ class was right before lunch, so they shared lunch together every day.

Fortunately, his stuttering speech reduced the more she got to know him, so there were no major communication problems now.

As she got to know him, she found Veronian to be a truly passionate student.

Lena studied hard too, but there was a hint of madness in Veronian’s approach to learning.

He didn’t just limit himself to notes; he summarized all the contents of the classes and materials in his own way and read them repeatedly until he memorized them. He read rapidly while walking, right after waking up, while waiting for the next class, and before going to sleep, jotting down his opinions like annotations on the summaries.

The amount of summarized papers he generated was enough to bind into a book in just a few weeks, so one could say Veronian had an obsessive mania toward learning.

This study method he inherited from his father…

“Your father is a monk? I’m not prying, but I’m just curious, can monks get married?”

“Um… I may have spoken in a way that could cause misunderstandings. My father and I are not biologically related. I was an orphan.”

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry. I misunderstood and asked something unnecessary.”

“It’s alright. You don’t need to apologize at all. Instead, I’m more interested in your question, Lady Lena. I believe marriage isn’t encouraged for monks, but it is not forbidden either. But then… why are priests not allowed to marry? I had many questions about why the church prohibits sexual relations for priests.”

Veronian’s eyes sparkled as his voice gained strength.

He turned into a completely different person, animatedly arguing about theology-related topics, as if he forgot himself.

And Lena, interested in anything regarding theology, asked.

“What are your thoughts on that? I’d love to hear.”

Veronian collected his thoughts while picking at the leftover potato peels in his wooden bowl and replied.

“From what I’ve learned, that’s not divine law. It’s a custom decided by the church, and there were numerous meetings and discussions before such customs were established. The main reason is that a single life is deemed more suitable for a priest’s duty. After all, if one has a family to support, the time and capacity to dedicate to the congregation and God would shrink. Yet, a curious point is…”

Veronian continued, absentmindedly picking breadcrumbs from Lena’s bowl with his fingers.

“Why is marriage allowed for monks but specifically forbidden for priests? Even… ahem, sexual relations too. As you may know, the only difference between a priest and a monk is whether they have received baptism, right?”

He added, “In serving God, that seems to be a rather trivial matter,” finishing his opinion as a question.

Lena felt her curiosity growing. She had never deeply contemplated this issue. It was something taken for granted, almost a common belief.

But now that the questions were beginning to form, her desire became kindling, lighting a fire in her heart.

It was because of Reb.

That friend who remained her only romantic interest told her that it would please him if she became a priest.

He had gently urged her not to give up on her dream while handing her the money he had worked hard to save up, offering to take her to Lutetia.

Yet even then, there was hesitation in Reb’s tone as he said that.

His desire to be with her was so palpable that it was heart-wrenching… making it all the more moving.

Reb was cheering for her dream while not wanting her to leave.

She couldn’t betray that feeling. Though she couldn’t see a way to get to the Monastery Church, she promised she would try her best, that she would never give up on her dream again.

And she had received an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Priestess Ophelia, arriving with autumn, brought her to the Monastery Church, and while departing, she shouted at Reb with all her might, holding back tears.

“Leo! I’ll do my best! I’ll definitely come back as a priest!”

The first blessing she would bestow upon returning as a priest would be for Reb. He was the one who sacrificed to allow her to become a priest…

However,

Why can’t priests marry?

Why must I not love Reb? There was no way that loving that friend would diminish her heart towards God. On the contrary, she would praise the grace that led her to meet him!

With a fuse now lit, Lena suddenly stood up. She urged Veronian, who was trying to lick his empty wooden bowl.

“Are you free now? Come with me to the library. I need to ask someone something.”

“W-wait, I haven’t finished eating…”

“You’ve had enough.”

Lena grabbed Veronian’s hand and pulled him toward the library.

Daniel, with two braids, was diligently studying in the library as always today.