Chapter 286

If a person cannot eat food, they cannot last for more than three weeks.

If there is no water, they cannot last for more than three days, and if they cannot gain warmth in a cold place, they cannot last for more than three hours.

And without air, they cannot last even three minutes.

So, what if they are in a situation where they must charge toward the enemy trench, wearing military gear with no bulletproof performance and a cumbersome helmet that continuously causes cold sweat to bead up on their forehead?

If countless bullets from a machine gun are raining down thickly, and they are lucky enough to dodge artillery shells exploding nearby that send dirt flying in all directions, they must cross a no-man’s land that is hundreds of steps away.

How long could that person endure?

As they rush through the no-man’s land, a bullet flies precisely toward their forehead. The nameless soldier who has yet to notice it is simply unlucky.

The bullet pierces through the helmet, creating a hole on the opposite side and exiting. Brain matter, blood, and torn flesh will spill out from the new opening at the back of their head and scatter in all directions.

How long does it take for all of this to happen?

Three hours? Three minutes? Or perhaps, three seconds?

If they are truly, truly unfortunate enough to get hit by a stray bullet fired from a trench far away, it would take only three seconds for them to collapse.

A single life can be decided in a matter of just three seconds.

I and Major Meijhem survived that hell on earth. We gained nothing.

Major Meijhem lost his right arm. I sustained an injury to my right shoulder, and even now, I feel pain whenever I overexert it. This injury will likely remain with me permanently.

People must have woken up in bed as usual. They had breakfast, went to work or school for their respective tasks, and after returning home, they had dinner with their families.

Major Meijhem and I rotted on the battlefield for five years.

Those who were not conscripted simply spent five years “doing nothing.”

Major Meijhem and I have been living a lifetime with just those five years.

People are now creating their lifetime with the time they are experiencing in this moment.

Living and creating.

If one does not know the difference, then the realization gained through the topic I presented in class will be absent.

“Right?”

I murmured inwardly while looking at the students filling the lecture hall. The response I received was none, as much as I hadn’t verbalized it.

No, there was a slightly different response.

In the middle row and the front, two pairs of eyes, one pink and the other red, were glaring at me. People can convey their intentions through eye contact without needing to speak.

In that sense, those two were answering my question.

If they do not comprehend the true meaning of the class topic I mentioned, then maintaining Class A next year will be difficult.

Of course, that was a matter the students must work hard on, not something I could help with. I stood at the lectern and cheerfully greeted the students.

“Nice to meet you.”

A cliché greeting. The students’ reply was, as always, the same routine.

Glancing out the window at the morning sunlight casting its rays inside, indeed, it is a refreshing Tuesday.

Considering that the atmosphere in class plunges to the bottom on the beginning of the week, Monday, Tuesday brings forth bright expressions on the students’ faces, thinking about striving hard to live through this week. It was just like any other class beginning.

However, today would be a little different.

Just as sometimes there are sudden showers even on clear days.

*

“Last Friday, I left the class to you. Do you remember?”

Laura von Adelheit continued to gaze at Professor Antorelli. In her bright red eyes, it seemed like flames were about to burst forth.

“What was the intention behind that?”

Laura whispered inwardly. Professor Antorelli, seemingly oblivious to Laura’s gaze, casually wrote something on the blackboard.

[ From a theological perspective, is inevitable killing permissible? ]

That was a question we encountered in last Friday’s class.

It was a question cast by Professor Antorelli to students sunk in lethargy.

And the effect was definite. It was akin to throwing a stone into a calm pond.

Students bored with the same old class suddenly began to focus, triggered by Professor Antorelli, who started to smile faintly.

As Professor Antorelli walked down from the podium, he picked up a chair that had been below and placed it in front of the lectern.

Once he sat on it, the same scenery as the last class unfolded.

“Today is a continuation of that class.”

Most students, except for Laura, did not show very bright expressions. Yet at the same time, they were waiting for something.

Expressions that seemed unable to hold back their curiosity. Restless movements indicating a desire to swiftly uncover the answer to this riddle.

A heavy silence enveloped the classroom, pressing down as if to silence the tiny noises originating from that restlessness. The students looked at Professor Antorelli without speaking, and he, for a moment, returned their gaze without a word.

Professor Antorelli glanced at his wristwatch and then opened his mouth while sitting upright.

“The class has begun.”

There was no tremor in his words. A deep and low voice echoing as if from a cavern. However, it clearly resonated in the students’ ears.

The students, who had hesitated for a moment, cautiously began to speak. Laura opted to quietly observe.

“They were disappointed last week because there was a disturbance without saying anything. This time, everyone will surely exhibit restraint.”

Just as she thought, the students remembered the feedback from Professor Antorelli’s previous class and cautiously began speaking.

“…I’ve been thinking a bit.”

“Uh, yes….”

“Louis, we need to reflect some of your opinions as well. Um….”

“…I think so too. I must have been too agitated last week.”

Up until last week, they had been raising their voices and fiercely disputing opinions, but now, it appeared as if they were calmly discussing as if the confrontation had never happened—Louis and Angela, the top student and second place in the department of theology.

Louis and Angela had their own thoughts. They even met separately over the weekend to discuss Professor Antorelli’s class, showing their sincere commitment to it.

While other students might show less enthusiasm due to different departments, Louis and Angela were both from the department of theology. It wouldn’t make sense for a student from the department of theology to neglect their theology classes.

Thus, after earnestly debating over the weekend, they had now reached a compromise that allowed them to engage in class.

If it were the same situation as last week, they would have fought to assert their opinions, but they gleaned hints from Professor Antorelli’s past statements.

– Today’s class is an interactive one. However, I will not engage in any teaching in today’s class.

An interactive class. Yet, the term felt slightly odd.

Normally, isn’t an interactive class referred to when a professor conducts a lesson while encouraging students to participate more actively?

Nobody knew exactly what kind of interactive class Professor Antorelli envisioned, but at the very least, Louis and Angela realized that the current structure of the class was definitely not the form they were familiar with as interactive.

Students were not able to resolve their differing opinions through debate.

Professor Antorelli merely observed.

Even though students were unable to narrow down their differing viewpoints, they reached no conclusion.

Professor Antorelli simply sat there quietly.

Even as the conversations among the students began to slightly heat up, no one intervened or tried to calm things down.

Professor Antorelli truly did nothing.

Neither mediating conflict nor coordinating disputes.

– I will not involve myself in any matters concerning the class scope, exam questions, or the overall coordination of the lesson. I will only show you the general topic of today’s class.

Moreover, he did not take charge of leading the overall course. He did nothing.

Could that mean he was irresponsible?

Professor Antorelli seemed deeply invested in his students’ theology class.

An irresponsible person in class does not propose a bizarre approach like an “integrated year exam” just because the exam questions from other professors do not benefit the students at all.

Eventually, Louis and Angela could reach a conclusion.

Professor Antorelli was not uninterested in class; it was not that he found teaching bothersome.

He simply believed that it was not yet “the time to participate in the class.”

A single professor conducts the class. During the class, unless that professor actively seeks the students’ opinions or directly calls on someone to ask a question, the students do not usually interrupt the class to say their piece.

Professor Antorelli was no different.

– Secondly, the subject of your class is me. After ample discussion and contemplation, you may logically organize your thoughts and explain them to me, who is now in the position of the listener.

Right now, Professor Antorelli was in the position of “listening” to the class.

As Louis and Angela, who had been eyeing each other to see who would speak first, finally stood up simultaneously, Professor Antorelli’s gaze turned to them.

“We spent the last two days of the weekend complementing each other on different aspects and tried our best to merge into a single opinion, Professor.”

“However, the opinions of ‘inevitable killing is permissible’ and ‘inevitable killing is not permissible’ fundamentally cannot coexist.”

“…Therefore, it makes progressing through the class difficult. Professor Antorelli, if you could please enlighten us about the difficulties we are facing….”

Their words became smaller as if they were shrinking. Angela could not finish her sentence, ultimately falling silent.

“…Is that the opinion of all of Class A of the second year?”

Professor Antorelli was looking at her with a stern expression.

The chill in his voice likely wasn’t felt only by Angela. Other students’ necks stiffened.

“Do the students of Class A of the second year believe that we cannot conduct a unified class with the topic I provided? Is this truly the opinion of all?”

“……”

Even Louis lost his words. If asked whether that were true, he would naturally have to answer in the affirmative.

However, he could not do so. He had no certainty that other students were as desperate for this class as he and Angela were.

“Student Louis.”

“……”

“Philip Louis of the second-year, department of theology.”

“Yes, yes, Professor.”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

A cold silence hung in the air. The weight of the stillness pressing against his chest made it difficult to breathe.

Professor Antorelli’s expression had grown chillingly cold, reminiscent of early last semester. While he may have often displayed an emotionless expression, there exists a certain atmosphere that emanates from a person.

In that moment, as Louis and Angela broke out in a cold sweat, unable to answer, merely gaping wordlessly, someone spoke up.

“Professor.”

All eyes turned in that direction, eager to see the face of the courageous speaker that broke the cold, heavy silence.

“I have one thing I wish to say.”

Laura von Adelheit.

She stood up calmly, her bright red eyes shining.

Laura, standing up without reservation, and Professor Antorelli, looking at her with an expressionless face from the podium. The sight reminded students of early last semester, as they wiped their sweaty palms roughly.

The difference from that time was that there was now a slight glimmer in Professor Antorelli’s eyes.

“Please go ahead.”

And this time, Laura had been duly granted the right to speak.

After a brief deep breath, Laura slowly opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I believe this class has been fundamentally flawed from the beginning.”

And then, her words, so shocking.

They penetrated into the students’ ears, far too vividly.

“……”

The silence pressing down on the lecture hall grew even heavier.