After ten days, my condition finally recovered to a level where I could fight again.
It took less time to repair my armor than it did to recover my body.
I couldn’t rely on the academy’s healers.
They probably already knew that there’s no way I’d get injured in just a regular training session.
Calling a healer would just be proof that I did something wrong.
I also had Nigel take my armor to an outside blacksmith instead of the academy for repairs.
…Which ended up costing quite a bit.
Asha’s purification device would have to wait.
Right now, equipment to block smells wasn’t as urgent as weapons.
I originally thought about asking Lacey, a saint candidate, for healing, but she still hadn’t returned from the church’s relief shelter.
Neither Lacey nor that guy Evian seem to be staying in the special dorm.
During this time, I stayed in my room and made plans for the next battle, which was a little over two months away.
The large-scale attack that would happen during the midterm exams in the third month of the semester.
—
“Are you okay, Hashelle? You haven’t been coming to lectures or leaving your room, so I got worried and came to check on you.”
While I was recovering, Asha visited my room once.
“Just resting. You doing okay, Asha?”
“Well, other than regretting not seeing the fight between Hashelle and Knut, not much.”
Asha gave me a sly smile.
She must’ve figured it out.
Of course, she knew Knut was hostile toward me, and she also knew I was wary of Knut.
So, when Knut died and I stayed holed up in my room, she probably guessed what happened.
It’s not unusual for special dorm students to skip lectures, but Asha and I usually attend together.
She knows I try to attend as many lectures as possible.
Other sharp students probably have their suspicions too.
They just don’t press the issue since there’s no evidence. The Empire wouldn’t want to cause friction with Ka`har over a rookie like me either.
From the Empire’s perspective, Knut was also a suspicious figure.
During the entrance ceremony, he only showed abilities on par with Damien, but fighting me at that level meant he’d been hiding most of his strength from the Empire.
“Anyway, don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Of course! I don’t really have anyone close enough to gossip with anyway.”
She’s usually too busy with her research to attend lectures regularly.
And her first impression during sparring class was pretty intense.
I guess it’s a trait of special students to not have many friends.
“Good. By the way, have you finished that purification device yet?”
“No? I’ve only done the design so far. Should I start making it soon?”
That’s a relief. If she’d already made it, it would’ve been a problem.
If it’s just the design, I can delay it a bit.
“No, actually, I was wondering if you could make something else for me. Like a sword or something. Is that possible?”
“A sword? Sure, but… don’t you already have a good one? That stinky Jin sword.”
Asha pointed to Ai-mel-ra’s sword.
So, this was also made of Jin metal. No wonder it’s so powerful.
Perfect. Jin metal is effective against magicians and the Corpses Raised by Magic.
It’s a metal that cuts off magical energy.
“It is a good sword, but… it’s so valuable that it’s hard to use casually. And if I use a regular steel sword, it breaks after ten swings.”
“Hmm… if durability is the issue, I could make one with black iron alloy. It’ll dull easily but won’t break.”
Black iron, huh? Knut’s black weapons were probably made of black iron too.
“Can you also make gauntlets like this?”
I explained the design of the Ice Blade.
The real Ice Blade is practically a suicide weapon, so I can’t use it.
I’ll have to find a way to lift the curse later.
Maybe I’ll ask the saint candidate if I get close to her.
“Sure. One black iron longsword and attack gauntlets. That’ll be 20 gold.”
“20 gold… Alright, deal.”
With trembling hands, I handed over the gold coins.
Most of my gold was already gone.
It’s definitely a huge discount, but it’s still expensive…
Well, I shouldn’t have any big expenses for a while.
“20 gold received! I’ll have it ready by the day after tomorrow!”
Asha happily returned to her room.
Two days later, the equipment I received was worth every penny.
—
After mostly recovering, I attended a lecture for the first time in a while.
It was a theology class I would’ve normally skipped, but I wanted to see my group members and Damien.
The atmosphere in the classroom had changed.
The excited buzz from before had faded, and everyone seemed a bit gloomy.
Some seats were empty too.
Well, if 14 people disappeared, that means one in ten died.
…There was nothing I could do to help.
It was impossible to search that vast forest alone, and those who died here wouldn’t have survived the next battle anyway.
If they wanted to live, they had to get stronger themselves.
I thought there’d only be two or three casualties since we moved in groups of four.
But even excluding Knut, thirteen died.
“Ah, Lady Hashelle! Hello!”
“Hey. Looks like you’ve been doing well.”
Rana noticed me and greeted me with a slight smile.
At least she doesn’t seem too down. That’s good.
Hans, sitting in his seat, gave me a light nod.
I shrugged my shoulders in response and then headed towards Damien and Milia.
“Ten days. Seems like you had a rough time, huh?”
As I passed by Ophelia, she whispered softly.
This girl noticed too.
“Maybe.”
I gave a short reply and moved on.
It’s not good to get deeply involved with Ophelia at this point.
She’s like a widow spider, filled with venom inside.
The closer you get, the higher the chance of being used.
Although I’m already entangled since I accepted her previous proposal… that much should be within acceptable limits. For now.
As I turned my back, I could hear Ophelia quietly laughing.
I sat down next to Milia.
“Welcome back, Ha-shal-leur. It’s been ten days.”
She, too, now greeted me calmly without being surprised when I sat next to her.
Perhaps knowing that I was reluctant to reveal my injuries, she didn’t ask about my condition or well-being.
Come to think of it, Rana was the same. Everyone’s quite perceptive.
“Yeah. It’s been a while. Milia, and Damien.”
“You must have been busy for a while? Anyway, it’s good to see that you and Milia have become close during the training.”
Damien nodded with a refreshing smile.
Well, we did get close.
…We did get close, right?
“Yeah. As Damien said, we talked a lot. We also spent time together.”
Milia slightly bowed her head and smiled.
I don’t think I showed a particularly good side.
On the first day, I acted irresponsibly, threatened, killed, and cried.
After that, I was just carried around like luggage for three days.
But seeing that smile, for some reason, I felt ticklish.
I decided to change the topic.
“By the way, Damien, I heard your team caught three trolls. Were they tough opponents?”
“Yeah. Their regeneration was a bit troublesome, but it was a good experience.”
…Troublesome shouldn’t be the case. Maybe he’s just being modest.
Given his skills during the entrance ceremony, he probably could have beheaded trolls right away.
“Speaking of which, Ha-shal-leur, it’s your first time attending a theology lecture. Did you develop some curiosity about this religion?”
“A little.”
I did get a bit interested.
In the game, it was just background lore to distinguish the priests’ traits, but here, it seems to be more than that.
At least, Bølberg and Shaulite have shown interest in me.
It might be worth learning about other gods too.
The theology lecturer was a middle-aged man dressed in the priestly robes of the Elpinel Church Order.
The lecture was painfully boring.
“…And thus, the surviving 11 Church Orders came together and united to form the current 11 Main Gods religion. Other races still worship their traditional racial gods…”
There are numerous gods in this world.
The 11 Main Gods worshipped by humans.
The four racial gods worshipped by other races.
The four great evil gods recorded in history.
Even the ancient gods whose records have been forgotten.
Today’s lecture was about the 11 Main Gods and the history of each Church Order.
I half-listened, only remembering the parts I didn’t know to pass the time.
I guess they’ll explain about the evil gods and ancient gods later.
—
In the afternoon, I spent time training with Nigel.
I might have gotten rusty after resting for over ten days.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
In fact, my skills had improved.
I could now perfectly handle Nigel’s sword.
Although I still couldn’t grasp how to utilize the ‘Up’.
“How to utilize the ‘Up’? That’s… hard to explain in words…”
Even when I asked Nigel, he looked troubled.
“It’s like a crawling baby suddenly walking. You accumulate it, and at some point, you suddenly realize how to use it.”
So, I have to figure it out on my own. Tough.
Will I realize it someday while fighting?
“It’s rather strange that Ha-shal-leur, who has accumulated so much ‘Up’, can’t use it properly.”
Well, these aren’t accumulated by me but by Hersela.
It’s natural that I don’t know how to use it.
But I can’t reveal that.
I decided to postpone learning how to utilize the ‘Up’.
I’ll get it someday. Someday.
While at it, I also asked about how to deal with beastmen.
The next enemies I’ll face are the beastmen hiding in the Empire.
“Beastmen? They’re not common in the east. They are strong opponents, though…”
“You don’t know their weaknesses or what to watch out for, do you?”
“I haven’t fought them directly… If you’re looking for specific weaknesses, it might be better to ask an expert.”
An expert?
Ah, there’s one. Upstairs.
A lonely girl.
…Should I go?
—
I went to find Freide and knocked on her door.
After a moment, the door opened, and silver hair popped out.
“What, who…”
Freide’s face twisted like a troll when she saw me.
“Get lost.”
The door slammed shut with a bang.
It was so loud that the hallway vibrated.
This girl, seriously.