Chapter 95: - The Lord Is With Us (16)

༺ The Lord Is With Us (16) ༻

The process of choosing an assignment for the practicum was difficult.

There were numerous assignments to choose from, each varying in their difficulties and corresponding credits. Given the Academy’s rigorous standards, the students had no choice but to be conscious of their grades. As such, the main topic of discussions for third-year students naturally gravitated towards their practicums as the time for final exams inched closer.

Opting for an easier assignment to avoid failing was a viable strategy.

Each year, there were always a handful of groups who ambitiously took on challenging assignments just to end up failing.

A misguided judgment when selecting their assignment spelled disaster since those who failed their assignment received no points, and the practicum was weighed heavily.

As much as the practicum could potentially boost a student’s grade, it also meant failing significantly increased their likelihood of dropping out even though it could be somewhat cushioned with high grades in their theoretical classes.

For that reason, students fought desperately in their practicums to avoid failing, with some even dying in their desperation.

By this point, you would think that the Academy would take measures to reduce the casualties, but they had not once abolished the tradition of sending their students on practical dispatch assignments.

This was due to the fact that the Academy was both an educational and training institution.

They emphasized safe theoretical education within the school grounds for the underclassmen, but by the time they became upperclassmen, the emphasis gradually shifted towards practical training and on-field experiences.

The practicum was a prime example.

The real world was harsh in the sense that every battle was likely to claim lives, and it was exactly this point that the Academy wanted its students to grasp, even if only in the slightest.

As such, a crowd was ever-present in front of the task board during the days leading up to their deployment, and today was the same.

With each passing day, the board brimmed with more new tasks than those that were cleared. It was a testament to the continental demand for talented individuals.

Among the ever-increasing tasks, the safer assignments with higher pay disappeared quickly. So much so that some of the third-year students even cut class to camp out in front of the task board.

Such desperation was rampant among the third-year students, but I was one of the few exceptions.

To begin with, I was never particularly interested in my grades and always floated around the lower-middle ranks of my class. Now that I placed in the middle-upper ranks, I was perfectly satisfied.

Significantly improving my grades to that extent within a month was a remarkable achievement, but if I were to objectively assess my abilities, that was my limit.

Surpassing the top students required a substantial amount of luck.

It might have been a different story if it was ‘me’ from the future. He was skilled enough to defeat Senior Delphine, and with that kind of ability, aiming for the top of the class wasn’t a pipe dream.

However, it was ridiculous to even entertain such an absurd possibility. The letter may have been from seven years in the future, but it was entirely possible that future ‘Ian’ was from a time far beyond that.

It wouldn’t be strange even if he had come from decades into the future. By then, I would have become a full-fledged swordsman, and a mere student who lacked sufficient practical experience would have been child’s play.

I thought it would be nice if I could perfectly replicate his skills, but that was currently impossible. For now, I had to rein in my greed while being satisfied with my current achievements.

That being said, my current focus was not on improving my skills or my grades. I had a far more important responsibility on my shoulders.

It seemed surreal, but I was tasked with saving the world.

To that end, my practicum had to be at a specific orphanage. Even though the war had been over for hundreds of years, the continent was still overrun with orphans due to the existence of demonic beasts, which led to the formation of many orphanages. As such, the first thing I had to do was find the right one the letter had mentioned.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to start from scratch since there were clear conditions, and I also had the document the Saintess had given me.

A struggling orphanage supported by the Church in the eastern part of the continent.

There were dozens of such orphanages.

I was now comparing each orphanage, and luckily, I was left with only a single orphanage that met my specific conditions.

The Gilford Orphanage.

Their request was to scout and kill any demonic beasts in the vicinity.

Scouting for and slaying demonic beasts was a fairly common request. The expected difficulty wasn’t that high, and as expected from a struggling orphanage, the reward wasn’t good either.

In other words, it had all the makings of an unpopular request. In fact, it had been sitting there for so long that the request paper had become tattered.

I carefully took down the request. It contained the same information as mentioned in the second letter from the future.

‘Does not affect your grades.’

It fit perfectly. I knew Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie would find it disagreeable, but it didn’t matter as they had likely accumulated enough points by now.

My hesitation didn’t last long. My gut was telling me that this was the right one.

My heart felt heavy. A sense of dread washed over me as I didn’t know what exactly was going to happen at this orphanage.

I only had two words to go off of.

‘Ambush’ and ‘Nest’.

In the end, it seemed that I would have to wait until I got there to find out what they meant. For now, all I knew was that there would be an attack and that there was a nest.

With that in mind, I turned and headed to the General Department of External Affairs to notify them of my decision and group members.

Afterwards on the way back, a familiar figure caught my eye. It was a lanky man with a stern face.

It was Senior Fermin. He was the monk who accompanied Senior Delphine, and I was indebted to him for various things.

He had given me first aid, but I returned the favor by biting off his nose.

Human feelings were quite a complex thing. Although it was unavoidable at the time since it was in self-defense after Senior Delphine and her group ambushed us, I still felt apologetic towards him.

As I was contemplating what to say, Senior Fermin’s eyes met mine.

His eyes opened wide in surprise, and I greeted him with a wave of my hand and an awkward smile.Diiscover new stories at nove/lbin(.)c/om

“Hello, Senior Fermin.”

“It’s been a while, junior... Have you been well? Emmanuel.”

In the end, our group only had three members instead of four.

The norm was to form groups of 4, but many students went in groups of two or three, depending on their interpersonal relationships. I was the same.

Given that we didn’t know what was going to happen, the quality of the members was more important than the quantity, and both Senior Delphine and Senior Elsie were amongst the top students of their year.

I organized a balanced group, thinking having members with mediocre skills would only increase the risk of casualties.

If there was a downside, it was that both of them had matters to tend to regarding their respective groups of followers.

As such, it became impossible for them to leave with me, but they said they would be joining me in a day or two, so I only needed to hold out on my own for a few days.

With that in mind, I stepped through the warp gate.

“.......Uek”

A disgusted voice echoed through the room.

A woman with silver hair and pale pink eyes, and a man with jade-colored hair trailing behind her like a shadow.

It was the Saintess and her escort knight, Yuren.

Yuren smiled and waved as soon as he saw me, but the Saintess frowned and slightly slouched over as if in discomfort.

Her eyes expressed her dislike of me, and that feeling only seemed to have intensified after she found out that I was the one who had left Senior Delphine in that precarious state.

I understood her feelings, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t upset.

I felt an impulse to draw my hatchet, but I restrained myself.

It was not in the spirit of nobility to use indiscriminate violence, and I wanted to win her over in a dignified manner.

“......You don’t have to hate me so much, do you?”

Unfortunately, contrary to my imaginary self, who was able to quell the Saintess’ anger, the real me could only utter my grievance in a curt voice. At times like this, I resented my lack of vocal eloquence.

If it were Leto, he would have been able to deal with the Saintess’ anger in a much more refined and sophisticated manner.

Speaking of which, Leto hadn’t shown up today.

While wondering what he was up to, the Saintess’ voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Hmph! Excuse me. My true feelings came out unknowingly”

“They’re still coming out now.”

“Ah, please understand... I’ve never been one to put on pretenses to conceal how I feel.”

The Saintess then politely bowed in apology. Except, her ample bosom dragged my sight and made it impossible to look anywhere else.

However, as a boy who had grown into a man, I couldn’t allow myself to be so easily mesmerized and dragged along by her breasts. So with a cough, I cleared my throat before retorting.

“Not one to put on pretenses? What bullshit... Anyways, where are you two heading? Groups of 4 is the norm for practicums.”

The Saintess snorted and shrugged her shoulders, clearly expressing why I should care, but surprisingly, she responded.

“Do you think a Saintess can wander around anywhere she wants? Instead of a practicum, I have a ‘service assignment’. I have to go to the location selected by the Church and stay for a few days while managing my image. And I guess it wouldn’t be bad if I end up proselytizing while doing so.”

Her words were extremely blunt. It was almost as if the ‘Saintess’ I’d met before and the woman in front of me now were two different people.

Well, maybe only partially. Yuren had told me that there were only a few people on the continent who had seen past that ‘mask’ of hers.

Truthfully, I was proud to be one of them. And obviously, I was being sarcastic. I felt that arguing any further would only give me a headache.

Sighing, I shook my head and bid her farewell.

“I see. Then, I hope you succeed in maintaining your public image with your skilled acting. Emmanuel.”

“And may you suffer for your sins. Emmanuel.”

She was indeed a woman who refused to be on the losing end. Clicking my tongue, I quickened my pace.

The warp gate was one giant building. Once inside, there were dozens of short passageways to navigate depending on where one was heading to.

In other words, it was normal for us to go our separate ways.

And yet, something was off. We were still walking side by side even though we should have gone our separate ways long ago.

Our gazes met discreetly from time to time, and although we were pretending not to be, we were bothered by each other’s company.

Eventually, she was the first to reach the end of her patience.

“...... Excuse me, why are you following me?”

“Aren’t you the one following me? I’m going where I’m supposed to be going.”

As the two of us started to bicker, Yuren began giggling as he watched on from the side. Both of our gazes turned to him.

He was smiling like a mischievous child who had just discovered an amusing prank, and it seemed he had figured something out.

“Ian, where did you say your destination was?”

“......Gilford Orphanage.”

The Saintess’ eyes widened. From the look on her face, I was able to deduce the truth.

Yuren’s smile grew wider.

“Bingo! I guess we’ll be eating from the same pot for a while.”

The Saintess’ pink eyes met mine in dismay.

Our gazes froze as we realized we were both heading to Gilford Orphanage.

I would have to stay with the Saintess for the next two weeks.