Chapter 75: Open Classes and Screening
The Tear of the Dead was in my mind. If she had only touched it briefly, she wouldn’t have felt any energy. But…
‘…I’ve been sitting down for a while, so my legs must have gotten weak. Can I stay like this for a while longer…?’
…I couldn’t stop Aizel from saying those words.
Aizel was a regressor and no one else in the world could understand her. But I was different. At least I could understand her and be someone she could turn to.
And so I did as she asked, even if it was only for a short time, so that Aizel wouldn’t identify the Tear of the Dead.
I squeezed out as much time as I could but when she burrowed further into my arms, I had to stop.
‘…She must have noticed.’
Aizel must have sensed the faintest hint of energy.
Naturally, there was panic in her eyes as she pulled away from me but it was a good thing she didn’t show any hostility.
“…I’ll be going now.”
With those words, Aizel left the room. And with that, I was alone in the tranquil flower garden.
As I smelled the fragrance of the flowers that bloomed everywhere, I realized that maybe Sierra was right and I needed some time alone.
I stood in the middle of the garden, my eyes fixed on a mysteriously colored flower with a mixture of colors. It was an orchid.
I didn’t know much about flowers unless they were special items, so the story Aizel had told me about Obsion was something that couldn’t be found in the game… At least, it was information I didn’t know, so it was quite interesting.
‘A happy ending…’
It may have been the last thing they wanted and hoped for.
On the one hand, I can understand Julian’s desire to save Obsion.
I wanted to make sure Aizel lived, and if I could somehow keep her in a safe place, I would.
Aizel was strong so it should be possible to fight alongside her, but I was afraid that she might lose her life in the process.
The Aizel I’d seen in the game…she was so close to impossible to save that I wondered if her regression was some kind of curse.
I stared at the Obsion for a long moment as she exuded such a delicate scent.
I wondered if I could make her happy but not just Aizel, I wanted a happy ending for ‘everyone’. That was more important to me than anything else.
***
The weekend has flown by and it’s Monday once again.
I took a good rest over the weekend and although it was a bit tiring to take a break from all the hard work, but mentally, I think it was necessary.
After Edward’s class, the cadets chatted with their friends.
Talk of the upcoming “open class” was in full swing and Lucia excitedly called out to us as we were leaving the classroom.
“I was told that my sister is coming this time…!”
“Your sister… Rikua?”
Yuri asked Lucia.
“Yes! I guess she missed me!”
Amon shook his head as he watched Lucia smile.
“It’s not that… As the heir to House Windless, I suppose she had to come.”
“I, I’ve missed her…That can’t be…”
Lucia frowns at Amon’s terse retort.
Rikua Windless, Lucia’s younger sister and heir to House Windless was the polar opposite of Lucia, cold and broken.
If I’m lucky, I might get to meet her this time.
As the normally closed Innocence Academy opened up to outsiders during these ‘open classes’, a large crowd was expected to gather at the academy.
And it wasn’t just because people with no connection to the academy were allowed in.
Starting with the families of the cadets, the academy’s alumni, celebrities from all over the continent, and the knights, mages, guilds, and others who come to look for talent, the list is long.
This year, in particular, it will be even bigger than usual, with all four Elemental Houses members in the first grade.
During the open classes, a lot of things happen, but nothing dangerous, as various characters come to the academy.
There were no foolish villains trying to cause trouble at a gathering of the continent mightiest.
‘There’s one thief, but… I think I can take care of that one…’
There was something else I needed to watch out for.
I glanced at Sierra, who was floating in the air, trying to figure out what to do.
This public lesson would include her nemesis, her enemy and my ultimate goal…the Sword Saint.
***
Chris was humming lazily as he lay in the shade, out of the sun.
“It’s peaceful…Calm.”
He was working in a small village in exchange for room and board, and his main job was farming.
Finishing his work, lying in the shade and enjoying the silence was one of the few pleasures he could find in the village.
Then a bird flew by his side.
“Hmmm…?”
A letter was tied to the bird’s leg, and the black palm print on its belly was familiar to him.
It was the symbol of the Black Hand, the continent’s most prominent intelligence guild.
Sword Saint Chris enjoyed wandering but the Black Hand knew where he was, wherever he went so those looking for Chris would go to the Black Hand to contact him.
But when someone looked for the Black Hand, they often brought troublesome things with them.
When Chris took one look at the bird and said, “I don’t know,” and didn’t take the letter, the bird tilted its head and stared at him, then pecked him with its beak.
“Tsk…”
Undeterred, Chris clicks his tongue and snatches the letter from the bird’s leg, then the bird then flies off into the distance, chirping as if it had done its job.
“Hmmm… I hope it’s not one of those Rounds again…”
Chris cautiously opened the letter, hoping it was nothing more than a nuisance.
The letter began with the word ‘Grandpa’ and as soon as he laid eyes on the word, the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Kaen…”
It was none other than Kaen, his apprentice. Though they were not related by blood, she was the child he had raised as his granddaughter.
“I haven’t heard from her since she entered the academy…”
He wondered if something had happened to her.
Chris was a little disappointed that Kaen’s letter wasn’t just to say hello, but because something had happened so he put on his best serious face and read the letter.
Something had happened. Apparently Kaen had suffered her first defeat, and it was at the hands of a swordsman.
It doesn’t appear that Kaen has used any of the swordsmanship he taught her, but even without that, she would be overwhelmingly stronger than the average cadet.
Judging by the content of the letter, it sounds like she gave it her all and lost.
It was strange enough that Kaen, a disciple of the Sword Saint and no one else, had lost in a sword fight, but what was even stranger was…
“…If she lost, why is she enjoying it so much?”
Kaen was praising the one eagerly, admitting that she had lost cleanly and the letter was full of useless information about him, as if to explain the person she was admiring.
“The East… A blind swordsman…”
He’d met a blind swordsman once or twice before, but he hadn’t seen one that was memorably skilled.
Anyway… Kaen seemed to be doing well, except for the mention of the blind swordsman.
As he read the last line of the letter, he realized the purpose of Kaen’s letter.
‘Grandfather, I’m sure you’re aware that there will be open classes at the academy this time, but just in case, you don’t need to make a big deal out of coming to see me. For now, I’m still keeping the fact that I’m your student a secret… You’ve always not liked crowds, haven’t you?’
That was what the letter said.
Kaen concluded by saying that if he did come to visit, it would be in a private setting.
“I don’t know if I should say hello…”
When Chris finished reading the letter, he paused for a moment.
Should he go or not?
The Innocence Academy would be open, and there would probably be a lot of people there to bother him.
To put it bluntly, he didn’t want to go.
‘But then she told me not to come, and now I want to go.’
In the end, Chris decided to go to the academy to see Kaen for the first time in a long time and he was curious to see what kind of person the man who had defeated his apprentice was like.
He wanted to sneak up on him, but the Academy wasn’t the place for that. Still, he had a good excuse to visit the Academy.
Chris was a swordsman and if he visited the Academy would welcome him with open arms.
His deliberations were cut short, and he pushed himself to his feet, the precious letter from Kaen tucked under his arm.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”
His first stop was his old friend, Julius Klaus.
As headmaster of the academy, he had gotten Kaen in through Julius. He was also the only person in the Academy who knew that Kaen was his student.
“But how do I contact him…”
When it came down to it, Chris didn’t know the name or location of the town he was in since he’d been wandering the streets, hopping into wagons with no destination in mind.
Trying to figure out where to go to talk to Juliet, he decided to chase the bird that had just flown away and since the bird belonged to the Black Hand, so he figured that if he followed it, he’d find them.
If he could find the Black Hand, he could reach Julius quickly.
Chris looked in the direction the bird had flown, and with a light leap, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
***
‘What is…? What’s going on…?’
The Black Hand Guild member in charge of the letter-carrying birds was extremely puzzled as a man was walking towards the small tower where the birds were gathering.
The guild member naturally knew that the man was the strongest swordsman in the continent, also known as the Sword Saint.
A letter had arrived for him, and he had just sent it.
In his hand was a guild member’s bird, which was flapping its wings and trying desperately to find its way back to the tower.
Had the bird made a mistake?
Perhaps the letter it delivered was wrong?
If not that, was he offended that the guild was prying into his location?
The guild member swallowed hard as he watched the Sword Saint slowly approach the tower.
Eventually, Sword Saint spotted him at the top of the tower and waved.
He had never sought out the Lord in his life, but this time, he could only respectfully clasp his hands together in prayer.
‘Lord Henerys… Please… Take care of me…’