The brighter sun is said to be the time that illuminates the world.
To put it simply, it’s the New Year.
Saying “New Year” here feels strange.
I haven’t seen the sunrise.
“Huh…”
Since I came to this world, I’ve never had the leisure to spend the New Year like this. Right after I arrived, I was busy acquiring Divine Power by saving people here and there, and later on, I spent the whole day rolling around the Realm.
I rarely had the chance to sit back and pass the time peacefully on New Year’s Day.
“So much has happened.”
It was tough.
Last year was quite eventful.
Of course, unlike Stella, I met Uriel a bit later, but since we were all part of the Hero party that faced trials of wisdom, hunted Monsters, and confronted Maleficent together, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that joining was merely delayed.
Everyone has become stronger than before.
Stella has become incomparably strong.
On the first day of the entrance ceremony, she seemed to collapse immediately when using high-level magic without a chant, but having learned from Argen and developing her own new spells naturally led to her growth.
Usually, gaining through developing one’s own magic yields more than just learning someone else’s. For a genius like Stella, her skills would only increase, not decrease, while developing her own magic.
Moreover…
“It seems it will be soon.”
Looking at Stella, it seemed she would become a great magician in no time.
She’s quick.
Incredibly so…
I don’t think she was this fast in the original work. What made Stella work so hard?
When we first met, she was holed up, avoiding her magic studies and napping, but now, all traces of her laziness are gone, and whenever she has time, she’s diligently continuing her magic research.
If someone who knows her saw that, they’d be astonished and wonder what kind of wind has blown upon her.
Even I was shocked by how different she was from her initial self and wondered what had happened.
Still… considering that we need to defeat the Demon King, isn’t it a good thing that she’s working so hard?
It would be much harder to defeat the Demon King without Stella.
“If the story flows like this… there might not be much time left.”
It wasn’t intentional, but Evan’s awakening was also quick, and Stella’s magic growth speed has become incomparable to the original.
It’s so fast that I even felt anxious that the future I’m unaware of might have changed.
Of course… now I don’t feel like the changed future means disaster, as things are currently looking very hopeful.
Evan’s growth is at a level where ordinary enemies are no match for him.
Stella is not far from becoming a great magician, and Uriel seems weaker only because she hasn’t awakened the blood of the royal family yet; once she does, she will become an excellent tank.
“Wait… maybe not a tank.”
In a game, she would be a tank, but right now, I should probably refer to her as a proper knight.
She may be weaker than Evan, but she is by no means weak.
Compared to kids her age, she is on a different level.
“I hope one more person comes…”
I wonder if that person will show up.
There are several characters, but there was one person who would be the most helpful in our current combination.
Though calling them a person might be a stretch since they belong to a different race.
The problem is…
“If they do come, it’ll be next year…”
I know that they’re entering Class A in the first semester of this year’s Academy, but it’s uncertain, which is the issue.
The very fact of them entering is essentially a gamble, akin to a gacha in the game.
It’s not that I, a veteran player, don’t know the conditions.
Even if you achieve certain milestones, whether they join or not is entirely based on chance.
“It’s lucky that repeating the save load can change whether they join.”
If it weren’t for that, I might have gone to the extreme of starting the game from scratch just to see one character.
That would be utterly crazy.
If achievements could guarantee their entrance, it would be less of a headache. Yet, the idea of sneaking back into the Academy after immense worry feels more like the alternate realities we’re creating through save loads are making different judgments.
Doesn’t that sound absurd?
Judgments should always be the same if there are no influences.
“If only they could just come.”
That elf would be an enormous help in fighting the Demon King.
All I can do is hope they enter the Academy.
“It’s sudden, but I wonder what the second year will be like.”
At Evan’s words, I fell into thought.
Not just me; Esther and Uriel seemed curious too, reflecting thoughtfully for a while.
“[I’m really curious about what classes we’ll have next year.]”
“I think it will be the same.”
Evan snickered as he spoke.
Well, the Swordsmanship Department is like that.
Of course, we’ll learn more intricate details compared to the first year, but it still boils down to swordsmanship… for Evan, who is already walking the path of a hero, I’m not sure what there is left for him to learn.
If anything, Uriel might have some things to learn…
“Hmm… honestly, I feel like there’s not much to learn at the Academy anyway… At least we learned a lot about Monsters.”
That’s true.
What the Academy can teach is limited to basics.
Each path exists uniquely.
It’s not without reason they focus on practice.
Unlike magic, which follows a set path, swordsmanship requires handling one’s body freely, so stances may vary according to height and build, and the force applied can differ entirely.
Even instructors can find it difficult to teach every aspect one-on-one.
It’s no wonder they focus on advice and practice-based classes.
Uriel, who says this, has already surpassed the student level significantly.
Considering Uriel’s achievements in swordsmanship from the very beginning, they haven’t really learned much, and since she hasn’t awakened ‘royal blood’ yet, her progress could be considered slow.
Moreover… it’s not like those students who come to me for healing do so for no reason.
The issue is that if they come to me for healing, they should come back wounded, but it’s not rare for some to feign injury just to have a chat with me.
Still, I can’t refuse healing, so I tend to send them off healthy.
I can handle minor ailments easily.
That said, I do become a bit exhausted, but my Divine Power takes care of it all, so it’s not a problem.
“I’d rather spar with Evan.”
“We could do that right now!”
“Really? Then should we go at it right away?”
What are these guys talking about all of a sudden?
“You… are you thinking of sparring at this hour?”
I finally realized what time it was, thanks to Stella saying what I wanted to say, and Uriel and Evan apologized and sat back down.
“[What about Stella?]”
I wonder what class she will take.
Well, compared to the other students, she has a level of magic that can create her own spells, so the methods taught at the Academy might be useless to her.
Especially since she’s at the level where she even finds attending classes boring.
As expected, Stella explained that there’s not much for her to learn at the Academy, and it would probably be the same when she reaches the second year.
It’s likely Argen was teaching Stella instead.
“[I hope this year is peaceful.]”
“To be peaceful, shouldn’t we catch the Demon King first?”
Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.
I wonder if we’ll really be going to catch the Demon King in our second year…
…
That cannot be true, right?
It has to be false…
After all, it has already been tough so far; there shouldn’t be worse things happening in the second year…
Surely… not…?
I awkwardly laughed and said, “[I don’t think I’m the one to say this as a cleric, but I really don’t want to go back to the Academy.]”
“I feel like if Argen heard that, he’d be sad.”
Evan snickered and replied to me with a chuckle.
Hmm…
I’m not so sure…
I don’t think he would be sad.
The reason I don’t want to return is simply that I’m thinking of teaming up with that elf, which is quite a headache.
Well… maybe not.
