How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 126

Joint Combat Practice 2 (12)

If we are going to discuss Adele’s biography, we must start with the commercial city of Oldek.

The first memory is the sky of the port where seagulls take flight.

As she got off the boat holding her mother’s hand tightly, Adele saw a busy pier in front of her eyes. Only then did he realize that he had set foot in a faraway country.

War refugees who fled their homeland in the Western Continent where the war of conquest was in full swing. Adele’s parents, whose faces she couldn’t even remember anymore, were barely of that level.

After settling in the Old Deck and living in the slums for a few months, Adele’s parents can’t adapt to the prudent Old Deck culture.

No matter what you do, being stabbed in the back, being taken advantage of, and getting caught up in fraud, it’s only a matter of seconds to get into debt.

When I came to my senses, there was no room left for them in the Old Deck. Pile of debts, pressure from debtors, poor pockets where it is difficult to even eat a piece of bread. It was a life not much different from when I lived as a war refugee in the Western continent.

Adele grew up too quickly. He thought that the day would come when this kind of life would eventually reach its limits. That’s why, even that morning, his mental preparations had already been completed.

A quayside lined with pompous commercial buildings. Adele’s father took her to a bench on the other side of the room and sat down with her.

He was holding a lot of food that he wouldn’t normally even look at.

He gave me a sandwich full of warm bacon, sheep’s milk with fruit syrup, and chocolate cookies that cost more than a month’s food expenses… I was watching Adele enjoy the food.

After staring at Adele for a while, he slowly stood up and started talking. Dad has something to see, so he’ll go somewhere, I’m waiting for you.

I brushed off my pants a few times like that… She stared at Adele for a while and then slowly started to walk away.

Adele spoke softly to her departing father’s back as she munched on her sandwich with her head down. It’s been a lot of trouble.

At those words, Adele’s father trembled, but then he moved little by little and disappeared through the crowd.

Adele ate her fill of food, got up from the bench, and headed to Oldeck’s church, where she often went to pray with her parents. He went there and he prayed all day long.

After praying for a long time, I didn’t wake up when the last service of the day was over. Then, after delivering his last words, High Priest Verdio, who came down from the podium, passed by and spoke proudly.

“I became an orphan.”

After that, it was a breeze.

She lived and worked at Deldros Orphanage, supported by the Church of Telos. He read at night while washing bedding, mopping the hallways, and fetching drinking water.

It was also at this time that he first played the lute. I picked up a lute with a string that had fallen off the dock, and I found only the string and tuned it myself. I would receive the sheet music of the church’s hymns and play them, and I would make my own songs by bouncing the notes myself.

The years of living a faithful life as a servant of God at Deldros Orphanage. But, as is the case with most of life, it doesn’t just go smoothly.

One day Adele saw the future.

It was a scene where Verdio, the High Priest of Oldek Cathedral, came down from the podium and knocked over the candlestick. As it was, the fire from the candlestick moved to the decoration of the chapel, causing a commotion.

At first, she thought it was a dream, but Adele stood by the candlestick fully prepared just in case. Sure enough, Verdio knocked over the candlestick, and Adele extinguished the fire prematurely by pouring water on it before the fire reached the cabinet.

From then on, Adele fell in love with Verdio.

About once or twice a month, I would see a scene from the future without warning… Something like precognition, which she couldn’t control herself, didn’t change Adele’s life drastically.

In addition, most of them are the future of others that have nothing to do with themselves. Strange, but that was all.

However, Verdio was paying attention to Adele’s ability. Eventually, on the day when Verdio was recognized for her ability and appointed as the archbishop of the Holy Family, Adele was recognized for her role as the next saint and headed to the Holy City together with Verdio.

A majestic prosperous building. A habit made of expensive fabric. More than ten attendants. sumptuous meal. The adoration of high-ranking clergy.

All of that comes into Adele’s hands overnight. Of course, not all good things happened.

I had to pray every day, learn etiquette, and study while sleeping less. Still, he couldn’t compare to his days as a war refugee or poor man.

Opinions on her suitability as a saint have been exchanged between bishops for a long time, and public opinion has been formed that agrees to some extent with the decision of the Holy Hwang and the archbishop… Eventually, Adele began formally taking over the position of a saint.

She was baptized three times by the holy emperor, archbishop, and the highest apostle, inherited the will of the holy emperor, and had the protection of the holy law engraved on her body, and even an official letter announcing the appointment of the new saint to the heads of state was almost all written.

The more baptisms and blessings she received, the stronger Adele’s divine power grew. Although he had no talent for holy magic itself, his role as a vessel to contain divine power was outstanding, and as his divine power increased, the future he could see became clearer.

Eventually, after all other procedures except for the stigmata baptism were completed, Adele was finally able to glimpse her own future…

As I said, I gave up on becoming a saint.

Archbishop Verdio opens the saintess’s room and enters.

The spire where the saintess resides is a place that even the Holy Emperor is reluctant to step into. However, strictly speaking, Adele was not yet a saint.

Verdio asks Adele. What does she mean by giving up being a saint? Raising her voice, she shares her story with Adele.

For various reasons, such as insecurity, loneliness, and lack of ability, she says that she wants to serve Telos in a way other than as a saint.

After more than an hour of scuffle, Verdio brushes his hair and leaves the saintess’s room. Adele was able to notice in that look.

Verdio is… She somehow noticed that Adele had seen her future and that she had given up being a saint.

Once that happens, you can never convince Adele. It was her wrong choice to have her chosen as her saint.

So, Adele is not a saint of the Church of Telos… She finds a place in Seonghwangdo as the torch caretaker.

Over the years managing the torch, Adele agonized over the future she saw.

burning chapel. A huge star spear dragon visible through the broken stained glass. Archbishop Verdio stands on the podium and speaks. The plan went awry. In order to pacify the holy spear dragon of the creation that eats the gods, a saintess born with enormous divine power must be sacrificed.

The scene came back to mind, and Adele would jump up from her sleep.

Just like that, time passes again.

Adele took care of the torch, looked up at the sky and played the lute, but at night, she gathered rumors about the holy city or overheard the conversations of high-ranking priests.

With each passing day, Seonghwangdo’s financial situation deteriorated. The subjugation of the northern races has also stopped, and there is no war. If peaceful times continue under the rule of the wise King Chloel… People gradually cease to seek God.

The prestige of the prosperity that even the emperor had fallen on his knees gradually diminished, and it has been a long time since the object of people’s respect has changed to Emperor Chloel, who opened this era of peace and prosperity.

Archbishop Verdio is a priest and businessman.

If God doesn’t do miracles, people don’t believe in God. If the number of followers does not increase, this success cannot be maintained.

In order to receive more respect and increase the prestige of the Holy Emperor, he must eventually perform a divine miracle.

However, in order to do so, there were many things to prepare.

A few years later, the next saintess who was born with tremendous divine power comparable to Adele… Clarisse climbs the spire of the Holy Family.

Playing the lute atop the spire, Adele watched Clarisse all the time.

Clarisse couldn’t interfere with the flow of time by touching the power of the Aspect with divine power like Adele, but the amount of divine power itself was incomparable to any clergyman.

Her demeanor is dignified, she has good absorption power, and she has a natural personality, so she really seems to be a girl who was born to become a saint.

I think she’s the right child for this spire of prosperity, but… On the other side of Adele’s heart, a strong sense of guilt remains.

Originally, the saintess who would be killed by the star spear dragon would be Adele herself. Since she herself ran away from that future, someone had to take her place.

Eventually, that replacement will be Clarice. This was a well-known fact.

Sitting by the window of Clarice’s room, playing the lute, talking to her, and spending time together, they became very close. More than I thought, Clarice had a heart as beautiful as her appearance.

The more this happened, the more deeply rooted guilt in Adele’s heart grew stronger little by little.

Adele couldn’t speak. I ran away because I didn’t want to die. The result of my struggle to live is your death. saintess. Those words… It just couldn’t come out of my mouth.

To Clarisse, who always sat by the window with sparkling eyes and listened to the lute, Adele did not want to be hated or show her darkness.

So, I sang about the romance of freedom.

He urged them not to be satisfied with Seonghwangdo’s achromatic life, but to pursue freedom by playing in the vast world.

Clarisse felt skeptical about her current life and urged her to search for a new life.

He himself sang as if he knew well about the romance of the wide world, on the subject of living in the slums of Oldek with hard bread stuffed into his mouth. He whispered the contents of the books he had read in the corner of the shabby orphanage’s buggy room into their ears as if he had experienced them before his eyes.

I have never seen the beautiful rock formations of the Rameln Mountains, the vast grasslands of Pulan, or the desolate horizon of the great desert Drestea. All she knows is the gloomy brick floor and the back alley of Old Deck, where you can see only a few rats roaming about.

However, even after hearing Adele’s songs, Clarice continued to dream.

The dream of wandering around the world, capturing the beautiful scenery, and meeting a person who will stand by my side at the end of the journey someday… It is coiled around Clarisse’s chest.

Even if the person who nurtured the dream was a fake bard who was tainted by the flow of the sect, the romance in the dream itself was not stained at all. That fact alone made me feel fortunate.

However, Adele could not remain on the charts any longer. She didn’t allow her her own heart any more. It is nothing more than her deceit towards her that her Adele continues to remain by her Clarice’s side.

Eventually, that life goes in another direction.

From the western war zone to the commercial city of Oldeck, from the commercial city of Oldek to Saint Carpea, and then to the last place after leaving Saint Carpea… It was Aken Island, the southernmost tip of the empire.

Early morning before sunrise. I packed all my stuff and left the spire with my lute on.

There is no particular destination that comes to mind. There is no one in the world who can be called a kite, and it is not even possible to confirm whether the parents are alive or dead.

It just goes where you want to go. Whether you stop by Crete, the land of alchemy, to see some alchemy, or see the majestic emperor’s streets of Chloeron, the ecliptic, admire the vast mountain range while walking in the Rameln Mountains, and learn magic at places like the Sylvania Academy. Might be good to learn a bit too.

Anyway, the money I’ve saved over the past years has accumulated quite a bit, and I’m pretty confident in my playing and singing skills, so I think I can take care of my own body.

I sneaked out at dawn and looked up at the seonghwangdo, but it is still majestic and lofty. A wide outer wall expressing the majesty of God surrounds the spire like a prison.

Breath leaks out in the cold early morning air of late autumn. Looking back, the road leading to the street stretches endlessly.

That’s how the girl finally becomes a bard.

* * *

“Woo-wook, heuk…”

I moved to a place that was as inconspicuous as possible, but I had to come out on the street when I got close to the Haksa Cathedral.

People around her stared at Adele as she walked away, dripping blood, and some asked if she was okay. However, Adele did not answer at all, and continued to walk toward the church with staggering steps.

Arrived quite early. At first, I didn’t know the timing of Sung Chang-ryong’s resurrection, but now, even with my eyes closed, all the timings could be predicted to some extent. It is enough to guess what is going on in the cathedral by now.

What happened after that I know all too well now. It was not difficult for Adele to imagine it.

I will lead my speechless body, open the door of the cathedral, and enter. Then Taldarek, the 3rd Seat of the ‘Apostle of Telos’ guarding the entrance, speaks. Outsiders are now prohibited from entering. Then, the moment he tries to block Adele from entering, he rolls up his arm and shows that the ‘protection of the Holy Law’ is imprinted on it.

When Taldarek momentarily took advantage of the panic and entered the interior, it was a large chapel.

On the dais of the large chapel, a relic left by Luden, the ‘primitive swordsman’, Velbrok’s molar necklace, will be placed in a luxurious box. An artifact that will resonate with the Holy Changryong and awaken his spirit.

Here and there in the chapel, the ‘Apostles of Telos’, brought directly from the Holy Emperor, will be waiting in combat readiness.

Beside the podium, Archbishop Verdio and Holy Emperor Eldain would be seated, and they would be finalizing their plans on how to deal with the Holy Changryong when he resurrected. He was inspecting the scene one last time before going to pick up Saint Clarisse, who would be waiting at the Trix coffin.

It doesn’t matter what you say when you come to the scene. Adele has already done it all.

The ‘Apostle of Telos’ is a ridiculous power that can withstand a large army of thousands or tens of thousands if there are five or more, but in front of the Holy Changryong, they are all insignificant scapegoats.

Why is it so quick to conclude that a dragon of disaster that exists only in history books can be dealt with with human power?

But the high priests, caught between arrogance and desperation, do not listen. There is no point in arguing for a long time.

The ‘variable’ they did not expect caused the Holy Spear Dragon to descend much faster than the priests expected. It is that the seal of the great sage, Sylvania, has been more unstable than expected for a long time.

The majesty of the Holy Chang-ryong, which is bigger than I thought, enormous than I thought… It will make them all immobile. I couldn’t have imagined that the Seong Chang-ryong, whom I had only seen in books, would be a disaster of this magnitude.

What he finds belatedly is a saint who will save his arrogant self. In order to quell her colossal catastrophe, the sacrifice of a saintess with enormous divine power was necessary to eventually feed the Holy Chang-ryong to his stomach.

Saint Clarice, who would sacrifice herself in preparation for such an occasion, could not be brought from Trix Hall.

Adele sees the ‘Dharma Scroll of Sacrifice’ painted in the middle of the chapel. Originally, it would have been Clarisse who had to kneel there and pray. The only one who can put Bellbrok to rest by devoting her own divine power and life is a saint blessed by Telos.

The time has come for me to reflect on the history of my past life and shake off the guilt that has accumulated in Clarisse.

Death is frightening, but what is more frightening is a life so painful that it would be better to die.

He pursued romance while playing in the world, but in the end, he could not shake off the guilt that remained in his heart.

That’s why Adele didn’t go to see Clarisse for a long time even after hearing the news that she was enrolled.

Because he didn’t think he was qualified to meet Clarisse.

Now, it’s time to put an end to everything.

Pushing through the apostles, he sits on the throne and prays. Dark red magic emanates from Velbroke’s molar necklace. What I feel is a clear intent to kill.

I feel that unpleasant, thick magic power eating away at my life.

However, what no one expected… Adele’s divine power was vast enough to match the power of the Aspect. Her divine power, which allows her to glimpse into the future, distorts even the flow of time.

It is an area that no saint in history has reached, so there is no precedent.

The protection of the holy law that was wrapped around Adele’s body would mobilize any and all means to protect her life.

In order to save Adele’s life even as the magic of Velbroke enveloped her body… Mobilize the divine power imprinted on her body… In the end, the time of the world is rewinded.

A realm of Aspect that no saint in history has reached. It can happen because Adele has reached it… retrograde in time. As magic, it is an area that falls under the forbidden field.

However, reversal in time does not mean that things are resolved. It just puts things on hold.

“Cool… cool….”

Adele walked in slowly, coughing out the smell of blood.

In the end, the reason why this story can’t come to an end is because Adele’s divine power remains too vast.

It is enough to consume all the inherent divine power and make it no longer convertible into magical power. No matter how much Adele is born with more amazing abilities than any saint in history, if she repeats it dozens or hundreds of times, she will no longer have the divine power to activate the divine protection.

His vision blurred, and he began to bleed profusely. No matter how much the blessings of the holy law were applied, Adele’s body could no longer exert its full power in a state where there was little divine power left to mobilize.

There really isn’t much left now.

Thinking that the endless iteration was now coming to an end, Adele felt relieved on the other hand.

It was a fleeting biography, but it does not mean that there is nothing left behind. It was just a lie, but in any case, Clarisse listened to her song and steadily made her eyes shine. In fact, I wonder if that alone is a life worth living… Adele smiled faintly as she staggered away.

“Now… once or twice… or… two or three times… it’s over…”

In the previous episode, Clarice stormed into the cathedral. The timing was faster than he thought.

But the finish was not far off. There is almost no divine power left in the body now.

Thinking so, Adele continued walking toward the cathedral. After thinking about it… . Until the end, his life wasn’t as bad as he thought.

However, life events do not always go according to my predictions and plans.

At first, Adele was complacent. It may have been because of the repeated deaths that the mind became hazy.

The variables he couldn’t catch, and what actions Clarisse, who will be circling together in time, will take… I should have guessed at this point.

“What…”

When she climbed halfway up the stairs, what Adele could see was the saintess’s large and neat carriage parked next to the cathedral.

-widely.

The moment I checked it, I felt as if someone was grabbing my back.

“Muh… laugh… uh…”

Adele, who was quickly dragged along, was quickly seated on a nearby wooden bench, unable to overcome the force.

The person who pulled out the scruff of the neck and forcibly sat on the bench was completely unexpected.

“Do you like oranges or just cold water?”

“…yes…?”

“I’d rather just drink cold water, so you drink an orange.”

A drink sold in mugs at the student canteen. It was a delicacy that you could cool down by floating ice.

The man in front of him―― Ed Rosteyler sat Adele down with a natural attitude and pushed a drink onto his lap.

Adele, who managed to fix the mug with bloody hands… He looked at Ed with a puzzled look on his face.

Ed sat down next to Adele and looked up at the cathedral.

Then he gulped down a glass of cold water, exhaled heavily, leaned back against the backrest, and gazed up at the lofty crucifix.

Adele is… He was so embarrassed that he said nothing.

Ed just looked up at the cathedral for a while without saying anything.

“This… this…”

“hey.”

Adele, who had been sitting dumbfounded for a long time, finally managed to speak, but was quickly cut off by Ed.

Ed spoke first.

“You will die soon.”

For some reason, those words are familiar… Adele answered after holding the mug still.

“…i know.”

“…okay.”

And there was no conversation for a while.

Sooner or later, Sung Chang-ryong will arrive and cause mayhem, but the scenery of the school is still peaceful. The cross of the cathedral, looking up, seems to be praising this peaceful era.

“Is that the end?”

“…yes?”

“Is that the end? Is there anything more to say?”

Then Ed asked another question, and Adele began to get confused about what to say.

In the first place, it was completely unexpected that Ed appeared in this place and snatched Adele. Edra didn’t pay attention to the variable itself.

However, Ed’s existence… It’s the only variable Adele didn’t recognize.

A man who moves in a different way every time in a repetitive world and seeks answers.

The fact that Ed was by Clarisse’s side was completely unknown to Adele.

And the intent of the question is unknown.

That’s what it means to disregard the laws of time and appear in front of you.

He knew very well that he would die. He sees his future intermittently, and it is also a fact that he has constantly confirmed in the repetition of time.

How does Ed know that… I couldn’t tell from Adele’s point of view.

Adele’s answer was fixed. Of course there is nothing more to say.

Rather, there are a lot of things I want to ask from this side. I tried to slowly check those things, but…

Before long, the bench you are sitting on feels big.

Looking around, it is the back alley of Old Deck, a commercial city.

Warm steam rises from the bacon sandwich in your hand. The man walking away is Adele’s father. He tried to say something, but in the end, the only word that came out after much thought was that he had suffered.

If you think about it, the castle is also the same at the window of the steeple.

He seemed to be trying to keep his mouth shut even in front of Clarisse, who was glaring at him.

But in the end, all that came out of their mouths were songs praising freedom.

“scary.”

Adele looked at the hand holding the mug and trembled. A hoarse, gasping sound was heard. A trembling voice barely passes through my throat.

“I don’t want to die.”

So Adele lowered her head… . He just sobbed for a while.

Ed sat quietly beside him, looking up at the cross in the lofty cathedral.

“okay.”

With my arms resting on the backrest, the sky I looked up at was high as always.

“It’s very difficult to say the obvious.”

There is no way to know how turbulent Adele and Clarisse had been, from Ed’s point of view now.

Perhaps it was a story that would make me sick and tired of the two of them.

Now, slowly, it’s time to come to an end.

“Tell me everything you know. Let’s finish it now.”