Vol. 1 - Ch. 23 - Paradise on Land

A week later.

Two weeks had passed since I was stoned and fainted. The atmosphere in the academy had slightly subdued, and many of the rooms previously boarded up with wood were now visible.

Even though I could see red flesh on my head, I was in decent shape to take off the bandage.

"The only thing to be proud of is your face, and even that has a crack now," Judith looked at the scar on my face and said.

"The only thing to be proud of is my face?"

"Right. I think so."

Now that I think about it, it feels a bit like...

'Is this a compliment or insult?'

Unfortunately, I don't recall anyone ever calling me ugly, not even my father, who knew I didn't have a single resemblance to the family genes.

As I wondered, Judith, leaning against the wall, looked at me from the corner of her eye, and her expression didn't change.

'She was said to be in a hard time when I fainted.'

I liked Judith's gentle nature, her comical way of speaking, and her peculiar kindness, making her cry when I fell but pretending not to care when I woke up.

If Judith wasn't really worried about me, she wouldn't have been the first to run for me when it was announced that the bandage had been removed, and she wouldn't check if I was really healed or not.

"The priest said he would be back next week, so I guess I will have to wait till then."

"Well, it doesn't hurt that much. The wound is a bit itchy, though."

Judith, with her prosthetic arm, ran her cold fingers over the newly grown scar. It felt like the wound didn't hurt anymore.

"You're lucky it wasn't the eyes."

"Yes, I was lucky."

It wasn't a joke that someone who fainted after being stoned and in a coma for a week would make. Judith laughed and jumped up.

"Still following? Watcher?"

"Probably. Until the end of the Thanksgiving one, which begins next week."

"Ah...!"

Come to think of it, it is already fall now.

Aegis Academy holds four major events in a year, starting with the Sprout Festival in spring, the Hunting Festival in summer, the Fall Thanksgiving in fall, and the Full Moon Festival in winter.

The most grand of them is Thanksgiving, which celebrates harvesting and giving thanks for the fruits of the year's farming. The dance usually held during this time is known to be amazing because it is a masquerade ball.

"Is Thanksgiving being held even though it's so chaotic?"

"They said they were opening it because it was so messy."

Judith crossed her arms and looked into space as if remembering someone's words.

'Seems like she met Machina.'

Special students like Judith and Arthur were meticulous about being talked to by the Student Council or their president. Even when nothing special happened, the Student Council's skill of summoning people, giving them tea, and then finding out what they knew was enough to make even Judith give in.

"And so, are all your concerns resolved?"

As expected, Judith was quick to notice. Perhaps it was a side effect of being a foreign student and always getting the attention of those around her, but even when I didn't speak, Judith sensed my emotions and spoke first.

"I guess you can call it resolved. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Hmm."

I didn't trust it, but I had nothing to say. Because after practicing self-hypnosis, I decided not to consult anyone about this problem.

Besides, I didn't want to put everyone in danger by speaking out without any solid information, and it is because of that one sentence.

<You must never remember it>

Assuming from the passage, that being's power increases when someone becomes aware of it. If not, there was no need for such a thing to be said.

Putting aside the question of how reliable the record of the creation myth is, it is symbolic that I, and not someone else, said it.

"Judith, now that I think about it, you pray when you go to the tournament or when you calm down."

"Right."

Judith's prayer ended with her kissing the pendant around her neck once and touching her heart. It was different from the Aegis beliefs, where one would hold a cross and pray.

"Have you had any difficulties because of your different beliefs?"

"Not much. Although it is a task to find a place to kill time in the divinity class."

"Now that I think about it, right?"

The day I first had the dream, I had been kicked out of the class and ran into Judith, the class president of Wooden Cross Class, in the hallway.

For the first few years of her life, Judith refused to take the divinity class, using the excuse of cooking. Then, as the talent of a special student rose, 'substitute classes' were permitted.

"But, Judith."

I called her as she leaned against the wall, tapping her toes even after our talk had ended long ago.

Judith responded with a sound of 'uh'.

"Your..."

I was about to ask about the prosthetic hand, but then I fell silent. Judith looked at me and closed her mouth at an odd time, then showed off her right hand, which was all prosthetic except for the thumb and little finger.

"This arm?"

"No, not that... sorry. I made a mistake."

"It is nothing."

Now I have no memory of why some parts of Judith's hand were prosthetic. There was just a memory of her fingers being attacked in my dream.

"Before I came to the academy, I was mauled by an animal. By the time I showed the wounds to a priest, my fingers, half the palm, and forearm were rotting away."

Judith didn't seem to care much that I, who had known her for a long time, was only now asking about her hand.

This part was truly something I couldn't understand.

Shirley didn't think it was odd that I was surprised to see Theodore's eye patch.

Judith wasn't surprised when I spent most of my time with her and only questioned her now.

'Odd....'

To me, what was happening felt similar to a knot forming by trying two different things together. If one looked at it from a distance, the thread seemed knotted.

But, if one looks closely, the knotted part wasn't smooth.

This made me feel uncomfortable.

I had no idea what it meant to only be aware of things now.

"But I was able to get the cool new parts with the support of Aegis Academy, and I am happy with that."

Judith moved her five fingers and grinned.

Maybe Judith already had a high-quality prosthetic hand made from the labyrinth tower, where the dark mages are.

The labyrinth tower's prosthetic hand was a precision machine with artificial skin that mimics the normal skin of the body and is then attached to a special circuit that acts as one's hand.

In some areas, it is argued that it should be called a golem because of how it moves only with magic in it.

"They must appreciate your talent."

"Huh. That too."

In any case, the arm from the tower is special, so it is difficult to obtain unless you have a certain level of resourcefulness through the reservation process of some wealthy people or black street ones.

Even though they have often seen quite a few rare items, this is the first time for me to see such an exclusive one this close.

"Saw it all?"

Without realizing it, I continued to stare at her arm. Judith asked, clenching her fist and swinging her forearm.

It had been like that since I woke up from the dream. I kept getting absorbed in my world, making the mistake of not doing the right things.

I awkwardly looked away and apologized.

And Judith said, "I don't think it's a bad thing for you to be interested in it this way. It is nice."

"Nice?"

I was shocked, to which she smiled and continued.

"Arma, even though you act all cool now, sometimes you act like an old man who lived his entire life."

"Me? I never acted like that. I am enjoying my youth."

"The moment you say you are enjoying youth, it means you aren't."

What kind of person does she think I am?

What does it mean to act like an old man who has lived his whole life? I had many questions, but she didn't seem to have the intention of answering them.

"In my opinion, the polite and well-natured Arma Cruz young master is an act."

"I have no idea what you are saying."

"The truth is, you don't care about other people and don't have expectations, but..."

Judith, who said that much, blurted out an odd word.

"Are sweet."

I felt somewhat odd and closed my mouth.

"Arma Cruz, you defeated the men who tried to harm me at the hunting festival."

"Because it made no sense. They mistook a normal person for a demonic beast. Even if it wasn't me, anyone would have come ahead."

"It hurts to say this, but no one else would have done that."

When Judith was a foreign student with a promising future, it wasn't praise but jealousy that came to her. And I felt uncomfortable seeing that.

"If something really huge happened, the Student Council would have stepped in."

The academy functioned as a fairly decent small society and a group of furious teenagers.

And it was more the student council that caused such a miracle than the presence of adults with a vague presence.

Around that time came the strange belief that if any incident happened, the council would be the one to resolve it.

"Judith, it is a bit embarrassing when you bring up what happened and take these compliments."

"Go on."

"There are more people who tried to help you than you thought."

For the first time in a long time, I was able to recall the events.

When Judith was in danger, several people were there, trying to reach for her. Judith didn't have to be so thankful to me because I just happened to be there and did what anyone would have.

"Now that you say that, I can forgive the cold-blooded people of Aegis, at least a little."

"Please don't forgive. They are bad ones."

Judith laughed at my words.

"I feel like I am keeping a sick one up for too long. I will just go now, Arma."

"I had fun in the boring time; come again and play with me."

"Yes."

Judith called the guard, informed him that her visit was done, and left the room.

I wished I could get discharged from here with no aftereffects on the body.

Perhaps because the panicked nature around hadn't subsided, my discharge was also being delayed, and I was living like an old person.

As I watched Judith move away, I began to think deeply.

'When I think about it, it is odd. It was like that before; since last year, things that are difficult to happen are continuing to happen.'

Even though it was a remote island, it didn't seem that isolated because the academy was huge and had everyone.

Would anyone dare call this anything else? It had a free atmosphere, beautiful nature, cadets with talents, and a paradise on land.

There was nothing unsatisfactory.

Really nothing...

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