The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 116

“Greetings Saint Clarice. I’m the head maid, Bell Maya, who will be taking care of getting you dressed today.”

It was quite rare for Bell Maya to take care of such hands-on work personally.

Although she had proven her capability even when she had been a Senior Maid, ever since she had become the Head Maid, she’d been forced to spend most of her time on management-related tasks.

There weren’t many students that held such a high status that the already quite busy Bell Maya would have to personally take care of them. That was because, no matter how many aristocratic and high-status people were staying in Ophelis Hall, there was still only one Head Maid.

Even under normal circumstances, the saint herself would have only been taken care of by a senior maid with proven skills. The head maid herself wouldn’t normally take care of such a task.

However, today was a special day. That was why Bell Maya had to personally take action.

“I guess it’s time already.”

“I’ll help you with your hair.”

The Saint Clarice that was staying in a private room on the top floor of Ophelis Hall was a fake.

According to the wishes of the saint herself, who had to prepare for any possible unexpected schemes against her if she wanted to attend school freely, a stand-in had been prepared using all sorts of magic to cover her identity up.

And today was the day that the Holy Father was coming to visit.

Both the Holy Father Eldane and his closest aide, the Archbishop Verdio.

He was the one at the top of the Telos Religious Group, and someone Saint Clarice truly admired.

A mere stand-in couldn’t be used on the day those two came to visit. That was because it was a day that Saint Clarice herself needed to personally go and meet with them.

Of course, Eldane and Verdio probably already knew of her stand-in, but it wouldn’t be polite to use a stand-in when two people of such status came to visit her personally.

That was why Kylie Eckner—a powerless aristocrat from a small country on the outskirts—had to disappear from the world for the time being.

It was time to hide the stand-in and instead bring out the real Saint Clarice.

“Thank you.”

The girl standing in front of a glamorous vanity table gave a bright smile as she got dressed.

The only people that knew that she was secretly attending school with a stand-in were Headmaster Obel, the three deans, and Bell Maya, who personally managed her living environment.

Since today was the day that the real saint, not the stand-in, was showing up… If the work was entrusted to a senior maid like usual, they might have realized something was strange.

That was why Bell Maya, who knew the truth about the saint’s identity, came to help her get dressed herself.

However, Bell felt it was a worthless thing to worry about.

Kylie Eckner was a cute girl with brown hair that acted somewhat immature. She was curious about everything and showed interest in even the smallest things. But now, that girl was nowhere to be seen…

Instead, sitting in front of the mirror was the red-eyed saint with cool white hair flowing down her back.

Even the smallest of actions, like her gentle smile and graceful gestures, were steeped in a nobility on a different level when compared to the girl that acted as her stand-in.

Looking at the sharp differences in their personalities, she really wondered if they were the same person.

Saint Clarice was a girl that had received the reverence of the believers of the Telos Religious Group her entire life.

Even with the appearance of Kylie, who acted immature the moment the burden on her shoulders was slightly eased, she was engulfed in an elegance that suited her the moment she sat down on the throne of a saint again.

When Bell remembered Kylie’s sparkling eyes and constant clapping at every moment, it was strange enough that she couldn’t help but second guess if they were really the same person.

“Miss Bell.”

“Yes, Saint?”

As she swept aside her clean and shiny white hair, Bell cautiously responded.

“Today was the day of the Joint Combat Practice, right?”

“Yes. Coincidentally, it has become difficult for you to participate, as it overlaps with the Holy Father’s visit.”

“……”

Clarice lowered her eyes for a brief moment, showing her disappointment.

Lately, she hadn’t had much time to interact with the upperclassmen because her hands were already full just taking care of her required coursework.

In actuality, she wasn’t all that interested in meeting the other grade levels. She just wanted to meet a second year, Adele Cerise.

She thought that the joint combat practice would be the perfect opportunity to do so. However, since the timing wasn’t favorable, Clarice had to drop out of the practical class.

As the saint, she didn’t have a choice but to visit with the Holy Father. It was a force majeure.

In reality, the joint combat practice wasn’t all that important.

There were many reasons the highly prestigious and busy Holy Father and Archbishop were personally visiting.

Clarice considered that a special inspection might be taking place. Since they were two people that were highly interested in every single one of the Saint’s movements, it was clear they wanted to check on whether or not she was doing well at school, the environment was good, and if there was any sort of danger.

Though, honestly speaking, she wasn’t entirely confident.

What was the school’s environment like? There had been various incidents that had taken place before and after Clarice had entered the school.

Last year, a student had taken over the Student Center when she nearly summoned an ultimate dark spirit. There was also the professor that was caught trying to escape after stealing an important treasure from the school.

Then, after Clarice entered the school, there was a battle that the top students personally fought in that resulted in a section of the dormitory being destroyed. There was also the excommunicated aristocrat that had gotten caught up in a murder case… Things had been really hectic.

Still, since Clarice wasn’t personally involved in any of it, it would be hard to say that it was dangerous for her. Still, with all the gossip going around, it wasn’t exactly great, either.

Also, Clarice had already made a promise to the Archbishop Verdio when she left the Holy Father Building.

While attending school as Kylie Eckner, if there ever came a moment when someone found out about her true identity or she revealed it to the public herself, she would have to give up on her school life.

Since she had forced her way into being enrolled at Silvenia, she didn’t have a choice but to accept that condition.

“……”

The past few months of her school life had been a dream-like moment of freedom for Clarice.

There were certainly times that were difficult or scary, but it was surely different from the life she lived while doing nothing but praying at the top of the Holy Father Building.

Clarice didn’t want to go back to such a life yet. For that reason… She needed to make sure that the Holy Father’s visit went smoothly.

Rather than putting on a show of bravado, now was the time to lie down quietly. Her desire to participate in the Joint Combat Practice was boiling over, but she endured it. The opportunity to meet with Adele would surely come again.

“I think it’ll be fine for you to act more comfortably, Saint Clarice.”

“Oh, can you really tell that I’m nervous?”

Bell noticed the tips of Clarice’s long eyelashes trembling, so she tried to calm her down.

“Thinking of the fact that I’m going to meet with the Holy Father and the Archbishop after such a long time, I’m quite happy. I want to give a good impression and prove that I am doing well while studying here. So, I guess I started to get worried for no reason.”

“You seem to be enjoying your school life.”

“Yes. I want to stay in Silvenia until the day I graduate. But since I think that… it’s making me rather nervous.”

Bell had no way to relieve her of her nervousness. If she continued to talk about the topic, Clarice would only start to feel down. So, all she could do was hope that Clarice would find a way to take care of it herself and put her mind at ease.

As Bell brushed her beautiful hair with a comb, she kept her mouth shut. When someone was extremely stressed, the way to relieve them always differed.

Clarice also started to notice Bell’s emotions and she quietly dropped the subject.

As she continued to get dressed, Clarice prayed that nothing out of the ordinary would take place.

There weren’t any significant variables that could ruin things. After all, the difference in appearance between Kylie and Saint Clarice was huge. It would be hard for anyone to notice them easily, but…

“……”

Suddenly a person began to appear in Clarice’s mind.

Perhaps the only variable within this school. The only student that knew the true identity of Saint Clarice.

An upperclassman two years above her that was currently living alone, out in his cabin in the forest. Ed.

Though, he really wasn’t all that big of an issue. Just looking at him, he looked like the type that was good at keeping secrets.

He had noticed the identity of the Saint before anyone else, yet it seemed that he still hadn’t revealed it to anyone. If rumors of the saint’s true identity had begun to circulate because of him, she was certain that it would spread throughout the school in an instant.

Yet… Clarice still felt a bit anxious.

The man that was like her teacher, Archbishop Verdio, was a master at reading others’ minds. She had no idea how he did it, but there were many times where he saw through other’s thoughts and saw what they kept hidden inside.

However, it didn’t work against Clarice… It was probably some sort of sacred magic, and there was not a single piece of sacred magic was able to be used on the Saint.

It probably wasn’t going to happen, but if Ed happened to run into Archbishop Verdio, that could be a major issue. The fact that there was someone that already knew the true identity of the saint would end up being revealed.

Why did I only realize this now…?!

Of course, it was unlikely to even think that Ed, who lived in the forest, and Archbishop Verdio of the Holy Father Building would end up meeting face to face. Yet, there was still a small possibility. And that was something that she couldn’t help but worry about.

Now that it was on her mind, she was starting to get even more nervous. During their visit, they would converse with the students, hold a baptism ceremony, and even give speeches… She started to become anxious over the fact that, when they were doing all of that… What if they ended up meeting Ed?

As she thought about it, Clarice’s fingers started to tremble slightly. Should she let him know in advance? At the very least, doing something would make her feel a bit more at ease.

If she was just able to tell Ed about the situation and ask him to stay as far away from the religious ceremonies as possible, she could rest easy for the time being.

But until she could do so, she wouldn’t be able to stay calm. She was so nervous that her eyelids began to tremble. If everything ended up being revealed because of that small mistake, her enjoyable school life would come to an end.

“……”

Seeing Clarice act like that, Bell Maya let out a deep sigh.

She seemed to be even more nervous than she thought. Since she was the Saint, she thought that she would just greet the Holy Father and Archbishop casually. But it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

Of course, Bell was wrong. The reason Clarice was so nervous was for a much more substantial reason.

“Then… I’ll make you a cup of tea to help calm you down.”

“No, it’s okay… But… I do have a request. Can you please get ready to head out?”

Clarice let out a sigh as she spoke to Bell with a flushed face.

“Ed. Ed Rothstaylor. I think I’ll have to see him to help calm down…”

“…Pardon?”

What name did she just say?

Bell swallowed a gasp for a brief moment.

In an instant, a diagram made up of human relationships started to unfold in Bell’s head. There wasn’t much space to squeeze in anyone else. And there didn’t seem to be anything good about it getting even more complicated.

“Ed… I want to meet him right now… As soon as possible…”

“But… the time…”

“Isn’t the Holy Father coming to visit in the afternoon? There’s still quite a bit of time left this morning, so there’s plenty of time to do so…”

Bell didn’t know the reason herself, but she didn’t want Ed and the Saint to meet. Of course, that didn’t mean there was a way for Bell to stop it from happening.

“A-Alright then…”

Bell began to sweat profusely, so unlike her usual self, as she answered her.

***

The Holy City was described as a palace on wheels by the people. What they were talking about was the Holy Father’s carriage.

The Holy Father’s carriage was always accompanied by tremendous escorts and had five to six rooms inside. It was like a house with wheels that moved together.

If it weren’t for the Holy City’s magicians, who stayed up all night casting weight lightening magic on it, it wouldn’t have been possible to pull it along with even dozens of horses.

It was so grand that they needed to calculate the width of Mexes Bridge, which they would use to cross over into Acken Island. It was a bridge that was used for the transport of items to be distributed by the Elte Company. Looking at the escorts riding their horses on both the front and back ends of the carriage, it really gave the illusion that an army was on the move.

In the Holy Father’s grand carriage, there were two men sitting side by side in the topmost seat.

One was the Holy Father Eldane, who wore a grand robe and had sharp and bright eyes that shone.

The other was Archbishop Verdio, who was neatly dressed in a perfectly sized robe and carrying a handful of papers.

Both of them were devout believers that had devoted their entire lives to the Telos Religious Group. They acted as elders that were highly respected by all clergymen of the Holy Father Building.

Since it consumed an enormous amount of manpower and resources when they traveled, they spent most of their time in the Holy Father Building, choosing to not travel long distances.

“It’s a lot farther away than I thought. If we didn’t have plans already set at Count Berche’s estate, realistically it would have been quite difficult to come such a far place just to check on the Saint’s situation.”

“Yes. I’m really glad that the route matched up well.”

Hearing the words from Archbishop Verdio, the Holy Father lightly responded. He looked out the window at a view of the plains. Far away, he could see a bridge stretching out over the sea coming into view. If they were to keep up the pace, they would be able to arrive in an hour or two.

“Anyway, I’m glad that the collaboration with Count Berche went well. Having established our authority sufficiently on this trip, it seems that we will be able to continue to draw funds until the next reconstruction date of the Holy Father Building.”

“Is that so…?”

The reason the stubborn Holy Father had to travel all the way to another lord’s land was… Ultimately, for business.

He had lived his entire life in complete dedication and obedience to the pure will of the Telos Religious Group. He lived his life, always judging the will of the god up in the sky, but he was still only a human that crawled on the ground.

If you wanted to survive in the world, you couldn’t escape from your interests. The same was true for the Holy Father Building.

Looking out of the window at a scenery of the plains, the Holy Father Eldane was lost in his thoughts.

Suddenly, he remembered the days he cultivated his faith alone in the small monastery in the Lamelin Mountain Range. Even though he was always starving, it was also a time where he listened the closest to God’s voice.

For how long had he been maintaining his faith through business? If you wanted to gain strength and build authority, it was impossible to achieve it for free.

No matter how noble a believer may be, they could never live a full life without the use of money. In the end, everyone was bound by the logic of power and money. The same was true even for the Holy Father, who reigned over the Holy City. He couldn’t continue living without compromising that much.

At some point in time, the Holy Emperor reached a level that could shake hands with the Imperial Family. But as generations passed and the Holy Father Building grew, the scope of the compromise he made also widened… Of course, that applied to those that held the central power, but at some point, he even had to go out and personally visit the Earls that held immense influence. Even if their estates were located all the way in the outskirts.

Count Berche was a man that gave more donations than any other noble family, so he couldn’t be ignored. In a way, he acted as a devout believer, so there wasn’t a particular need to feel remorseful about visiting him… Still, he couldn’t hide his upset.

“Holy Father, I was told today they are having the Joint Combat Practice.”

“I know, Verdio. I just saw it in the documents.”

Archbishop Verdio, who was watching over him, was also a devout believer.

He was much more open to compromises and was more realistic than to the Holy Father, who only listened to the voice of God and abandoned reality.

He probably rose to the position of Archbishop because he did a good job and controlled everything.

Devotion was like wings made of wax. If you flew too high, they would melt in the sunlight and disappear.

The higher your status was and the closer you came to seeing the truth in faith, the dearer you would hold it in your heart—to the point of wearing it out.

Eldane saw him pray with him every day, showing their devoted faith to their god Telos, but he couldn’t help but occasionally stick his tongue out at Verdio’s rational side.

Was he a man that could even sell the Holy Father Building if necessary?

He was a man with a temperament closer to a merchant than that of a clergyman.

As a clergyman, you couldn’t easily control or suppress him. In the end, if you want to control him and have him in the palm of your hands, you would first have to master the logic of money and power.

He was a strange man. Still, Eldane didn’t say anything particular about it.

He no longer had a choice but to accept the accusations that he was now an accomplice to him.

Because in the end, the Holy Emperor City was very much indebted to Verdio’s resourcefulness.

In the distance, Mexes Bridge started to come closer.

***

“No one challenged me…”

Yennekar let out a sigh as she sat down at the wooden table in the Student Center. Sitting across from her, sipping my drink, I replied that I knew that would be the case.

Some time had passed, and now it was the day of the Joint Combat Practice.

It was an annual event where the first years went up against the second years, and the third years went up against the fourth years. The results of the matches were events that were reflected in your grades. However, each year the rules changed slightly depending on the professor in charge.

Last year, it was through one-on-one matchups. This year, it was through challenges. That meant you could personally challenge the opponent you wanted to.

Since there weren’t any first year students in Class A yet, supposedly the competition to get into Class A is going to be quite intense this year. That was why everyone wanted to fight against the strongest opponents possible. So, to cater to that mindset, the matches this year would be conducted through challenging one another.

However, there were two problems.

That might be the case between the first and second years, but the third and fourth years really didn’t have that level of fighting spirit.

So, for a student that was really strong, there wouldn’t be anyone willing to challenge them. In the end, they would duel against the surplus of students that didn’t challenge anyone. For a student that was so strong that no one wanted to challenge them in the first place, it was all too boring.

A prime example of that was the top third year student, Yennekar Palerover.

“I won’t even know who my opponent will be until it’s already time for the match…”

“Is there someone you personally want to go up against?”

“Hm… How should I respond to that? Won’t it come across as being arrogant…?”

It looked like she was rather shy about challenging someone else. That was very much a Yennekar-like reaction.

The student center was crowded with students that had come to check things out. Yennekar and I left the crowd as we waited for the people at the tables around us to leave.

Looking at things as they were now, it seemed there wasn’t anyone challenging me, either. Surprisingly, even among the third years I was recognized as being quite strong.

In fact, there weren’t many talented people in the third year, anyway. The protagonist’s generation was one year below us. The year that was considered to have many talented students, who filled the night sky like stars. Compared to them, the kids in my grade seemed pathetic.

Even in last year’s joint combat practice… Aside from Yennekar, no one won a round against the protagonist’s generation. There weren’t even any signs of them being vexed about it. It all felt like the outcome was already decided beforehand.

In such a grade level, it wouldn’t be strange to say that I had already entered the ranks as one of the strongest third years. Spending my time sleeping less and practicing more, the results were starting to slowly shine.

“Ed… You’re reading the book Lucy gave you again…”

Suddenly, Yennekar looked at the book in my hand with her cheeks puffed out. I didn’t want to unnecessarily reveal the contents of the book to others, so I quickly covered the cover with my hand.

Whenever I had free time, I was constantly reading the book on Celestial Magic, practicing using the magic power, and repeatedly training myself to get used to it.

Knowing how to use Celestial Magic would be a massive advantage. Even Professors had a difficult time using Celestial Magic. So, with such an opportunity available to me, it would be ridiculous tonottake advantage of it.

However, no matter how much description and commentary there was written by a master of Celestial Magic, there were many parts that were difficult to understand. It seemed that I would still need to do quite a bit more training.

“Because it’s a very important book. For the time being, I think I’ll only be reading through this.”

In any case, I had to continue waiting until all the students checked who their opponents would be. The school’s faculty would arrange the matches and tell us when our duels would occur.

Since it would be a waste of time to just sit idly, I read my book. Yennekar continued to stare at me with her face laying against the table. I wondered what I did to make her expression so grumpy.

After a few minutes, she took in a deep breath, her cheeks still puffed up, and spoke.

“What are you going to do for dinner tonight? I forgot to check what ingredients you had left in the camp storage… Do you remember, Ed?”

“Well… I think we have enough… I also bought some of the leftover meat from Loraïl Hall’s cafeteria, so we can use that. Should I just grill it with some salt…?”

“Ah, then I’ll go and ask Clara for some leftover herbs. If we add it in while we cook it, it will become much softer and more fragrant.”

“Oh… That’s definitely worth a try…”

Even though today was just a regular day for us… If someone that didn’t know we lived together overheard us, the conversation we were having might have sounded a bit strange.

The fact that Yennekar now lived next to me at camp had only just started to finally sink in. I swallowed a sigh of relief as I continued to read my book.

Once classes finished, we packed up our bags and headed back to the North Forest together. We cooked and ate together, talked about all the work [?] that needed to be done as we sat around the campfire at night, and when it was time to sleep, we each went to our own cabins. Saying ‘see you tomorrow’, we would both go off to bed.

“By the way… About Lucy…”

“Lucy?”

“Yeah… You know, how she often comes to the camp…”

Yennekar still had her face laying on the wooden table as she kicked her feet in the air. She then put her chin on her hand as she grunted.

“Don’t you care, Ed…?”

“Even if I did, what could I even do? Would I even be able to stop her by using force? I feel more comfortable when I think of her as a natural disaster.”

“That’s… true, but… Lucy lives in Ophelis Hall. If she keeps coming to the camp like this, won’t she get in trouble with the maids?”

Were the Ophelis Hall maids the only faculty members within the school that could control Lucy? Suddenly, I heard a strong voice.

As Yennekar was complaining, shaking her feet in the air, suddenly murmuring could be heard from the center of the Student Center.

And then, suddenly, the crowd split apart as the murmuring subsided in an instant.

“Pave the way!”

“The Saint is coming! Make way!”

Silvenia Academy was extremely reluctant to let outside escorts enter campus grounds.

That was because there were many different children of high-status or that came from influential families in Silvenia. If each and every one of them were granted permission, the internal facilities of the campus wouldn’t work properly. Therefore, unless there was a special reason and it was permitted by the school, personal escorts were not allowed to be used.

However, there are only two people within the school that transcended those rules. One was Princess Penia Elias Kroel, who lived in the royal residence with guards protecting her. The other was Saint Clarice, who lived in the largest room on the top floor of Ophelis Hall.

“Wow…”

It seemed to be Yennekar’s first time seeing Saint Clarice. Well, they were in different school years… There wouldn’t have been many opportunities for them to interact.

An elegance that naturally overwhelmed the crowd. White hair, flowing down her body in a neat fashion. Red eyes that sent a chill down your spine.

She was a girl that always appeared in front of the public wearing a holy robe made of the finest lace, protected by the holiest of divine protections. So, seeing her wear a school uniform was a strange sight.

Since she’s also a student, she must have come to check the list of battles for the Joint Combat Training. Gathering the attention of everyone, she made her way across the empty lot in front of the Student Center.

I sat quietly at a wooden table off in the corner as I watched her pass by. She was quite far away, so I could barely even see her.

Compared to when she was Kylie, there was a huge difference in her elegant and dignified appearance.

“……”

I was going to keep a close eye on everything that took place during the Joint Combat Practice.

I wanted to check just how much longer the original storyline that I knew would continue, and to determine from what point it would start moving into a different direction. I needed to check just how the storyline was being twisted so that I could make preparations to deal with the next big incident.

First off, something different from what I had expected was already taking place.

As far as I knew, Saint Clarice shouldn’t have been able to participate in the Joint Combat Practice. That was because the Holy Father’s visit overlapped with it, and meeting with him was a higher priority for her.

However, seeing her come all the way over to check the list of matches for the Joint Combat Practice… Did that mean the Saint was also going to participate in the practical training?

If that was the case, then had the Holy Father’s visit been delayed? If such a change did happen, why?

Then, as I was turning the gears in my head to figure out why such a situation was taking place…

“Uh…. Uhm…”

Suddenly, Yennekar raised her head from the table as she made a bewildered sound.

Clarice, who had everyone’s attention, wasn’t walking to the front door of the Student Center.

She looked back and forth before looking straight at me. She then started to walk firmly in my direction. The eyes of the students around us started to glare daggers at me.

Saint Clarice didn’t become close to anyone while she was at school. That was because, with her esteemed status, she was already exposed to all sorts of dangers.

Yet, that same person had now come all the way over to sit in the seat right across from me. Her graceful appearance was still prevalent in the small set of her actions.

“Hello, Ed.”

Her clear and beautiful voice traveled across the murmurs of the crowd. What the heck was going on? Everyone was completely bewildered that the Saint had come over to greet me as if we were close.

Unfortunately, I also had no idea what she was doing. First of all, I was at least able to figure out that the person sitting in front of me right now wasn’t the fake. She was the real Clarice… But why on earth did she come all the way over here to greet me?

“Originally, I was going to write you a letter. However, I wanted to meet with you quickly, so I came in person.”

She naturally dropped such a bombshell of a remark, but I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck she was talking about. Only silent clamors were heard throughout the crowd.

Meanwhile, Clarice continued to smile softly and elegantly.

“Shall we talk?”

“……”

While trying to control my expression as much as possible, I closed my book and set it aside on the table.