The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 131

The girl sitting down, leaning against the wall of the hallway in Glockt Hall, raised the corners of her mouth.

The Joint Combat Practice was in full swing at the Student Center. She could hear the sounds of the duels all over.

While everyone was focused on the battle taking place in the arenas, Adele sat still as she reminisced back on her life.

A life that was full of ups and downs. But right now, in such an urgent situation and with everyone’s life on the line, it wasn’t the time to reflect on the meaning of her life.

However, as she ran around frantically, she came to realize there was nothing left to do. Because she had worked so hard to survive so far, she ended up giving up on any meaning to her life.

As Ed Rothstaylor said… If you lived your life by gritting your teeth and struggling to survive… the life you lived had to beworth it. But if one were to ask Adele if her life were worth it, nothing would come out of her mouth.

Survival, rather than living. It was that type of life.

It sounded rather incredible, but for the most part that was how most people’s lives were.

The world was full of humans that were struggling to do their best to just barely survive.

Everyone struggled to survive for their own reasons.

— —

The same was true of Taldarek, who clenched his teeth as he received a blow from Merilda.

Just being able to tank an attack from a high-ranking spirit with a human body was an incredible feat. He had blocked Merilda’s front paw with his spear, fighting back hard with his trembling hands.

However, with a magic arrow coming straight into his shoulder, he lost balance as he fell over. He quickly got up, preparing to counterattack, but the lioness Lacia quickly jumped forward and bit into his shoulder. He tried to tear her off and get back into position, but in front of him was the high-ranking wind spirit Merilda and the high-ranking fire spirit Takan, glaring down at him with all their majesty.

— —

The same was true of Verdio, who tried to find a way out after being trapped in a corner.

The moment he made eye contact with Lucy, he tried to run in the opposite direction, dragging the Saint along behind him. However, a magic bullet instantly hit his right foot, making him fall.

Clarice was released from his grasp as Lucy stood up from her spot. Verdio used weak Sacred Magic to cast a defensive spell, but Lucy was able to destroy it with just a lift of her finger.

He tried to get up and quickly run away, but he was cut down from behind by the beginner wind magicWind Blade, sending him falling back down. His face slammed into the ground, but he still held on. He clenched his teeth as he gathered all the strength he had to somehow stand back up.

As he struggled to raise his head, Lucy looked down at him with indifferent eyes.

Still, Verdio didn’t lose the strength in his arms. For the sake of survival.

— —

The life of Swordmaster Taylee was also a series of ordeals.

He managed to master the Swordmaster’s Skill after struggling through countless ordeals. And even today, during the Joint Combat Practice, he continued to put in his best effort working tirelessly.

Standing in the center, outside of the Student Center seemed to be noisy. However, inside the arena he was completely separated from the outside world. He didn’t care about anything else. Now was the time for him to face the opponent in front of him.

Even though numerous first years challenged him, he never dropped his sword. Neither the top student in the combat department, Wade, nor the top student in the magic department, Joseph, could defeat him. Although the top student in the alchemy department, Claude, used all sorts of cowardly moves to defeat him, Taylee never lost.

Even when he saw Claude, who had his back against the wall and drank the forbidden reagent ‘Evil God’s Blood’, he didn’t avoid the fight and confronted him head-on.

— —

The same was true of Yennekar Palerover, who couldn’t see in front of her.

Beyond her blurred vision, she felt as if she could see the silhouette of Ed fighting against Taldarek. But even though he could use a high-ranking spirit now, there was still no guarantee that he would be able to defeat a member of the Apostle of Telos in a one-on-one fight.

Her body had already reached its limit as it screamed out at her. However, feeling Ed Rothstaylor right in front of her, fighting with his life on the line, she clenched her teeth and drew out her magic power one last time. In the end, Yennekar ended up gathering all her magic power to manifest the high-ranking fire spirit, Takan.

One ultimate spirit, one high-ranking spirit, eight mid-ranking spirits, one hundred seventeen low-ranking spirits, four hundred seventeen fluid spirits.

You could call her a one-man army.

It was only possible to manifest all of them by gathering her magic power from the future in exchange for shaving off from her life. Regardless of that, the sheer amount of spiritual resonance she had shown was at an unbelievable level.

Fire and wind cut through the forest as Ed stood between two high-ranking spirits, taking out his dagger and bow.

The sound of two men yelling as they clashed against each other filled Yennekar’s ears.

— —

Was it any different for Adele’s close friend, Clarice?

Having escaped from Verdio’s grasp, Clarice stood up. From the start, her body was already full of scratches, and she had been somewhat damaged from Verdio’s attack.

And yet, she somehow managed to push her body, which was falling apart, towards the cathedral.

There, the Holy Father Elane had the power to put an end to all of this. Since the situation had gotten to that point, for a person that didn’t know anything aside from his religion, he wouldn’t just stand still.

The moment she reached the front door of the cathedral, the door swung open by itself before Clarice even had the chance to try.

The Holy Father Eldane and his knights came walking out. Although they were slightly injured from Verdio’s surprise attack, no one was fatally wounded.

The Knight Templars paid their respects to the Saint as they passed by, heading towards Verdio. The Holy Father Eldane walked quietly beside them, and he bowed politely to the Saint. Aside from their god Telos, who blessed the earth, he was the person considered to have the highest sacred authority.

Such a person had bowed his head politely towards Clarice as he passed by her, proceeding towards Verdio.

The Knight Templars surrounded the fallen Verdio as the Holy Father Eldane made his way through, looking down at him.

Verdio clenched his teeth as he struggled to cast another Sacred Magic spell, but before the knights could even respond, Lucy trampled on his arm.

He screamed out as he grabbed Lucy’s foot, but he couldn’t do anything, as she had covered it in defensive magic. Looking down at the struggling Verdio, Lucy’s face was completely expressionless.

— —

And more than anyone else, Ed Rothstaylor was a man that lived his life the most passionately.

Ed Rothstaylor’s body was covered in injuries as he pulled the bowstring.

Despite Merilda and Takan sending wind and fire magic his way, Taldarek still managed to somehow withstand it all. Wielding his spear, he deflected the magic, dodged Ed’s arrows, and evaded Takan’s tail and Merilda’s paws as he fought on.

However, it was still difficult to deal with two high-ranking spirits as well as Ed Rothstaylor, whose body was covered in all sorts of blessings.

That was why it was necessary to cut off a major source of his opponent’s power. Ed Rothstaylor, who manifested Merilda, was able to fight off against him in close combat.

However, Yennekar Palerover, who was in a crippled state… Against her, things would be different.

If he could defeat her, he could also get rid of the fire lizard in front of him and the flying whale in the sky that was blocking his comrades from supporting him.

Taldarek quickly changed the direction of his attack towards Yennekar Palerover, who was suffering from a high fever and gasping for breath.

That decision was a drastic one. If he were to hesitate in the middle of a battle, where the tips of swords clashed, he would be the one to lose his life. Taldarek was well aware of that.

The spear still faced Ed Rothstaylor. Ed prepared to dodge Taldarek’s attack, but the spear suddenly changed directions and was then thrown in the direction of Yennekar Palerover.

The strength of Taldarek surpassed that of a human. The spear flew towards Yennekar at an unbelievable speed.

However, Ed Rothstaylor didn’t even look back towards Yennekar. Taldarek thought it was strange, as it seemed that Ed thought highly of that girl.

Boom!

Only then did Taldarek realize that all his thoughts were being read.

The low-ranking spirit Mugg, who was hidden under Yennekar’s shawl, suddenly popped up. It used Explosion to deflect the spear.

Ed had assumed Yennekar would be attacked, so he sent one of his key sources of power, the low-ranking spirit Mugg, towards Yennekar.

And since Taldarek had attacked, there was an opening. His center of gravity pushed him forward, and he no longer had his spear in hand.

Takan’s tail flew towards him as Taldarek put up his guard, tightening his stomach, to try and withstand the blow. His legs dragged through the dirt as he was pushed away. His bones, which were as hard as steel, didn’t break—but he couldn’t do anything about the new opening that was made.

Merilda jumped forward and grabbed him with her teeth. Taldarek tried to move his center of gravity to deflect it, but two magic arrows pierced his shoulder. He shouted in pain as Merilda’s huge teeth dug into his right arm.

Blood splashed as his complexion turned pale, but Ed stayed vigilant and drove a dagger further into his chest. Then, a Spiritual Skill was cast—another explosion erupted as Taldarek fell to the ground.

And just like that, the third seat of the Apostles of Telos, Taldarek, fell unconscious.

Takan’s massive body disappeared as Merilda quickly changed into the form of a human girl to lessen the heavy magic burden on Ed.

Merilda ran towards Ed as the hem of her white dress blew in the wind. She supported him as he stood up.

Merilda also knew of his goal. She quickly grabbed Velbrok’s Tooth Necklace from his pocket.

Merilda continued to support Ed as they continued to walk further into the woods.

There was no end in sight of the forest, which continued with trees spread out all around them. But in the first place, their goal wasn’t to reach the end of the forest.

Ed continued to be conscious of Velbrok’s Tooth as he was being held up by Merilda.

Little by little, the magic power that covered it grew weaker, before completely disappearing.

He struggled to raise his head.

There, in front of him… there was a massive lake that stood in the center of the forest. It was extremely beautiful.

Ed sighed deeply as he looked up at the sky.

He saw an optical illusion of that massive dragon’s head appear above the open sky.

How many times did he have to die to reach that point? What he was certain of was that, despite each death being painful, they weren’t meaningless.

None of it was pointless. That fact alone comforted him as the open sky started to look even more beautiful.

Ed took Velbrok’s Tooth from Merilda. Now, the weakening magic power on it had completely disappeared. Ed caught his breath as he then threw it into the lake.

It flew in the air for a minute before eventually settling down at the bottom of the lake.

Adele opened her eyes.

She slowly put her hands on the wall as she stood up. Her blood continued to drip down as it wet the floor more and more.

Ed Rothstaylor walked over to a tree.

Dragging his exhausted body, he returned to the tree Yennekar was leaning against. He had run out of magic power, even canceling Merilda’s manifestation. All that he had left was his beaten body.

Walking back to Yennekar, he sat down. The condition of their bodies was no joke.

In a relaxed tone, Ed opened his mouth.

“It’s all over now.”

It was also time for the Joint Combat Practice to come to an end.

And the Holy Blue Dragon Velbrok never ended up appearing.

“Let’s head back, Yennekar.”

***

Gathering all the magic power I had left, I managed to manifest Lacia as we neared Acken Island, riding on her back.

But after we crossed Mexes Bridge, I no longer had the magic power to keep Lacia around. So, I ended up carrying Yennekar on my back the rest of the way.

Seeing two exhausted and injured students cross the bridge, the school staff guarding the entrance were startled as they ran forward to take care of us. They said we were even able to receive support from the medical facility in the Student Center.

The school was peaceful. At least, compared to before.

The Ultimate Spirit that suddenly appeared in the sky above the school, and the Apostles of Telos that fought against it.

And near the school’s cathedral, there was the terrorist attack caused by the sacred magic of the Archbishop Verdio.

Even at Glockt Building, there was an incident where a first-year student drank the blood of an Evil God, causing a riot.

They told us that they couldn’t provide a lot of manpower to support us since they were already in the middle of taking care of various incidents across school.

Our injuries weren’t fatal, we were just exhausted, so that didn’t matter.

However, I needed to have Yennekar rest as soon as possible… So, I asked the school’s staff to get us there as quickly as they could.

As we made our way to the Student Center, a magnificent carriage stopped right in front of us.

It looked as if it were heading towards Mexes Bridge, but as soon as it approached us, it made a sudden stop. Looking at the outside of the carriage, I recognized it. I was sick of the sight.

The carriage doors swung open as an escort knight stepped off first. He tried to slowly escort the carriage’s owner outside first, but she didn’t care as she quickly left her seat and ran into my arms.

“Ed!”

Saint Clarice of the Telos Religious Group.

In terms of nobility, she was comparable to the third princess Penia. Uncaring of the surrounding gazes or of being cautious of herself, she ran right into my arms.

“It’s all over…! It’s all over now…!”

“…Yes…”

“Really… It’s all over…”

I was going to tell her to be conscious of her surroundings.

However, she really did finally manage to barely escape from that hell. Clarice… she must have had a hard time controlling all of her emotions.

“Really… all of it… is finally over… Verdio has been officially expelled and the Holy Father is going to send an official letter of apology for the uproar that took place at the school. The Holy Blue Dragon… didn’t show up either…”

“Yeah.”

“We did it… We… really… did it… If it wasn’t for you, Ed… What would have happened… to me… And Adele…”

Tears continued to well up as Clarice suddenly raised her head.

“Adele…”

The situation was so urgent that, in order to make use of this final chance, every minute and every second we had was too precious.

So, only then… did I remember that name.

“Adele… where is she…?”

***

A life of running away.

She spoke of freedom, but what she longed for was actually survival.

So, in the end, what was the reason for going back to the sacrificial magic circle and dying?

Was it simply because she felt sorry for Clarice? Did she feel pity having made her face her own death in her place?

Sympathy, compassion, and guilt. Did such emotions grasp Adele’s heart to the point that she couldn’t help but throw away her own life?

To some extent, it was true. But if you were to ask if that was the complete answer, it was not.

Going to the Commercial City of Oldek, before eventually heading to the Holy Capital Karpea, she lived as a bard and wandered around the world before finally ending up at Silvenia Academy.

In that life, the moment that always stayed in her heart was the memory of sitting at the window of the Holy Father Building, playing the lute.

A life without purpose. At least, that was what it was before leaving the Holy Father Building.

The reason she decided to enjoy the many landscapes of the world was because she didn’t want the song that she sang to Clarice to remain a lie.

Clarice, who widened her bright eyes every time she heard Adele’s lute from her window. Because of that girl, she decided to become a bard.

By becoming a real bard, she hoped the words she had told her would gain meaning.

So, Clarice was the meaning to Adele’s life.

She was someone that gave her meaningless life its own worth.

A life without family and friends. Such a dull life usually had a sad ending.

She often saw those that ended up throwing away their own lives and those that found meaning in taking away the lives of others. That was why Adele was able to have a warm smile at the end of hers.

In the end, there was only one thing Adele could say to Clarice and Ed.

And it wasn’t a very long story.

Slam!

Ed and Clarice ran through the door of Glockt Hall.

They ran through numerous corridors leading to the arena as they headed towards the deepest and darkest area of the building.

As soon as they turned the corner, they could see her at a glance.

Her expression was comfortable. Like always, she looked happy.

The puddle of blood that slowly spread around her was like a cradle embracing her.

It wasn’t difficult to remember the image of that same girl sitting next to him on the bench, rubbing her eye.

“I’m scared.”

“I don’t want to die.”

So, seeing her lean against the wall while looking so comfortable like that, how could she look like that?

Thinking about what she was scared of, it wasn’t difficult to determine the reason.

What Adele had feared so much was a meaningless death. Thinking of Clarice, who would be left alone underneath the walls of the cold Holy Father Building, it seemed like her own death would be meaningless.

Either she would be swayed by the goal of the Religious Group, or she would lose all faith and become The Saint of Distrust, turning the world into her enemy. The future of Clarice… it was a sad one.

However, things had changed.

After finding out that Ed had remained by Clarice’s side, she was finally able to escape that fear of hers.

It made her feel as if she had been saved and she couldn’t help but smile.

The life she lived was like the wind, but in the end there was a reason for her life and her death.

Clarice fell into Ed’s arms as she cried for a while.

Fortunately, Ed was there to hug her.

And like that, Ed continued to hug Clarice for a long time.

So that she, who had just lost a precious and close friend, could lean on someone emotionally.

***

So, become stronger.

I dedicate the last sentence of this book to you, who became a period in my life.

Lucy.

The girl sitting on the roof of Glockt Hall closed the book. The building was built through the support of that old man.

Glockt’s official last book that was revealed to the rest of the world, ‘Exploration Record of the South.’

It was said that the original version was sold to a noble family of magic for a high price, but the real original was right there in Lucy’s hands. The book that was sold was nothing more than a high-quality copy… though, no one else knew that fact.

Lucy didn’t really care, either. If everyone thought it was real, then that book became real.

“……”

For Lucy, the last verse of the book was particularly unforgettable.

Even at the very last moment before his death, Archmage Glockt had been searching for meaning in his life.

After all, wasn’t one’s life just a journey in search of a reason? Lucy was still young, so the picture of her great journey had yet to be drawn… Still, she somehow felt empty inside.

The hectic Joint Combat practice had finally come to an end. Although a first-year alchemy student had caused a commotion, thanks to the Swordsman Taylee quickly subduing him, there was no major damage.

The sacred magic that was cast in the cathedral would be dealt with between the school and the Holy Father.

The Ultimate Spirit that suddenly appeared, terrifying people below, didn’t really cause any casualties or property damage. Because of that, it’d just be discounted as a random occurrence. Though, she’d certainly get scolded for a bit.

“I want to eat jerky.”

She looked up at the sky as the sun was setting.

Lucy gently closed her eyes as she enjoyed the warm wind of late spring. Then, her memories of the past suddenly raced through her mind as Lucy’s ear became hot… However, she let out a sigh as she blew away that strange sense of embarrassment.

Summer would arrive soon.

Then, once the break began, the camp would become busy once again. Then, fall would come, and winter would follow again.

And just like that, time would pass. Just as it always did.