The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 198

For Lucy Mayreel, the saying the ‘world is large’ never made sense.

When she raised her head, looking out at the sea of stars, she could only tilt her head in question.

Her collar, fluttering in the cool early autumn wind, rubbed against her skin. It was somewhat ticklish.

Secretly climbing on the ledge of Obel Hall’s roof, holding onto her witch hat to keep it from flying… Nothing had changed since she entered the school.

A cat with a black tail and white fur approached, sitting down next to her.

The cat perched on the railing as it let out a drowsy meow. It looked towards Lucy, staring intently at the jerky she was holding.

Lucy glared back at the cat as she swallowed the rest of the jerky in one bite. She had the same blank expression on her face as always.

The cat remained still as it licked its paws. Lucy then looked back up at the sky.

The world was rather ephemeral and meaningless to an archmage who had reached such a level.

Looking out at the school from the rooftop of Obel Hall, it felt like she could fit the entire campus in her fist.

She stretched out her hand towards the landscape. As she clenched her fist, the entire school fell into Lucy’s small hands.

The day would surely come when even Silvenia Academy, which the Archmage Glockt highly cherished, would disappear in vain—no matter how hard she tried to save it.

A massive natural disaster, the passage of time, or a political struggle. It didn’t matter what the cause would be. The only thing that mattered was the fact that, one day, the school would disappear.

Even if she continued to save the school from crises time and time again, as Glockt had asked of her… the passage of time wouldn’t stop.

Lucy Mayreel looked out towards the stars.

Looking up, not down.

Without being swayed by time, the shining stars and moon in the sky always remained in the same spot.

She could always look out at the milky way.

If the world really was created by Telos, why would he create a world that was so susceptible to change? Wouldn’t it have been better if he had made everything stand completely still, like the stars and the moon in the sky?

What immediately came to mind was the face of a blond boy.

Those thoughts and feelings Lucy had about life were considered ‘empty’ from that boy’s point of view.

For him, it was more important to worry about how to live tomorrow.

All human beings on earth were busy trying to survive each and every day.

Even if they reached a state where they didn’t have to worry about their survival, where they could work towards the dreams they held dear to their hearts, where they devoted themselves to their children or future generations, or strived to become even stronger and reach a higher level… One way or another, they all lived their lives on earth intensely.

However, for Lucy, who was detached from such things… She could never understand it.

“Be the reason for my life.”

Suddenly, a tickling sensation rose to the tip of her nose. Lucy clenched the hand that was holding onto her witch hat.

She had said it impulsively at the time. Either way, it was past the time to be embarrassed over it.

She felt a feeling of gratitude towards the boy, who nodded his head, not hesitating for a moment. Whatever problem Lucy found herself in, he would help her think about it.

Saying the name ‘Ed Rothstaylor’ with her own mouth, the first thing that came to mind was him sitting alone in front of the campfire, sharpening his arrows in solitude.

Lucy questioned herself once more.

Even though she uttered those words impulsively, how could Ed Rothstaylor be the ‘reason’ for her life?

No, in the first place, what did it mean to have a life with meaning and a life with reason?

After she let go of the heavy burden that came with the will of the Archmage Glockt, what reason could come of her empty life?

Doubts over her lifestyle and way of thinking started to flood her head. Lucy looked up at the sky again with sullen eyes.

The Milky Way stretched out in a sea of stars.

* * *

“I want to go to the monastery, too.”

The long-awaited weekend, when I could finally concentrate on raising my repair skill to learn the Bow Crafting Skill.

I woke up early in the morning to take care of the camp, finish leftover maintenance work, and finally repair some of the worn-out maid uniforms.

However, I suddenly heard that absurd demand.

“…What?”

“If you’re going to the monastery, I will go, too.”

A blue autumn sky. The sun was out, hovering in the middle of the sky and warmly enveloping the camp at midday.

Lucy was sitting on a tree stump under the sun, curled up and sleeping.

Occasionally, I would find her napping here and there, so it wasn’t surprising anymore.

She would tiredly get up and cling to me, sit by my workbench and watch what I was doing, or lie in my lap and complain about not wanting to go to class… Well, that had all become the norm for me.

However, she would always look exhausted, too tired to do anything… She also never asked for anything, aside from when she occasionally muttered about jerky.

So, her sudden declaration about going to the monastery felt completely out of the blue to me.

“…What’s with you?”

“I just want to go.”

“……”

It had been three days since Patriciana caused a scene with her reagent.

As an apology, Trayciana had brought over some new wooden camping furniture and equipment. Apparently, she had asked Bell in advance what I would be the happiest with.

In addition, she brought over special Bloomriver magic engineering materials, medicinal herbs, various dried fish that were easy to store, a machete to help with living in the wild, and advanced repair tools to help me practice repairing.

She pressed down on Patriciana’s head, saying that she would make sure it never happened again, two or three times over… Trayciana really had become quite skilled at apologizing.

She really was an expert at apologizing.

Though, no one in the world would want such a title…

It was a sight that brought a tear to my eye.

“For now, let me tell you my answer… It won’t happen.”

“……”

“Cledric Monastery isn’t a place just anyone can enter. It’s a religious sanctuary, so only authorized people can enter.”

Lucy opened her mouth before I could even finish my sentence. Still, she couldn’t come.

It wasn’t something I could decide in the first place.

“But you’re going. And you’re a guy.”

“Because I received special permission from the saint. Also, she had to suddenly come up with a good reason for it. What was it again…? That I’m an expert on a special disease the saint had recently been suffering from… Medical support, was it…? Anyway, she came up with some strange reason for bringing me…”

I didn’t know the details, since I left the process of my approval entirely to Clarice.

Anyway, my only purpose was to attend the ceremony held at Cledric Monastery in order to meet with Princess Persica.

“Well, if you asked the saint to come up with some excuse to bring you along, that would be fine. However, you can’t now.”

“Why?”

“First of all, it’s a burden to suddenly ask her to come up with a reason now, when we leave tomorrow.”

Lucy was sitting on a tree stump, clutching her knees and grunting.

It looked like she wanted to use force, but she knew that it wasn’t a situation where she could use force to get what she wanted.

“Don’t make that face. There’s nothing I can do, either. Why do you want to go to the monastery in the first place?”

“Because you are going.”

“……”

“I like this camp, but without you, it’s empty. I don’t like empty cabins with no one in them.”

There was no way I wouldn’t know what she meant by that.

The Archmage Glockt, who took her in and took care of her, had built a cabin in the Lamelin Mountain Range and lived there.

That cabin he passed away in must have felt empty to her.

“I hate this.”

“Anyway, it will only be for a few days, so don’t think about it too much. Also, I had to get an excused absence from the school for this. If you suddenly leave Acken Island now, they will mark you absent for all of your classes.”

“I don’t care if I miss a few days of class.”

“That’s… That’s true.”

A few absent marks wouldn’t create a single dent in Lucy Mayreel’s overwhelming performance grades.

Even among the professors, they wondered why she even went to school.

Though, it wasn’t uncommon for students who were talented at a level beyond the school’s curriculum to continue attending Silvenia for a diploma.

“Anyway, it’s too late for you to get permission… So just rest here on Acken Island. I’m not going to do anything major there. I’m just going to have a conversation.”

“Conversation?”

“About the Holy Blue Dragon.”

Hearing that, Lucy had a blank expression on her face again.

At that point in time, Lucy was the only one I could speak freely with about the Holy Blue Dragon.

“I… I saw a future where the Holy Blue Dragon destroys the entirety of Acken Island. And I also saw it come to reality.”

The storyline within that had yet to take place.

At that point, asking people to believe anything about it was too much. It was too difficult to fully explain, and it would be better if I didn’t get treated like a psychopath.

“Regular people would dismiss my words, saying that I’m out of my mind. Though, honestly, forcing them to believe it is absurd.”

“……”

“Still, there are only two people who I know will believe in what I say without a doubt. That’s you and Saint Clarice of the Telos Religious Group.”

I had memories of facing the Holy Blue Dragon while rewinding time together. We were the ones who shared those memories.

The only people who could fully understand the seriousness of the situation.

Other than that, there were others who fully trusted me. For example, Yennekar and Lortel… However, honestly speaking, it would be impossible for them to treat the matter seriously.

They’d probably believe it, but… There was no way the seriousness of the situation could be accurately conveyed.

Face-to-face against that roaring dragon that filled the entire sky. Destroying the entire ground with its horrific scales that crashed into the school… There was a big difference between hearing about it and actually seeing it.

“So, for now I’m going to ask Saint Clarice for help. I haven’t had the opportunity to have a thorough talk about it with her yet, so this will be my chance. I need to make sure we figure out what we exactly have to do.”

“Have to do…?”

“To completely defeat Velbrok, we need to gather as many forces as possible. At the very least, gathering power from both the religious group and imperial power is essential.”

I decided to share some of my plans with Lucy.

“Right now, the imperial power is split into three sides. First, it’s necessary to unite them, and bring them all to our side as allies.”

“You’re going to end the dispute over the throne?”

“It should have already been over.”

In Princess Penia took the throne after cutting down Krepin Rothstaylor, who was plotting to destroy the empire, with her own hands.

It was the opportunity that solidified her position as the next emperor.

However, the scenario had completely derailed. Princess Selah survived, Princess Persica had gathered power, and Princess Penia had given up her seat as student council president.

In addition, Krepin’s subjugation took place earlier than in the original storyline. Thus, Princess Penia didn’t have time to use it to her advantage.

I didn’t particularly care about her political vision or qualifications as the emperor.

What mattered was that she was the only person who could protect the school from Velbrok. She was the only one who could gather all of the imperial knights to Acken Island, and she was the only one of the princesses who would actually listen to my opinion to some extent.

In order to minimize the casualties within the school, we needed to gather all of the imperial knights. The only person who could make such a decision was Penia, a student of Silvenia who had been at Acken Island for several years.

“This visit to the monastery is a crucial task towards the subjugation of the Holy Blue Dragon… This is extremely important.”

“…Okay.”

Lucy nodded her head with a blank expression on her face, as if she understood what I was saying.

Though, she still looked unhappy. It didn’t seem she was upset with me in particular, but it didn’t make me feel any better about seeing that.

Since I wasn’t happy seeing Lucy like that, I comforted her by patting her on the head.

* * *

“These are some light refreshments for you to eat on the way. A snack that was made through pickling and aging various seasonal fruits from Countess Zahul… I’m sure you will enjoy it. When you arrive at Cledric Monastery, will you please deliver this to the abbess?”

The next morning, I stopped by Ophelis Hall, accepting Bell’s request.

I was handed fancily-packaged snacks and a present—I had no idea what was inside.

As expected of the face of Ophelis Hall, the way she packaged it was both neat and fancy.

* * *

“Your application for an excused absence has been confirmed by the school~! But Cledric Monastery… Although it’s not far away, it’s not a place one would usually go during the middle of a semester. However, since your job is to assist the saint, it can’t be helped… To be assisting the saint directly… You’re quite impressive, Ed! Anyway! Don’t worry about your classes, just have fun~!”

I was in Assistant Professor Cleoh’s private laboratory. I stopped by to check on my excused absence forms, but the place was already a hectic mess.

Professor Kaleid had run away without doing any work, so Anise was stuck doing twice the amount of paperwork.

Assistant Professor Cleoh looked like she was barely keeping it together. Still, she smiled kindly as she took care of my excused absence and bid me farewell.

She looked like she was moving into another realm.

* * *

“Take care of yourself. Don’t worry about camp, I can do the basic camp management by myself now… So, don’t be surprised when you come back and see how clean the camp is!”

Saying farewell to Yennekar, who smiled back at me, I felt my steps getting lighter.

In the past, I was always anxious when I had to leave the camp for a few days. Now that I had a companion who stayed at the camp with me, I feel much more at ease.

Once again, I was reminded of how blessed I was to have Yennekar.

* * *

“The procedures have been completed. When you come back next week, please come in this way so we can process your paperwork once more, student Ed Rothstaylor.”

Finally, I completed all of the formalities and procedures necessary at the entrance of the school at Mexes Bridge.

Passing through the main gate, heading towards Mexes Bridge, I could see the saint’s large carriage in front of me.

Of course, I wouldn’t be riding in it.

“The attendants will ride separately in another carriage that has been prepared over there.”

The saint’s importance within the Telos Religious Group was almost at the level of their God Telos.

So, the respect they showed towards me, a direct companion appointed by the saint, was also quite extreme.

A priest dressed in religious robes politely guided me towards another carriage. The way he politely lowered his head towards me left me with quite a strange feeling.

“All of the other carriages will be around the vicinity of the Saint’s carriage. There isn’t anything you need to do, so please rest easy. If there are any problems, please let me know.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“You can put your luggage inside the carriage. Then, I’ll be off to check on the rest of the schedule…”

The young priest nodded as he departed towards the saint’s carriage.

Saint Clarice came to Mexes Bridge and hopped into her large carriage as soon as she finished her schedule for the Telos Religious Group.

Even before departing for Cledric Monastery, she was busy taking care of her other schedule. She really was a busy person.

As I didn’t have anything to do after loading my luggage into the carriage, I watched the other workers do their tasks.

They were working hard, but they seemed to be struggling because of the sheer amount of luggage there was.

Everyone else was working, so it felt a bit disrespectful to be resting on my own.

They were people who would be taking care of me over the next few days, so there was nothing wrong with lending them a hand. I rolled up my sleeves as I helped a worker push some luggage into the carriage.

“Young Master, there is no need for you to work up a sweat. But thanks to you, I survived.”

“Haha, I thought you were a nobleman. But you are much stronger than I thought. Are you a student from the combat department?”

The kind workers spoke to me with big smiles on their faces. I told them I was a student of the magic department as I helped them load some more bags and wooden boxes into the carriages.

Since the schedule was so tight, they could use any help they could get. The workers all laughed, thanking me as they began to work harder.

“You can move those bags over there. I heard they are official gifts from Ophelis Hall and the school for the monastery… So, it’d be bad if we damaged them. Please be careful when you move them.”

It seemed that Bell had given me a gift to give privately, but also an official one on behalf of Ophelis Hall.

I nodded my head as I picked up a decently sized wooden crate, lifting it.

“Uh, uh…”

Why was it so heavy?

It wasn’t that large, but it was much heavier than I thought.

“Oh, young master. You must be tired. You’ve already helped us enough, so please rest easy inside the carriage…!”

“I also tried to lift that box earlier, and had no idea how heavy it was… There must be quite a bit inside of it. You should go and take a break. Nothing good will come from having you overworked and fatigued.”

“Yes. We are workers who were paid to do this, but you’re an aide to the saint. If your precious body is hurt, it would only hurt our hearts more!”

Hearing the compassionate workers constantly telling me to take a break, I would feel bad if I rejected their offer. The box didn’t look like it would be that heavy, but… nothing good would come out of me overworking myself.

I bowed politely as I jumped into the carriage. There was nothing wrong with taking it easy.

With that thought in mind, I got into the carriage… but across from me was a girl I was quite familiar with.

“Aren’t the workers quite kind? I always feel so pleased to see them! Though, you are rather strong, Ed. Not just anyone can keep up with the pace of those workers…”

“…What are you doing here…?”

I was going to speak respectfully, but quickly caught myself.

Sitting opposite me was a girl with brown hair. An immature noble girl who was a current first year student at Silvenia.

Kylie Eckner.

“I am also coming to assist Saint Clarice.”

“……”

“I hurriedly ran here to ride in the same carriage as you, Ed.”

Seeing Kylie smile as if she were the happiest girl in the world, I was at a loss for words.

“Before we arrive at Cledric Monastery, I wanted to have the chance to speak with you, Ed.”

“That’s why you went through so much trouble…”

“You had something important to tell me, right? I felt like you were trying to tell me something at the camp last time.”

When and where did she notice that?

In the eyes of that innocent girl, I could see the experience and maturity that came with being the saint of the Telos Religious Group.

“Would you mind telling me? Because… I am ready to listen to whatever you have to say.”

The driver got into his seat and swung the whip.

With that… the carriage slowly made its way towards the monastery.