The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 205

The next morning, the circumstances of Abbess Austin’s death were formally proclaimed to the nuns.

A natural death from old age. As she was overworking herself for several days in preparation for the ceremony, even running around on the roof of the monastery at night, she had hurt herself. It ended up causing excessive bleeding and a heart attack.

In reality, it was clear that her death was a murder. Though, the announcement didn’t say as such.

Considering Abbess Austin’s age, a sudden natural death was easily believed. So, among the regular nuns, there were no suspicions.

The tragic news of Abbess Austin’s death brought sadness and a depressing atmosphere to the monastery.

As for those who knew it was murder, it wasn’t difficult to keep them quiet.

Assistant Bishop Melinir, who knew the entire truth, naturally didn’t want to make the situation bigger.

Princess Persica also had no reason to argue if it meant she could leave the entire situation behind her under the pretense of a natural death.

As for Saint Clarice, I persuaded her myself. She didn’t object, as she believed that the deceased Abbess Austin would also want things to end like that.

With all three parties agreeing to keep their mouths shut, everything proceeded smoothly.

The distinguished guests, who knew that her death was a murder, also agreed to keep their mouths shut. For them, there was nothing good that would come from sparking unnecessary suspicions.

If things became any bigger, they would be forcefully involved in the incident more than they wanted to be.

And like that, everyone nodded their heads as Saint Clarice and Princess Persica announced to keep the truth under wraps…

In doing so, the truth about the non-humans in the monastery was also buried away.

The next morning, after taking care of a few things, I was told that there would be a memorial for Abbess Austin by the entrance of the monastery.

Life in the monastery always started in the early morning. Despite being exhausted from being interrogated and giving their testimonies all night, all of the nuns went to Abbess Austin’s memorial. I couldn’t be the only one staying back in my room.

And yet, when I woke up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore from my window, my entire body felt heavy.

Later, I’d have to ride in a carriage the entire day as I made my way back to Silvenia Academy. However, I still had enough time to attend her memorial procession. Though, if I wanted to make it, I would have to wake up right at that moment.

However, for some strange reason, no matter how hard I tried, my body felt heavy.

Compared to my life at the camp, I was nowhere near as exhausted, so why did my body feel so heavy?

Feeling uncomfortably heavy, I flung the blanket off of me to find Lucy sleeping with her head buried on my chest.

“……”

Her witch hat, which she always carried around with her, was placed next to the pillow. Was it really my bed?

Yesterday, she was clearly depressed, so it was difficult to just leave her alone. Only then did I remember that I had brought her along with me.

Telling her ‘everything will be alright’ over and over again seemed like it wouldn’t be of any use. So, instead, I told her that I would stay next to her.

When a person was really feeling down and was struggling to get by, the most meaningful thing you could do for them was to be by their side.

“Hey, Lucy.”

Still, I needed to get up.

After calling her name softly a few times to wake her, her closed eyelids slowly lifted up. Lucy looked as drowsy and dazed as she always did. As her bluish eyes faced me, she suddenly pushed on my upper body to sit up.

It looked like she didn’t even realize when she fell asleep. While sitting there in a daze, she wiped the saliva around her mouth with her sleeve. Her pupils widened slightly as she spoke in a more proper tone than usual.

“I didn’t realize I fell asleep.”

“Yesterday was a tough day for you, so I understand……”

Was it a mistake to suddenly bring up the day before?

Lucy didn’t say anything, as if she were embarrassed upon remembering how she bawled with her arms wrapped around my shoulders.

“…You don’t have to worry. There are times in life when things like this happen.”

It was obvious that something happened last night, as she stayed silent and looked at me shyly. It was clear to anyone that Lucy Mayreel had fallen asleep on top of me while crying.

I wasn’t entirely sure how I should even console her when the place she wept was on my chest.

Lucy belatedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve, trying to keep a poker face, as if nothing had happened. However, it didn’t seem to work as well as she thought.

Seeing her look down with that expression on her face was quite a new experience. Since she always had a carefree and disinterested expression in every situation, as if she were a god, seeing her like that wasn’t very common.

“Anyway… I have to get up now. I have to head back to Silvenia later today, so I have to take care of some things now… And I should also head to the granny’s memorial. It has probably started by now. After all, mornings start early here in the monastery.”

Looking out the window, the morning mist remained. By the time I headed out, I was sure it would disappear.

“I should go and finish my work.”

When I mentioned Abbess Austin, Lucy reacted strangely… She quietly nodded her head. It was a bit unusual to see her act so obedient.

After that, everything went by quickly. I first went to the washroom on the first floor as Lucy followed me, holding my sleeve tightly.

After quickly washing my face, I put on my coat, leather pants, and magician’s robe. I then tidied up Lucy’s school uniform, which was wrinkled all over. Though, at that point it was impossible to make her sleeves look neat.

After that, Lucy sat on my lap as if she wanted something. I thought she meant for me to tie her hair up. I combed Lucy’s hair with a brush one of the nuns prepared. I then tied her hair up with a hairband so that it wouldn’t get in her way.

I also had to fix her loose tie and the incorrectly buttoned shirt.

Taking care of all of those things had become natural for me, though the nuns who passed by watched with puzzled expressions on their faces… I didn’t care, as it would be the last time we would ever see each other.

After that, Lucy followed me to the first floor of the monastery, holding onto my sleeve.

Lucy was still walking slowly, as if she was tired because of the early morning. However, when she saw the memorial taking place at the entrance of the monastery in the early morning, she bit her lip as if her dull heart was starting to feel something.

A pile of flowers surrounded a portrait of Abbess Austin. The morning sun rose from the eastern sky as the sound of the crashing waves echoed.

All of the nuns continued to pray solemnly. It seemed as if time had stopped…

Lucy and I continued to watch for a while longer.

* * *

“Thank you for taking good care of Eileen. She is currently resting in her room. We’ll make sure to make the necessary preparations before nightfall.”

Lucy had captured Eileen, handing her over to Assistant Bishop Melinir.

After Abbess Austin’s death, management of the monastery had been passed down to her. She was officially the head diocesan of the region.

There were only a few people inside the entire monastery who knew about the non-humans. Since Melinir was the highest senior among those who knew, naturally she was the one that could be entrusted with Eileen.

After the main prayer, it was time for people to pray for Abbess Austin as they pleased. Many of the nuns sat in front of her portrait as they stood still, praying.

After completing her duties, Assistant Bishop Melinir took the opportunity to speak with me. At the very back of the ceremony, she spoke to me while leaning against a stone wall.

“She’s rather heartbroken… Since it was an unfortunate accident while under the influence of the full moon, all of her other non-human colleagues will understand.”

Melinir, who was already in the uniform of the abbess, quietly spoke to me.

The Holy Father Eldane heard the news early in the morning. Hearing the news of Abbess Austin’s passing, he immediately delivered his condolences.

Then he instructed Assistant Bishop Melinir to fulfill the role of abbess and take care of the situation at the monastery.

“I’m sure all of the other non-human children will understand. Stabbing the abbess because of her cursed blood… It wasn’t something that only Eileen could have done. Any one of them would have also done the same.”

“…At least she won’t be harassed for harming Abbess Austin.”

“Yes. Everyone will understand her situation, but… Whether or not she can forgive herself is a different story.”

When I saw Eileen, she had her face buried in her lap, wiping her tears with her bloody hands.

For a girl who hadn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet, it was too much for her. And yet, no matter how much I thought about it, it was something she needed to take responsibility for.

It was something that she needed to overcome on her own. All I could do was cheer for her from the sidelines.

“Would you like to give a prayer? Even if you are not a member of the monastery, you can leave a flower.”

“Yeah.”

Before I could answer, Lucy responded first, nodding her head.

Assistant Bishop Melinir trembled as she looked at Lucy. She then closed her eyes and silently nodded her head.

Like me, Lucy didn’t believe in God.

Rather, she was a girl who was strong enough to even chase away Mebula.

Nevertheless, it was an act of courtesy to Austin, who had left the world.

She placed a white rose down before she put her hands together to pray.

She looked completely different than her usual self, who was always lying down and taking a nap.

Only then did I realize how serious Lucy could be if she wanted to.

* * *

“Are you leaving for Silvenia today?”

“Yes. The carriage is set to arrive tonight at low tide. Until then, I will be staying here to watch over the memorial service.”

“Please take a break as you see fit. As everyone has already given their flowers and prayers, there’s not much left to do.”

“That’s okay. I will continue to watch over things.”

As the day went on, nuns continued to fill the entrance of the monastery where the memorial was being held.

It was depressing to watch all of the heartbroken nuns mourn, but I continued to stay and watch over them.

Lucy hated crowded places, yet she stood next to me without complaining once.

Occasionally, a nun I was briefly acquainted with would pass by. They would come to me and share stories about Austin from when she was still alive.

After a group of nuns left, a group of outside visitors came.

Most of them knew the true circumstances of Austin’s death, so they looked rather hesitant. Yet, they still came to pay tribute to her legacy before leaving.

Though, there was no need for them to have such hesitant and guilty expressions on their faces. After all, that was how Austin would have wanted things to be after her death.

Although I didn’t see it myself, I could still tell. She must have passed away with a large smile on her face, more so than anyone else.

I sat down as I watched the guests leave. Shortly after, Saint Clarice personally came and laid down a flower.

When one died, it was the highest honor to have Saint Clarice—the face of the Telos Religious Group—come and give her prayers.

No one would argue that Abbess Austin wasn’t a person deserving of such an honorable memorial.

Later, Princess Persica came to place down a flower. She came closer with a serious yet complicated expression on her face.

The princess and the saint.

A girl who was born with imperial blood that held the highest authority in the empire. The other was a girl who received God’s greatest blessings.

They had both come to pay their respects to Abbess Austin, who passed away.

It was no easy task to condense all 109 years of her life into one sentence, but it was true that she had lived quite a fulfilling life.

* * *

“I have received news that the carriage for Silvenia has arrived on the shore. The saint has also said that she has finished her preparations to leave, so you can slowly start getting ready to depart. I would like to express my sincere gratitude towards you, as an Assistant Bishop and the new abbess of this monastery, for staying with us until the very end, Ed Rothstaylor.”

“……”

“Cledric Monastery will never forget that House Rothstaylor lent us the strength to overcome this incident with no major problems.”

Assistant Bishop Melinir bowed her head as she thanked me.

From my point of view, there was no need for her to thank me. I waved my hand in the air as I said it was fine.

Even after the nuns went to do their daily tasks and the distinguished guests left one by one, Lucy and I continued to stay at the memorial.

When it was time to clean up the memorial service, Lucy used her magic power to quickly clean the area. I also lent a hand with certain tasks that required physical strength.

Because of that, by the time the sun went down, everything was finished. All that was left was to clean up the memorial table, which had a portrait of Austin smiling alongside a bunch of flowers.

Time passed quickly and before I knew it, it was already low tide. I was so distracted that I couldn’t even tell how fast the day had passed.

Suddenly, Lucy raised her eyes as she looked around. Did she notice something strange?

As I had said countless times before, in the monastery, mornings started early. That also meant nights started early.

By the time the moon was in the middle of the sky, more than half of the nuns had already gone to bed.

There were only a few nuns that remained by the entrance of the monastery, which led to the coastline. That was because they would be late to bed if they were still outside at that time.

Thanks to that, the area around the memorial was completely quiet. The outer door was also closed, making it impossible for anyone else to enter.

The memorial service was being held in a space between the front door of the monastery and the outer wall. And although it was blocked off by iron bars…

There were several nuns who climbed over them. Lucy had noticed their presence.

Dozens of girls jumped over the iron bars and landed on the ground. Their animal-like ears and tails were strange to see, but they didn’t seem to have fallen under the madness of the full moon.

They occasionally made grumbling noises, but it wasn’t aggressive.

The cursed blood of a non-human sometimes made them lose their sanity. Yet, it seemed as if their miserable feelings were keeping them sane.

The reason was… the death of their benefactor.

The non-human children had been hiding around all day, waiting for the sun to set.

They all gathered in front of the memorial table in unison. We had already removed all of the other tables, so only the one memorial remained.

However, they didn’t care as they gathered together and prayed. They were the last ones to mourn, giving their prayers at the memorial.

Some sat on nearby rocks and some on the dirt as they quietly lowered their tails and prayed.

In front of them, Eileen sat still, covered in tears.

Her lush blonde hair fell down to the floor as she prayed under the moonlight, wearing a filthy nun’s uniform…

Although she was mixed with the blood of a beast… She looked like a faithful servant who truthfully believed in her God.

“You should get going before you’re late.”

“…Alright.”

Now that the tide had dropped, we slowly made our way towards the shore. Leaving behind the girls who prayed under the moonlight, it was time for us to go on our own way.

If we didn’t leave then, we would have had to stay at the monastery until the next day.

That wouldn’t be a major issue, but I wanted to go back to the academy quickly to focus on my studies. I didn’t want to fall behind in my classes more than I already had.

As if realizing how I felt, Assistant Bishop Melinir closed her eyes and smiled.

“Now, we will all be going back to our lives.”

After one passes, life continues as if they never existed in the first place.

The clock ticks forward, the sun rises, and before you realize it, the moon comes out.

Life repeats itself.

Some may feel as if that repetitive flow of life was meaningless, while others know how to find and give meaning to such a monotonous, repetitive life.

Even with Austin gone, the sun would continue to rise on the monastery. Even when one passed, the life of others had to continue.

After all, we were still alive.

And we had to survive.

* * *

“So, something happened.”

“Oh my god. You must have had a hard time doing all of this.”

“Not particularly. I was just standing around most of the time. Rather… I was also surprised.”

When I returned to the camp from the monastery, I was too surprised to sleep.

When I left, I was still working on expanding my cabin. Upon coming back, it seemed nearly complete.

Of course, the process of trimming and processing the logs was the most labor-intensive task… And the construction itself wasn’t that difficult if you could borrow the power of spirits.

Yet even then, I never thought that Yennekar would be able to finish all of it while I was at the monastery for ten days.

Thinking about it… Yennekar’s cabin was also built in five days because of the spirits being forced to work overtime.

Takan’s leadership… Could it even be called leadership?

…Anyway, thanks to Takan’s leadership, the spirits worked in perfect harmony. They had an extreme efficiency that went beyond the scope of common sense.

It was only natural that it went beyond the scope of common sense… Because Takan’s way of thinking was beyond the scope of common sense in the first place.

When I looked around the camp with my spiritual resonance, I could see exhausted low-ranking spirits scattered around like corpses.

Mugg, who went to Cledric Monastery with me, looked at the low-ranking spirits scattered around with mixed feelings.

Not long ago, he was also one of them. Now that he had risen to the rank of mid-ranking spirit, he no longer suffered to such an extent. Though, I was sure that if I left him behind in the camp, he wouldn’t have been safe either.

[I am really lucky to have signed a contract with Young Master Ed. Let’s be together forever… This loyal yet worthless Mugg will be loyal towards you for the rest of my life…!!! ]

It seemed like he was feeling extra emotional.

“This… was really all done…?”

A cabin that was built according to my pre-designed plan was now right in front of me.

A zelkova tree spread its large branches near the camp. Using the trunk of the tree as a pillar, the large first floor of the cabin was built. The 2nd floor was leaning against a higher section of the trunk, also being supported by another safety pillar.

Seeing how cleanly and perfectly it was built, I had completely forgotten about wanting to train my woodworking skills. That was a quality that I could never achieve on my own. The structure of the cabin was amazing, and the windows on each floor were perfect. It was truly incredible.

It seemed like the parts that connected the cabin to the tree trunk were nailed in with an iron rod. There was no excess on the rods, either, as if they had all been cut perfectly. It was surprising to see such detail and precision, as spirits weren’t talented at such a thing.

The part where the support was connected seemed to have been nailed in by burying an iron rod, and traces of the protruding part remained as if they were all cut off. It was truly meticulous work.

“Hehe!”

Yennekar smiled while making a V-shape with her fingers. Suddenly, she lowered her head as if feeling bashful.

“Actually… I was only going to finish about half of the basic structure of it. But while I was in class, Takan took initiative and finished it all…”

“…Are the other spirits okay?”

“It seems that they were doing construction throughout the night while I was unaware… They also worked on it while I went to class… I guess he was hiding the fact that they were working on it in case I said something… I only scolded Takan after I belatedly realized what he was doing…”

Yennekar pouted as she fiddled with the tips of her fingers. Her spirits really were excessively loyal to her.

Well, it was a good thing to be so beloved by spirits. However, if they continued to work themselves to that extent, Yennekar wouldn’t feel all that great about it either.

While the two of us spoke, Takan smiled, looking satisfied at the cabin. It was definitely all his doing.

“Ah, but I’ll take care of the spirits now that they’re done! So, you can just be happy and not worry about them! Ha! Haha!”

“Even though you suddenly laugh like that, it doesn’t mean the situation will change… Either way, this is a good thing for me.”

I looked up at the cabin that was now one floor taller.

I then looked towards the wooden shelter built on another side of the camp. It was the first shelter I had ever made, the place where I slept under the cold night wind and buzzing insects on my first day.

Seeing the difference in size between the two structures was overwhelming. I started to have a strange feeling as I looked down.

It… was a wave of emotions.

“The interior is still empty. I wasn’t sure how to arrange the furniture, so I think you will have to do it yourself!”

“…Alright.”

Only having to arrange the furniture, even if I had to do it a hundred more times, was a job I would easily accept. It was much easier than having to build the cabin like she did. Rather, that task was so simple, I couldn’t help but laugh.

I would use the second floor as a library and magic engineering workshop. The first floor would be used as my main living space… So, that meant all my sensitive and delicate equipment should go up to the second floor.

As I was happily thinking about how to organize everything and arrange my furniture…

“By the way, are you going back to school tomorrow…?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“Then… Since you just came back, you must not have heard the news.”

Yennekar rolled up her sleeves as she put a cooking pot over the campfire.

“Your younger sister, Tanya… I heard she is going to have another student meeting… And I think she is going to call for you to attend. I believe it’s one of the regularly held meetings they always have.”

It was the student council president’s natural right to be able to convene a meeting with students.

However, Yennekar tilted her head as if she were concerned.

“But this meeting seems rather unusual… There are many rumors going around, as only children from famous and prestigious families were called to attend…”

“…What rumors?”

“The student council president… it seems she is trying to grow her influence not only within Silvenia, but also outside…”

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

One thing was certain… It felt like Tanya was drawing a blueprint for something big.

What was it…? I felt like I had to go and ask her myself.