The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 83

The early evening sky that hung above Acken Island looked like a blend of paints.

A redness came out from the western sky, where the sun was slowly setting, but the further away you went in that vast sky, the more that color faded.

But it would be difficult to say that the bluish sky was becoming completely dark. Here and there, stars were shining.

The scenery didn’t quite fit the word evening, nor was it still daytime… It seemed as if it were the perfect depiction of the term ‘early evening.’

Steadying my breath and leaning my body against the altar, I slowly lost my strength.

That early evening sky had that power to calm a person’s heart.

It was on the edge of daytime, but the start of the night. At that middle point, the world slowly started to accept the darkness.

[Did you know? I am the type to believe that beauty transcends time and values.]

[And that perfect piece of evidence is this sky.Artworks that are worth a fortune can also be well-interpreted and fit one’s tastes, but… There isn’t anyone who would think that a sunset like this isn’t beautiful. This must be what unchanging beauty is.]

“You’re saying something quite convoluted.”

[It’s not convoluted, it’s just a bit annoying to follow along. Anyway, humans only live for a short period of time, but they don’t know how to be moved by every moment.]

A fairly small wind wolf was lying face down on the altar, looking at its tail.

With its small size, it was now warmer and more affectionate than imposing. Her voice was so soft that it perfectly matched the slowly setting sun… Thus, a feeling of sleepiness started to rush over me.

It made sense. After all, it had been quite an exhausting day.

“Ed, you look quite exhausted. Take a rest at the altar for now. The only thing left is to clean everything up, pack up the magically engineered items, and check the number of everything.”

It had already been thirty minutes since she disappeared, taking some of the other students down the hill after telling me that.

From my point of view, I was very grateful for her consideration. Just like Assistant Professor Cleoh had said, I was completely exhausted.

[A bland life without any ups or downs is the most terrible curse a human can experience. One needs to know how to be touched by small things and learn to put meaning into everyday activities, right?]

“You’re unexpectedly emotional.”

[I’ve always liked being a bit emotional. I told you last time, too.]

Yennekar did say she was rather talkative.

And I was starting to understand how she came to such an assessment about the wolf.

[If a human’s life is like the four seasons, then the life of a spirit is definitely a long winter. If we are going to live such a bleak life, without any ups and downs, then an emotional aspect is necessary. A long, long life is more of a curse than a blessing to the being that goes through it. Honestly, there wouldn’t be much of a difference even if it were a human that went through the same thing.]

“Since you’re talking about such a philosophical view on life, I don’t really have anything I can say in response.”

[All I’m trying to say is go out with someone, you dense buffoon.]

Merilda let out a sigh through her nose as she began to lick her paw.

[If you’re at a complete loss, I’ll coach you. Since your style is someone who is always thorough, worrying about every little thing, in actuality you often end up being indifferent towards yourself. The proof is in the fact you ended up collapsing from overwork and that you get hurt so often.]

“You… I guess you also heard…”

[Are you saying I was nosy? I’ve heard that so much already that it’s meaningless to point it out again. Anyway, Ed, since you are more dedicated and hardworking than anyone else, you are the most compatible with someone who can help you without changing you. Maybe someone that shares your struggles and hardships with you…? You should look for someone like that.]

Merilda kept on whispering in my ear, as if she were obsessed with something.

[If you look at the people around you, you’ll surely find them. They are extremely kind, cheerful, always caring, and still strong enough that you can lean on them… You don’t know how emotionally great it is to interact and grow with someone like that, do you?]

“Is this something you have to speak so aggressively about?”

[Once my summoning gets canceled this time, who knows when the next time you will be able to summon me again will be. That’s why I should say everything while I still can. And I haven’t said anything wrong. Isn’t that right, Mugg?]

[You’re completely correct, Miss Merilda!]

A disciplined Mugg straightened his back as he squared his shoulders.

Merilda didn’t make a contract with Yennekar. It was just that they were close.

Still, she was still close enough with Yennekar that Mugg would be disciplined to the point he would treat her the same way he treated Takan.

I thought I knew about the world of spirits, but really I didn’t.

[Young master Ed. Merilda’s advice is of the utmost precious treasure. Amongst the low-grade spirits, we follow it like religion! So even if you’re not sure, why don’t you try giving listening to her carefully a shot?]

[Give it a shot? Did you say everything you need to, Mugg?]

[No, I mean… Uhm… I-I apologize! This worthless spirit has made another slip of the tongue! I can’t believe I said to act! I need to apologize until my death…]

Before Mugg could start to make another fuss and bang his head, I gently put my hands on his wings, recalling him.

The magic power from the magic power stones was slowly running out. My conversation with Merilda wouldn’t last much longer.

Merilda had made her enormous body completely miniaturized and did her best to maximize magic power efficiency, but the fact that she was a high-ranking spirit in itself was enough to heavily eat away at my magic power.

Even when not manifesting her and only communicating in her spirit form, magic power was still used up pretty quickly.

She was a spirit that I shouldn’t have been able to deal with yet. Having overloaded myself with magic power and forcing a contract… Getting one penalty or another was inevitable.

[Anyway, Ed. You will be going through a lot soon, as well. There were two students that witnessed you summoning me. If they tell the school, won’t hell break loose? If that happens, it would be nice if you could move up to Class A like Yennekar.]

“Like something like that would happen. The school’s teaching staff aren’t idiots, so they’re naturally gonna tell me to summon you again once they hear the rumors. Of course, I won’t have any magic power left to do so.”

[That’s true… There isn’t a single way to prove that you made a contract with me. And even if you could prove it, given the means in which you did, it won’t have much meaning as an elementalist.]

“Rather, they will start to question how I even made the contract in the first place. I don’t really want to reveal anything about the ring yet. After all, the story behind it isn’t all that clean.”

[Then, how are you going to deal with them testifying that they saw you summon me?]

“I’m going to just say it was an apparition from one of the disks that was modified. Nobody was seriously injured, and… I can just say that all of the wind that you caused was something I had done.”

[Anyway, your preparation…]

Merilda let out a deep sigh as she licked her paw.

Comparing it to a weapon was a bit much, but if Mugg was like a rifle, then Merilda was like a bazooka… No, actually, more like a tank.

The sheer value and firepower she had was certainly amazing, but that also meant the preparation time was long and the number of resources she required were massive.

Unlike Mugg, who I could deal with without much burden, Merilda really sucked a person’s magic power to the limit. And even then, she still couldn’t reveal any more than half of her true power.

She was certainly a spirit that I couldn’t properly deal with yet at my level.

If I was going to use Merilda, then an external magic power supply—just like the magic power stones that were prepared by the school this time—is indispensable.

That was why the cost-effectiveness was trash. It wasn’t magic power that was naturally formed from my body, but instead it was artificially transfused magic power.

Looking on the bright side, at least I got my hands on magic engineering. Magic power efficiency and resonance were two of the most profound areas to research.

If I was able to effectively use magic engineering, I would also be able to make lots of items to help utilize Merilda. Then, I could design a more systematic method to supply magic power instead of the more primitive method of using the magic power that came from those stones.

“Come to think of it, Yennekar doesn’t seem very energetic these days. Do you know something?”

Suddenly, I remembered Yennekar’s exhausted face as she started at the campfire. After all, Merilda was still one of Yennekar’s closest friends.

[Ohhhh… Why? Are you worried?]

“Isn’t that obvious…?”

[Oh… Hmm… Huehuehue…]

Merilda smiled an unpleasant smile as she started to twist her words around.

[This should be obvious, but I’m not going to reveal to you what she is so reluctant to talk about on her own. I won’t say a thing.]

“You’re more serious than I thought.”

[Who is saying that to who?! Anyway, you don’t have to worry so much. This is something that she has to deal with on her own. Actually… Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing for you to worry a bit. Since you’re curious, maybe it’s fine if you just pay more attention to her and move a bit closer?]

“You always start talking with another person, then suddenly you start talking to yourself. It’d be nice if you got rid of that strange habit of yours.”

[I’m sorry. I guess I was influenced by Yennekar.]

After wagging her tail a few times, Merilda straightened her head as she looked up at the reddish and vast sky.

[It’s about time that Yennekar grew up on the inside. That’s just how things are in this world. Constantly being kind and naive doesn’t mean the world will be kind and simple to you either.]

“I agree with you 100% on that.”

[Alright. Everything is fine. It’s just a process that everyone experiences at least once, something they need to realize for themselves. The fact that the world isn’t like a fairy tale. Honestly, this isn’t really something that you have to take care of. So, it’s fine if you just stay put and wait. Don’t go off anywhere.]

That unique mischievous tone of hers disappeared as she looked up to the sky, speaking softly.

[I told you. The life of a spirit is like a long winter, but the life of a human is more like the colorful four seasons. From Yennekar’s side, this is going to feel like a long winter.]

She spoke about such philosophical views as if it weren’t anything serious, but from her voice I could feel just how real it was.

She fully believed in that elementalist that was steadily growing through the dangers, but on the other hand, she couldn’t help but be worried. Even though she said there was nothing to worry about.

Still, there was confidence in that calm voice of hers, so it seemed as if she was more relieved than anxious.

[But spring will always come. After all, the seasons always go round and round.]

“I guess you also know how to say something positive.”

[Oh my, I was always positive. Unnecessary pessimism never helped anyone… We should start wrapping this up. I will feel sorry if I use up any more of your magic power.]

Even though Merilda wasn’t massive anymore and was instead in her miniaturized state, she still required a pretty hefty amount of magic power.

“Even though you are smaller, it’s still not easy to use you.”

[In the first place, I was always a bit expensive. It’s quite uncomfortable having to maintain such a small size. Of all the forms that I can take, this one is the most considerate in terms of magic power efficiently.]

“Really? Are there many other forms that you can turn into?”

[Still, it’s most comfortable to be in one of my natural forms. Among all of them, turning into the shape of a wolf is the best.]

Then, Merilda’s voice started to sound playful again.

[Why? Would it be better if I looked like a beautiful girl? It is possible, but I don’t recommend it. It may be nice for the eyes, but in such a delicate form, with your magic power you won’t be able to deal with me.]

“Whatever. Stop spouting a bunch of nonsense. I was just saying that because I didn’t think there was much of a difference in magic power efficiency from when you were a giant wolf.”

[Oh my, I guess that’s something you don’t know. Well, I guess since you used the power from those magic power stones, you didn’t get to properly feel it. After all, that magic power is a bit dull, unlike the magic power naturally formed in the body.]

Little by little, the wolf’s body started to fade with the wind. The magic power that I had forcibly gathered started to flow out of my body, and accordingly even my spiritual resonance started to not function properly

At the very least, once the break was over my resonance should all come back.

[With a spirit like me, there’s no way that I would only sign a contract with just one person. Did you really think that you dealt with all that magic power on your own?]

Merilda, who was fading away with a brief goodbye, didn’t say anything afterwards.

Fwooosh!

Finally, I was alone at the altar. As the sun kept setting, a shadow was formed.

Except for the occasional swaying of the trees from the wind, there was complete silence.

“Hmph.”

I was told to rest as much as I could, but I forced myself up as I looked towards the altar’s headstone.

I was thinking about what Merilda had said… then I let out a deep sigh.

The top of the headstone that went up high in the sky.

Standing still and staring at it for a bit, I then put my foot on top of a stone that was sticking out from the side of the headstone as I started to climb.

***

“What is it, Onyx?”

“Ah! Nevermind… I thought I saw someone at the top of the altar just now…Hm… Sorry, I must have seen something else…”

With my worn-out body, I stepped on a protrude stone on the side of the headstone as I continued climbing straight on up to the top.

The summit of Right Mountain only had that lonely altar and the empty space around it. It was not a place that a person could hide.

Maybe it was more appropriate to say, ‘not able to be seen’, rather than hiding.

After a long climb up, I finally reached the top of the headstone.

It was the highest point at the summit of Right Mountain. Without anything blocking my view, I could see the entirety of Acken Island.

Standing up straight in the fluttering wind, you couldn’t see any miscellaneous things in your way, making it feel like you were floating in the air.

“……”

I sat down next to Lucy, who was watching the setting sun.

What are you doing here? Since when? What are you doing?…I didn’t bother asking such unnecessary questions.

That was because Lucy was a person that you wouldn’t find strange regardless of where she is.

I felt that something was wrong.

No matter how much magic power was in those stones, there was still no way that I could naturally handle a high-ranking spirit like I did. The magic power needed to manifest and communicate with the spirit was completely accomplished on my own, but to bring out the full power of Merilda when it was time for the battle, another source of magic power had contributed.

To have the magic power to be able to intervene with bringing out Merilda’s power, they would also have needed to have made a contract with Merilda before. Looking at the list of possible people, there was only one person capable of that.

“I didn’t realize you helped me so much. Thanks.”

“Just ignoring it was a bit much.”

If Lucy had been sitting there since the beginning of the exam, then that meant that she had been watching nearly everything that had unfolded on the mountain.

It was a story of ifs.

If I had ended up in a situation where I couldn’t stop those freshmen myself and was defeated, then Lucy probably wouldn’t have stayed still.

Even though she always acted annoyed, as if she wasn’t interested in the world… She knew how to roll up her sleeves when she felt the need to step in.

Whether it was with Joseph, Eigg, or Tanya and Kylie… Even if they had knocked me unconscious and completely defeated me, they would still have had to face Lucy, who would have jumped off the headstone, afterwards.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine what she would look like.

With the dust falling down, her hat tightly on her head, and slowly standing up on top of that altar… Lucy would probably be like a wall that could never be passed.

From the start of this exam… it was completely irrational.

“I don’t think this is a great place to have a nap.”

“I’m not here to take a nap.”

“Then?”

“Actually, I was going to go to the cabin to take a nap…”

I hadn’t been back at the cabin for nearly the entire day. That was because I was busy taking care of my work for the school and didn’t have any time to work on maintaining the camp.

“I don’t really like the cabin when it’s empty.”

After hearing that remark, I lowered my gaze.

Sitting next to her side by side, she kept on watching the sky that was slowly getting darker. Lucy’s expression still remained unchanged.

Her fluttering white hair and pale skin absorbed the sun’s fading light. The shade of it was more subdued than usual.

She excessively flapped her sleeves as she walked over to the camp, as if she were floating. But at the camp, the campfire was out, and the cabin was completely empty. Despite thinking that someone would come soon when she woke up, the gloomy atmosphere of the camp was the same as she saw when asleep.

The Archmage Glockt’s life came to an end in a cabin in the Lamelin Mountain Range.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what it was like after he had left the world. So, it was difficult to say anything back to Lucy in response.

“So, I took a walk.”

Saying only that, Lucy continued staring blankly at the sky.

Unfortunately , the place that she ended up during her walk… it was the ‘Substitute Altar’, in which Lucy stood at the end of Act 3 to face off against the apostle of Telos.

It was all quite ironic.

The death of the Prophet Adele.

Clarice, the saint of mistrust, who became enraged after realizing the truth of her god’s goal and the darkness of the believers.

The apostle of Telos, who had come down to convict Clarice.

Then Lucy, who tried to protect Acken Island from the apostles following Glockt’s will.

The protagonist’s generation, who blocked Lucy while following the archbishop’s words without knowing the full story.

Then, within the complicated situation that was like a tangled ball of yarn, the followers would call her a non-believer but still they would never voice a single complaint.

Lucy, who was looking down over everything between the subjugation force and the apostle… The highlight of Act 3.

Princess Penia’s imperial guards, Lortel’s union mercenaries, the holy Knights of the Cathedral, the protagonist’s generation’s subjugation force against Lucy, the top of the school’s staff, and even the headmaster Obel Forsyth. Even against all of them, in a worn-out state she still managed to destroy more than half of Telos’ apostles on her own, but…

In the end, using all his strength, Taylee finally learned the final Swordmaster’s Skill, taking on the role of defeating her.

It wasn’t until later, when the full story was revealed, that people finally understood why Lucy was trying to destroy the god’s apostles… She might just be the hero of that tragedy.

Rather than just a mere misunderstanding, it was a belated understanding that brought hurt.

She actually wasn’t a bad person.

I had no idea why she did such a crazy thing, but now I get it.

I didn’t realize she had such a personal story.

With such emotional responses around the theme of ‘it turns out the truth is different than I thought…’, maybe it was a directorial choice to help one immerse within the story itself.

However, if you really became personally involved with such a fate, could you really not say anything about it?

Who knows? Maybe it was the nature she was born with, or perhaps she thought it was just meaningless to say… But in the end, Lucy took everything upon herself.

And I had no intention of stopping Lucy’s actions.

Sacrificing Lucy so cold-bloodedly for the sake of the storyline… that was not such a daring move.

That was because, if things continued like that, then then from Lucy’s point of view it wouldn’t be a bad ending.

Once Act 3 ended Lucy… She would be able to relieve the burden that she likely would have carried until her death. That way, she could continue living.

If she didn’t shake off that burden, Lucy would never be able to escape the shadow of Glockt’s death.

“Silvenia Academy is a treasure that my teacher, Silvenia Robester, has built for the advancement of learning.”

“In this important treasure, there are already so many predicted hardships that will come. Of course, only the Celestial Researcher Silvenia was able to properly see such things with his own eyes.”

“The ground will harden after the rain. Naturally, most of the hardships will be overcome by Silvenia Academy itself, but… there will surely come a time where, without your power, there will be no way to overcome such hardship.”

”If that does happen, then for this old man… would you lend them your strength…? Lucy.”

A dying archmage.

Just how much weight did such a story weigh on Lucy, who was holding his fragile hand that was nearly only bone… Maybe Lucy herself was the only one who knew.

Shaking off such sappy feelings, I once again looked out at the refreshing view of Acken Island.

The size of Silveria Academy was quite magnificent.

From the new semester… Those that used that massive land would start to split in half.

Once Penia and Lortel split the school in half, it would eventually become a fight for justification and repeating political warfare.

Silvenia’s Failed Swordmaster, Act 3, the beginning of the power struggle… It would take place from the student president election campaign, which took place at the start of the semester. The main turning point that determined which direction the storyline would take was also starting to show up, one after another.

It will be a long fight, but there would be a lot to gain.

Thinking that, I looked down at Acken Island for a long time.

Before I knew it, Lucy stood up, coming over to my knee and pushing down on one side of my sitting knee to flatten it.

When she was satisfied with her job, she laid her stomach on top of it, acting then talking as if it was nothing.

“This is something I also only found out about recently…”

The sound of her swinging her arms around absent-mindedly.

“I think I am a bit lonely.”

It’s not exactly natural to just go up to the top of Right Mountain for a mere walk.

The next time I was away from the cabin for a long period of time, I should tell her in advance.

But even if I wanted to, Lucy traveled back and forth from the east to west constantly… It would be hard to tell her.

As the sun set, the strength of it also slowly faded. Then, the calm starry sky started to take over.

A time where the day and night changed as well as the season.

Night came, and so did spring.

***

“You came back earlier than I thought.”

“I wanted to run out of that house as soon as possible. Haah.”

As Bell Maya tried to pick up her luggage, Clara quickly shook her head as she gave a wide smile.

She was the head maid now, so she couldn’t have her do such a thing. In the first place, she wasn’t in charge of her.

After explaining as much to her, she trudged along with her bag as Bell let out another deep sigh with a rather uncomfortable expression on her face.

In the first place, even though Clara came from a fairly well-known family, she was still not a student of Ophelis Hall.

From her appearance alone, you couldn’t call her an aristocrat. Wearing a simplistic flared skirt and a monochrome blouse, coupled with her short hair, if rather ecstatically combed, hair… It looked as if she were an energetic girl from a village.

If you were to have her sit next to Anise and guess which one was the aristocratic child, 100% of the time they would pick Anise.

“Somehow, I managed to get through this break as well. Phew!”

Since she extremely hated her family, which was overly authoritative, she wanted to stay within the school as much as possible. However, she still had to go back home to greet her family regularly, so during every break she went back.

Seeing as she finished her work so quickly and returned to school in a flash made Bell worry over whether she could really keep living such a high-society lifestyle like that?

It was obvious, seeing as she had run back to school so quickly even though there was still a bit of time left of the vacation.

“Anyway, because of the vassals that kept on nagging, I almost got a scab on my ear. Haah, seriously… They really don’t get it…”

Clara kept grumbling as she handed Bell the gift that she brought her from her hometown. It seemed that she had stopped by the rose garden to give it to her.

Bell opened the package, taking out the luxurious mug that was inside. Bell politely gave her thanks.

Clara grinned as she said it was nothing, but looking back out at the vast landscape of the school…

“Hmmngggg Haaaaaa~! As expected, this really is my true home. The warm and welcoming air from my home! Rather than a house full of idiots that don’t know anything and keep saying frustrating things… Silvenia, which is full of my close friends, really is the best!”

With a big smile, she picked up the bag full of presents as she gave her farewells to Bell.

“Anyway, I’m glad to see that you are doing well, Bell! I’ll be on my way now! I’m worried that I might have put pressure on you because I was too excited to escape from that frustrating house.”

“Don’t worry, that isn’t the case.”

“Anyway, I need to see my school friends now. It was nice to see you after such a long time…! I brought back a bunch of delicious snacks, so I already finished all the preparation to call over Anise and Yennekar to have a tea party. I wrote both of them a letter in advance and they said they would both be coming. Just thinking about it, I get so excited since it’s been so long. There are so many stories that we can talk about and share together… My heart is pounding! Haha… I guess I’m still not all grown up yet. Okay, have a good day!”

Clara walked away with her arms swinging in a lively way.

She couldn’t say goodbye to Clara, who was walking away, completely excited.

All she could do was stand still, clutching the mug tightly… Breaking out in a cold sweat.

That was an extremely rare expression on Bell’s face.