SRS 152

Monday.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of his friends and the divine beast of the Mirror Temple, Yohan recovered and was able to attend his lectures without any issues.

His friends in Room 304 worriedly asked if he should rest a bit more, but Yohan declined. Even if he was allowed to skip lectures, he knew it was better to attend if he could. The professors’ classes were strange, but the reality was undeniable: they were helpful in actual combat.

“Besides, if they teach an important technique on a day I’m absent, I might not be able to catch up with the class progress.”

When Yohan expressed his worries, the eyes of the students from Room 304 changed. They looked at Yohan with expressions that said, ‘You?’ before eventually shaking their heads and stopping to dissuade him. They knew he wouldn’t listen, and Yohan knew it too, so there was no point.

Thus, he finally returned to his normal daily life, though calling it a “normal” life for a first-year at Fantasiademia was a bit of a stretch, starting with the morning.

Boom!

With a sudden explosion, the Divine Studies classroom building right in front of him was blown away.

Yohan and Mikael, who were moving after finishing their gymnastics class with the griffins, stopped in their tracks.

“Did the professor get into another fight with Professor Hegel?”

“It’s one of the events I expected.”

“Umm…. I’m worried because the headmaster isn’t here; the two professors seem to be fighting more.”

“How about recording it and reporting them?”

“…That’s a bit much.”

Yohan slowly turned his steps while conversing with Mikael. Since the classroom building had been blown away, today’s first period would likely be held outdoors.

“Yohan! I saved a spot for you! Hurry up!”

Friends taking the first-period Divine Studies class together called out to Yohan as they patted a mat they had spread out on the field.

It had been about three months since entering Fantasiademia, including the temporary adjustment period.

The first-years of the school no longer panicked even when they saw a building flying away.

It was a day just like any other.

‎

‎

Time flowed like water after that. No, to be precise, one week passed. However, during that week, a major event approached the students with giant strides.

<Notice: 1st Year, 1st Semester, 1st Quarter Dormitory Group Evaluation>

At the notice of the group evaluation posted in each dormitory hallway, numerous first-years despaired, trembled in fear, and lamented while doubting their own eyesight, wondering if it was a hallucination.

Yohan suddenly thought of the calendar in his room. Come to think of it, by the calendar of the Nameless Realm, it was already the end of March. It was time for the quarterly group evaluation, one of the academic schedules he had checked at the beginning of the semester.

A dormitory group evaluation… he wondered how it would be conducted.

Yohan turned his gaze toward the window and looked at the other three towers standing tall. He hoped that they wouldn’t be asked to fight the students of the other towers. Suhyeok, who was behind him, sighed.

“The joy of the end-of-month evaluations being replaced by monster hunt didn’t last long.”

“It can’t be helped. The exam schedule was tight to begin with.”

Yohan was about to agree but paused.

Wait a minute.

Is it a joyful thing that the end-of-month evaluations were replaced?

Even now, after the divine beast of Fantasiademia had repaired the dimensional barrier, monsters hiding throughout the school continued to attack the students. Just today, dark goats hiding in the Griffin Hall ambushed everyone. To protect his terrified friends, Yohan had to create a divine shield from the morning to block the attacks of the goat herd. If he hadn’t learned about the reinforced divine power shield during Friday’s Divine Studies class, the ambush could have led to a major accident.

“Umm….”

Calculating it in his head, Yohan felt a sense of ambiguity.

If the end-of-month evaluations inflicted great pain at a fixed time, the monsters’ ambushes inflicted small bits of pain at irregular times. Which of the two was better was a matter that depended on one’s condition that day.

“Yohan, let’s go check it out.”

Mikael placed his hand on Yohan’s back, suggesting they check the details of the dormitory evaluation.

Thanks to that, Yohan snapped out of his thoughts and checked the notice.

“Hmm….”

“Oooh.”

“Hmmmm….”

“Wow….”

“Ugh….”

“Isn’t this insane?”

The more Yohan read the notice, the more troubled his expression became, and Suhyeok’s reaction grew harsher.

That was because the content of the 1st Quarter Dormitory Group Evaluation was quite brutal.

“We have to face a hydra again? And by dormitory?”

“What?”

“A hydra?”

“Are the professors crazy…”

“They’re just throwing tasks at us since they aren’t the ones fighting!”

“In this case, it’s probably not the professors but the headmaster who’s gone mad.”

“Ah, that one was crazy from the start.”

In response to Suhyeok’s exclamation, students in the back who couldn’t check the notice because of the distance raised their voices and whispered. However, Yohan was more concerned about another phrase than the fact that they had to face a hydra. Melek must have seen it too, as the mage slumped againt the wall while clutching his hair.

“That-that can’t be …. What on earth does it mean that students who have filled a certain contribution quota cannot participate in the battle from that point onward? …What does this mean? Then does that mean we won’t get help from our Yohan?”

He looked like he had lost the world.

“What?”

“Contribution? Is there such a thing?”

Then, other students pushed each other to check the notice. Not long after, they too sat on the floor in the same state as Melek.

“We’re doomed. We’re definitely doomed.”

“What are we supposed to do if Yohan doesn’t help us!”

“Damn it. Why is there individual contribution when it’s a dormitory group evaluation?”

Hearing his friends’ cries from all around, Yohan felt a bit shocked. He himself was worried about his friends after seeing the contribution phrase, but seeing the friends from other rooms lamenting and looking for him, he felt a bit aggrieved.

Upon seeing Yohan’s flustered expression, Suhyeok hit the heads of the fallen friends one by one on Yohan’s behalf.

“Ack!”

“What? Why’d you hit me?”

“Ha… you guys, stop relying on Yohan so much. Why do you take it for granted that Yohan helps you? Have you no conscience?”

At Suhyeok’s scolding, Kylus nodded. Under the pressure of the two who took first place in the Hunter Studies and Swordsmanship lectures respectively, the students of the West Tower looked around warily and tentatively apologized to Yohan. Yohan belatedly reflected on the mindset of a priest and pushing away the thought of being aggrieved; he took in the sight of these lost lambs and made a decision.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll help you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Really?”

The friends brightened up at Yohan’s words. Soon after, however, they grew curious about how he would help when the school was preventing students who had reached their contribution from participating in battle. Yohan smiled shyly at his friends who were waiting for an explanation.

“We can all practice together.”

“…Huh?”

“The group evaluation is on Friday, so let’s train together every day until then. If we use the early morning, lunch break, and even the evening, we’ll be fully prepared. I’ll do my best to help, too.”

“Uh…”

At Yohan’s suggestion, the West Tower students hesitated to speak as they looked at each other. Kylus and Suhyeok also were a bit flustered, but no one hastily rejected it. This was because everyone present knew who the busiest student in the West Tower, no, in the entire first-year, was.

With three majors, his days were filled with three periods of major classes, and not only did he take three elective courses to the full, but he was also frequently called by professors to solve their personal requests, harassed by the headmaster while raising a divine beast, and even participated in guard activities. When that Yohan said he would make time to train with them, who could possibly say they were too busy or tired to do it?

Yohan smiled at his friends, who were at a loss but couldn’t refuse.

As expected, they had only mentioned him; they were diligent students who would do their part if given the chance.

Faced with Yohan’s smile full of trust and goodwill, the West Tower students slowly avoided his gaze and nodded.

“Y-yeah….”

“…If we gather and train whenever we have time, our skills will obviously improve.”

“Mhm…. We’ll be able to do it….”

In response to his friends’ half-hearted words, Yohan replied that they could do it if they all did it together.

No one could spit on the smiling face of a holy friend, so they only nodded awkwardly.

Thus, to prepare for the upcoming 1st Quarter Dormitory Group Evaluation, the West Tower students ended up spending their time on the back mountain every early morning, lunch break, and from the evening after electives until just before the dormitory roll call.

“W-wait, Yohan! Where did you bring that monster from?”

And Yohan called upon the divine beast of the Mirror Temple as a special assistant to help with the training. He had been wondering if there was a powerful being that could appropriately threaten his friends for the training, so he went to see the vice-headmaster just in case, and it was fortunate that the divine beast had not yet been sent back to his original dimension.

“He’s not a monster, he’s a divine beast. I happened to get to know him, and fortunately, he said he could help with our training.”

Grrrr!

As Yohan spoke while stroking the divine beast’s magnificent mane, the giant divine beast of the Mirror Temple growled. It meant that he would naturally grant the request of his savior, but to the students who didn’t know the inside story, it meant he would tear their throats out.

The terrified students now looked at Yohan as if he were a monster.

Their friend was clearly becoming a different kind of being from them, even though they had attended the same classes and lived together.

“See. He’s definitely a spy planted by the headmaster to monitor us….”

At one student’s murmur, another student hit the boy’s back to warn him. They wanted to avoid a situation where they would have to take collective responsibility just because one friend spoke out of turn.