SRS 19

By the end of class, Yohan and the other students who had managed to hold out without turning into frogs were infusing divine power in fear that they too might end up transformed, listening to the mournful chorus of seventeen frogs.

When the bell rang, the angel professor announced the end of class and began grading.

“Yohan Herse. Stage seven. You’re an excellent lamb. If you keep this up, you could become the leader among the lambs.”

The angel professor praised him while noting his progress on the evaluation sheet. Yohan couldn’t bring himself to feel happy. He wasn’t heartless enough to feel joy when his friends had all turned into frogs.

“But seven isn’t your limit. In the next class, increase your speed and raise your level. Keep going until you turn into a frog.”

“……”

Hearing the professor say “turn into a frog” without even moving a brow, Yohan began to seriously suspect that this angel professor might actually be a deranged person who enjoyed seeing his students become frogs.

“Mikael. Zero.”

Meanwhile, the professor continued announcing the rest of the grades. Yohan felt embarrassed at Mikael’s score and alternately looked at his friend and the professor.

He expected the professor to at least say something, but after staring at Mikael for a moment, the man simply turned his head.

“Shan, two. Next class, aim to reach stage three before you turn into a frog.”

“Rigel Terdam. Four, and you didn’t turn into a frog. That means your divine power output is slow. Work hard so that next class you reach five before the bell rings.”

“Lisa Hor. Five, and almost turned into a frog, right? Next class, reach six and then turn into a frog.”

After that long chain of evaluations, Yohan and the others left the classroom.

“……”

They hadn’t planned anything beforehand, but as soon as they stepped out, they all looked at one another and immediately understood they were thinking the same thing.

‘Should we cancel this course after all?’

Yohan decided to seriously consider whether to keep taking the Divine Studies class as he walked to his next lecture.

“Haam…”

Mikael, who was heading to the Spirit Studies classroom for their next overlapping major course, was still yawning with that unreadable expression.

Although his first major class as an official student had been disappointing, Yohan hadn’t completely given up hope for Fantasiademia’s other courses.

Maybe the Divine Studies was the only strange one, and the rest would be normal.

‘Introductory Spirit Studies’

Checking the sign posted outside the classroom, Yohan opened the door with a bit of anticipation. He and the other students were greeted by someone with blue hair and round, thick-rimmed glasses.

“Uh…”

The unfamiliar face made Yohan bow his head politely. He had already memorized all the first-year students’ faces, so if it was someone new, it must be the professor.

Sure enough, the blue-haired professor smiled brightly at them.

“Nice to meet you all! Starting today, I’ll be teaching you Introductory Spirit Studies. You can call me Shinbi. Let’s all take our seats first, shall we?”

The cheerful and gentle tone, as if speaking to children, made the students’ faces brighten.

Yohan sat down. Mikael naturally took the seat next to him.

“You’re not sitting somewhere else?”

Yohan was curious since Mikael’s attitude was different from during the banquet. Mikael just smiled.

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

Yohan didn’t ask further.

Maybe he just wanted to sit next to him.

Over the past few days, Yohan had learned that trying to understand Mikael only led to headaches. It was easier to just accept everything he did.

A proper high priest should have at least that much tolerance.

“Now then, everyone. What do you think a spirit is?”

The students who had just come from the divine class trembled at the question, reminded of their previous nightmare.

But Professor Shinbi was different from the angel.

“‘Spirits’ are mysterious entities belonging to the Spirit Realm. They can manifest in our world through contracts, and they are kind and pure beings who lend their power to their contractors purely out of goodwill.”

Professor Shinbi smiled warmly at the students and explained in a gentle and detailed tone. The professor’s gentle demeanor immediately made them relax.

“Those who form contracts with spirits bear a mark on their bodies that symbolizes their contracted spirit. We call that mark a ‘Spirit Seal.’”

Professor Shinbi’s voice was high but not harsh, sounding almost like a bird’s chirp.

Wait a second… a bird?

Yohan felt a strange sense of familiarity and stared at Professor Shinbi. He wanted to ask something, but thought it might be rude, so he held back.

Just then, another student spoke up.

“Um, Professor. If it’s not rude, may I ask what your race is?”

You ask about race so shamelessly?

Yohan was shocked, but Professor Shinbi cheerfully answered in a tone like a bird’s chirping.

“Of course! Did you notice? I’m an avian beastman.”

Yohan, though briefly taken aback, felt satisfied that his guess had been right after all. He had sensed the same aura from Professor Shinbi that he’d noticed among the beastman new students, and sure enough, Professor Shinbi was one of them.

“Beastmen and elves are naturally spirit-affined. Maybe that’s why so many of the students here are beastmen!”

Yohan looked around the classroom. Now that he noticed, about half of the students were beastmen. There were also quite a few elves, which made him feel awkward for no reason.

It looked like there were fewer than ten humans, counting himself and Mikael.

Students could take up to three major classes, but most limited themselves to two for grade management. Maybe that was why Spirit Studies, which seemed like it would be popular, had only been taken by those confident in maintaining good grades.

…Could I possibly be as attuned as the others?

Yohan sighed, suddenly worried about his grades. He wasn’t sure he could outperform the students who were born with natural affinity toward spirits.

“Now that you know what spirits are and what spirit seals are, let’s see which spirits leave which kind of marks. The basics of Spirit Studies start with knowing who exists in the Spirit Realm.”

Professor Shinbi smiled brightly and reached a hand toward the sky. Since the professor was barely as tall as an adult’s waist, the gesture looked so small and cute that it was hard to think of Shinbi as a professor.

Boom!

But the sound that followed was anything but cute.

“……”

The students, startled by the sudden sound, stared in fear at the thick book that had fallen onto their desks. Yohan was no exception.

No way… this isn’t the main textbook, right?

He stared at it with a troubled face. The book looked well over two thousand pages, heavy enough to be a weapon. If someone dropped it on the street, it would probably break someone’s foot.

The students looked at Professor Shinbi with anxious expressions, but the professor clapped brightly and didn’t care about their dread.

“The book you see here is the Great Encyclopedia of Spirits, which records all the spirits discovered so far. A true spirit master should be able to recite it from memory! It may look long now, but if you read it slowly, you’ll all be able to master the information inside.”

“Ah-ha…”

“So that’s what it is.”

“We thought… you wanted us to immediately memorize it.”

The professor waved, smiling sweetly, seemingly saying “There was no way I would ever ask that.

“Today, we’ll start light and read up to page 120. Next class, there’ll be a short quiz to help you remember what you read!”

“……”

“……”

“For reference, the Great Encyclopedia of Spirits is a series. The one you have is Volume 1. The goal of Introductory Spirit Studies is to learn all three volumes.”

The classroom fell into a strange silence. The students’ gazes grew colder by the second, almost murderous, but Professor Shinbi seemed blissfully unaware.

Yohan was stunned to realize that the same voice he had found as clear as a bird’s chirping in the morning forest now sounded piercing and irritating.

To think that the same sound could change so much depending on one’s state of mind.

He realized he needed mental training…

“Now, let’s start from the first page.”

The pages were so densely packed with black letters that there wasn’t a single margin, and Yohan instantly decided this wouldn’t be easy.

“…Mikael.”

He quietly turned to his eternally first-year friend. Mikael, who had been lazily flipping through the encyclopedia, rolled his eyes toward Yohan.

“What?”

“…Do you happen to have a summarized or organized version of this book?”

Mikael made an expression Yohan had never seen before. Feeling embarrassed, Yohan’s ears turned red and he quickly bowed his head.

“Sorry.”

“…It’s fine. Makes sense.”

Mikael offered a bland sort of consolation. Yohan fanned himself with his hand and went back to reading.

Right. I shouldn’t rely on others. I’ll handle this myself.

As he read with renewed determination, Professor Shinbi kept chirping beside them, pointing out which parts were important. When the professor said those might appear on the test, Yohan eagerly underlined them. Until he suddenly realized that the entire page had turned fluorescent. He unconsciously glared at the professor.

I should stop assuming that kindness means a good professor.

And so, Yohan learned one more method for surviving at the Resurrection School.