SRS 20

The other classes Yohan hadn’t chosen didn’t seem to be any less strange either. When he arrived for Taming class, he saw that every student looked paler than withered grass and gave a bitter smile.

Everyone looks exhausted.

Seeing their faces, he realized he shouldn’t expect much from this class either.

After a short wait, the door opened and the professor entered. His body was so large that he hit the doorframe on his way in, making even the students watching feel the impact. He scanned the classroom once he was inside.

The moment his gaze swept over them, the giant professor narrowed his eyes. Even that small motion was so overwhelming that Yohan instinctively released divine power to protect himself. Then the professor pointed at several students with his thick fingers.

“You. And you. You, you, and you. Get up, leave this classroom, and never come back.”

The professor’s voice was full of authority and rumbled like a beast’s growl. The students he pointed to stood up reluctantly, looking wronged.

“C-could we… ask why, sir?”

Though stammering from the pressure, one of them still managed to speak. The huge professor suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The loud sound shook the classroom. It might have sounded hearty, but hearing it up close made everyone’s skin crawl.

Then he stopped laughing and glared at the standing students.

“Do I need to explain? Taming is an art learned only by those who revere life, especially animals. You don’t deserve it.”

“……”

The remaining students, who previously had no idea what was happening, began to look at the expelled ones with scorn. They’d realized what the professor meant.

Yohan frowned as he looked at the students who’d been pointed out.

So they’ve harmed animals before.

And yet they came here for a taming class. They must be people ruled by greed and domination.

I’d better remember their faces and stay away from them.

Yohan watched them hurry out of the room before turning his eyes back to the front.

The professor, looking refreshed as if he’d cleared the air, laughed and slammed the board to get everyone’s attention.

“Nice to meet you all. I am Homern, a tamer and a shaman.”

“It’s an honor to meet you!”

The nervous students shouted in unison. Swept along by the atmosphere, Yohan shouted too, then rubbed his flushed cheek with the back of his hand.

He had never raised his voice that loud or spoken so roughly in his life, and it made him feel a little embarrassed.

Homern nodded with satisfaction at the students’s spirited response, grinning broadly.

“You all took this class to meet the partner who resonates with your soul. In that case, follow me. Tamers don’t waste time on dull theory!”

With that hearty declaration, Homern turned and charged out the door, hitting the narrow frame again on his way out.

The students exchanged uncertain looks before standing and following him.

As they slipped out of the room, smiles appeared on their faces. They all had the same feeling, this class might finally be different from the rest.

Yohan felt the same. His flickering hope, nearly extinguished, began to flare again.

And as the class continued, he made up his mind that during the next break, he would go to the campus orchard and pick a few persimmons to eat.

Otherwise, how could he possibly have this little sense?

Or maybe, in a way, he’d been right after all.

“Huh, ha…”

“What is a tamer? One who communes with and understands animals! Do you commune through your heart? No! You start with your body, your beastly flesh! Only one who becomes a companion to beasts can become a tamer! Now run! Run! Train your body!”

This kind of class was definitely a first.

At Homern’s relentless commands, the students were in tears as they ran through the hills behind Fantasiademia.

At first, when Homern had led them up the path, Yohan thought they were going to observe the animals they’d be taming. That excitement was long gone, replaced by nothing but anger toward their professor.

“Run! Faster! Move lighter! How can you hope to become a beast like that?!”

Homern shouted beside them as he ran with the group. If he had been watching from a distance, it might have been less frightening, but running right beside them while yelling made him look less like a man and more like a monster, some unknown creature, a savage beast.

“Ha, ha!”

“Yohan Herse! Can’t you run faster? At that pace, you won’t become a beast, you’ll get eaten by one! Should I release a Fenrir behind you to wake you up?”

Among the students taking the third-period Taming class, Yohan was last.

If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve at least trained a bit…!

As a child, Yohan had lived as a beggar. He’d lost his parents in the war and survived by begging since the age of five. His life force was stubbornly strong, but his body was weak.

After becoming a priest, he had mostly used divine power instead of physical strength, so his stamina had only declined further.

Naturally, compared to the average student, Yohan’s physical strength was much lower. Falling behind in this class was inevitable.

He clutched his side, which ached as if pricked with needles, and struggled to catch his breath.

“Huh… ha…!”

Yohan’s vision was blurring. He felt like if someone were ever to die running at Fantasiademia, it would probably be him. Out of desperation, he looked toward Homern, but the professor showed no mercy.

“Yohan Herse!”

Even at Yohan’s pleading eyes, Homern only shouted more harshly. Yohan, amazed but also terrified, thought to himself,

He’s not a tamer, he’s a demon…!

“Haa, haak…”

Yohan’s breathing grew heavier and rougher. The wheezing in his chest sounded like his lungs were punctured, and even the students running ahead turned back in concern.

But they were just students too. When they saw Homern glaring fiercely right beside Yohan, they quickly averted their eyes and continued running, feeling sorry but too scared to help.

“Haa… haa…”

How much time had passed?

Yohan continued moving purely by willpower, but when his vision finally went completely dark, he fainted.

“Herse!”

His friends, who had been glancing back, screamed when they saw him fall.

“Tch. Pathetic weakling!”

But Yohan didn’t actually hit the ground. Homern had caught him, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

“Skin and bones! Even sugarcane would be tougher than this!”

Complaining about Yohan’s lack of muscle, Homern slung the unconscious young man over his shoulder.

“Now, move! What are you all staring at? Run! Keep running until you reach the top!”

Then he ran toward the next student at the back and began yelling the same way again.

Even though a student had fainted, the freshmen found themselves forced to keep training. Their faces were pale as ghosts, but under Homern’s murderous gaze, they cried and ran.

“Run until your feet disappear from sight! Make your hearts become those of beasts!”

“Oh, come on! Stop saying nonsense already!”

One student couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted, unable to bear the insanity any longer.

Everyone froze and stared at him with wide eyes. They admired his courage but worried that Homern would strike him down for talking back.

It seemed that they were worried for nothing.

“If you have time to talk, then run! If your speed drops again, I’ll release wolves! Starving ones!”

Instead of punishing the rude student, Homern shouted at the ones falling behind, pushing them even harder.

“This is insane.”

“Run! Run!”

“……”

Homern continued repeating the same words like a broken machine, and the students, losing all will to resist, ran on while secretly envying Yohan.

Passing out must actually be easier.

Several students, inspired by that realization, pretended to faint. But Homern wasn’t fooled so easily.

“Those pretending to faint must want to be wolf food!”

At his furious roar, the “fainted” students jumped up in fright and started running again.

By the end of the third-period Taming class, all but three students had lost consciousness.

When Yohan finally opened his eyes, he was in the infirmary. A transparent and bluish nurse, resembling a jellyfish wearing a white coat, was looking down at him.

“You’re awake? You completely ran out of energy. Even if you drink a tonic now, your body won’t absorb it properly, so rest a bit longer before leaving.”

“…Yes.”

Yohan answered weakly, startled by how hoarse his voice sounded, as if he had spent the entire day screaming.

“You don’t have the strength to speak right now,” the nurse explained gently, placing a small glass vial on the bedside table.

“Drink this once you’ve recovered a little. It’s juice made from crested mandrake. It’s not as strong as eating the root, but it should suit your condition better.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. The infirmary usually only helps with emergencies. We don’t hand out medicine for simple fainting. That vial was brought by your friend.”

“……”

Yohan didn’t know which part to react to first.

The shamelessness of the infirmary refusing to treat anyone who wasn’t in danger?

Or the gratitude he felt toward the friend who had brought the medicine?

After a moment of confusion, he nodded.

“…I see. May I ask who brought it?”

“Hmm… he had white hair.”

“Ah.”

It was Mikael.

If Mikael, who hadn’t even taken the Taming class, had gone out of his way to do this, it meant word of Yohan’s loss of consciousness had probably spread fast among the students.

Or maybe, having repeated first year several times, Mikael already knew what kind of training Taming class involved and had prepared the medicine in advance.

Thinking it might be the latter, Yohan felt touched, but also a little resentful.

If that was the case, he could’ve warned me before I chose this major.

Grumbling to himself, Yohan pulled the blanket up to his chin and sighed. For now, he just wanted to rest a little.