SRS 54

“Yohan! I heard the news! I heard you fainted! Are you sure you’re fine to be up already?”

“Yohan Herse, what happened with that cardiac arrest last night? Did your griffin attack you while you were weak?”

“Yohan, I’m glad you’re alive. But I heard something from the others… Is it true that the headmaster personally healed you?”

“……”

When Yohan went out for morning exercises before first period, a group of students rushed over and started spouting nonsense. Hearing rumors he’d never even imagined, Yohan turned to look at Suhyeok. The man who had seemed so dependable and mature last night had, by the next morning, reverted to a mischievous, unreliable friend who whistled and looked away.

“…Ahem, ahem.”

Suhyeok cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.

“Well, I mean… ahem! I didn’t say it exactly like that. Things just got twisted as they passed from mouth to mouth…”

He continued spouting flimsy excuses. Yohan sighed, realizing how naïve he’d been to feel moved by him last night, and tried to calm the excited crowd of friends.

“I really was sick, but it wasn’t cardiac arrest. The headmaster definitely didn’t heal me, and my griffin didn’t attack me either.”

As he corrected each absurd detail one by one and thanked them for worrying, half of the first years sighed in relief while the other half walked away, disappointed that it hadn’t been a more dramatic story. Even if classes at this school were tough and tedious, it was ridiculous that they’d turn their friend’s situation into gossip for entertainment. Watching their slumped shoulders as they left, Yohan couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.

“All right, everyone’s early today! Let’s start our morning exercises with a smile!”

The chatter died down as Professor Ariel arrived. His cheerful voice echoed across the field. The students followed his bright lead, performing aerial acrobatic on their griffins when he suddenly lowered his head and looked down at them beneath his griffin’s legs.

“Oh, right! Starting next week, we’ll begin learning basic combat techniques with griffins! I’ve been preparing hard for this, so look forward to it! But keep in mind, any student who performs below expectations in the first class will receive cleaning duty as punishment!”

“…What?”

“Combat?”

“Out of nowhere?”

Professor Ariel had dropped a bombshell. The students exchanged nervous looks, unsure whether “combat with griffins” meant fighting against them or fighting alongside them.

“To the left!”

Regardless of the confusion, Professor Ariel continued the exercise class without missing a beat.

Whoosh!

All the first-years turned their griffins 360 degrees to the left. No matter how anxious they were, class was still class.

A moment later, even while in disbelief, they were becoming diligent and disciplined students of Fantasiademia.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Combat with griffins… are they seriously bringing in monsters for us to fight?”

“That’d actually be better. I’m more scared they’ll make us fight each other.”

“Fight each other? …That’s horrifying.”

“I don’t want to fight! Why are we even learning combat in exercise class to begin with?!”

After the zero period class ended and the students dismounted their griffins, everyone wore the same dissatisfied look. Yohan patted his griffin comfortingly, then nudged Mikael with his elbow.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if you knew anything about this ‘combat with griffins’ thing.”

“Ah… Hmm. Not really. It’s never been part of the program before.”

“So you mean they didn’t teach it last year or the year before?”

“Right. Looks like the curriculum changed.”

“Why now of all times…”

Why this year? Yohan looked miserable.

“Probably an order from the headmaster.”

“…The headmaster.”

So the person responsible for the entire school was behind this. First he’d made him fetch that strange egg, and then he’d dumped that request on them in the commercial district. It was hard to like or respect someone like that. Muttering the word “headmaster” the same way Kylus said “professor,” Yohan shook his head and pulled himself together.

“If you don’t know either, then luck won’t help us. We’ll have to prepare properly. Let’s get ready for all three possible situations, just in case.”

“Three?” Suhyeok asked. Yohan raised his hand and counted on his fingers.

“First, like some of the others said, we might team up with our griffins to fight monsters. Second, we might have to fight against our griffins. Third, griffins and their partners might pair up and battle other teams. All three sound possible, so we should be ready for any of them.”

Suhyeok groaned.

“Hmm… Preparing is fine, but the first class is next week. Isn’t that too little time to prepare for three scenarios? Even if we start training early in the morning, there’s only so much time.”

“We can come after general classes. Let’s just use our short breaks for a while.”

“……”

Fantasiademia students generally didn’t sleep much. Between two-hour major lectures and up to two one-hour general classes a day, there was still plenty of rest time, unless you were like Yohan, who had packed his schedule to the maximum.

Usually, during those breaks, students who fell out of favor with professors were dragged to the training grounds for duels or errands. Among those in Room 304, Yohan knew that, aside from Kylus, none of them had been picked yet.

Since Yohan was the only one with a full schedule, Kylus getting called away by the Phantom Sword Master for training wasn’t much of a problem. By the time Yohan returned from class, Kylus was usually done with his training too.

“So we can all meet and practice after I’m back from lectures.”

Yohan said, but his friends stared at him strangely.

“What?”

“Yohan, show us your weekly schedule.”

Mikael asked, Yohan nodded and went to the griffin hall’s board, writing it down.

<Weekday Schedule, Periods 1–3 Common>

1st Period – Divine Studies

2nd Period – Spirit Studies

3rd Period – Herbology

Monday & Tuesday (General)

4th Period – Study and Deciphering of Multidimensional Languages

5th Period – History of the Nameless Realm and Fantasiademia

Wednesday (General)

4th Period – Introduction to Demonology

5th Period – Basic Etiquette in the Social Sphere

Thursday (General)

4th period – Introduction to Demonology.

5th period – Birth and Origins of Gods Across Dimensions.

Friday (General )

4th period – Birth and Origins of Gods Across Dimensions.

5th period – Basic Etiquette in the Social Sphere.”

“Done.”

“……”

Yohan tilted his head as he double-checked the schedule, making sure he hadn’t mixed anything up. When he finally stepped back from the board, his friends stood in silence. Suhyeok bitterly laughed.

“…I knew you were taking a lot of classes, but seeing it written out like this, it’s almost violent.”

“Violent?”

“Yohan…”

Looking at his friend with pity, Suhyeok grabbed a piece of chalk.

“You only wrote the periods. Once I add the times, you’ll see how your day really looks.”

With that, he began writing out the daily timetable for a typical Fantasiademia student.

<Average Wake-up Time: 4:00 AM

0th Period – Exercises with Griffins (4:30–5:00 AM)

Breakfast and Preparation for Classes

1st Period – Major Lecture 1 (6:00–8:00 AM)

2nd Period – Major Lecture 2 (10:00–12:00 PM)

3rd Period – Major Lecture 3 (2:00–4:00 PM)

4th Period – General Course A (5:00–6:00 PM)

5th Period – General Course B (7:00–8:00 PM)

Dormitory Roll Call (10:00 PM)

Average Bedtime: 12:00 AM>

“So, this is the general schedule we all follow. Depending on which classes you choose, you get free periods here and there. Students who only take one major have both second and third periods free. Those who take two majors have third period off.”

He then wrote down the names of the students in Room 304 beside each time slot. Suhyeok, Kylus, and Mikael were listed only in first and second periods, while Yohan’s name filled all three.

“Then there are the general courses. We have to take at least two lectures per week for each subject, so everyone fills their schedule based on how many they chose. Unless you’re taking the maximum, no one ends up with both 4th and 5th periods filled every day.”

Suhyeok added another section for the general classes, listing the days of the week and each roommate’s name. Yohan’s name appeared in every slot, Monday through Friday, both 4th and 5th periods.

“This is our final schedule. And you, of all people, want us to start training for griffin combat after class? Isn’t that a bit cruel to yourself?”

Yohan looked at the finished timetable. Seeing it laid out by hour, he had to admit, it looked a little excessive.

“……”

Frowning at the board, Yohan finally sighed.

“…Alright. I’ll admit it. I was being overambitious.”

“No, it’s not about ambition…”

“You’re just pushing yourself too hard, Yohan. Even during breaks, there’s always something happening, so you never get real rest. Last week alone, there was at least one incident every single day. When the schedule adjustment period comes next semester, drop one of your general classes if you can.”

Kylus spoke up in place of the frustrated Suhyeok. Yohan scratched his cheek awkwardly. All five of his general courses were interesting, and every one of them contained knowledge that might be useful when he returned to the Yufir Continent after resurrection.

“…I’ll be fine. Unless something unexpected happens, I usually rest well enough during breaks. None of the professors have dragged me off yet either.”

Yohan politely declined the advice.

“As long as I don’t add anything new to my schedule, I’ll be fine. I’ll be careful.”

As he gave an awkward smile and erased the board, his three roommates exchanged skeptical looks.

“One vote says he’s going to regret this.”

“I’ll bet my sword on it.”

“…Yohan does tend to be stubborn.”

All three shook their heads in unison, pity written all over their faces. Yohan felt a bit disheartened that his roommates didn’t seem to believe in his determination.

“Anyway, let’s just plan for the griffin combat lesson in our heads for now and head to first period.”

There had been some commotion, but at least Suhyeok had successfully stopped Yohan from overloading himself with training. He turned and started walking. Yohan followed shortly after, finishing breakfast and a quick shower before heading to the Divine Studies classroom.

“Ugh…”

“Ha…”

“Why does it feel this exhausting already? It’s only the second day.”

“It’s because it’s boring. Imagine spending the whole day just channeling divine power into a ring again. My energy’s draining just thinking about it.”

Fifteen minutes before first period began, the students of the Divine Studies class were already seated. Most of them were priests, saints, or holy figures in their past lives, so they arrived early out of habit, but they all looked tired of the same repetitive lessons.

Yohan could sympathize. He could feel his divine power improving each time, but that didn’t make the endless channeling exercises any more interesting.

“Ugh, can’t something exciting happen for once?”

Leaning on her desk, Lina mumbled in a small voice. Her twin sister Lisa, who had died at the same time and fallen into the Nameless Realm with her, mirrored her pose beside her.

“Yes. Like maybe a rumor that a professor got hurt or something…”

Yohan flinched. That was not something a saint should be saying. After being turned into a frog during breaks by the angel professor, Lisa’s divine grace and kindness were long gone from her expression.

Yohan was just starting to feel sorry for her when…

Bang!

The classroom door flew open, and Melek appeared, face bright with excitement.

In the next instant, the flushed mage’s voice rang out, charged with mana.

“Hey! The professors from our class and yours are fighting next door!”

“What?”

“Professor Hegel and the angel professor?”

The students who’d been half-asleep moments ago suddenly jumped up, faces lighting up with joy, and bolted out of the classroom.