SRS 66

As Mikael said, spending time with the griffins outside of class had a very positive effect on Yohan.

Surrounded by four divine beasts, including his own griffin and his friends’, Yohan laughed and rolled around in the grass without any worries. He didn’t feel tired even as he used his divine power on the divine beasts that were clamoring for it.

He sat with his friends as they lined up beside him and spent time petting the griffins, stopped two griffins from fighting, then laughed when his own griffin carried him and showed off tricks, which washed away all the accumulated fatigue.

Thanks to that, Yohan was able to return to the dormitory after sending the griffins back to their rooms and fall into a deep sleep without much trouble.

And so, a new day came again.

After spending time with his griffin doing dawn exercises, the second morning of his assistant days arrived. The sun had risen in Fantasiademia… Hmm. It wasn’t the sun, but the headmaster’s face.

Yohan was briefly discouraged when he saw what was floating in the sky.

It’s been three days since the headmaster had become the angel professor’s substitute, and starting with the first class, the headmaster has been openly handing off the teaching duties to the teaching assistant. To the point that he said things like this.

“Hmm. There might be something wrong with the dimensional rift, I keep getting reports about monsters from other dimensions slipping in since yesterday. I think I should go check the rift once, so I’m leaving the class to you today, Yohan.”

He said that with an awkward laugh one minute after class started and left to check the dimensional rift.

“……”

Yohan stared blankly at the sky where the headmaster disappeared, too stunned to believe what just happened, then returned to his senses when his friends called him.

“Ah. …Uh, yes. Then… let’s start.”

He stood there awkwardly, then pulled himself together and forced himself to smile.

He already did this once, it’s not like the second would be all that different. With that mindset, Yohan taught the class as a continuation of the lesson Mikael explained to him yesterday.

“I, I did it…!”

He taught everyone earnestly for two hours without skipping a single person, and about half the students finally succeeded in manifesting their divine power far away from their bodies because they focused without slacking even once.

“Yohan!”

Yohan smiled brightly along with his friends who were overjoyed to the point of jumping, and for some reason he felt proud as he high-fived each student who slapped his palm on the way out.

He still didn’t want to become a professor, but judging from how fast his friends learned, maybe Mikael was right and he actually had talent for teaching.

After he’s resurrected… becoming a teacher at the temple might be nice.

He thought it could be good to fix the order of the chaotic world, strengthen the internal unity of the temple, then live as a teacher in a small priest school instead of being worshipped as the high priest.

After he pictured that distant future, Yohan checked that all his friends left and only Mikael remained, then looked around.

No one was here, so he approached Mikael.

“Mikael.”

“Yes.”

“…When you resurrect and achieve your goal, what will you do?”

It was sudden because Mikael’s eyes widened. The student thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it yet. What about you?”

“…Priest teacher?”

“That suits you.”

Mikael smiled and praised him. Yohan felt embarrassed and quickly asked for a private lesson.

“…What I taught you last time, you already jumped far ahead to the next step. Today, your goal is to make several orbs like the one from before.”

“…Far away from my body?”

“Ah, maybe that’ll be hard from the start?”

Was that even a question?

Yohan glared at his friend who was speaking ill of him for a moment, then quickly looked ahead before Mikael could turn to look at him.

“Then start by floating several divine power orbs around you. The final goal of this training is for each orb to act as a different force. If orb one heals someone, orb two protects, orb three guards the left side, orb four attacks enemies in the rear..”

“…Can that even work?”

“If you become proficient?”

“……”

Yohan began to fear the level of divine power Mikael was expecting from him.

No matter how he looks at it, it seems like he just talked about professor-level skills.

The idea of floating multiple orbs already felt like a whole different realm for Yohan, and using each one in a different way was even more impossible. He sweated just from imagining it and wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand, then tried using his divine power.

As was expected, Yohan didn’t perform a miracle and summon multiple orbs in one breath. He just watched the orbs of divine power tremble in the air for an hour before finishing his private lesson.

“…It’s not going well.”

When Yohan lay down, feeling a lack of mental strength and sullen, Mikael consoled him, saying it might be difficult at first. In the past, he would have given him a look like he couldn’t do it, but thankfully, perhaps because he’d learned something, this time his face was calm.

“It will work out if I practice.”

Yohan muttered, trying to brainwash himself.

He had plenty of time. At least if he only counted the days he would spend in Fantasiademia, not each passing day in the real world.

Of course… if Yohan failed to heal Mikael, then Mikael would repeat the year again.

A sudden thought occurred to Yohan, who was lying on the grass, and turned halfway to look at the student sitting on the bench reading a book.

“Mikael. When the school year changes, I won’t be able to see you then?”

Then how would he heal him?

The student’s gaze lifted from the book to Yohan at the question posed by that thought. His eyes fixed intently on Yohan, then suddenly curved.

“Hm… why? Do you want to see me again next year?”

Yohan, unsure of how to respond to the question, which felt like a tickle with a feather, clenched his jaw and remained silent. Mikael closed his book and chuckled softly.

“Just kidding. Hmm. If we’re in different grades and have different areas of activity, I guess we won’t see each other often. You haven’t seen much of our seniors yet, right?”

“Then what about your treatment? If that happens, I won’t know in real time when you get hurt or when you miss class because you’re sick.”

“…Would you still treat me even if our grades separate?”

“Mm?”

The question bounced back, and Yohan blinked in confusion.

“You’re not going to accept it?”

He didn’t think Mikael would.

When he asked again in bewilderment, Mikael fell silent this time. Yohan sat up completely and brushed away the blades of grass.

“If you don’t want it, you don’t have to…”

“That’s not it. I just didn’t think you’d still treat me after our grades separate. It surprised me, but now that I think about it… you were always diligent.”

Mikael replied with a chuckle, as if he’d forgotten. His smile seemed somewhat self-deprecating, and Yohan hesitated, unsure of what to say. He had so much to say, but the words that would be effective in this situation were limited. He was also limited in the words he could use, so Yohan, furrowing his brows for a moment, considered the matter. He walked to the bench and sat down next to Mikael.

“I don’t treat you only because I’m diligent. It’s not only because of our promise either.”

“Mm?”

“I just… want to treat you. That’s why I help you. Being in different grades doesn’t change the fact that we’re friends. The way I want to help you won’t change even if years pass. …I swear.”

He already made a promise with Mikael once, so another promise felt like it lacked weight. After he struggled for a moment, he chose to make an oath instead, and Mikael’s gaze swept over him.

“You’re really pure.”

“……”

“It’s strange how someone who hasn’t known me that long can swear things for my sake.”

“I only wanted to give you trust.”

“That’s exactly why I said you’re pure. I’m not talking about personality. I’m talking about the light of the soul I see when you say those words and when your actions match your thoughts.”

The rest was an explanation hard for a human like Yohan to understand. Yohan quietly repeated Mikael’s evaluation of him.

Pure…

It reminded him of their first meeting. Back then and now, Yohan still couldn’t tell if Mikael meant it as praise.

He mentioned Yohan’s soul just now, and earlier he said he liked how pure Yohan was, so it made Yohan think it was praise, but something still poked at his mind.

Do people usually praise someone with eyes like that?

Yohan met his friend’s eyes with a feeling of unease. At first glance, Mikael’s expression seemed impassive, but even his eyes were hardly indifferent

 Yohan thought he had nothing to say in response, so he just kept his eyes locked with Mikael’s and he muttered in a tone that seemed to be drifting away in the wind.

“If you had been born when I was around, I would have definitely chosen you.”

That soft whisper, those words that seemed to be a soliloquy, reached Yohan.

The time he was around…

Those words rang in his ears and Yohan’s eyes widened.

What did he just…?

The question died in his throat.

Instead, Yohan looked at Mikael with a more definite question, one that had just arisen.

“…Are you from the same dimension as me?”

He asked, his voice trembling without him realizing it.

The student smiled at the cautious question. Without a response, without a sound, just a slight smirk, the corners of his eyes arching, yet somehow, Yohan felt as if he had heard the answer.