SRS 77

“…Is there something wrong with my answer?”

“No.”

“But why do you have that expression?”

Mikael immediately denied it, but even his expression as he answered “no” seemed somewhat sullen. If he truly wasn’t dissatisfied, he wouldn’t have made such a face. So, Yohan stared at him intently and asked. The student, who had been silently meeting Yohan’s gaze, sat down on the desk.

“Hmmm….”

After a moment of silence, he slowly rolled his eyes left and right as if lost in thought and then opened his mouth.

“I was wondering who you would have gone with if I hadn’t asked you.”

“Huh?”

“If you had a choice, who would you go with?”

Mikael asked, his expression unnaturally blank, as if he had forced himself to appear that way. Yohan, unable to comprehend the question, simply opened his mouth and then narrowed his eyes.

“That would be you.”

“……?”

“I already answered when I said yes. Why are you asking me a question that’s already been answered?”

“…….”

Mikael’s question felt like a mere repetition to Yohan, with the same meaning but a different sentence structure. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared much about it and would just go along with it, but the next period was the test for Spirit Studies. He didn’t have the leisure to engage in meaningless riddles, so he spoke more directly than usual, leaving Mikael speechless. Yohan, wondering if he’d been too harsh, felt a pang of regret.

“Haha!”

Soon, the student leaned forward and burst into laughter. As if unable to contain his laughter, Mikael continued laughing for several more minutes, then straightened his upper body and tilted his head back. Slowly closing and opening his eyes, his previous discontent vanished, he simply looked relieved.

“Right. I forgot you were a bit old-fashioned.”

“…Why are you saying that all of a sudden?”

“I wasn’t really nitpicking. I apologize if it sounded that way. I’ll change the word. Um… I forgot you were a priest.”

Mikael, who had gotten down from the desk, extended his hand to Yohan.

“Do you want me to carry your textbook?”

Yohan shook his head, Mikael looked so relieved that Yohan wondered why he had asked such a strange question if he was going to act like this.

“It’s fine. I’ll be reading it on the way.”

“You mean you’ll walk and read at the same time?”

“Hmm.”

“Well… then I guess I’ll have to stay by your side and help you avoid hitting people or walls.”

Although it was absurd that Mikael volunteered to help without being asked, Yohan did not refuse. Then, saying that he would appreciate it, he really opened the textbook. Mikael saw this and smiled again, then accompanied Yohan out of the classroom.

Afterwards, Mikael, as he had promised, really protected Yohan with all his heart. Thanks to this, Yohan arrived at the Spirit Studies classroom without incident, thanked Mikael, and sat down.

Even after he sat down, Yohan’s reading continued unabated. His classmates stared in awe as he constantly recited questions, quickly solved them, and even recited his methods.

“Who made Yohan like that…?”

“No, think back to the entrance tests. Even then, Yohan coughed up blood to become top student.”

“…It means he was a monster born from grades from the beginning.”

His friends muttered in a mixture of awe and fear, but unfortunately, Yohan was too absorbed in his studies to hear them.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Hello, everyone! Maybe it’s because the evaluation period continues through the weekend? It feels like it’s been a long time since we last saw each other, right?”

Professor Shinbi, still cheerful and exuding a refreshing energy, entered the classroom ten minutes before the test began and greeted the students. The students paled in shock.

“Why… why are you here already?”

“She’s not going to make us close our books, right?”

“This isn’t fair! Break time isn’t even over!”

“Professor! There are still ten minutes left!”

“Huh? No, no… You can keep studying! The test and guidance will start on time!”

As the students, their faces pale and eyes wide, demanded their right to cram a little more, the startled professor waved both hands to calm them down. Despite this, the students weren’t entirely at ease, periodically glancing at the professor, suspecting she might spring a surprise test on them.

During that time, Yohan was only diligently reading his textbook.

“…It’s true.”

Professor Shinbi, who looked slightly disappointed at the students’ suspicions, clapped her hands at the sound of the bell signaling the start of class, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Okay, let’s stop studying here and take the test. The test is simple! Think of it as an extension of the quizzes you took in the last class. Today’s test will be a simple written test based on what you learned this month, so don’t worry. Of course! You’ll be able to refer to the textbook here and there!”

“Ohhh?”

“Is it real?”

“Can we look at the textbook?”

The students, who had been gloomy and regretful as they closed their books, suddenly brightened at the unexpected news.

Professor Shinbi smiled proudly as she looked at the students’ happy expressions.

“Yes! This test will be open-book, so you don’t need to cover your textbooks! I’ll distribute the test papers.”

At the professor’s gesture, the spirits moved the test papers to each student’s desk.

“The supervisors for this test are the spirits of the walls!”

Then, the professor snapped her fingers, and a translucent wall rose up like a partition around each desk, blocking the students’ view in front, to the left, and to the right.

“The wall spirits will watch over you and block your view to prevent you from copying other students’ answers. The moment you try to cheat, the spirits will catch you, so please take the test conscientiously! Students who cheat will receive the lowest score. Now, shall we try to solve the problems? The time for solving them is when the clock strikes!”

After completing her introduction, Professor Shinbi clapped. Then, quills appeared on the students’ desks. They seemed to be quill spirits.

“Just grab the summoned quill and take the test! It’s starting!”

At the instruction, the students took up their quills.

“Ahhh!”

At the same time, screams came from all directions. Startled, Yohan looked down at his hand. The quill spirit was struggling ferociously in Yohan’s grasp.

“Professor! The quill is moving!”

The screaming students urgently reported the strange phenomenon to Professor Shinbi. The professor, wearing round glasses, smiled brightly.

“Yes! The quill spirits are the saboteurs of this test! If you tame and befriend them, you’ll be able to solve the questions much faster!”

Seeing her speak so brightly, it seemed this was a phenomenon she had prepared in advance.

At Professor Shinbi’s words, several students grabbed the back of their necks and groaned. Yohan looked down in dismay at the spirit wreaking havoc in his hands, whimpering softly.

…Then this isn’t just a written test anymore?

This situation contradicted the professor’s claim that it would only be a written test. Yohan had his doubts, but the ticking of the clock quickly brought him back to his senses. He realized it would be wiser to answer even one more question than waste time thinking.

Yohan let the annoying quill struggle in his hand for a moment before examining the problem.

He raised his eyebrows after checking question number one.

“Huh…?”

He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but the content of the question seemed like something he had never learned before.

Just in case, Yohan flipped through his textbook, tilting his head in confusion as he moved on to the next question. However, question number two also asked about a spirit he was unfamiliar with. Yohan flipped through the textbook again, quickly skimming through sections he hadn’t covered just in case, but he couldn’t find any information about the spirit mentioned.

After this pattern continued through question three, Yohan decided it was pointless to keep searching and finally raised his hand. Judging by the constant “Huh?” and “What?” from those around him, it seemed Yohan wasn’t the only one having this issue, which meant the problem itself had to be wrong.

“Professor, I think there’s something wrong with the test paper.”

“That’s right! I was going to ask that too, but this question… isn’t it something we haven’t learned?”

“What on earth is the spirit of Piriteo?”

As Yohan raised the first objection, the other students quickly lifted their hands, demanding to know the meaning of such absurd questions. Yohan nodded along, agreeing with his classmates.

He thought the professor must have mistaken a second-year problem for a first-year one, but Professor Shinbi, with an innocent expression, floated into the air and looked at the students.

“That’s how the questions are meant to be! I didn’t mix up the grades, and these are definitely your problems!”

“…….”

She spoke so energetically that she actually took away the momentum from Yohan and his friends.

“If you studied your textbooks carefully, you’ll definitely be able to solve them! The textbook might not have the answers, but it has hints!”

Professor Shinbi smiled brightly and encouraged the students to try again. At first glance, she seemed innocent and kind, but Yohan realized that very quality made her all the more immovable. He sighed and returned his gaze to the test paper.

“…No matter how much I look, it’s not there.”

Right. It did seem strange that Professor Shinbi had only twenty questions in total.

Yohan ruffled his hair, took a deep breath, and flipped through his textbook. As he switched between the book and the questions, a light suddenly went on in his mind.

“Ah.”

With a short exclamation, Yohan grabbed his quill. With no time to spare, he pinned down the spirit with his divine power and began to write. The pale-faced spirit let out choking squeaks as it struggled in his grasp.