CHAPTER 2
SCHOOL HEAVEN AND HELL
Meren is a port town built on the shore of a lake about three kirlos southwest of Orario. Connected to the sea through Lolog Lake, Meren is Orario’s bridge to the world’s oceans situated on the westernmost edge of the continent.
Every day, countless ships from distant lands enter port, disgorging countless people, creatures, and items destined for the city that many consider the center of the world. And what flows into Meren are magic-stone products bound for barges setting out to sea. Orario has a monopoly on the production of magic-stone items, and most trade is conducted not overland, but by sea.
Considering that, it might not be an exaggeration to say ships from all around the world gather here.
As for me, this isn’t my first time coming to Meren, but every time I’m here, it feels like visiting a foreign country.
The distinct smell of fresh and salt water mixing in Lolog Lake is supposed to be a lot milder than that of a saltwater lake, but I grew up in a mountain village, so I can’t help but find it fairly strong.
The lively main avenue feels like a bazaar, and many of the shops are filled with the bounty of the sea. The streets are packed with suntanned fishermen and visitors from faraway islands, deserts, and all sorts of other places. Everything brings home the feeling that this is a port town.
It is easy to forget in Orario, cut off from the rest of the world by giant walls, but the city is surprisingly close to the sea.
Ordinarily, I would be staring, dazzled by these scenes like a country bumpkin. But this time, things are a little different.
“Whoaaa!”
With masterful navigation, the giant ship enters Lolog Lake through a channel. A smaller ship (a galleon still over forty meders long) that just left the docks quickly turns back as the giant ship sails into the harbor with blue sails fluttering in the breeze like a majestic sea dragon.
It’s so tall my neck hurts looking up at it. This one ship is filling the entire western half of the harbor where hundreds of ships would normally dock.
An explosion of cheers fills the bay as I stare in slack-jawed awe.
“Welcome back!”
“Tell us about your adventures!!!”
“Welcome to Meren!”
People are holding hands and dancing for joy under the blue skies. The moment the ship enters the brackish lake, the constant cheers crescendo.
There are so many people lining the port, it almost looks like the whole population of Meren is out. An enormous number of humans and demi-humans are waving flags or their hands, and some are even playing instruments.
Several children run past, jumping around as I stand dumbstruck in the middle of the crowd.
“This is amazing…It really is like a festival.”
“That’s not far from the truth. The School District returns to Orario once every three years, and it’s easily one of the city’s biggest events,” Miss Eina explains.
After going up onto the wall in Orario and seeing the ship in the distance, Miss Eina suggested going to the port. Or more accurately, she saw my eyes gleaming like a curious child’s and graciously invited me to join her with a knowing smile, which is how I ended up here in Meren.
The inspection at Orario’s city gates is incredibly strict—especially for deities and followers of familias considered key assets—so it would normally be impossible to leave without filling out incredibly time-consuming and tedious paperwork. But the return of the School District is apparently a special occasion.
I don’t really understand, but for the duration of the School District’s stay, the southwestern gate that connects the city to Meren—and only that gate—is kept open. Adventurers still have to undergo a check by Ganesha Familia’s guards, but I was let through without much hassle today because I’m helping out a certain Guild employee.
We came here together with a stream of Orario’s residents flowing out of the gate.
“Umm…so what exactly is the School District?”
“Hmm. Put simply…it’s a school that travels all around the world. The biggest school in the mortal realm.”
Even after the massive ship finishes docking, the cheers are still going strong. When the crowd finally starts to move, we go with the flow and begin walking toward the giant school.
“The School District is a traveling educational institution supported by the Guild. It accepts children ages six to eighteen who wish to study there, picking them up from all over the world.”
“The whole world? Why does it do that?”
“First of all, that’s the desire of their sponsor, the Guild. A great many people already gather in Orario, but that isn’t enough. For the sake of running the city…and more than anything, for the sake of achieving the Three Great Quests, the Guild is always looking for more talent.”
When I expose my ignorance, Miss Eina sounds almost happy. She holds up her index finger and launches into a new lesson. It’s like she’s enjoying the chance to take care of a child who stopped needing her help.
“Also, it is the divine will…or I suppose it’s the passion of the deities who guide the School District.”
“Eh? Deities…? More than one…? Does that mean the ship is…”
“Yes. The School District is managed by multiple familias. Sort of a union of familias.”
A familia union. My eyes shoot open. At the same time, it doesn’t really make much sense to me.
I know about Dungeon-focused and mercantile familias, and I have heard about academic ones that charge a fee in exchange for teaching regular folk who aren’t a part of any familia, particularly children. Apparently it’s common for them to look for promising children in their classes and invite them into their familia.
From what I’ve heard, academic familias are closely tied to the regions they are located in, which is why cities and countries love having an academy nearby, since it means a big pool of talent. However, it’s difficult to gather enough skilled instructors to properly run an academic familia. Any newly established familia trying to break into the market is likely to fail.
Maybe it’s just my bias as a country bumpkin born in a village without much around, but I’ve always felt like school is something usually reserved for the wealthy or nobility. Still, with academic familias, as long as you have some money to start, you can be given an opportunity to learn.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any familias like that in Orario—hold on.
Do I have it flipped?
They must need a lot of people to run this giant school. Does that mean the School District is just where all of Orario’s academic familias are…?
“Race, status, wealth, and family are not factors here. Only the desire to study is necessary,” Miss Eina says as she watches the children streaming past us. “The spirit of exploration, the desire to keep chasing and learn what you can become. That is the only requirement to become a student at the School District.”
Connections and pedigree aren’t important. And no amount of money will help. Only those who carry the spirit of a student, willing to acknowledge their lack of knowledge, can pass through its gates.
Miss Eina seems proud as she talks about it.
“…Wow, Miss Eina. You know a lot about the School District.”
“Hee-hee, I was a student there once.”
“Eh?! R-really?”
When I get that unexpected response, I twitch and my voice cracks. The people around us all look at me, and I start to blush, but also…I know so little about Miss Eina despite how much she’s done for me, and that makes me feel a bit guilty and ashamed…
But interesting. The reason she knows so much isn’t just because she’s a member of the Guild. A great many things she learned in the classrooms of that giant school ship have, through Miss Eina, helped us adventurers countless times.
That thought makes me feel oddly grateful to the School District and also sparks my interest.
I’m already an adventurer, so I can’t become a student now, but…I do wonder what sort of place the School District is.
“Right, as a former student…I was asked to handle most of the formalities for the School District’s return, but…”
“…Miss Eina?”
That’s when I notice that even though she looks proud, her expression also makes it seem like she’s deeply troubled by something. I study her expression until I notice the flow of people stops.
We’ve reached the western side of the harbor. Or, more accurately, we’ve reached the giant shipyard.
The crowd is pushing close to see the docked School District from up close. There are lots of other Guild employees and members of Ganesha Familia directing the flow of traffic. Apparently, no residents of Orario, whether adventurers or just regular townsfolk or even deities, are allowed to get near that giant ship.
“I’m home, Meren!”
“We’re baaaaack!”
“This is my first time! Meren! And Orario!”
The cheers from the people are still ringing, and from the outer railing sixty meders up—the ship’s gunwales—a visible crowd of boys and girls have gathered, waving back.
They are wearing similar uniforms, and it feels like there are a lot of them close to my age. I guess they’re students at the School District?
“………”
Looking up at the students, Miss Eina screws up her emerald eyes, and she looks almost like she’s in pain.
No, it’s more…is she wavering about something?
I feel uncomfortable, but still, I marshal my courage to say something—
“—Mgh?!”
Before I can, a hand stretches out from the crowd behind me, covers my mouth, and pulls me back into the crowd.
“…Sorry, Bell, I have work to do now, so I should…huh? Bell? Beeeell?”
“Fghhhh?!”
One hand covers my mouth, and another grabs my shoulder as we force our way through the sea of people.
Walking backward through the crowd, trying my best to stay upright after I almost trip, I am finally released as we emerge from the crowd of people.
“Puhaa?! L-Lord Hermes?!”
“Aaaah, Bell! To think I would meet you here! This must be fate!”
He flicks the brim of his trademark winged cap as a sort of greeting. I’m taken aback seeing him gesturing so enthusiastically.
“From the looks of it, you saw the School District from the city, and spurred by the unknown like a true adventurer, you found yourself all the way out here?”
“Ugh…! Y-Yes, sir, that’s right…”
The reason I didn’t immediately shake free is because I sensed his divine presence, and since the person questioning me is a god, I simply confess. I am still really flustered as I ask my most immediate question.
“Lord Hermes, why are you…?”
“The School District’s finally back, so of course I’m going to come out and see it for myself. Every god and goddess with a familia is here,” he whispers into my ear, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “See, look over there in the crowd, and up there on the rooftops…You can see deities and adventurers here and there, right?”
“Ah, I do…”
Looking where he pointed, I can see deities who are presumably patron gods and goddesses, and also followers. They’re all looking at the School District and whispering to each other, as if plotting something.
Is the fact that I feel a premonition of some kind of uproar a sign of how much Orario has seeped into my bones?
I have a bad feeling when Lord Hermes answers.
“They’re all here to scout for their familias.”
“S-scout…? Do you mean the students at the School District? But why…?”
“Because the School District is a treasure trove of talent, obviously!”
Clenching his fist, Lord Hermes says, “Let’s find a place to talk,” though we don’t go very far and just move to the mouth of a side alley between some buildings where we can still see the ship.
“Have you heard how the School District is an educational institution that travels around the world?”
“Ah, yes, sir. Miss Eina told me that…”
“Then that makes it quick. The School District is famous, so it has a tendency to get involved in troublesome things. If there’s a request from a town, they’ll slay monsters, and at times even intervene in conflicts between countries.”
“C-conflicts?”
“‘Make thy will a sword, thy knowledge a staff, and thy failures a crown.’ If anything, they have a habit of sticking their nose into things without waiting for a request. Practical studies, they call it. Helps the students grow.”
All of a sudden, the School District is sounding a lot more dangerous…!
“With all that happening, it’s an environment that isn’t lacking for experiences, even if it isn’t quite to Orario’s level. It’s standard for the students to be Level Two, and I’ve heard there are even a few Level Threes sprinkled around, too.”
“Level Threes?!”
I’ve been shocked a lot today, but still, there’s no helping this one.
Orario can mess with your perception, but a follower who has leveled up at all is already extraordinary. For reference, a village or town with even one person who’s leveled up would have no issue defeating a swarm of monsters that are common up on the surface world.
The shift from quality over quantity after deities descended to the mortal realm created the current age where even a single person who has leveled up can overcome most things. And leveling up twice, reaching Level 3, anywhere outside Orario would make that person overwhelmingly powerful. Many of the Level 3s out in the wider world usually lead whole organizations or are powerful figures. The power of a Level 3 is more than enough to break the mold. It’s Orario that’s simply absurd as a city, home to hundreds of upper-class adventurers.
So hearing that the School District has Level 2 and Level 3 students even without the den of monsters that is the Dungeon undeniably makes it a treasure trove of talent, even if we’re only measuring pure combat strength.
“There are lots of graduates of the School District even among the current upper-class adventurers. Loki Familia’s Thousand Elf being the most prominent example.”
Thousand Elf…that amber-haired elf…ugh, my head…!
“It is a place for learning. The students pretty much always graduate and proceed down various career paths. Naturally, some of them want to become adventurers. And we gods absolutely love recruiting them! That’s the long and short of it.”
“I—I see…”
I’m starting to see why they would get heated over that.
I can already imagine Lady Hestia’s eyes when she learns about this. I have no doubt she’d want to immediately rush out and start recruiting…
“The regulations aren’t just to tamp down on the common folk’s enthusiasm. It’s also to keep Orario’s deities and their familias from making contact with the students.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. Thus the rules. Can’t have anyone getting the jump on recruiting and internships.”
Internships? Recruiting?
He clenches his fist while I cock my head at the unfamiliar words.
“However! Everyone still wants to get dibs on a promising prospect! As the patron of a familia! You understand, don’t you?!”
“Y-yes…”
Overwhelmed by his sudden burst of passion, I just barely manage to nod.
Not that it matters much, but I feel really uncomfortable, even though we aren’t doing anything I should feel guilty about. Maybe it’s because we’re talking secretively in the shadows for some strange reason…
“Which means, Bell my boy, we’re going to slip inside the School District!”
“Why is that the natural conclusion?!”
Agh, something bad is coming!
“Our familia is always hiring, or rather, we always need people who can make a real difference! We can’t afford to be left in the dust when a gold mine like the School District is staring us in the face!”
“That isn’t a reason for me to help, though! Wh-why not just get Ms. Asfi to help instead of me?!”
“Asfi is…well, I gave her time off. She’s been constantly working for so long…”
Ah……
Lord Hermes’s gaze drifts to something far away as he answers, and I can’t help doing the same with my eyes, staring into the distance.
This is also applicable to Ms. Heith the healer, but in Orario, when people think of the quintessential example of someone who is supremely competent and gets worked to the bone, who always has dead, exhausted eyes…Well, it has to be…
“Or rather, if I hadn’t given her some time off, I might have been killed. The truth is, she was supposed to take a break around the Goddess Festival, but…well, that happened, right?”
“Urgh…!”
“Asfi was racing across the map, and unfortunately, the timing just wasn’t very good.”
When he brings up an incident that could sort of be blamed on me, I groan like I bit into a rotten fruit.
And from the sound of it, Ms. Asfi’s vacation spurred the rest of his familia to take some time off all at the same time. Basically, there aren’t many people to go along with his request at the moment.
“I didn’t really want to say it, but the reason I’m here all alone without my familia is sort of your fault, isn’t it?”
“Urk?!”
“And I did give Hestia a hefty amount of support during the war game, too…”
Uh-oh…!
I’m getting sucked into his pace…!
“By the way, Bell? Did you know that I put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to negotiate with the goddesses who wanted to make Lady Freya pay dearly? That’s a big part of why Syr is allowed to stay in Orario…Don’t you think it would be fair if someone did a little bit to reward me for everything I’ve done?”
Lord Hermes winks and flashes a smile. I just hang my head in defeat.
It goes without saying that Bell Cranell can’t refuse a god’s request.
The School District is supposed to be strictly off-limits to outsiders.
Other than the students, teachers, deities, and others who belong on the ship, all other factions, groups, and unaffiliated individuals are forbidden from boarding.
The reason is because the School District is a vault of secrets, including its production of orichalcum, among other things.
With its graduates including many mages, alchemists, and other skilled artisans, the School District is equipped with many different systems utilizing its own unique knowledge base. To ensure that none of these are used for evil, the School District is apparently really strict about making sure no information leaks out. For an outsider to set foot on the ship takes a similar amount of paperwork, hassle, and time as getting anywhere with Orario’s bureaucracy. No matter how powerful the royalty or great the figure—even a first-tier adventurer from Orario—there are no exceptions…or so Lord Hermes tells me.
Basically, what I’m saying is, sneaking into the School District is extraordinarily difficult.
In port, School District staff and Ganesha Familia are equally on guard, so even with invisibility, someone sneaking around will definitely be noticed. All the cargo loaded onto the ship is inspected with a fine-toothed comb. It’s virtually impossible to get in from land.
The natural question is what if you go by sea, but that’s also difficult. If you get a boat and try to sail close, there is no way it won’t be seen, and even if you somehow did reach the giant ship, the idea of trying to climb up that towering hull is dizzying.
I’m Level 5, but sneaking in while carrying a god is really just not reasonable…was the argument I was clinging to, but Lord Hermes just grinned and immediately shot back.
“Then what about from the sky?”
“—UuuugghhhhhaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHH?!”
Falling down from impossibly high up, I cry out pathetically as I hold on to Lord Hermes. Staying unnoticed is the last thing on my mind, but fortunately, my shouting is drowned out in the furious rush of wind.
“I was right to borrow a spare Hades Head and Talaria from Asfi’s rooooom!”
“You call this ‘right’?!”
“Of course it is! We can get in from the sky this way! All we need is for you to control the descent!!!”
“I don’t know how to control these at aaaaaaaall!!!”
We’re shouting as loud as we can to be heard over the deafening rush of wind as we fall out of the sky. I’m doing my best to control Ms. Asfi’s spare Talaria that Lord Hermes made me wear.
Ten minutes ago, he put this magic item I have no clue how to use on me. After he had me wear the suspicious-looking helmet, we became invisible, and I somehow managed to wobble my way up into the sky, reaching the area above the School District without anyone noticing, but—that was where the miracles stopped.
Like fools who flew too close to the sun, Lord Hermes and I are falling from around five hundred meders up!
“Apparently Hestia and Asfi treated themselves to a two-person flight behind our backs! So we should stick a heart-pounding landing of our own, shouldn’t we?!”
“This isn’t the time for stuff like thaaaaaaaaat!!!!”
Lord Hermes’s laughter rings in my ears as I cradle him in my arms and the wind makes a mess of our hair and clothes.
This is different from when I fell down the Great Falls. A primordial terror is welling up from the pit of my stomach, and massive tears are stinging my eyes! They get torn away by the wind as soon as they form, though!
As I grow increasingly more panicked, I could swear the gods and goddesses above are having a great laugh at us. The distance between us and the ship rapidly closes until—
“Gwaaaaaaaaaah!”
We safely crash-land in a corner of the School District where wooden boxes are piled up—a storage area.
Just before we crash, right as I let out an unholy scream, Talaria’s four wings unfurl and forcefully brake, but it’s simply not enough. Unable to fully kill the momentum, I slam feetfirst into a mountain of boxes with a loud crash.
“…I…I’m alive…”
“Woo, that’s a Level Five for ya! Not a single scratch on the package. You really have grown, Bell!”
I did everything I could to make sure Lord Hermes wasn’t hurt, and just like he said, I can’t see a single scratch on him. If anything, he’s quite happy and well.
Pushing myself up from the bed of lumber, I start to smile weakly.
“What was that sound?!”
“I’m sure it’s another trespasser from Orario! Hurry!”
PIIIIIIIIIIII!
A shrill, piercing whistle is the only warning we get as everything starts moving all around us.
“Eeeep?! I-is that…?!”
“Looks like they noticed us. Well, we did make a pretty big crash-landing.”
Of course we did!
Screaming and cradling my head inside my heart, I frantically stand up.
“L-let’s escape while we’re invisible! If we do, they won’t…!”
“Yeah, the truth is, I sneaked in using a Hades Head a while back. The School District’s developed magic items that can pierce invisibility magic.”
“What?!”
And wait, you’ve done this before?!
Then obviously their defenses will be even higher now! Meanwhile, I can sense people closing in on this place fast!
“Which means, time for a decoy, Bell!”
“I—I have a really bad feeling about this, but what’s the plan?!”
“You act as the decoy while I escape! That’s the plan!”
“Lord Hermes?! Wait, ah!”
There’s no time for me to argue as he pulls the magic item off my head—the one that kept us invisible while falling—and pushes me in the chest.
As I fall off the bed of broken boxes and land with a thud on the metal ground, the invisible Lord Hermes says “Sorry!” and “Take care!” before causally leaving me behind! And he makes sure to grab Talaria before throwing my shoes back at me, too!
Lord Hermes!!!
As I lamely cry out in my head, I hear someone shout, “Hey, you!”
Immediately, a boy and girl in the school uniform appear, looming like executioners.
I just manage to get my shoes back on and catch my breath before bursting into a cold sweat upon sighting the new arrivals.
I feel like a thief cornered at the top of a cliff.
But then…
“Were you caught in the explosion?! You aren’t injured, are you?!”
“N-no…I’m all right.”
“Did you see anyone suspicious?! Do you know where they went?!”
“U-umm…I did. Th-they went that way…”
As I leap to my feet, the human girl charges in with a ferocious look, worried about me, and the animal-person boy considerately asks me where the trespasser has gone.
I carefully don’t meet their gazes and keep my face down, while pointing in the opposite direction from where Lord Hermes went.
“There!”
“What a mess! You should go to the infirmary right away!”
“I’m sure it’s Hermes Familia again! Coming in from the sky’s impossible without Perseus’s magic items!”
They are not suspicious of me; in fact, they seem appreciative as they run off in the direction I pointed.
After they disappear from view, this time I slump down weakly.
“I-I’m safe…”
I let out a big sigh in relief.
After staring up at the blue sky while sitting down for a bit, I slowly stand and look down at myself.
“So this is why Lord Hermes made me wear this uniform…”
I’m not wearing my usual everyday clothes or my battle gear. I’m wearing the same school uniform as the students I saw before. The outfit is mostly white, and I’m wearing a burgundy tie that Lord Hermes tied for me. The shirttail is long and split, like the outfit I wore to Lord Apollo’s banquet. The pants are sharp and slender, sort of like what the gods call skinny fit…
Well, it fits my body perfectly. Did Lord Hermes…intend for me to wear this from the start? Was this really the plan?
If not, then he wouldn’t have prepared this specific uniform in advance, would he have? I wipe the sweat from my brow, but then my breath catches in the back of my throat.
I managed to avoid suspicion somehow, but if I hang around here all alone at the site of the crash, it’s going to be too suspicious. If I’m questioned, I have no confidence in being able to talk my way out of it.
I immediately start to leave.
And what I see leaves me awestruck.
“Whoooa…!”
Passing through a narrow path, what appears before me almost makes me forget I’m on a boat—a cluster of white stone buildings with blue roofs. The symmetrical construction is practically a work of art, making them look like churches or cathedrals.
This is the School District, so I guess these buildings are all schoolhouses?
Walking along an empty, stone-paved road, I swing my head all around. The magic-stone lamp at the corner is comparable to Orario’s in quality of design, and I guess they are made by students, because “Crafts Department 42nd Term Graduation Project” is engraved in it. The other buildings, the beautiful arch, and a sculpture of a goddess, too!
I’m staring at everything around me in such obvious wonder that if anyone saw me, they would definitely assume I’m not a student.
“If someone told me they took a capital from some country and just plopped it onto this boat…I would probably believe them.”
That’s just how big and organized the School District is.
I assumed all the buildings would be packed together because of the naturally limited space of a ship, but maybe the construction is why nothing feels cramped or crowded. And not just the architecture. The evergreen trees here and there are pleasant on the eyes. And they’re closed at the moment, but there are even buildings that are obviously not schoolhouses and look almost like stores, boutiques like I’ve never really been in before. It feels like I’m walking through a luxury residential neighborhood.
This is…the School District.
This is all floating on the water!
“Gh…!”
Losing out to the excitement that is building in my chest, I start running.
Just like half a year ago, when I first came to Orario, entranced by the new world around me!
Forgetting my precarious situation, I dash through the street, up the stairs, coming out on a little bit of a high ground. Holding on to the handrail with both hands and leaning out, the world of study in front of me is just so beautiful.
“Amazing…!”
A sea of white buildings and blue roofs spread out before me. I can make out more than fifty elegant schoolhouses. This place looks like a paradise.
Avenues radiate out from the center, dividing up each section. Amid the beautiful white-and-blue buildings, what’s particularly eye-catching is a structure that seems to be an arena. Made of valmars from the Dungeon, a material that’s also used for weapon and gear manufacturing, this is easily the most imposing building in the otherwise beautiful cityscape.
The green visible in the distance, near the back of the ship…is that a garden?
Based on just what I can currently see, it’s easily big enough to hold three of those arenas.
But the most incredible thing is…
The tower in the middle of the ship is the most striking feature.
It obviously isn’t Babel, but even so, there is a giant tower piercing the sky.
Like the other schoolhouses, the tower is a beautiful white with a blue roof, more sublime than imposing.
Seeing the city from here, it almost feels like a castle town built around the base of the giant central tower. Even without knowing any better, it isn’t hard to imagine that that tower is probably considered the most important point on this giant ship.
But at the same time, it feels familiar.
“This layout…is a lot like Orario.”
I think back to the layout I saw from overhead before we crash-landed.
Other than the giant, blue raiment fluttering all around the ship—probably sails—the School District is a perfect circle. The same construction as Orario, surrounded by its giant city walls. Miss Eina said it was financed by the Guild, and between the giant tower in the center and the main streets radiating out from the center…my guess that it was modeled off Orario might not actually be far from the truth.
A small labyrinth city. Orario’s little brother.
However, it is a lot cleaner and more elegant than the original. I guess that comes down to the difference between a city of adventurers and a town built for students.
I’m still frozen in awe at the scenery of the School District when I hear someone say, “You’re amazing, Nina!”
“You got top marks on the test! You should leave that loser group and come back to the Education Department!”
Just then, my eyes open wide as a clamor reaches my ears.
The stone-paved street facing the promontory.
Girls of all races are chatting as they pass.
“It was just luck. I just guessed right on the range of topics I expected to be covered.”
And seeing the girl at the center of the discussion makes my eyes widen further.
Long brown hair tied back with a ribbon near the middle of her back. Ears longer than a human’s but not so pointed as an elf’s. A half-elf, but as if testament to the noble blood in her veins, a single lock of her hair is jade-colored. Her eyes are emerald. Even from a distance, I can tell her face is well-proportioned and cute.
But more importantly, I can’t help seeing her.
“…Miss Eina?”
She isn’t wearing glasses, and she’s not the same height. Her hairstyle and the air around her are different, too. But even so, that name is what comes to my lips.
“ ”
There is no way she could have heard my murmur.
But she stops in her tracks, and as if guided by the sea breeze, she turns to look at me.
My red eyes looking down.
Her emerald eyes looking up.
Our eyes meet beneath the vast blue sky.
“—Emergency broadcast! Emergency broadcast! There are signs of a trespasser in the School District!”
Just then, shredding the air between us, an earsplitting voice rings out across the entire vicinity.
“Based on the Alchemy Department’s investigation, there are two trespassers! One is a deity and the second is a follower! Judging from the Morals Police report, it is highly likely the latter is wearing a school uniform to pass as a student!”
The source of the broadcast is speakers attached to the buildings and pillars. The announcer is clearly brimming with determination to bring down the wrath of heaven upon the villain who dares disturb their holy ground, and my face grows paler as her voice jumps.
“A male human with white hair and red eyes! I repeat, a human with pure white hair like a feral rabbit’s, and bloodshot, red eyes like a deviant’s!”
Okay, isn’t that slander?! I don’t have time to say it out loud, though.
Only the half-elf girl was looking at me before, but more and more people are noticing me, and their gazes feel like a line of spears at the ready, taking aim at me.
“White hair and red eyes…”
“Hey…over there…”
Five seconds while the students walking by murmur.
One second for a bead of sweat to drip from my cheek down to my chin.
Half a second for an extraordinary sensation to build around me.
““““That’s hiiiiiiiiiiim!!!””””
They start shouting all at once.
The half-elf girl’s shoulders jump as the students roar. Meanwhile, I flip around. Sweat starts pouring down my face and back as I sprint away at full speed!
“The target is running!”
“He’s moving north from the sixth ward into the ninth! Have the people in the Sky Lounge cut him off!”
“Ask the supervisor for permission to use weapons and magic on school grounds!”
“Stooooop!”
The students give chase, of course. At least twenty of them, by the looks of it.
Though I’m a bit taken aback by the number of my pursuers growing every time I pass through an intersection, my feet never stop moving. The sweat and my heart racing don’t stop, either!
I’m growing paler by the second as I quickly turn into a School District–wide fugitive!
“Another Orario adventurer broke in again!”
“It’s not like any of us wanted to be recruited by someone who breaks the rules!”
“We’ll catch you! Throw you back to Orario! And demand your familia take responsibility!”
I’m basically turning into a criminal here, aren’t I?
Even if I manage to escape, if the School District goes to the Guild, I’m still going to end up in jail, right?!
As the pessimism and despair threaten to topple me, suddenly—
“Stooooooop!”
As I turn a corner, a wall of students stands before me.
Did I dive head-first into a swarm?
No—I got lured here?!
“Balder Class cut him off according to plan!”
“We cornered him! Detaining him now!”
There’s no mistaking it. The students following me stayed close enough to threaten me without getting too close while giving orders to the people around them to create this trap they were corralling me into.
In just a couple of minutes! Their coordination is too crazy!
Perfectly ordered movements—compared to Orario, where it’s a struggle to coordinate between familias. I almost want to congratulate them.
Unfortunately, their impressive feat is also the reason I’m in extreme danger right now!
“Hyah!”
So I forcibly perform an about-face—a leap, to be precise.
“Wh—”
“He flew?!”
Kicking off the stone pavement, I twist my body acrobatically, leaping over the roof of the ten-meder-high schoolhouse lining the street, and into the next ward over.
The students who tried to catch me in a pincer from the front and behind watch, stunned, as I disappear behind the building on the other side.
Less than five seconds to land in a street that is fortunately deserted.
After a brief moment of silence, I can hear an explosion of stunned shouts from the other side of the building.
“…F-follow hiiiiim!”
“What is he?!”
“He leaped over a building?!”
Dodging the encirclement with brute force, I’ve already started running again when the shouts reach my back.
It’s the pinnacle of emptiness, but I’m using the tactics for fleeing groups I’ve built up between the Dungeon, Apollo Familia, and Ishtar Familia! The story of Bell Cranell, who even manifested the Escape ability, is at heart a story of running away!
That, and the difference in level.
I heard already from Lord Hermes, but the abilities of the students chasing me are indeed similar to those of upper-class adventurers. And their tight coordination is very much a threat.
But I’m Level 5.
As I am now, even brute force is almost shockingly effective—all the more so after going up against Mr. Allen in a contest of speed—so I’m not going to lose in a simple foot chase. That isn’t just confidence, it’s fact.
A pair of students leaps out from a side road in front of me. I lean forward and pass right beside them. Just that is enough for them to lose sight of me and start looking all around in confusion.
The situation is still bad, but it really does drive home the feeling that I’m a first-tier adventurer now. The current me might be able to make it through the matches with Apollo Familia and Ishtar Familia by myself.
But…
“That human, do you think he’s Bell Cranell?!”
“Rabbit Foot?! The one who made it to Level 5?!”
“White hair and red eyes…there’s no mistaking it! It’s Record Holder!”
They know it’s me?!
This is the fate of an adventurer who becomes famous. I just keep paying the price for that.
There’s basically no point in the uniform now. The students suddenly start muttering as they run behind me and alongside me.
“I was so looking forward to meeting him when we came to Orario!”
“I even looked up to him a bit!”
“I misjudged him!”
“What a disappointment!”
“Trespasser!”
“Criminal!”
““““You’re just an adventurer like all the rest!””””
U-ughhhhhh?!
The angry shouts and denunciations echoing from behind almost inflict enough damage to knock me out! It’s sort of like the time I hurt Lai and the other children during the Xenos incident, and in a lot of ways, this is really eating away at me and threatening to take me down. Tears well in my eyes as I somehow manage to keep running.
Actually, how long do I need to keep running?!
Can I just jump into the sea to escape?!
But leaving Lord Hermes and escaping by myself is…?!
I spend a few minutes caught between pangs of conscience and conflict, demonstrating my natural indecisiveness.
Meanwhile, it seems like my pursuers are losing their patience and calling in even more reinforcements, because I can see students leaping from schoolrooms now!
““““Wait!!!!!””””
“Eeeeeep?!”
Not good!
There’s too many of them! There’s no path out!
Students are pouring into the streets and onto the rooftops, chasing me toward the center of the ship! I can’t even leap over the side anymore!
I could probably force my way through a point in the encirclement…but if I hurt any students doing that, I really will be criminal scum!
I can’t get violent, so the only option I have is to flee into the tower rising from the heart of the School District.
“He ran into Breithablik!”
Running into the tower that’s wide open, I dash up the massive stairs without looking back.
Of course, the students barrel in after me, chasing me higher and higher.
On each floor, people who are seemingly students and teachers cry out as they see me race past at a furious speed. In my head, I apologize over and over, and “not good” crosses my lips.
At this rate, I’m going to be cornered!
All I can do is hide someplace…!
Leaving the students back in the distance, I reach the top floor fastest.
Rushing through the empty hall, I push open the ash double doors.
“—Ah.”
And, stepping into the room, I see a single god.
“Oh? You are…”
Goddess-like beauty, despite being a male god. Fuller blond hair than Ms. Aiz and smooth white skin. He’s slender in a way I’ve never seen before, which only adds to his delicate beauty. But he is far taller than me. He wears a long, sacred vestment, leaving his right shoulder and arm bare. On his head is a crown of…mistletoe?
I can’t see his eyes. They’re hidden behind closed eyelids.
And yet, he has clearly seen me.
As I stand in shock before him, there is just one thing I know. He is surely the patron god of something related to light or something sacred.
Turning toward me, even though his eyes don’t see me, the god smiles gently.
“Lord Balder!”
A student throws open the door.
The way she enters, just on the cusp of rudeness while maintaining the bare minimum of etiquette, is I guess because she’s a student here? Her face is red from rushing around and her voice rings out loudly.
“Has a white-haired human boy come this way?!”
“No? Did something happen, Alisa?”
“He hasn’t come up here? Then he must be hiding on one of the lower floors and we missed him…”
The girl wearing an armband around her upper arm suddenly falls into thought before gasping a little and snapping to attention.
“Sorry, Lord Balder, there is a trespasser! We failed to prevent someone from Orario entering…! And the adventurer this time is Bell Cranell, of all people!”
“Is that so?”
“We will assuredly catch him! Please await our report!”
The look on her face practically screams, “I swear on the honor of the School District!” as she turns and quickly leaves the room.
“It’s safe now.”
“Th-thank you very much…”
I can feel the tension draining from my body as I get up from my hiding place under his desk, where I was holding my breath and listening to their exchange.
When I barged into this room earlier, this god kindly hid me.
“B-but why would you…? Umm…”
“Balder is my name. And you are Bell Cranell. It seems we’ve gotten the order slightly mixed up, but it is nice to meet you, Orario’s newest hope.”
“H-hope…? Ah, i-it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir!”
An awkward look crosses my face, but Lord Balder smiles and graciously greets me.
I’m a little confused, and I quickly lower my head, but mysteriously, the guilt and tension I felt earlier are gradually fading. It’s almost like time flows more slowly around him, or…how do I describe it? His peaceful nature feels calming.
As the tension leaves my body, as if he timed it, Lord Balder answers my previous question.
“The reason I hid you is because right before I received the report that you are a trespasser…I just happened to have a conversation about you.”
“—With none other than me!”
“Whoa?! L-Lord Hermes?! You were here the whole time?!”
Lord Hermes appears from beneath one of the stones on the floor beside the carpet, seriously dumbfounding me.
Apparently he was hiding under the floor since before I entered the room.
“After we split up, I happened to reach the bridge, Breithablik here, and got my old friend Balder to hide me!”
“My oh my…you’re always like that when it’s convenient to you.”
Lord Hermes spins his cap on his finger as he steps forward while Lord Balder laughs a little bit, once again the picture of tranquility.
I don’t really know their relationship, but…from that exchange, I can at least tell they must have known each other for a long time.
“In addition to trying to scout some students, I wanted to have a private discussion with Balder here. Talk about a godsend!”
“If you had just left a note, I could have made accommodations for a meeting. Every time…you really do push your way in like the wind.”
“What else can I do? If I send a note the official way, it just gets pushed back and pushed back and the Guild will say it’ll be a month before we can meet. That’s just how busy the School District is around this time…and all the more so for the headmaster.”
Looking back and forth between them, I fail to keep up with their conversation, but I let out a little “huh” when I hear a certain word.
“H-headmaster…?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. Balder is the biggest god here…And if you go back further, he’s the one who proposed this whole School District.”
The one who proposed it…So he’s the founding god?!
As I stare at him in obvious shock, Lord Balder’s lips curve into a small, awkward smile, even as his eyes remain closed.
“That’s a bit misleading. The School District here is merely a union of academic familias. Each patron deity has equal right to speak…However, in events where a single figure needs to be held accountable, I am indeed the god who is ultimately responsible.”
From the fact that his personal room is at the top of this central tower, I should have realized he’s a god of significant status, but…I tense up again hearing his title.
It’s a little late now, but the thought of what awaits us is making me shift nervously.
He’s covered for us once, but that doesn’t change the fact that I trespassed…!
“So then, what do you think, Balder? Are you willing to listen to my request from before?”
Ignoring my trembling, Lord Hermes asks as if it were nothing.
Request…?
What were they discussing before I came? Lord Balder said he had a discussion about me, but why did I get brought up?
“Hmm…”
As I stand frozen, unable to do anything, Lord Balder looks at me.
My bewilderment lasts just a moment before his eyebrows arch softly.
“Very well—Bell Cranell, would you like to try being a student here in the School District?”
It feels like time has stopped.
I stand still until I finally realize the meaning of his question and shout.
“Ehhhhhhh?!”
“Attend the School District?! Mr. Bell?!”
You’ve gotten yourself into another mess!
That’s what Lilly’s hysteric shout implies as I reflexively shrink back.
“Just when we were thinking you were late coming back from the Guild…How were you recruited by the School District?”
“N-no, I wasn’t recruited…it’s more the condition of a certain deal, or rather…Lord Hermes apparently brought it up without telling me…”
“Argh! Lord Hermes’s antics again?!”
We’re in the dining room of Hearthstone Manor with night fast approaching. As I tell everyone about all that happened at the School District, Welf sits beside me looking exasperated, and in front of me, Lilly is groaning with clenched fists like she might hit the table at any moment.
Before I realize it, this is quickly turning into that kind of talk, and I want to just curl up into a ball as I give my foolish explanation.
“Bell, just to make sure, you weren’t recruited, and you didn’t sign up for an internship, right?” Welf asks.
“Umm…I’m sorry, Lord Hermes said those words too, but I don’t really know what they mean…”
“Recruiting is formally adding new members to your familia. And an internship is sort of like a trial membership with a familia. Both are tactics for collecting fresh talent, Mr. Bell.”
Lilly explains for me, since, as usual, I don’t really know much of anything that’s not related to the Dungeon.
When it comes to official recruiting, there is apparently a big event for all of Orario’s factions on a set day, which is officially sanctioned by the School District.
A representative gets a chance to explain how their familia works and tries to convince students to join. On Orario’s side, it’s an important chance to bring in fresh blood, and for the School District, it provides their students with many paths to choose from.
Even non-Dungeon familias in Orario are exceptional, often operating on a different level compared to what can be found in other cities and countries. Given that, it makes sense there are lots of students looking to join them. It is a win-win for Orario and the School District, so this has been the arrangement for a long time now.
“It is also possible for certain familias to send a member at the request of the School District to serve as a long-term recruiter. They build a deeper connection with the students and advertise their familia’s activities even more. That is what Mr. Welf was asking about.”
Oh. Lilly’s clarification makes a lot of sense.
The School District allows familias who have a large number of students hoping to join to send a recruiter, so it’s a privilege generally reserved for the largest familias.
The internship part is simpler. Allowing a School District student to experience life in an Orario familia just makes sense. It’s an opportunity for them to get to know your familia, and from the School District side, it gives their students a chance to gain some experience and avoid some regrets if things turn out differently than expected.
Unlike with a normal job search, entering a familia and receiving Falna from a deity is a big decision—you have to stay with the same familia for a full year, and there are situations like with Lilly where leaving a familia or converting can be difficult. I understand why some would be hesitant to commit right away.
At the same time, the thought that it’s a really nice solution crosses my mind.
Not to just cite my own experience before meeting Lady Hestia, but it is really considerate and hospitable…and, well, behaved. From the moment I felt that way, I became an Orario adventurer, I guess.
Maybe that’s just how valuable the students from the School District are, that the fight for them is that intense. It’s probably a bit presumptuous to compare them to myself, a hayseed from the countryside.
Anyway, general recruitment and internships are an important link between Orario and the School District. And they don’t really apply to me, since I’ve been invited to be a student, so I confidently tell Welf and Lilly this is something different.
“Why do you need to become a student anyway?” Welf asks. “Can’t you just go as an adventurer?”
“That’s…I broke into the School District, and it’s turned into a big rumor, apparently…It wouldn’t be looked on kindly, or be welcomed…and some people might be totally against it…”
“In other words, they already have a bad impression of Rabbit Foot and Hestia Familia…” Lilly sighs.
“Ugh…I-I’m sorry, Lilly!”
I reflexively apologize and hang my head in guilt for causing another problem even though I’m supposed to be the familia’s leader. And now that I fully understand what the talk about recruiting and stuff was about before, I feel the gravity of my actions all the more.
“I really am sorry…If our familia can’t do any recruiting because of me…”
“Ah, that part is fine. Who cares?”
“Eh…wh-who cares?”
“Yes. Lilly spoke with Lady Hestia, and we have already decided that with Ms. Lyu joining, we won’t be recruiting from the School District and won’t be looking for anyone new for a while.”
“R-really?”
“We just became B rank and have earned an unnecessary amount of fame. There’s the uproar from the war game and the festival, so it may seem like we are being praised all around…but beneath the surface, other familias, especially more powerful ones, are surely going to give us the cold shoulder.”
I blink repeatedly at Lilly’s unexpected response.
Apparently, Lilly and our goddess’s plan is to say we have no more room after a Level 6 joined our ranks, so we won’t be participating in the fight for talent at the School District.
Or more precisely, it’s more like, We’ll let you have all the Level 2s and higher, so please don’t hate us. Just please also be understanding if anyone does specifically come to us anyway.
This comes as a surprise to me, since after the uproar about our goddess’s debt, there haven’t really been any people interested in joining, so I figured we would try to get the recruits we’ve always wanted after our victory in the war game. But hearing Lilly explain it, I understand now.
Hestia Familia has grown at a dizzying rate, going from a nothing familia at its formation to what it is now, so familias that have been steadily putting in the work to grow gradually probably have a thing or two to say about us. Whether that stems from frustration, disappointment, or a general sense that we’re an eyesore.
“At the very least, if we attempt to grow even further, we will assuredly be treated as a dangerous entity. I don’t think there will be any conflicts with everyone scared of Mr. Ottar and the others standing behind us, but…rivals can still cause us plenty of headaches. Inside the Dungeon, for example.”
We don’t want to cause any unnecessary friction or conflict with other familias. That’s what Lilly is suggesting.
“The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, was it?”
“Ah. Ms. Lyu.”
Ms. Lyu emerges from the kitchen, neatly serving dinner in front of us.
Today, Ms. Lyu and Ms. Mikoto are on cooking duty.
Ms. Lyu, who bluntly admitted that only Ms. Syr was worse than her at cooking (before apologizing guiltily) has taken it upon herself to set the table while Ms. Mikoto handles the cooking. Ms. Haruhime is currently helping out, too.
Trained at The Benevolent Mistress, Ms. Lyu’s movements are beautiful, and even though she is just wearing an apron over her normal outfit, she looks so pretty it’s captivating.
Ms. Lyu is still working some shifts at The Benevolent Mistress whenever there isn’t any familia work going on, like Dungeon exploration. After all, the restaurant is a precious place to her, and she apparently still wants to repay Ms. Mia and Ms. Syr for everything they’ve done for her. In that sense, it’s sort of like having an active waitress adding flair to the dinner table at home.
It’s luxurious…or rather, it’s so intense, I reflexively sit up properly.
“I’ve only just joined this familia, but…for another incident to already have started. You really aren’t lacking when it comes to topics for discussion.”
After setting out Welf’s meal, she sets a vegetable bowl with less rice (Ms. Mikoto prepared a vegetarian dinner for Ms. Lyu that is delicious even without meat or fish in it) in front of me.
“I-I’m sorry…”
But she just smiles slightly.
“Not at all. This isn’t so much your fault as it is pure happenstance. In a way, this is your fate as a first-tier adventurer…and as the one with the title of Record Holder. Maybe this is just the star you were born under.”
Hearing Ms. Lyu, formerly of Astrea Familia, entertaining thoughts like that, it doesn’t really sound like a joke, and I can’t manage a response other than an empty smile.
“That said, what will you do? Is there any precedent of an adventurer becoming a student at the School District?” Ms. Mikoto asks as she and Ms. Haruhime carry the fish and the miso soup Welf has been waiting for out from the kitchen.
“There are plenty of examples of the reverse, but…at least to my knowledge, the opposite has never happened.”
Ms. Lyu, the most experienced of all of us, is the first to answer, and Lilly, who was born in Orario, closes her eyes and nods in agreement.
“This is just something Lord Hermes went and set up himself, so it’s not like it’s a done deal, right?” Welf pointed out.
“That’s right! It’s not like it gets us anything special, and we don’t know what the deities at the School District are planning, either! You should turn it down, Mr. Bell!”
Lilly’s response is entirely reasonable.
In fact, if I really do go with it, apparently it’ll have to be kept a secret from the Guild. They would never allow a first-tier adventurer to be idle like this, not even a fledgling one like me.
…But…
“…What are you thinking, Master Bell?”
With the table set, Ms. Lyu and Ms. Mikoto have sat down with us, and Ms. Haruhime joins us in her maid outfit, looking at me in open curiosity.
Not just her. Everyone is wondering what I’ll do.
Thinking about the deities who are probably talking right now, I stare up at the ceiling.
“I…”
“Haaah…you really just keep bringing more and more trouble, don’t you?”
“Hey, come on, Hestia, I explained it already, right? This isn’t trouble.”
Sitting on a couch, Hestia grumbled while Hermes gesticulated from his seat on the sofa across from her.
“The School District holds a wealth of knowledge gleaned from the whole width of the mortal realm. For Bell, who only knows the small world inside the walls of Orario, this’ll be a stimulus unlike anything else he’s experienced.”
“I’m telling you to quit acting like encouraging his growth is the default choice every time…Don’t twist him around with your divine will. It should be fine to just let him do what he wants the way he wants to.”
“I just gave him an opportunity. And besides, this is as much for your sake, Hestia, as it is for Bell.”
Hermes had been waiting for Hestia as she came back exhausted from her part-time work. In an empty room on the second floor, and a little bit ragged from the exhaustion, she sighed and opted to at least hear Hermes out.
“Bell is Level Five now. And he got there at a speed that’s unheard of. Whether anyone pushes him or not, he’s a hero candidate now. The Guild already pestered you about it, right?”
“…Yeah. I got called out by Ouranos and given the news. Bell’s gonna be given a little bit of time off, but after that, we’re expected to do even more Dungeon exploration.”
Right after the war game had ended, the old god had spoken with her at the altar beneath the Guild.
He’d thanked her and Bell, who had been run ragged by the incidents with Freya Familia, and spoken of his intention that they be rewarded, but he had also made it clear they were expected to continue pressing forward.
With the great familia war as impetus—and in emphatic fashion—Hestia Familia had gathered the attention of the world, both inside and outside the city, and it was now bound to the swell of the mortal realm’s shifting times.
Without saying as much, that was what the Guild’s founding god had told her.
“Bell will assuredly be wrangled into challenging the last of the three great quests given to the Labyrinth City—slaying the Black Dragon.”
“………”
“For the sake of that, I want him to not just focus on the Dungeon, but also turn his eyes to the world outside Orario. Broaden his perspective and deepen it, too. Since the dragon of the end is perched outside these city walls.”
Hermes was no longer hiding his unstated plan to have Bell become this era’s hero. It had been clear he was interested half a year ago, when Bell and the others had run into trouble in the middle floors and a rescue party had been put together.
Hestia looked at him reproachfully.
“The world wishes for a hero.”
Hestia knew the true meaning of that statement.
“…And you’re saying the starting point of that broadening or whatever is the School District?”
“At the very least, if he goes there, he can learn the state of things in the wider world—learn just what terrible shape the mortal realm is in now. And it’s far more efficient than traveling around the world with me.”
The air in the room got ever so slightly heavier.
Hestia bit her tongue as Hermes said what he was really thinking, as insurance.
“And more than anything, the other Level Seven. I want Bell to have a connection with him.”
Hestia was visibly shocked by this revelation more than anything else that had been said tonight.
“There’s another one besides Warlord? And he’s in the School District?”
“Yes. I’m hoping he’ll be another stimulus for Bell. A man who can be called a modern-day hero.”
Hestia had only descended from the heavens relatively recently, so she was unfamiliar with a great deal about the mortal realm.
Finding out there was another absurdity on the level of Ottar came as quite a shock. And a current-day hero at that. If Bell heard that, his eyes would surely light up.
“Also, this time, it might really be Bell’s last chance to take a breather.”
“……Please don’t say something so ominous…”
After a long pause, Hestia managed a world-weary response.
But Hermes was right.
Bell would not be able to escape the quest to slay the dragon that Orario was betting everything on. He would need to learn how to survive while standing at the eye of unavoidable turbulence and upheaval.
Becoming a first-tier adventurer meant being right in the middle of the era.
“Well, it’s up to Bell to decide what he wants in the end. I don’t want to force him to do something he doesn’t want to, either.”
Hestia glared at him, knowing this was premeditated.
Before letting Hermes in, she had heard what had happened today from Bell, and she had already asked what he was thinking.
“Umm…I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t race a bit when I went there. I talked to Miss Eina too, and she said if I want to try something new, then this is probably the best time.”
Alone with Hestia in the hallway, he had nervously revealed his honest feelings.
“If I’m allowed to take a detour…then I would like to try this.”
Bell had said that as captain, he would turn it down if it would cause a problem for the familia.
He couldn’t just be a child anymore, so what Hestia truly wanted was for him to do what he wanted while he still had the chance. Plus, there weren’t really any problems that needed to be tackled at the moment. If anything, she would love for him to proactively take a break and step away from the Dungeon for a bit.
He didn’t realize it himself, but Bell Cranell was in the process of becoming a Dungeon junkie. When she had glanced over his profile and seen “Special Skill: Dungeon,” she’d stared up at the ceiling and nearly class-changed into a goddess of grief.
And also, the thought of him going to school is…emotional.
That was her perspective as a motherly patron goddess and as a goddess who loved the boy dearly.
It really, really rubbed her the wrong way to agree with Hermes, but it was true that now that Bell was a first-tier adventurer, he needed time to develop.
“The School District…What is Balder saying?”
“He’ll let Bell in as a student as part of a deal. In exchange for granting a secret and special exception to enter the school, Bell is going to be placed with some of their problem children. That part, Bell doesn’t know, though.”
A bit of give-and-take.
After learning that there was an absurdity like Ottar there, she equated the School District a bit with Freya Familia, but…she was familiar with Balder’s character and that of the other deities there, too.
She could entrust Bell to them knowing that nothing bad would happen.
I’m really lenient with my own kid too, huh.
Or maybe it was just a natural feeling for a deity with a child to take care of.
Her eyes half open as she kept looking at Hermes smiling there, she sighed again and chose to respect her child’s will.
“Fine. I’ll allow Bell to enter the School District.”
When I slip my arms into the uniform, my heart starts racing a bit.
“Ha-ha-ha! It’s a good look on you, Bell!”
“Yes, it suits you well.”
Lord Hermes and Lord Balder compliment me as my cheeks redden in embarrassment.
It’s the morning three days after I was given the offer to enter the School District. With permission from Lady Hestia and Lilly and the rest of the familia, I made my way to the School District. There, I went to Lord Balder’s divine room in the central tower—no, to the headmaster’s office—and changed into the school’s uniform.
The white school uniform is incredibly elegant. I never pay much attention to my clothes, so it’s a little hard to relax in it.
But right now, the bigger issue is…
“Ummm, it’s a little difficult to see in front of me…is this disguise really going to be okay?”
Brushing aside the brown hair hanging over my eyes again, I look at myself in the mirror.
Standing before the polished mirror is not a white-haired human, but a brown-haired animal person. Rabbit ears are sticking out of my brown wig, and a short, fluffy tail is attached to the back of my uniform’s pants. And the slightly longer brown hair hangs down just enough that it mostly hides my red eyes.
In the disguise Lord Hermes provided, Bell Cranell has transformed into a hume bunny.
“All the students are wary of you after the incident the other day. I can already see the cold stares if it was announced that Bell Cranell is entering the school. Thus, the grand plan to have you disguise yourself as someone other than Bell Cranell!”
My smile twitches as Lord Hermes snaps his fingers, and I look at myself in the mirror again.
At a glance, there are no outward signs that I’m Bell Cranell. I think. The wig special magic item—technically, curse item—that Ms. Asfi made does a good job of covering up my most distinguishing characteristics. And apparently the curse is extremely light and shouldn’t have any negative repercussions.
I don’t know how it would work with someone who knows me better, but at least with the students who should only remember me from the chase the other day, it shouldn’t fail…I hope.
I know I said I wanted to go to the School District, but I do have some qualms, or maybe I feel guilty about deceiving people to do it. However you want to put it, I’m basically starting to feel a little queasy…
“Starting today, while you are in the School District, your name is Rapi Flemish.”
“Rapi Flemish…Y-yes, sir!”
“The story is that you passed the entrance exam in the city of Bella before the School District docked at Orario, but because of family circumstances, you came aboard here in Meren.”
I repeat the new name Rapi to myself several times while Lord Balder, seemingly knowing that I am starting to get nervous, puts his finger to his lips with a gentle smile.
“Please be careful to conceal your identity and your strength. If this special arrangement is revealed, I will receive quite the scolding as headmaster.”
His face looks as divine as before, but at the same time, there is a trace of playfulness there, too.
I think he’s enjoying this…
“Now then, officially, I am pleased to welcome you, Bell. I mean, Rapi. The School District welcomes you to find what you might become.”
With Lord Hermes watching, the smiling god pins a badge on my left chest.
It is a crest…The School District’s emblem? It has a motif of light and a large ship.
Behind the gleaming badge, my heart trembles in nervousness and excitement.
“Pardon me.”
Just then, there’s a light knock on the door.
“Come in,” Lord Balder says, and the ash doors open as a man walks in.
Gold hair flows down the nape of his neck like a lion’s, and his eyes are the same dazzling color. He’s tall, and at a glance, he seems slender, but he emanates an unmistakable firmness.
A handsome but not elven face, he is somewhere between masculine and graceful. He looks to be in his late twenties.
Looking at him almost makes me think I want to be like him when I grow up.
I’m sure he could be described as a handsome man, but that doesn’t really capture him fully.
A more accurate expression would be…earnest, upright—a knight.
…He’s strong…
My eyes widen as I clearly sense how powerful this man is.
“This fellow has been made aware of everything. He is a supporter of sorts, a special homeroom teacher for you.”
Nodding to Lord Balder and to Lord Hermes as well, the man walks up to me as Lord Balder explains who he is.
A golden spade emblem adorns his left sleeve, his left leather shoe, and the left leg of his slacks.
In the holster at his right hip are multiple sticks of chalk and a wand-like, thin teacher’s cane.
The man wearing black clothes that almost look like formalwear—the uniform of a teacher—smiles and holds out his hand.
“My name is Leon Verdenberg. Nice to meet you, Rapi.”
I shake his hand in a daze.
Today, I enter the School District, not as Bell Cranell, but as Rapi Flemish.
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