saint ch19

Class (1)

Following Ronan’s demonstration, the welcoming ceremony for the priests concluded in a relatively quiet atmosphere, as if the previous enthusiasm had been a lie.

The novice priests of the Orion Order, buoyed by the stable atmosphere and Ronan’s holy magic, introduced themselves in turn without any major mistakes. The Cardinal, thoroughly elated, delivered a lengthy speech from the platform that bordered on a harangue.

Despite all the noise in the quiet atmosphere, it wasn’t the Orion Order or the Cardinal that remained in people’s minds.

It was the novice Saint, sitting demurely with a faint smile and closed eyes, as if he had done all that was required of him.

Ronan.

Only that name remained clearly etched in everyone’s minds.

“Wings…wings, you say…holy magic manifested as wings by a human Saint…”

“A novice Saint…? If that’s a novice, I should abdicate the throne right now.”

“Is it because he’s a Saint? At least our Saint certainly doesn’t give off that kind of vibe.”

The clergy’s impressions were no different.

In fact, they were even more pronounced.

To the average person, holy magic felt like a miracle performed by borrowing the power of God, so they would simply think, ‘It’s God’s power, so anything is possible…’ But not to them.

For their own reasons, the clergy were certain that Ronan was not the half-baked Saint that the Orion Order claimed him to be, one who had not properly bloomed his Sacred Imprint due to a lack of learning.

And if he wasn’t half-baked, then what remained in that position was…

A Saint.

That immense name, too sacred even to utter carelessly.

One of no more than four people throughout the entire world, a veritable proxy of God.

The Queen Regnant, the Grand Artisan, the High Priest.

By comparing Ronan to the Saints of their own countries, it was obvious how undervalued he was.

In the first place, even if it was within the Empire’s territory, was it even conceivable for a Saint to be wandering around in such an open place without proper protection?

It was the priests of this race who were the first to realize how abnormal this situation was.

Therefore, they naturally recalled the pretext under which this Saint had been brought to the academy under the guise of a novice Saint.

Most of them had been dispatched to ascertain the truth about the unprecedented Saint who had fallen from the sky, the novice Saint, and to solidify the Order’s position within the Empire through proselytization.

The people dispatched from the Orion Order probably had similar goals.

But there was one major difference between them and themselves.

Saint Ronan and the novice students of the Orion Order would be receiving education at the academy.

After all, one of the reasons the novice students came to the academy was supposedly for that.

Of course, their choice of subjects was entirely free, taking their schedules into consideration, but they had to take a certain number of classes regardless.

That was one of the conditions set by the Empire.

Each priestly order quickly scanned their ranks.

Their intention was singular.

To single out someone who wouldn’t seem out of place taking classes at the academy.

The people assembled for proselytization were hardly suitable for mingling with the students and receiving education at their level, but that wasn’t the point.

If necessary, they had to force at least one or two people in.

He was a Saint who seemed flawless no matter how you looked at him, but because his Sacred Imprint wasn’t of Orion, he wasn’t even recognized as a proper Saint.

Because the holder of the Sacred Imprint was human, the Orion Order had managed to get their hands on him with such treatment, but were they being devoured by their own lies? They had thrown a Saint who should have been kept safely in their arms into the middle of the street.

Since time immemorial, unclaimed treasures belonged to whoever found them,

And even treasures with owners ultimately belonged to whoever obtained them last.

* * *

The Loven Academy was called a single academy, but within it,

From disciplines like politics and economics,

To medical fields like medicine and herbalism,

To martial fields like swordsmanship and archery,

To mystical fields like magic and alchemy,

To liberal arts fields like music and art,

It was a mishmash of every field of study imaginable.

“It’s huge.”

Naturally, the scale was enormous.

Even after hearing from the academic affairs office, “So please decide carefully,” I honestly had no idea where to go.

“It’s the Empire’s pride, after all.”

The Princess walking beside me said that.

She seemed quite busy for the few days after arriving at the academy, but today she had some time and came to give me a tour of the academy.

It was an honor to be treated so well.

To use a princess as an academy guide.

“I heard that Azelia-nim graduated from here.”

That was honestly a bit surprising.

Even if it was imperial, was it really necessary for a member of the imperial family to take the risk of attending such an open space?

“I did. I had no choice.”

Don’t suddenly get all sentimental.

As a princess, she probably had one or two hidden painful stories, but I honestly didn’t want to know about them.

The secret history of the imperial family? Knowing it would only be a hassle.

“Can you give me some advice? These things are all so unfamiliar to me.”

“I don’t know if my advice will be helpful to the Saint…”

The Princess said, looking troubled, but she was still deep in thought, as expected of a kind person.

“The Loven Academy may have gathered all the learning in the world, but there are still popular and unpopular subjects.”

“What are the popular fields?”

“The most popular fields are, of course, martial arts and magic.”

As expected.

I had somewhat anticipated that.

In a world where martial prowess was important, what else would be popular if not martial prowess?

However, neither of them was an appealing option for me.

Martial arts were out of the question from the start, given my tendency to consider going outside as exercise, and magic was certainly appealing, but it would be a bit difficult for me to learn.

There was a reason why magic was shunned by the clergy.

The talk about recklessly imitating the power of God was just an excuse; the more a clergyman learned magic, the weaker the power of their holy magic became.

To be precise, seeing the world from a magician’s perspective made holy magic seem like a bizarre art with no rhyme or reason, so their faith in their own holy magic naturally weakened.

Weakened faith naturally led to a decrease in the power of holy magic.

Magicians, who tried to understand phenomena, and clergymen, who accepted phenomena as the will of God, were fundamentally incompatible.

In this world, there were swordmasters who used both swords and magic, and holy knights who used both swords and holy magic, but there was no one who wielded both holy magic and magic at the same time.

“What’s next?”

“Next is…”

“Next are subjects like politics and economics, which cultivate the virtues needed by this country. However, since access to such fields is limited, specialized professions like medicine, herbalism, and architecture might be more popular.”

If I said I wanted to take politics and economics, my true intentions would be immediately suspected.

I’d be lucky if they didn’t accuse me of betraying my faith and siding with the imperial family.

The specialized fields were definitely things that would be helpful to learn.

Especially herbalism and medicine; since I was a Saint, I could use them somewhere, right?

However…the Order disliked these two subjects as well.

What did the Order even like?

People who gave them money?

At this point, wouldn’t the world be better off without the Order?

They went around proclaiming that it was the role of the clergy to save and heal the lives given by God, but pharmacists and doctors who healed people without Divine Power couldn’t possibly be pleasing to the clergy.

It was ironic that they needed herbal blends made by skilled pharmacists when making potions, and doctors who could identify the problem when treating seriously ill patients.

“What’s next?”

“What’s next…”

Small beads of sweat began to form on the Princess’s forehead.

Well, even if the Princess was a graduate of this place, she wasn’t a dedicated guide, so she couldn’t possibly know every subject in the school.

Even I thought it was a bit much.

“Next would probably be the pure academic fields.”

Ugh, just hearing that made me not want to go.

I already had to take all the courses on imperial history and theology that were offered.

That was enough.

“What’s the least popular field?”

“Hmm…it’s actually hard to say. The Loven Academy has so many bizarre subjects. For example, there’s a course that teaches survival skills. It’s a surprisingly useful course, but unless you plan to become an adventurer exploring the wilderness, it’s uncertain whether you’ll ever use it.”

What was that?

It looked incredibly useful.

I was a bit doubtful whether I really wanted to learn how to identify edible roots or dig a dugout here.

“Besides overly unique subjects, general life skills are unpopular. Few people want to come to the Empire’s top academy to learn cooking, farming, or sewing.”

Eh?

“What’s wrong?”

Perhaps my puzzled expression was obvious.

The Princess asked me that.

“It’s nothing.”

So, in this world, cooks and farmers weren’t considered professional occupations…

I guess that wasn’t strange, considering the medieval setting.

Cooks only started to be recognized as professions in the early modern period, and farming was the livelihood of most people in the first place.

Wait, the more I thought about it, the better it sounded.

These general life skills.

First of all, there were hardly any elements that the Order would be uneasy about.

It was one of the least popular subjects, with hardly any students taking it, so it would be hard for them to think that I was taking the class with ulterior motives.

It wouldn’t make my personal martial prowess stronger, so there would be no need to be wary.

It might seem useless to others, but it was useful to me.

If I learned cooking, I could try to recreate the food from my original world.

If the day came when I had to run away, I might have to become self-sufficient by farming.

More than anything, wouldn’t I be able to play around and eat?

Cooking was something that you could do at least averagely well just by following the instructions, right?

Farming was something that you could do just by plowing the field, sowing the seeds, and watering them well, right?

“Saint Ronan…I’m just asking in case…are you interested in cooking or farming?”

“Um…”

I was about to answer affirmatively with a light heart, but the Princess had a rather serious expression on her face.

There was a coexistence of pity and determination in her heart.

I had no idea what she was thinking.

“Just…somewhat?”

Perhaps I had done something wrong, so I took an ambiguous stance. The Princess, who had been walking in step with me, stopped and took my hand.

“Azelia-nim?”

“Saint Ronan. This isn’t the Order’s headquarters. You don’t have to hide yourself so much.”

“Pardon?”

What was she suddenly talking about?

“There’s no one in the world who wouldn’t want to knead dough or sow seeds when they have the opportunity to learn anything, just because they don’t have a passion for swords and magic. I’ll protect you from the Order’s pressure even if you choose the subjects you want.”

Oh…um…

It took me a moment to understand.

So, she was saying that if you were a normal person, you would never choose cooking or farming when you had the opportunity to learn anything, right?

I wondered if she was trying to mess with me, but the Princess really only had concern for me in her heart.

Was this the perception gap of a class-based society?

I had dismissed the Cardinals’ blatant discrimination based on status and occupation as the actions of corrupt people, but I was a bit taken aback to see that even the Princess genuinely held such thoughts.

If farmers didn’t plow the fields, any country would collapse!

But this was a world where, if a farmer didn’t want to plow the field and refused to do so, they could really cut open his belly as an example and then browbeat the other farmers…

So that’s how it is. Here, trivial things essential to life, like farming, sewing, and cooking, are things the real power players never do in their lives, while commoners have to do them as a matter of course.

If my social standing is that low, I might have to reconsider learning.

It’s best to be moderately low, enough to avoid being checked, but if I’m too low, it’ll tarnish the reputation of being a Saint.

“If you find it difficult to choose, why not observe the subjects you’re interested in?”

The Princess suggested that, interpreting my hesitation in that way.

“Is that possible?”

“Since you apply for subjects before they start, this situation doesn’t usually arise, so I’m not entirely sure. However, if I request it, stating it’s necessary for Saint Ronan’s decision, they won’t ignore it.”

That sounds like she’s going to use her authority to strong-arm them.

“That’s going too far…”

“Waaaaaaaah!!”

I was about to say it was okay, if only out of pity for the academy staff member who would receive the Princess’s request, but it was drowned out by a huge cheer coming from somewhere.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound and saw a building with a structure like a colosseum.

“What’s that?”

“I must have come here out of habit, walking without thinking. It’s one of the martial arts training grounds.”

It really was a colosseum.

But out of habit?

“Did you take martial arts subjects when you attended the academy, Azelia?”

At my question, the Princess seemed a little hurt and showed me the sword at her waist.

“I can’t be guarding Saint Ronan just because I’m a Princess.”

Eh?

“…What’s wrong?”

You were my guard?