saint ch22

Class (4)

“Ronan, are you sure these are the classes you want to take…?”

Even Celia said that, looking at my course registration list with trembling eyes, which made me suddenly feel uneasy about my choices.

But Celia.

I decided to refrain from any actions related to fighting after witnessing that spectacle.

I recalled the sparring match between the princess and the captain of the royal guard, which had left an overwhelming impression on me.

It wasn’t the kind of fight I had imagined.

Now that I think about it, I don’t even know what I had imagined, but it certainly wasn’t a fight that I could comprehend within my realm of common sense.

First of all, it was difficult even to follow their movements.

Normally, a person’s movements are hard to miss from a third-party perspective.

Even a boxer’s punch or a pitcher’s ball, delivered at tremendous speed that makes it seem like they’ve disappeared to the opponent, can be seen roughly from the side, right?

But they were moving and fighting across the wide training ground, and I couldn’t keep up with when they moved to different locations.

The only time I could visually confirm anything was when they briefly entered a state of confrontation.

Moreover, the tremendous noise and shockwaves generated each time they exchanged blows implied that their power far exceeded that of ordinary humans.

On top of that, they were fighting by unleashing sword auras and fist auras, so they had definitely surpassed the limits of what I considered human long ago.

The decisive moment was when they destroyed one side of the building while fighting.

It’s one thing to destroy a building in the heat of battle, but I almost got hit by the blow that destroyed the building.

I couldn’t react at all until the attack grazed my earlobe and demolished one side of the building.

It was only after the princess, who had turned pale in the middle of the fight, came to me that I belatedly realized that I had almost died.

Well, there was no time to recognize the attack and defend with holy magic.

If the angle of the attack had been slightly worse, I would have died right there.

That was a different kind of fear than being brainwashed by the Cardinals, wearing a bomb necklace, or being threatened with murder.

Those were fears that I could understand and problems that I had to solve.

They were objects of overcoming, things I could prevent if I reacted in a certain way.

But this kind of irrational physical violence?

Who would bother to think about how to survive against a monster killer who can’t be killed, like something out of a horror movie?

If something like that really existed, the best course of action would be to pray not to encounter it.

It was a feeling similar to that.

If I had to come up with a way to resist, I could use protective holy magic that surrounds me completely.

But what after blocking it?

If a fight breaks out, you have to counterattack.

I can’t even react to the attacks coming at me, so I have to defend by simply blocking everything around me, but how am I supposed to hit the opponent?

Large-scale holy magic that eliminates any space to avoid?

While maintaining holy magic that defends everything around me?

Why not just summon Orion and have him fight for me instead?

The ultimate form of self-defense is not to create a situation where you have to fight in the first place, and my grandfather said that winning without fighting is the best.

I will never fight for the rest of my life.

I’m going to live a cushy life like the Cardinals, who have no connection to fighting.

Ronan is a kind Saint who hates conflict and strife.

Originally, I was going to build my position by fostering friendly relationships with nobles and powerful figures to create a mutually beneficial relationship, but I changed my strategy.

In this world, martial prowess is one of the factors in climbing to a high position.

Having interactions with high-ranking people in this world inevitably means an increased chance of encountering that irrational violence.

I have no intention of increasing such risk factors in this world, where it already feels like the whole world is trying to screw me over.

Let’s go for volume sales.

I’ll maximize my recognition among the commoners by appealing to the common people.

Of course, this is a world where nobles brazenly control commoners and loudly proclaim it as their right, but wouldn’t they have to be mindful if I brought all the commoners in the world over to my side?

But how am I supposed to connect with commoners?

Can I wander around churches outside the academy, leaving the perfectly good church inside the academy?

In all honesty, I just want to leave the secular world.

I want to live in a quiet rural village, tilling the fields.

Having a pet dog, raising chickens, and if I have the means, raising cows too.

Starting the morning with fried eggs made from freshly laid eggs and freshly squeezed milk, working hard while tilling the garden, and then sitting in front of the fireplace with my pet dog and falling asleep in the evening.

Yes, I’ve decided.

Once I’ve learned everything I need to learn at the academy, I’ll return to farming.

“R-Ronan…Ronan!”

“Huh?”

The reverie that started with the course registration form had already led to the delusion of returning to farming.

When I came to my senses, Celia was looking at me with a worried expression.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Actually, I’m not fine.

The fight between the princess and the captain of the royal guard must have been a real shock.

So much so that I’m escaping reality with ridiculous fantasies.

If I could return to farming as I pleased, I wouldn’t be struggling here.

Come to think of it, the fantasies I had in my previous life were about adventures in another world with elves and beastmen, but now they’ve degenerated to returning to farming.

This is not a welcome phenomenon at all.

“I made these course decisions after careful consideration. However, Celia, you don’t need to tailor your course selection to me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so find the classes you want to take.”

I chose these courses to avoid the attention of the nobles and appeal to the commoners, but in terms of social norms, there’s no benefit to be gained from taking the courses I chose.

As I said, this is a precious opportunity that won’t come again for Celia, so it would be a waste to throw it away like this.

Since she belongs to the Order, there will be some restrictions on her choices, but whatever she chooses, she will definitely gain a lot from it.

“The classes I want to take are the ones Ronan is taking!”

That loyalty towards me is very pleasing, but that won’t do.

“Celia, I can’t be responsible for your life.”

I put on a stern expression and begin to preach.

“No one in the world can live someone else’s life for them. You have to take responsibility for your own life. The experiences here will definitely help you in that life. Do you still want to throw it away in vain?”

“But…”

Confused emotions settled in Celia’s heart.

Yes, she must be confused.

This is a society where it’s natural to emphasize obedience to those of lower status than oneself.

I have no particular complaints about that, as I have the status of a Saint, but right now I’m too busy taking care of myself.

If I’m not confident that I can take responsibility to the end, I should at least create a way for her to survive on her own.

And above all.

“If you really can’t choose, think about which courses would be helpful to me.”

I subtly reveal my true intentions, disguised as goodwill.

A competent subordinate makes their superior comfortable.

This is simply an unchanging truth that transcends eras.

“This is an order. Do your best to find the courses you want to take, and choose at least one course.”

When I put it that way, Celia nodded her head slightly, looking dejected.

Study hard for my sake, Celia.

The more competent you become, the higher the chances of me lazing around!

I’ll choose easy courses that don’t stand out and delegate all the difficult and challenging tasks to my subordinates.

Could there be anything more ideal than this?

Is this the feeling of fulfilling selfish desires that corrupt Order clerics feel?

This is a problem, I might get addicted.

* * *

Unfortunately for Ronan, the fact that Ronan chose general living courses did not put a damper on the interest in Ronan, but rather poured oil on a raging fire.

Of course, if someone were to take general living courses that no one would normally choose, no one would care.

Even if they found out, they would just dismiss it as an unusual hobby.

If class consciousness was severe, they might despise it, saying, “Why are you taking such lowly courses? You reek of a commoner.”

However, Ronan was already the subject of intense interest within the academy, with everyone on high alert about every move he made since the welcoming ceremony.

Moreover, the name value of Saint was still an object of reverence, except for high-ranking Order officials whose values had completely rotted away.

Since he was the first Saint to appear among the human race in hundreds of years, it was difficult to truly grasp his status, but everyone had the sense that he was someone incredibly important.

“T-T-T-The Trainee Saint is taking my course?”

“Why? Why? Why? Could there be some kind of mistake? It doesn’t make sense unless there’s some kind of huge error.”

“Um, can I quit my professorship? I can’t? I see. Then can I take a long-term sick leave? I’m really sick. My stomach…my stomach is burning…What? You want me to get treated by the Trainee Saint? You devil…!”

“Please, have some consideration for my situation. How am I supposed to teach the Saint how to use a hoe? Will you defend me if I’m dragged to the stake? Are you turning your eyes away now? Don’t ignore me, you bastard!”

The professors who were notified that Ronan had registered for classes could all feel what it meant for the sky to turn yellow.

The professors of general living courses were, to put it extremely, no different from day laborers who were hired to maintain the diversity of courses at the academy.

Even in the field of pure academics, there were nobles with a deep interest in the field or wealthy people with unusual hobbies who had expertise and held professorships, but the professors of general living courses were no different from ordinary commoners who earned a good living.

For them, the order to teach someone who was equivalent to royalty, or perhaps even more noble, how to get their hands dirty and covered in flour while doing chores was something they couldn’t figure out how to handle.

“What? Cooking? Farming? The Trainee Saint…is he…is he crazy…?”

“Enough. That’s a tremendous act of blasphemy. Everyone understands your feelings, so don’t say any more.”

“The Magic Department couldn’t get their hands on him anyway, so you must be happy that he fell into the manure pile on his own?”

“Oh my, why are you saying such harsh things? We are also human beings before we are mages, and we feel sorry that the Trainee Saint is taking such courses.”

Crash!

“What’s going on over there?”

“The Medical Department has had a great deal of interest in the correlation between the Saint’s holy magic and the human body since the welcoming ceremony. They tried to get involved and seduce him if he took any related courses…as you can see.”

The professors of the courses that Ronan didn’t apply for, the courses that students at the academy generally apply for, could only watch this situation with a sense of futility, like dogs chasing after chickens.

For a professor, the number of students is directly related to their position within the academy, and there’s no need to mention the Saint or the princess, who are great figures that the academy can’t help but accommodate.

The professors, who had secretly hoped that he might apply for their courses, could only gossip whenever they gathered, overwhelmed by Ronan’s unimaginable eccentricity in choosing only courses that they had never considered as objects of competition.

“At least this seems a bit advantageous. Landscaping is one of our specialties, after all.”

“Princess. The academy established the course purely for aesthetic purposes, but I wonder if it’s a bit different from our doctrine of respecting nature…”

“Is that kind of trivial detail important right now?”

“He’s not learning metallurgy, is he? I could somehow manage up to that point…”

“Good heavens… to display that much grace and then choose to learn things like this? It’s a waste of talent. I have no idea who we should send in.”

“It’s a bit of a shame that hunting is excluded.”

“If anything, perhaps horsemanship is an element we can confidently latch onto.”

The heterogenous priests were busy calculating which of Ronan’s chosen subjects they could use to appeal to him.

They decided not to overthink whatever eccentricities Ronan might display.

In the first place, the Saint’s will is the will of God.

A mere priest shouldn’t try to judge its meaning.

They each knew through their own Saints that even actions that seemed bizarre had a reason.

If the Saint did something like that, there must be a reason; they should just focus on increasing their interaction with the Saint.

“Did you hear? The novice Saint is taking cooking classes.”

“Not just cooking, but farming, sewing, horsemanship… he’s only choosing useless subjects, apparently?”

“What is it, did he only do things like that back in the main Order?”

“Then shouldn’t he be choosing something different?”

“But we can teach him basic horsemanship, can’t we?”

“Hmm… unless it’s combat horsemanship, the basic horsemanship course is truly useless.”

“Still, making connections with the Saint is beneficial in itself, isn’t it?”

Among the students, an unexpected subject application frenzy erupted.

Of course, applying for subjects mid-semester was impossible, so all applications were rejected, but this only made the Saint’s actions an even greater object of interest for the students.

“Hey, maybe… does Orion like a self-sufficient life?”

“To till the fields, herd sheep, and pick fruit? I don’t think I could do that…”

“Then isn’t it amazing that the novice Saint is doing it with his noble status?”

“Does it work that way?”

A celebrity gets applause even when they poop, and it’s human nature to want to do what you’re told not to.

The students began to wonder if engaging in labor was actually a very noble and valuable thing.

And the priests of the Orion Order, the only group with any potential to control this whole situation…

“Look at the subjects the novice Saint has chosen. It’s truly lamentable.”

“I wonder if this will hinder our evangelism efforts.”

“It’s better than the novice Saint being overly spotlighted. We just need to work harder to compensate for the novice Saint’s shortcomings.”

“If he only chooses subjects like that, there’s nothing the Empire can do about it. Perhaps it’s a very clever way of showing loyalty to the Order.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. The Saint is unusually clever for his age, so he might have done that.”

“Then let’s just let the novice Saint do as he pleases. If his faith in the Order is strong, that’s ideal, and even if it isn’t, perhaps he still has some commoner-child tendencies.”

“Of course. After all, the revival of the Order is in our hands. Let’s focus on concrete evangelism plans.”

They were just doing ‘Orion Order’ things.