saint ch30

Outing (1)

“Shall I head out for a bit?”

After gauging the time, I blurted out those words absentmindedly, then immediately looked around, startled, wondering if the royal guard outside might have heard me.

Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have.

Relieved, I approached the window and gazed at the academy grounds visible nearby.

A week had passed since I started enduring the class hours that I couldn’t seem to get used to.

Since it was the weekend, the academy was unusually deserted.

I had unconsciously assumed that the academy would be completely isolated from the outside world, but surprisingly, with prior permission, weekend outings were easily granted.

I learned this fact this morning when the Princess came to pick up Celia.

Not that I’m going to ask for permission and go out right now.

* * *

Knowing there were no classes today, I wanted to laze around in bed until lunchtime if I could, but my body, which had stubbornly gotten used to waking up early, woke up at the same time as usual.

Still, I got up as slowly as possible, washed, and groomed myself, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

I wanted to sleep in.

I can’t lie down because I’m worried someone might come looking for me.

A life where I can’t even sleep in.

It’s exhausting.

As I was thinking that, someone knocked on the door.

Is someone really coming to find me this early in the morning?

“Come in.”

“Did you sleep well last night, Saint Ronan?”

“Good morning, Ronan!”

The people who entered were the Princess and Celia, a combination whose connection I couldn’t fathom.

“What brings you here, Azelia?”

“What are you talking about, Ronan! Today is the day we tour the city.”

It wasn’t the Princess who answered my question, but an excited Celia.

“City?”

This is the first I’m hearing of it.

As I tilted my head, Celia seemed to sense something was amiss and looked back and forth between me and the Princess.

“Aren’t we supposed to be touring the city today…?”

Lacking confidence, Celia spoke in a barely audible voice, as if asking the Princess for help.

“It is true that the trainee students are scheduled to tour outside the academy today.”

Outside the academy?

“We can leave the academy?”

Isn’t it a rule that once you enter the academy, you can’t leave until graduation, except for special events?

Wait… come to think of it, most academy stories just focus on events within the academy, but it’s not explicitly stated that you can’t leave the academy.

Huh.

You can go out and play during the semester?

Come to think of it, that’s only natural.

I had a great realization.

“The academy is not a prison. There are some restrictions for the safety of the students and the smooth management of administrative affairs.”

The Princess said, looking at me with pity.

Is this confirmation bias?

The Princess now looks at me with pity no matter what I say.

Um, it’s not because I lived locked up in the Order headquarters that I had such a misunderstanding.

But when you think about it, I couldn’t leave the headquarters anyway, so it wasn’t a completely wrong idea.

“So you came to pick up Celia.”

I was briefly elated, but the Princess’s subtle nuance brought me back to my senses.

She said the trainee students were going outside.

I wasn’t so clueless as to ask, “What about me?”

“Yes. I came to ask for Saint Ronan’s permission.”

As my eyes met the Princess’s, Celia, sensing some unease in the words exchanged between us, gradually moved away from the Princess and began to approach me.

“Ronan. Aren’t we going outside today?”

I stared for a moment at Celia, who was neatly dressed in her Saint’s robes and beautifully made up from early in the morning.

Celia, who had looked like she was dying when she was told to take different classes from me, had become much brighter in the past week.

Perhaps because her blind faith in the Order had diminished while being by my side, Celia was adapting to the trainee life better than anyone else.

Today, she seemed filled with anticipation rather than fear at the thought of seeing the outside world for the first time.

“You’re right, you’re going outside. Go and see many fun and amazing things.”

I carefully stroked Celia’s hair so as not to mess it up.

“What about Ronan?”

“Well…”

Instead of answering, I looked at the Princess.

“Celia, Saint Ronan cannot go outside today.”

“Yes?”

Celia’s eyes widened as if asking what she was talking about, and she looked at the Princess.

“I have determined that Saint Ronan does not have sufficient security to wander outside. It will take some time for Saint Ronan to wander outside.”

Celia, who didn’t understand the Princess’s words for a moment, stared blankly before slowly starting to make an angry face.

“Why are you always doing that to Ronan!”

It was the loudest voice I had ever heard from Celia, so much so that even I was taken aback.

“It’s the same here after all. Just like in the Order, always only Ronan… mmmph. Mmmph!”

Flustered, I hurriedly covered Celia’s mouth.

I appreciate your concern, but how can you say that out loud like that!

“It’s alright, Saint Ronan. There’s no need to worry about anyone hearing. Everyone seems to be busy trying to seduce the nobles anyway.”

No, I know very well that those people aren’t here.

Whether it’s because their own interests are at stake or because they don’t like it here, they rarely come here.

I’m talking about the Princess.

Fortunately, the Princess didn’t seem to care.

“Ronan. I’m not going. I’m sorry for saying useless things.”

Celia said, grabbing my sleeve with a tearful face.

How can I tell you not to go when you were so excited until just now?

I looked at Celia’s face for a moment before turning my gaze back to the Princess.

I need to make this clear first.

“It’s not really dangerous, is it? Otherwise, it would be a problem to send out the trainee students.”

If it were really dangerous, the students wouldn’t be able to go out, let alone the trainee students.

Of course, my position is a bit unique, so the excuse of paying more attention to safety isn’t completely unfounded, but it’s also true that it’s not enough to be convinced by that reason alone.

“That’s… Saint is right. I’m sorry for trying to distract from the point.”

The Princess hesitated for a moment before sighing and bending down to meet the eyes of Celia and me, who were sitting down.

“The trainee students are going out for a complex set of reasons, including erasing their hostility towards the Imperial Family and promoting the legitimacy of this move chosen by the Imperial Family. The fact that the Imperial Family bears no more risk inside the academy than outside is also a consideration.”

After catching her breath, the Princess added a story about me.

“However, Saint is different. Most citizens in the Empire don’t even know Saint’s name, let alone their existence. It’s happening because neither the Order nor the Imperial Family has decided on a direction yet. The citizens will only become aware of Saint Ronan’s existence after the Order or the Imperial Family has decided on a clear path. It’s a very trite story.”

The Princess said, turning her head as if embarrassed.

There must be huge vested interests intertwined that I can’t even imagine.

I’m not really curious.

Anyway, there’s no particular danger in the outside city.

“Celia. You were looking forward to it. Wouldn’t it be good to go?”

“I’m Ronan’s attendant. My place is next to Ronan.”

Celia’s voice and will were more firm than I expected.

I appreciate your mindset, but it’s more beneficial for me in many ways if you go.

How should I persuade her?

“Celia. How about this?”

Celia’s questioning eyes met mine.

“Instead of me, you bring back as much of the outside scenery as possible. Anything is fine. The way people look at you. The square where everyone is busily going somewhere. The flowers blooming between the stone slabs. Let’s talk about what you saw today in the evening. Doesn’t it sound fun just thinking about it?”

Actually, what I’m most curious about is the mindset, faith, and values of ordinary people, but that’s going too far.

Celia, who had been listening to me, began to worry with a confused look, as if she didn’t know what to do.

In fact, the answer was already decided because she had always given me sincere faith to the point where I was sometimes puzzled.

I put in a confirmation shot there.

“I think I’d be very happy if you went and told me such stories. Wouldn’t you? I won’t force you.”

“Ronan always does that… He doesn’t let me take classes with him, and he tells me to go out alone.”

Looking at it, that’s what it boils down to.

“You can’t refuse when you say it like that.”

Having made up her mind, Celia moved away from me and approached the Princess with a dejected look.

“I’ll do my best to remember everything I see!”

That’s a very desirable attitude.

“I will definitely make it possible for Saint to wander outside as soon as possible.”

This is also a very desirable attitude.

“I will deploy royal guard, so please tell me if you need anything.”

Wait, that’s not a desirable attitude.

One unnecessary obstacle has been added.

“You don’t have to go that far.”

“Please don’t refuse. You can think of it as a sign of my apology.”

Haa… well, I’ll handle it somehow.

“Okay. Have a good time.”

Bring me Melona when you come back.

I saw off the two people with faces that coexisted with apology and gratitude.

* * *

And currently.

Because the Princess insisted on taking Celia and deploying a royal guard, my plans were messed up, and I was killing time to figure out the royal guard’s tendencies.

The royal guard arrived immediately after the Princess and Celia left, and except for when they brought breakfast, they never interfered with my room first and just stood outside the door.

Is there a shift change?

Or are they planning to stand there all day?

How do they solve the bathroom problem?

Do the knights, who have acquired superhuman physical abilities, also have superhuman bladders?

After shaking off the unnecessary questions, I looked at the empty tray and made a decision.

“Excuse me.”

Having made a decision, I opened the door with the empty tray and handed it to the royal guard.

“Is there anything you need?”

“No. Thank you for bringing the meal.”

“I was just doing what I had to do.”

“Would it be a nuisance if I said I wanted to look around inside the academy?”

The royal guard was lost in thought for a moment.

“It’s not impossible, but I don’t recommend it. If there’s anything you need, I’ll get it for you.”

That meant they wouldn’t let me go out if possible.

As expected.

“No. I was just curious. I want to pray in my room all day without being disturbed. Is that possible?”

I changed the question and asked that.

“If it’s in the room, you can do whatever you want, trainee Saint.”

“I mean all external interference. I don’t need lunch either. Can you help me concentrate?”

“That’s…”

The royal guard hesitated to answer, as if my words felt uncomfortable.

Is it because they’re a knight?

They have a good sense.

“I haven’t had time to concentrate on prayer lately. Is it not possible?”

I urged them once more without giving them time to think.

“I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you.”

The knight nodded, seemingly having reached his own conclusion that there couldn’t possibly be any problems with a trainee Saint.

Perhaps it was the result of his complex considerations: that I was a child, that this was a fairly high floor, and that he would be able to notice if something happened inside the room.

After putting down the meal tray, I returned to the room and began to prepare.

It probably wouldn’t be of much help, but in case someone entered the room, I put a pillow under the blanket to make it look like someone was there, and then approached the window.

After being reincarnated, the conclusion I reached after thinking about my situation was simple.

If I didn’t want my life to be threatened, I had to establish my position.

And to establish my position, I had to make people remember me.

All the crazy things I had done so far were based on that major premise.

However, appealing within the main Order headquarters or the Academy could only have a limited impact.

After all, the main Order headquarters and the Academy were controlled by entities like the Order and the Imperial Family.

Any position I could establish in such places would ultimately be within the shadow of the Order or the Imperial Family.

My position as someone belonging to the Order or relying on the Imperial Family, rather than a position as my own independent self, was unlikely to help me in a critical moment.

Just look at today.

The Princess felt sorry for me, but from the perspective of the Imperial Family as a whole, they didn’t fully trust that I was on their side yet, so their actions weren’t much different from the Order’s.

The possibilities had increased with the mixing of different races, but there were still many unknowns about them, so it was too early to make a hasty judgment.

In the end, it was still humans, not the Academy or the Order, that I had to target first.

I could have gradually built up my position from the bottom up if I had started in some back alley or ordinary church, but looking back, my spawn point was just too bad.

Why was someone who should be doing the tutorial and catching rabbits in the beginner’s village spawning in the front yard of the Demon King’s tower?

So, when my assignment to the Academy was decided, I made one resolution.

When I arrived at the Academy, I would find a way to contact the outside world, no matter what it took.

I would establish a position based solely on ‘me,’ without the intermediary of the Order or the Academy.

Of course, I couldn’t just go outside right now and establish my position by declaring that I was a Saint, but going out to the city from the Academy on weekends was something I had been planning for a long time.

I had concerns about Celia sticking by my side, or that I might stand out to others as a young boy if I went outside the Academy, or about my safety when I was alone, but today I alleviated most of those concerns.

Students and trainee cadets go out every weekend?

The city must be overflowing with Academy-affiliated people.

There are many nobles, so the city infrastructure must be abundant, and people naturally flock to such places.

No one would suspect anything if I blended in.

And according to the Princess, a minimum level of safety seemed to be guaranteed.

Having sorted out my thoughts, I began to use holy magic.

I opened the window slightly, but it didn’t make a sound.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a petty thief technique that was far from a holy image, but I could do it after practicing.

Holy magic is the best.

I opened the window and looked down at the ground for a moment.

It’s high…

It looked to be about 11 meters, the height at which humans feel the greatest fear.

“I can do it.”

I’ve practiced it so many times.

After taking a few deep breaths, I put my foot on the window.

And the next moment, I threw myself into the air.

Holy magic, superhero landing!

Was it because this was the first act of rebellion I had committed since coming to this world? Honestly, I was enjoying it a little.