MTLNOVEL Ch. 2
Chapter 2: Sword Saint of the Academy (1)
Behold, your right hand.
The reason our right hand has five fingers,
Is perhaps because the Mother God's right hand also has five.
─ From the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy Law
* * *
Vermilion sunlight settled on the glass ceiling.
The faculty meeting room of Cia-Harphe Academy.
In the center of the circular hall,
Abel Argento stood.
“That is all.”
Abel declared with his head held high.
“And that is why I have come to apply for a professorship at Cia-Harphe Academy.”
The question had indeed been that. What was his reason for applying for a professorship at Cia-Harphe Academy.
It was a perfunctory exchange. He could have simply answered that it was to nurture talent, to enjoy the abundant research facilities, or that he was tempted by the salary and benefits.
“So……”
The Vice President of Cia-Harphe Academy, Konstanze von Theresia, opened her mouth. She was seated in the highest seat of the circular hall. Though she tried hard to maintain a professional demeanor, Konstanze's eyes were stained with bewilderment.
“Abel Argento, are you saying that you are a Hero from another world?”
“I was once a Hero, but no longer. There can only be one Hero in each world.”
“I didn't know that. In any case, you're saying that after finishing the Demon King subjugation in your world, you arrived in our world……, Epezeria?”
“No. I was unable to explain everything due to time constraints, but Epezeria is the 97th world I have arrived in.”
“My, it's one surprise after another. According to you, Epezeria was defeated in the battle against the Demon King, but has been regressed through the power of the Mother God, is that right?”
“In the end, the apocalypse will be averted. May I speak of the achievements I have made in other worlds?”
“No, please!”
Konstanze waved her hands dismissively.
“Stop. I've been listening to your story for over an hour already.”
Brushing back her crimson hair, Konstanze let out a sigh. To think she had to be played by such an absurd tall tale. She couldn't stand it any longer. Konstanze bit her lower lip and shuffled through Abel's application documents.
A man hoping for a professorship in the Department of Theology. His area of expertise was swordsmanship based on divine power. He was well-versed in divine magic in general, and his age was twenty-eight this year. Contrary to his plainly written resume, numerous documents were enclosed. The first document that stood out was a letter of recommendation from the Duke of Orléans.
Stanzi, he's a man I'm sponsoring.
Hire him without another word.
─Your one and only friend, Iris.
The hastily scribbled handwriting of the Duke of Orléans was grating.
‘She calls this a letter of recommendation? And I told her so many times not to call me Stanzi!’
Konstanze pressed her forehead. She stroked the wax seal of the Orléans family and recalled her childhood friend's stern expression.
It was surprising. That Iris René von Orléans, one of the chairpersons of Cia-Harphe Academy and a young powerhouse of the capital, known as the Iron-blooded Maiden, would write a letter of recommendation. She was the type of woman who would yawn at every research grant application sent her way, calling them tedious.
‘He might be a talent that even that ill-tempered girl would covet, but…….’
Abel of the Margin.
Just once. She had heard his name before. A man who had earned the title of Sword Saint before reaching the age of thirty. Before Abel appeared, the youngest Sword Saint had been thirty-three. And even that was a story from over three hundred years ago……,
‘That Abel of the Margin…….’
To think he was a person like that.
His face was so delicate that one could never imagine he had reached the realm of a Sword Saint. Perhaps because of his softly curved, silver-gray hair and lusterless, blackish-blue eyes, he simply came across as having a frail appearance.
‘He probably didn't apply for a professorship for an ordinary reason.’
Konstanze rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
Cia-Harphe Academy. In short, CIAR was the finest educational institution possessed by the Holy Numeros Empire. Royalty from other nations hoped to study abroad there, so it went without saying that the competition for a professorship was fierce.
But it was a strange thing.
Someone who had reached the level of a Sword Saint was hoping for a professorship? Including Abel, there were only three active Sword Saints in the current era. The Sword Saints were the Pope's shadows. Beings who moved through the world in secret, carrying out missions under disguised identities. Even Konstanze, who stood in a position close to the empire's secrets, barely knew their names.
Why would such a Sword Saint want to become a professor?
‘Well, of course…….’
Konstanze narrowed her eyes.
She picked up the corner of the identity guarantee issued by the Papacy.
The magic power transmitted through her fingers. It was unmistakably the Pope's.
‘He must have been dispatched directly by His Holiness the Pope.’
A subordinate sent by the Pope to grasp the movements of CIAR. If she thought of that as Abel Argento's true identity, she could understand.
The story about being a Hero was likely an intentional fabrication.
‘It just means he has no intention of revealing his reasons for applying.’
Even if she pressed him, he would just insist his absurd past was the truth.
To put on such an elaborate act.
Even so, she couldn't very well reprimand a man sent by the Pope.
‘Shall I play along.’
Keueung, and.
Groaning inwardly, Konstanze forced a smile.
“I understand, Abel Argento. It was a very impressive story. The reason you want to become a professor at Cia-Harphe Academy is……, to educate the child who will become Epezeria's Hero, you said?”
“That is correct. She is likely a student currently enrolled here.”
“Do you know her name?”
“……Monika.”
Monika Lohengrin.
Abel answered so.
‘That can't be.’
Konstanze's lips curved into a hollow smile.
As Vice President, Konstanze knew the personal details of every student. It was thanks to having imprinted the student roster in her mind with a memory-loss prevention spell. She was certain of it; there was no student named Monika Lohengrin at CIAR.
A child who will become the Hero.
How utterly ridiculous.
As a child, she would hear stories from the bishop. That when the Demon King appeared and the end was nigh, a Hero chosen by the Holy Sword would appear. That they would form a subjugation party consisting of a Saintess, a Mage, a Strategist, and an Inspector to face the Demon King.
Together, they are called ‘The Mother God's Right Hand.’
Meant to symbolize the Mother God's five right fingers.
Still, it was nothing more than a fairytale based on religious doctrine. For children who disliked visiting the temple, the existence of the Hero was certainly a miracle cure. Konstanze, too, had been captivated by the story of the Hero and had begun her life of faith.
But the Demon King and the Hero,
Of course they don't actually exist.
‘……As I thought.’
Meanwhile, Abel thought.
‘She believed me.’
There was something he had realized through his endless journey.
Sincerity gets through.
At one time, he had desperately hidden his past. He had even feigned being an adversary to the one who would become the Hero. Concealing one's true intentions was an endlessly troublesome affair. And so, Abel had decided to tell the truth.
That he was from another world.
Contrary to his worries, the reaction was not bad. The Pope of Epezeria, for one, had burst out laughing. He had even pestered him to tell more of his stories. It was the result of unfeigned sincerity connecting. Abel believed so.
‘The faculty members must think the same.’
Abel glanced over the faces of the faculty members. Owls were gathered on the window sills, and a flock of crows was gliding about. While cats crouched on desks wagged their tails, the number of mice with glinting eyes in the air vents would be impossible to count.
They were all Familiars, without exception.
Gazes sent by the faculty for observation.
It was difficult to predict their emotions as they were hidden behind the skins of animals.
But an unfeigned sincerity was bound to get through.
“Very well, Abel Argento. Let's continue with the questions.”
Konstanze said, reviewing the documents processed with an anti-forgery spell.
“You were discovered at the entrance of the Lateranzo Orphanage around the age of 4. Is that correct?”
“That is correct.”
28 years ago, Abel was reincarnated as an orphan.
Deciding what kind of being to be reincarnated as was entirely Abel's prerogative. In the first place, his existence was not in Epezeria's history.
Abel always reincarnated as an orphan. Having a family would only tie him down, and above all, it allowed him to not discard his original name.
“Around the age of 10, your talent was recognized by the Papacy?”
“That is correct.”
Though he could no longer wield the Holy Sword, most of Abel's power was preserved.
Until he turned 10, he grasped the state of affairs. He was somewhat familiar with the history of Epezeria before the regression, but there was a need to learn the language and general common sense of life.
“The records until you came of age are……, classified as top secret by the Papacy.”
“I was trained to belong to His Holiness's direct unit.”
He had also been active in sealing the coming disasters.
In the first place, he had sought to obtain the qualifications of a Holy Knight for that very purpose.
“I see.”
Konstanze accepted it without any particular suspicion.
The internal affairs of the Papacy were thoroughly concealed.
It was unimaginable that they would reveal the process of a Sword Saint's creation.
“After coming of age……”
“I fought to end a civil war.”
The Mirror War.
A year-long civil war that broke out between the princes after the emperor's death.
The civil war, named the Mirror War because it was fought between those who resembled each other, was originally a conflict that would have lasted for 6 years, not 1. Because of it, invasions from other countries were permitted; that was the history before the regression. Abel had acted in secret to alter this. It was also to place the most virtuous among the princes on the throne.
“And you were officially recognized as a Sword Saint around the age of 27. So that means you came to Cia-Harphe Academy as soon as you became a Sword Saint……”
One of Konstanze's eyebrows shot up.
“It must be because you felt you had to teach the Hero?”
“That is correct. As I have sealed most of the crises that will befall the empire, I judged that the time had come to teach the Hero.”
The Holy Numeros Empire was destined to be unable to withstand the aftermath of the Mirror War.
The Hero would have barely awakened amidst the chaotic situation. To prevent such a situation, he prioritized strengthening the nation's internal stability. The one to kill the Demon King was the Hero, but the fight against the demons had to be done with the entire world.
Abel fumbled inside the inner pocket of his formal coat.
He took out a blackened, withered journal, the size of his palm. He opened it and looked down.
Nothing was written on it.
‘Reviewing the current status of Epezeria.’
As Abel muttered inwardly,
『──I, the God of Fate ‘Eckhart’, look upon the world,』
『And you shall borrow the eyes of a fairy.』
Phrases began to be written on the blank page.
It was an oracle from the main gods of the Pantheon. As the main gods could not directly interfere with the world, they sent revelations, and Abel communed with them through the phrases written in the journal. In a way, he was able to access the records within the Pantheon's domain.
『 Current Status of ‘Epezeria’ 』
─ Causality Rate: 84%
─ Contamination Level: 27%
─ Holy Sword Awakening Process: 0%
─ Missions: 3
The Demon King will awaken in the near future.
The Demon King's birth was a destiny that not even the Pantheon could prevent.
Abel had to finish all preparations within the short time he was given.
“Very well, Abel Argento.”
Clap, and,
At the same time as Konstanze clapped her hands,
“Now that the document verification process is complete, shall we see the demonstration lecture?”
A white landscape began to overlay the circular hall.
Konstanze's form, as well as the Familiars gathered around, disappeared. A Pocket Plain prepared for the demonstration lecture was being formed.
Within the vast space constructed by Konstanze's magic,
Abel looked around his vicinity.
Crimson glints of light began to bloom from all sides.
“I will summon some random monsters.”
Konstanze's voice was heard from the empty air.
Simultaneously, misshapen creatures began to reveal themselves one by one.
Would their number be around thirty. Abel closed the journal and put it back into the inner pocket of his coat. The monsters, thriving on hatred for God's creations, bared their bright yellow teeth at Abel.
“Please explain based on the monsters' ecology, subjugation methods, and combat techniques. As if you were teaching students.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
At the same moment Abel's words ended,
Krwaaak─!
A particularly large individual roared.
The monsters surrounding Abel began to charge all at once.
“Let the lecture begin.”
Declaring so,
Abel moved his body with an indifferent expression.
‘This is the first time I've tried being a professor.’
Dodging the monsters' attacks one after another, Abel thought.
He had performed various roles until now, but this was the first time he had acted as a professor at an academy.
‘To explain the monsters' ecology…….’
First, I'll have to subdue them moderately.
Abel looked at the monster leaping above his head.
“A Corpse Eater.”
Reaching a hand toward the monster, Abel began his explanation.
“A flying-type monster whose main diet is rotten corpses……”
……or so it should be.
Kkireuk─?
Letting out a cry, the Corpse Eater tilted its body, which was sloshing with slime.
It was for an instant.
Kkigigik─!
The Corpse Eater's skin disintegrated, its innards scattered, and all of it dispersed into a flurry of light.
The divine power released from Abel's grasp had evaporated the Corpse Eater.
“You shouldn't kill a monster without an explanation. I'm deducting points.”
Konstanze's subdued voice was heard. This was not a battle but a demonstration lecture. Killing a monster without any explanation was a clear mistake. Abel turned his head to at least catch another monster, but……,
‘I'll have to find a way to control my power first.’
The monsters were gone, having disintegrated without a trace.
Only a faint flurry of light floated in the white space.
“My apologies, Vice President.”
Abel scratched the back of his neck.
After clearing his throat a couple of times,
“……Please give me one more chance.”
He muttered towards the empty air.