* * *

    The faculty office at Lord Howe Academy was spacious.

    Unlike the students, who had separate main buildings for each grade, the teachers only had one faculty office.

    Of course, that didn’t mean it was like a chaotic marketplace with dozens or hundreds of teachers all gathered in one place.

    The academy had the capability and enough resources to provide almost every teacher with their own personal offices, and most teachers preferred having a private room to themselves.

    Thanks to that, the faculty office at Lord Howe Academy was pretty different from the fantasies of outsiders; it was more like a quiet office where teachers gathered to work.

    At least, that was the case until yesterday.

    With the special class application submissions starting today, the atmosphere in the faculty office was as chaotic as a marketplace.

    Marcus, the math teacher for the third grade, shouted.

    Kim Soojin, the second-year international law teacher, looked around anxiously, holding a pile of documents.

    In addition, numerous teachers were busily darting around the faculty office, as if chased by their work.

    Amidst this unusual, bustling scene at the faculty office, a certain dwarf teacher sighed in resignation.

    “Couldn’t all this be processed digitally…?”

    Although he wasn’t really expecting an answer, a response came from the seat next to him.

    “What can we do? There are a good number of students who don’t really know how to use electronic devices.”

    When Margan turned around, he saw Miss Gemini puffing out sighs as she struggled with paperwork.

    She continued her explanation without even giving Margan a glance.

    “Some of the students here are probably seeing a real cellphone only after coming to the academy. Especially those from beyond the Dimensional Portal.”

    “…”

    “The same goes for the special teachers. Did you know that we still have Mages who think that using electronic devices drains mana? They say it’s a conspiracy of Earth or something.”

    Her voice was tinged with lively anger. Margan smiled wryly.

    “Looks like I’ll have to take a late-night shift thanks to this.”

    “I hope it ends with just a late shift. At this rate, I won’t be surprised if I have to pull an all-nighter….”

    Said Gemini as she pulled out a hefty pile of documents.

    Information about the students to be sent to the special teachers and the class-related documents sent by the special teachers.

    “As long as nothing goes wrong, we should be done by today.”

    “…Whenever you say that, something always goes wrong.”

    Gemini replied sternly. Margan responded as he grabbed some of her documents and placed them onto his desk.

    “This special class itself is already an accident; can it really get any worse?”

    The other teachers turned their gazes towards him, but no one explicitly denied his words.

    It was only natural. Most of the teachers in the faculty office shared a similar sentiment.

    With the academy’s teaching staff still present, what was the point of conducting special classes…? What were the current teachers supposed to make of it? ????Β??

    Of course, the foolish teachers were ‘yet’ to take action on such complaints because most teachers understood why Principal Himena made this decision.

    Considering the external pressure piling on the academy and internal enemies like Director Nicolay, appointing special guest teachers was probably the best decision that Principal Himena could make at this moment.

    However, that was that… and work was work.

    Margan sighed and turned back to his work. No, rather, he intended to return.

    However, just as he was about to start dealing with the paperwork, a message from the facilities management department popped up on his monitor.

    [To Mr. Mal Uragan, in charge of dispute resolution for the first-year students]

    [The road in front of the first-year boys’ dormitory has been partially destroyed.]

    [Judging by the blood on the scene, there seems to have been a fight but no fatalities.]

    [Find the site photos.pdf attached]

    Margan couldn’t help but frown on reading that message.

    “…Goddammit.”

    The facilities management department thought it was probably a fight among students when they sent him this message, but…

    Which student could possibly engage in a battle fierce enough to wreck the road?

    The previous fight that wrecked the area around the staff rest area in the south and this incident… this was definitely the work of the special teachers.

    Margan thought this as he checked the message and began composing a reply to the facilities management department.

    “…It looks like you’re having a tough time.”

    Miss Gemini chimed in from the side, but that didn’t provide any comfort.

    Because he hadn’t even started on the real work assigned to him.

    Shaking his head, Margan randomly pulled out a bundle of documents from between the stacks.

    A bundle of documents that contained personal information about the special teacher and the list of students who had chosen them as their first choice.

    The first document featured a person, or rather, a Beastfolk named [Corvus Darkwing].

    Thinking so, Margan flipped through the documents to check the students who had elected Corvus as their first choice.

    And the next moment, he began to doubt his eyes.

    “Wha… what is this….”

    He rubbed his eyes and checked the documents again, but the list of students didn’t change.

    “Is this some sort of error…?”

    Even though he knew that wasn’t the case, Margan couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

    It was only natural he would react like that because everyone who had chosen Corvus as their first choice, were among the most renowned students in the first year.

    [Male: Cheon Yeomyeong]

    [Female: Hong Seti, Soe Miri, Saintess]

    * * *

    At some distance from the first-year main building.

    In the rest area located in the southern part of the forest, which looked like it had been hit by artillery, the Saintess spoke carefully.

    “Why do you trust me, Yeomyeong?”

    It was a completely unexpected question—so unexpected that Yeomyeong, who was wiping the blood off his face, frowned.

    “What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

    “…You fought Joanna solely based on my hand signals, didn’t you?”

    Instead of replying, Yeomyeong blew his nose. A clot of blood came out, staining the tissue.

    “Fight, huh? It was more like she was testing me.”

    “…You sure beat her up pretty badly for a test, didn’t you?”

    “Because she wasn’t an opponent I could go easy on.”

    For someone her age, Joanna Thule was unbelievably strong.

    Her punches were fierce enough to break his bones and burst his blood vessels with each hit.

    And during the course of the fight, Yeomyeong had broken at least five of his ribs, and his nasal bones and cheekbones were shattered more than twice.

    Without his abnormal Regeneration ability, there were high chances that he wouldn’t have woken up anywhere but a hospital room.

    “…Well, in the end, Joanna accepted it, so there’s no need to dwell on it any more.”

    Yeomyeong spoke as he swept his wet hair back.

    “Tell me about your Foresight regarding Seti. That’s the reason we came here, isn’t it?”

    His straightforward words were like a fastball, causing the Saintess to lower her head a bit.

    Yeomyeong looked at her face with a hint of suspicion.

    “Was it a lie?”

    “…No, it wasn’t a lie.”

    The Saintess paused for a moment while fiddling with her blindfold, before asking in a slightly lowered voice.

    “So… why do you really… trust me?” sea??h thё N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “…Is this topic really that important that we have to talk about it now?”

    “Yes, it’s important.”

    She clenched her fist as if she had resolved herself. Sitting in the chair across from her, Yeomyeong answered her.

    “A religious belief that a Saintess wouldn’t lie, and a trust based on my experience that you’ve never lied to me so far. Which one do you prefer?”

    “…I hate both of them. Don’t give me such a pretentious answer. Tell me the .”

    The truth. The Saintess emphasized on that word as if she would only be able to hear the genuine answer by doing so.

    Yeomyeong spoke slowly.

    “Saintess, the reason I trust you is….”

    At that moment, as her throat gulped nervously, Yeomyeong spoke the truth.

    “Just because.”

    “…What?”

    “I just trust you.”

    Although her eyes were hidden under the blindfold, Yeomyeong could feel like her eyes had widened in surprise.

    “Even back in Manchuria, I didn’t have any particular reason for trusting you. I just did.”

    It seemed that the Saintess found Yeomyeong’s answer so shocking that she unintentionally raised her voice.

    “Isn’t that a bit strange? You even fought against Joanna just moments ago.”

    Her lips lost their strength, and her hands twisted nervously.

    “You just trusted me? That’s… I mean, I’m not upset, but… even in Manchuria? That’s completely… crazy…”

    Just as it seemed like the Saintess’ ramblings would go one forever, Yeomyeong cut her off.

    “So, is there any specific reason for asking me this? Have you… ever lied to me?”

    “Uh… Uh? Maybe once?”

    Somewhat embarrassed by her own answer, the Saintess fidgeted with her fingers.

    “That… that was back in Manchuria…”

    “…No need to tell me what the lie was.”

    “…”

    Yeomyeong swallowed his words and then leaned towards the Saintess.

    “That’s enough of this conversation, so now tell me about Seti.”

    Only then did the Saintess erase her foolish smile and put on a serious expression.

    “Yeomyeong, I’ll ask you one last time. Do you really trust me?”

    What kind of Foresight did she have to make her act like this? Yeomyeong swallowed his worries and nodded.

    “Yes, I trust you completely.”

    Letting out a small smile, the Saintess reached out and grabbed Yeomyeong’s hand. Her hand was as soft as a marshmallow.

    “Yeomyeong, from now on, you should never reveal to anyone what I’m about to tell you. Please swear on it.”

    “…I swear.”

    When Yeomyeong nodded, the Saintess continued.

    “In truth… there are people that my Foresight does not work on.”

    People whom she couldn’t see through even with the blessing of the five gods.

    It was a statement that could easily be considered as blasphemy, as if denying the powers of the gods, but the Saintess continued her explanation without hesitation.

    “Like that person, Mara, whom we encountered in Manchuria, Jeon Yunseong, the Vessel… and you and Seti.”

    “…Seti and me?”

    “Yes, including the two of you.”

    “But you said you saw Seti’s death at the shelter, didn’t you?”

    At Yeomyeong’s rebuttal, the Saintess shook her head.

    “What I saw was not Seti, but the future of the entire shelter. Even that future was blurry. Like… it was censored.”

    “…Censored?”

    Her explanation was giving him a sense of déjà vu. Mara, Seti, and fate.

    As Yeomyeong spent a brief moment recalling his thoughts, the Saintess added.

    “But… just recently, I’ve started to see Seti’s future.”

    “…”

    “I… I don’t know the reason, either. I just did the usual Foresight on Seti every morning, and suddenly, I started seeing it.”

    “You did what…every morning?”

    As Yeomyeong frowned, the Saintess gripped his hand tightly.

    Then, she used her other hand to touch her blindfold.

    “…Do you mind if we take a look at the future I saw together?”

    The Saintess whispered, and Yeomyeong did not refuse.