How to Teach a Hero at the Academy

Chapter 16: Do You Believe in God? (4)

“Um……, so that's what happened.”

Hearing Monika's words, Fabien, who had been waiting for the lecture to end, wore a mechanical smile.

[Let me review. You've attended all the lectures scheduled for today, so you're saying you'll be attempting to resurrect a dog with your friends, is that correct?]

“Friends……, they're not really……”

Monika's words trailed off as she turned her gaze away.

As the day had completely darkened, a light formed by magic was floating in a corner of the deserted training ground. Figures flickered around the light. They were all faces Monika knew.

Fleur, Dante. And the janitors of CIAR, of the same age.

Isn't it a bit ambiguous to call them all friends? I wouldn't know since I've never had friends. Monika thought, puffing out one cheek.

[I understand the context. I'm glad to see you've had a day without any trouble, Master.]

“When it's just the two of us, please, the title Master is……”

So embarrassing I feel like I'm going to throw up my guts.

Muttering so, Monika pouted.

[I will keep that in mind, Lady Monika. I shall return to Professor Argento now. As he'll probably be polishing his weapons in his stark office. I will see you at the Black Swan Building tomorrow morning.]

“You've worked hard all day. Thank you, Mr. Fabien.”

[Golems do not work hard. Because we do not feel fatigue.]

Fabien gave a slight nod to Monika and turned his back.

Then suddenly,

──Ah, that's right, and, muttering,

Fabien, who had taken a few steps, looked back at Monika.

[Lady Monika, may I tell you a story that might be of some advice.]

“Advice?”

Fabien nodded his head.

[One of my former masters was a renowned mage. He also attempted to resurrect the dead. His lover, to whom he had promised marriage, had died in an unfortunate accident.]

“In what way did he attempt it?”

[A complicated process was involved.]

First, he cast a charm spell on the spirits.

It was to intend for them to devour his lover's corpse. A spirit is a life form corresponding to the smallest molecule that constitutes nature. He had them eat the corpse to bestow vitality upon each fragment of the body.

He extracted the cores from those spirits and injected them into a slave woman. She was a slave he had carefully purchased, who looked exactly like the mage's dead lover. By binding the vitality of the corpse contained in the spirit's core to the slave woman's body, the mage sought to achieve his lover's resurrection, but……,

[He failed.]

Fabien said in a calm tone, as if it were natural.

[He succeeded in bestowing his lover's ego upon the slave woman. But spirits go mad when they consume flesh. My former master believed that his lover's ego would overcome the madness. Even though there was no way it would.]

Monika listened to Fabien's story, at a loss for words.

Success and failure. Intention and result. And finally, right and wrong.

It seemed there was no meaning in distinguishing such things. Because it was a completely failed attempt. What Monika deduced from Fabien's story, leaked in a calm tone as if reading from a record, was at most the futility of attempting to resurrect the dead.

[He would have failed even if he had used another method.]

Fabien diagnosed concisely.

[Because it is death, for it cannot be undone.]

“Mr. Fabien, you really……, seem to have only met strange masters.”

A count's daughter with a masochistic sexual preference. A mad mage who sought to resurrect his dead lover. And Teacher Abel.

No way.

To think Teacher Abel would feel the most normal.

Monika shuddered.

[That is not so.]

Fabien shook his head.

[All my masters were ordinary humans.]

Well then, and.

After offering a greeting according to etiquette, Fabien headed towards the main building where Abel's office was located.

‘……Resurrection.’

Monika scratched the bridge of her nose.

She had wished for the resurrection of the dead to the point of being sick of it. There were too many names that made her wish for them to come back to life. Did she say she had an audience with a main god and received the power of resurrection, Fleur de Saint-Pierre. Monika thought something was strange.

To bring the dead back to life through the power of a main god.

Isn't it so simple it's profane?

“M, Monika. You're here.”

Seogeok──, and.

Dante said, plunging a shovel into the dirt.

Monika nodded her head. In the dug-up dirt was the decaying corpse of a dog. They said that some ill-mannered students had beaten the dog to death with a training longsword. Perhaps because of that, the dog's head was caved in. Was it afraid to face its wife's death? The white dog buried its face in Monika's calf.

- No, why the hell would those crazy bastards beat a puppy to death?

- I know right. They should have just beaten their own parents to death.

- That's a bit…….

- Ugh……, guys. I think my eyeballs are going to pop from crying.

Monika's eyes met with the chattering janitors of her age.

Narrowing gazes. It was the reaction she had expected. Since she had become a special scholarship student at CIAR as if she were rising in status all by herself.

There were three janitors. Because she had always worked separately, Monika didn't know their names. She just mumbled her lips, then tilted her head and muttered.

“Sorry.”

For leaving all by myself…….

Just as she was about to say that,

- The uniform is cool, Monika!

- We're Trisha, Melisha, and Sasha.

- Our names are similar so we hang out together.

- The prosthetic arm……, I'm glad you got it.

Ah……, and.

Monika froze with her mouth open.

- Everyone was happy when they heard you became a special scholarship student.

- I cried……. It's such a relief.

- Isn't this the greatest promotion in the history of CIAR janitors?

Ahahaha──!

While the janitors of her age were blooming with laughter, Monika blushed and bowed her head.

“The preparations are finished.”

At that moment, Fleur stood up, dusting off her palms.

The white divine power that had formed on Fleur's index finger scattered into the empty air. Monika took a good look at the magic circle Fleur had engraved on the sand. The magic circle, woven from divine power, was clear and untinged by the night. It seemed it would take half a day just to count the number of strokes.

“It's a magic circle that visualizes the eyes of the God of the Underworld.”

Fleur explained, noticing Monika's gaze.

“The God of the Underworld has countless eyes. The number of eyes he has is the same as the number of living creations. An eye opens every time a life is born, and an eye closes every time a breath stops. The eye that closes like that is delivered to the dead. Because those who have met death cannot see, the eye of the God of the Underworld is given to them. So they can come to the underworld without getting lost.”

“You……, said you saw the God of the Underworld in person?”

“That's right. I was too young when I saw him, so I don't remember well.”

Fleur laughed, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

“H, he must look really scary. The God of the Underworld is……”

“Your complexion is scarier, Sunbae.”

“But Monika, that is……, isn't it scary? To bring a dead life back……”

You don't know what it will look like when it comes back.

Dante whispered into Monika's ear.

It could be its appearance right before death. Or it could be its appearance at the time of birth…….

“That's right. My Resuscitation Ceremony is incomplete.”

Fleur said, looking back at Dante.

“The God of the Underworld also said that a complete resurrection is impossible. He said that the birth of life is under the jurisdiction of the main gods, but living a life is entirely the power of the creation.”

The main god who presides over death, the heart, and reincarnation.

Even such a God of the Underworld, ‘Aries’, cannot completely restore the life of the dead. Because life is not a result woven by the power of a main god, but an achievement made by each life.

Listening to Fleur's words, Monika felt a sense of relief. It would be a lie if she hadn't thought of Sarrifis when she learned of the cases of resurrection. The people of her hometown can never be brought back to life. Because their lives belong entirely to them.

Are they all waiting for their time of reincarnation in the underworld?

Or are they already living a new life?

‘That's a relief.’

Because their lives are so precious that they cannot be restored by anything.

Monika wore a faint smile.

“Fleur.”

And she asked a question.

“If it's incomplete, to what extent is it incomplete? Your Resuscitation Ceremony, I mean.”

“No need to worry, Monika.”

Fleur said, lifting the dog's corpse from the pit.

“The God of the Underworld, and I, do not profane death.”

Fleur carefully placed the dog's corpse in the center of the magic circle. Then she spread out the materials needed for the resurrection. The main components that make up an animal's body. Protein, water, fat, minerals, and a small amount of carbohydrates were scattered in a solidified state on the magic circle, then,

Fleur's small lips moved.

Following that, two hands clasped together. It was a neat form of prayer.

As if in response, the magic circle began to glow reddish-black.

Fleur rolled up her left sleeve.

Knife marks covered her arm.

Monika's brow furrowed.

A moment of silence.

Hey,

Do you want to come back? and.

Fleur's whisper that followed.

Fleur took out a dagger from her overcoat pocket. She lightly cut her left arm and aimed the drops of blood at the magic circle.

Keueung, and. The white dog, crouching and trembling. Monika held such a dog in her arms. Dante swallowed a scream, and the janitors of her age covered their mouths and whispered throughout. The eyes of the God of the Underworld, visualized by the magic circle, were moving. As if trying to find something.

Soon, the surroundings darkened.

The magic circle disappeared as if the God of the Underworld had closed his eyes, and,

“It was a success.”

Fleur's weary voice was heard.

Kkeong, kkeong, and.

Along with the cry of an unfamiliar dog.

* * *

“U, um……. It's time for my teacher to complain of back pain……, well……. I'm sure he'll be stubborn and say he won't take his medicine……”

The first person to leave was Dante.

- Hey, we should probably get going too, right?

- We're going to miss the airship. Hurry and grab your broom.

- Um……, we will take our leave now, miss.

Following that, the janitors of her age respectfully greeted Fleur. They didn't forget to whisper to Monika, to acknowledge them if they run into each other later. Monika saw them off with an awkward smile. She finally let out a sigh and looked back at Fleur.

‘Everyone left.’

Fleur was sitting on a bench set up in a corner of the training ground. The Resuscitation Ceremony was a power that transcended the system of divine magic, and it was natural that it would be a burden on the user. Rough breaths escaped from the lips of Fleur, who had exhausted her energy. Monika cleared her throat, then sat down next to Fleur, at a distance.

‘They all ran away because they were uncomfortable.’

Thinking so, she looked down at her feet.

There was a white dog. A white dog with a small body fluffed up with curly fur, wagging its tongue in joy.

There was also a dead dog. A dead dog whose bones were visible through its caved-in skin, shining a reddish-black glint and rubbing its front paws.

The dogs greeted each other happily and tangled together. Is it my part to feel a sense of dissonance from the form of the dead dog? Thinking so, Monika pouted.

“The skin will soon peel off, and only the bones will be left.”

Fleur said, leaning her body against the backrest.

Fleur's neck was heaving roughly.

“It won't need to eat, and it won't need to sleep. I told it that fact when I requested the contract of resurrection. The choice was the dead dog's. And yet this dog wanted to be brought back to life. They must have been a loving dog couple.”

“What if it regrets coming back to life later?”

“Then it can cancel the contract of resurrection at any time. I told you. I don't profane death.”

Monika, you see, and, muttering,

Fleur stroked the flowers that made up her flower crown.

“Is there anyone you want to bring back to life? By any means necessary.”

“No.”

Monika answered, as if throwing out the words.

“Is there no one who wants to come back to life for you?”

“I hope not.”

A life where you don't need to eat, don't need to sleep, and your ego just resides in a body that is nothing but skin. Monika hoped that there was no one who wanted such a life. Especially not her dead parents.

Ttuduk, and.

The sound of a stem being crushed.

Fleur held out a flower to Monika.

“It's the flower of the trifoliate orange. Its flower language is memories. I thought it would suit your contemplative expression.”

“Is it okay to just pluck them off like this? You plucked one and gave it to me this morning too.”

“It doesn't matter. I can make as many flower crowns as I want.”

“……I'll take it. Thank you.”

Monika placed the flower of the trifoliate orange on her thigh.

A vague silence.

Monika's eyes shifted cautiously towards Fleur. While her light blue hair fluttered in the night wind, Fleur was staring at some unknown place with clear eyes. To think this innocent-looking child is one of the rising stars of this school, called an Evangelist.

‘It's absurd.’

Although she's just a girl of the same age, someone can bring the dead back to life. Someone must be the heir to a historic knight family, and even a member of the imperial family must be receiving education here.

‘Come to think of it, she's also a marquis's daughter…….’

To think I'm talking informally with a marquis's daughter.

You live and learn.

Monika laughed hollowly.

“Can I ask you one question, Monika.”

At that moment, Fleur's gaze met Monika's.

Monika flinched, then nodded her head.

“Monika, do you……”

Believe in God? and.

Monika tilted her head at the out-of-the-blue question.

“……God?”

“Yeah. The subjects of the Holy Numeros Empire all believe in the main gods. Because the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy is the only religion where the existence of God has been proven.”

“I know that, but……”

Monika's gaze turned to the empty air.

“I……, probably don't believe.”

“Why?”

“I know that the main gods are powerful beings. I felt it once more just now while watching you save the dog. But how should I put it……, unlike you, I've never seen a main god. Isn't it strange to believe in someone you've never seen?”

Because they are powerful. Because they created the world.

Isn't it still strange to just believe blindly?

Muttering so, Monika shrugged.

“Professor Argento said something similar today too.”

“Teacher Abel did?”

“Yeah. It was a very impressive lecture.”

Fleur smiled softly, then tilted her eyes to the side.

“But I believe in God. It's not because I saw him with my own eyes. It's not because the God of the Underworld gave me power either.”

The reason I believe in God is……, and.

Fleur's whisper tickled Monika's ear.

“Because I got to meet you.”

I believe because I got to meet you.

Fleur muttered so.

“……What?”

Monika's expression scattered.

An inexplicable chill began to circulate in Fleur's gaze, which had been only clear.

“Sin will melt into the shadows and follow.”

Fleur recited a scripture, lifting the dead dog.

“Be careful, you.”

The dead dog, struggling in Fleur's arms.

“The moment your vision darkens, the shadow will become greater than you, and you will sink, drenched in the sin that had clung to the lowest place.”

The rotten flesh that had been covering the dead dog stained Fleur's uniform. Fleur, without any sign of displeasure, just stroked the dead dog as if it were endlessly lovely. A hand turning red. The sound of bones creaking. Blood shot up from between the dead dog's flesh and soaked Fleur's chin.

“It's all as the scripture says.”

Fleur wiped her chin with her sleeve.

“I thought there would be no survivors. My father has a thorough disposition. Especially when it comes to experiments. So I was very surprised when I heard your place of origin.”

Monika's eyes widened.

For a moment, her gaze grew hot as if scorched by fire, then the heat descended to her toes and became heavy. And so, her body, which had sunk coldly, began to tremble. Monika bit down on her trembling lower lip. The voice of Fleur that lingered in her ears was endlessly gentle, and that was why it was even more unbearable.

“Do you understand, Monika.”

The experiment on the forbidden spell conducted in Sarrifis.

It was all led by the Saint-Pierre family.

“Your parents, and the villagers you knew, were all killed by our family.”

How about it, Monika.

Fleur asked.

Picking up the dead dog's front paw and wiggling it,

“Do you want revenge on our family?”

Or……, and.

The smile hanging on Fleur's lips.

It sparkled dimly, wet with the moonlight.

“Are you going to kill me right here, right now?”