Chapter 28: The Swordsmanship Prodigy Saintess

The Birth of a Hero (1)

1.

“But trash mobs are still trash.”

Of course, in battle, numbers are not something to take lightly.

More is better than fewer. It’s a basic principle.

But there are exceptions.

When faced with overwhelming power, even dozens or hundreds fall like reeds in the wind.

“Hup…!”

Elia took a breath, then slashed her sword three times through the air.

Once straight ahead.

Once to the right.

Once to the left.

At each slash, a thin golden line carved itself into space.

The slits hung there like wounds in the world.

From between the seams, golden sword aura bled through like light pouring from a fresh cut.

Then it all faded, as if it had never been.

“Pfft!”

The demon laughed at her.

Nothing seemed to have happened.

With a dismissive wave, it commanded its ten mirages forward.

They charged, greatswords swinging in unison.

Elia slowly lowered the tip of her sword, and leisurely walked toward the real demon.

“Kwaaah!”

The mirages howled and leapt with wild, gleeful roars in their throats.

And then—

Their bodies split.

Upper halves fell to the ground.

Lower halves flew upward, only to collapse atop their severed torsos.

“??”

The demon’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I don’t know how many souls you’ve stolen…”

Elia stood before it, eyes narrowed and focused.

“But on behalf of those souls—”

She placed her hand on the demon’s solar plexus, who was blinking in confusion.

“In the name of God… I sentence you.”

The demon let out a furious roar, raising both swords high in defiance—

And then, just like that, its waist slid backward, and its severed upper body fell.

It had been dead ever since Elia first swung her blade through the air.

Calmly, she dusted her hand, which was still tingling from the demon’s rough skin, then clasped her palms together over her chest.

She offered a prayer.

For all those killed by this demon.

The barrier, which had been spread out like fog, dissipated, and sunlight poured down upon Elia’s head.

Warm sunlight streamed along her golden hair, trailing to the small of her back.

Elia, having finished her prayer, slowly opened her eyes and turned around.

“You understand, right?”

She placed a finger to her lips.

There was no need for further explanation.

The two people who had witnessed everything could only nod in silent agreement.

*

2.

The next day.

Naturally, the third entrance exam was canceled.

The appearance of a demon.

An event so unprecedented, it turned the entire academy upside down.

An emergency meeting was called.

Every professor at the Academy was summoned.

In its centuries-long history, not once had an intruder ever breached its walls.

This was the Imperial Academy, after all.

The most secure institution, where the best talents from every nation gathered.

Naturally, security here was airtight.

Anyone entering the academy required an entry permit.

There were no exceptions.

Not even for royalty or nobility.

Furthermore, it was impossible to sneak in.

The entire academy was wrapped in a multilayered barrier—

A grand magical network, composed of thousands of intricately connected magic circuits.

It was the pinnacle of magical protection.

For someone to force their way through?

There was only one person in the world who could do that.

The person who created the barrier.

The Archmage.

And that Archmage certainly hadn’t broken into their own school.

To confirm the facts, the academy dispatched a search team.

The search team combed the entire forest and inspected the barrier.

The result: the barrier was perfectly intact.

There were no signs of breach, not even a trace of attempted intrusion.

So then, how did a demon appear in the forest within the academy grounds?

“The results are in.”

A professor from the Magic Department adjusted his glasses and spoke.

“According to the autopsy of the demon’s corpse, the demon has been identified as an assistant professor from the Swordsmanship Department.”

The conference room began to stir.

Particularly among the Swordsmanship faculty, the commotion was intense.

They’d noticed one of their assistant professors had been absent for several days, and they had been worried…

But they never imagined it would turn out like this.

“We’re still investigating the details. As soon as we discover anything, we’ll report it.”

A demon.

Originally ordinary human.

But when a person makes a deal with the demon race, they become a demon.

Which means… there's a very high chance that the demon race was involved in this incident.

“What should we do about the entrance exam, Headmaster?”

The Imperial Academy’s headmaster, Croto, groaned and pressed his temples.

His head hurt.

There were too many problems at once.

He had to deal with the demon incident, and also figure out what to do with the entrance exam.

The third exam had been roughly halfway through.

Should they select students based on what’s already been done, or not?

“We believe the current data is sufficient,”

— said the Swordsmanship Department.

“It’s not enough for us. We’ll need a separate follow-up exam,”

— countered the Magic Department.

“What was the pass rate for last year’s third exam?”

“All candidates passed for the Swordsmanship and Theology Departments. In the Magic Department, 30 out of 200 failed.”

While the content of this year’s third exam had changed, the evaluation criteria remained the same.

“Hmm… I will leave the decision to the deans of each department. Please announce your results within two weeks. And Professor Etel, if you discover anything more about the incident, report it immediately. And compile a formal statement for public release.”

“Understood.”

“By the way…”

Headmaster Croto flipped through the report again.

“Who was the student who defeated the demon?”

The room quieted.

It was unbelievable enough that a demon had appeared.

But now they were hearing that a prospective student had actually defeated it?

He didn’t believe it when he first heard it.

Even now, he could hardly accept it.

Even if it wasn’t a fully manifested demon—

A demon was still a demon.

Ordinarily, it took an entire Imperial Knight detachment to take one down.

Yet a single student had done it alone?

That child was without question a talented individual who would become a hero in the future.

*

3.

A week has passed.

The chaos surrounding the entrance exams had finally settled.

The Swordsmanship and Theology Departments selected their successful candidates based on the data gathered during the third exam.

The Magic Department, however, held an additional test.

As for me?

Of course I passed.

I hadn’t even been worried.

The past week, my concern wasn’t on passing the Academy exam, they was fixated on the demon.

A demon appearing in the middle of an exam implied two possibilities:

Someone was being targeted for assassination.

Or it was a massacre attempt—kill whoever happened to be there.

If it was the first scenario… who was the target?

Naturally, the first person that came to mind was the Hero’s disciple.

From the Demon King Army’s perspective, they would eventually become one of their biggest threats.

It would be easier to cut down the sapling before it grows.

If not the Hero’s disciple…

Then perhaps the Saintess.

They might have been trying to kill me.

After all, I was the first one who walked into the demon’s barrier.

If they were targeting the Saintess, the reason would be the same as trying to kill the Hero:

To eliminate threats to the Demon King’s army.

“Or maybe... both of us were targets.”

If not—if it was the second possibility, that the demon didn’t care who it killed—then what was its real motive?

Indiscriminate massacre?

It wouldn’t have been just to hurt the Academy.

There must be a deeper reason.

I need to investigate to know more.

They say the demon had once been an assistant professor from the Swordsmanship Department.

If I search the assistant professor’s room, maybe I’ll find a clue.

The Academy probably already investigated it, but since there’s been no news, I don’t know if they’re keeping it secret or if they simply found nothing.

“……I should go check.”

I, who had been rolling around in bed, got up.

I straightened my nun’s habit.

I neatly combed my messy hair with a comb.

Then I pulled out the cloak I use for sneaking out from under the bed.

Throwing it over my shoulders, I headed for the window.

Just as I was about to leap out—

–Knock knock.

The knock at the door froze me mid-step.

“Hic!”

I was so startled that I hiccuped and grabbed the window frame.

That was close. If I’d made a mistake and slipped, I would’ve fallen for real.

“Saintess, it's Rael.”

I quickly tossed the cloak back under the bed.

“Yes, come in.”

Right before the door opened, I sat primly on the bed.

I gathered my legs together and put both hands folded on my knees.

“What brings you here?”

“You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?”

“A student from the Swordsmanship Department, the one who formed a party with you during the last entrance exam.”

One man’s face immediately popped into my mind.

Blonde hair, tanned skin.

His enthusiasm had left a good impression.

“Why is he here?”

“I'm not sure, but it seemed urgent. He insisted he needed to speak with you.”

Although the new semester hadn’t even started yet, students were already coming to see me.

Some for healing, others for advice.

And some, just to see the Saintess.

Outside the Academy, meeting me was nearly impossible.

But inside, we were all equals.

If they wanted to meet me, they could.

Tsk…

Just when I was about to go investigate...

“Alright.”

I got up from my seat and followed Rael downstairs to the first floor of the dorm.

On the way, passing students bowed and greeted me.

“Hello, Saintess.”

“Good morning, Saintess!”

“Saintess, you're as radiant as ever!”

I responded to each greeting with a smile.

...My face was starting to cramp.

Answering everyone with a smile was really exhausting.

When I reached the first floor, I saw Holt standing near the entrance, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.

“Ah…!”

The moment he spotted me, he rushed forward.

Rael’s hand instinctively hovered over the hilt of his sword.

“Big sis!!”

Holt suddenly prostrated himself on the floor, grabbing onto my ankle in desperation.

All eyes turned to me.

As if I didn’t attract enough attention already, now I was getting even more.

“What are you doing?! Get away from the Saintess at once!”

Rael tried to pry him off, but Holt stubbornly clung to my ankle like a lifeline.

“Please…! You have to help me!”

…Haha.

What kind of madness is this?

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