The Strongest Student of the Weakest Academy

"..."

Rip!

"FUC—!"

"—no cursing!"

Ripping the dead skin from my body, the saintess interrupted my words by putting her hand in my mouth, making sure no sound got out.

"Who told you to get injured?"

Her tone was soft, almost sweet, but her pink eyes glinted with something far less forgiving

I winced as she dabbed a cold, cream onto the raw patch of my back.

".....Well, there was a special situation."

"Like what?"

Her words came out sharp.

I kept silent.

If I told her I had infiltrated the black market, taken on a group of B-Level rankers solo, and barely escaped with my life just to get a weapon, she'd probably strangle me with her bare hands.

"Ahhhh..." she let out a heavy sigh.

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

Her fingers moved away, and she handed me my shirt without another word. I slipped it on quickly, hoping to avoid further lectures.

But when I turned back to her, she was staring at me.

Her dim pink eyes locked onto mine; the intensity was so high that it made a chill run down my spine.

"Who did you save?"

Her voice was low, but there was something in her question heavier than the air in the room.

I froze.

Of all the questions she could have asked me, this wasn't one I was expecting.

Lying to Christina wasn't an option—she always saw through it.

But telling her the truth?

That felt even riskier.

Deviants were a race that was truly hated by the Holy Nation.

They were essentially a race that was created by the mass reproduction of demons beasts and actual demons or demonesses.

For the Holy Nation, they truly deserved to die.

Her pink eyes didn't waver, and her expression softened slightly, though it did nothing to ease the tension.

It was that kind of soft that said, I'll be patient for now, but you'd better not test me.

"Just… someone who needed help."

Truly, I didn't actually mean to save her since I only wanted the weapon. But of course, I wouldn't let her die.

"Someone...?" she repeated my words.

Her scent, soft and floral with a hint of something warm and intoxicating, wrapped around me.

I was already used to it, so it didn't affect me much, but for others, it might be quite deadly.

"Was it a woman?"

Her pink eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and though her lips carried the faintest hint of a smile, her tone was still quite sharp.

"Why does that matter?"

She didn't answer right away.

Instead, she leaned forward, just enough for her golden hair to spill over her shoulders. Her intoxicating scent grew stronger, wrapping around me like a warm, suffocating blanket.

"Just curious... After all, in most the cases when you saved someone, at least ninety percent of them were women."

"Uh...."

"So, it really was a woman, huh?"

Her lips seemed to have widened as she gauged my reaction.

"It wasn't like that... besides, I save mostly women because they usually get harassed by some dumb heir of a prestigious family."

"So?" 

She took a step forward, making me take a step back.

"It's their business, why do you have to chime in?"

"I mean..."

Her voice turned sharper.

"I don't get it."

I tried to take another step back, but the wall behind me put an end to that idea. Her gaze pinned me in place, and I could feel another chill running down my back.

"Can't you simply not help them? And stop being so selfless?"

I'm not selfless.

Well... this body might be, but I'm not.

For a moment, we stood there, looking at each other.

Her fingers tapped lightly against her arm as she stared at me, and then, with a soft sigh, she leaned back, giving me some much-needed space.

"I'm done with you." she sighed.

Immediately, I took the opportunity to go towards the exit.

But, before leaving, I couldn't help but glance at her...

She gazed out the window, the light from the stained glass cast colorful patterns across her figure, making her look almost ethereal.

"And Aestrea?"

Her voice made my steps halt.

"Yeah...?"

Her voice was soft, almost too soft.

"Next time, try not to get yourself killed. It would be… inconvenient."

The way she said inconvenient sent a shiver down my spine.

"Noted."

I would simply go to a priest next time, although their powers aren't as good as the Saintess, they at least can help me for a fair price.

Thinking about it, if I needed to actually pay for the Saintess's services, how much debt would I have?

Probably in tens of thousands...

Gosh.

I'm so lucky that I can use her services without paying.

Then, Christina turned back to me, her smile back to its usual serene self, though her eyes still held that unsettling glint.

"Good. Now, go on. I'm sure you have… things to do."

She didn't have to tell me twice, I twisted the knob of the door and got out of that room. Being alone with the Saintess is much scarier than anything else.

"Yo! How did it go?"

John who was waiting at the door turned to me with a small smile.

"I'm never coming back to meet her..."

"That bad?" he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

It wasn't that bad, just your usual scary Saintess. When I'm alone with her, she always sounds scarier than normal.

However, I probably won't be seeing her as much, since I now live with a deviant. And even though, the Holy Nation can't exactly kill them...

It's better to hide the slime girl from the Saintess.

If she finds out, I could get in trouble.

For that reason, I'll need to meet the Saintess fewer times than normal. I only went to the Saintess because her services were free, and her power was stronger than the priest.

But, I have quite a hefty amount of money, so I'll use it for the priests.

I can't risk the opportunity of her getting to see that slime girl.

"I'm kidding obviously."

"Mhm..."

He nodded, taking a deep look at me.

"Anyway, you know she cares about you, right?"

I blinked at him, caught off guard.

"What?"

"The Saintess..."

He replied with a small smile.

"She cares for you more than you think."

Before I could respond, he gave me a small nod and walked off, leaving me standing there, staring after him.

She cares about me?

That is quite obvious considering her reaction when I get injured.

However, the way he said it...

Feels like...

She likes me.

"Ah... whatever."

I left the cathedral and decided to go around the capital for a bit more. I really wanted to check the training range that was so popular around here.

After all, instead of implementing a training zone for the Royal Academy, they decided to create a public one so they could maximize profits.

This proposal was also made by Violet when she was a child.

As a kid, she proposed making the training ground public to generate revenue for the kingdom, and it worked.

Now, people from all over come here to hone their skills or show off.

So yeah, this training zone was a huge success and anyone can pay to enter while students from the Royal Academy use their student's points.

When I arrived, the training range was as busy as I'd expected.

Rows of targets, dummy stations, sparring areas—it was packed with people of all skill levels.

The clashing of swords, the sounds of arrows hitting targets, and the occasional boom of magic spells filled the air.

I made my way to the shooting section.

Unlike the more crowded areas, this one had fewer people.

Guns weren't as popular in the world as they were considered useless because no one could actually create a gun artifact.

They could create it.. but it would be a pretty hefty amount.

After all, a gun has too many components, and they need bullets to work.

So, who would spend items that could create a powerful sword to create bullets or one of the few components of the gun?

So yeah, the choice was always traditional weapons or a wand for magic.

The clerk at the counter looked up as I approached.

"A rental gun?" she asked.

"Personal"

"How long do you plan to train?"

"An hour, for now, might stay longer."

"10 silvers."

Hearing her words, I handed over the coins.

"Lane four."

She added, pointing words the lane I was supposed to enter.

I walked forward and then pulled the morph-weapon which was now similar to a modified desert eagle.

Then, I reached out to the difficulty meter and put expert mode for handguns. And also tapped on the magic bullet options which made the targets gain a magic field around them.

They were set up about two meters apart from each other, and one twenty meters away from me—standard for expert mode.

Of course, this was just aim training, I didn't want to spend more money for a simulation or advanced technology since I still had a few things in store to buy.

And I might buy an artifact so... I don't really know how much I'll spend.

"Alright... let's warm up."

I raised the gun.

Bang!

The first shot hit the outer ring of the target.

"Mhm... not too bad. And I like I thought... I have infinite bullets."

I smiled deeply.

With this morph weapon, I didn't have to worry about running out of ammo.

Each shot fired from the gun drained a bit of my mana, but since the weapon was crafted as a whole artifact, it automatically reloaded itself when I reverted it to its original form.

The bullets weren't just regular ones either—they matched the weapon's quality, a high-grade artifact.

Ah, I almost forgot that this weapon is a high-grade artifact.

"That means... I can make a blood contract with it."

Bitting my finger, I let a drop of blood fall into the gun.

As soon as it made contact, the weapon glowed with an intense red light. The glow spread quickly, wrapping around the gun before it vanished entirely.

I glanced at my left hand, where a faint warmth lingered.

A tattoo of a ring had appeared on my index finger.

"Perfect..."

I grinned, channeling a bit of mana into the tattoo. The gun materialized in my hand instantly, feeling even more natural now, as if it had become a part of me.

With this blood contract, even if someone tried to take it away from me, I could simply summon it back to me.

Now all I needed to do was train for the academy's competition.

I aimed the gun ahead, ready to start training again.

"It's not like there's going to be a random demon beast attack while I'm here, right?" I muttered to myself.

I'll just train peacefully...

The words had barely left my mouth when the ground shook beneath me.

BOOOOM!

A deafening roar echoed across the training zone, deep and guttural, vibrating through the air like thunder.

"Of course..."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as another roar shattered the stillness.

From the distance, I heard someone yell.

"It's a Bulking Demon! A named demon beast!"

"Everyone, evacuate!"

Bulking Demon.

A beast so infamous even its name sent chills down people's spines.

I glanced at the gun in my hand, its faint red glow still present.

"Peaceful training, huh?"

I muttered to myself before stepping toward the sound.