Chapter 213: End-of-term exam (2)

“Think about it carefully. Is there anyone here who was injured because of Student Kal’s reckless actions?”

Before defending Kal.

I pointed in turn at the party members standing by Kal’s bedside.

The students shook their heads.

The expressions of some students who had noticed something odd hardened.

I pointed that out and began my defense.

“Then, is there anyone here who prides themselves on being better in actual combat than Student Kal?”

Again, the students shook their heads.

“No.”

“Then isn’t it strange? If even Student Kal was up against an opponent that left him this injured, why are the rest of you unharmed?”

Of course, there’s no rule that the better you fight, the less injured you get.

But if the one who fights best is the only one who comes back battered every time.

From then on, at least, it couldn’t be brushed off as mere bad luck.

“Ah......”

“Then perhaps during the preliminary evaluation too......”

Kal subtly turned his head.

Instead of his splinted left hand, he scratched the back of his head with his intact right hand.

“If it’s about the preliminary evaluation, I heard about it too, Kal.”

In fact, I had suspected it since after the preliminary evaluation ended.

The evening the preliminary evaluation ended.

Instructors who knew Kal was my scholarship student came and told me what had happened.

Meaning today wasn’t the first time I’d received a parent consultation.

“The instructors seem to take a great interest in Kal. They said he acted outside the textbook and got hurt alone.”

“Uh......”

Kal’s pupils wavered.

“If you heard, why didn’t you come to me......?”

“Because to me, it sounded like he got hurt ‘alone’ thanks to not acting by the book.”

“May I ask...... why you thought that?”

“Since his high school days, whenever trouble arose among the scholarship students and I got contacted, most of the time Kal’s name came up along with it.”

Kal bowed his head.

“I’m sorry for causing you concern every time, Director.”

“I’m not finished yet. What I was trying to say is that I could see Kal always trying to solve problems in my place.”

Kal had been acting as the eldest brother among the scholarship students.

If some rogue young master picked a fight with a scholarship student, Kal called him to the sparring ground.

If the scholarship students’ living expenses ran short, Kal would share a bit of his own.

At some point, when the others had a problem, they began looking for Kal before me.

And when it wasn’t resolved within Kal’s scope, only then did the full story reach my ears.

With things like this, whenever something happened, this friend’s name was bound to be involved.

“Did you think I hadn’t properly looked into the full circumstances? Kal was always the one cleaning things up. He was far from the one causing problems.”

“Director......”

“That’s why I had my suspicions during the preliminary evaluation too. The Kal I know isn’t a student who gets hurt for no reason.”

Of course, I don’t know the exact circumstances.

Still, I had a near-certain guess that Kal must have had some reason.

“But seeing your wounds today, he must have gotten hurt the same way during the preliminary evaluation. He only offered the parts he could afford to have injured, didn’t he?”

Kal’s hand, which had been scratching the back of his head, stopped.

I looked down at the arm Ayla was disinfecting.

The injuries I’d heard about from the preliminary evaluation weren’t much different.

His bracer had been shattered, his arm had nearly been bitten, and his leg had been wounded.

But it was only flashy on the surface; he had been waiting under a green flag for a Heal.

Just like now.

“I heard you decided the match the moment you let your left arm be bitten. Did you go in after judging how much you’d be injured?”

“That’s......”

Kal trailed off.

While he chose his words, I rechecked the remaining wounds.

Outwardly messy, but there was no major bleeding, and no damage that required moving him to the surgery car immediately.

The more I looked, the more strangely thrifty the composition of his injuries was.

“It wasn’t exactly a calculation...... more like intuition...... how should I put it......”

“Only injuries that can wait until tomorrow morning without immediate treatment remain.”

A yellow flag was attached to Kal’s bed.

It meant he could be disinfected and laid down, then treated after urgent patients were sorted out.

There was no need to pull forward treatment at the expense of other injured patients right now.

“Whether intentional or not, it means you also considered medical resources.”

“Haha......”

Kal let out a dry laugh.

Seeing that he didn’t deny it, it meant that even if not exactly, he had grasped it roughly.

“Haha, I didn’t expect you to see through me that far.”

Kal pulled his chin in slightly.

“Somehow I feel embarrassed.”

Clatter.

A student who had been quietly listening turned Kal’s pauldron over.

The pauldron had a hole through it, but the wound on Kal’s shoulder was only an abrasion.

The other armor pieces were the same.

The wounds beneath the torn-off armor were likewise only bruises or abrasions.

It meant Kal had been adjusting the damage by offering up armored areas one by one.

Probably the students looking at that armor had reached a conclusion similar to mine.

So I didn’t add any more explanation.

Now the others would accept the fact that Kal had been hurt alone differently than before.

“Um...... Director.”

Just then, Kal called me from the bed.

“But why do you trust me that much?”

“One reason is that Kal has taken good care of the other students in my place until now, but......”

Kal had been a guy with a decent impression from the start.

But the opportunity that made me certain about who Kal was came from the high school kidnapping incident.

“There was an unsavory incident in the high school division before. Student Kal was badly injured, and I went to visit him.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do you remember what Student Kal said then?”

Kal looked up at me.

“Director...... do you remember?”

“I remember it exactly, without missing a single letter.”

Back then, when I visited him in the hospital, Kal said this.

— I’m ashamed.

I couldn’t understand why that was something to be ashamed of.

It was an unfair nerf, and not something a student could handle.

But what Kal meant wasn’t that.

“Back then Kal said he was ashamed. Wasn’t he ashamed that the comrades behind him got hurt before he did?”

Yes.

What Kal was ashamed of wasn’t the fact that he had lost to the kidnappers.

He was ashamed that the enemy’s attack had reached his comrades.

“Did I even say that much? I really don’t remember......”

“Not exactly in those words, but I could tell from reading the letters he sent whenever there was group sparring.”

Since his high school days, Kal hadn’t particularly liked group sparring.

It was clear from his letters.

— Director. Is there a good way to check behind me while fighting?

— Director. Today in group sparring, I ended up being the last one left.

— We won group sparring again today. But I don’t feel very good about it.

At a glance, it seemed like he’d hard-carried group sparring again.

But looking closely, he had never once expressed a positive view of the results of group sparring.

If one noticed only that, Kal’s conviction could be guessed without much difficulty.

“You read...... all the letters?”

“As much as possible, I read all the scholarship students’ letters. I keep all their gifts, too.”

I briefly met eyes with Ayla.

She was looking at me with an expression that asked, “Perhaps?”

I knew what she wanted to ask.

“Of course, I’ve kept every flower Ayla sent me.”

I had kept all the dried flowers.

They all refused to rot.

I suppose it might be because they were flowers that grew after feeding on a Saintess’s divine power.

So I’d put those flowers safely in the safe as well.

You never know.

After enough time passes, they might suddenly be judged a Holy Relic or catalyst.

“Why do you go this far for us......”

“Aren’t you my scholarship students?”

The scholarship program doesn’t end with simply sending money.

You have to know what they’re good at and what they want to learn to support them properly.

If you’re going to spend money anyway, shouldn’t you see results?

'It was a talent gacha from the start, after all.'

Few people pull a 5-star in a mobile game and leave it rotting in storage.

Usually you equip them, feed them all the growth materials, and max out their affinity level too.

If you’re only going to pull and not raise them, why spend money at all?

“I respect Kal’s chivalry and Student Ayla’s view of faith. The same goes for the other scholarship students. I want to watch those things reach completion.”

I had no intention of deciding Kal’s chivalry for him.

Nor Ayla’s, either.

But while those things were being built.

At the very least, I needed to know what they were trying to do to provide proper support, didn’t I?

“I-I’m sorry, Brother Kal.”

Only then did Ayla, her misunderstanding cleared, lower Kal’s arm.

“I kept going without even knowing......”

“It’s fine. I’m telling you, it’s really nothing.”

Kal waved his right hand.

Ayla said no more and wiped the remaining wounds.

For a moment, the people in the tent looked at Kal without speaking.

“Teacher. The dressing is done.”

“Good work. Now let’s finish with Refresh on only the spots that are oozing blood.”

Ayla’s fingertips glowed.

The small droplets of blood welling in the wounds stopped.

That was as far as Divine Magic could go for a yellow-flag patient.

“It’s still early in the exam, so you’ll have to wait until evening, Student Kal. The Department of Healing Arts is training too.”

It was true that this exam had two divine power generators, Ayla and Lauren.

There was no reason to conserve a mere Minor Heal.

But if we did that, the other students would lose their chance to train.

It wasn’t as if saints and saintesses were distributed to every battlefield and infirmary.

This exam doubled as practical training for the Department of Healing Arts, so unfortunately Kal needed to wait until evening.

“Once training is over, I’ll heal you with the remaining divine power, so don’t worry and wait.”

For a wound to become a scar, roughly two days need to pass.

There was no need to worry that a scar would form just because the magic was cast a few hours late.

“Now, Student Kal, rest here.”

“Um, Lord Saint.”

Just then, one of the party members held out the scoreboard.

“If that happens, what about Kal’s end-of-term score?”

This exam had separate party scores and individual scores.

Measures to prevent free riding were necessary here as well.

The problem was that Kal had returned too early.

Separate from his contribution in saving the party, his ordinary subjugation score was pitifully low.

No matter what contribution he’d made, he had caught only one type of demonic beast, and that subjugation score alone was insufficient for his individual grade.

It must have been hard for his comrades to keep quiet after seeing that scoreboard.

“If Lord Saint would just close his eyes to it, we could secretly, on Kal’s behalf......”

“Is such a loophole acceptable, soldiers?”

As if cutting off those words, the tent flap lifted and the instructor entered.

It was the person who had been asking me not long ago to scold Kal.

At the instructor’s entrance, the students flinched and shrank back.

Regardless.

The instructor’s gaze turned to Kal lying on the bed.

“I heard you were injured, Student Kal.”

“Instructor?”

When Kal tried to raise himself, the instructor waved his hand.

“No need to get up. Don’t worry about the score either.”

He took the scoreboard from the student.

After checking the record written under Kal’s name, he took out a pen.

“I said this before we departed. This exam values judgment highly.”

“Yes.”

“You identified the individual’s peculiarity before the accompanying knight did, and your swift response prevented a larger accident. You also withdrew the party without additional damage.”

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

The pen moved quickly across the scoreboard.

“In high evaluation of that judgment and contribution, I will add 30 points to your individual score. Just in case, what was the second-year passing score?”

“It’s 20 points, Instructor.”

Kal’s comrade answered briskly.

The instructor nodded and closed the scoreboard.

“Congratulations on passing the end-of-term exam, Student Kal.”

“Th-Thank...... you?”

“Rest comfortably today.”

The instructor put away his pen and turned around.

Then he paused briefly at the tent entrance.

He stood at the entrance for quite a while adjusting his hat.

Without turning back, he spoke in a voice just barely audible.

“Kal. And......”

“Yes, Instructor.”

“I misunderstood you. I’m sorry.”

The instructor turned toward Kal and bowed his head slightly.

Kal’s mouth fell open.

“Uh...... ah, no. I......”

While Kal chose his words, the instructor turned first.

Kal stared blankly at where the instructor had gone.

Only after receiving the scoreboard his peer handed him did he come to his senses.

I waited a moment, then lightly tapped Kal’s right shoulder.

“Student Kal. You remember what I said at the Academy, right?”

“What did you say?”

“Don’t get hurt for no reason. But if there’s enough reason to get hurt, then you can trust me.”

It was what I always told Kal or Eri when they were carried in after sparring.

Don’t get hurt for no reason.

But when necessary, don’t spare your body.

Because I’m here for that.

“You did well this time.”

Kal looked at me.

“Keep doing that in the future. I want to see Student Kal’s chivalry reach completion, too.”

Kal didn’t answer for a moment.

I removed my hand from his shoulder.

Ayla covered the last gauze and tidied the edges.

'Honestly, it’ll be difficult.'

Realistically, the resolve not to let a comrade be hurt before himself would be hard to keep.

People who achieve their dreams are, after all, only a handful.

That’s why people usually say the process of pursuing a dream has more meaning than achieving it.

But I didn’t want to attach those words to the endings of the people around me.

Everyone’s making money and building fame precisely for that, aren’t they?

“Hearing you say that makes me feel reassured.”

Kal grinned.

“I’ll push myself a little more, as long as it’s not to the point of dying.”

“I mean that I trust your skill. Even if you take the enemy’s bones, I’d prefer you give up as little flesh as possible.”

“Haha. I’ll do my best in that direction, too.”

Ayla smiled faintly as she organized the dressing sets.

The tension left the party members’ shoulders as well.

This much meant the story had ended well.

Until Kal swung his feet down from the bed.

“?”

A question mark rose above my head.

Ayla was the same.

Regardless.

Kal propped himself on the bed with his right hand and set both feet on the floor.

What is this.

Why is he doing this?

“Why are you getting up?”

“Shouldn’t I review the battle before I forget?”

“Now?”

“Of course. That way I’ll be less injured next time.”

I looked at the gauze stuck to Kal’s arm.

Ayla was looking at the same place.

It wasn’t a wound that would kill him if it worsened.

But it also wasn’t a wound that made exercise okay.

“You know the bleeding has only just stopped, right?”

“Yes. Fortunately, my right arm is fine. I can swing a sword with one arm.”

I looked at Kal without speaking.

Strange.

Until just a moment ago in the conversation, I’d sensed enough intelligence for him to lie in bed.

“How does training while injured help?”

“You can’t always be at full strength in actual combat. It’d be good to practice handling a sword while injured, too.”

“And if the wound opens?”

“You said there are no dangerous wounds.”

They’re not dangerous, sure.

But if the wound opens, it will hurt.

Of course, even if it opens, it’s likewise not dangerous.

Even so, no doctor would say it was okay to do that.

“......If the wound gets too large, it might leave a scar.”

“Aren’t scars medals to a swordsman?”

Kal raised his thumb.

Between his gauze-covered stomach and his bruise-covered arm, only his right hand rose healthily.

Smugness was written all over his face.

I looked at Kal for a moment.

Since becoming a Saint, I’d rarely met a patient like this.

Everyone tended to follow what I told them to do.

It’s been a while since the back of my neck felt warm like this.

'This reminds me of Wangcho and Teacher.'

Humans who somehow interpret my words in a direction favorable to themselves.

I felt a similar aura from Kal.

“Don’t worry, Director. I won’t overdo it.”

“Right now, that is what I’m calling overdoing it.”

“No, it’s much better than you think......”

I pointed at the bed.

“Lie down. Right now.”

It was an imperative tone I almost never used with scholarship students.

The effect was tremendous.

Kal immediately crawled into the bed.

“Yeees.”

But he didn’t lie down.

I can hear your eyeballs rolling, you little brat.

“Are you saying you want to argue with me, Kal?”

“No......”

Kal immediately tucked his tail.

It wasn’t simply because I was his moneybag.

As you can see from how far things had come, Kal’s vocabulary was disastrous.

You could tell just from the question he asked during today’s speech.

— How injured am I allowed to get?

He probably meant to ask, roughly, how injured one should be before retreating.

But his poor word selection made people misunderstand him.

Could that Kal beat me with logic?

Me, who makes a living writing papers and talking?

Because he knew that better than anyone, Kal reacted that way.

“Then at least a grip strengthener......”

“Student Kal.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kal lay back down.

Ayla looked down at him for a while.

Then she cautiously called me.

“Um, Teacher. Is what Older Brother is doing also because of his own chivalry?”

It was a question made by desperately groping for the faith in humanity she had just regained.

I looked at Ayla without speaking.

“......”

“I guess not, after all?”

Obviously.

What chivalry could you find here?

The gaze of the party members looking at Kal changed as well.

The gazes that had been warm until a moment ago turned cold.

One of them suddenly furrowed his brow.

It seemed something else had come to mind.

“Kal. Then during the preliminary evaluation too?”

“......I don’t know what you mean.”

“You insisted on cutting with the blade edge when you could have just hit with the pommel. Don’t tell me that was also part of your training......?”

That’s the first I’ve heard of it?

What I’d heard was just that he got hurt alone.

I hadn’t heard that specific detail.

“Student Kal.”

“That is......”

“Explain.”

Kal slightly pulled up the blanket.

A strapping young man over twenty looking bashful wasn’t a very pleasant sight.

“That...... of course, if a really strong opponent appears, I’ll follow the textbook.”

“Then why didn’t you do that this time?”

“I thought I could cut it with the sword too...... like I had a rough estimate......”

“Even so, is there any reason you had to?”

“It was a relatively controlled environment, so wouldn’t it be good to test various things while I can?”

I fell silent for a moment.

Kal’s nickname came to mind.

Sword Fool.

The fool who knows nothing but the sword.

Knowing Kal’s chivalry, I’d wondered why he had such a nickname.

But today, the part that hadn’t fit finally became visible.

'There is no doubt about his chivalry.'

His chivalry is sincere.

He protects his comrades.

If necessary, he offers his own body.

However, the price he set on his own body was a little low.

Does he die?

Does he retain a disability?

Or does he hurt, then get to hold a sword again?

His categories were these three.

As long as he could avoid the first two, pain was within his acceptable range.

I pressed down hard on the gauze over his wound.

“Ow, ow, ow......”

“Do you feel pain?”

“Of course I feel it.”

“Then doesn’t it occur to you that swinging a sword will make it worse?”

“But pain that doesn’t kill me makes me stronger...... ow, ow, ow, ow.”

I suddenly stopped Nietzsche from half-possessing him.

'He picked that up from Eli and me.'

I thought about why Kal was so tolerant of pain.

The conclusion was because of me and Eli.

Medical knowledge he’d seen and heard at my side, plus conversations with Eli, who was learning alchemy.

Thanks to that knowledge, he could estimate how far his body could hold out.

That was why he could be tolerant of pain.

'He’s too smart for his own good.'

There’s a fact people misunderstand.

That those who live by the sword must be stupid.

But the reality is the opposite.

In that world, if you’re stupid, you don’t live long.

If you don’t know your opponent’s techniques, your life ends that very day.

Kal was the same.

Seeing that he was always top in swordsmanship sparring and could intuitively gauge the healing resources he needed, his head was definitely good.

The problem is that while others retreat when they see the line.

This guy tap-dances on that line.

And somehow, he doesn’t fall.

“Ayla. Who gave Student Kal his nickname?”

“I don’t know either. But I heard that no matter who said it, everyone came up with that nickname.”

Sure enough, there’s no smoke without fire.

There was a reason that nickname stuck.

“As expected. I’m going to tell Eli unnie.”

Ayla put away the cotton she’d used.

Kal’s head snapped toward her.

“Ayla, wait. That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

Kal’s eyes clung to me and Ayla.

You could tell from his chivalry.

The more precious the person, the more he couldn’t help but fuss.

And if it was his crush, even more so.

“Please, Ayla. No, Saintess!”

“Yes, speak.”

“I’d rather do push-up position punishment!”

“You’re not trying to do push-ups while you’re at it, are you?”

“How did you......!”

He seemed unable to come to his senses.

“Student Kal. When you return to the Academy, submit a letter of self-reflection too.”

“Director?”

I said no more and turned around.

When Ayla gathered her tools, the party members picked up Kal’s equipment.

We left Kal behind and departed the tent.