2nd Round Villain

113 – Jester’s Entrance Ceremony – 3

The dean of the continent’s first academy, and one of the four knights of the present age, Merlin Gregory.

The dean, who must be old but still has shiny, pure white skin, was preparing to give a speech in front of hundreds of students soon.

One, why?

Merlin’s green eyes were fixed on a letter in his hand, not a speech to be recited immediately.

There were only a few words written in black letters on the white paper.

＜I haven’t been able to find it yet. sorry. But aren’t you mistaken for a person? A man who acted as a hunter decades ago, then committed murder and escaped while drunk… No matter how much I search, I can’t find it.＞

This was not welcome news. Merlin leaned back against the back of his chair and closed his eyes.

Darkened world, clear thoughts. A completely white mask appeared in Merlin’s thoughts.

‘Where are you… Suoka… .’

The identity of the mask was a hunter in the forest. As far as Merlin knew, it was.

However, as he pursued that ‘suoka’ over the past few decades, Merlin began to question little by little what he knew.

because there was no A hunter called Suoka who killed people and escaped.

I wondered if he had used a pseudonym, so I entrusted the request based on the circumstances and did a search, but in the southern part of the Empire, where the arrest rate of criminals reached 99%, there was no criminal who had not been caught even after a major murder.

‘Obviously the Meteor at that time wasn’t blown by me… I thought it was long at the time, but now I’m sure. There’s no way a person the size of the Dragon King would die just because he was crushed by a Meteor.’

There is a saying that you see as much as you know. It means that things that were not originally visible come to the eyes as the breadth of knowledge or sight expands. The great sage Merlin strongly agreed with that.

When hunting Dragon King Endros in the past, Merlin predicted that he would die if he had meteor-level magic. Because, the strongest magic he knew was Meteor.

But now that he reached the 9th circle, he realized what a stupid idea that was. The Dragon King was not a monster that deserved to be killed just by Meteor. Even if the present self stepped forward, the opponent would only have an 80% win rate. The Dragon King was the strongest monster befitting the title of king.

So, why the hell did he die and be buried in Meteor? The answer was simple. At the time, when everyone in the seat, including himself, lost their minds or lost their lives, he was the only one who was still conscious.

Witch Forest Hunter, Suoka.

Ever since he felt doubt about that fact, Merlin has been following the trail of ‘Suoka’. Even putting in a request to the continent’s best intelligence organization.

What kind of strangeness is this, the progress of the work has not improved at all since the first time I entrusted the request.

‘John? Are you right, John? ?’

One day, a man named John, who was with Suoka, came to visit. Accompanied by a desperate swordsman named Beatrice.

‘Merlin, please make me a teacher.’

He reluctantly demanded that he be made a teacher at the academy. Merlin asked him to tell him everything he knew about Suoka, but he would grant the request.

‘Suoka? I don’t know anyone like that.’

‘What do you mean by that… !’

‘There is no one called Suoka. Really. I don’t lie.’

The only answer I got back is that I don’t know. Merlin was speechless.

Quite a bit of time has passed since then, and it is the day of the entrance ceremony, which has been held dozens of times. That’s today.

“Dean! It’s your turn to give ‘the dean’s words of wisdom and instruction’ to the freshmen!”

“Ah, it’s already time… ?”

“yes! Everyone is waiting!”

Hearing a teacher calling him, Merlin stood up. Wearing a magic robe that hasn’t faded in the slightest since I was a child or now.

‘Come to think of it, among the new students this time, there were a lot of people who talked about it… Frey, who carries the fate of the hero, Princess Albrecht, and Maria, who was chosen as a saint… Will there be anyone among them who can surpass the Cheonwoong of 2 years ago… .’

Time makes people old. Even for a long time, close to a hundred years, Merlin’s body couldn’t change, but it wasn’t that his mind didn’t grow during that time.

‘What kind of children will come… I’m looking forward to it.’

*****

After greeting the hero, Maria returned to her seat and sat next to me. The fact that I met a hero who would destroy the continent in the distant future… I don’t know what it was, but somehow, Maria shook her hand slightly as if she was quite excited.

“I-that person is a saint… ! It’s the first time I’ve seen a saint in real life… !”

“So do i. I’ve seen it occasionally in newspaper articles. She’s really wearing a normal nun’s uniform.”

“and… It’s truly divinely beautiful… But who is that guy next to me? The one with bangs covering his eyes.”

“forehead? You mean the guy with his bangs pulled back like a bully?”

“What are you both talking about? The guy next to the saintess is bald with no hair. but is that right? Even though Eden Academy is an equal place, how does it accept even bald people?”

“hmm… Surely that could be debatable… .”

Now, there is no freshman who does not know that Maria is a saint. I went out in the open and exchanged greetings with the warrior, but I couldn’t help but know.

So, it caught a lot of attention. in real time. At the same time, I can hear more people wondering about me and Aru.

“Maria, aren’t you going to talk more about dragon love?”

“You can do it later when the kite arrives. Right now, we are in the middle of the entrance ceremony to welcome new students, so we need to act appropriately.”

“But you didn’t have to sit next to me.”

Now, from Maria’s point of view, I’m just an ordinary student1. A warrior is someone who must build friendships for the sake of the future.

But why did you come back and sit next to me? Curious about that, I asked a question, and Maria pouted.

“Dude, don’t you like me? Are you uncomfortable with me by your side?”

“huh? no?”

“That’s it. Isn’t there a law that says you have to sit next to the hero?”

“But, they are a hero and a saint. The picture would be better sitting next to the warrior than me? How do others see it?”

I asked in a sarcastic way. The saintess answered without hesitation.

“I learned that other people’s eyes don’t matter. I also learned that the important thing is to follow my heart.”

“That means… No matter what others say, do you really want to sit next to me? why?”

“Well, I don’t know the reason for this either, but I feel comfortable when I’m with Evan. It’s like I’m used to it, as if I’ve been by my side for a long time. From the first time I saw Evans at the entrance ceremony for freshmen, I felt that way.”

“Hoo… okay… Could it be… .”

It’s an unexpected part, but the existence of the country must have been imprinted in Mary’s soul.

It can be enough. Although Maria is a young personality now, her soul has not changed. It means that the fact that the saintess and I communicated through the rosary over the past hundreds of years has not been unheard of.

It is 500 years. For five centuries, Maria spent every day yearning only for communication with me. Occasionally, when my communication was delayed, I would gasp for breath and panic.

It means that the soul has already become unable to respond to the being called me. It’s not my intention, but it’s not a bad change.

“Anyway, that was it. Ok, fine. Actually, I wanted to be with Maria too. I was just a little curious about not going to the hero. That’s why I asked.”

“I, really? Evans wanted me to be with him too… .”

“what? Is that the dean? Great Sage Merlin. I thought you were going to give a welcome speech for freshmen soon?”

A boy climbs up the podium surrounded by many students. I interrupted Maria and pointed at the boy.

A navy blue robe covered up to the top of the head and a lot of green hair sticking out from under the robe. it’s merlin

“You are a great sage!”

“To think that the great sage showed himself at the entrance ceremony… ! It is truly the best academy on the continent.”

Eventually, Merlin, standing on the podium, put his mouth to the microphone and removed his robe, and exclamations poured out.

“What, what? You look like a boy, don’t you? Even the line is very good… !”

“Haven’t you seen the newspaper article or the great sage’s interview? He doesn’t age because of magic. He is said to have achieved immortality among immortality.”

“There shouldn’t be a lot of spring and autumn… It’s really sweet. Are you disguised as magic?”

“No, you really don’t age. I heard that it is because their magical powers have reached the highest level. Aren’t dragons old?”

Merlin was the same as when I first met him. His eyes softened a bit, but other than that, his face didn’t change at all. Excitedly, I raised my hand and shook it.

“bruise? Does Evans know someone?”

Maria was looking at Merlin, so she couldn’t see it, but Aru, who was only focusing on me, noticed my greeting and expressed his doubts.

“Well, you don’t have to know to say hello.”

“I don’t know, but say hello? Woof woof?”

“There’s no law that says you can’t do that. Even though there are many cases where you don’t say hello to people you know and then get scolded for being rude.”

“I see. bruise! hi! nice to meet you!”

Without thinking, he tried to force himself a little, but Aru understood perfectly, stood up, and waved at Merlin. Ugh, what should I do with this mutt without common sense?

“Aru? Are you familiar with the dean?”

“no! doesn’t exist! See you first!”

“… ?”

Maria’s expression changes to that of a slightly sick friend. I sighed and focused on Merlin’s upcoming speech.

Generation after generation, it is said that the lectures of deans are the most boring thing in the world, but in my memory, Merlin is a handsome boy overflowing with cuteness. I was looking forward to seeing how he would make the entrance ceremony congratulatory speech.

But when Merlin opened his mouth, my expectations were shattered.

“to… First of all, I sincerely congratulate all the new students who have entered this academy… to… I would also like to express my gratitude to the teachers who will work hard throughout the year… When I was your age, I did my best in everything I did… I sincerely hope that you can too… to… Finally… .”

“… .”

Seruk-.

don’t know after that It was because as soon as I started listening to Merlin’s teachings, I fell into the spell of sleep as if I was enchanted. Sometimes ‘Eh… ’ and the tongue-in-cheek tone and ‘Finally… ’ was like a lullaby.

I wasn’t the only one who fell asleep during the speech. Through the fading field of vision, I could see all the students dozing off, or leaning their heads against the backs of the people in front of them, falling into a sound sleep.

In my memory, when Merlin was slapped on the butt, he would say, “Huh… He was a handsome boy with the taste of teasing him, but in the end he was no different from the other deans.

I couldn’t even resist properly and leaned my head to the right.

*****

“what.”

Maria was startled by something that fell on her thigh.

Maria, along with Albrecht, who had brought earplugs in advance, was the only student among those who listened to the sermon not to collapse.

“Kuuu… .”

Falling to the right, with a beastly girl leaning her head on a boy’s pelvis.

The boy collapsed in a position similar to that of the beast girl, leaning his head on his thighs.

“Ouch… .”

“Ah, sorry… Uh, what should I do… .”

No matter how thick the clothes are, women’s thighs are inevitably sensitive. Maria trembled.

However, Maria’s trembling eased little by little when she saw the boy breathing lightly with his head buried in her thighs with a comfortable face.

Familiarity for no reason settled in the girl’s heart. The girl looked down at the boy who leaned his face on her thigh.

‘I feel comfortable… Just like it used to be… .’

It was the student’s duty to wake him up immediately and let him listen to the dean’s lecture. However, it didn’t seem like he would be able to keep his spirits up.

The girl gently raised her hand and slightly moved the boy’s head. It was a minor consideration to keep the boy from getting a sore throat when he woke up.

‘Something… As if I finally met someone I miss very much… .’

Sharak-.

Maria raised her white, delicate hand and placed it on the boy’s forehead. Then, she slowly straightened her hair that fluttered in the outdoor wind. His thin fingertips brushed the boy’s skin.

The wind blew for a long time.