* * *

    Joanna Thule.

    Yeomyeong didn’t really know much about her.

    Considering that she was a figure from an older era, it was understandable; after all, she retired even before Dung Beetle could learn to use a broom.

    And the only reason he even recognized her was because he had seen her in his favorite war documentaries a couple of times.

    The nightmare of fundamentalists, the gun of Redox, and the former vice-captain of the Holy Knight Order, who held that position for half a century.

    This wasn’t the first time Yeomyeong had met someone he had seen on TV, yet he still felt nervous without realizing it.

    No matter what, this was the Academy. She definitely wouldn’t do that here… but you never know.

    As a precaution, Yeomyeong gathered his mana, then began walking towards Joanna and the Saintess.

    Not long after, the Saintess’ eyes widened in surprise on spotting him and her mouth slightly agape.

    “…Huh?”

    Though she quickly looked away as if nothing had happened, there was no way that such a blatant reaction wouldn’t go unnoticed by a Superhuman.

    “Saintess, is there something wrong?”

    Joanna stopped in her tracks and turned her gaze in the direction the Saintess had been looking—Toward the boys’ dormitory bathed in the morning sunlight.

    There, she saw a young man walking with the sunlight at his back. Sёar?h the N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    He was walking straight along the path without turning his head, clearly heading toward the Saintess.

    “Could it be… is that young man the friend you mentioned, Saintess?”

    Sensing that it was more of a question for confirmation than one out of ignorance, the Saintess merely pouted her lips without answering.

    In fact, she didn’t even need to answer because the closer he got, the faster the Saintess’ heartbeat became.

    The reaction made it more obvious than a hundred words.

    Letting go of the hand she had been holding, Joanna spoke attentively.

    “…He’s quite a handsome young man. And he looks even better in person than he did on the news.”

    “…”

    “This may sound like an old woman’s rambling, but he looks just like your father when he was young…”

    At that moment, the Saintess interrupted with a serious look on her face.

    “What are you talking about? Yeomyeong’s way better than my dad.”

    “…I meant that his aura is similar.”

    “Nope, even their auras aren’t similar.”

    Once again, she denied it vehemently. Faced with the Saintess’ uncharacteristically stern demeanor, Joanna was left speechless, her lips opening and closing without a sound. ?á???Ε?

    …So this is why they said raising daughters is pointless.

    Joanna sent a silent consolation to her unfortunate junior before clearing her throat a little.

    “, come to think of it, that young man’s eye color is rather unusual… Is he perhaps from our side of the world?”

    It was a question that anyone who saw Yeomyeong’s eyes would have.

    After all, even beyond the Dimensional Portal, where all sorts of iris colors were flaunted due to the influence of mana, golden eyes were not a common sight.

    “That is…”

    Just as the Saintess was about to answer, the response came from an unexpected person.

    “…No, I’m from Earth.”

    Having gotten close enough before they realized it, Yeomyong himself answered the question. Joanna turned her head and responded.

    “Then are you perhaps a mixed-blood?”

    “…I’m not sure. I’ve never met my parents.”

    It was a calm confession.

    Trying to hide her embarrassment, Joanna looked at Yeomyeong for a moment before suddenly extending her hand to him.

    “Nice to meet you. I’m Joanna Thule, the new special teacher for the Academy.”

    Her tone was so polite, it was hard to believe that she was addressing a junior far beneath her.

    Yeomyeong, who had been worried that a sword might come flying at him, let out an involuntary sigh.

    …

    Although it was still too early to let his guard down, it was about time he met a somewhat normal(?) believer.

    Yeomyeong grasped Joanna’s hand firmly and replied.

    “…Academy first-year student, Cheon Yeomyeong. It’s an honor to meet the Gun of Redox.”

    His greeting was polite but not servile.

    Was Joanna impressed by Yeomyeong’s attitude? The smile that spread across her wrinkled lips as she shook his hand seemed to suggest so.

    “It seems like a twist of fate that we managed to run into each other. Did you perhaps come here to meet the Saintess?”

    “Not really, it is simply a coincidence. I just happened to see the Saintess during my morning workout…”

    “Good timing. It saved me the wait of standing in front of the dormitory.”

    It was an outright confirmation that she had come all the way to the boys’ dormitory just to meet him.

    Yeomyeong gave the Saintess standing behind Joanna a sideways glance, his eyes filled with suspicion.

    The Saintess then began making some strange gestures in his direction.

    It seemed to be sign language… but since Yeomyeong didn’t know how to interpret it, he simply ignored her.

    Then, Joanna put her hands on her hips and spoke.

    “Student Cheon Yeomyeong. Since we’re meeting like this, I’ll be direct.”

    “…”

    “Would you like to become my student for the special class?”

    Yeomyeong’s eyes narrowed at her sudden proposal.

    Out of all the people, a Holy Knight suddenly showed up and asked him to become her student?

    If he looked at it positively, it wasn’t exactly strange.

    His achievements and talents displayed so far were more than enough for anyone to covet. Even the Holy Sword had tried to take him on as an apprentice.

    However… judging by the desperation on the Saintess’ face, it seemed that there was an underlying reason behind Joanna Thule’s proposal.

    “…May I ask for the reason behind this proposal?”

    Before replying, Joanna glanced back and forth between Yeomyeong and the Saintess.

    The Saintess, who had been using sign language with urgency, stopped and put both hands behind her back.

    Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Joanna had caught wind of the sign language.

    “Student Cheon Yeomyeong? I’ll be honest. The special class is just a pretext. The real reason I came to the Academy is to escort the Saintess.”

    “…”

    “However… the Saintess has refused to sign up for my class. Can you guess why?”

    “Joanna! Wait…!”

    The Saintess made a belated attempt to intervene in their conversation, but Joanna spoke a little faster.

    “She said that attending the same class as her friend is more important than my protection.”

    * * *

    Yeomyeong, who had been tense until now, felt his knees buckle.

    He was worried about what huge misunderstanding she had caused, but it was just the Saintess being stubborn?

    Yeomyeong held back from saying something to the Saintess.

    Why was she behaving like this as of late? Despite her odd quirks, he thought she was somewhat trustworthy back in Manchuria.

    Well, to be fair, she was behaving rather strangely back then, too. Yeomyeong massaged his brows for a moment and then politely declined.

    “Thank you for the offer, but… I already have a class I’ve signed up for. I won’t be changing my decision just because of the Saintess.”

    A deep sigh escaped the Saintess’ lips as soon as he finished speaking.

    It was so deep, that no one was able to tell if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment.

    Leaving that sigh behind, Joanna spoke.

    “Student Cheon Yeomyeong, could you reconsider?”

    “…I’m sorry.”

    “If you’re worried that I won’t be taking the classes seriously, that’s a misunderstanding…”

    “No, that’s not the case. I just believe that it would be best for the Saintess to change her mind this time.”

    “Is that your personal opinion? Or…”

    “My opinion as a friend.”

    Having said so, Yeomyeong snuck a discreet glance at Joanna’s expression. Despite being turned down by someone much junior to her, she showed no hint of disappointment or anger.

    “…I apologize for making such an unreasonable request, all for the sake of accommodating the Saintess’ stubbornness.”

    She even lowered her head in apology to Yeomyeong.

    Witnessing an unexpectedly mature response, Yeomyeong felt a faint sense of relief.

    “It’s alright. There’s no need for you to apologize, ma’am.”

    It was truly fortunate that not everyone around the Saintess was strange.

    However, in retrospect, it should have been a natural thing.

    It was just that the Saintess’ mother and Corvus, whom Yeomyeong had met, were particularly strange individuals.

    The adults around the Saintess were mostly priests serving the Five Gods—Reverent, normal, and righteous adults.

    Maybe the reason the Saintess had been behaving strangely as of late was because she had been away from such adults for too long.

    With that thought, Yeomyeong raised his head again.

    The Saintess was fidgeting with her fingers, and Joanna seemed to be deep in thought.

    “If there’s nothing more, I’ll return to the dormitory.”

    After saying this, Yeomyeong gave Joanna a slight bow.

    Having nothing else to discuss, Joanna also gave a small nod in response.

    “May the Red God bless your struggle.”

    And with that brief farewell, Yeomyeong turned around.

    However, the Saintess, who had been hesitating until then, suddenly seemed to realize something and called out to him the moment he did so.

    “Wait, Yeomyeong! Just a moment!”

    “…What now?”

    “Do you remember? The promise we made at the shelter.”

    “Promise?”

    “You remember, right?”

    He remembered. How could he forget the promise he made to convince the Saintess to use her Foresight at the shelter?

    Seeing her bring up the promise to fulfill one of her requests now meant that…

    Yeomyeong resisted the strong urge to smack the Saintess on the forehead and asked.

    “Do you really want to use it now?”

    “Yep! I’m going to use it right now.”

    The Saintess replied, puffing out her chest confidently. And as expected, a ridiculous request followed.

    “My request is simple. Convince Joanna on my behalf.”

    Convince? She was asking him to convince the escort specially dispatched by the Holy Nation to not protect her?

    Yeomyeong pressed his lips together and checked Joanna’s reaction.

    As expected, she was an adult. Joanna simply smiled wryly without showing any other emotions.

    To think that she was rejecting someone like her and was seeking out another special teacher…

    He couldn’t understand the Saintess’ thoughts, after all, she didn’t seem to have any particular circumstances like him or Seti.

    Yeomyeong swallowed a sigh and walked right up to the Saintess. And then…

    He flicked her forehead. The sudden attack made the Saintess stagger, clutching her forehead.

    Yeomyeong grabbed her shoulder to steady her and said calmly.

    “Saintess, what I gave you just now was advice from a friend.”

    “You, you…!”

    “And let’s me give you another piece of advice as a friend: Don’t waste a precious request on something foolish like this.”

    “F-foolish? You don’t know the resolve I had…”

    “Honestly, I’ve already toned it down a lot. You know that, right?”

    Yeomyeong was about to say something else, but before he could the Saintess began tracing something on his thigh with her finger.

    Thanks to the many chaotic experiences they had shared, Yeomyeong was able to understand the countless meanings behind that short signal.

    However… why did it have to be with him again?

    With a legendary Holy Knight right in front of them, there was no reason for him to be involved in the Saintess’ Foresight.

    …That was what he thought until he discerned the next signal she wrote on his thigh.