Chapter 214
“We, as students of Keyzen…”
Simon focused all his attention solely on reading the content in front of him.
He couldn’t stutter, and a voice crack was absolutely unacceptable.
The pledge seemed to be the usual stuff about honoring dignity, upholding honor, and giving one's best in education, but he was so focused that even as he spoke the words out loud, the content barely registered in his head.
Just like that, a minute passed in an instant, and the pledge was over.
‘Haaaah. I didn’t mess up.’
“Why are you so nervous?”
At Serne’s teasing question, Simon replied with an embarrassed expression.
“Guess I got tense thinking I couldn’t mess up.”
“You said it so smoothly though~”
Following Aron’s instructions, the two who had finished the pledge came down from the stage and returned to their seats.
“You did great, Simon!”
Kamibarez and Dick welcomed him. Returning to his seat, Simon glanced over at Maelyn. She wore an extremely displeased expression.
“Was it that great for you?”
For some reason, Simon felt like he had to answer this carefully.
“Not really. I wasn’t thinking anything at all.”
Maelyn scoffed through her nose.
With that, the student representative pledge ended, and now the true highlight of the entrance ceremony began.
“Faculty, please enter.”
The moment that stirred their hearts more than any other. As the star-studded Keyzen professors appeared on stage, the students erupted into the loudest cheers yet.
‘Everyone’s doing well!’
Simon’s gaze lingered on familiar faces.
Jane, vice-chancellor and the instructor for Class A.
Professor Hongpeng of Magical Combat, and Professor Bahil of Katarology.
Also standing out were Professor Eric of Darkness Dynamics, and Professor Umbra of Spiritology.
“And one additional announcement. This term, in the second integrated semester, new professors have joined us.”
At Aron’s words, the students buzzed with excitement. Everyone had already been speculating about who the new Toxicology professor might be.
“Then allow me to introduce them. Professors, please come forward.”
Three men and women unfamiliar to the students stepped onto the podium. Aron introduced them one by one from the right.
“This might come as a surprise. On the recommendation of Professor Sillage, who is currently on assignment, Professor Walter Han will be taking over the Haematology class.”
A man in a brown suit and glasses stepped forward.
Cheers erupted from all sides. The girls’ screams, in particular, sounded almost like cannon fire.
“Who is that, who?”
“Wow, that face is totally unfair.”
“I can already hear the number of Haematology majors increasing.”
Even Maelyn, who was seeing Walter for the first time, reacted with shock, and even the male students admired him with pure-hearted amazement.
It wasn’t just jealousy, he looked like a walking statue. Walter, now standing at the front, took the amplification crystal orb handed to him by an assistant.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Walter Han.”
At his soft and gentle voice, several girls visibly swooned.
“It’s an honor to take over Haematology from Professor Sillage. I may be far less capable than him, but I’ll do my best.”
Thunderous applause followed.
Walter finished with a few brief words and returned to his place. Aron introduced the next professor.
“Next, we have the new professor for Defense Against Holiness.”
Until now, Defense Against Holiness had been less about teaching actual techniques and more akin to ideological indoctrination.
Especially in the first semester, the course had been taught by Professor Hlut, a necromancer who had spent his entire life guarding the front lines of the Holy Federation. He was a soldier to the bone and harbored deep hatred toward clerics.
Why are clerics evil?
Why must we defeat the Holy Federation?
He spoke of the brutality and hypocrisy of clerics, recounted terrorist incidents caused by fanatics, and shared his own experiences, all to stir the students’ hatred and rage.
Because such indoctrination was the norm, the actual techniques of defending against holiness were criticized for being neglected.
Following the recent Saint incident, Neftis made a sweeping and decisive personnel change. This appointment could only be described as shocking.
“Hmm hmm.”
The old man in a white robe waving with one hand, every first-year had seen him at the entrance to Keyzen at least once. That overwhelmingly powerful cleric.
“Before I introduce him,”
Aron said in a stern voice,
“Any disrespect toward the professor will not be tolerated.”
At Aron’s icily cold warning, the students’ expressions hardened. A few extremists, who had been preparing to boo at the word cleric, quickly shut their mouths.
“We invited him with great difficulty. He is Professor Farahan, President of the Anti-Holy Federation Association and former bishop of Efnelle.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Sparse applause trickled out.
A stark contrast to the applause Walter had received. In fact, those who clapped quickly stopped and glanced around nervously.
Still, Farahan smiled warmly and nodded at Aron.
A gesture of thanks for his consideration. Aron respectfully bowed in return.
Amid a silence so cold it was almost painful, Farahan stepped forward and accepted the amplification orb from an assistant.
“……”
It was certainly an unprecedented event.
Never before had a cleric been officially given teaching authority, and not at some countryside school either, but here at Keyzen. That alone was enough to shock the students.
Now, they would be forced to learn from a cleric.
A significant number of students considered clerics to be beings that should be eradicated, and after the Saint incident, hostility toward them was at its peak.
What would Farahan, who had come from the Holy Federation, say at a time like this?
Everyone, including Simon, focused their eyes on him. Even the professors seated behind the stage stole glances, waiting for Farahan to speak.
Farahan, his loose white robe billowing like that of an immortal, brought the orb close to his mouth.
“Efnelle…”
He slowly opened his palm.
“…is more determined than anything else in this world to take my life.”
Fwooooom!
From his palm, flames of holiness burst forth, reaching toward the ceiling.
Screams and gasps rang out from all directions. Even the professors in the back recoiled in shock.
“In Efnelle, this holy power is taught to descend only upon those ‘chosen by the Goddess’.”
He spoke as he extinguished the flame.
“But the mere existence of this body refutes that doctrine head-on. Why wouldn’t they want me dead? I’m sure they pray for divine punishment to strike me down a hundred, a thousand times a day.”
His voice echoed through the great auditorium. Using his holy power, he had seized the chaotic crowd with dramatic flair. Simon, seated in the audience, was impressed.
“If Efnelle truly represents the will of the Goddess, then how do they explain the holiness within this old man, who stands in defiance of them?”
His eyes carried deep darkness and pain.
“Hear me, young ones. Efnelle governs its people through falsehood. They blind their eyes, deafen their ears. No thought or knowledge is permitted. They sit people in dark rooms with only a lamp and scripture, and force them to read nothing else. That’s how they freeze their minds, hearts, and values. That is their method.”
His firm and resonant voice spread like ripples through the hall.
“In the name of the Goddess, the people must take joy in having their property unjustly seized. In the name of the Goddess, they must reject foreign culture for clouding their minds. Those who raise questions are tortured by inquisitors and oppressed through fear. Truly.”
The air grew heavy and still.
“Who, then, is the one who should be struck down by divine punishment!”
Clap.
One student, wearing a dazed expression, clapped once.
Clap. Clap.
Two, then three more nearby joined in.
Clapclapclapclapclapclap.
They weren’t loud, but small, scattered claps erupted throughout the hall. The old man gave a soft smile and dipped his head slightly.
Farahan was a man who believed in the existence of holiness, but thought that Efnelle distorted and twisted the true will of the gods in order to fortify their own privilege and indulge in selfish desires.
The scriptures said the Goddess cherished and loved all living things equally. Then why did they teach to kill half of humanity?
The scriptures said the Goddess urged all people to awaken. Then why did they blind their eyes and block their ears?
The more deeply he engaged in his faith, the larger those questions grew, and eventually, he cast off his position as bishop.
His destination was the Dark Alliance. Neftis welcomed him without hesitation and entrusted him with uniting the defector clerics.
“I won’t force my values upon you. But I am certain that Efnelle is the common enemy of us all. This old man may not live to see the day of liberation. But I can still sow the seeds. With my knowledge and experience, I shall teach you how to resist holiness. I hope that one day, you will drive out evil and save the innocent.”
Farahan lowered the amplification crystal from his mouth and nodded toward Aron. That signaled he was done.
Aron looked out at the students and said,
“Come on, applause.”
The students clapped.
Though their hostility and deep-rooted beliefs hadn’t changed in just a few words, the applause was at least slightly louder than when Farahan first stepped up.
Farahan returned to the faculty seats and took a seat next to Walter.
“And finally, the last professor joining Keyzen. We truly went through great trouble to bring this one in as well.”
Click, click, click.
With ash-brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail, a woman in her late twenties walked up to the podium.
Everyone suddenly burst into chatter.
“Who… who is that?”
“No idea.”
“Doesn’t her face kind of give off Professor Hongpeng vibes?”
“I thought the same thing.”
Murmurmurmur.
Standing before the students, Belya stopped walking. From his seat, Simon quietly chuckled.
‘She must be super nervous.’
She had shed her bizarre, ragged attire and was now properly dressed in a black formal suit. Her face was clean, possibly made up. Seeing her dressed like a normal person, she even looked like a beauty.
However, Belya herself seemed unaccustomed to her current appearance and stood there looking somewhat dazed. An assistant handed her the amplification crystal, and Aron explained.
“Taking over for Professor Lang, the new professor for Toxicology will be Professor ‘Belya Tun Sokum Marlat’. She is the twin sister of your beloved Professor Hongpeng.”
Ooooh!
The students’ eyes lit up with excitement, and this time, a huge reaction came from the male students. The Toxicology hopefuls, in particular, looked like they were about to explode with anticipation.
“……”
However, Belya herself was acting… strange.
Her eyes were wide open, her shoulders were raised so high they nearly touched her ears, and her posture was hunched over. She twitched uncomfortably now and then.
She looked like a cat forced into clothes it hated, completely frozen and malfunctioning.
She remained in that state for several minutes, saying nothing. Students began to notice something was off and started murmuring, while Aron, who was serving as host, cleared his throat and spoke up.
“Professor? Could you say a few words to the students?”
Belya remained rigid, shoulders still high, unmoving.
The murmurs grew louder, and the broadcasting assistants were silently screaming at her to say something.
“……Uh……”
Finally, her first sound escaped.
Then silence again.
Simon’s gaze drifted toward the faculty seats in the back where Hongpeng sat. She was holding her forehead and sighing deeply.
“……Ugh.”
Then Belya’s shoulders began to twitch violently.
“Ughughugh… uaaaaaAAAHH…”
Aron spoke in alarm.
“Professor, is there something troubling you—”
“FUCKING! UN! COMFORTABLEEEEEEEE!!!!”
She suddenly grabbed the suit she was wearing and began ripping it apart in a fit of irritation. The grand auditorium erupted into chaos at the professor’s bizarre behavior.
Shreds of her suit flew in every direction. She tore her skirt clean down the middle and ripped holes in her stockings.
Her usual ragged outfit appeared beneath the torn suit. She kicked off her high heels one after another, going barefoot, and when she undid the hair tie, her ash-brown hair spilled out and flowed freely.
“Phew! Haaaah! Now I can finally breathe!”
She shouted in a thunderous voice.
The broadcasting assistants tearfully signaled Aron to please stop her, but Aron, who was supposed to control the situation, simply smiled with satisfaction as if he had met a kindred spirit.
“If you ever make me wear crap like that again, I’ll kill you all!!”
She yelled a warning at the coordinators, then picked up the amplification crystal from the floor.
“Nice to meet ya, brats! Name’s Belya!”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters