Chapter 421
Lete’s Divine Beastology class was truly a whole new world.
Of course, Keyzen’s Defense Against Holiness professor, Farahan, also gave excellent lectures, but since his major was Holiness Dynamics, Divine Beastology was limited to textbook-level instruction at best.
According to Lete, Divine Beastology was a fully specialized field, and no matter how exceptional a priest might be, they’d only ever know the basics of it.
“Did you know?”
Lete asked, placing her hand on Akallion’s body.
“This divine beast. It can fly.”
“Whaaat?!”
Simon shot up from his seat. Then he quickly turned to look at Akallion.
“Seriously? Why didn’t you ever fly when you were with me?”
–Wooong…….
“Don’t be too harsh on him. He just didn’t know how.”
Lete gently patted Akallion’s head. He let out a pleased “wooong” sound.
“Also, to fly, he needs the help of divine beast magic.”
“Divine beast magic! You mean drawing magic circles on divine beasts, right?”
“Yes. Using holiness and the power of magic circles to draw out 200% of a divine beast’s potential. That’s about how you can define it.”
Lete then drew magic circles on all four of Akallion’s legs on the spot. Then she drew a larger circle on his back and connected it to the leg circles.
After finishing her work, she looked at Simon and said,
“Take it off.”
When Simon flinched, Lete frowned in irritation, as if even explaining was annoying.
“I need to draw a magic circle on your body too, so turn around and take off your top, dumbass!”
“...Ah, got it.”
Simon obediently took off his shirt and sat back down. She approached with a hum and then slapped his back with her palm.
Simon flinched, trembling in surprise.
“W-Wait! Is that part of the divine beast magic circle process?”
“No. I just wanted to smack you *-cause you’ve got a nice back.”
‘...Why are you saying that so confidently?!’
Lete then squatted behind him and began drawing the magic circle on his back with her finger.
‘Ugh.’
Simon tightly shut his eyes, his face reddening.
It tickled.
Lete’s thin, white fingers danced softly, tracing over every corner of his back.
It made the fine hairs on his body stand on end.
A strange and ticklish feeling welled up, making his nose sting a little.
“Ah, stay still!”
Smack!
Lete slapped Simon’s back again. Simon shut his mouth and straightened his back, seemingly out of spite. A faint smile crept onto Lete’s lips.
“...You’re doing this to tease me, aren’t you?”
“Don’t talk. I need to concentrate.”
And so, after 20 minutes, the holy magic circle on Simon’s back was complete.
“This is just a test version. It won’t stay permanently, so don’t worry. If you want to maintain it, you’ll have to repair it yourself.”
Lete stood up and crossed her arms.
“Now, infuse it with holiness and activate the magic circle. Both you and Akallion.”
Simon nodded and activated the circle on his back and Akallion’s at the same time.
“!”
A tingling sensation surged through his entire body.
He felt completely linked to Akallion.
It was similar to connecting to an undead through spiritual resonance, but Divine Beastology felt even more intuitive.
“30 minutes.”
Lete checked the time.
“Go have some light fun with Akallion.”
“Fun?”
“Yes. Think of it as a warm-up to increase your sensitivity.”
Following her instruction, Simon jogged around the house with Akallion.
Perhaps it was because it had been a while since they last had a walk, but Akallion’s joy was clearly transmitted to Simon.
After finishing the lap, they returned to find Lete rummaging through her bag.
“Does Akallion have a favorite food?”
“He usually feeds on my holiness, and aside from that, just tree fruits, berries, mushrooms, corn, things like that?”
Lete pulled out a sweet fruit, had Simon infuse it with holiness, then waved it in front of Akallion’s eyes. The fruity scent made Akallion drool, a glint of hunger in his eyes.
“Heave-ho.”
Lete used white magic to levitate the fruit into the air.
“Akallion! Try to get it!”
She tossed the fruit, and Akallion let out a “Wuoong!” as he charged after it at full speed.
“Faster, faster!”
Lete’s handling skills were masterful. She teased the fruit just out of reach, skillfully pulling it back and forth near his mouth.
After getting a few tastes as it brushed his lips, Akallion became even more excited and charged with greater force.
“Faster! Run faster! More! More! More! More!”
And then.
What happened next left Simon with his mouth hanging open.
‘No way!’
The fruit soared higher into the air, and Akallion, fixated solely on it, began rising off the ground as well.
That massive, heavy body of his started running in midair.
With every step, the four magic circles on his legs sparked with white bursts of energy.
‘Incredible!’
Simon clenched his fists in excitement.
Akallion finally snatched the fruit midair and began munching happily. Lete spread her arms and called out,
“Great job, Akallion! Look at what you just did~”
–Wuoong?
Akallion looked down below.
And then.
He realized he was floating tens of meters above the ground.
–WuoOooOong!
Startled, Akallion began flailing wildly in midair and started to fall.
Seeing this, Simon kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
‘Release!’
He deactivated the linked holy magic circle, dispelled the holiness in Akallion’s body. The massive beast turned back into a small teddy bear-like form and plummeted downward—only to be caught softly as Simon slid through the grass to catch him.
“Whew.”
Simon let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
“You okay?”
–Wuoong!
Still shaken, Akallion buried himself into Simon’s arms. Simon gently held him and stroked his fur with his palm.
“I didn’t think we’d succeed on the first try either.”
Lete approached, brushing back her hair.
“Of course, we’ll need a lot more practice from here on.”
Sparkle sparkle sparkle!
Simon’s eyes began to shine as he looked at Lete. She grimaced with a “Ugh” expression.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
“Thank you so, so much! And I see you in a new light. No wonder you were picked as Efnelle’s number one!”
She whipped her body around.
“Hearing that from Keyzen’s necromancer doesn’t make me feel that great, you know.”
“Hahaha!”
“What’s so funny!”
Yet for some reason, the corners of her lips were curling upward.
Anyway, the Akallion training was done for now. Simon stored Akallion in his holy subspace, then winced and touched his forehead.
‘Feeling a bit dizzy.’
Holiness consumes a lot of mental energy. Even though it was just a short flight, the cost in holiness seemed greater than expected.
Lete noticed and said,
“Using Akallion as a flight tool right away will be hard. You’ll probably need to apply it more tactically in combat.”
“If I get more efficient with training, do you think he could fly freely?”
“Hmm. Rather than that, you’d need a divine beast-exclusive artifact to assist with Akallion’s flight.”
Next, he brought out the kitten divine beasts, Whitey and Blackey. The moment they came out, they meowed incessantly and bounced around excitedly.
“Hmhm.”
Even the great Lete couldn’t resist the charms of baby cats.
She wiggled her fingers to draw their attention. Seeing the long, white movement, Blackey instantly pounced and gnawed on her hand—not that it hurt.
“If these kids awaken as divine beasts, they’ll likely become objectified divine beasts like Mimi.”
“Mimi… You mean that turtle divine beast?”
“Yes. You and I are just lucky. Objectified divine beasts are super rare.”
She stood up.
“What are you doing to help them awaken?”
“...Honestly, not much. Just feeding them holiness now and then to induce transformation, like before. Mostly just waiting for them to grow.”
Even as he said that, the kittens meowed relentlessly, begging for holiness, so he gave each of them a small dose.
Their bodies lifted lightly into the air, glowing as if they were about to change, but they fell back down in their original forms.
“That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“You’re doing quite well, I think. Their development and health are good, and the way they begin to transform looks ideal. It’s puzzling why the transformation isn’t succeeding.”
Lete also helped adjust their training and advised changes to their diet, but they couldn’t identify a clear trigger for divine beast awakening.
Still, Simon was quite satisfied with the progress so far.
“Well, let’s head back now.”
Lete stretched with a big yawn.
“The kids will be arriving soon. I’ve got to prep for today’s class too.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
* * *
Busy, hectic days continued.
Early mornings were for divine beast training with Lete, followed by his role as a teacher for the kids. After sending them off and having dinner, he got a bit of rest, and then at dawn—when everyone was asleep—he crossed the barrier to continue searching the snowy mountains.
The blizzards were so thick that you couldn’t see an inch ahead, and he and Lete often got lost. But they were gradually getting the hang of it.
He also grew closer to the children.
“Teacher Shaun! Teacher Shaun!”
As Simon was tidying up some toys, three little girls tugged at the hem of his shirt.
Simon turned with a gentle smile.
“Yes, how can I help you?”
One of the girls shouted with a pure, beaming smile.
“Me! I want to marry Teacher Shaun!”
Pfft! Cough! Cough!
A coughing sound echoed from the kitchen, where Lete was preparing snacks.
“Can’t you just live with us in our village forever?”
“If you won’t marry Anda, then I want to have Teacher Shaun’s baby!”
Simon was popular with the kids too. He patted the three girls on the head and smiled kindly.
“That’s a bit too early to talk about, don’t you think? If your feelings are still the same 15 years from now, why don’t you tell me again then?”
“Fifteen years is too far!”
“Anda’s only five years old now!”
“How many sleeps is fifteen years?!”
Simon gently talked the kids down and got them to clean up the toys.
As he walked over to grab a picture book, he saw Lete plating snacks at the table, wearing a mocking smile.
“Well well. Congratulations on your fifteen-year engagement, Teacher Shaun~”
“...Don’t tease me.”
And so, peaceful days went by.
* * *
At the same time.
Coola.
“...My lord! We have no more food supplies!”
“We’ve run out of winter gear too!”
“Monsters have overrun the outskirts! Homeless residents are demanding compensation!”
“We’re even running low on medicine for the injured!”
The cold worsened, and with it, the city’s situation hit rock bottom. Coola’s lord pressed his forehead, weighed down by worry.
“People are boiling tree bark to eat. At best, we’ve got two days left!”
“Please make a decision, my lord! We can’t just sit here and die!”
“......”
The lord, who had lost weight from extreme stress and hunger in just a few days, raised his head.
His eyes turned toward the snowy mountains beyond the window.
“Right.”
Clack.
He grabbed the hilt of the sword leaning against the wall.
“We can’t just sit here and die.”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time