Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 398 Irene
Sometimes, Ritas felt that his "blindness" to many things about Miriam was nearing its limit.

For example, how could Miriam, who is ostensibly raised in a welfare institution run by the Church of the Holy King, be allowed to visit the church's "holy sites"? Is this "holy site" of the Church of the Holy King a tourist attraction that anyone can visit?
It can only be said that even a makeshift church like the Church of the Bathing Goddess would not allow its holy sites to be visited by others at will.

Oh. It seems the Church of the Bathing Goddess doesn't have a holy site.

In short, Ritas, snapping out of his reverie, continued to observe the strange stone slab in front of him.

Initially, Miriam mentioned that in the Holy King's Church's sacred grounds, besides seeing the "Holy Sword Kaum," he also saw this strange stone slab standing in the middle. As Miriam described the stone slab, Ritas quickly connected it to this one in the Western Ruins.

The legends associated with the Holy Sword are similar, and there are also similar stone tablets.

The Saintess Marenu of the Western Realm is very likely connected to the Holy King's Church. And Miriam, who was able to wield the "Chosen Sword," is also very likely connected to the Saintess.

Furthermore, let's expand on this idea. In the legends surrounding the Holy Sword Kaum, the substance that sealed the Thunder Dragon's horns was "obsidian," a mineral that has been highly prized since ancient times. Moreover, the most well-known organization associated with obsidian is the "Obsidian Magic Tower," one of the five major academies that participated in the academic exchange conference in Ers.

To this day, almost everyone in the Obsidian Magic Tower is being held captive at Erles Academy by Livis. The reason given is that the Obsidian Magic Tower has close ties with the "Holy King Church," which has been unfairly blamed for everything.

"Why would a saintess who left behind legends in the Western Regions also leave behind relics at the Holy King's Church?"

After observing the stone slab for a while without finding anything useful, Miriam asked in confusion.

The western border and the southern side of the continent are quite far apart.

"That's naturally because she can move. Legend has it that she was always accompanied by a pegasus. So, moving to other areas would be even easier. The legends of the Western Regions only tell the story of her pioneering this land, not her subsequent whereabouts. The Elson family claims that after Saint Marenu, she simply assumed the identity of an ordinary person, had children, and spent her later years in the Western Regions as an ancestor of the Elson family. But the stone tablet of the Holy King's Church is perhaps the best proof to refute this fabrication. Of course, it's also possible that Marenu was actually active in the southern part of the continent first, and then came to the Western Regions. In that case, she was not the girl in the legends who almost died on the battlefield at first and then became powerful after receiving divine revelation."

"what"

Miriam scratched his head, realizing he had asked a very stupid question.

Indeed, since she has legs, she can go wherever she wants.

At the same time, Miriam seemed to understand why Ritas had been focusing on the legend of "Saint Marenu" in the Western Regions. Ritas might not have disliked these heavily embellished legends, but simply disliked people who treated obviously flawed anecdotes and unofficial histories as gospel and forced others in their family to believe them as well.

Just like the legend about Pegasus.

Since the saintess was a real person, then what country was the "certain country" of the prince who transformed into a celestial horse? Such a large country should be hard to disappear from history.

Therefore, Miriam believed that Saint Marenus might indeed have been traveling with a pegasus at that time. But it was just a pegasus, without any complicated background.

As for the Pegasus, which could freely traverse amidst a barrage of magic, it's even more impossible that it would ultimately be killed by an arrow. It's likely that after the saintess left the Western Regions, the people compiling the legend felt the story couldn't be properly concluded, so they arranged a "tragic" ending. However, they also felt that even the deepest affection between the Pegasus and the saintess wouldn't move readers enough, so they added the popular element of the legend that the Pegasus was actually a prince in disguise.

"Are the words and pictures on the stone tablet the same as the one in the Church of the Holy King?"

Ritas's question pulled Miriam back from her reverie.

"Well"

After examining it carefully for a while, Miriam frowned.

"Sorry, Professor, I don't remember."

He didn't have Ritas's good memory, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't remember something as meaningless as the patterns on the stone slab.

"Or rather, can the professor identify which parts are text and which parts are pictures?"

"Miriam asked curiously. To him, the engravings on both sides of the stone slab looked like a messy jumble. He believed anyone who told him they were natural cracks."

"Here, here, and here. The patterns in these places are all exactly the same. These patterns have appeared seven times on the front of the stone slab. Similarly, there are other identical patterns. This situation generally indicates that these patterns are a kind of writing. And deciphering unfamiliar writing usually starts with finding similarities and patterns."

"Oh"

Unwittingly, Miriam gained some more knowledge that he didn't know he would ever use again in his life.

Ritas, who had tried to decipher it but found it impossible to do so so easily, then tried to look for more information in other directions.

Speaking of which, although it was just a feeling, when Ritas saw the Saintess Slab again, he remembered the things he saw in the "World Tree Maze" at the beginning of this semester.

One is a labyrinth containing ancient script taught by John, and a strange stone tablet newly engraved with the number "three".

The other is the door leading to the World Tree labyrinth.

The similarity between stone tablets and stone slabs lies in elements such as the spacing and arrangement of the text on them.

The similarity between the stone slabs and the door panels lies in their materials.

Touching, tapping, changing the temperature, etc.

After a few simple attempts, Ritas felt that the slate slabs provided a similar feel to the door.

Thinking of this, Ritas took out the dormant white disc from his waist.

The condition of the goddess of bathing remains a cause for concern. But Ritas, unable to intervene, can only focus on the present and try to make the white disc itself do something.

Ritas held the disc in his hands and stood in front of the stone slab for a moment, but nothing happened.

So, Ritas threw the disc onto the stone slab with a smooth throwing motion.

boom!
"Eh??"

The sudden noise startled Miriam, who had no idea what the professor was getting angry about.

"It seems the key to this door isn't the white disc. Or perhaps, is this stone slab truly the door?"

Ritas waved his hand, retrieved the white disc, and muttered to himself.

Miriam, realizing that Ritas was merely experimenting, breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps... these stone slabs and white discs must be very precious items? Isn't the professor afraid of actually breaking either side?

"Perhaps the real key lies in your hands, Miriam Cadet."

While making his own summary, Ritas turned his gaze to Miriam.

Before the Saintess's Slab, Miriam simply used some of the power he had unconsciously "absorbed" in the past. This mainly consisted of Melsie's blue flames, Tabata's zero-gravity gas, and Noah's green vines.

However, when these forces collided with the saint's stone slab, nothing happened.

"really."

Is it not possible to just summon the "star pattern" directly?

Miriam stared at the stone slab in front of him, his heart filled with inner turmoil.

According to Ritas's speculation, this strange stone slab, which was originally lying alone beneath the ground, might be a door to a hidden space. And the condition for opening the door is most likely to lie with Miriam, who has already been proven by numerous facts to have some connection with Saint Marenu.

If you were to ask what makes Miriam unique and exceptionally mysterious,

Aside from this current enigmatic state, there is only that special star pattern that appears on the soul.

"If you really feel uncomfortable, don't force yourself, Miriam."

Seeing Miriam's hesitation, Ritas spoke up,
Even if you unleash your true power, it doesn't guarantee the door will open. Nor does it mean that what you desire will necessarily be inside.

"But... if I could open the 'Saintess's' ruins, or even prove my connection to the Saintess, wouldn't that be a great help to the professor's current situation?"

As he uttered those words, Miriam realized that his hesitation, stemming from some concerns and personal reasons, was actually somewhat selfish.

"There's no need to worry too much about this, Cadet Miriam. If you succeed, you'll just be giving me another option. In reality, people always have many paths in their lives, and blocking one doesn't necessarily mean there's no way out. Or rather, a family and order that requires a cadet to pay a price to save might not even have a reason to exist."

"."

Listening to Ritas's words, Miriam didn't know how others would interpret them, but at least he sensed a "my affairs are none of your business" attitude.

As if a "furious" symbol appeared on Miriam's forehead, he took a deep breath.

"Perhaps, in the professor's mind, you're simply helping me and the other students in the class out of a sense of duty as a teacher. But... for me, for us, we can't really distinguish that clearly! So, whenever there's an opportunity, even if it's just a small favor, I want to help the professor as much as possible. Besides, after spending so much time with the professor, Professor Kurt, and Senior Charlotte, I can no longer completely detach myself from these responsibilities without feeling guilty."

Miriam, who had been speaking so aggressively, immediately lost his composure after impulsively pulling a pendant from his robes.
"Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide anything anymore. I should try to take a step forward myself!"

"Okay. Should I turn around?"

Ritas stopped trying to dissuade Milian.

Or perhaps, there are some things they will have to face sooner or later.
"Need not!"

After taking a few deep breaths and reaffirming my resolve,

Miriam opened the pendant in her hand and lifted it slightly into the air.

As Miriam made his move, a round, moon-shaped object radiating a bright light quickly flew out of the pendant.

A miniature full moon hung in the sky, then quickly began to be covered by darkness.

Full moon, half moon, crescent moon, until finally, like a lunar eclipse, only a faint sliver of light remains.

As the full moon above Miriam's head almost disappeared, Miriam himself below began to shrink slightly, with his height, shoulder width, and skeletal structure changing rapidly.

Finally, a silver-haired girl appeared before Ritas.

Previously, Miriam had changed into loose-fitting clothes at the attendant's base. Now, the silver-haired girl's top was askew, practically threatening to slip off her shoulders at any moment.

Looking at Ritas across from her, who had not only been told not to turn around but hadn't, and who was staring straight at her without blinking, the silver-haired girl, who seemed to only now realize all of this, quickly blushed.

However, as if trying to hide her inner rage, the silver-haired girl forced a straight face and said...

"Although we may have met before, and there's a certain feeling that things have come to this point, I still feel I should give a proper self-introduction."

“Nice to meet you, Professor Ritas. My name is ‘Eileen’.”

"."

The area in front of the Saintess Slab, where only Ritas and Eileen were present for the time being, had been silent since the brief self-introductions.

Even though Eileen had mentally prepared herself countless times, she still couldn't resist the overwhelming shame in her heart and squatted down in a corner, burying her head in her hands.

I don’t know if it’s because of the changes in her body, but Irene always feels that her way of thinking is also changing.

All sorts of events that could be ignored or that I had forced myself not to think about before are now flashing through my mind like a revolving lantern.

If we weren't in this rather unusual and unfamiliar situation, but rather at Erles Academy, the image of Ritas and the face of Eileen, who were always on my mind during my memories of academy life, might have already faded away.

Is she really going to be able to go back to the academy?

By the way, if she can find clues about "Miriam" in the Saintess Ruins, then she will have something real to do.

Let's drop out of school! Or should we drop out starting today?!
As Eileen considered escaping to a place where no one knew her, Ritas couldn't help but rub his forehead.

Eileen was more "girlish" than I had imagined. And from any angle, there was no doubt she was a girl.
this.
How is he going to get away with it?

(End of this chapter)