Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 60 Work and Life

"Hello, student Mercy Finn, nice to meet you."

"Hello, Cadet Cecilia Windsor."

In the Cathedral of the Bath Goddess, Merci and Cecilia, standing face to face, greeted each other after a simple introduction by Ritas.

At this moment, Cecilia had put away her previous lively and casual state in the church and stood dignifiedly.

She has been well educated in etiquette since she was young, so there is nothing wrong with her standing posture. Not only is her back straight and full of confidence, but the center of gravity of her feet is evenly distributed. Even the way her arms hang down is very natural, not looking like she is deliberately posing, but also not looking too loose and weak.

In comparison, although Merci tried her best, the difference in background between her and Cecilia could be seen just from her standing posture.

Even though she has changed a lot recently, Merci still hunches her back and hunches her chest most of the time.

In addition to lack of confidence, there may be other factors
In short, although the two were actually about the same height, when standing face to face, Merci seemed to be at least half a head shorter than Cecilia.

At present, the two have only exchanged a few words, but Ritas, who is standing next to the altar, always feels that there is something wrong between the two.
By the way, Ritas recently noticed that women always seem to have two faces, or at least two.

Not to mention the Fairy Queen Ruby, the Bathing Goddess and Xia Lu who were simply acting, Cecilia and Merci's performances were actually quite obvious.

However, Cecilia in her usual "chief" mode and her relaxed state in the church seemed to be natural and not forced. The same was true for Mercie, whether she was hiding behind Ritas subconsciously or facing others like now, she was essentially Mercie.

"So, how did Student Windsor get to know Professor Ritas?"

After a brief silence, Merci suddenly asked.

Cecilia, who wanted to answer it, was keenly aware that this question might not be simple.

Cecilia's biggest pain point at the moment was that she was still in the unfortunate Orange Glory class. Therefore, the more curious and puzzled Mercy's expression and tone were, the more she pointed out the fact that Cecilia was an "outsider".

"I am the first believer of the Bathing Goddess Church founded by Professor Ritas."

Cecilia smiled and emphasized "first place", then continued,
"Why did student Finn come here with Professor Ritas today? It's suspicious that they were spending time together in private during the break. Could it be that they were having a tryst?"

Although she used the ambiguous word "tryst" in her words, her tone was obviously joking. So, she was actually hinting that the act of coming to the abandoned church together in private was suspected to be a tryst, and she had come here with Ritas many times before.

"Eh, hey, hey? The secret meeting or something like that was a misunderstanding by the Windsor students. We were just spending time together in private, not that exaggerated. Otherwise, the special training after class would also be counted!"

Merci seemed quite flustered. She first waved her hands and denied and explained repeatedly, then she covered her mouth as if she realized she had said something wrong, and her face began to turn slightly red.

Cecilia couldn't help but be stunned.

Ok?
"Excuse me. What is special training?"

“It’s a special training for the seminar.”

Ritas, with a somewhat dark face, could not help but join in. He thought that in the future, he could keep Merci away from places like the "Stone Vault" where money could be stored and retrieved through secret codes.

"Isn't the seminar professor's seminar a 'bath seminar'?"

Cecilia's eyes were filled with more and more doubts. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't put the words "bath" and "special training" together.

"."

Ritas, who always felt that the more he talked, the worse it would get, quickly looked around for a way to change the subject, and his eyes finally fell on the white disc.

"Please be quiet, Lady Bath Goddess, I have something to say!"

".Eh? Now? Uh, I cough, we met again under the guidance of fate, Cecilia. And if Merci remembers correctly, this is our first official meeting."

After some adjustments, the "solemn", "holy" and "intellectual" voice that made Ritas particularly uncomfortable began to echo in the church.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Bathing Goddess. Your figure is more beautiful than I imagined."

"abstract?"

"Abstract! Ah. No no no, and no not not me."

Looking at the round shape of the disk, Merci, who had been unable to find a suitable compliment for a long time, said it subconsciously under Ritas's "guidance". Merci, who had some respect for the gods, immediately realized that this word was not good and wanted to deny it. But this word was said by Ritas.
So, Mercy was a little fuming.

"The body is just a vessel for the soul. Its shape is not important to me. Well, Professor Ritas, we will talk alone later."

Faced with the "dangerous" tone of the Bathing Goddess, Ritas simply shrugged.

Could the goddess of the baths jump out of the disc and hit him?

On the other side, Cecilia looked at Merci holding the white disc, and couldn't help laughing at her silly look. She even wondered if she was fighting wits with the air before.

"It's been a long time since we last met, Bath Goddess. You are as funny as ever. However, unlike me, Student Finn really believes it."

Cecilia said, taking the white disk from Merci's hand.

"This is actually a kind of sound transmission magic tool secretly developed by Professor Ritas and his team."

Cecilia, who probably really wanted to show that this church was her "home court", introduced it this way. She was just like a regular customer who replaced the chef and waiter in the restaurant and took the lead in introducing the restaurant's features to her companions.

“.”「.”

At the same time, they remembered the existence of Ritas and the Bathing Goddess, and they all fell silent.

"A magical sound transmission tool?"

Merci looked at Ritas in confusion, and Ritas shook his head imperceptibly.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Cecilia, sensing that the atmosphere was a bit strange, looked back and forth at the others and asked.

"No. Well, student Merci, how does the 'sound quality' you heard this time compare to last time?"

Ritas coughed lightly and asked seriously.

After thinking for a while, Merci finally understood what Ritas was asking, and answered while organizing her words.
"Well, last time it was the kind that occasionally occurs when practicing magic, as if I could hear the magic particles saying something. However, it was much clearer than that feeling, as if someone was talking to me right next to my ear. This time, it was more normal."

"In other words, it was clearer and more definite last time?"

Ritas asked in surprise, and Merci nodded.

"Um, um. Can I have a word with the goddess of the bath?"

"sure!"

Then, the disk returned to Merci's arms.
"I"

Mercy, who was a little nervous, took a deep breath.

"I have always wanted to thank the Bath Goddess in person. Thanks to the help of the Bath Goddess and Professor Ritas, that night, I was able to muster up the courage to make a choice that I would not regret. And, I really 'did something'."

With a gentle expression and a voice that matched it, Merci softly expressed her gratitude to the goddess of baths and Ritas.

Perhaps she was not good at being thanked, or perhaps she was too moved, the Bathing Goddess made a strange sound that was hard to describe.

"Ahem. The signal was a bit bad earlier."

That day, Ritas and the Bathing Goddess kept coughing as if they had a cold.

"Don't underestimate yourself, Merci. You can only achieve those things with your hard work and firm belief. With my power, all I can do is to watch over you silently, and then cheer you up with my voice when you are in danger."

When she spoke about the second half, the Bathing Goddess' voice seemed to be slightly lonely.

"Just as the goddess said. There are very few things that can be conveyed by sound alone. So, this is a victory that belongs only to you."

Ritas is not a bathing goddess, so naturally she will not act as if she is seeking credit. In fact, the bathing goddess will only seek credit from Ritas, and will become a "saint" when facing Merci.

"Professor Ritas, the goddess of bathing."

Merci's gaze could not stay on Ritas's face for too long, and finally fell on the white disc.

It seemed that it was not until this moment that all the knots in Mercy's heart were finally untied.

On the other side, Cecilia, who was only a few steps away from the two people, had a confused look on her face.

Are these people using "secret language" to create an atmosphere that she cannot fit in at all?

The main purpose of Ritas bringing Merci to the Cathedral of the Bath of the Goddess that day was to test whether there were any changes after the upgrade of the "Church System" in the disc.

The test results were basically the same as what Ritas had expected.

In short, the only change brought by the upgrade is that the goddess of bathing can see the believers' surroundings and transmit the voice to them. And she can't see all the time, only when the "small window turns red". As for when the small window turns red, the goddess of bathing thinks it is when the believers are in danger, but Ritas remains skeptical.

Because, on the night of the Summer Festival, Merci's situation was not as dangerous as it seemed.

Therefore, Ritas is more inclined to believe that the appearance of the small window is related to the power of the Star Mark Emblem.

"After Noah joined the seminar, has the number of believers seen at the Bathing Goddess changed?"

“Well, I can’t actually see this. The upgrade button should only pop up when the required number of people is reached. And after pressing it, it’s gone. There’s no history or update instructions at all!”

"How can there be such a useless God and church system?"

"This is your first day meeting me?"

The bathing goddess, who was once again criticized for her own "incompetence", was actually quite unhappy.

The goddess of bathing immediately saw Ritas, who lowered his head, hid his face in the shadow, and his shoulders shook rhythmically.

After observing for a while, she found
“Ha, ha, ha, ha—”

"Wow, are you laughing? That's scary. I don't think it's my fault, but I'm sorry, okay? I'm useless, so don't be so angry and don't scare me."

Having known Ritas for nearly two months, the Bathing Goddess always suspected that Ritas did not have the ability to "laugh".

"No, no, I'm not angry. I'm just looking forward to it. I'm really looking forward to what will happen when the Bath Goddess Church is upgraded next time."

"Eh? Are you planning to help me recruit believers? Seriously run the church?"

"Yes."

".Why?"

Now, it was the Bath Goddess' turn to be unable to understand Ritas' strange logic.

"Because I couldn't resist my curiosity."

Ritas's answer seemed to explain nothing, but also seemed to explain everything.

Even though he had achieved success at a young age, Ritas's desire for exploration had never been extinguished. His fundamental purpose of becoming a class mentor and entering the "Hall of Wisdom" was just to gain more knowledge and explore more things.

Before, whether it was the church or anything else, it was just some "symbols". It had no scalability, and its upper limit was obvious at a glance, so it was not worth exploring at all.

But now, this church system can be "upgraded", and then everything will naturally be different.

Although the abilities of the Church of the Bath Goddess are currently very subtle, the phenomena it displays are magical and cannot be explained by common sense, and they have an alluring charm that is worth exploring.

Moreover, even if it was just to find out whether the Bathing Goddess could continue to be incompetent as the church continued to upgrade, Ritas also had reasons to try to expand the scale of the church to the extreme.

Anyway, a church whose core purpose is "smoother skin after taking a shower" is unlikely to achieve anything big, no matter how big it is or how many believers it has.

Mentors and consultants are just jobs. Bath Goddess Church is life.

Of course, at present, the work is like a mountain, which makes Ritas unable to do anything else. But he will definitely have the opportunity to live and "live"!

When Ritas and the Bathing Goddess finished their furtive conversation in the corner and returned to the nave, they saw Merci and Cecilia sitting on the altar and talking.

Ritas felt that after the baptistery, the most needed thing in the church was probably the statue of the goddess of bathing. Otherwise, sooner or later someone would run into the church and spread a picnic blanket on the altar to set up a tent.

On the surface, the atmosphere between Merci and Cecilia seemed harmonious, but as long as you listened closely, you could sense an inexplicable tension.

"Next, will student Merci also join the Bathing Goddess Church?"

"I'm sorry, student Cecilia. I'm really clumsy, so studying, practicing magic, and seminar activities have left me with almost no time to breathe."

Although the two began to call each other by name after a period of getting to know each other, they did not feel any closer to each other.

"Besides, as a student who knows nothing, can't do anything well, and doesn't have enough time, even if I join the church, I will probably just cause trouble for the church."

"?"

Although Cecilia knew that Merci was talking about her, she still felt like she was being implied.

After a subtle pause for a moment, Cecilia saw Ritas who had returned, and pulled him into the conversation.

"By the way, Professor Ritas. I remember that the bathing seminar you founded seems to be inactive due to lack of staff. It just so happens that I haven't found a seminar I like, so why not..."

"There are already enough official members for the Bathing Seminar."

Ritas interrupted Cecilia and said.

He didn't want Cecilia to join the seminar.

On the one hand, he wanted to see if there would be any difference between those who only joined the Bath Goddess Church but not the Bathing Seminar and those who joined the Bathing Seminar but not the Bathing Goddess Church in the church system.

On the other hand, the activities of the Bathing Seminar revolve around the Star Mark holders. Therefore, Cecilia's joining would only be a waste of time. Moreover, if the two Star Mark holders failed to control their power and physically caused the surroundings to explode, Cecilia might be involved.

"That's enough. We need three more people to get out of the inactive state!"

Cecilia, who was pessimistic about the bathing seminar from the bottom of her heart, subconsciously said something rude.

She looked at Merci beside her, seemed to understand something, and then said in a earnest tone,

"Professor Ritas, even if you are the instructor of Yewwood, you cannot set up a seminar for yourself."

"The other two are from other grades in the elementary department and the advanced department. The structure of the official members of the seminar is currently healthy."

Although he had prepared himself mentally when he established it, he still couldn't hold back when he was despised so directly.

"This"

How can it be?

That was a bathing seminar that even Kraft hadn't the nerve to join.

While Cecilia hesitated, Ritas spoke again.

"I remember that student Cecilia said that she didn't like being second, right? Now that you've joined the bathing seminar, you'll be fourth."

"Hmm."

"Student Cecilia! I, I think you are so outstanding in all aspects, you should join a seminar that is more suitable for you! This is also for that... ah, the future!"

Merci's words of "block" rang out again at just the right time.

So, what exactly is going on in the bathing seminars that will have an impact on the future!
Although she wanted to join more and more, Cecilia could only accept Ritas and Merci's "rejection" with a slightly stiff smile.

At the time of separation, Cecilia looked at the black carriage returning to the academy and recalled the scene of Merci and Ritas getting on the carriage together. Her heart could not calm down for a long time.

First of all, although Cecilia could not tell from the beginning to the end, whether Merci saw through her and was an opponent of the same level or even higher than her, or did it unconsciously or subconsciously.

But she admitted that the opponent is stronger now!
Second
The current situation is not good.

Cecilia thought that as a student, the distance between her and Ritas, her class mentor, was close enough. She might even consider slowing down the pace.

After all, a mentor's term of office lasts a full four years.

But today, after seeing Merci, she realized that she was far behind.

Things that only Ritas and Merci knew, the tacit understanding between the two of them, and many other things.
Are the students of the Yew Fir School so close to their mentor, Ritas?
No, there's no point in thinking so much.

Now it’s important to come up with solutions.

Cecilia thought for a moment.

First of all, she would definitely join the bathing seminar, and no amount of resistance would stop her.

After all, if Cecilia was really that well-behaved, she wouldn't be studying at Earls College now.

Second
Sure enough, it is still the most core issue of academic level!
Even though she was beaten by Merci today, Cecilia was still confident that if the conditions were the same, she would not lose in any competition.

Then, in order to ensure that you can transfer to Yewwood School,

"Anyway, go back and study."

In this midterm test, Cecilia, who once again took the top spot in the elementary department, murmured softly.

(End of this chapter)