9
The moment I finished the unpleasant meeting with Professor Oliver and hurriedly stepped outside.
I found myself face-to-face with a junior who seemed to have been waiting in front of the main entrance of the faculty building.
“Senior Conrad Perdallos.”
“Lady Arwen, were you waiting?”
“You may call me Stella comfortably.”
“Then you too should call me Senior Conrad from now on. There’s no need to tack on the surname every time.”
“Understood, Senior Conrad.”
Although it had only been half a day since we met, the long years I had spent with Stella in my previous life had not disappeared.
I felt considerable joy that she had shown familiarity toward me first.
Going by my previous life, it seemed we had only become this close around the end of the next year’s first semester.
Fortunately, Stella seemed to regard me as a senior she could trust in her own way.
“The person who was just talking with you… could he be the Swordsmanship Department professor?”
“Yeah. He’s called Oliver Finn. A nasty-tempered, opportunistic bastard.”
“I-Is that so?”
“If I had to give you advice, it’d be best not to take his class. It probably won’t be much help to you.
Above all, he’s a man standing in direct opposition to Professor McDowell, so there’s no way he’d look kindly on you.”
“Understood. Since it is Senior Conrad’s advice, I will certainly take it to heart.”
Even if I hadn’t said it, she would have likely heard advice from her own father.
Regardless, it was not a bad thing to mention once more.
“More importantly, are you alright, Senior Conrad?”
“Alright? What do you mean?”
“Judging by the expression of that professor called Oliver when he called for you, I did not think he had called you to deliver good words.
I am telling you this out of concern that you may have become entangled in a dispute to save me and received disciplinary action.”
Fitting for Stella’s personality, which values justice and detests injustice.
It was a question that seemed born from worry that I, who had enforced justice, was receiving unfair treatment in her eyes.
“There’s nothing to worry about. That bastard doesn’t have the right to give me something like disciplinary action.”
“Ah, if that is the case, what a relief!”
“And even if I were disciplined, it’s my problem, so it’s not something you need to concern yourself with, Stella.”
“Th-that may be, but since this happened while you were helping me, wouldn’t I naturally bear responsibility as well!”
“You’re free to think that way. But anyway, nothing really happened this time, so I’ll just accept your sentiment.”
“Understood, Senior Conrad.”
At my answer, Stella nodded as if relieved.
She met my eyes with her clear gaze and opened her mouth.
“It is truly fortunate that the first connection I made after entering the Academy is with you, Senior Conrad.”
“Is that so?”
“If it is not rude, may I continue to build a close relationship with you going forward?”
“I was actually going to bring it up first. Let’s get along well from now on, Stella.”
“Yes, Senior Conrad!”
I had not expected such a dramatic event to occur from our very first meeting.
But regardless, since I had somehow achieved my initial goal of getting close to Stella.
It was a not-so-bad beginning to a relationship.
* * *
The month changed, and Stella, who had been a provisional first-year, became a true Academy first-year.
Because I had held little interest in freshmen in my previous life.
The entrance ceremony was an event I had scarcely attended except when I was a first-year myself.
But this year, since it was the day an acquaintance formally enrolled, I quietly attended as well.
Even if it had not been for Stella’s enrollment, I needed to check whether the current reality flowed similarly to the past.
Among the students who attended the Academy around the same time as Stella, there were quite a few who possessed outstanding skill.
Of course, not every single one was an important figure like Stella or a member of another Demon God Subjugation Squad.
But regardless, the fact that there were many skilled students meant there were many people capable of resisting the Dark Church.
Since I had no intention of getting close to anyone except Stella.
After checking that a moderate number of students had properly enrolled in the Academy.
I met Stella coming out of the auditorium after the entrance ceremony and greeted her.
“Is the entrance ceremony all finished?”
“Senior Conrad? What brings you to the auditorium?”
“I just heard someone I know was enrolling as a freshman this year. I came by to exchange greetings.”
“Ah, I-I see. I almost had a strange misunderstanding.”
“Come to think of it, what about Professor McDowell?”
“Master… ah, Father said he had a schedule with his assigned students today, so unfortunately he could not attend.”
I had a feeling that would be the case.
He was a person passionate about his work in many ways, someone who did not show his face at occasions he deemed not strictly necessary.
It was not that he discriminated against Stella because she was an adopted daughter; his personality itself was simply that of a workaholic.
Even if Stella were his biological daughter, he probably would not have attended the entrance ceremony all the same.
“The ceremony is over, right? Do you have any plans after this?”
“I have no plans, but… did you not say you came to exchange greetings with someone you know?”
“There’s no way I would know any other freshman besides you, Stella.”
“Y-yes?”
“Let’s go grab a meal. I’ll treat you in celebration of your enrollment.”
Taking Stella, who had no other plans after the entrance ceremony, out for lunch marked the end of this year’s freshman entrance ceremony.
For a while, both she and I were too busy to see each other.
Stella spent busy days handling the various tasks a freshman had to do immediately after enrollment.
I too had to invest time in finishing assignments ahead of schedule to spend the semester a bit more comfortably.
Since I clearly knew from the memories of my past life which professor prepared what kind of assignments.
I planned to take care of the things I needed to do ahead of time while recalling those memories.
Thus, a period of somewhat busy days continued for several days.
About a week after the new semester began, on a certain day.
I was running on the Academy’s walking path, taking the cold dawn air squarely in my face.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
Starting to run from 6 a.m., repeating walking and running without rest for an hour.
The cold dawn air still stabbed at my lungs, but that did not mean I could stop breathing.
Stopping briefly to catch my breath, I used water magic to replenish the bare minimum of moisture.
Then, moving my legs, I started running again before my body cooled down.
When Stella graduated from the Academy and was recognized as a Hero by the Holy Church.
I had lived as a member of the Demon God Subjugation Squad at her request for five years.
One of the shortcomings I had felt most keenly at that time was truly an extreme lack of stamina.
It was not particularly because I was especially incompetent; if I had to make an excuse, it was a chronic occupational disease that mages had.
Since a mage was fundamentally a profession that fought with the head rather than the body.
Most were bound to spend more time opening Magic Circles or raising mana sensitivity than on physical training.
There were even many cases where people locked themselves in their rooms for years, cutting back on meals and sleep to research their own unique magic.
As for me, since I had matters to attend to near the Imperial Capital for a while even after graduating from the Academy, it had not led to such an extreme lack of exercise.
But regardless, although I was slightly better off than other mages, my stamina was considerably lacking compared to ordinary people.
In the Demon God Subjugation Squad, I competed with the Saintess for first or second place in getting tired quickly, so that says it all.
That was precisely why I was investing time like this to train my body.
Since knowledge and methods to open Magic Circles were already in my head, I utilized the time I would have had to invest in that area instead.
Setting everything else aside, basic stamina and strength were needed for the midterm evaluation at the end of April as well.
The evaluation compared an individual’s abilities with other students, so except for very special cases, one was matched with another student from the same department.
Since I was in the Magic Department, my opponent would naturally be from the Magic Department.
In an evaluation between Magic Department students, the presence or absence of stamina was highly likely to be what ultimately decided victory or defeat.
There was neither reason nor leeway for mages to engage in close combat first.
When battle began, they would restrain the opponent’s powerful magic with quick-cast magic for a while.
Usually, a battle between mages proceeded in a manner where the side that completed a powerful magic attack first and landed a blow won.
Generally speaking, if it was magic of the same level, attack magic could pierce defense magic.
If the rank difference was two steps or more, it could be sufficiently offset, but…
The conditions were a bit insufficient to create such a gap right now.
If I got lucky and my opponent was a 2-Circle mage, things would be a bit easier, but…
Regardless, it was impossible to completely absorb the damage of a 2-Circle attack magic even with a 3-Circle magic barrier.
Taking even half its power was classified as a serious injury in a battle between mages.
Therefore, the most important thing in the upcoming evaluation would indeed be stamina.
It would be best if I could raise my motor skills and avoid the opponent’s finishing move with physical ability alone.
Even if I took damage, if it ended at the level of a slight graze, it would be enough to lead to victory in the evaluation.
From a long-term perspective, increasing stamina inevitably required a great deal of time.
Opening Magic Circles beyond the 4-Circle in magic could be unlocked anytime as long as conditions were met.
And mana sensitivity could also grow explosively if certain conditions were fulfilled, but…
Basic stamina and strength were the only things for which the sole solution was exercising diligently over a long time.
So, if I wanted to make this rotten body capable of functioning as a human quickly, I had no choice but to bite down and run.
The words Lulu had drilled into my ears in the Demon God Subjugation Squad still seemed to echo.
“Why do you always collapse from exhaustion so quickly? You should build up at least a minimum of stamina, even if just for your own sake.”
Since those words were all correct, all I could do at the time was nod without rebuttal every time I heard them.
Even the kind Stella had occasionally advised me about my stamina.
This was one problem I had to steadily train and resolve from now on.
“Senior Conrad? It is Senior Conrad, right?”
The moment I was thinking of Stella in my head, it felt like I heard her voice.
Stella from the Demon God Subjugation Squad days had called me not Senior Conrad but Mr. Conrad.
“Huh?”
“As expected, it was you, Senior Conrad.”
“Stella?”
Feeling something off, I raised my head toward the direction the voice came from.
I could see Stella looking at me with sky-blue eyes from across my line of sight.
“Are you also doing morning stamina training, Senior Conrad?”
“‘Also’—does that mean you’re training too, Stella?”
“Ah, yes! Stamina training is a basic requirement for a swordsman!”
Stella replied brightly, as if she were doing something only natural.
Come to think of it, even during the Demon God Subjugation Squad days, she had never skipped morning and evening stamina training for a single day.
Facing her as she conducted stamina training while wearing heavy plate armor all over her body.
I truly felt that Stella’s capabilities were not completed by talent alone.
“I had heard that most mages were not interested in building stamina, but as expected, Mr. Conrad is different from ordinary people!”
“…Well, I suppose so.”
Although it had only been two days since I started exercising after the regression.
I did not need to go out of my way to break the good impression she had of me.
“Since we happened to run into each other, let’s exercise together!”
“Are you sure? If you match my pace, Stella, it probably won’t be a workout for you at all.”
“You need not worry about that!”
Saying so, Stella slightly loosened the leg guards she was wearing and showed me the sandbags hidden inside.
“I usually add extra weight when training anyway. It does not matter if I move according to Senior Conrad’s pace!”
“I see.”
Just the plate armor she was wearing was probably close to 20kg.
To think she was running with added weight on top of that.
It was indeed a diligent yet reckless training method befitting Stella.
“Then please keep me company for about an hour.”
“Yes!”
After that, we ran together along the walking path and continued the morning stamina training until dawn broke.
Since I was moving while receiving advice from an expert runner.
Naturally, my pace could grow to match her speed.
Even an hour after the exercise ended, sweat was still pouring down like rain.
But thanks to Stella’s praise, it was a day I felt I had run longer.