How to Teach a Hero at the Academy

Chapter 86 : Chapter 86

Chapter 86: The Papacy (1)

“Oh dear, Abel.”

Creak.

The sound of a rocking chair creaking.

“You are still crying.”

“I am not crying.”

Abel said with a blank expression.

On the table in front of Abel, plates of food were lined up. The elaborately prepared meal held its warmth. One of them, Abel raised his spoon and swallowed some stew. He couldn't taste it, only a tingling pain spread. Abel's brow furrowed.

“Is it delicious?”

“……It is delicious.”

“That's a relief.”

An old man was sitting on the other side of the table.

The old man could not see. The eyes revealed beyond his shaggy white hair were tightly shut. Abel had grown up under him until he was about ten years old. Elijah Kingsley, the director of the Lateranzo Orphanage where Abel had grown up.

“So……, what brings you to me?”

“I stopped by on my way to the Papacy. It has been a long time since I saw you.”

“Was it? I didn't know.”

Because I am blind,

I have never seen your face.

Elijah muttered so.

“Anyway, hurry up and eat. You're the type who doesn't eat your meals properly.”

“……I have no excuse.”

The Lateranzo Orphanage was in the western part of the Holy Numeros Empire.

The Papacy was also there. Abel had been reincarnated nearby through the body of a dead pregnant woman. At the time of his birth, he was captured by a smuggler who sold children, but around the age of four, he killed the smuggler and went to the orphanage. Together with the children he had escaped with.

“Your friends came to visit recently. The children who were taken in here with you.”

“Is that so.”

Abel continued to eat.

His expression distorted every time he swallowed food.

“Edwin has become a rather selfish Mage, and Airy said she would leave to find a way to restore her lost wings. I don't know when that child's delusion will be cured.”

“Airy is a winged elf. They must have been cut off by the smuggler. Winged elves do exist, they're just not well-known because they're rare.”

“Alright, well……. If you say so, then it must be true.”

“Is Khalid doing well?”

“He's dead. He was used as an experimental material by some apostate.”

Abel lowered his head.

They were not particularly close. The children who had escaped with Abel were like any other children their age, and inside Abel's body was a worn-out soul. Above all, he had left for the Papacy not long after. He only heard news of them when he occasionally visited the orphanage.

“How are you doing, Abel?”

Elijah asked.

“Are you still following His Holiness the Pope? The gold coins sent in your name every month are piled up.”

“I am still following His Holiness, but I am currently employed at the Cia-Harphe Academy. I was appointed as a professor in the Department of Theology a few months ago.”

“You're teaching children?”

“……Yes.”

What a surprise.

Elijah muttered so.

“Abel, children find it difficult to be around crying adults. They worry because they don't know how to comfort them. So it would be better for you to stop crying now.”

“I am not crying.”

“Impossible.”

A sigh poured out from Abel's lips.

For some reason, it was so. Elijah stubbornly insisted that Abel was crying. Was it the old man's delusion? He had thought so many times. But it was difficult to rashly distinguish between the delusion and the wisdom of an old man. Abel had lived for over a thousand years, but he had never once grown old, and so he did not know the insight of those whose bodies were decaying.

“I cannot see.”

In addition,

he did not know the world that those who had lost their sight saw.

“That's why I notice things that others can't see. Abel, you have been crying since you were taken in by me. At one time, I thought you were crying because you were young. But it's different. Your crying resembles that of an old man.”

“I am not crying.”

“I'll take your word for it.”

So……, he said.

Elijah asked Abel.

“How is it, teaching children?”

“It is difficult.”

It was always difficult.

Teaching young heroes was difficult, of course, and guiding children as a professor was also difficult. Above all, he had witnessed it countless times through his reincarnations. The faces of dying children.

He had recently lost a disciple. Fleur de Saint-Pierre. No, Fleur Epanoui. Because of that, the atmosphere in Abel's class had also become subdued.

“It is difficult to face the death of children. The fact that I must remain steadfast alone is also…… difficult.”

“It is the same for me. Just this morning, three children left for the Underworld.”

The Lateranzo Orphanage prospered.

It was thanks to the money that Abel had consistently donated.

In terms of facilities, it was probably incomparable to any other orphanage. It would be more appropriate to compare it to a large-scale lodging facility in the capital. But even so, he could not save a dying child. The children who came to the orphanage were usually sick, and it was common for there to be no hope no matter what means were used.

“But eat.”

Eat your meal, Abel.

Elijah whispered so.

With his body lying in the wobbly rocking chair.

“You are still young. I am so glad that you survived.”

“As I told you before, I have lived for over a thousand years. I have gone through 97 reincarnations.”

“I suppose so. I hope your delusion will be cured as well.”

I don't hear the sound of the dishes.

What are you doing not eating, he said.

To Elijah, who was urging him in a leisurely voice, Abel,

“……There's too much.”

muttered, brandishing his spoon.

* * *

They called it the World Tree.

The pillar of the Pantheon that pierced the western part of the empire.

It only took the form of a tree, but in reality, it was a tangible divine power. The roots of the World Tree extended throughout the entire empire, and the custom of praying to the roots that were exposed above ground was widespread. Above all, it was also the place where holy knights and clerics who were going through their apprenticeship finished their pilgrimage.

The Papacy of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy was at the very top of it.

A sanctuary built in the gap between the clouds scattered like a coastline. Abel had just arrived there.

- Abel Argento.

In the middle of the Great Hall of the Papacy.

Inside the circular courtroom.

- You must know well why you were summoned.

- From now on, we will list your mistakes.

- You may offer a defense. But as always…….

- The verdict is the prerogative of His Holiness the Pope.

Five cardinals were sitting on thrones, surrounding Abel.

The cardinals' faces were covered with veils. Only the circular symbol of the Platinum Round Table was engraved on the surface of the white veil. But the expressions that lurked inside were obvious. They must be angry. Abel sighed and stared at the seat of honor.

“……His Holiness is not here.”

The Pope's throne, which embodied the full moon.

It was empty.

- It seems he is taking a nap.

- It's a common occurrence, isn't it? He will arrive if we wait a little.

- No matter how much we talk…….

- The verdict is also his prerogative.

Abel nodded his head.

The cardinals' interrogation was not important. Abel's defense was also a right given only as a formality. The Papacy was the only territory where the laws of the empire did not apply, and all verdicts were made only according to the Pope's will.

- Abel of the Margin, you have abused your authority as a Sword Saint.

Abel did not deny it.

He had only reported to the Pope, but he had not received approval in the process of reaching the Saint-Pierre estate. When was the last time a Sword Saint in ceremonial armor had appeared? Because it had been a long time ago, its authenticity was being questioned, but through Abel, the existence of the Sword Saints had been confirmed. He had committed a clear transgression as the Pope's shadow.

- It was within your authority to move the Inquisition Bureau and the Imperial Secret Service. But you should have been more cautious about revealing yourself as a Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was a symbol of hope and at the same time a symbol of despair.

A knight clad in huge armor made of platinum. Their majesty was suitable for stimulating the hope of many people. Because the moment a Sword Saint appeared, a certain victory would be promised.

But it was desperate. The Sword Saint only appeared in situations of national disaster. After the illusion of the Sword Saint who appeared in the Saint-Pierre estate had faded, the subjects began to feel anxious. The unidentified giant who appeared along with the Sword Saint. Because of that, the existence of the Parousia Denomination was being sensed.

- It was not yet time. According to your report, the Parousia Denomination is a religion of apostates on a national scale. Above all, the cardinals of the old era are in command, aren't they? It is clear that they are a dangerous opponent that a Sword Saint should face, but the subjects should not have been made to feel a sense of crisis. A little more time was needed.

The cardinals' point was right.

Not much time had passed since the skies of the capital were invaded. The turmoil at that time was quickly suppressed to contain the chaos, but the situation that occurred in the Saint-Pierre estate was different. An entire estate in the northernmost part had almost burned down, and the Saint-Pierre family itself had disappeared. It was revealed that a situation had occurred where a Sword Saint had to directly confront it, and the subjects of the North were seized with great fear.

- I ask you, Abel of the Margin.

The five cardinals asked together.

- On what grounds did you act?

Abel was silent for a moment, and,

“It was to grant the request of my disciple.”

he answered in a calm tone.

“The evangelist of the God of the Underworld, Fleur de Saint-Pierre, was my disciple.”

The cardinals knew.

The inside story of the evil deeds committed by the Saint-Pierre family.

They were also aware of the full story of the murder case.

It was Fleur de Saint-Pierre's doing to annihilate the Saint-Pierre family and the Arcturus family at once. The only thing they didn't know was perhaps the fact that she had borrowed the power of the Parousia Denomination. That was a truth that only Abel, Iris, and Monika knew.

“That child asked me. To protect the subjects of the Saint-Pierre estate. That is why I used all the power I could muster. I could not tolerate the death of a single subject.”

That is all.

I am not offering a defense, but revealing the grounds.

Abel muttered so.

“I have no intention of avoiding responsibility.”

I will gladly accept the punishment, he said.

The moment Abel lowered his head and recited,

<──You certainly should!>

Thud!

The archway opened violently.

A girl holding a worm farm stormed into the Great Hall.

She was a girl wearing pajamas inside and a pure white robe on the outside. The inside of the robe, pulled over her head, could not be seen, and only a blackish smoke was rising.

It was none other than the Pope of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy.

Abel's and the cardinals' heads were lowered.

They swallowed a sigh, averting their gaze from the Pope's appearance.

The Pope, who had been tilting his head for a moment,

lamented, looking down at her own body, and,

shouted towards the outside of the archway.