Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death

Ch 6 - A Rainy Day's Event (Part I)

Autumn touches the leaves of every tree, turning them beautiful shades of red and brown until they tumble to the ground.

Soon it will be winter.

Stepping outside without a thick coat is just asking to catch a cold.

And the Goddess still hasn't contacted me.

Hey, did you really forget all about me?

I've got four more years until I can finally go home!

Above is a cloudy sky and before me is a path where the leaves have fallen.

Coupled with the scenery of the wintry town, and the shivering folk all around, the whole scene is pretty depressing.

The municipal school's "intermediate magic ceremony" class is a lecture open to a limited number of students. It's because without magical talent, there is nothing you can do in that class.

That said, the elementary level alternative is open to anyone, even those with poor magical ability. It is for people whose abilities, at their height, are about as good enough to light a match or purify water to drink. These abilities seem to be useful for everyday life, though.

The gap between the intermediate and elementary classes is tremendous. Students at that level are expected to burn large objects like logs, raise a sudden gust of wind, and freeze things. It seems like a sudden jump to real magic.

As such, not many students make the cut. Even if you gather all the students eligible for the class, there would only be twenty people there, with a mixture of both young and old. Of the ninety people in the first grade, a mere five were accepted into the intermediate level class.

Unfortunately, the three stooges are held back in the elementary class, and cry all the way to the practical agricultural lessons.

In my class of thirty people, only Alfred and I made it into the intermediate level class.

According to the rumor mill, the Royal Academy of Magic would occasionally visit that class and scout students with great magical talent.

Even if you don't get scouted, apparently you could ask your teacher to write you a recommendation letter. Mages with high potential are indispensable and rare. For that reason, they're all in great demand and the country is eager to gather them all.

In any case, it's like a special elite class, and only those chosen could enter the royal capital in the future.

I always sit in the center three rows from the front in the intermediate magic ceremony class. The blackboard is easiest to see from here.

My goal is to study hard so that I'd be capable of setting many traps around the village. Traps for the demons that would invade in a few years. That should cut their numbers back. At least I hope so.

Although it wouldn't hold them back for long, if we could slow them down for just one night that would buy us enough time to seek relief from the municipal knights.

Luckily, I also know where the largest wave of demons would come from. I'd set two, three, no, maybe even more than four times the amount of traps there.

However, that's if this world follows the same development as the game.

I have no choice but to gamble.

Please. Let it be so.

Alfred's usual seat is at the back by the window. It's hidden from the teacher's view and perfect for sneaking in a nap! He's uninterested in receiving money from his caretaker, the nun, downright refused it, but it's such an obvious choice!