The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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I had just been feeling hungry, which made it hard to speak, but as soon as the presence of God appeared, that quickly slipped from my mind.

Surely, you shouldn’t be in a state to move.

While studying for exams and flipping through history books, I stayed up all night reading the parts that mentioned demons or gods.

It wasn’t that the content was difficult. I simply had to read it multiple times because it felt hard to believe.

I found it unpleasant that the book described God as either a demon or a self-proclaimed god, but upon learning what had happened to them, I didn’t care so much anymore.

With no way to kill them, we could only shatter them into pieces and infuse those fragments with divine power to turn them into spirits, or weaken them to their limits and seal them beneath the church or the ‘sanctuary.’

If it weren’t for my status as a student, I would have mobilized the army right away.

…Anyway. As soon as I learned that such events had occurred, I regretted calling God.

-God? Is that you?

Given the trials you’ve faced, just maintaining your existence must be burdensome, yet here you are even managing to let a bit of magical power linger in the air.

I felt worried.

-…Oh, who is it? Is it the daughter of Byeolbi? I didn’t realize you were there. Why are you in such a dangerous place?

But the meaning conveyed was even clearer than before. Had something good happened to them, or had they regained some strength?

-I was taking an exam.

Whatever the reason, it was definitely a good thing. Since God asked, I answered the question.

But what did they mean by a dangerous place?

-Oh dear, taking an exam in such a place. What a vile contractor! To unleash beasts and magical beasts there. She must be a truly cruel woman.

From what I heard, it seemed that a woman called the ‘contractor’ had instructed God to unleash beasts and magical beasts on this mountain.

I was curious about who that contractor might be.

-God, do you happen to know who that contractor is?

“…Yun…”

-…Unfortunately, I cannot tell you because of the terms of the contract. It’s a contract that was established recklessly by that old hag before you arrived, so there’s nothing I can do. I’m sorry.

I don’t know who it is, but they must be a very bad person. How can they just enter into a contract without regard?

-No, don’t apologize to me. The fault lies entirely with that contractor person.

-I only wish that old hag had at least a shred of goodness in her. Anyway, I will send a magical beast that obeys my will to the place where you are. Ride that and quickly get away from there. A storm of blood will soon sweep through.

-Wait a moment, can my friends ride too?

-Your friends, you say… It’s not impossible. However, no matter how much your friends are, I have no intention of sparing unpleasant beings that wield divine power. Are you still okay with that?

“…Ho…ah!”

It seems I wasn’t the only one who found divine power unpleasant. Fortunately, none of my group members knew how to handle divine power.

-Yes. No one can handle divine power.

-Then that’s good. It will arrive soon, so don’t be surprised when you see it.

Even with beasts and magical beasts unleashed on the mountain, I wasn’t overly scared because they wouldn’t attack me, but I didn’t feel anxious at all knowing that God was sending a beast for us to ride.

By the way, Dokan had been bothering me since a while ago.

He wasn’t really a disturbance. I was confident that I wouldn’t blink even if thunder and lightning struck.

In fact, I should say that I benefited a bit from him. It helped me focus on returning to reality.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been dazed for about 3 to 5 minutes after conversing with God, but he had even put a hand on my shoulder, allowing me to clear my head quickly.

“Dokan, do you trust me?”

As soon as I regained my wits, I asked Dokan whether he believed in me.

I knew the magical beast that was coming soon would take us away, but Dokan and the others wouldn’t know that.

“Uh…uh? Of course! But Hoyun, is there time for you to be kneeling like that—”

His response was a bit lukewarm, but that was enough.

“Then stick close to my side. Bring Anya and Iris too.”

For some reason, Anya’s clothes were stained with blood, and Iris was completely out of it, but it wouldn’t be too late to think about that after we rode the magical beast.

Right now, it was important to ensure the kids didn’t get hurt, even by accident. They were precious friends.

Dokan, although skeptical, brought Anya and Iris to my side as I instructed.

Given the urgency of the situation, I let it slide that he carried Iris in a princess-style embrace.

Seeing the presence of God intensify, it was certain that help was near. They really arrived quickly.

“Alright, everyone stay close to me, Hoyun. Could you stand up now? If we stay still, the beasts will chase after us. We need to move.”

As expected of Dokan, he was looking for a way out even in this situation.

But this time, there was no need for that.

“No, that’s not necessary.”

The bus to a safe place was already near.

“…Not necessary?”

With a sound that shook the earth, the magical beast sent by God revealed itself. No, since it was truly sent by God, we might as well call it a divine beast.

Though it did look rather fearsome.

As if proving that bears do tear people apart, it had splatters of blood mixed with remnants of divine power on its mouth and claws.

“…Guys, break the bracelets.”

I had expected this, but it seemed Dokan was thinking of fleeing.

Then again, I might have thought to run away too if God sent something like this without a word. Just looking at it, it looked like something out of a dark fantasy game.

So, I had no intention of harshly rebuking Dokan; after all, it must be tough to fully trust me.

But… I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed inside.

“Don’t worry, it won’t harm you.”

I knew that saying this in the current situation wouldn’t mean anything, but it was a fact that it wouldn’t hurt us, so I said it.

“…Anya. After breaking Iris’s bracelet, you break yours too. I’ll break Hoyun’s after I’m done with mine.”

It seemed Dokan still didn’t believe me.

It looked like he was planning to use the automatic disqualification and teleportation if we broke our bracelets.

That was just like him, but I wished he would trust his friends a little more.

“Understood.”

As Anya tore off Iris’s and her own bracelet, the two were enveloped in a swirling mass of mana.

Seeing that, Dokan grabbed my bracelet and his own to tear them off, but we didn’t get caught up in the swirling mana.

As expected in an academy tale, the protagonist’s safety mechanism had broken.

I didn’t know why mine had broken too, but usually, when this happened, the heroine’s protection would break as well…

Me? A heroine?

…Hmm. That might require some thought.

“…”

Dokan simply stared blankly at the broken bracelet. Then, as if he had thought of something, he stood in front of me.

“…Hoyun, run away.”

Oh, is he trying to be a man and protect the girl? I might have to reevaluate him a bit. At least he seems to have a sense of responsibility.

Seeing him show his back while conjuring multiple magic circles around him, it seemed he had a sense of romance.

…So, the pain I was feeling in my stomach wasn’t because he was being cool.

When I pictured myself in that place, it was because the me there was cool, not because Dokan was cool…

“…Huff… It’s fine. There’s no need to run away.”

“Anya, run! I’ll buy time and meet up no matter what! Hurry!”

That stubborn guy, still posturing while trembling, was only making my stomach hurt more.

But contrary to how scared he looked, he seemed really determined to attack.

The magic circle was spinning fiercely as it prepared a spell.

If he really did attack, that magical beast could crush Dokan, so I thought it was time to dispel any misunderstandings.

The magical beast appeared to be a bit irritated too.

And it would be nice if my stomach would stop hurting.

I stood up and slowly walked over to the magical beast.

“Hoyun! It’s dangerous!”

The magical beast seemed to gradually understand my intention and approached me slowly.

As it got closer, at the moment Dokan couldn’t hold back and charged toward me—

-Slap

The magical beast licked my cheek.

Of course, since it had blood dripping from its mouth, this was no different from an absolute bloodbath.

With its large size, its tongue was also huge, soaking my uniform in blood.

“…I appreciate the warm welcome, but please don’t lick me. It’s getting blood all over.”

-Growl.

So when I firmly told it not to lick me, it made a cute sound and plopped down where it was.

“…What is this…?”

Dokan, who was poised to dash and flee, couldn’t believe his eyes at the scene in front of him.

“So I told you, it won’t harm you.”

I said this with a bit of disappointment.

Dokan could only alternate his gaze between me and the magical beast, unable to approach recklessly.

Hmm, it looks like I have to demonstrate first.

“Lie down.”

It was too big to be ridden in a seated position. So I had to make it lie down before I could mount it.

“…There we go. Dokan, you ride too. It’s safe.”

“…Ah. Alright…”

It seems he finally started to trust me a little.

Although he was still hesitating to take a step, he climbed onto the bear’s back like I did.

“Alright, bear. Let’s go. Dokan, hold on to something since it’s going to be shaky.”

“Uh, okay.”

After saying that, Dokan tightly wrapped his arms around my waist.

…Why is he holding onto my waist out of all places!

The pain in my stomach tugged at me again, but the bear moved along as if it didn’t care at all.

For a while, I had to let out heated breaths, fueled by the pain in my stomach, as we rode on the beast’s back.