Chapter 23
Episode 57: Time Flows, and I Turn Ten
As time flowed on, the day I turned ten years old finally arrived.
Over the past two years, our adventurer clan progressed through 35 floors of the 【Spica Magic Cave】.
Since my familiar, Roha, reached his evolutionary limit as a Goblin King, I used the 〘Fruit of Evolution〙, and he underwent a racial evolution from Goblin to Ogre.
During these two years of dungeon exploration, I expanded my familiars, bringing in 15 ogre-types and 10 beast-types, making a total of 25.
It’s quite a large group now.
Living such fulfilling days, I finally reached my tenth birthday.
Now, Mom and I are about to roll the special 10th-birthday 〘Daily Gacha〙.
「Okay, Mom, I’m going to roll the 〘Daily Gacha〙!」
「Yes, I’m excited to see what comes out♪」
『〘Daily Gacha〙10th birthday special: Guaranteed Rank S or above』
『Gacha…〘Holy Eye〙.』
〘Holy Eye〙
By housing the seven virtues of Justice, Wisdom, Hope, Purity, Compassion, Patience, and Commitment in the left eye, one can wield the sacred power to guide this world to peace. By activating the 〘Holy Eye〙, it can be used, and with each use, sacred power accumulates, turning the user into an apostle of light.
I finally drew the 〘Holy Eye〙!
I told Mom about the 〘Holy Eye〙 and its powers.
「Mom, I got the 〘Holy Eye〙!」
「Celestia, does that 〘Holy Eye〙 have the power of the seven virtues?」
「Yeah, it seems that the 〘Holy Eye〙 and the power of the seven virtues are housed in my left eye.」
「Ah… so the 〘Holy Eye〙 has finally come to Celestia. Hey, could you try channeling your magic power into your left eye?」
With tears of joy in her eyes, Mom asked me to channel my magic power into my left eye, so I did as she asked.
「Okay, I’ll channel my magic power now.」
When I channeled my magic power into my left eye, Mom watched intently and confirmed that I had indeed obtained the 〘Holy Eye〙.
「The heptagram symbol is appearing in Celestia’s left eye… you really have obtained the 〘Holy Eye〙.」
「With the power of this 〘Holy Eye〙, can we defeat the Leone Kingdom?」
「No, it’s not just about having the 〘Holy Eye〙. You need to be able to use and control its power. Except for the first Holy Emperor, no one else has ever activated it, so I can’t teach you about the 〘Holy Eye〙.」
「I’ll have to gradually test and learn to use the 〘Holy Eye〙’s power myself. I promise to master its use and control.」
Although I was able to obtain the 〘Holy Eye〙, I have no idea how to wield or control its power.
Since no one besides the first Holy Emperor has ever activated it, I’ll have to take my time to figure it out.
「Celestia, let’s gather the 【Shadows】 and inform them that you’ve obtained the 〘Holy Eye〙. Also, we need to discuss and possibly revise our plans moving forward.」
「Yes!」
After this, we held a party to celebrate my 10th birthday.
During the party, I announced to everyone that I had awakened the 〘Holy Eye〙.
All the 【Shadows】 that is present rejoiced.
Until now, I’ve been learning the ways of combat through my hunter activities, but I will now immerse myself in an entirely different environment where I can learn a variety of new things.
➖・➖・➖Afterword➖・➖・➖
The second volume, 【Awakening Arc】, is now complete.
After a brief intermission, we will begin the third volume, 【Academy Arc】. As Celestia’s life, which has been filled with constant battles, shifts to the setting of an academy, will she be able to lead a life free from conflict?
Please look forward to the third volume, 【Academy Arc】.
–
Interlude: The Second Prince of the Empire
The sound of clashing swords echoed through the courtyard of the palace in the imperial capital of Kingston in the Tiarad Empire.
『Clang, clang, claaaang!』
There, the Second Prince of the Tiarad Empire, 【Slaine Kingston】, was diligently training with his sword.
「Huff, huff, haaa…」
「Prince Slaine, that will be all for today’s training.」
「Ah, thank you, Seinz.」
As Slaine responded, still breathing heavily, Seinz tossed him a towel and continued the conversation.
「Prince Slaine, you will finally be enrolling in Tiarad Academy next year.」
「Haha, I haven’t even passed the entrance exam yet.」
With a modest yet pleased smile, Slaine replied.
Seinz, wiping his sweat with the towel, answered back.
「If you fail the exam, then no one else stands a chance. Among all the students aiming to get into Tiarad Academy, which emphasizes both academics and martial arts, and even among your peers worldwide, there is no one who can match you, Prince Slaine.」
「That’s an overestimation. I’m still a weakling who can’t even land a single hit on you, Seinz.」
Although Slaine denied it, his face brimmed with confidence.
「The fact that a ten-year-old boy can even spar with 【Sword Saint Seinz】 is impressive enough.」
「Haha, I am looking forward to life at Tiarad Academy. Competing and honing my skills alongside rivals my own age sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.」
Emphasizing the part about rivals his own age, Slaine answered with a cheerful expression.
「Well, I doubt you’ll find anyone who can rival you, Prince Slaine. Just so you know, I graduated at the top of my class, so do your best to match that.」
「Don’t put too much pressure on me, will you? I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations, Seinz.」
The Second Prince of the Tiarad Empire, Slaine, was still unaware of the existence of Celestia among his peers.
Slaine would come to know of Celestia’s existence during the entrance exams for Tiarad Academy.
–
Interlude: The First Princess of the Empire
The courtyard of the palace in the imperial capital of Kingston in the Tiarad Empire was filled with the lively chatter of young girls.
A girl with sparkling blonde hair and beautifully refined features, including captivating blue eyes, was the First Princess of the Tiarad Empire, 【Selen Kingston】.
She was hosting an elegant tea party with her close friends.
「Everyone, the entrance exam for Tiarad Academy is coming up next month. Are you all prepared?」
Selen, with a graceful smile, began talking with her friends about the entrance exam for Tiarad Academy.
「Is it true that even you, Princess Selen, will be taking the entrance exam for Tiarad Academy?」
「Yes, according to my father, ‘The academy treats everyone equally.’ It seems that includes the royal family as well, so he told me I must take the entrance exam…」
She spoke with a displeased expression, complaining about her father, the emperor, and her friends responded in agreement.
「In reality, there’s no way that nobles and commoners, who are of such different statuses, can be treated equally… It’s really a bother.」
「Exactly! I’ve been studying magic and martial arts since I was a child. I will show the commoners the difference in rank between them and the First Princess of the Tiarad Empire. Yes, I will demonstrate the power of Selen, the First Princess of the Tiarad Empire.」
The First Princess, who had never known failure since birth, confidently declared this to her friends, driven by her overflowing self-assurance.
The First Princess of the Tiarad Empire was still unaware of the existence of Celestia.
She would come to know of the other “Selen” during the entrance exams for Tiarad Academy.
–
Interlude: Tiarad National Academy
【Tiarad National Academy】.
Founded by the first emperor, 【Tiarad Kingston】, it is an academy that emphasizes both literary and military arts.
Starting as a small country officer, he rose to the rank of general through his own abilities, conquering and defeating the neighboring countries and earning great military achievements.
As a reward for his merits, he was granted territories, and due to his might, he continued to expand his territories, eventually building the current Tiarad Empire.
The first emperor, who was both a great magician and a war god, established the Tiarad Academy based on his philosophy that “overwhelming power is everything”.
By advocating equality for all, he believed that cultivating talented individuals to serve the Tiarad Empire would make the empire even stronger and more formidable.
This, he judged, would bring the Tiarad Empire to the pinnacle of prosperity.
However, over the generations since the first emperor, that spirit has unfortunately come to be regarded as mere ‘lip service’…
The current Tiarad Academy has S classes to D classes for each grade, with each class having 20 students, totaling 100 students per grade.
More than 2,000 nobles and commoners take the entrance exam, but most of the successful candidates are nobles.
The reason is simple: because nobles marry into other noble families, it is natural for them to produce talented offspring.
Furthermore, with their abundant financial resources, they can afford to hire private tutors from a young age, inevitably creating a gap.
The academy staff are unaware of the existence of Celestia.
Despite her extraordinary talent, she has put in an incredible amount of effort.
Her overwhelming power will be revealed during the entrance exams for Tiarad Academy.
—
Notice
This concludes the interlude.
Starting next time, we will begin the third volume, 【The Academy Arc】.
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