Chapter 38 – What Courage Is

“Huuu, huuu….”

“Yurisia.”

“N-No. I don’t want to…! I’m scared…!”

She clutched her head, burying her face deep within her arms.

I gazed at Yurisia, shivering down below.

‘Huu.’

I sighed inwardly and scanned the surroundings for a moment.

Scattered everywhere were the broken remains of monsters.

Not a single one alive. Nothing even remotely threatening.

Not by ‘my’ standards, but also not by the standards of a ‘student.’

But even that seemed too much for Yurisia, who trembled as if her life depended on it.

Her state was so pitiable that a bitter taste rose in my mouth.

“Okay. Let’s rest for a bit.”

I soothed Yurisia, guiding her to sit beside me.

Deus pondered how things had come to this.

*

Her very impressive debut during the entrance ceremony’s initiation.

Followed by a sparring match against Luciel, considered the best student, during the club friendly.

Becoming the hero who saved the Cradle, which had a weakness in its defenses, from a newly emerged enemy.

And finally, even receiving recognition from Shabel, supposedly the Empire’s greatest esper.

Because of all this, Deus became a freshman who wasn’t really a freshman.

And thanks to that, he was able to experience something like this, right now.

“Alright! Students! Pay attention! Focus! From now on, I’ll be going over the precautions for today’s field practice! The creatures you’ll encounter today are….”

I turned my head, gazing at the plains and fields stretching out before me. And the forest.

Though hidden now, the area was surrounded by a massive barrier.

No unauthorized access was permitted.

This place was where something was cultivated for the benefit of humans.

And what was squawking inside weren’t cows or sheep, chickens or ducks.

“…So, we’ve gathered only the low-risk specimens, so there’s no need to worry too much. Don’t forget. What you need to gain from this field practice is perfect control over your fear and tension when facing monsters. That’s to prevent you from either getting too relaxed or freezing up unnecessarily!”

That’s right. Lurking inside were none other than monsters.

Creatures that should be immediately eradicated the moment they set foot in the world.

However, the Empire had conceived a new plan for low-risk gates and monsters.

Instead of simply exterminating them, they would use them to train prospective espers.

Though low-risk, they still provided invaluable experience for the Cradle students.

It would be good to get a feel for the atmosphere before being thrown into the field.

Isn’t that exactly the kind of advance learning that would elevate the overall quality a bit?

And so, the Gate maintenance location was created. Commonly known as, the Menagerie.

Today, second-year Cradle students were out there for practical training.

“I-I’m so nervous. A direct encounter with a monster.”

“Don’t worry. Like the teacher said, it’s a monster from a low-risk Gate.”

“But… didn’t they say the monsters were acting strange during the recent large-scale Gate emergence?”

“Hey. You don’t think the Empire and Cradle wouldn’t check something like that? They already confirmed everything before we even got here. If you keep going like that, you’ll ruin today’s practice, so you can just drop out.”

A low murmur rippled through the students.

Excitement, anticipation. And anxiety, tension. A jumble of emotions.

They may be second-year Cradle students, but this was their first field practice.

Unless it’s a special case, first-year students only gain experience within Cradle.

Therefore. The reactions these students were showing could be considered utterly ‘normal’.

—Yaaawwwn

Standing far behind them, yawning languidly in his seat…

It was a freshman like that who should be called abnormal instead.

‘The teachers asked me to come, so I came…’

Deus scratched his head, recalling the process that led him here.

“There’s a second-year field practice, you say.”

“Yup! That’s right!”

“But I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”

At that question, the golden retriever, T-Mart teacher, cheerfully raised both arms.

“What else could it be! Of course, it’s for you to accompany them and see the field atmosphere!”

Field atmosphere? I’ve already felt that plenty while catching demons, haven’t I?

I seem to remember the teachers calling me an outlier, and such?

Perhaps those doubts were visible on Deus’s face.

“Whoa, whoa! That’s not it! Deus!”

“It’s not?”

“What I want you to see isn’t ‘yourself’, but your surroundings. More precisely, the other students, the other ability users!”

To observe the atmosphere of others? That’s why they’re sending me?

“The stronger you are. The more you might miss things. Things that you overlook, and that is those around you. The hearts of others who are not you. You must also learn to perceive that! Only then will you become a true ‘ability user’!”

“…”

At first, he wondered what she was talking about, but soon he was able to grasp the real intention.

He’d said that he would achieve what he desired with his own strength alone.

That was his romance. The personal desire he had always dreamed of.

But looking closely, it was more due to the covenant than romance.

He couldn’t use weapons. He couldn’t receive help in battle either.

From the perspective of others, there were many things that were difficult to understand.

He was trying to package it as romance and gain the understanding of others.

‘Still, I can’t just come to a Gate and massacre every monster I see, can I.’

Perhaps what Tiamat-sensei wanted them to see was the students’ desperate will and their fear.

To understand it, she said, was to be able to guard against a heart that might otherwise falter.

If they knew just how desperately those students fought, they themselves might become that much more earnest.

“Ah! And listen! If there’s a classmate you’ve been keeping an eye on, you can bring them along too!”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve already gotten permission from the Headmaster! ‘Future Heroes Noticed by the Cradle’s Hero!’ A good title, and reliable, right?!”

Deus, after a moment’s thought, answered immediately.

Truth be told, there was one classmate who had caught his eye.

“U-um… Deus? Why did you bring me along…?”

Yurisia, tense and completely at a loss, asked.

Yes. This very student was the sole companion Deus had chosen.

“You’ve been working incredibly hard lately.”

“Ah, really? You noticed?”

Of course. Did she think he wouldn’t? Her desperate training was plain to see.

Yurisia usually appeared so meek as to be timid.

But the aura she exuded, the subtle changes in her breathing, made it perfectly clear.

Yurisia was running without rest. To become stronger.

He didn’t quite know *what* she was doing it for.

But this much he knew for certain: she was making an effort. She never stopped.

And when Deus saw someone like that, he wanted to give them praise, or encouragement.

“The monsters in the menagerie aren’t considered terribly dangerous. Still, it’s good to get experience early and become accustomed to it faster. Experience is as important as talent when it comes to your abilities, you know.”

“That may be so… but….”

“It’s a gift for you.”

Those who are not lazy. Those who strive. Those who seek to fulfill their dreams.

All of them deserve respect. There should be a corresponding reward.

—Deus added, gesturing alternately to himself and to Yurisia.

“Yurisia and I, we’re a team. After the second-year seniors finish their practice, we’ll go in next. I want you to try and fight one of the monsters.”

“M-me…? You want me to?”

“Yeah. It’s an experience you’re getting a year earlier than your other classmates. It’s an advantage.”

Fight a monster. Inside there, those creatures resided.

At the thought, Yurisia swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Let’s go. Quickly. Yuri. Don’t look back, just run.”

Again, that moment resurfaced. Her hands trembled, her vision darkened.

Nearly ten years had passed, and yet it was as vivid as yesterday.

A blazing forest. The roars of monsters echoing from everywhere.

Her mother, bleeding, her breaths growing fainter and fainter.

And… and the small girl, crying as she ran away….

“Yurisia?”

“Y-yes! Uh, yes!”

“Are you alright? The color suddenly drained from your face—”

“I-I’m fine. I’m fine! That’s right. That’s right. I, I am. Fine. Fine….”

“….”

Something’s there. Deus’s eyes narrowed slightly.

But he doesn’t press. Everyone has their reasons, he figures.

If it’s nothing much, they’ll tell me first. If not, then so be it.

After that, the two silently waited for their turn.

Even when the second-year students who went in before them chattered about how the actual experience was different.

How facing it head-on was worlds apart from just seeing it on video.

“Alright. Next up. Student Deus?”

The Cradle instructor who had been leading the second-years approached Deus.

“Here, take this.”

“This is…”

“A pager, just in case. Your seniors all took one before going into the pen, too. Though…seeing your potential, I doubt you’ll need to use it, right?”

The monsters inside the pen were, at most, goblins.

That level, even a normal person could handle, let alone an ability user.

However, their appearance and actions were unusually ferocious for low-threat, small-type monsters.

That was why they were kept in this pen. And why they were used.

Relatively safe, yet capable of eliciting a sense of crisis, tension, and fear.

“I’ll be going now.”

“I-I’ll be going!”

“Mhm, mhm. Be careful. And just in case! Don’t go killing them all, alright?! We get them refilled from the gate, and if you wipe them out, the gate disappears! You knew that, right?!”

How the pen operated. They deliberately didn’t eliminate the low-threat-level gate.

Instead, they installed a massive wall around the area and just regulated the number of monsters.

That way, the gate would keep spitting them out at regular intervals.

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Good. Coming from Cradle’s hero, I’m reassured.”

*

Exactly twenty minutes after the two of them entered the pen…

“Emergency! Emergency! Gate, gate mutation! Danger level rising!”

“What?! How is that possible?! The Sealstone is perfectly fine!”

“W-well, it seems this gate was created before the Sealstone was installed, so…”

Sealstones prevented the manifestation of gates. They didn’t eliminate gates that were already there.

Thanks to that detail, this pen could be used very efficiently.

They deliberately left the low-threat-level gate they found alone.

As long as a Sealstone was installed, they could continue to receive monsters without any other gates manifesting.

But even with the repetition of that process, gate mutation had never happened before.

“Students, evacuate immediately! Teachers, with me…”

The instructor, who had been about to step into the pen, recoiled in horror.

—*Fwoosh!*

The gate, which had originally only released goblins, was now spewing out crimson flames.

It felt as though it were shouting, *Do not impede someone’s awakening.*