The first week of class came and went without much of an incident. After making a mistake during my class on the History of the Church of Life— which was assuming that they would be retelling history as factually as possible without twisting the truth to tell a specific narrative— I now knew to pay careful attention to my lectures and to study the textbooks to… refresh my knowledge of history.

  Because now I understood that the actual events that played out didn’t matter, but how the Church of Life wished to interpret it was what mattered.

  In any case, I didn’t make a fool of myself again. Not that Professor Andra called me out to answer any more questions. It seemed she had a habit of only picking out students who looked like they weren’t paying attention. Probably because she enjoyed embarrassing them for whatever reason.

  Anyway, nothing of note had happened until the end of the first day of the second week— right after the bell rang and my elective on the Sacred Art of Spirit Summons came to an end. As Archdeacon Emmett was dismissing the class, the girl with glasses that sat next to me— her name was Julie— slumped over and grabbed her head as she sighed.

  “I just don’t get it at all…” she groaned. “How does any of this make sense?”

  And I turned to her with a raised brow. “What do you not understand?”

  She immediately flushed and slunk back into her seat. “Oh, sorry, did I say that out loud? Gracious Goddess, that’s embarrassing… sometimes I speak my mind without thinking, you know?”

  “It’s fine,” I chuckled as I waved a hand off dismissively. “But tell me— what do you need help with understanding about this class?”

  Julie scratched her cheek as she averted her gaze. “Well, everything, really. At least, the whole theory behind spirit summoning. I mean, if there’s a whole world out there full of spirits, why doesn’t everyone just summon their own spirit?”

  “Because spirit summoning is not just calling forth a spirit from the spirit world to this world,” I explained as I wagged a finger at her. “While it is certainly something anyone can do, not everyone can do it because they’d need to have at least a basic understanding of soul magic.”

  “I get that,” Julie said, before shaking her head. “But what I don’t get is why soul magic is even necessary in the first place. Why can’t you just summon a spirit and be done with it?”

  I shrugged back at her. “Because spirits are not sentient beings. At least, lesser spirits aren’t— at that stage of their life, they roam the spirit world without any thoughts except for the instinctive desire to destroy. That is why, when you summon a spirit, not only do you have to defeat it in battle, but you’ll have to imbue your soul’s essence into the spirit after that, so that they will be tamed and obey your every command.”

  It was an oversimplification of the spirit summoning process. But that was the gist of it, and it was enough to get the point across to my seat neighbor.

  “Oh, that makes sense. So that’s why not everyone can just summon their own spirit, huh? Also— they’d have to learn space magic to prepare the summoning ritual too!” She snapped her fingers.

  “Nope,” I corrected her. “You don’t even have to be able to use space magic to summon a spirit— you can just get someone else to prepare the ritual for you.”

  Julie deflated. “...I guess I still don't fully get it, huh?”

  “Don’t worry.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “You have pretty much all year to figure it out, so you’ll be fine.”

  “That is true… but I just hope I figure it all out in time,” she said dejectedly. “I don’t want to fail this class because I couldn’t tame a spirit.”

  “Well, you don’t even have to tame a spirit either— as long as you get all the steps right, you’ll pass the class. Sure, you won’t ace the class either, but at least you won’t fail.” I patted her shoulder as I rose to my feet.

  “Thanks.” Julie smiled back at me. And then the next thing she said made me pause. “You know, they say you cheated your way into the Holy Academy— that you only got in because of Archdeacon Emmett’s influence— but I think they’re wrong.”

  My brows furrowed as I looked back at the girl with glasses. “Wait, what did you say?”

  “That I think you’re really smart!” she said cheerfully. “Seriously, I don’t know where those rumors about you even came from…”

  “I wonder too,” I said as I tapped a finger on my chin. I had an inkling of an idea, however it was unconfirmed for now. Shaking my head, I just lied and smiled back at Julie. “But I’m not smart— I just paid attention in class, that’s all.”

  The truth was, everything I knew about spirit summoning was carried over from what I knew about demon summoning. And in my past life, I had plenty of experience with demon summoning.

  In fact, each of my Four Great Demon Generals had risen to the rank of demon lords, which was the pinnacle of power in the demon realm…

  So, at least for this class on spirit summoning taught by Archdeacon Emmett, I knew I was going to be completely fine.

  ***

  Over the next few days of my second week in class, I had similar strange encounters with other students— mostly those like Julie who were from another class. They mostly made weird remarks about how surprised they were that I was actually studying, or that I actually knew what I was doing. And when I helped a girl who scraped herself during our combat class, she even looked at me in surprise when she saw me cast healing magic.

  “Wait, you’re an actual [Healer]? I heard you lied about that!”

  Now I didn’t particularly care about what they had to say about me, because I knew actions spoke louder than words. At worst, it was mildly annoying to hear about constantly. But eventually, all these rumors would be disproven, so I paid them no mind. Although, both Myrla and Kelton were far more concerned about it than I was.

  And they brought up their concerns when I was sitting at the cafeteria with them, after Sister Frida approached me and handed me a letter.

  It was a follow-up message from Nicky about how she had finally gotten back to Velmond after some delays due to monsters in the area making travel difficult. But she reassured me that it was nothing to worry about, and that Ethen and the rest of the members she had brought with her were completely fine.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I burned up the letter as Sister Frida bowed her head at me and left the cafeteria. But her presence had drawn the attention of a few prying eyes of other students at the cafeteria. And I could hear what they were saying about me, even though they spoke in hushed voices.

  “Of course he gets special treatment from a [Nun]...”

  “What do you think that letter says? It has to be from the headmaster, right?”

  “That’s right— I heard his parents are friends with the headmaster! And that the headmaster personally ensured that he could skip the written portion of the entrance exams!”

  “Seriously?”

  “That’s ridiculous—”

  “But that’s not all! I heard his parents bribed Saint Darius to get him through even though he failed the entrance exams!”

  I couldn’t help but scoff at how bad the rumors were getting. First, it started with how I was given some extra privileges from Archdeacon Emmett to enter the Holy Academy— which was actually true. But now, they were saying that I was getting special treatment from Headmaster Kaelen Angelus, who I had never even met before. Not only that, but my parents were bribing a saint?

  It was almost comical how ironic these rumors were. After all, I was an orphan and a commoner, while most of them were either rich or from noble families— or both— who were given everything they ever wanted in life. I quite literally smiled when I heard them accuse me of doing things that they probably did at one point or another.

  I was even still smiling, despite the worried looks on both my friends’ faces.

  “Pst, Eli,” Myrla said, leaning over the cafeteria bench to speak to me. “I know you’re my rival and all, so I shouldn’t be helping you—”

  “We’re not rivals,” I replied.

  But she ignored me as per usual and continued, “But don’t you think you should try dispelling these rumors? I mean, it’s ridiculous! Everyone should know that you can’t cheat your way into the Holy Academy! Headmaster Angelus literally has access to the funds of the entire Church to prevent any kind of bribing from happening!”

  “This is why I didn’t want to get involved with Prince Claudius,” Kelton said from the side, drawing his lips into a thin line. “That man’s tactics are so underhanded and dirty, just like the rest of his siblings. He’s definitely the one responsible for this.”

  “I assumed as much, yeah,” I agreed with a casual nod.

  The three of us had finished eating at this point, so we returned our trays and started out of the cafeteria. But even though I tried to reassure them that everything was fine, they continued pressing me about the issue.

  “You have to do something about it,” Myrla said, pursing her lips. “And I’m not telling you this because I’m worried about you or anything— we’re rivals, so I definitely don’t care!”

  “Sure you don’t. Just like I’m your rival, right?” I rolled my eyes.

  Myrla nodded eagerly. “Exactly!”

  “No, I was being facetious—” I started.

  She cut me off, placing a hand on her chest, “I just don’t want people to think my rival is a cheater, you know? Because it makes me look bad!”

  “But what do you want me to do about it?” I said, shaking my head. “The only way to disprove words is with actions— and there’s nothing I can do right now except prove myself over time.”

  “That’s true.” Kelton nodded next to me. “That is, unless you do something extremely crazy to stand out right now.”

  And I raised a brow at him. “Like what?”

  He opened his mouth to answer my question as we turned a corner down a hallway, when a trio of familiar faces appeared right before us. It was Claudius and his two goons. Both Myrla and Kelton immediately shied back as the Seventh Prince strode up to me, a savage smirk on his face.

  “I take it you’re not enjoying the, ah, rumors that are being said about you.” He sneered at me as he came to a halt a few steps just before me. “How does it make you feel? The torment, the pain— knowing that what they’re saying about you is untrue, but being incapable of doing anything about it.”

  Behind him, Dustin and Roland snickered, before he spread his arms wide.

  “This is what happens when you cross paths with me!” he exclaimed.

  For a moment, I remained silent. My gaze shadowed over. He stared at me expectantly, a triumphant grin on his face. Both Myrla and Kelton shifted their feet uncomfortably too, waiting for a response. Before, finally, I raised my head.

  “...oh no, mean words, my greatest weakness,” I said flatly, meeting his gaze.

  Evidently, he was not expecting my reaction— or lack there-of.

  “What? You idiot— it’s not just mean words.” The Seventh Prince pointed at me. “Your reputation is ruined!”

  “Yes.” I nodded, placing a hand on my chest to feign hurt. “You’re badmouthing me behind my back, whatever shall I do?”

  Claudius clenched a fist angrily as he stared at me with an uncomprehending gaze. “Aren’t you… bothered at all by this? You’re the laughingstock of the school!”

  “Unlike you, my ego isn’t so fragile and my skin isn’t so thin that a few bad words is enough to hurt me. I mean, that’s why you did all this right?” I winked at him as I crossed my arms. “Because I hurt your feelings the other day by telling you the truth about your dearest father?”

  “You know nothing about my relationship with my father!” the Seventh Prince snarled, grabbing me by the collar of my uniform.

  Both Kelton and Myrla gasped, taking a step forward. But Roland and Dustin also moved, looming menacingly over my friends, which made them hesitate as well. This little commotion also seemed to draw the attention of some other passing students who stopped to watch what was going on.

  “Oops, looks like I struck a nerve.” I smiled back at Claudius.

  “You damn brat! I’ll—” he started as he raised a fist.

  But then he gritted his teeth, looking like he was debating whether punching me in the face was worth getting in trouble over. Unfortunately, I knew he didn’t have the gall to do it, because with this many witnesses… he would have certainly gotten into trouble.

  I glanced around, seeing the watching faces. And then I looked back at Myrla, before eyeing Kelton. I gave him a knowing look, and his eyes grew wide, realizing what I was about to do.

  “Tell me, Princess Claudius, since you’re so keen on making a fool out of me, how about we settle this with a duel in front of the school?” I said as I turned back to the Seventh Prince.

  He blinked, loosening his grip for a moment. “What?”

  A susurration washed over Myrla, Kelton, Dustin, Roland, and the rest of the watching students when they heard that. But I continued, still grinning at Claudius.

  “Either you get to embarrass me in front of everyone, or I get to show everyone that your rumors are nothing more than rumors and that I actually do belong here in the Holy Academy. One of us comes out happy, and the other one comes out miserable. We both get what we want. You get what you want, since I know you so badly want to punch me in the face without getting into trouble.”

  “That’s…” the prince hesitated. “But the use of the dueling grounds is not allowed by Initiates.”

  “Oh, who cares about breaking some rules— as long as the teachers don’t find out, we’ll be fine.” I just waved a hand dismissively, before tilting my head innocently. “Unless… you’re scared you’ll actually lose in a duel to a [Healer]?”

  And that seemed to do the trick. Claudius shoved me back, letting go of my shirt as he glared at me.

  “I’m not scared of you, child. I’m the Seventh Prince of the Sanctus Empire. Don’t worry, I’m going to gather as many of our classmates at the dueling grounds tonight to watch me make a fool out of you, and then they’ll all know that you don’t belong in this school.”

  With that, he turned around and marched off, followed by Dustin and Roland. I just watched him go as Myrla and Kelton ran up to me.

  “Are you alright?” Myrla asked, trying to tidy up my uniform.

  Meanwhile, Kelton just grabbed me by the shoulder and met my gaze. “What were you thinking? How do you expect to beat Prince Claudius in a duel? Ignoring the fact that he’s a [Warrior] and you’re a [Healer], he grew up learning swordsmanship from the best duelists in all of the Sanctus Empire! You’re going to embarrass yourself!”

  I just shrugged my friends off as I gave them a reassuring smile.

  “Don’t worry,” I said, stepping past them with my usual casual demeanor. “I know what I’m doing, I promise.”

  And both Myrla and Kelton just exchanged uncertain looks, unconvinced by my words.