Apostle of the Gods

153. Start Of The Training Camp

As I moved to the front, the students glanced at me with sympathy.

The students seem to think that I will get scolded.

「Sit down, Will.」

「Okay.」

I sat in the front seat as ordered by Jema.

「Will, you are the disciple of the Small Sage, correct?」

「That’s right.」

Shiro, who came along with me, tried to head-butt on Jema’s leg.

「Hey, stop that, Shiro–」

「It’s alright. I don’t mind.」

Jema said, and continued the conversation.

「I’m looking at your entrance exam data. You are an 8-year-old with one guardian deity pillar. But it says that you beat two students who had 4 guardian deity pillars each in a duel.」

「That’s right.」

Meanwhile, Shiro happily began to head-butt Jema. However, she didn’t seem to mind it in particular.

「The number of guardian deities is just a rough guide. So it doesn’t matter. What can you do? Would I be correct to assume that you specialise in magic since you’re the disciple of the Small Sage?」

「Yes. I specialise in magic. But I’m also good at using weapons and unarmed combat.」

「Hou.. How impressive…」Jema gazed at me intently.

She, naturally, does not know that I am the reincarnation of Edelfuss.

Jema should also know that this training camp might be raided. However, she doesn’t know that I know that information as well.

「Arti! Tina!」

「Yes.」Arti replied.

「Is anything the matter?」Tina answered.

Called by Jema, Arti and Tina came from the back of the carriage.

Arti was still carrying Fluffy.

「Arti is the disciple of the Sword Saint, and Tina is the disciple of the Beloved Child of the Water God. That means you should also know about Will, the disciple of the Small Sage, right?」

「Yes.」

「Indeed. I do know him.」

「You receive training from the Sword Saint and the Small Sage together sometimes, correct?」

「Yes.」

Hearing Arti’s reply, Jema nodded.

「So, how strong would you say Will is? No need for flattery or consideration. Just tell the facts.」

「He is much, much stronger than I am.」Tina said.

「I would like a more concrete answer. What do you think, Arti?」

「Stronger than me too.」

Arti said the same thing as Tina. It was not concrete at all.

Jema’s eyebrows twitched, however.

「Hou… Stronger than you huh, Arti?」

「Yes.」

Arti just stood with an attitude as if saying that explanation was enough.

「In that case, which one of us is stronger? Will or me?」

「I’m not sure.」

Arti answered immediately.

Upon hearing that, Jema’s face turned serious for a moment.

「……I see.」

She smiled happily, and turned towards me.

「If Arti says so, then it must be true. I look forward to seeing what you can do.」

「Thank you.」I replied.

During that time, Shiro was rhythmically headbutting Jema’s legs.

Then Arti and I rode on the carriage while sitting across from Jema.

After riding about 14 hours, when my ass was starting to hurt, we finally arrived at our destination.

It was only about a couple of hours before midnight.

And, worst of all, it was raining.

「We’ve arrived. Everyone, get off.」

Jema said with an emotionless tone, to the students who were dejected seeing the rain.

The movements of the thirty students were sluggish, probably because they don’t want to go out when it’s raining.

「You’re all too slow!」Jema said in a scolding tone.「I know the sun has already set, but there are no comfortable things like lodging accommodation here. So just follow me silently.」

Jema then started walking fast.

Some of the students were tired from hours of riding in the carriage and were walking slowly.

Jema then said without slowing her pace.

「Where do you think we are right now? A forest where a large number of monsters inhabit. If you get lost, nobody will come to save you.」

「Y-Yes, ma’am.」

「We will not wait for you. If you get lost, you will have to survive the night all on your own.」

With just those words, the student started to move sharply.

「Needless to say, act in groups. We don’t care who gets lost. Instead, you should take care of your own members.」

While saying such a thing, Jema walked steadily.

The two accompanying teachers also walked right behind Jema. And none of them looked back.

Perhaps the students also understood that Jema was being dead serious, as they strived to keep up with her.

The teachers walked fairly fast. So the students were in a half-jog to keep up.

And so, we headed deeper into the forest. The students started breathing heavily.

I explored the surroundings with magic detection and noticed that three of the five assistants were lurking near us.

Jema was not seriously thinking that it was okay for the students to get lost and die.

She acted ruthless in order to get the students to give up their naivety.

And the result of that, the students desperately kept up through the rain.

Rain was one of the factors that deprived students of their physical strength.

Of course, all the students were equipped with rain gear while walking.

On a side note, raincoats were provided by the academy. The quality was not very good, however.

I have better quality rain gear, but to maintain fairness, I wore the provided standard supplies.

Trotting with poor quality rain gear, made the inside humid.

Even if it wasn’t raining, my clothes would have gotten wet from the sweat.

About two hours later, after midnight, Jema finally stopped.

「We’ve arrived at our destination. Congratulations.」

Jema said, with a smile.