PTSD Military Chaplain of the Academy

Priest Matthew was about to leave the Academy. It was exactly ten days since he had visited the Academy.

I urged Priest Matthew to stay a little longer. I wanted to have a deeper conversation with him, especially to delve into what he referred to as ‘life.’

However, Priest Matthew firmly declined my suggestion and hurried his return to the Holy Empire.

“If the return of relics such as the incense of Saint Jeronimo and the bell of Terea is delayed, His Holiness the Pope will also be greatly concerned.”

Hearing this, I naturally had nothing to say.

“Well then, I will take my leave.”

Priest Matthew smiled warmly and bid farewell. The other priests, Peter and Camilla, beside him did the same.

“We will also take our leave now, Head Priest.”

Although Priest Peter’s complexion looked a little pale, seeing him manage himself somewhat relieved me without me realizing it.

I had been secretly worried about their health during this time.

“Thank you for everything.”

I said that while closely observing Priest Peter. The evening walk I had with him and the conversations we shared felt precious above all else.

“…Thank you for everything.”

This time, Priest Camilla said her goodbyes. I turned my gaze toward her.

Her characteristic sharp eyes were still present, but unlike before, her irritable nature was not prominent. One might say she resembled a somewhat gentler cat.

Regardless, it was a positive change. I smiled slightly and sincerely wished her well for her future.

“I will pray that the Lord’s grace accompanies Priest Camilla.”

“T-That’s not necessary…”

“Then I won’t do it.”

“……”

Her eyes sharpened again. Noticing her personality returning after a mere joke, it seemed that people did not change easily.

“I was joking.”

“…Anyway, I will take my leave now. I hope to see you again next time.”

“If fate allows, we will meet again someday.”

“W-well…”

Priest Camilla chuckled softly. The corners of her eyes curled up, and a bright smile revealing her teeth blossomed on her face.

“That might be true.”

I gazed at Priest Camilla’s face for a long time.

There was still much I wanted to talk to her about. What direction the Holy Empire was heading in now and how the people I had met there were faring.

And what her relationship with Helena was like.

It was the most important question yet simultaneously a question that required caution.

Thus, in the end, I chose not to ask. I didn’t possess the delicacy needed to pose that question and hear the answer.

“Priest Camilla. It’s about time…”

“…Then we will really take our leave. The train schedule is tight.”

“Aah… I wanted to talk a little longer…”

The Sofia Sub-priest standing next to me had teary eyes. As the only person from the Holy Empire at the Academy, she seemed to be experiencing a bit of homesickness.

Priests Peter and Camilla also looked at Sofia Sub-priest with concerned expressions. Priest Matthew’s expression turned slightly urgent.

“Everyone, we mustn’t delay any longer.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Then we will truly be on our way.”

“Let’s meet again later, Sofia Sub-priest.”

After finishing a brief farewell with Sofia Sub-priest, the three priests could finally turn their backs on the Academy. I stared at their retreating figures for a long while.

“Will we be able to meet again later…?”

Like me, Sofia Sub-priest gazed wistfully at their backs and asked. I muttered softly.

“…Fate is something we create ourselves.”

“Excuse me?”

“The winter of the Holy Empire is beautiful, isn’t it?”

For Sofia Sub-priest, I was also contemplating a trip to the Holy Empire. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“But, the Holy Empire…”

For a moment, Sofia Sub-priest looked at me but couldn’t continue her words. Yet, I could roughly infer what she wanted to say next.

Would I really choose to visit the Holy Empire, a place with painful memories?

“I too, want to seek out what ‘life’ is.”

I replied that way.

Sofia Sub-priest seemed not to have heard my mumbling.

* * * * *

It feels like just yesterday when I attended the entrance ceremony at the Academy, yet May has already passed, marking the end of spring.

In other words, summer had come. I stared at the calendar placed on the professor’s desk.

June.

It was the starting line of summer, the month when the scorching sun begins to stretch its limbs.

It was a deeply moving matter. I had worried about how well I could blend in with the bustling Academy of students, but time laughed at my unnecessary worries and flew by quickly.

As time passed, my surroundings, including myself, had rapidly changed.

First of all, I had stopped keeping a close watch on Chloe and had somewhat distanced myself from her.

It didn’t seem likely that anything good would come from getting involved with the protagonist of this story, and seeing Chloe paving her own path so well, I felt I didn’t need to intervene.

There had been many changes in various aspects, but if I had to point out the most significant one…

“Ugh… It’s hot…”

It was this murderous heat that was currently extracting the essence of Sofia Sub-priest in real time.

Exhausted, Sofia Sub-priest sprawled over the desk and exhaled her hot breath. Just that one breath made the air inside the professor’s office feel heated.

“Head Priest… It’s too hot…”

I looked at Little Sofia Sub-priest, who had turned into a soggy mess. She looked like a soft-bodied creature, reminiscent of a squid.

“It’s hot for me too.”

“Ugh… That’s a lie. You don’t look hot at all, Head Priest…”

Sofia Sub-priest pouted. I felt unfair.

I wasn’t entirely immune to the heat as well. However, my body strangely didn’t react to the heat.

In contrast, I was highly sensitive to the cold, which made me shiver during the winters of the Great War.

“It’s hot… It’s really hot! Too hot…”

Before even two days of June had passed, the sun, hanging high in the sky, showered us with an unreasonable amount of sunlight, boiling the Academy alive.

Sofia Sub-priest seemed particularly susceptible to the heat, so I could understand why she would be acting out.

“This must be punishment from the Lord…!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ugh… Of all times, the air conditioning is broken… It doesn’t make sense!”

Sofia Sub-priest glared at the air conditioner, its mouth firmly shut. In spite of her heated gaze, the air conditioner remained unforgivingly silent.

“Since they’re checking all the air conditioners in the Academy, it can’t be helped. The Diocesan Bishop has permitted summer attire, so please bear with it for now.”

The priest’s robe, strictly speaking, doesn’t include short-sleeved attire.

That means there wasn’t originally a designated attire to be worn in the summer. Traditional groups still tend to mandate the wearing of priest attire.

If we were to dig deeper into the principles, wearing anything other than priest robes outside would contradict pastoral guidelines.

However, attire inherently develops over time. The priest’s attire was no exception.

In some regions where the summer heat is particularly oppressive, a white garment or a white collared shirt may be worn under the discretion of the diocesan bishop.

Regrettably, this region of the city endured such sweltering heat.

Because of this, both Sofia Sub-priest and I were dressed in short-sleeved shirts with collars under the diocesan bishop’s permission.

While wandering in short-sleeved shirts was cool, it was futile without the product of civilization known as air conditioning.

Today was a fortunate day since there were no classes. If I had to walk to the classroom with teaching materials even on a day like this, Sofia Sub-priest might never have returned to her human form.

“I wish I could have some refreshing ice cream…”

Sofia Sub-priest, now resigned, mumbled softly. I stopped my work and put down my pen.

‘Iced cream…’

That familiar name suddenly popped into my mind. Ice cream.

A food easily accessible in modern civilization was one of the things I craved most since I had possessed this body at the beginning.

Looking back, when I had just entered this novel, I had all kinds of thoughts.

On rainy days, I yearned for rice wine and pancakes, and on hot days like today, I longed for refreshing carbonated drinks or ice cream.

Now, after ten years, it didn’t evoke much excitement anymore.

It wasn’t just because carbonated drinks and ice cream existed in this world as well.

It was simply because I had adapted to this world and was living my own life. That’s what I thought.

‘Life…’

A week had passed since Priest Matthew had departed, but the conversation we shared had not yet been forgotten.

‘…Well, now I am not sure if this is a world of a novel.’

This place was no different from reality for me. Rather, life on Earth now felt like a figment of my imagination.

I had long since lost my original essence.

“…Head Priest! Head Priest!”

Suddenly, I snapped out of my thoughts. Sofia Sub-priest had come closer, dripping with sweat as she looked at me.

“I’m listening. Sofia Sub-priest.”

“It’s about the Grade-by-Grade Duel coming up. I just received word that there will be a meeting regarding this with the Academy professors. I think you should attend too, Head Priest.”

“A meeting, you say?”

This was news to me. I knew that the annual Grade-by-Grade Duel at Caldera Imperial Academy was scheduled. But suddenly a meeting?

“Um… I don’t really know either, but it seems that the rules for this year’s duel have changed a bit.”

“……”

A sense of unease crept in. I slowly stood up from my seat.

“Where will the meeting be held?”

“In the Main Building, in Meeting Room 3.”

“Is it happening now?”

“Um… I heard it will start in two hours.”

I glanced at the clock. If it was two hours later, it would likely be right after lunch.

“…First, I need to have lunch.”

“Ugh… The cafeteria should be a bit cooler, right…?”

With a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes, we headed toward the cafeteria.

It didn’t take long for Sofia Sub-priest to realize that the cafeteria was as hot as an oven, and she soon wore a miserable expression.

“Craaack…!”

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