Volume 1, Chapter 16 – Study Time

“Ugh. This is hard.”

I was spending my days buried in studies at the Royal Library, which was attached to the palace.

It seemed Chris-san had already pulled all the strings with the librarians, as an enormous pile of necessary books had been prepared for me.

I was handed four books: Fundamentals of Herbalism (Volumes I and II) and Fundamentals of Medicine (Volumes I and II).

Once I finished and understood those, I was given five more: Applied Herbalism, Human Anatomy, Applied Medicine, Psychiatry, and The Plagues Compendium.

And only after understanding all of those and passing the exams would I finally be allowed to study Magical Pharmacology (Volumes I and II) .

To top it all off, there was a final completion exam.

I didn’t even study this much back when I was taking my university entrance exams!

Also, where did the Grimoires go?

“Ugh. In times like this, I really resent my typical Japanese personality that just can’t say no.”

Herbalism… well, that part I get.

There are probably gathering quests and stuff (there are, right?), and if I just pick random useless weeds, the quest obviously won’t count as completed.

No, wait, wait.

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In a normal game, you don’t usually need to be able to distinguish them yourself, do you?

Shouldn’t it normally just be a matter of selecting “Gather” from a nearby menu and having it happen automatically?

Still, stopping now would be a waste. Why? Because I’d already paid for it.

And it was 20 gold coins—the equivalent of 1 million yen. ¹ About 6k300 Usd.

Apparently, books are incredibly precious in this world.

The library admission fee until the completion of this curriculum was 6 gold coins, the librarian’s book-selection service was 4 gold coins, and the curriculum creation and examination fees were 10 gold coins.

Of course, discounts don’t exist here.

And so, I studied desperately so I could finish the curriculum even a single day earlier.

Why, you ask? Just think about it.

I have no freedom to choose anything, yet somehow I’m still obligated to pay for everything.

In other words, I am not allowed to move out of that 10-gold-coin-a-night luxury hotel I’m currently staying at.

Thanks to that, the 3,000 gold coins I’d gained in that lucky windfall were melting away at an incredible speed.

Furthermore, word of this study routine—harsh enough to rival medical school—had already reached the ears of the King and the Pope.

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The King even went out of his way to come to the library to encourage me.

“Lady Fiene, I heard from Christina. I am truly impressed. To think you volunteered to study at the library, wanting to learn the foundations of medicine first in order to heal the people. Excellent, excellent indeed. Lady Fiene, you may truly become a Saint in the future.”

“I-I am honored.”

“Think nothing of it. Forgive me for interrupting. I have high expectations for you.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

In this situation, there was no way I had the courage to just throw everything away and run.

Seeing me stand there in a daze, watching the King leave with a near-tearful expression, the librarian followed up with another devastating blow.

“You were so moved by His Majesty’s encouragement. I understand how you feel. However, now is the time to switch gears, look straight ahead, and focus on your studies. You are so young, yet so dedicated to your learning. Such effort will never betray you. Continuing your efforts and proving yourself to be a magnificent Saint is the only way to respond to the encouragement His Majesty bestowed upon you.”

No, that’s not it! I’m not moved at all! I don’t want to spend my time studying even in a game world! I want to fight monsters and go around being overpowered!

Since there was no way I could say such a thing, I diligently devoted myself to my studies.

My goal: Finish in one week!

◇ ◇ ◇

…At least, that’s what I thought.

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In the end, it took two months to complete the curriculum.

My expenses over these two months were 610 gold coins for the hotel, 20 gold coins for the studies, 70 gold coins for an absurdly luxurious carriage, and 4 gold coins for other miscellaneous expenses.

Converted to Japanese yen, that’s about 35 million yen. ² About 220k usd.

That should give you a pretty good idea of just how much money this hotel was bleeding from me.

By the way, I Managed to get rid of the carriage after a week by giving a somewhat plausible reason: that it would be more educational to walk myself and see the daily changes in the town.

Ah, what a waste.

Now then, including the parts I was forced into buying, about a third of the massive subjugation reward I’d received had melted away in less than three months.

Honestly, I want to try studying by reading Grimoires in the library this time.

But the thought of jumping in without knowing how many more months I’d get trapped in another forced curriculum was honestly terrifying.

You might think I should just go talk to them myself, but in this country, apparently it causes all sorts of problems if I don’t send Chris-san—or rather, an attendant—as a messenger.

Personally, she’s a complete muscle-brain, so I’d love to replace her, but that’s not exactly an option either.

After all, she became my attendant as a result of a recommendation from both the King and the Pope.

There was no way I had the nerve to fire someone personally recommended by the two people who were obviously the biggest powers in the country

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Besides, there’s some talk about how it would be unthinkable to separate a Saint candidate, chosen by the Holy Sword and a Holy Knight, from said Holy Knight.

Plus, Chris-san is apparently the only female Holy Knight of the current generation, so replacing her would be difficult from an image perspective too.

That said, hiring someone new would be bad because there’s too little work, and besides, it’s a waste of money.

Well, because of all that, I somehow had no choice but to make this muscle-brained kukkoro onee-san actually do her job properly, but…

By the way, when I told her I wanted to move because the hotel was too expensive, she completely refused to hear me out, insisting that it would be unthinkable for a Saint to stay at some cheap inn.

So I wrote down all our income and expenses on paper and explained that at this rate we’d go bankrupt in less than a year, but…

“What! To think you can perform such difficult calculations… Could it be that Fiene-sama also has a talent for business? With such talent, I am sure you can earn money in no time. Those who become Fiene-sama’s subjects in the future will be so fortunate!”

She started saying completely nonsensical things like that, and at that point it felt like we weren’t even having the same conversation anymore.

After talking with her a bit more, it turned out Chris-san apparently couldn’t do multiplication or division.

How did someone like that even Manage to become a Vice Commander?

Sigh .

Just like always, my head hurt again today.