“What have you dooooooone?!” screamed the priest. His voice echoed throughout the auditorium. “Beast Tamer? A Beast Tamer?! Why would you choose a Profession for failures?! I know they say all Professions are equal, but that one?!”
Kanata giggled. “Oh, a Profession for failures? But I’ve wanted to be a Beast Tamer for so long, what else could I do?”
“Stop giggling!” The priest sprung up, his back pain forgotten. “Do you understand what you’ve done?! Beast Tamer is a Profession that bestows the ability to command magic beasts, but in exchange it lowers your Vitality, your Strength, your Magic, your Spirit—all of your abilities! And even then, a magic beast will only acknowledge you as their master if you face them in single combat!”
“How wonderful! All I need to do is fight, and they’ll accept me!”
“What are you saying?! You’ll be as strong as the average child! You won’t even be able to defeat a slime!” the priest screamed.
By this point, he was weeping openly. After all, among the Professions revealed to Kanata was Saint—the symbol of the Church itself. It was a grave failure for the priest, as officiator of the ceremony. A girl with the potential to become a Saint, after they’d gone so long without one, had chosen Beast Tamer under his very nose. If the Holy Church were to learn of this, it could very likely end in his excommunication. He could feel everything he had labored to build crumbling under his feet.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the priest repeated as the color drained from his face. “W-We can change your Profession!” he said. “Perhaps, if we pray in earnest...”
“Please don’t worry, Father.” Kanata’s voice was gentle. She gave the priest a smile filled with benevolent kindness.
“O-Oh, such grace,” he mumbled. The priest, his mind still in turmoil, made the sign of the cross. He had seen a glimmer of hope in Kanata’s smile. Perhaps even now she could return to being a Saint. No. She had to. Her smile was nothing short of divine. Surely she could do something about this situation. He smiled back.
“Father, did you not say that there is no precedent in history for acknowledging a change in Profession? Let us abide by the gods’ laws. Isn’t that best, Father?”
“Nooooooooooooooooo!” Far from offering a solution, Kanata’s response had only plunged him further into despair. The priest sobbed. “How could this be happening?!” he cried. “How could something this absurd be allowed?!” His knees buckled.
Kanata spoke gently to the priest. “Bless me, Father,” she said. “I have become a Beast Tamer, just as I wanted. There is nothing to worry about.”
“But... But... If this... I won’t...” he blubbered.
“It will be all right. Nobody could see that Saint appeared in the divine revelation, and I shall not speak of it to anyone. Your position is not in danger.”
“Ohhh.” The priest wiped the tears and snot from his face. “You can even see through my petty vanity... You really should have been a Saint.” In his mind, it was truly regrettable to have let someone like her get away.
“Excuse me, Father,” Kanata said with a formal bow. “There are other students waiting.” She turned, and without returning to her seat, left the auditorium, her skirt swaying as she walked.
“I did it,” she said. “I did it! I became a Beast Tamer, just like I always wanted! My efforts weren’t in vain!”
She was wrong, of course. Her efforts were very much in vain. With Kanata’s talents, Beast Tamer would have appeared in the divine writing whether she had exerted herself or not. Her ten years of hard work had served no benefit whatsoever in selecting her Profession. However, her decade of diligent work had given her a tremendous amount of power. Even with the general debuff from the Beast Tamer Profession, the feature that made people think of it as a black mark, even without any beasts to fight for her, there was nobody who was a match for her strength. She had become the strongest Beast Tamer in the world.
“Now, to find some fluffy beasts! Everything that I am, I devote to my quest for fluff. Wait for me, beasties!” She let herself imagine all the fluffy friends she had yet to meet. It was enough to melt her heart.
The students, who had been shocked speechless, seemed to return to themselves after Kanata left. They didn’t understand what had taken place until they heard the screams of the teachers waiting outside.
† † †
“A Beeeeaaaaaaast Taaaaaaamer?!”
Kanata’s teachers collectively let out the most horrifying scream when they heard what Profession she had chosen. They had been certain that this was the ceremony where Kanata was to become a Saint. Everyone had been. She went far beyond being a Renaissance woman. She had studied magic and medicine, theater and music, even cooking and art. In every one of those fields, she’d exhibited extraordinary talent. She had triumphed in so many contests, in so many fields, that it would be faster to list the tournaments held in the Royal Capital that she hadn’t won. She had been born with extraordinary talent, devoted herself single-mindedly to a life of discipline, and shown striking results.
Her teachers, for their part, had been supremely proud to have her in their classrooms. They’d been looking forward to a future where they could boast to everyone that the Kanata Aldezia had once been their student. How could she have chosen a Profession like Beast Tamer? They wept bitter tears.
Kanata curtsied politely. “Farewell, everyone,” she said. “I wish you good health.” Whether she knew what was in her teachers’ hearts, she gave no indication.
“W-Wait! Lady Kanata Aldezia, where are you going?!” one teacher beseeched.
“I am going to enjoy a bit of beast taming.” She smiled elegantly, as if she had declared her intention to enjoy the flowers accompanied by gentle harp music.
“Ex-Excuse me?!” several teachers continued. “We aren’t finished here! We need to discuss your plans for education! To think you would throw away your future to become a lowly Beast Tamer!”
Skillfully dodging past her teachers as they attempted to restrain her, Kanata bowed her head in apology. “I am terribly sorry, but I have decided not to pursue higher education.”
“What?!” her teachers all shouted at once, taken aback.