Chapter 19
No One Is Born a Hero (4)
Ian quietly spoke as he stared at the freshman’s face.
“…It’s good to stand up for yourself, but maybe don’t say things like you’ll kill them. Since we know you can’t really kill them, it only provokes them more…”
At that moment, the freshman, who had been gripping the letter envelope with a serious expression, opened her mouth.
“I’ve thought about it a lot.”
“…About what?”
“How much of my magic power it would take to kill a person and erase all traces…”
“……”
In the silence that followed, the freshman slowly continued.
“It takes exactly half.”
“…And?”
“It means I can handle two people.”
Then the freshman blinked her eerily shining golden eyes.
“I was in the process of choosing two among those bastards, so it’s not just a provocation.”
“……”
So, she really was thinking about killing them.
Soon, the freshman who had been glaring at the broken mirror turned her head towards Ian and took a step closer.
Her clear golden eyes were strangely authoritative.
Without realizing it, Ian took a step back from the young girl.
“I’d appreciate it if you watched your words too, Sir.”
“Ah, okay…”
“Also, could you relay a message? To that Prince Behemoth or whatever…”
“What… message?”
“Tell him not to enter my room as he pleases either.”
“…Alright.”
Ian slowly nodded his stiff neck.
The freshman smiled slightly, then leaned her upper body slightly towards Ian and…
Slam!
She closed the door.
Only Ian was left in front of the closed door.
This was the first meeting that only Ian remembers now.
🥀
After hearing Ian’s entire story, I rubbed my chin.
“Hmm.”
“I thought you were crazy.”
“You had every reason to think so.”
I cleanly agreed with Ian’s words.
I was a madman, huh.
I’m still similar now, but…
Now, what’s two people? I could cleanly handle hundreds.
But my personality remains the same.
I thought it had worn away a lot between regressions, but fundamental parts remained quite intact.
“That’s right. Hearing it now, I remember.”
As I muttered plainly, Ian’s expression became more complex.
Ah, right. There was one part of Ian’s story that made me think complex thoughts too.
I carefully asked Ian,
“By the way, why did Ethan help me back then?”
“He said he became interested after learning you were in the vanguard team.”
“Ah.”
That makes sense.
I nodded slowly and observed Ian’s face again.
His expression showed he was deep in thought about various things, but color had returned to his face. That’s good.
‘He seems to have relaxed.’
The reason I asked Ian about such trivial stories was partly because I was genuinely curious, but more than that…
It was also to help Ian, who must have been deeply shocked after personally supporting the injured professor.
Seeing Ian seemingly recovered from the shock, I smiled slightly and asked:
“Shall we head back now, Ian?”
“Yeah.”
Ian nodded as he put down his water bottle.
We couldn’t completely erase the traces, but our clothes were somewhat cleaner. Probably his mind too.
As I put my arms through my jacket sleeves and walked out to the front of the tent with Ian, everyone had already gathered.
And Camilla was in the middle of reporting the professor’s condition on behalf of the group.
“Really? Thank goodness…”
“Sob, I thought he was really going to die…”
The atmosphere, which had been utterly gloomy throughout, regained some life with the news that the professor had survived.
However, an unavoidable discussion remained.
The first to speak was a freckle-faced magician:
“…Then what happened to the other professors?”
With that question as the starting point, words poured out from the students.
“How many professors came with us in the first place?”
“Is the dean here too?”
“Did they all… get attacked?”
“Let’s go back to the Academy right now…! We don’t know when we might be attacked too. W-we’re just students…”
“Wait, is the Academy even safe?!”
“So what exactly attacked them?”
After someone’s clear shout, the students’ voices subsided again.
The students know the professors’ abilities best.
If even such professors were attacked…
Wouldn’t we just be throwing our lives away if we tried to do something?
So what exactly attacked the professor?
Everyone looked at the emergency treatment team.
Camilla, standing firm amidst the pouring gazes, began to explain.
“We didn’t see any wounds like those from animal teeth or claws. There were no rashes like from an epidemic either. But… I’m sorry, we couldn’t determine the exact cause.”
It’s right not to expect too much from students who aren’t professional medical personnel to begin with.
As Camilla shrugged and stepped back, the students became noisy again, each sharing their own thoughts.
Some said it was a golem, others a murderer with stones…
All nonsense.
Among them, Ethan Behemoth quietly approached me.
“Edith Crowell.”
Startled, I realized he was sitting next to me.
“What do you think?”
“…Maybe they got lost and became isolated?”
“Just as I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re talking nonsense as expected.”
I know it’s nonsense, but it’s not like I can tell the ‘truth’ I know.
“What were you expecting?”
“Everyone, look here for a moment.”
As I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, he raised his voice, ignoring my gaze. The students immediately focused on his voice.
“Here’s what I think. A few elite students should scout this area. The professors and knights might be isolated in danger.”
And you called my words nonsense.
Smirking and resting my chin on my hand, I continued to listen to Ethan.
Someone asked.
“What about the remaining students?”
“Return to the Academy first.”
“Ah…”
Some students were dissatisfied with Ethan’s instruction to return to the Academy, while others sighed in relief.
In any case, ‘returning to the Academy’ was a consistently mentioned idea amidst the noise.
So this was Ethan Behemoth’s judgment after sufficiently listening to the students’ opinions, and it was also the most practically appropriate instruction.
“We can fight too!”
“No. You’ll only be a burden when we don’t know what threats there might be. Those capable enough, I’ll propose to accompany me, so wait.”
Even the enthusiastic students quickly subsided when Ethan Behemoth firmly shut them down.
As opinions gathered to follow his suggestion, Ethan Behemoth began calling out the names of students to be included in the scouting team one by one.
“You can go or not. But if you join us, it would be immensely helpful. Now then-“
Unfamiliar knights and a few magicians, along with Camilla, Ian, and Rimos Therion were called in turn. …So he’ll obviously take me too.
But no matter how long I waited, Ethan Behemoth didn’t call my name.
And finally—
“That’s all.”
He ended it like that.
…What about me?
Ah, did he forget to call my name? I raised my hand and spoke up.
“You haven’t called me yet. Did you perhaps forget? I’m Edith Crowell.”
The name you just called out earlier.
As I confidently raised my hand slightly and looked at him, Ethan Behemoth nodded with an expression that suggested it was only natural.
“Right. I’m leaving you out.”
…I was so dumbfounded my arm lowered a bit.
“…Don’t you need all the strength you can get?”
Even that chancellor was reluctant to leave me out of the vanguard team.
Not to brag, but I could really be of help.
And above all, I couldn’t return to the Academy from here.
Too many things had changed, and ‘that incident’ might have started earlier than planned, and it was uncertain if the location where I obtained the curse remained the same.
In other words, I hadn’t achieved any of the goals I had for participating in the subjugation practice.
I must be part of the scouting team to gather more information.
…To be honest, I was also afraid of what might happen if someone other than me got that curse.
I must find it as planned.
And I will definitely destroy it.
“We’ll manage somehow.”
But Ethan Behemoth’s refusal was also more adamant than I expected.
…We’ll manage somehow?
I spoke more forcefully.
“Do you think you can return alive from ‘something’ that threatened even the professor with such a complacent attitude?”
Ethan Behemoth fell silent for a moment. All the students were watching us.
He slowly closed and opened his sharp eyes, and concluded firmly.
“Even so, I can’t include someone who’s always wanted to die in the scouting team.”
…That’s a misunderstanding! Seriously!
🥀
Thank you for reading! ♡
