After my duel match with Ren ended,
I absentmindedly watched the other students’ matches, trying to clear my cluttered mind.
Even so, I couldn’t help but keep glancing at Ren who was sitting far away.
Naturally, my thoughts became filled with worries about her.
…I already knew, but being a Hero really is a cruel fate.
From the moment the First Hero slew the First Demon King, an endless cycle had begun. An unceasing clash between Heroes and Demon Kings, reborn generation after generation.
Like an eternal law that upheld the world, they could never escape each other and were destined to meet in battle someday.
But by this point, unlike the still-singular Demon King, the number of Heroes had grown far too large.
It was a mystery I had yet to fully unravel.
For some reason, the world had granted the power of the Hero to far too many people in this era.
The amount of power it can bestow is limited, so what was it thinking, recklessly handing it out like this?
The total amount of power the world could grant to Heroes was fixed.
The First Hero had used that power to defeat the First Demon King alone.
Then what about the current generation, where Heroes were no longer just a single individual?
Amazingly, the blessings each of them received hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Every one of them had immense potential, and given enough time, they could all become powerful enough to face the Demon King on their own.
That might seem like a good thing. At least, on the surface.
But as I mentioned before, the excessive power granted to this generation of Heroes came with severe side effects.
Many had shortened lifespans, eroded emotions, or even lost their memories.
And beyond that, there were numerous other side effects, all of which wore down and ultimately broke the spirits of these so-called Heroes.
In the latter half of the game, news of the heroes who couldn’t take it spread throughout the Academy.
…And this applied to Ren as well.
Ren has exceptional potential, which means her side effects are far worse than the others.
Even before that, she had already begun to feel frustrated with the immense responsibility that came with being a Hero.
The duty she was forced to bear, the expectant gazes surrounding her—
All of it had come together to press down on her with overwhelming weight.
And on top of that, the very power she possessed brought with it its own devastating consequences.
There were countless ways playable characters could die in the game.
But when it came to Ren, more often than not, her death was by her own hand rather than another’s.
In other words, the most important thing in saving her was mental care.
Especially when it came to the emotional erosion and memory loss caused by the side effects.
Well, at least for today, things seem to have improved somehow….
To minimize the side effects, the best approach was to do the exact opposite of what caused them.
That meant provoking her, drawing out her emotions, and bringing back the intense memories buried deep within her mind.
…Besides, as her archenemy, I had to continue being the object of her hatred anyway.
It was the perfect role for me.
***
Time passed, and the long morning classes finally came to an end.
“Alright! That’s it for today’s lesson. See you all in the next class~”
Looking around, I could see that the lesson must have been tough. Many students were sprawled out on the floor and panting in exhaustion.
Unlike them, Ren, a handful of other students, and I…. basically those who had been promoted to the intermediate level had personal training time.
Once our schedules were adjusted to fit the intermediate class curriculum, we would start attending their lessons from the next session onward.
Did Ren already leave?
No matter how much I looked around, there was no sign of her.
It was almost laughable how I had worried she might immediately draw her sword on me the moment class ended.
…She couldn’t have already erased even the sparring match from her memory, could she?
If that were the case, it would be a serious problem.
It would mean that her side effects had worsened far beyond what I had seen in the game.
I wanted to check on her right away, but there was someone I needed to meet first.
“Professor Chen Xi? You asked me to stay behind after class…?”
“…Hmm? Oh, right. You.”
Professor Chen Xi who had been scribbling something on a sheet of paper finally turned her gaze toward me.
“It’s nothing too important. I just had something I wanted to ask.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. That sword technique you used during the sparring match earlier. Where did you learn it?”
The sword technique from earlier.
She was probably referring to the reverse sword technique.
…Tsk. I thought she wouldn’t notice, but she still remembers? I even tweaked the movements a bit.
She might not have realized it, but this wasn’t my first time meeting Professor Chen Xi.
Back when both she and I were still adventurers.
By coincidence, I had taken on a few guild requests with her in the past.
Of course, I had always worn a mask back then, so she had never seen my face.
There’s no way I can tell her that I was that guy.
“I learned it from a knight I used to take on requests with back when I was an adventurer.”
“Oh~ An adventurer? You too? I was one myself until a few years ago.”
Oh, I know. She was famous enough that everyone knew her name.
“But why are you asking all of a sudden…?”
“Hmm? Ah, it’s nothing special. There was this kid I used to know who had a sword style similar to yours.”
“…..…”
A wistful look crossed Professor Chen Xi’s face, as if she were reminiscing about the past.
…Wait. If she still remembers that time—
“That little brat borrowed money from me and never paid me back, you know?”
“…Huh?”
“And then he just vanished! Do you have any idea how much I lent him?! And he just up and disappeared?! If I ever see him again, I swear—!”
“….…”
Hearing Professor Chen Xi growl in frustration sent a cold sweat running down my back.
Especially since I was the culprit.
…I’m taking this secret to my grave.
Leaving Professor Chen Xi behind as she raged and flared her aura, I quietly slipped away.
***
After finishing all my morning classes…
A peaceful lunch break had arrived.
“Hey, why do you look like absolute shit again?”
Kiana who had been elegantly twirling her pasta threw all elegance aside with her choice of words as she eyed me curiously.
“…It’s nothing.”
“What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”
“I almost got caught for the perfect crime.”
“…What the hell are you on about, dumbass? Whatever it is, it sounds like another pointless problem. Quit whining and just eat your damn food.”
Well, if you got a death threat from a monster-class Master professor, you’d probably be like this too.
I let out a deep sigh and, as usual, ate the lunch Kiana had bought for me.
After a good meal, I felt noticeably better.
“Hey, we’re in the same class this afternoon, right? Magical Engineering?”
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
“I took it because I’m interested in alchemy-related magic tools, but what about you? Why’d you sign up for this?”
Well, it’s because there’s someone in that class I need to meet.
…But I couldn’t exactly say that, so I gave a vague answer.
“Same reason as you. When you’re an adventurer, you come across a lot of useful magic tools.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Unlike in the time of the First Hero, a thousand years of progress had made magic tools practically indispensable.
No matter was the field was, they were incredibly convenient and essential.
“Hmm~ So adventurers use magic tools a lot, huh?”
“When you’ve only got one life, not using them would be the dumb choice.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
We continued chatting idly and enjoying a brief moment of peace.
Then, in the midst of our conversation, Kiana said something I couldn’t just ignore.
“Hey, you know about this, right? That there’s a princess among the students who enrolled with us this year?”
“…Yeah, I know.”
“Well, I looked into it, and apparently, she signed up for the same Magical Engineering class as us.”
“…..…”
“On top of that, I heard she’s got a natural talent for Magical Engineering—”
While listening to Kiana, my mind drifted to the other meeting I had scheduled for today.
Naturally, that meeting was with the very same princess Kiana was talking about.
So we’re finally meeting today…
The Third Princess, Hela Leonherit.
In the imperial family of four princes and three princesses, she was the lowest in the hierarchy.
The citizens of the empire had no idea, but within the imperial family, a brutal struggle for succession was already underway.
With the aging emperor growing weaker, a petty power struggle had erupted to claim his authority.
In the game, Hela was almost certain to be caught up in their bloody battle and killed.
That was true not only in the imperial palace which served as the setting for the tutorial, but also here at the academy where she continued to face threats.
Fortunately, back at the palace, I had been assigned as her guard which allowed me to eliminate most of the dangers that approached her.
But next week was going to be a problem.
The Magic Tool Overload Incident.
It was an incident where a space movement magic tool that a researcher student was developing went out of control.
In reality, however, it was deliberately sabotaged by someone with the intent to assassinate the princess.
As a result, Hela, along with several other students, was transported to an unknown location.
There mercenaries lay in wait; they were ready to slaughter her without mercy.
And the one who orchestrated the entire event in the game was none other than the Fourth Prince.
Hela Leonherit’s Archenemy.
Originally, he was supposed to enroll in the academy alongside her and obsessively plot her death at every turn.
But now, in this reality, he never enrolled.
Or rather, he couldn’t.
Because… I had already killed him.
I had eliminated her archenemy.
Just like that orphanage director I had once seen in my dreams.
And because of that, my next course of action was already set in stone.
“―Hey, are you even listening to me?!”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“…No, seriously. Why do you look like shit again?”
“………”
Why?
Because the first friend you made at the academy is about to commit an act of terrorism here.
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