Chapter 267: New Semester (1)
Being a fourth-year at the Hero Academy carried special significance. Not only was it the year before graduation, but the comprehensive evaluation in the fourth year also had the greatest impact on one’s final graduation score. Naturally, all the cadets threw themselves into their classes with everything they had.
After graduating this year, the cadets would become active-duty heroes. Because of that, the content of the courses in the fourth year was on an entirely different level from that in previous years. It was dangerous, intense, and practically indistinguishable from real combat.
In any case, today was not the first day of the first semester of fourth year, a crossroads in every cadet’s life, but the second day.
Professor Kane spotted me sitting in the corner of the lecture hall and curled his lips into a grin. “Well, well. You really are something else. Even the dumbest bastard usually shows up on the first day of a new semester, but you, Dale, operate on a whole different level, huh?”
Damn it.
His piercing stare could bore through my skin. It was just as I had expected. Because I had been busy “catching up” with Iris and Yurina for all the time we hadn’t seen each other over winter break, the first day of the semester had slipped by in vain.
I made up an excuse. “W-well, I caught a cold.”
“Oh? Really? A so-called hero caught a cold?”
“Haha. I guess I pushed myself too hard training to prepare for the new semester, so my body weakened a bit.”
Professor Kane stared at me. “Don’t you think that sounds like a pretty pathetic excuse, even to you?”
Seriously, why is he sharp only when it’s inconvenient?
“Ahem. W-well, you didn’t really do anything important on the first day anyway, did you?” I replied.
I had heard from other cadets that he simply said that we would be staying in these newly assigned classes for the entire year, that it would be wise to start scouting good party members early, and that it was part of a hero’s role and then dismissed class.
“Oh? So, you think it’s fine that you skipped the first day?”
“It’s not like I was the only one absent.”
Naturally, Iris and Yurina, who had been with me, had also failed to attend.
“That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
“Their grades are different. Grades. Get it?”
“No, that’s...”
So, if your grades are good, you’re allowed to skip class? I thought.
“Of course. Talented people can afford to be a little lazy. The problem is when incompetent people aren’t even diligent,” replied the professor.
“Urk.” I had no comeback for that.
“Well, anyway. If you want to escape the bottom of the rankings, stop skipping class from now on.”
I let out a sigh and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Alright then! Let’s start with attendance!”
As Professor Kane moved away, someone poked my back.
Yurina, who was sitting directly behind me in her Yuren disguise, whispered with an awkward smile, “Um, s-sorry, Dale.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to getting chewed out by Professor Kane.”
“O-okay.” Yurina nodded, then looked at the finger she had been using to poke my back and smiled faintly. “Hehe. Still, I’m glad we ended up in the same class.”
Her lips curved upward, unable to hide her happiness at the thought of sharing a classroom with me this year.
“Yeah. I didn’t expect that either,” I replied.
“Mm! Iris and Camilla are in this class too. I think party lessons will be fun this year.”
Yurina glanced at Iris and Camilla, who were seated a short distance away, and clenched her fist in excitement. I smirked softly as I watched her animated expression. Last year, she had been the only one assigned to a different class and had to attend classes alone. It seemed that the lonely experience had left a deeper impression on her than she let on.
Still, everyone did end up in the same class. Iris, Camilla, Yurina, and even Jules and Albert—every cadet I was even remotely acquainted with had been placed in the same class as me. Had Elisha pulled some strings? In my previous life, we had never all been assigned together like this. Someone had definitely interfered with the class assignments.
But I had no problems with this. Since I was a Special Operations Cadet, I had no idea how diligently I would be able to attend classes this semester anyway. Nevertheless, sharing a classroom with familiar faces was far better than being surrounded by strangers.
Suddenly, Professor Kane said, “You two back there, cut the chatter.”
Yurina flinched and straightened up.
“Honestly, how those two ended up becoming friends, I’ll never understand.” Professor Kane shook his head in disbelief, then said, “Let’s see... Albert!”
One cadet shot his hand into the air. “Y-yes, sir!”
Albert Hoover, with a face covered in freckles and a timid appearance, was known as the “Chosen One,” though recently he had also earned the nickname Professor Kane’s “favorite doll.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Albert trembled pitifully, like a capybara facing down a starving lion. “W-why are you laughing, sir?”
“Just thinking about spending another year with you brings a smile to my face.”
“It brings tears to mine,” Albert replied meekly.
“Should I take that as a sign of your joy?”
“N-no, that’s not what I— Hiiiii?!”
Professor Kane casually pulled a bottle filled with green liquid from his coat. Albert’s face turned deathly pale as he let out a shriek, and he said, “Y-yes! I-I meant it as a sign of joy!”
“Good. Good. Let’s both do better this year, shall we?”
Albert collapsed face-first onto his desk, bursting into tears filled with overwhelming emotion. I suppressed a snort and shook my head. Those two were the same even now.
As attendance was called one by one, I slowly scanned the lecture hall. Most of the faces were unfamiliar, but a few among them I recognized. Iris met my eyes and waved brightly, her crescent smile blooming.
She mouthed some words. “Dale, are you feeling better?”
I was about to nod and tell her I was fine, but before I could, Camilla tugged lightly at Iris’s arm from the seat beside her and mouthed a sharp reprimand, her eyes fierce. “Don’t act familiar with the Saintess inside the classroom!”
Even though I knew she was saying it for the sake of Iris’s reputation, the way she clutched Iris’s arm and shot me a hostile glare made her look less like a concerned guardian and more like a jealous lover.
The clingy bear has once again lost her place in Iris’s heart... No, wait. That’s not it.
I mouthed back to Camilla. “Alright, alright. Just don’t glare at me like you’re going to kill me.”
I turned around and scanned the rest of the class. Jules was here too. It made me recall that cross-dressing contest he mentioned before. For a moment, I wondered what had happened to it, but in the end, I decided it was better I didn’t ask him.
Anyway, at this point, it was safe to say that nearly everyone I knew in this grade had ended up in the same class. The number itself was small enough to count on one hand, but still. Compared to my previous life, this was more than enough. It was far better than sitting alone in a classroom filled with strangers.
As I swallowed a bitter smile at the memory of my past life, the cadet sitting next to me turned and asked cautiously, “Dale, right?”
He had an ordinary face you would see nine times out of ten walking through the Republic’s streets, with dark hair as black as chestnuts.
I said, “Morris Jin?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Morris smiled faintly and nodded. “We were in the same class last year too, but we never really got the chance to talk.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“I’d heard so much about you that I wanted to talk at least once. And recently, I heard about you from my father.”
“Your father... You mean Khalid?”
Morris nodded again. “Yeah. He’s not my biological father, though.”
“I heard about that, too.”
If I remembered correctly, one of Khalid’s trusted subordinates had died during a mission, and he had taken in the man’s son as his adopted child.
“Haha. I see.” Morris swallowed a wry smile and extended his hand toward me. “Anyway, nice to finally meet you properly. Since we’ve ended up in the same class two years in a row, it must be fate. Let’s get along this year.”
I grasped his hand and nodded. “Sure.”
Morris was someone I had been keeping an eye on. To be precise, “keeping an eye on” wasn’t quite the right word. Monitoring was the more accurate word. But seeing him up close, it seemed like I was overthinking it. At a glance, Morris seemed completely ordinary.
However, he was hiding his true strength. The energy I felt through our clasped hands was subtle and restrained. He had clearly tried to suppress it, but the faint aura leaking through was unmistakable. It was the kind of presence that appeared when someone was deliberately holding back their mana. The real question was why he had bothered hiding it. For now, there weren’t enough clues.
“Oh, right. My father mentioned that you’re acquainted with Her Majesty the Empress. Is that true?” Morris asked.
“Well, to some extent.”
Morris’s eyes went wide, and he bounced slightly in his seat. “R-really? S-so what kind of person is she? Is she like the rumors say?”
“I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but yeah. More or less.”
Of course, the real Camellia beneath the mask of “Empress” was nothing like the rumors that surrounded her. But for some reason, I felt a selfish desire to keep that true side of her to myself.
“Wooooow! I knew it! Ngh! Of course, if it’s the Empress, she has to be!”
“What do you mean ‘has to be’?”
“Ah, s-sorry. I think I got a little too excited.” Scratching his head awkwardly, Morris leaned slightly closer and lowered his voice. “By the way, Dale, if you’re interested, would you like to join a community I run?”
“A community?”
“Nothing fancy. Just a place where like-minded cadets gather to chat. On the Hero Watch, of course.”
“What’s it called?”
“Heh. I’ll just show you.”
Morris lowered his arm beneath the desk and discreetly activated his Hero Watch. A blue holographic window flickered into existence in midair. The name of the community displayed there was something I had heard before.
[Community of Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by Her Majesty the Empress]
You’re the administrator of that place, you bastard?