Chapter 8: I Became the Last Place in the Academy

"...A bust."

As the sun set and it was nearing time to go home and sleep, Yun Hamin spoke first, as if suggesting they wrap things up.

Honestly, I considered looking around more, but it was only the first day, and we couldn't just stay stuck in this village, so I nodded.

No cracks in the walls, no totems, and no monstrous beings were found.

It was a complete bust, so I felt self-conscious for no reason.

I was worried about being branded a liar.

But Yun Hamin didn't seem to care at all.

I looked at him for a moment before turning my head.

It was almost time to go back, and I couldn't keep him, so I went along with the mood.

"Yeah... thanks for helping, even though there was nothing."

At that, Yun Hamin tilted his head.

"If what you said is true, then someone here could die."

"...That's right."

"We're doing this to save people. I can't just stand by knowing someone might die."

He spoke righteous words.

I knew he was righteous, but I knew him even better.

There was no way I couldn't know.

I admire his realistic approach while pursuing ideals more than anyone else.

He still doesn't quite believe what I'm saying, but I'm grateful for his willingness to help me find evidence because he can't just dismiss it.

I never thought I'd be getting help from the protagonist's personality.

Honestly, we haven't even had a meal together since the day I asked him to be friends, so I was starting to think he wouldn't pay attention to a character he wasn't interested in, but it seems I was wrong.

"Are you coming out to look tomorrow too?"

"Probably."

"...Huh."

I answered immediately, and he chuckled at the immediate response.

"...Okay. Do you live in Central City too?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's go back together. I'll walk you home."

"...No, it's okay. I'll go back alone."

I declined the offer, and

"Okay. Get home safe."

Yun Hamin smiled bitterly, said goodbye, and slowly walked away.

I quietly watched his retreating figure.

I had to go that way anyway, but I didn't particularly want to go back together.

We're not friends, so being too close would only be burdensome, and it would only make him more suspicious, and I wasn't confident in fully accepting that gaze.

I knew how difficult it was to just believe without any evidence.

Since there's no evidence, he's following me and trying to find it, but there's no guarantee it will even appear, so he must be frustrated.

Even if it's true, if I'm asked where I heard it and how I'm so sure, I'll have nothing to say.

What can I do during the two weeks, and what can I do after that?

I was sure that if I had knowledge of the future, I could completely change the story, but I just felt sad about my own powerlessness.

I laughed hollowly, wondering if not being believed or expected by anyone is what makes a person so lonely.

*

It was Friday.

Even though it was Friday, the students weren't in a good mood.

It was only natural, as the academy's exams were always on Wednesdays. It wasn't a system where you could take the exam on Friday and play on the weekend.

The weekend was just a time to review the lessons learned on Thursday and Friday in preparation for the exam next Wednesday.

But what could they do?

When it comes to protecting the world, there's no distinction between weekdays and weekends, so they had to get used to it from now on.

In the meantime, I couldn't concentrate on class today.

And Orca, who was sitting next to me, seemed to notice and glanced at me.

"...You seem to have a lot on your mind today."

Her quiet words, revealing that I wasn't concentrating on class, stung a little.

"It's nothing."

Maybe it's because I have more to think about.

I brushed it off as nothing, but the situation from yesterday kept lingering in my mind.

The girl with ivory-colored hair and purple eyes.

Yesterday, walking with Kanna Aurora, kept replaying in my head.

She suddenly asked me on the rooftop if I could just believe her once, and I wanted to know why, so I followed her, but in the end, I couldn't figure out if she was talking nonsense or telling the truth.

She suddenly said that monsters would appear and attack the academy and other villages. It was hard to believe, but her serious expression made me wonder if there was something to it.

So I followed her, and it wasn't just a far-fetched story. What she was looking for was clear.

The three items she told me to find were like the words of someone who predicted that this wall had been breached or would be breached.

What is Kanna thinking?

My mind kept drifting towards Kanna.

Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to a kid who wasn't concentrating on class and was thinking about other things, but after hearing her voice yesterday, I couldn't help but be concerned.

I couldn't stop it.

I couldn't figure out what basis she had for saying that monsters would swarm here in two weeks.

It was hard to see it as a joke just to avoid taking the exam, perhaps because I saw her sincerely looking for clues.

If she were the runner-up, or even in the top ranks, I would think it was a ploy to take down the top student, but that wasn't the case either.

"...Yun Hamin?"

Orca's soft voice woke me up again.

"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking too much."

I smiled bitterly.

Honestly, I thought I just had to defeat the monstrous beings and monsters that threatened the world, so I didn't expect to have these kinds of worries.

"Is that so? You should concentrate on class. Or else you'll get caught up?"

Orca narrowed her eyes and smiled.

As the runner-up, her determination to catch up to me was clear.

The difference wasn't in the problems, but in the practical skills, so she was letting me know that if I got one wrong on the written exam, the situation could be reversed immediately.

"I guess so."

I picked up my pen again.

But even while studying, my worries continued.

Kanna's voice, muttering as she stood by the rooftop railing, looking out at the distance, echoed in my mind.

She said something would be visible if I went there once.

I didn't know what she was looking at, and I wanted to know.

Wasn't I curious?

Coincidentally, it overlapped with the third exam, which sounded suspicious to others, but the fact that she told me meant she was that desperate?

Did she only tell me, or did she tell someone else...?

Oh.

Come to think of it, wasn't it our homeroom teacher who knew Kanna was on the rooftop?

I looked up.

Then, after concentrating on class for a while, I got up from my seat as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class.

"Yun Hamin? Where are you going in such a hurry..."

"I think I need to go ask our homeroom teacher something for a moment."

When I said that, Orca nodded as if she understood and went back to what she was doing.

She has a similar personality to me, so I was glad to see her nod so quickly.

Anyway, leaving that behind, I headed straight to the faculty room and saw our homeroom teacher returning from teaching in another class.

She was a little shorter than me, but her presence was definitely that of an adult.

"Ms. Lucia!"

I called her name and stopped her, and she turned her head sharply.

"...Hamin?"

"Ms. Lucia, I have something to ask you. Do you have a moment?"

"...Hmm, I don't have another class right now. Yes, it's okay."

The teacher readily nodded, and I led her towards the stairs.

Seeing her follow me casually as if she were used to going this way yesterday, my mouth went dry.

I had created this situation to find the teacher, but I didn't know how to ask, so I was just feeling awkward.

No, I shouldn't beat around the bush. I should just be direct.

Opening the door and crossing the threshold, I saw the rooftop with a panoramic view.

Seeing that no one was there, I knew it was a good place to talk.

The teacher looked around once and then stared at me intently.

"What is it you wanted to ask me?"

"...Did you talk to Kanna Aurora here yesterday?"

"I did."

The teacher readily answered.

There was no reason for the teacher to hide the fact that she had talked to a student in the first place.

But if it was about the content of that conversation, the story was a little different.

The fact that I had called the teacher out separately meant that I wanted to talk about this.

I had said something like that when I went up to the rooftop yesterday.

If so, the teacher probably knew about this story too.

"...Ms. Lucia. Did Kanna Aurora tell you yesterday that monsters would attack?"

"...She told you the same story too, I see. She was saying something like that when I went up to the rooftop yesterday."

"Yes."

The teacher seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she turned her head as if it were nothing.

Ms. Lucia was looking at the wide-open view of the village.

It was a vast space, but humans were being restricted in their freedom because it wasn't infinite.

She was looking at the barrier that announced that fact.

"It's better not to worry too much about it. Maybe Kanna is just pessimistic about her grades and wants to cancel the exam."

"...Excuse me?"

"This is inside the barrier in the first place. We haven't even received a report that a crack has formed, so there's no way that could happen."

The teacher said firmly.

I was stunned for a moment and then nodded.

That was true. Our role as heroes was to stabilize the barrier by defeating the monsters we encountered while gradually expanding it.

Besides, when a crack formed and monsters came in, we would receive a report immediately, so the monsters would attack in an instant.

The teacher's judgment was correct.

So I couldn't say anything.

"Hamin, you just need to focus on the exam. You know that if you entered as the top student, you have to graduate as the top student to go to a very good place, right?"

"...I know."

"Good. Is that the end of the story?"

"...Yes."

"Then I'll be going."

With that, the story ended, and the teacher opened the door and carefully left.

"Oh, Kanna. If she goes to the rooftop alone, please stop her."

I quietly nodded at those words.

What the teacher was saying was right. Anyone who heard it would say that her judgment was correct.

But the reason the teacher dismissed Kanna's story was just to ruin the exam. For some reason, I felt uneasy.

I don't pay much attention to the bottom students who don't try, so I have nothing to say, but I wondered if I should ask Kanna herself whether she truly hadn't made an effort, and gazed intently at the sky she had been watching.

Would I really see something if I went there once?

I didn't know what it was, but I wanted to know.

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