episode_0023

I glared at her as she sat down after me. I felt so frustrated.

Because she was much more twisted than I thought. Even though it was broken, it was so broken.

If the glass breaks, you may be able to somehow glue it back to its original state.

Even though the adhesive makes it look rough and rough, it can continue to serve its original purpose of being a cup for drinking water.

However, fragments that have been broken into small pieces after receiving too much impact are difficult to return to their original state even with great effort.

That’s her case now.

Yoon Si-ara, who suffered a great shock from losing her family in the Gate incident, is shattered and is far from any hope of returning to its original state.

I looked at her face. My relaxed tone of voice seemed to make him feel a little better, and he smiled.

But I have something to say to her.

It might break her heart, it might break right at this moment.

Nevertheless, it was something I absolutely had to ask her.

“Yun Sia.”

“Yes, professor.”

What answer will you give to this question?

Depending on the answer, her treatment will change.

“Is it true that you came to Elada to meet me?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Her small mouth opened immediately at my question. The other answer was immediate, as if he wasn’t even thinking about it.

With her long, wavy hair flowing past her ears, she sat neatly on the chair in front of me, hands clasped together.

At first glance, the pose resembles that of a young lady. If it weren’t for the red marks on her clothes, I too would have been a little impressed.

“Then you have already achieved one goal. So what is your next goal? What do you want to do in this Elada?”

“I… I am… just… .”

I saw her deep lake-like eyes tremble slightly at my words. Are you embarrassed? Her cheeks turn red and her corn-like fingers twist her long hair as she looks away.

Her lips glittered. It was an action that made me feel like I was trying to say something and then swallowing it again.

I didn’t say anything and just waited for the words to come out of her mouth.

“I just like being around the professor. school… I want to continue working with the professor. I… Since you are the one who saved me, please be by my side and let me repay the favor─”

“Bullshit.”

He exhaled coldly.

The surrounding temperature seemed to have dropped by 5 degrees, and the wind was blowing as if the early spring season, when the spring cold was in full swing, had reversed and winter had come again.

I let out a heavy sigh that felt like it was stuck in my lungs and glared at her. Without any emotions. Just stay cold.

“?”

She must have been surprised by my cold response, so she let out a single word and froze.

Was he surprised by the change in someone who had just accepted his behavior just a moment ago? She was just frozen, like a broken hamster that couldn’t move.

However, her eyes were fluttering, and it seemed like countless thoughts were overflowing in her head.

“I now truly regret accepting you into Elada.”

Cruel and cold words. But it was the voice of my heart that represented my feelings right now.

I also felt a little dizzy. My expression distorted as I felt as if I had been mesmerized by the atmosphere just now.

“When GDO declared you unsuitable, it should have been left as is. I really lacked insight.”

“Gyo… Professor?”

“What do you think is the reason why this Elada was built?”

“That… that… .”

Is this a question I hadn’t thought of? She hesitates, unable to answer.

Her expression fell and her hands were shaking convulsively. What does it feel like to be denied everything by the person you have hoped for and hoped for?

feel dissapointed. No, a tsunami-like rush of emotions that cannot be expressed in those words must be churning inside her.

But as I looked at her, my mind became even colder.

“Answer. What is my name?”

she looks at me Her eyes were full of tears and looked like they were about to overflow at any moment.

“… Eh, Elm Northmund… ”

“What is Elm Northmund? What is the nickname the world calls him?”

“Three… He is the world’s hero and the world’s savior… .”

“Yes.”

I closed my mouth for a moment, affirming her words. With a loud sigh, I asked her the question again.

“Then why am I called the world’s hero? Answer your thoughts.”

This time she kept her mouth shut. Am I suddenly asking this question or am I thinking about why?

A small sniffing sound was heard, as if the nose was clogged with overflowing tears.

“No… Mr. Northmund wrote his poem for our humanity… He took out his heart and offered it to Earth. He sacrificed his power for humans… .”

“Foolish guy.”

I cut her off abruptly.

“You are foolish, foolish, and foolish.”

She must have been shocked by the sudden sale, and tears flowed down her cheeks from the corners of her eyes. Her eyes, which were full of affection for me, were filled with embarrassment.

Finally, she lowered her eyes and bowed her head. The tears that flowed down her cheeks fell onto her dress and formed drops.

“It’s not like that! The reason I’m called the world’s hero is not because I lost my heart, but because I never gave up on fighting!”

At that moment, a storm blew into the empty classroom.

The large sword that came out of the inventory was caught in my hand and slammed into the marble floor.

The storm-like air convection that came out with the great sword blew the stools and chairs in the classroom all the way to the wall, and the sound of something breaking and breaking was heard.

My voice rose and I screamed in anger.

“With this sword, I have continued to defeat monsters! I have been cutting down the maggots of the abyss that flow from hell, and cutting into pieces the putrid bugs that are trying to devour a child! That’s why I’m called a hero. Because I didn’t give up the fight! It’s not just because of heartbreak!”

“Ah… iced coffee… .”

Her long hair was a mess from the storm. The tears in my eyes scattered and disappeared, leaving only a girl standing naked in front of the enormous anger. Will she really understand what I mean?

It was true that the gigantic play “I Offer My Heart to the World” left a great impression on humanity all over the world.

It is true that everyone except me thinks that I have become extremely weak after that incident. I sacrifice my power and offer it to the world to create awakened people. Surely it is a huge good deed and a noble act.

However, that alone is not enough to be called a hero of the world, even if he is a saint worthy of imitation who has accomplished great deeds.

Yes. The world has not yet benefited from what I have done to make mankind use mana.

Out of the billions of people in the world, there are currently only 131 people who have awakened mana. Among ordinary citizens living their lives, it is safe to say that awakened people are rare or non-existent.

This is because the soldiers who protect them and protect them are much closer to heroes than the abstract and conceptual people they have never seen.

That’s why I’m always on the battlefield.

He swung his sword before anyone else and burned the monster with magic.

Even after I took over as the principal of Elada, I continued to go around to open gates, cut down monsters, and close the gates.

He has personally saved countless people by jumping on his feet, and has done countless times by cutting down monsters that tried to attack immature children and returning them to the abyss from which they came.

The existence of a hero, a superman riding a white horse who saves the world, is established only then. It’s not some vague special ability.

“Did Elada really think this was a school because it looked like a school on the outside? Did you think it was a dreamland where you could make lots of friends and laugh haha?”

Under the pressure of swirling mana, she couldn’t say anything and just looked at me like a wooden doll.

She trembled as she received a gaze that was so cold it was almost absolute zero.

“No! This is a barracks. This is a barracks that raises soldiers, not students! You must become the sword of humanity. You must become soldiers who will stand with me on the battlefield and fight against monsters and die!”

This is a time of struggle.

After the ring bridge opened the gate to this Earth, was the Abyss World connected to Earth, or was the coordinates recorded? Gates continue to appear on Earth intermittently.

That’s why I’ve never had a proper rest even for a single moment. When monsters appear, we are the first to move in and stop them.

But despite this, victims continue to appear. Every day, I hear the screams of humans being torn apart by the claws of monsters.

In a world where it has become a common occurrence for someone you talked to today to disappear tomorrow.

I’m intentionally trying to forget and ignore their screams, otherwise I’d be suffering from severe PTSD.

so that…

“Sia Yoon. What you need to do is hold the sword in front of you and charge at the monsters, not hurt yourself by pressing your face into my arm. It is your duty to cut down monsters until you are exhausted and then fall down and die.”

“… .”

I gave strength to the sword stuck on the floor. A loud cracking sound of stones was heard, and the great sword was embedded in the ground up to the hilt.

She couldn’t reply and just stared at the hilt of the great sword.

“You said I sacrificed my heart. That’s right, I sacrificed my heart to bring mana into this world.”

She wiggled her hands. He had his head down so his expression was not visible, but he was clearly looking anxious.

“If you have admired me and longed for me, you would have already heard why. Why did I do such a thing, even losing everything?”

“… .”

In front of leaders from around the world, I declared that I would give humanity the power to fight against monsters.

In other words, it is the power given to fight against monsters, not the power given to obsess and cling to someone with it.

In this situation where the entire world is being invaded by monsters and the number of humans is gradually decreasing, her actions are a dereliction of duty and a betrayal of me.

A small whimper was heard as if she realized it too.

“I was quite surprised when you were denied admission to Elada. But I accepted you. Because I believed in the heart you showed me the day I first saw you. I highly valued his willingness to throw his life away for someone he had no connection to. But you’re not like that anymore.”

“Ah… No! That’s not it!”

“Don’t be mistaken. I don’t know if you care much about being saved by me, but from my perspective, you are just one of the hundreds or tens of millions of lives I have saved. There is no more or less meaning.”

okay. From Siara Yoon’s perspective, what happened to her was a tragedy, and there can be no greater despair than this. That must be true.

But if you look at it globally, her tragedy is only minor. There are people all over the world who have experienced greater despair than her.

The number of cases where both parents are safe can be counted on one hand. There are countless orphans who have lost a single father, a single mother, or both.

Quite a few of the students who entered Ellada also experienced the loss of their parents.

That’s why I can’t give her special treatment alone.

“Ah… iced coffee… .”

Her pupils shake at my icy words, and water begins to form around her eyes, which had been scattered by the wind.

I can understand. How could you not be sad? Your heart was denied right in front of you by the person you wanted.

The sight of her covering her mouth with her hand to suppress her tears suddenly seemed a little sad.

… Would this have been enough whiplash?

“… But I’ll give you one last chance.”

Slowly throwing carrots.

She was crying, covering her face, and looked at me as if she was surprised by my words.

My makeup was smeared all over because I covered my face with my tear-soaked hands. It wasn’t heavy makeup, but simple basic makeup, so it didn’t look that ugly, but it was enough to make me smile.

“You inherited my strength. I happened to grab the tip of my will to give to Earth. That is why you must not betray my will. Do you agree with that?”

“Yes… yes Professor!”

“If so, prove it with the results. Don’t be alone and imprison yourself in the shell you created. Always work hard to meet my expectations. If you want to stand next to me, become a confident person who can stand next to me. I am not a being that just anyone picks up because they feel sorry for me. Can you do it?”

“Ah… yes Professor!”

He spoke to her with a faint smile and a slightly relaxed voice.

The dust that was raised when the desks in the classroom flipped over and flew away seems to be slowly settling, and the smell of dirt that seems to be coming from a foggy forest is disappearing.

Instead, her sweet peach scent fills the place. However, instead of the faint sweetness that made you lose your senses like before, it was overflowing with the refreshing scent of peaches, as if they had just been picked from an orchard.

I thought that scent also changes depending on the mood of the person involved.

“Ah. Before that.”

He smiled brightly at her.

“Sia Yoon. There is a 20 point deduction. How rude is it to suddenly rub your face against the professor’s arm? Where did you learn this from? If this was Grandis, I would have struck the police harshly.”

“… Sorry.”

She apologizes in a voice that sounds like she is crawling away.

okay. She must have understood this much.

I pulled out the great sword embedded in the marble in front of her. There was a huge hole where the great sword was stuck.

The floor looks like it’s made of marble, so it would be difficult to repair. As I was thinking that, I heard someone’s footsteps in the hallway outside the classroom.

I slowly got up from my seat and gave her a promise.

“And I will not give you the answer you wanted now. In the distant future, when all the gates to this world are closed and the monsters disappear and Ellada truly functions as an academy itself rather than a barracks, then I will answer your question. therefore… .”

She made a blank expression. He seemed to be thinking about what my words meant.

After a while. I smiled brightly, realizing that the words that came out of my mouth were an answer to her wish.

I also laughed a little as I felt like a rabbit with two matted hairs sticking out on top of my head.

“… Always move forward.”

I walked up to the teacher’s table, grabbed my coat, which had been blown away by the wind and was lying in the corner, and headed out of the classroom.

When I opened the door, it was Helen standing outside the classroom.

Seeing that she was taking a deep breath, she seemed quite surprised to see the classroom in disarray and her bloodied and tangled body.

I ignored her appearance, looked back for a moment, and gave her my last greeting.

“Today’s matter is a secret between me and you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Professor!”

As she answered vigorously, I slammed the classroom door behind me and walked down the hallway.

Since Helen is here, I guess she has some business for me at GDO. Even after joining this academy, she served as a direct line connecting me and GDO.

Seeing them suddenly looking like this, it seemed like monsters had broken out somewhere again.

“Professor Burns. Since you came, it looks like there’s a problem with the machine again.”

“… You.”

I turned to her, hearing her call in a slightly lower voice than usual.

A short, narrow women’s tie over a neat silk blouse, a neat black suit top, matte coffee-colored stockings and black shoes covering the legs, and even a badge on the chest indicating that she is a teacher at Elada.

She was wearing a normal academy professor’s uniform, but there was only one thing that was different from usual.

… Helen looked at me with an expression as if she had seen something dirty.

“… No way, you. that… Probably not, right? What on earth are you two trying to keep secret?”

Is this woman crazy?

I scowled. For about five seconds, I seriously considered hitting the woman in the face who was giving her a disdainful look with the suit coat hanging off her shoulder.

“It’s not worth answering.”

I turned around and started walking down the hallway. Helen, who was ignored for a moment, got angry and started chasing me.

The sound of shoes clicking came closer and a familiar voice was heard.

“Ah~ Just kidding. I know very well that the Dean is not that kind of person. Haha. No matter what, you have to be careful. If it weren’t for me, that would have been a perfect situation for misunderstanding, right?”

“Noisy.”

… She’s right. When I thought about it again, I felt a little dizzy. A messy classroom, tangled clothes, and even blood-covered clothes.

If I had made a mistake and the rumor had spread strangely, Dean Elada and everything else might have been killed right away.

As a result of her record deletion, Elm may have been removed from Elada’s initials, making her just Rada.

As a dizzying thought came to mind, I felt my back getting slightly wet.

“But what on earth did the two of you talk about? What kind of secret meeting did the two of you have to lead to a situation like that? .”

“Didn’t you hear me say it was a secret?”

“Chet. Okay.”

I continued walking down the hallway, leaving her acting sulky behind me.

Still, you did something worthy of an academy principal today, right?

Yoon Sia was a much more devastated child than I thought. At first, I almost got crushed by her momentum.

Her obsession with me was probably due to the complex mental stress combined with the difficult situation of losing her family.

I can’t say for sure whether today’s events will change her or not.

I saw a documentary about PTSD in the world before falling here. Only after a considerable period of painstaking counseling had the patient suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder finally achieved freedom.

Can she change with just one situation today? That might be difficult.

But wouldn’t this alone be a big improvement? Wouldn’t it be a good achievement just to bring out her will to change?

Since I have a lot of time in the future, I wanted to brighten her up little by little and ultimately enable her to live happily even without me.

I’m sorry, but she has a partner, not me. The feelings I have are probably just a brief admiration that I mistake for love.

Even though he is the main character, shouldn’t Han Si-woo be born into the world? Because you can’t create a world without a main character.

hmm. then.

“… It means that the gate occurred in Northern Queensland, Australia.”

“Yes, that’s right. You can go to the teleport room. Since you have already prepared to activate the magic circle using the magic stone, you can proceed as is.”

“I understand.”

I held the greatsword in my hand and answered in the affirmative.

It was a story from a March when cold weather was rampant.