Academy – Forgiveness?

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Sarah, looking utterly bewildered, continued to beg for our forgiveness.

Her tone had changed, and she seemed less like the headmaster and more like a slightly older girl.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to just apologize with words. I was planning to compensate you adequately after I finished talking with Jade.”

“Please, get up first…”

As Sarah groveled for forgiveness, Jade’s fierce momentum subsided a little.

“Th-Then, would it be alright?”

Sarah’s face brightened as she tried to get up, but—

“No. Stay like that.”

“Okay…”

Annie firmly refused, and she lowered her head again.

Annie did well.

We mustn’t let ourselves be swayed by this kind of emotional appeal. It’s not about abandoning compassion, but if we waver in important situations, it will only cause problems.

This is something Jade can only understand with experience.

Since the two of them have been fiercely pressuring her on my behalf, it’s my turn to step in.

“Thank you, everyone. But I’ll take it from here. This is about me.”

I gestured for Jade and Annie to step back slightly.

“Headmaster, I understand you feel sorry for us to some extent. But how can we believe that the ‘headmaster’ of an academy didn’t know?”

Even people in the city probably heard the rumors about something like this. Besides, if she really ‘didn’t know,’ why would she be begging us for forgiveness?

“I-I know it might sound like a lame excuse, but it’s true that I wasn’t fully aware of the situation. You know I was recently appointed, right? I was sick of spending decades in the Magic Tower. So, when I got the offer to be the headmaster of Veil Academy, I jumped at it.”

Sarah, suddenly revealing her past, covered her face with both hands as if regretting her choice.

“But I didn’t know it was such a demanding position. I want to go back to the Magic Tower even now.”

Well, Sarah’s case is common in the Magic Tower.

Wizards affiliated with the Magic Tower often live only within the tower for a long time, so they don’t know much about the outside world.

Then, people who get tired of their repetitive lives are tempted by offers to become wizards affiliated with various countries, academy professors, or headmasters, and they accept the proposals.

But once they come and get caught up in the political games of nobles, colleagues, and seniors, they realize too late that they made the wrong decision.

“…I understand our headmaster’s sad story. So?”

“I just meant to ask you to consider my position… I knew that someone had become a slave due to a duel, but I didn’t think it would be a big problem because it was a commoner becoming a noble’s slave.”

From Sarah’s perspective, even if she received a report, she probably thought it wouldn’t be a big deal since it was something that happened due to a duel, even if something severe occurred.

But the reason she’s trying to fix the situation now is obvious.

It’s because Jade suddenly became the Hero.

“Then, yesterday, I suddenly heard rumors that Jade had awakened as the Hero. I hurriedly investigated the situation and found out that Doran treated you… terribly. And that other students participated and harassed you to an excessive degree.”

Sarah bit her lower lip as she spoke.

She must think that what Doran did was much worse than she expected. Because any normal person would understand how much pain and hurt I must have experienced after hearing the situation.

“It’s absurd. How could they do that to Lena in front of everyone…”

“If Annie and I hadn’t been patient, there might have been a big accident.”

“I’m sorry. I want to apologize not only to Lena but also to the two of you who suffered. I will thoroughly investigate everyone involved in this incident and impose punishments and disciplinary actions. It won’t be a small matter. I will send formal letters of protest to the parents of the children from each noble family. And I promise strict regulations to prevent this from happening again.”

Sarah finished speaking and quietly looked at me, her expression like a criminal waiting for the judge’s verdict.

‘What should I do?’

Should I pressure her more to get something out of her?

Or should I let it go at this point?

“…”

-Tap. Tap. Tap.

I stared into Sarah’s eyes and tapped my knee before making a decision.

“So, the conclusion is that Jade became the Hero, so you were afraid of the aftermath, quickly tried to fix the situation, and are now begging me for forgiveness. Is that right?”

“…To be honest, yes. But if I had known the exact situation, I would have stopped it. No matter if they are slaves, I can’t tolerate them being treated like that inside the academy.”

“Still, I can feel that you are sincerely reflecting and asking for our forgiveness. Since you promised an accurate investigation and punishment… I’ll trust you, Headmaster.”

“Lena, is this okay with you?”

I gave a faint smile and nodded at Annie’s worried words.

“Th-Thank you!”

Sarah’s gloomy face brightened noticeably at my answer. Seeing how quickly she changed, she must have been suffering a lot.

Sarah made many mistakes, but thanks to her, I had fun. Now that I think about it, I experienced walks, harassment, Love Potion, torture, and more. I would have been really disappointed if she had stopped me from doing something.

Her attitude of kneeling in front of ordinary students and explaining how to fix the problem wasn’t bad either. With this much, I, with my generous heart, could let it go.

Because I’ll be giving out the proper punishment separately anyway.

“But if what you told us isn’t properly kept… it won’t be me, but this friend next to me who won’t forgive you, Headmaster.”

I nudged Jade’s side.

“Jade, right?”

“Uh, uh? Right.”

Jade nodded, slightly flustered.

‘Hehe, he’s surprised.’

From now on, he has to work hard for me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to report the progress to you. Then, can I get up now?”

“Of course.”

At my answer, Sarah carefully got up and returned to her chair. Then, she sat down and neatly smoothed out her clothes.

A moment later, Sarah straightened her back and put on a serious expression.

“Now. Shall we start the story we were talking about earlier again?”

“…”

Sarah returned to her dignified posture and initial tone, trying to restore her authority as headmaster in front of the students. But we just looked at her with cold eyes.

“…Don’t look at me like that. The story we have to tell from now on is also important.”

“You mean what you’re going to say to Jade, right? Now that the other issues seem to be resolved, let’s listen to the headmaster.”

“Yeah.”

Jade listened to Sarah’s words with a serious face at my words. Still, it seems like a necessary story for Jade will begin.

“As you probably already know from the rumors, the power you have is the power of the Hero. When I first heard the news while working, I was so dumbfounded. Not an academy in the Empire, not even Rain Academy. To think that a Hero would appear here at Veil Academy. I’ve seen it all.”

Sarah shook her head, as if recalling the shock she received at that time.

“Thanks to you, we got to see the headmaster’s rare side.”

“Ahem, ahem! Let’s move on for now. First, how much do you know about the power you have?”

“Um… I think I’m just better at handling mana, and I can see the flow of mana.”

That’s roughly correct. The abilities that Jade can feel right now are probably at that level.

“I see.”

Sarah nodded, understanding how much Jade knew.

After pondering for a moment, she began to explain the power of the Hero step by step.

“As far as it’s known, when the Hero’s power awakens, they can draw and use mana from the air. Additionally, they can see the flow of mana and the structure of magic. But the reason why the Hero is the Goddess’s Blade to stop the Demon King and the Demons is different.”

Sarah took out a small box from the drawer and placed it on the desk.

-Thud.

“Jade, do you know what this is?”

The box was painted red, giving off an ominous feeling. And strangely, it was sealed with magic.

‘This is…’

The energy faintly felt inside was Demonic Energy.

Then, what’s inside the box must be a Magic Stone. There’s no way they would have put a Demon inside a small box.

Even though it’s sealed with magic, the fact that I can only feel it when I concentrate this much means that ‘Demonic Energy’ is really troublesome. Demonic Energy is a completely different power from mana, so it’s not easily detected with mana.

“I feel a very unpleasant energy.”

Jade nodded, as if he could definitely feel the energy inside the box.

“Really? I don’t feel anything…”

Annie tilted her head from the side.

“It’s normal not to feel anything. It’s perfectly sealed with magic.”

Sarah created a yellow hieroglyph made of mana on her hand and put it into the box. Then, the lid trembled, and the box began to open.

-Click.

Inside was a stone emitting an ominous energy.

As expected.

It’s not huge, but it’s a Magic Stone of a certain size. It would have been hard to get recently… Maybe she brought it from the Magic Tower.

‘I should secretly take it with me before I leave.’

You might say I’m being too much, but this is all for the sake of the world.

“This is a Magic Stone. It’s a stone containing Demonic Energy that began to appear all over the world after the Demon King died. The Magic Tower speculates that the Demon King’s power is latent within it, but the exact details have not yet been revealed.”

Sarah spoke about the Magic Tower in a tone that suggested her pride was hurt. People affiliated with the Magic Tower naturally have a very high sense of pride in the Magic Tower.

She must be upset that the Magic Tower hasn’t been able to analyze the Magic Stone yet.

“Demonic Energy, Magic Stone…”

Jade was curiously examining the Magic Stone, which he was seeing for the first time.

“The reason you could feel this sealed Magic Stone is thanks to the Hero’s power. When you become a Hero, you can detect Demonic Energy. No matter how much the Demons hide and conceal their Demonic Energy, they can’t escape the Hero’s senses.”

This is also why I need the Hero’s power. I have to find the hidden Demons.

I’ve been trying to find them for years, but they must have noticed those who were tracking them and completely hid themselves.

But it’s useless in front of Jade now.

“The fact that you were chosen as the Hero probably means that the remaining remnants of the Demon King are plotting something. Do you understand the power of the Hero to some extent now?”

“Yes. I think I know about my power roughly.”

“I was going to explain it briefly, but I talked too much. But it wouldn’t have been a story that would be detrimental to you.”

It would have been a headache to explain everything to Jade one by one, so she’s a grateful person.

“Oh, right. Where did I put that…”

Sarah began to rummage through the piles of documents as if she had remembered something.

“Sorry, I have so much to deal with… Found it!”

She took out a piece of paper from the pile of documents and showed it to us.

Looking at it roughly, it’s an order received from the capital. The content is obviously to go to the Holy Kingdom immediately.

Jade awakened as the Hero yesterday, and they already heard the information and delivered the order. The Rica Kingdom’s intelligence was better than I thought.

“Actually, there’s one more thing. An order came from the capital. The content is ‘Hero Jade is to investigate the dungeon that appeared in Growburn Village before heading to the Holy Kingdom.'”

Huh?

Growburn Village all of a sudden?