Chapter 3: The Reluctant Hero’s Journey Begins

The village we lived in was the kind of backwater that no one could really argue wasn’t a backwater.

So the fact that two people from this tiny place got accepted into the Academy was nothing short of a miracle.

On top of that, I was a Hero Candidate.

According to Siwoo, in the original story, “Lila” was just a girl who dreamed of becoming an adventurer.

She tagged along with her childhood friend—the protagonist—to take the adventurer exam.

But then, during a touring exhibition in the big city, a holy relic reacted to her, and boom—Hero Candidate.

Our situation was pretty similar… except we weren’t exactly coincidental about it.

We knew exactly when and where to go to trigger the reaction.

We planned it.

Originally, I didn’t even want to become a hero.

Honestly, I would’ve preferred to just stay in the village, live as a low-tier adventurer, and spend my days taking out minor monsters.

But according to Siwoo, if I didn’t take on the role, the world would be in serious trouble.

And if the world went to hell, I wouldn’t get to live peacefully either.

So in the end…

“Even if you don’t plan on being a hero, shouldn’t you at least awaken your abilities? That way, when the Demon King wakes up, you’ll still be able to protect yourself.”

That was how Siwoo convinced me.

Before I knew it, I was grabbing the holy relic—wrapped in a mysteriously damp cloth—and triggering my Awakening.

Now that I’ve awakened, I can’t exactly back out.

Apparently, I have to at least go through the motions at the Academy, and then I might be allowed to “retire” after proving I’m unfit for the job.

I guess it makes sense.

If someone who was chosen as a Hero Candidate suddenly quit, the only ones in trouble would be the Academy.

My ideal plan is still to awaken, then quietly retire as soon as possible.

But it probably won’t be that simple.

The title “Hero” isn’t something I can just walk away from—not alone, at least.

But hey, I can try.

“And besides, even if we hadn’t gone, you were going to become a Hero Candidate by ‘coincidence’ anyway.”

I had nothing to say to that.

Regardless of whether it was a coincidence or not, our village was proud.

You know how, once in a while, a student from some countryside town gets into Seoul National University and they hang a giant banner to celebrate?

Yeah.

Our village did that.

When we passed the adventurer test, then got selected as Hero Candidate and passed the Academy entrance exam, the village threw a full-on festival.

Even today, the day we were leaving for the capital, people gathered to send us off.

“Take care of yourself, Lila!”

“Send a letter as soon as you get there!”

Leading the group were my parents, and behind them was what felt like the entire population of the village.

I mean, we’re just going to school.

Why is everyone acting like we’re going off to war?
“You should all head back now, we need to leave.”

“Oh, wait! Take this with you too—”

“If we load any more, the horse won’t be able to walk.”

And it was true.

The horse I was riding was already carrying luggage up to its limit.

Even though it used to pull carts, if we added even a bit more weight, it probably wouldn’t make it halfway to today’s destination before collapsing.

What made it worse was that this horse had been bought with money pooled together by the villagers.

To be honest, it made me feel a little guilty.

Not like I couldn’t afford a horse myself, after all.

I waved off the villagers trying to load even more stuff onto the horse and quickly nudged it forward.

“Well then, we’re off!”

As I shouted and waved back, the crowd broke into warm smiles, waving energetically in return.

“Are you that embarrassed?”

“Not embarrassed,” I replied, frowning slightly as Siwoo hurried up beside me on his horse.

“It’s just overwhelming. Way too much attention.”

Sure, I knew they were good people. But still—

“If we’d stuck around even a little longer, they would’ve given us even more stuff, or insisted on one more farewell meal or blessing or who-knows-what, and we’d have ended up leaving a day late.”

“I mean… I can’t say that’s totally impossible,” Siwoo said with a wry smile.

The Lionheart Academy was the biggest in the Empire.

It was named after Emperor Carlos the Great—whose nickname was Lionheart.

Unfortunately, these days, Carlos was a bit of a controversial figure.
Back when overwhelming military strength was considered a virtue, he was hailed as a hero.

But as time passed, people started reexamining the long-term costs of his reign: the financial burden left by his conquests, and the resentment from neighboring nations.

Some say he’s the one who created the Empire’s current borders.

Others say, if the next emperor had been even slightly more incompetent, the entire Empire might’ve collapsed.

Still, in the end, the Empire survived.

So I guess that’s why they felt okay naming the academy after him.

According to Siwoo, the Academy accepted plenty of students from powerful families in neighboring nations too.

Naturally, there were students who hated the name Lionheart.

Why they’d enroll in a school named after a man they despised was beyond me.

Anyway, I’m rambling.

The point is: it’s a huge academy.

But they’re picky about who they let in.

Normally, having two students from some no-name backwater accepted at the same time was unheard of.

So until we got closer to the capital, we didn’t run into a single person our age heading to the Academy.

“…There’s really no one else, huh. I thought it was surprisingly easy to get in. Maybe I misjudged the place.”

“That’s because we’re the weird ones,” Siwoo replied, chuckling.

“Besides, I only got in because you said you wouldn’t go unless I went with you.”

“You would’ve passed even without me. You’ve always been way smarter than I am. Honestly, if I weren’t a Hero Candidate, I might have failed the entrance exam.”

I glanced around, then looked over at Siwoo.
“I mean, what would I even do at the Academy without you? All the info’s in your head, and the only reason I’ve gotten this far is thanks to you. Not to mention, you’re the protagonist.”

I smirked, lifting one corner of my mouth.

“Too late to run now. You’re in this to the end, like it or not.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve only said that a million times since we started this trip,” Siwoo said, waving a hand lazily.

“Good. As long as you know.”

I gave a small shrug and looked around again.

“So this is… Cloren?”

As I muttered while looking ahead, Siwoo rustled around in his coat and pulled out the map.

“Yep. We still have to cross a few more territories to reach the capital, but this is the biggest city along the way.”

It really did look like the kind of city you’d picture in a medieval setting.

Massive stone walls surrounded the entire territory like a fortress, with a steady flow of people coming and going through the giant front gates.

There were a few people our age among the crowd, but most of them were leading donkeys or packhorses loaded down with goods.

Definitely merchants, or at least people whose job involved hauling things around—not fellow students.

“For a medieval city, the security’s weirdly good.”

“Well, it is a world based on a game, after all,” Siwoo said with a chuckle after hearing my mumbling.

Right.

A gacha-game-inspired world with a distinctly Japanese anime flavor.

It didn’t have any visible status window system, but it did feature oddly modern things for a medieval world—like incredibly hard-to-forge ID cards.

Of course, those modern elements were all explained away as “magic.”

“Shall we head in, then?”

When I spoke, Siwoo nodded and folded up the map, tucking it back into his coat.

Without any rush, we casually guided our horses toward the entrance to the walled city.

We joined the line of people waiting to enter and stood at the end, somewhat bored, when a soldier up by the gate—who’d been scanning the crowd—suddenly did a double take in our direction.

Even from a distance, we could clearly see his eyes go wide.

Moments later, he jogged toward us in a hurry, stopping in front of us and looking up at the two of us on horseback.

“Excuse me, but are you two headed for the Academy?”

The people standing around us turned and looked at us with curious expressions.

“How’d you know?”

We hadn’t even received our Academy uniforms yet.

Sure, our clothes were clean and new, but nothing about them screamed ‘elite’ or ‘special.’

“I received a report describing a young woman with short red hair, and a young man with strikingly foreign features and black hair.”

“Ohh.”

Right.

Red hair was pretty common in this world, but Siwoo’s appearance definitely stood out.

“In that case, would you happen to be Miss Lila Williams, Hero Candidate, and Mr. Lee Siwoo, Academy Admittee?”

Back in our village, everyone knew Siwoo—there wasn’t a single person who didn’t.

But hearing someone we’d never met casually say his Korean name out loud… it felt strange in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

I didn’t answer right away.

Instead, I pulled out my ID from my inner pocket and handed it over.

The soldier carefully took it, holding it up to the sunlight to check it.

“Confirmed. Thank you.”

He respectfully returned the ID to me, then took a step back and spoke again.

“The Lord of this territory gave specific instructions to treat the two of you with utmost care. Would you please follow me?”

People around us looked on with thinly veiled envy, but no one voiced any complaints.

This must not be that uncommon.

A few of them widened their eyes when they heard I was a Hero Candidate, now staring at me with curiosity—or awe.

I glanced at Siwoo.

He just gave a little shrug.

Well, if this were modern society, getting this kind of treatment would probably get you called out for privilege or favoritism.

Might even end up in the news for abuse of authority.

But this wasn’t modern society—it was practically medieval.

In a territory like this, what the lord says is law.

We guided our horses slowly behind the soldier.

The inn we were led to was… extravagant, to say the least.

Lavish enough that calling it a “hotel” wouldn’t feel like a stretch.

I let out a low whistle as I took in the spacious room.

“Guess the lord knows how to treat a guest.”

Giving a room like this not to a full-fledged hero, but just a candidate?

The man clearly wasn’t stingy.

“But still… giving one room for the two of us? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Siwoo replied, sounding more amused than annoyed.
I mean, I used to be a guy in my past life, and even if I saw Siwoo naked, I wouldn’t really care.

But he’s not me.

It’s not like I’m some clueless idiot—I know this body I’m in now is female.

Even if I don’t think it’s a big deal, that doesn’t mean the other person would feel the same.

Of course, I wasn’t worried Siwoo would suddenly jump me or anything.

Besides, if it came to a physical fight, I was pretty sure I’d win.

“Still, it’s kind of messed up how even total strangers treat us like that.”

With a heavy sigh, I dropped down onto the bed.

“”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”

I asked, noticing Siwoo turning his head away with a flushed face.

“N-no, it’s just… when you move like that, your skirt…”

“Oh, this?”

“—Uwah!?”

I lifted the hem of my skirt a little with my fingers, and Siwoo whipped his head around in a panic.

“What? It’s fine, you know? I’m wearing shorts underneath.”

“That’s not the point! You can’t just show it off like that!”

“Why not? I’m wearing shorts. You know, pants. The whole point of them is so it’s not a big deal if someone sees under the skirt.”

Sure, they were a little short and form-fitting, but hey—back in my world, people wore things called leggings all the time.

Nobody thought twice about it.

And anyway, in this world, most so-called female armor looked like this.

Honestly, I wanted to ask if people just gave up on protecting their thighs entirely.

But they all acted like it was completely normal, so what could I do?

Not that I could wear the male version either—the chest and waist sizing was way off for me now.

So in the end, I went with the most practical option: shorts under skirts.

“Still! That doesn’t mean you should just flash them around!”

Siwoo was clearly struggling with this.

“Huh?”

I frowned.

“If it wasn’t going to be seen, why wear them in the first place?”

If skirts magically stayed in place and never flipped up, there’d be no need to wear shorts underneath.

But since skirts do flutter and shift, you wear something underneath so it’s fine even when they do.

I wouldn’t have even bothered if the armor came as pants to begin with.

“…Whatever. Just… don’t.”

I honestly didn’t get it.