The Door to Safety
It was early morning, long before the other teachers had arrived for the day. Eve, having come to the academy at the crack of dawn, sat at her desk and pulled open her drawer. She retrieved a photo album filled with pictures of students she had taught over the years. As she flipped through the pages, familiar, nostalgic faces stared back at her. Having spent a long time as an instructor at the academy, the album was packed tight, yet Eve remembered every single student in those photos without exception.
Her hand, slowly turning the pages, came to a sudden halt. She had found a photo of a male student with a name tag reading Yest Ofer, beaming brightly beside her. Eve traced the smiling face in the photograph with her finger, slowly ruminating on the memories of that student, before closing the album with a sorrowful expression. No matter how many times she experienced it, the death of a student she had taught was something she could never grow accustomed to.
The world, once ravaged by witches, was filled with Mana—an energy that was nothing short of poison to ordinary people. Creatures known as Maju were born primarily in areas where the concentration of this Mana was dense. The interior of the barriers, installed by ancient mages across the world to block the intrusion of Mana, was supposed to be a safe haven where no Maju could emerge. However, the space inside these barriers was limited. To secure food or simply to expand living quarters, people naturally felt the need to pioneer the lands beyond the barriers.
Thus, starting from the locations of the barriers, they gradually installed devices to suppress and purify Mana in the surrounding regions, occasionally fending off the Maju that appeared as they reclaimed the land. But even with these suppression devices, they did not block Mana as completely as the interior of the barriers, so Maju would appear on very rare occasions. Usually, Maju born in areas with low Mana concentrations were relatively weak, but for some reason, the Maju that had suddenly appeared near the barrier last weekend seemed to be an exception.
It was strong enough to claim the life of even a veteran hero—someone who had thanked Eve just a week prior, saying that thanks to her teachings, he had at least managed to keep his limbs intact for ten years—as he stalled for time to evacuate the citizens. Ever since she saw that familiar name in the obituary text message that arrived after class yesterday, she had tried to suppress her grief, but managing her emotions was never easy.
While she was lost in thought, the sound of the staff room door sliding open reached her ears. Thinking another teacher had arrived, she looked toward the door, only to find not a colleague, but Scarlet Evande, a student from the class she was in charge of. She didn’t know why she had come to school at such an early hour, but seeing her walk straight toward her, she knew the girl had business with her. Scarlet approached and opened her mouth.
"Teacher, I have a question."
She couldn't be all gloomy while talking to a student, so Eve forced a bright tone. "Yes, Evande? What are you curious about?"
"Our gymnasium building, it’s incredibly sturdy, right? How much does it cost to build a structure like that?"
"The gym? Hmm, let’s see. Just the material costs alone must have exceeded 1 trillion, I’d imagine. But why the sudden interest? Are you interested in architecture, Evande?"
Even Scarlet, who usually wore a near-expressionless face, seemed a bit startled by the figure, her eyes widening. There was a tradition among the practical training instructors: if a student was overly confident, they would call them over and say, "If you can attack the gym wall and smash it, I’ll let you graduate early." It was a sturdy building, often called the "Humility Hall" because it made even the most confident students bow their heads like rice stalks at harvest time by the next day.
Scarlet, who had widened her eyes, returned her expression to its usual state and asked, "I’m not interested in architecture; I was just curious. Then, how much would it cost to install a door of the same material at the entrance of the gym?"
"Hmm, you mean installing a door where there’s currently an open space? Wouldn’t it be about 2 billion?"
When Eve answered, Scarlet nodded and stood still for a moment, as if deep in thought, before speaking to Eve.
"...Teacher. You told me before that you were very wealthy. I have a favor to ask."
"I am wealthy, yes... but what kind of favor?"
"Can you lend me 2 billion? I’ll find a way to pay you back eventually..."
Eve was momentarily bewildered by the student’s sudden request to borrow such a large sum of money. Then, thinking back to their conversation about the 2 billion, she asked, hoping it wasn't what she thought.
"Uh, Evande? I’m asking just in case, but surely you don’t want to borrow 2 billion because you want to put a door on the gym, do you?"
Scarlet nodded as if to say, "Exactly." Eve was left speechless at the sight of her nodding. She remained still for a moment, too dumbfounded to speak, before asking with a hint of absurdity.
"E-Evande? Could you tell me why you suddenly want to put a door on the gym?"
"Well... our school gym is used as an evacuation site for citizens in emergencies. So, if a Maju were to break into the barrier, wouldn’t it be safe for a while if we had a door...?"
Scarlet, speaking in such a way, looked like a young child worried that a monster might crawl out from under her bed and drag her away. To reassure her, Eve smiled and said, "Ahaha, you’re quite the scaredy-cat, Evande. We’re inside the barrier, so there’s no chance of a Maju appearing here, so don’t worry so much."
"But, what if... what if you never know? If a Maju somehow manages to get inside the barrier..."
Despite Eve’s words, she only replied in a voice filled with worry. Then, Eve noticed her hands trembling, perhaps from anxiety. What could possibly make her tremble with such fear—she, who had laughed as if it were nothing even when a sword was driven into her hand during a sparring match? Eve suddenly recalled her reaction during a training session where she was shown her greatest fear as an illusion. She didn’t know what the girl had seen, but she had trembled, sweating and gasping for breath, before finally fainting. Combining her reaction today with that memory, Eve speculated that she might have suffered a tragic event involving a Maju in the past.
Information about students entering Aegis Academy was restricted so that only the principal could view it. It was a rule established since the academy’s founding, based on the belief that if staff knew the students' personal circumstances, they might treat them unequally. It was a rule that all students should be treated equally if they entered to become heroes. Normally, it would be inappropriate to ask for a student’s personal details, but...
"Evande, could you tell me about your family situation?"
"...I don’t have any. Family."
She spoke in a small voice. Eve had thought that might be the case, and as it turned out, she was right. Thinking she had touched a sore spot, Eve forced a bitter smile inwardly. "I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have asked."
"It’s fine. More importantly, can you lend me the money?"
"Even if I were to lend you the money, there’s no way you could just install a door on a school building whenever a student wants to."
Scarlet’s expression hardened at her words. She had already done something she felt sorry for, so she might as well grant her wish. It was also admirable that she wanted to build it for the sake of others. Eve smiled slyly and said, "So, I’ll talk to the principal about installing a door on the gym. Since your reasoning is sound, I think it’ll be installed soon."
"Really? Then please tell them to install it as soon as possible, as fast as they can. Thank you so much. I want to do something for you, but I don’t know how to repay this..."
Her face, which had been hardened, visibly brightened at the news that a door would be installed. She had been so grateful just for Eve covering some of her uniform costs that she hadn't known what to do. To her, who now didn't know how to repay her, Eve said:
"In return, I’ll ask for one thing."
"I’ll do anything I can."
"Then let’s make a promise."
Eve held out her pinky finger. From then until now, there was only one thing she ever wanted from her students. "Don’t die, Evande."
The girl’s eyes, looking at the pinky finger held out to her, wavered. After a moment of hesitation, she finally hooked her finger around Eve’s. Then, she answered with a resolute voice.
"I won’t die. Never."
Watching Scarlet bow and leave the staff room, Eve pulled out her phone. As soon as possible, she had said. It was a request from a cute student, so she had to do her best to fulfill it. Eve scanned the numerous client numbers registered on her phone. As a master of illusion magic, she was paid to show clients the illusions they desired. Among the clients who had become prisoners of the overwhelming realism—where they felt as if they were truly experiencing the illusions—there were quite a few famous people. Among them was the chairman of a company famous for material distribution and construction.
"Yes, Chairman. I’m sorry to contact you so early in the morning. We’re planning to install a door at our academy gym. Yes, yes, you’re asking what material the door will be? Oh, obviously it has to be the same as the gym. You say it’ll take a month because of the backlog of reservations?"
"Hmm, that’s troublesome. If tomorrow’s front page features an article about a famous company chairman’s hobby being a 'pretty girl' who gets doted on by other men, the Chairman might find himself in quite a difficult position, wouldn’t he? Are you asking if this is a threat? Oh, heavens, how could it be? If you get it done early, I’ll move your backlog of reservations up that much. Plus, on that day, I won’t take any other clients and will deal only with you until closing time. How about that?"
"Wow, really? You’ll start construction tomorrow? Our Chairman is quite generous. Oh, what the heck. When are you free this week? Ah, today is fine too? Of course. How much will the construction cost? Yes, yes, I’ll pay the full amount today. See you tonight, my super-pretty angel~."
She ignored his shout to refrain from calling him that in reality and hung up. When she sent a mass text to her clients saying she was postponing their appointments by a day due to unavoidable circumstances, her phone rang like crazy with incoming messages, so she simply turned it off. As for the construction, well, she could just notify the principal later. She had paid for the entire gym herself, so she didn't need permission to add one more door.
She opened the album she had closed earlier and looked at the students' photos. How many funerals had she attended after the students in these photos became heroes? No matter how much she donated the money she earned for the welfare and survival of heroes, people still ended up dying. The fact that there were many things in the world that money and power alone could not control was simply sorrowful to Eve.