The Empty Seat
At a corner of the western border, a swarm of monsters teemed before the barricade. Amidst the small group of people desperately holding back the beasts trying to breach the wall, shouts erupted.
"Hey, get a grip! If you mess up now, it’s not just you who dies—your friends go down with you!"
"I... I'm sorry. But I don't have any strength left in my body..."
"Ugh... just fall back and swap with someone who's recharging their mana! The rest of us will hold them off somehow!"
The man shouted at a female student who was staggering from exhaustion, likely due to the prolonged battle. As he spoke, he smashed the head of a monster trying to climb over the barricade with the blunt weapon he was holding.
"Sir! They’re swarming again!"
"I can see that! Those damn scouts! They swore up and down there wouldn't be any problems here, and look at this mess!"
As the student guarding the barricade beside him screamed, the man cursed, his mind flashing to the face of the scout who had guaranteed that this area had such a low concentration of mana that it was impossible for many monsters to appear.
Countless hordes of monsters had appeared along the western border. Because of a shortage of personnel, this area—deemed relatively safe by the scouts—had been assigned only four students and a single active-duty hero as their guide. As a result, the five of them were currently holding back a swarm of monsters that far exceeded a hundred.
They were shorthanded. Even with the barricade, it was near impossible for students—no, even for most active-duty heroes—to stop a swarm of this size with so few people.
Perhaps having swapped with the exhausted student, another student who had been recharging their mana for a while stumbled up to the barricade, preparing to unleash an area-of-effect spell. Mages were existence that could outshine anyone on the battlefield if they had enough mana and time to prepare, even if their physical abilities and combat endurance were lacking. If they could just use an area-of-effect spell, they could deal significant damage to the monsters, but they were desperately short on people to buy that time.
"I-I don't know if it's just my imagination, but there seem to be even more than before...! I don't think we can stop them...!"
The barricade, which had barely been held by four people. In the gap created while one female student stepped away and another prepared a spell, a monster squeezed through. Once monsters started crossing the barricade—the very thing that allowed them to fight the beasts despite their small numbers—it was obvious they could no longer hold them back. There was no time to leave their posts to deal with the monster that had already crossed.
The student preparing the spell was left defenseless, and the monster lunged at them.
"Damn it! Hey! It's targeting you! Cancel the spell and stop that thing behind you!"
"Screw that... if I cancel this, we'll never stop that many. I'm going to fire this off even if I die, so just avenge me!"
Realizing that if they didn't thin the herd, they would all die, the student ignored the monster rushing from behind and reached out over the barricade to trigger the spell. It was a moment that brought tears to the man's eyes, filled with a sense of despair at the student's resolve to face death.
Just then, a sword flew from somewhere and embedded itself into the ground beside the student, creating a barrier that blocked the monster's attack. In that split second, the student's spell activated, and a wall of flames surged up, incinerating the monsters gathered near the barricade.
As the monsters clinging to the barricade fell away, the man, who had just crushed the head of a monster hitting the barrier, saw a white-haired male student running toward them.
There were two barricades they had to protect. When they discovered monsters trying to cross the other barricade, this student had left alone, saying, "Leave this side to me." The man had assumed the boy had given up and returned, thinking that while someone had to go stop them, the number of monsters was so high that stopping them alone was impossible.
"Did you get breached over there? If so, we have no choice but to abandon this place and retreat."
The male student replied.
"There's no need for that."
He placed a hand on the barricade, holding a sword that emitted a white light matching his hair in one hand.
"I just finished clearing them all out on my way here."
With those words, the student leaped over the barricade and dove into the midst of the monsters.
"Hey, you crazy—!"
The man's shout, startled by the student's nonsensical behavior, stopped the moment he looked past the barricade. His jaw hung open, unable to close for a long time. His eyes were fixed on the boy who had jumped into the middle of the monsters all by himself, swinging his sword.
The swords wielded by the boy were not just one. No sooner did it seem he had let go of the sword in his hand than another was already there. When he slashed with a one-handed sword, the monsters' heads flew off; when he thrust with a thin blade, the monsters attached to him fell; when he swung a massive greatsword, the surrounding monsters were swept away. He handled various types of swords as if they were his own limbs, moving with total freedom. He showed no hesitation in letting go of his weapons, moving with reckless abandon. As if gravity had reversed, the black blood of the monsters soared into the sky and scattered onto the ground, yet not a single drop touched the white-haired boy standing in the center. He was, in truth, the master of the sword.
He was told that all the students who came here were first-years.
"How is that a student..."
The man thought, exhaling in awe at a sight that sent shivers down his spine. A monster had been born at Aegis.
After exchanging greetings, Yoon Siwoo took his classmates, who were on the verge of collapsing, and teleported through the gate to the one closest to the barrier designated as the return point. Because teleportation between the outside and inside of the barrier was impossible in case of emergencies, they had no choice but to travel the rest of the way on foot.
The area around the gate was bustling with heroes returning from their various assignments, and among them were the rest of the students who had split off in the morning, as well as their homeroom teacher, Eve.
"Aegis Academy 1st Year, Class A, Group 1, all members have returned."
Since he was the only one among his group who was still in one piece, Yoon Siwoo reported their return to Eve on behalf of the group. Eve let out a low groan upon receiving his report. It was because she had seen the state of the other group members.
"Siwoo, did something happen?"
"Ahaha, monsters attacked. Quite a lot of them..."
To be honest, "quite a lot" was an understatement. There were moments that were dizzying to think about what might have happened had he not been there, but since everyone had returned without any major issues, Yoon Siwoo answered with a bitter smile.
"Is that so? That must have been tough. Still, I'm glad everyone looks safe..."
At Yoon Siwoo's answer, Eve let out a sigh of relief, as if to say that was at least fortunate.
"It seems something happened at the school as well; I'm not sure if everyone there is alright."
Yoon Siwoo's expression stiffened at the worried words she uttered next.
"Something happened at the school?"
"I don't know the details either. But I received a signal that the gymnasium doors were locked. The students who stayed behind should have been able to repel most monsters, so the doors being locked means something occurred that even they couldn't handle. I've already asked the fastest person I know to head to the school, but I hope nothing serious happened..."
The image of Scarlet, who had said she would stay at school that morning, flashed through Yoon Siwoo's mind. If he could, he wanted to go check if she was safe right this instant. Since the situation was over, she had probably returned home from school. But he had even been told not to worry about her, and he knew for certain that she would hate it if he showed up at her house, so he had no choice but to suppress these feelings.
Lucy was saying the same thing. He knew. He knew that harboring such feelings was a nuisance to her. But for Yoon Siwoo, who had spent his entire life with only Lucy as someone he could open his heart to and talk with, suppressing the emotions that bubbled up whenever he thought of her—even when he tried to stop—was impossible.
Ever since he came to possess the Holy Sword of Truth, he had found it difficult to trust people easily. Seeing people utter lies without a single change in expression, even if they were "white lies" meant to gain favor or avoid causing hurt, it was only natural for distrust to sprout in his heart. However, that girl he had seen—even in moments when she spoke of things difficult to reveal to others—never uttered a lie.
At first, it was simple interest, but seeing her, who never spoke a lie when talking to anyone, he couldn't help but feel a sense of attraction to the fact that such a person existed in the world. Even though she pushed him away and rejected him, his feelings for her only grew uncontrollably. Interest became attraction, and attraction became love.
No matter how much this unrequited, one-sided love caused him pain, his heart, which thumped just by looking at her, was no different from an addictive drug. When she smiled, he was happy, and when she was sad, he was sad too. Before he knew it, her existence had become that large to him.
"Anyway, you've all worked hard today, so go home and rest! See you all at school tomorrow!"
With the dismissal, Yoon Siwoo thought as he headed home. Yes, he would be able to see her at school tomorrow.
That night, Yoon Siwoo had a dream. It was a dream where the red-haired girl was smiling. He desperately hoped that she could live like that, smiling, unlike her always expressionless self in reality. And he hoped, even if only very occasionally, she would smile at him like that, too.
*
The next day, her seat was empty.
"I don't know how it happened, but yesterday, an intermediate-class monster attacked the school without being weakened."
During the morning assembly, Eve delivered the news with a stiff face.
"Because of that, Ms. Evande was severely injured and is currently hospitalized."
Yoon Siwoo did not know what kind of expression he was wearing.