The Price of Power and the Reality of Heroes

The days of agony continued. The pain I endured each day grew in intensity, and in proportion, the temperature and ferocity of the flames that erupted from me became hotter and more violent. Yet, the man with the silver hair only wore a look of dissatisfaction lately.

I couldn't hear him from inside the room, but by reading his lips through the transparent wall, I knew that was what he said. The burden placed on my body by his instructions grew so heavy that there were times I couldn't move for a while even after receiving treatment. Whenever that happened, the silver-haired man would click his tongue and leave, and often, the other man would be left alone to watch me lying on the floor of the room. Then, I would muster all the strength in my body to crawl toward the wall and tap on it a couple of times. It was my signal to him, asking him to tell me a story.

I didn't even have the strength to nod, so I just lay limp on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the floor and blinked my eyes to signify yes. The man who always made sure I wasn't in pain—the "Mister"—had started telling me various stories whenever we were left alone. He would talk about the place beyond the transparent wall of the room I lived in, a place called the "outside," and it was a very fascinating subject to me. At first, it was just him talking unilaterally, but at some point, I began to wait for these moments when we were alone, eager to hear his stories about the outside world.

Mister seemed to ponder for a moment before opening his mouth.

Hearing that it was a place for people like me, I imagined the small room filled with people. I wondered what that would feel like and blinked my eyes vigorously to ask for more.

After talking for a while, Mister told me this:

I didn't fully understand what he meant, but I wanted to listen to him. I closed my eyes for a long moment and opened them. It meant I understood. At that, Mister's expression crumbled.

Mister said that from a place where I couldn't hear him.

In this world, people with unique abilities walked the streets openly. From those born with innate superpowers to those who learned various forms of magic to utilize such powers. Not everyone with such abilities became a hero; some used their strength to commit crimes. It was a world where one had to protect people from appearing monsters, and perhaps even face criminals who threatened others with flames erupting from their hands. Naturally, the role of the police in this world was handled by heroes.

And today was the day for field experience, where we would visit the places where those heroes worked and try the job ourselves. When we arrived at school, the kids were fired up with enthusiasm, claiming they would catch the criminals threatening the city. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The first-year Academy students, visiting the Public Safety Bureau responsible for the city's security, were experiencing the work of the heroes they had looked up to.

"Ughhh! I hate paperwork! Flone thought we were going to go around catching bad guys today!"

"Flone. This is important work too, so stop complaining and learn properly..."

Marin scolded the shouting Flone. Though, even Marin's expression was filled with boredom. The other kids clutching their documents didn't look much different. The kids, who had been full of anticipation when they first arrived under the guidance of their homeroom teacher, were all holding their papers with dead eyes. Looking at those faces, I almost thought they might find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fighting monsters easier than doing paperwork.

The kids occasionally sent pleading glances to the man standing in the back, checking if they were filling out the forms correctly, begging him to finish it quickly, but it seemed hopeless.

"-Nice to meet you, students. I won't say much. Since you've made it into the Academy, you all have some aptitude for combat. But to maintain public safety in the city, you must know how to do other things. That is paperwork. Every case you resolve must be recorded through documents. Understand? Anyone who tries to push this off onto someone else because they can't do it cannot call themselves a hero."

The man with the sharp eyes standing behind us had said that in a cold voice as soon as we arrived at the Public Safety Bureau, and then taught us the document format. After that, calling it "field training," he handed each of us a stack of papers from the mountain of documents piled on the desks and had been watching us work in silence for an hour.

It was almost a simple, repetitive task, but since most of the kids preferred moving their bodies over sitting down and doing paperwork, they seemed to be getting restless. However, I was a veteran when it came to repetitive tasks. Weeding, base maintenance, sweeping fallen leaves—the worst was definitely snow removal. Recalling the horrific memory of clearing snow only to turn around and see it piled up again, I was filling out the documents with a blank mind when the man watching from the back clapped his hands.

"Alright, time's up. I'll include the 10 who worked the hardest in the next patrol. The rest of you will continue with the paperwork."

"Nooooo!!!"

"Ughhh, that can't be!!!"

With the screams of Flone and Daniel, the kids tore at their hair in frustration.

"You shouldn't struggle with this much paperwork."

"Those idiots, they should have worked harder from the start."

Sylvia and Mei, who looked like they were definitely in the top 10, looked at the poor souls with pity. For the record, I was obviously in the top 10 as well. I might be in a girl's body right now, but don't underestimate a veteran soldier.

The kids included in the patrol squad were myself, Mei, Sylvia, Andre, who was usually diligent, Yoon Siwoo, who was somehow staring blankly while doing his paperwork, and Dway from Class B, along with four others. Surprisingly, Marin seemed to have been left behind because she was too busy worrying about Flone sitting next to her.

As we stood in a line outside the building waiting, a woman with short hair wearing a conspicuous neon vest came out and laughed out loud upon seeing us.

"Are these the kids going on patrol with me? Ahaha, the ones left behind are going to suffer because of someone with a bad personality!"

At that, the man with the sharp eyes glared at her, the one who would be going on patrol ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with us, and retorted sarcastically.

"If someone hadn't been running away after pushing their paperwork onto others every single day, there wouldn't be a need to make them do it like that."

"Oh my, was it my fault! Kids, I'm sorry!"

The woman, who was the one who couldn't do paperwork, gave a sheepish smile, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted toward the building. Even though they couldn't hear her, Teacher Eve, who had come out to see us off, giggled as she watched her apologize to the kids working inside.

The short-haired woman waved brightly at Teacher Eve, then looked at us and introduced herself in a cheerful voice.

"Nice to meet you, kids! I'm Lea, your senior by five years! Since you're still first-years, this is your first time, right? Let's get going! Honestly, there's not much to explain about patrols!"

She, who introduced herself as Lea, grinned once and strode ahead. We followed her like ducklings.

A woman wearing a neon vest that said "On Patrol," followed by 10 students in school uniforms, was a sight that couldn't help but stand out, so citizens passing by often talked to us.

"Are you on patrol today too? Oh my, and those must be students behind you. Thanks to you, I can walk around with peace of mind. Thank you."

"Ahaha, no, it's nothing. It's work we're supposed to do, of course."

It could have been annoying, but Lea answered every single citizen. When someone asked why, she answered with a smile.

"Patrols are for checking if anything is happening, but they're also to let people know that we are always protecting them. If people can feel at ease just by exchanging a few words, isn't that a good thing?"

Someone went "Ohhh," as if they were seeing her in a new light. They probably thought she was just someone who couldn't do paperwork and pushed it onto others. Lea laughed "Hehehe," a little embarrassed.

While on patrol, Lea talked incessantly. About things to watch out for during patrols, or just small talk when there was nothing else to say. Perhaps that was why the kids quickly seemed to become close to her.

"By the way, does Teacher Eve still scare you on the first day of class by saying you'll die if you don't get stronger? She says that because she cares about her students so much, but she works you so hard that you really start to wonder if you're going to die, so it must be tough for you. She's actually really scary, despite looking cute, you know?"

"Thanks to that, I feel like I'm going crazy every time I take Teacher Eve's class."

"But did you know? The truly scary thing about Teacher Eve is that her appearance never changes. I was so surprised when I saw her today! How is it that she looks exactly the same as when I entered school? I heard she looked like that even when my seniors were here. She's definitely hiding her original appearance with illusion magic."

While listening to such trivial stories, a beep sounded while we were all on patrol. Hearing that sound, Lea took out the walkie-talkie hanging from her waist. A voice came through.

Lea heard that and looked at the kids following behind her, asking,

"The kids are in the middle of field training, is it okay if they come along?"

"Understood. You heard that, kids?"

At the mention of an incident, most of the kids' eyes lit up, and they nodded. The ones who didn't show much reaction were myself, Dway, who looked full of exhaustion, and Yoon Siwoo, who still had a blank face. I couldn't understand what on earth happened to him for him to be like that since yesterday.