The Ogre's Shadow
"I'm really sorry for keeping you so long, junior."
"……It's fine."
With a creak and a soft click, the door to the student council room closed behind him after Dorothy Rothermere saw him out. Exhaustion washed over him at once.
He gazed out the window at the scenery beyond and let out a long sigh.
Nothing ever seems to go the way I plan.
At that moment, Beatrix grumbled inside his mind, clearly displeased.
[You brat. Don't tell me you're actually interested in some gathering of those little hatchlings?]
Of course not. I couldn't care less about the student council. But there are some things in this world you just can't avoid.
That was the truth.
He had accepted Dorothy Rothermere's invitation to join the student council.
Once the first-years' club activities officially began, he was scheduled to enter as the council's secretary.
And for the record, I wanted to refuse with every fiber of my being……
He felt no real merit in belonging to an organization like the student council. More than anything, he simply no longer wanted to interfere and twist the future any further. That had been his biggest reason.
Yet in the end, he had wound up joining the student council—something that had never been part of the plan.
It's all that ogre's fault.
[Ogre……? You mean that green muscle-bound lump?]
That's right. You remember, don't you? The rumors that an ogre was sighted near here.
[Those are nothing more than rumors.]
Beatrix laughed as if the whole thing were a noisy joke, but he could not join her in laughter.
Sorry, but according to other information I've obtained on my own, there's a high chance that the ogre in the rumors actually exists.
For some reason he still did not understand, the creature harbored an intense hatred for humans who possessed mana.
Dismissing it as "just a monster being a monster" was impossible—its hatred for heroes had long since crossed the line.
That was why the probability of it attacking the academy was high.
The real problem is that we have far too little time to prepare……
It had not even given the protagonist enough time to grow properly.
In the original story, this event only occurred after the hero had resolved various smaller problems and grown to a certain degree.
The ogre that would appear this time was none other than the boss of Episode 1.
True to its name, it was the skill-check that concluded Episode 1—a measuring stick to confirm whether the hero had grown enough.
Yet that measuring stick had shown up before anyone had a chance to build their strength. He desperately needed a relief pitcher, and by pure luck Dorothy Rothermere had extended her hand at just the right moment.
[I don't fully understand, but in short this happened because you're weak, didn't it?]
She was absolutely right.
"There just wasn't enough time. If I'd had a little more, I could have handled it somehow on my own."
[Hmph. In the end, nothing but a weakling's excuse.]
She keeps hitting me right in the bones.
Even if it was only temporary, a dragon serving under another human clearly did not sit well with her.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a substitute, but it's only temporary activity, so cut me some slack."
He had accepted Dorothy Rothermere's invitation to join the student council.
But only halfway.
Temporary membership.
If he remained in the student council for too long, there was no telling how much further the future might twist. That was why he had agreed only under the condition of temporary membership—something he could leave at any time with ease.
Besides, Dorothy Rothermere is destined to become student council president and take control of the academy anyway.
In the predetermined future she was without question the strongest student in the academy and its president.
She had asked for his help, yet whether he was there or not her election was all but guaranteed. He could simply slip away quietly in the middle.
Thinking he had at least put out the immediate fire, he turned to head back to the classroom when he spotted two female students and one male student walking toward him from the opposite end of the corridor.
Without exception they wore blue nameplates, each engraved with their respective positions.
Faces he had glimpsed before.
The rest of the student council members, huh.
"Oh my, do you have business with the student council?"
The girl wearing the Security Chief nameplate tilted her head with a polite reception smile.
She was a girl of bright, refined grace.
He shook his head at her words.
The boy standing behind her then stepped closer and whispered something into her ear.
A look of surprise flickered across the girl's face as she listened.
"How careless of me. I should have recognized you the moment I saw that distinctive black hair. You must be Young Master Winchester. Did your conversation with the vice-president go well?"
It seemed the entire student council already knew that Dorothy had been targeting him.
"Yes. I was just about to head back, so I'll take my leave first."
As he walked past them, a muttering voice reached him from behind.
"Tch. What a rude guy. No manners toward his seniors at all."
Judging by the unfamiliar voice, it belonged to the girl who had been glaring at him quietly from the back. He was certain they had never met before, yet he could not understand why she was already so hostile toward him.
[What an insolent little wench.]
Haa…… Did I do something else without realizing it……?
But he was far too exhausted to spare any more mental energy on her.
Among the countless buildings of Hero Academy, many stood unused most of the time.
In one empty classroom of such a building, Jack Richmond had been summoned, and he made no effort to hide his irritation.
Classes at the academy had not yet ended for the day, but he was currently under suspension for causing trouble—and he had never been the type to care about such trivialities in the first place.
"Hey! Show yourself already! If you called me here, you should be waiting!"
At the sound of his voice the empty air split open, and a figure stepped down onto the floor.
Because the building was still unused, no mana stones had been installed, leaving the classroom dark and dim.
Visibility was poor, yet Richmond recognized the person who had appeared before him at once.
"……I never thought you were actually one of them. So the Empire is finished after all."
"……."
When no answer came, he clicked his tongue briefly and stated the reason he had come.
"Tch. Fine, it's none of my business. Just hand over what you promised."
Click. Click.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of polished shoes, the figure approached Richmond and placed a paper envelope into his hand.
Trust had never existed between them from the start. The moment Richmond received the envelope he tore it open and confirmed the violet pill inside.
A strange mana faintly radiated from the pill—exactly what he had been searching for.
Madness began to overflow in Richmond's eyes.
"Heh heh…… To have this medicine in my hands again—fuck, with this I can finally take that bastard down!"
"……I shall arrange a match between you and Winchester. When the time comes, fulfill our promise."
At the figure's words Richmond twisted his lips into a sneer.
"Even without you saying it, I'm going to kill him. I'll definitely kill him!!"
"Shall I also explain how to take the medicine?"
"No need. I've already taken plenty of it. More importantly, how do you plan to set up the match with him?"
"At present the academy intends to hold a tournament under imperial order to select the strongest team from each year."
Jack Richmond recalled the talk of inter-class matches and tournaments he had heard in the classroom.
"I will make a few adjustments to the bracket. A truly simple matter."
"Heh heh heh. As expected……"
Richmond laughed as he imagined his future, and the corners of the figure's mouth rose ever so slightly as he watched.
"You may return now. I plan to time it with the end of your suspension, so simply wait quietly without worry."
"Fine. As long as you do your part properly, I'll keep my promise for sure!"
After watching Richmond leave while carefully cradling the envelope like a precious treasure, the figure waited until the classroom door closed, then transferred to his private laboratory.
His personal lab was underground, windowless, illuminated only by the dim glow of mana-stone lamps.
Reserved exclusively for academy professors, the facility was equipped with the latest equipment and perfect soundproofing—a cutting-edge laboratory in every respect.
"I cannot place all my trust in that fellow alone."
The figure's lips curved upward quietly.
Richmond was nothing more than a probe—an experiment of minor importance.
The true purpose lay right here.
The green giant roaring before him.
Its entire body was tightly bound by chains saturated with mana, forced to kneel so that it could not even move its head.
-GRAAAAAAAAH!!!!
"Ah, my apologies. Your voice reaches no one but me."
Even while listening to the ogre's enraged howls, he spoke as if exchanging light banter.
"This time we must deal with the Child of Prophecy, wouldn't you agree?"
As if determined to prove it was the child spoken of in the prophecy, its growth was so rapid he could feel it on his skin day by day.
If given more time, it would inevitably become an existence that could no longer be stopped.
"Therefore I trust you will show me the end without fail."
-GROOOOAR!!!!
Without the slightest hesitation he plunged a syringe containing the same compound as the pill given to Richmond into the ogre's thick forearm.
As the drug entered its body the ogre screamed in agony, yet there was no mercy in his hands.
Confirming the violet mana flowing along the giant's thick veins, he returned to his seat and picked up the chart recording the experimental results.
"Hmm. This dosage is far too insufficient for a high-rank monster. How much more will I need to inject?"
As he muttered to himself while checking the chart, a nameplate rested on his desk:
Supervising Professor — Aleister Crowley.