16. We'll Meet Sooner Than Expected
16. We'll Meet Sooner Than Expected
16. We'll Meet Sooner Than Expected
Lately, one particular worry has been weighing on my mind.
It concerns one of my students.
Han Si-jun, the student who coughs up blood and supposedly has little time left.
After observing him for roughly two weeks,
I've come to realize his talent far exceeds all expectations.
During my Introduction to Magic Beasts class, I showed the students a thirty-minute clip of a werewolf emerging from a Gate and its subsequent behavior.
"Magic Beasts emerge from Gates. Among them, the werewolf has a wolf's form yet resembles a human. Can anyone describe its characteristics to me?"
It was a simple question, meant to gauge who was diligently preparing their studies or who had done the prerequisite reading.
"No one?"
A brief silence fell over the classroom.
Unfortunately, my class didn't seem to have any particularly studious pupils.
Then, a male student's hand shot into the air.
"...Han Si-jun? Do you know the characteristics of a werewolf?"
"Yes, I know a bit about them."
A slender build with lines almost feminine.
Eyes with a decadent look, the face of a playboy destined to make many girls cry in the future.
Rumored to walk around with a girl on each arm.
And yet, an ill-fated student with little time left to live.
"Well then, would you care to explain those characteristics?"
I felt a surge of curiosity; I wondered just how much he had studied.
But his knowledge exceeded my expectations.
"Werewolves act alone, yet they form packs. The werewolf in the footage, upon encountering a hero, inflicted a wound on itself. Why do you think it did that, everyone?"
He described the werewolf's traits, and with a question, he drew the other students' attention.
A tactic to stimulate curiosity in his peers.
It's a method I often use as a teacher, and he seemed to brim with confidence.
"I believe the goal was its acute sense of smell. It scattered its own blood into the air to alert the others. If it had howled to call its pack, the hero would have noticed. Even Magic Beasts undergo evolution."
While scouting, it encountered an opponent.
The werewolf then wounded itself to alert its packmates.
It was a fact I, a former A-rank hero, had learned from a paper about the evolving nature of werewolves.
I suddenly grew curious.
Where did he acquire such knowledge?
His family is ordinary, completely ordinary. There's no way anyone could have taught him this.
"Wha... what an excellent explanation, Han Si-jun. Such a secret is hidden within a werewolf's blood. Where did you hear about this?"
At my simple question, Han Si-jun began to hesitate.
Why?
Is it so difficult to say that he studied it beforehand?
A shocking answer came from his mouth.
"I... I just knew it."
History's geniuses often said things like that.
'I just... could, so it happened?'
Actions that come as naturally as breathing to them.
The world calls it 'talent.'
To observe a werewolf's behavior patterns in a mere thirty-minute video, and explain it with a clear basis.
If that isn't talent, what else could you call it?
If he lived long enough, he might have left his mark on the field of Magic Beast Behavior Pattern Studies.
But no matter what future I imagine, Han Si-jun is not in it.
A wave of sorrow began to wash over me at that fact.
"...Han Si-jun, you may take your seat. That was a brilliant answer."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Han Si-jun withdrew to his seat, receiving applause.
The brilliant die young.
That truth ached deeply in my chest.
"E-Everyone... let's take a five-minute break, and then we'll continue the lesson..."
A boy who has accepted death at a tender age.
As his teacher, how should I deal with him?
These are truly troubling times.
***
"...What the hell?"
Our homeroom teacher Shin Si-hwa's lesson unfolded in an unexpected direction.
I recalled the traits of werewolves from the game and easily answered her question.
Getting the answer right felt good, but Shin Si-hwa's reaction... that was what bothered me.
The teacher said she needed a moment before continuing.
Why did she look at me with such sad eyes before deciding to take a break?
The incident in the infirmary crossed my mind, but I shook it off. No way, it couldn't be.
Yeah.
What could possibly be wrong?
A former A-rank hero like Shin Si-hwa wouldn't fall for such a ridiculous misunderstanding.
She was someone who easily subdued enemy villains in the game—a reliable comrade I could trust to watch my back.
There was no way she could be such a scatterbrain.
I should focus on my own test.
The team project test held at the start of the semester, an assignment to gauge how well students cooperate.
The 'Mock Gate Exam.'
Students head to a perpetually active Gate managed by the Academy.
The final objective inside is to extract a Golem Core.
This is the starting point for the game's first episode, and it also contains a Hidden Piece.
If I get that, I can use my ability to a degree without penalty.
In the midst of this tense moment, Yu Ha-yeon poked me hard in the back.
Thwack!
"Hey! Han Si-jun! What group are you in?!"
"...Did you really have to hit me to ask that?"
"Ah, sorry...!"
She didn't look the least bit sorry.
Yu Ha-yeon's eyes were full of mischief.
Damn, that actually hurts.
I rubbed my aching back and answered.
"I'm in Group 4. What about you?"
"Why am I not in Group 4?"
The paper in Yu Ha-yeon's hand had the number '1' on it.
Too bad.
The class had forty students total.
Ten students per group.
Having Yu Ha-yeon with me would have made getting the Hidden Piece so much easier, but she was in a different group.
It's still fine.
I still have Na Yu-na.
If I had to pick the two strongest in our class, it'd be Na Yu-na and Yu Ha-yeon.
Those two are at the top, while the rest hover between B and C-rank.
I approached Na Yu-na, who was staring at her paper with an indifferent look.
"Na Yu-na, what group are you in? Please, say Group 4."
"..."
Na Yu-na looked at me—a hopeless mess running around frantically—with a pitying gaze.
"Do you really want to be in the same group as me that badly?"
Nod. Nod.
I put all my sincerity into nodding affirmatively.
She smiled in satisfaction, a pleased grin spreading across her face.
The way her ears twitched reminded me of a butterfly's wings flapping.
"W-Well... for that amount of enthusiasm, I suppose I can show you my paper."
The odds were one in four.
The Academy likely wouldn't put me in the same group as Yu Ha-yeon.
That leaves one in three.
With a confident expression, Na Yu-na unfolded her paper.
Flutter.
"Here. I'm in Group 2. ...But what's with that expression?"
I don't have a mirror, so I can't be sure, but my expression is probably painted with despair.
I was hoping for at least one person I knew in my group.
Why does this keep happening to me?
It was a moment I felt that fate was truly cruel.
Na Yu-na, who couldn't grasp my situation, bid me farewell.
"...I don't know what's going on, but good luck."
"Yeah... you too."
Hearing her cheer me on like that should've lifted my spirits. So why do I feel so drained?
Maybe it's the atmosphere of Group 4 waiting for me.
A female student wearing glasses approached me and spoke.
"Han Si-jun. We're about to have a meeting. Why not come over here?"
Her tone was sharp.
She looked like a model student in round glasses.
What was her name again?
Not our class president, but something similar.
Anyway, she'd probably heard the rumors about me, and she looked wary.
'I really don't want to go over there, though.'
Nine pairs of eyes were staring right at me.
The look in their eyes was anything but friendly.
The guy stuck between Na Yu-na and Yu Ha-yeon; the one with all the bad rumors.
I squeezed my eyes shut and spoke.
"Hi there... guys?"
Well, I said 'hi,' but could you drop those looks?
Seriously, it's terrifying.
Their glares remained as aggressive as ever.
***
A dazzling chandelier lit the expansive living room with its brilliant light.
"Deputy Leader! A request has come in. What do you want to do?"
A man with a reedy voice; he managed the organization's finances and served as its lubricant, keeping everything running smoothly.
At his call, she answered in a languid tone.
"Bring it here."
If it's interesting, she does it. If not, she refuses.
That was her work ethic.
She took the commission papers from the man.
"The Hero Academy...? Are you telling me to go to a place like that?"
A nursery for young chicks. A place devoid of fun. Her interest dwindled immediately.
But when she checked the client, a spark of curiosity ignited.
She asked the man.
"How many years has it been since those people commissioned us?"
"Hmm, ten years? Something like that? They asked us to light some random house on fire; anyway, they paid quite a lot."
"Is that so...?"
She began reading the papers again, carefully this time.
What was their objective, what did they want, what was the compensation?
And... would it be fun?
She smiled and answered the man.
"Tell them we accept. The people I'm taking are myself... and the Brute."
Han Yu-wol rose from her seat and gazed out the window.
The nightscape glittered with city lights; the people below looked as tiny as ants to her.
"...We'll be meeting sooner than I thought. Wouldn't you agree?"
She licked her lips, recalling the male student in the photo.
The brat whose flavor was in a completely different league from the rest.
He was an Academy student, it seemed.
At the thought of sampling him again, her body flushed with heat.
"No one has ever survived after seeing my face twice."
She'd killed everyone except her own comrades.
What might happen with this brat, she wondered.
Fufu.
Han Yu-wol sipped the blood in her wine glass, a rising sense of anticipation taking hold.
It was the night before Han Si-jun's exam.