I Want to Be a Hero
The car ride home was steeped in a strange silence. I wanted nothing more than to use this quiet as a backdrop to catch a few moments of sleep. That was how intense the events of the day had been. But I couldn't easily close my eyes. There was still a conversation we needed to finish.
When I looked up, I saw Freya watching me in silence. Her glacier-blue eyes were fixed on me, quiet and steady. She knew I still had things left to say.
“…Freya.”
“Yes, Brother?”
In the end, it was I who broke that uncomfortable silence.
“I said earlier that I would draw a line between the identities of Director Shun and Julian, didn’t I?”
Freya nodded without a word. For her sake, since she must be curious, I began to explain the reason.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking it over while coming to pick you up. About what those black mages might be after.”
I still didn’t know the background or the true motives of those who orchestrated this incident. I only had a vague guess based on the fact that they kidnapped my scholarship students and wielded black magic.
“They are likely targeting Director Shun. The reason they caused this incident is that in black magic, there are spells that use connections or parts of a person’s body as a catalyst to cast a curse on them.”
To cast a curse, one needs a catalyst—a piece of the target. It’s easy to understand if you imagine the cliché of tying someone’s hair to a doll to curse them. In this process, bodily fluids are more potent than hair, and actual body parts are even more powerful than fluids. And a ‘connection’ can substitute for these physical parts.
“That must be why they targeted the scholarship students. As far as the public knows, those students are the only people Director Shun maintains a close, personal connection with.”
Publicly, the only people Director Shun had a close personal relationship with were those students. The black mages must have acted the moment they discovered that fact.
“So, when I heard that the students had vanished and that you had disappeared along with them, my heart felt like it had dropped into my stomach.”
Of course, even then, I wasn’t worried about the curse reaching me. I possessed the knowledge to trace black magic back to its source, as well as the knowledge to block it. That was why I wasn’t particularly afraid of black mages targeting me. But the story changes if they target the people around me instead of myself.
“That’s why I agonized over it a lot on the way here.”
Only after thinking that far could I truly understand what my master had said.
“Freya. Isn’t prevention—stopping a disease from ever taking hold—better than curing it?”
Why did my master never introduce my family or me to the other tower masters? Why are the identities of the imperial family kept secret until they begin their public activities? What are people as powerful as the Great Sage or the Emperor afraid of that they hide their families?
The reason is simple. If you guarantee enough opportunities to strike with a spear, any shield will eventually be pierced. From the perspective of the one defending, you only get one chance, but you can’t even begin to guess how many people are aiming for you. And I knew how much one’s daily life would be devastated amidst that countless barrage of attacks.
That is why even such people choose to hide rather than face it head-on. To protect not just themselves, but their loved ones.
“So I’ve decided. From now on, I will separate the identities of Director Shun and Julian.”
I decided to follow their example in the way I knew how. The first step was to ensure my family’s names never appeared on the target list of those hunting Director Shun. I had calculated that it was best to keep Director Shun’s personal connections obscured from here on out.
“As for the scholarship students, whose connection to me is already known, I plan to apply for protective custody through the Inspection Office in the near future.”
That was the place that had cleanly severed the link between Director Shun and Julian when I was creating the vaccine. Their work is thorough, so I can trust them with it. Even if the donation fee is a bit steep.
“This is also why I delayed my explanation back there. Director Shun only came here leading his private guards with the help of Julian. The achievement of uncovering the black mages’ methods must belong to Julian.”
And the first step toward this. It was to organize their respective fields of expertise so they wouldn’t overlap.
Julian’s specialty: Forensic medicine and black magic.
Director Shun’s specialty: Medicine and alchemy.
Of course, they couldn’t be divided perfectly. There would be times when Julian acted as a doctor, and times when Director Shun acted as a forensic expert. But that wasn’t a problem. Just because an internist knows how to handle surgical diseases doesn’t mean you call them a surgeon, right? Since the areas overlap anyway, they can cross over from time to time. What matters is what field the public thinks of when they hear the names Director Shun and Julian.
“So, Freya, I’m asking for your help. Please help me keep our stories straight.”
“I understand, Brother.”
Freya’s reaction was unexpectedly calm.
“You aren’t flustered.”
“I had been thinking that something like this might happen someday. Ever since the day you healed me, I had guessed it would come to this. There are already other nobles I know who live their lives this way.”
A bitter smile spread across Freya’s face.
“It’s a shame that I have to keep your greatness a secret, but I respect your intentions, Brother. So, I will be careful, too.”
This secret wouldn’t be kept just by me being careful. It meant that those who already knew Director Shun’s true identity—my family—would also have to live while hiding my secret. Fortunately, Freya seemed to understand the situation immediately.
“However, Brother. There is one thing I would like to say.”
“Go ahead.”
“If I’m to keep this secret, I think I need to properly understand exactly what kind of position Director Shun holds.”
“Hm? It’s surprising that you don’t know.”
“It’s not just me; I don’t think our whole family knows very well.”
That’s unexpected. I had never particularly hidden my earnings from my family.
“It’s strange that even Father doesn’t know.”
“Father only knows a little because he holds a joint stake in the quinine business. He doesn’t even know specifically what other medicines there are. We are laypeople when it comes to the field of healing.”
Now that she mentioned it, that was true. People outside the medical field would find it difficult to gauge Director Shun’s social standing. Even after Newton discovered gravity, his mother told him to just go back to farming. Einstein’s wife, even while typing up her husband’s papers, reportedly had no idea how incredible those papers were. It’s only natural that if something is outside your own field, you can’t realize how great it is, no matter how impressive it may be. Especially if you’re close family.
“Hmm.”
I pondered for a moment. What was the fastest way to make Freya understand Director Shun’s social standing right now? After some thought, I chose the simplest method.
“Freya. How much does this number look like to you?”
“That’s the total annual budget for our Academy’s high school division.”
“This is our merchant guild’s revenue for a single weekend.”
“…”
For reference, the weekend is our merchant guild’s holiday.
Freya shut her mouth. Her glacier-blue eyes darted back and forth between the notebook where the number was written and me. Then, she opened her mouth very cautiously.
“Brother.”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, could you raise my allowance?”
“How much do you want?”
“Double what I have now….”
“Is that enough?”
“…Quadruple?”
“I’ll give you one last chance. I won’t be raising it again for a while.”
“…”
That day, Freya was promised an allowance that rivaled that of a ducal daughter.
Before long, the car arrived at the Academy’s high school building. In the Empire, they call it the Academy High School Division, but you can just think of it as a high school by the standards of my past life. Although, the level of academics they teach is something you’d learn in university. I just thought to myself that this must be because we’re in an era where romance is still alive and well.
The name of the high school is Adler Colleg. Translated literally, it means Eagle Academy. What a naming sense. Anyway, we arrived at Adler Colleg.
“Let’s get out.”
Manager Shen stepped out first to secure our safety. I followed, and the rest of the party trailed behind. I didn’t forget my fedora when I stepped out. If I’m Director Shun when I go in, it would be ridiculous to be Julian when I come out.
As soon as we stepped out of the car, we saw people waiting for us. It was the principal of the Academy high school division and five or six teachers. They were dressed in formal suits, even in the middle of the night.
“Oh, Director Shun. You’ve returned safely.”
The principal approached me, acting as if he knew me. He was a middle-aged man with hair that was half-gray. If I remembered correctly, he was the second son of some Count’s family. It wasn’t unusual; often, second or third sons whose positions within their families were ambiguous ended up as high school teachers.
“Are the students safe? Ah, we were investigating day and night as soon as we heard the news. We were just about to dispatch the Knights.”
That was a lie. Immediately after I received the news that the students had vanished and contacted the Academy, the only response I got was a one-line reply saying, ‘We are investigating.’ The problem was that I hadn’t seen a single investigator when I checked the scene. I still doubted whether that investigation had actually taken place.
A teacher standing behind the principal chimed in.
“We also poured all our efforts into analyzing the residual mana traces around the dormitory and reconstructing the movements of the missing students.”
All their efforts, indeed. I hadn’t seen the results of those efforts.
“It was only yesterday that we captured a suspicious mana reaction near the laundry room, but unfortunately, the report was delayed because you had already departed, Director.”
‘Unfortunately.’ A very convenient word. To summarize, they only detected the mana reaction in the laundry room after I had already discovered the fairy ring there and coaxed the Brownies into revealing the location of their hideout.
“…”
“…Director?”
The principal watched my reaction without a word. It was as if he were trying to read what kind of expression I was making under the shadow of my fedora. I opened my mouth a beat later.
“Principal.”
“Yes, Director.”
“The students were held captive for two days.”
“…Yes. It is truly a regrettable matter.”
“If so, isn’t there something you should have said first in a situation like this?”
The principal’s eyes shifted minutely. But the answer I was waiting for didn’t come. In the end, I spoke first.
“Have you discussed the protective measures for the victimized students?”
Silence flowed. The principal’s mouth opened and closed once. Glances were exchanged among the teachers standing behind him. Eventually, the principal cleared his throat and replied.
“That part… we plan to discuss it after a faculty meeting later.”
“You are truly reliable.”
I said it as if I were being sarcastic. And that was exactly how I intended it to sound. I scanned their faces one by one for a moment. There was embarrassment on the principal’s face, but no fear. The teachers were the same. There was discomfort, but no sense of crisis. Their expressions were saying:
— What can a commoner businessman possibly do to us?
Maybe it was because this wasn’t a democratic society. They seemed to believe that capital couldn’t overwhelm social status. And in reality, that wasn’t entirely wrong. In the end, I gave up on having a constructive conversation with them.
“Principal.”
“Yes.”
“As for the handling of this incident, it is said that it is not I, but Julian who wishes to discuss it.”
“Of course, that should be the case.”
The expressions of the principal and the teachers brightened strangely. I didn’t have the ability to read minds, but it seemed I could see their confidence that a mere Baron’s son couldn’t do anything to them. They probably thought he would, at most, lodge a protest in the name of the Baron’s family. Thanks to that, I was able to harden my resolve.
“And the students are physically and mentally exhausted. My heart isn’t at ease sending them back to the dormitory in this state.”
Hearing this, the principal’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“I will protect them myself. I will care for them at the merchant guild’s lodging until they have fully recovered, and I will have them return only after their safety has been confirmed.”
Subtle glances were exchanged between the principal and the teachers. This was, in effect, a declaration that I distrusted the Academy’s ability to manage its students. They couldn’t have been happy about that. But they had no justification to refuse. I was offering to protect the students with the guild’s money—what reason could they have to stop me? In the end, the principal nodded reluctantly.
“…I understand.”
The principal licked his lips once and nodded. It was a face swallowing discomfort. His attitude was strangely unpleasant.
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head in greeting and then guided the students back to the car. While Manager Shen was helping the students board, I stopped just before getting into the car myself. And I looked back. The principal and teachers were lined up in front of the main gate, seeing us off. They still hadn’t spoken a word to the students. Thanks to that, I was able to harden my resolve.
“Principal.”
“…Yes.”
“I wish that the people you showed interest in were not me, but the students behind me.”
With those final words, I got into the car and closed the door. I didn’t check their expressions. I wouldn’t be seeing those faces again anyway.
The next day, lunch. Adler Colleg Principal’s Office. Principal Creon was sitting in front of his desk, tilting his teacup. Because he had tossed and turned all night, the skin under his eyes was dark, but his expression itself wasn’t bad. The last remark Director Shun made last night had been a bit prickly. The point that he had spoken to him before speaking to the students. It wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t a desirable attitude as a teacher. But what of it? Even if he were to be reprimanded for negligence in student management, the upper limit of the punishment he could receive was fixed. Therefore, the principal wasn’t very worried about the aftermath of this incident.
Knock, knock. At the sound of the knock, the principal looked up.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and three teachers entered. They all had faces that had been up all night, but there was more relief than tension in their eyes.
“Principal, we wanted to talk to you about last night.”
Senior teacher Hite said, settling onto the sofa. “It’s a bit bothersome that Director Shun took the students, but as a result, the situation isn’t that bad. I looked into it, and it seems Director Shun has no special noble title.”
“That’s fortunate. Then what about the person named Julian? I heard he was the brother of the head of the disciplinary committee.”
“I looked into the Nihilit family, and it’s a family of ordinary judicial officials.”
When you’re in this position, the first thing you look at when something happens to a student is the victim’s family. Because the things teachers can do depend on the noble rank of the student’s family. And a Baron’s family was just the position of a slightly annoying parent.
The principal put down his teacup and nodded.
“What about the incident report?”
“I’ve drafted it. The Academy launched an investigation immediately upon becoming aware of the incident, and we actively cooperated with Director Shun’s side’s swift response—something like this should suffice, right?”
Vice Principal Müller chimed in, crossing his arms. “Honestly, Director Shun’s influence is scary, but in the end, he’s a commoner. There’s a limit to the pressure he can exert.”
“Still, since the guild is of a certain size, wouldn’t it be better to be careful?”
“We should be careful. But Principal, where are we?”
Vice Principal Müller pointed out the window with his chin. Beyond the Academy campus, the flags of the training grounds could be seen.
“Adler Colleg also serves as a military educational institution. All the faculty here hold military status. Is a guild director going to threaten soldiers?”
“That’s right. At most, he’ll just issue a statement.”
In the Empire, the influence of the military is absolute. All industry and administration are established on the premise that the military protects them from the magical beasts outside the walls. Minor noise within the military can be easily ignored. It had been that way until now, and it would continue to be so in the future.
“Even Director Shun or the judicial official Nihilit won’t be able to do anything.”
Of course, it’s impossible for it to pass by quietly. Even if he’s rotten, Director Shun’s reputation within the military is by no means low, and the judicial official is also a central bureaucrat, after all. Perhaps a salary cut and a few months of suspension would be handed down. But that’s all they have. This is the military, and the influence of commoners and judicial officials has its limits. At the very least, they wouldn’t be stripped of their positions. With that fact alone, they could be relieved.
They wanted only one thing. If they could maintain their faculty status and reside within Sanctum Hill, they didn’t care what happened to the rest.
“Ah. Then at the morning faculty meeting…”
It was right then.
Bang.
The principal’s office door was thrown open violently. An administrator ran in with a pale face. Creon frowned at him, as he was too out of breath to continue speaking.
“What is the meaning of this? Without even knocking.”
“Pr… Principal.”
The administrator barely managed to catch his breath and said,
“The Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Reclamation Campaign has arrived.”
The air in the principal’s office froze. Creon’s hand, which had been about to put down his teacup, stopped in mid-air. The Southern Reclamation Campaign. The largest-scale operation in the last 20 years, intended to push back the Southern front that had been retreating. There was a Prince who not only led the soldiers at the very forefront of that place but also achieved overwhelming military exploits as an individual. For that merit, he rose to the position of front-line Commander-in-Chief at the youngest age in imperial history, and in the end, he succeeded in recapturing even the strategic points that had been taken by magical beasts 200 years ago. Therefore, if you were an Academy faculty member—no, if you were a human being with military status—there was no way you wouldn’t know the person indicated by the title ‘Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Reclamation Campaign.’
“His Highness Edmund has passed through the main gate.”
The war hero of the South. Prince Edmund, the 12th Prince, had crossed the school gate.
The Academy fell into chaos at the sudden appearance of the General. Why now, of all times? And right after a disgraceful incident had occurred? The principal had many questions he wanted to ask the General who had visited without notice, but he didn’t have the courage to ask about his intentions directly. The Prince, who had arrived without warning, found his way to the principal’s office as if it were his own home. At the Prince’s appearance, a teacup was hastily added to the principal’s office. Edmund sipped the tea brought by an administrator with trembling hands.
“It’s stronger than I thought.”
“I apologize. I, I will brew it again…”
“No need. This kind of tea has its own charm. You may return to your usual duties.”
Dismissing the administrator, Edmund naturally took the seat of honor. Including the principal, who had been the master of the office, the teachers each took their seats on the sofa.
“….”
“….”
Only the sound of tilting teacups echoed in the office. Edmund was relaxed. He sipped his tea, looked out at the campus through the window, scanned the portraits of past principals hanging on the wall, and tapped the leather of the sofa armrest with his fingers. That composure was slowly gnawing at the nerves of the other four people. The teachers had their teacups to their lips, but they weren’t actually drinking.
Before long, Edmund, who had been watching the flags outside, opened his mouth.
“Sorry for coming without notice. As you know, I transferred to the capital after my child was born.”
“We… congratulate you, Your Highness.”
In the Empire, nobles are structured to burn their lives on the front lines in their youth and return to the capital to raise their children once they are born. Protecting the people is a noble’s duty, but raising the next generation to inherit their martial arts or vision magic is also a duty.
“Perhaps because I was a soldier on the battlefield, I felt restless when I stayed still at a desk. So, I’ve been touring military facilities near the capital lately.”
Edmund tilted his teacup once and added,
“If I tour each of the military’s institutions like this, I can share in the passion of others, so I’m thinking it was a very good start.”
“If you need it, I will guide…”
“There is no need for that. I’ll look around secretly on my own after I finish my tea, so don’t follow me.”
Edmund said nonchalantly.
“Ah, come to think of it, my child seems to be about to take his first steps soon. Maybe that’s why. Now, juniors don’t look like juniors, but like my own children. Is it only me? Or is it naturally like that when you become a parent?”
“Haha…. Your Highness has also come to know the heart of a parent.”
Creon laughed awkwardly. Edmund didn’t care about that awkward laugh and continued, wrapping his teacup with both hands.
“When I was on the front lines, I used to worry about what the meaning of life was. Every day, I cut down magical beasts, lost comrades, and cut them down again. Then, a thought would suddenly occur to me. Why am I here, I would wonder.”
“….”
“But seeing my child grow up, I realized it.”
Edmund smiled contentedly. Gentle wrinkles formed around his eyes.
“I fight so that this small life can live in peace. That was enough of a reason.”
The steam rising above the teacup slowly scattered.
“And the more adorable this child is, the more natural it is to reflect on my gratitude to the person who brought me such happiness.”
At that moment, Principal Creon’s finger stopped on the teacup. A rumor he had pushed to a corner of his mind belatedly surfaced. The infertility of the Prince’s wife. And the one person who solved it. ‘Could it be….’
He had heard the rumor. The story that the Prince’s couple had met Julian at last year’s Founding Festival and had a safe birth. However, the nobles who hadn’t been there at the time had brushed off the rumor as insignificant. According to the rumor, Julian had solved the problem by introducing the Prince’s couple to Viagra, which hadn’t been released yet. Of course, the merit was great. But it was a matter that could have ended with a single gift or medal. He had considered that there was no reason for the imperial family to favor that healer. The principal had thought so too.
However, Edmund’s following words corrected the misunderstanding of the principal and the teachers.
“Even these days, Julian often visits the Imperial Palace. He said that vaccinations are necessary for babies. He says that if you get just that, you become permanently immune to black magic curses?”
There was a fact the principal didn’t know. That the Prince’s couple had been more desperate for a baby than the principal thought, that the grace Julian had bestowed upon him wasn’t ‘merely’ pregnancy counseling, and that the Prince had watched from the side all the things Julian had done for the baby and the mother from before the baby was born until now. The principal and the teachers hadn’t experienced that pain directly, hadn’t been there, and hadn’t been interested. Therefore, they hadn’t known what the Prince thought of Julian.
“Really. I don’t know how grateful I am that he knows everything my baby needs and takes measures, even more than I, the parent, do. Sometimes, it looks like he cherishes our baby more than the parents.”
Even when the couple bothered him at dawn, he didn’t show a single sign of dislike and worried about the mother and baby first, scolding them; he didn’t show a sign of disgust even when baby feces got on his face and examined him carefully; and every time he had a check-up, he informed them in advance of what the baby could do at what stage. From the Prince’s perspective, Julian was pouring more devotion into the baby than a parent.
Therefore, he had even once made such a proposal to Julian.
“I felt like making him the godfather, so I proposed it once. But he refused to the end. He said that if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to maintain his objectivity as a healer toward his patient, and that he would only accept the heart.”
The backs of the principal and the teachers were soaked with cold sweat. Godfather. Prince Edmund held Julian in such high regard. And as it happened, the Prince visited this Academy the day after an unfortunate incident occurred to such a Julian’s younger sister. The meaning of this was clear without explanation. Just hearing this much, some of the teachers were clenching their eyes shut, intuiting their own fates.
“Julian is that kind of friend. Even when I tried to lend him my name, he said he didn’t need it for his healer work and didn’t even show interest. But….”
Edmund crossed his legs.
“But, such a friend told me this morning, after checking on our child, that he had many worries because of this school. It’s truly a strange thing.”
“….”
And the face of the doting Prince, who had been boasting about his baby with a content smile, hardened rigidly.
“Tell me. How on earth did you act to make such a friend say unpleasant things? I’m truly curious about that secret, Principal Creon.”
The former Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Reclamation Campaign. The current Imperial Central Military Personnel Chief stared at the faculty with cold eyes.
At this, the principal thought quietly.
It would have been much better to have finished the conversation with Director Shun yesterday.