Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Trigger for the World to Change is Surprisingly Trivial. (3)
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The trigger for the world to change is surprisingly trivial. (3)
Scraaape... Swish...
"Ugh... Urgh..."
Rin came to her senses because of the sound of something being dragged across the ground.
And because of the stinging pain she felt on the back of her head and along her back, like she was being scraped raw.
"Queek! Queeeeek!"
"Quaak!"
The first thing she sensed upon regaining consciousness was the feeling of someone gripping her ankle.
And that grotesque noise, like a pig's squeal twisted into something unnatural.
"Wha...?"
Before long, her vision cleared somewhat.
Her eyes took in the sky and trees passing overhead.
And beside her, hulking bodies in a muddy green hue.
In that moment, she realized it.
She was being captured and dragged away by orcs.
'Wh-what the...'
She tried to scramble up and sweep the orcs away in a hurry.
But though her mind was alert again, the blow to her head earlier meant she still couldn't control her body properly.
The orcs weren't killing her—they were dragging her along.
And she couldn't move properly herself.
The moment she grasped that fact.
A horrifying thought flashed through her mind.
'Come to think of it, I heard somewhere that orcs can't hold back their lust and violate females of other races...'
Something she'd heard once before.
What if it was true?
No, it had to be true.
Why else would they bother keeping alive someone like her, who was worth nothing more than as food?
'N-no...!'
At that thought, Rin's face drained of color, turning pale blue.
Dying as mere food for lowly orcs was horrific enough.
But this? Being used to sate their lust?
It was too awful.
Awful enough that suicide would be preferable.
"Queek! Queeeeek!"
"Kuik!"
The orcs surrounding her were drooling and laughing.
Their laughter sounded somehow lecherous and vile.
'Ah... Aaaah...'
At the thought of such a filthy, horrifying future, she felt terror.
'No, no... I hate that... Just kill me... Eat me instead!!'
She trembled and screamed inwardly.
She wanted to shout it aloud, but all that escaped her lips were pained groans like "Ahh... Aah..."
'I... I have to get up...'
To escape that horrific future, she struggled to rise.
"Ack...!"
But her body still wouldn't obey, and her futile thrashing made a loud noise.
"Queek?"
"Quaak?!"
Drawing the orcs' attention.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
Several massive pig-faced monsters over 2 meters tall looming over her.
In the past, she never would have felt afraid of such a sight.
But now, she felt it acutely.
Orcs were terrifying.
"Queeeeeek!"
An orc's massive wooden club came crashing down toward her.
But she felt relief instead.
Passing out seemed better than this.
Or her mind might snap from the disgust and fear she felt right now.
Just as she closed her eyes in resignation.
Krunch! Crunch!
"Quaaaaak!"
"Kieeeek!"
The vision darkened by the encircling orcs suddenly brightened, and hot blood splashed across her body.
"...Eh?"
Stunned by the sudden turn of events, she barely had time to react.
Before someone approached her side.
"Whew~ This one's a hero candidate, right? That... Rin? Or whatever."
"Ahh~ The princess of the Pacific Kingdom?"
Two men sauntered over.
Surprisingly, they were academy teachers she'd seen a few times at the entrance ceremony and training classes.
"Jeez. With six hero candidates this year, I had high hopes. And one's a princess, no less."
"Who'd have thought the first to drop would be the hero princess."
'Huh? What? Did I just get saved?'
It seemed a few teachers had been stationed in the forest as backup.
Even against mere orcs, they must have anticipated some students like Rin would get careless and taken out.
The academy sometimes deployed certain teachers as supervisors for practical classes or exams.
To grade the students—and to rescue them only when their lives were truly in danger.
'But... why?'
A question arose in Rin's mind.
Why save her only now?
Couldn't they have saved her when she got knocked out earlier?
As she thought that, the two teachers leaned down toward her collapsed form and spoke.
"Hey, get it now? Get careless with monsters, and you're fucked right away~!"
"So? You get what us teachers are trying to do here?"
"......"
This was why students at the Hero Academy died, were crippled, or went mad—even with supervisors deployed to save their lives.
Because under the banner of 'education,' they let students be pushed right to the brink of death or ruin.
Timing was often missed, leading to actual deaths—or rescues only after minds or bodies were broken.
Of course, the teachers weren't just tormenting students for fun.
They had their own goal: 'Teach cocky kids a harsh lesson in reality and reform them. Then pick out the ones who overcome it easily.'
But as a result, half died or broke.
The other half—the normal graduates—rarely fell into such traps and grew even more arrogant.
And the biggest problem was...
"Heh heh heh, you see that? She totally gave up."
"She knew damn well what happens if orcs catch you. I'd fight even if it killed me. Oh! Unless that's your thing? Hahaha!"
...Those who grew that arrogant.
Former heroes or hero candidates who believed themselves supreme without question, their humanity in tatters.
Seemed like amusing themselves mattered more than anything.
'This... This isn't education...'
As she looked up at the teachers cackling down at her, they overlapped in her vision with the orcs that had loomed over her moments ago.
Disgusting.
Using the shield of 'education' for such atrocities.
No, this wasn't education.
It was outright abuse.
"You..."
Do you know who I am, daring to do this?
She started to say it, but clamped her mouth shut.
Who are you?
She couldn't answer her own question.
The princess of the Pacific Kingdom?
But Father doesn't think so.
I'm worthless unless I'm a hero candidate.
Then a hero candidate?
Is this—a loser beaten by orcs, mocked like this—a hero?
'I'm... nothing...'
Dazed, she stared at her sword.
The ornate sword bestowed by her father, the king of Pacific—studded with multicolored jewels, Ice Breaker.
For some reason, the gems' brilliant shine seemed to fade.
Tarnishing into dull hues.
Something inside her heart began to crumble, bit by bit.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Haa."
A cute girl with a puppy-like face—her fiery red hair tied in twin tails—sheathed her sword with a deep sigh.
The ground around her was drenched in blood, littered with the corpses of countless ogres.
Compared to the carnage that could only be called a slaughterhouse, she stood spotless—not a single scratch.
Not a drop of enemy blood or her own on her pristine figure.
Her name was Jenny Harkur.
The girl who had shattered all records at the Hero Academy upon graduation, then immediately began operating as a hero for the Karr Empire.
And one of the few heroes currently permitted to solo in the empire.
Even now, she had just single-handedly completed one of her missions: subjugating the ogre pack east of the imperial capital.
Without anyone's help.
"Returning to base."
She glanced around briefly, then contacted the Hero Management Bureau via her portable communicator to report her return.
Then stared blankly down at the device.
"...Big Brother Kane..."
She recalled the message Kane had sent her before.
[There's been troll activity in Hassler. If you ever run into danger, could you put in a word with the Hero Management Bureau?]
Hassler—the city Kane had gone to after quitting as an academy teacher to become an adventurer instructor.
The message was about unusual troll activity in the adjacent Ode Swamp, warning that a Troll Lord might appear, and asking if she could help.
Of course, he hadn't asked the empire-affiliated hero Jenny to come personally.
Just to mention it to the bureau so they could send more personnel.
He must have thought it too much to ask.
'You don't have to think that way...'
Truth be told, Jenny wanted nothing more than to ditch her hero duties and rush to Kane right now.
But her father—and Kane—wanted her to be a hero.
A cool, strong hero who saved many people.
One who restored the shattered image and prestige of heroes.
Who became people's hope.
'That's why I can't go right now.'
To Jenny, Kane was absolute top priority.
But precisely because of that, she couldn't abandon the 'hopeful hero' role he wanted for her.
She couldn't shirk missions to save people and run to him.
'Just wait a little longer, Big Brother. Once I clear all my current missions, I'll definitely come.'
Of course, she wasn't giving up.
She planned to blitz through all her remaining missions at top speed.
Take leave and head straight to Hassler.
'Just a few left. Hurry back to the capital...'
As she thought that and headed toward the capital via a nearby village, she spotted a few students in academy uniforms passing by.
"Heh heh, orcs are no big deal."
"Right? Hahaha!"
One group, triumphant, clutching blood-soaked pouches that likely held orc noses.
"......"
And another, hollow-faced, staring blankly at the ground.
Two completely opposite groups, both in academy uniforms, traversing the village.
'...New students.'
Probably the first practical class she remembered: orc hunting.
'Without Big Brother Kane back then, 20% of the new students would've died or broken.'
At the time, Jenny had gathered the new students before the practical site and explained orc traits and forest terrain.
Of course, all the knowledge came from Kane, not her—and he'd asked her to explain it to them.
They wouldn't listen to him, but they would to the daughter of Marquis Harkur, a hero candidate.
Thanks to that basic understanding of orc intelligence, traits, and terrain.
Nearly all passed the practical unscathed.
But the students before her eyes didn't seem so lucky.
Nearly half looked utterly drained, eyes on the ground.
'...Well, without Big Brother Kane, it's par for the course.'
The Hero Academy was a mystery—how it even functioned with such methods.
Without a teacher like Kane to ensure survival rates and mental health, this was inevitable.
'Hm...?'
But then.
One student caught her eye in particular.
A beautiful girl with long straight sky-blue hair.
But her face bore a deeper shadow than the others.
...Dark enough to seem a bit dangerous.