Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Everyone Carries a Resignation Letter in Their Heart (2)
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Everyone carries at least one resignation letter tucked away in their heart.
"Once again, I sincerely congratulate all of you on your graduation."
The academy principal's boring, drawn-out opening remarks had finally come to an end.
Even after watching graduation ceremonies for three years straight, I still couldn't get used to that endless speech.
I couldn't help but wonder if such formalities were really necessary.
Wouldn't it be more beneficial for the students to invite a famous hero or warrior renowned across the continent, like someone from the Harkur family, to give practical advice instead?
Well... I could understand it, though. That principal.
He had zero aptitude for education.
And from everything I'd seen so far, he hadn't made even the slightest effort to overcome it.
Student education? Please.
He was just using that formal speech as an excuse to brag about himself.
Anyway.
The boring part was over.
Next up was...
"Next, the graduating class representative... the former student council president will give her remarks. Jenny Harkur, please come forward."
"Y-Yes, sir...!"
It was Jenny's turn.
Student representative. Student council president.
In this Hero Academy, where only those with the greatest talents gathered, it was an honorable position granted solely to the very best.
...Ah, memories from the past three years flooded back.
Painful ones.
How much bone-grinding effort that frail, ambitionless young lady had to put in to reach this point.
There probably weren't even ten people here who knew the truth.
Aptitude stats... in other words, talent, don't solve everything on their own.
Aptitude is just 'potential,' not 'skill.'
To awaken that potential, effort is absolutely necessary.
Especially for her, with her absurd 55 points of potential—she had to put in 55 times the effort.
55 times the theory study.
55 times the practical combat.
55 times the application.
Frankly, calling it S-grade or A-grade genius sounds nice, but it's inhuman.
Especially for someone as unambitious as Jenny.
...I had no choice but to drag her along, even though she didn't particularly want to get that strong.
All I remembered was forcing her to learn this and that, digging up knowledge I barely knew myself and making a fuss.
Thank goodness she finally started seeking things out on her own later. The first year was pure hell.
Well... S-grade talent is impressive, no doubt.
Tell her about a few books, and a month or two later, she'd be an expert in the field.
I hadn't really done much, but I still felt a strange swell of pride.
"Hello, fellow graduates, current students, and faculty of the academy."
While I was lost in those thoughts, Jenny had already taken the podium and begun her speech with formal greetings.
Her voice trembled slightly, as if she was a bit nervous.
A former student council president, and still so fragile.
Well... she was definitely much better now.
Before, she couldn't even imagine standing in front of people like this.
"...Friends and teachers..."
Soon, the tremor faded as her tension eased.
She recited the scripted lines for a bit.
"Above all, I am most grateful to Instructor Kane."
"...?"
My name came out of nowhere.
"Kane...?"
"That substitute teacher?"
"Instructor Kane...? The commoner one...?"
The moment she mentioned me, students and teachers alike started murmuring in confusion.
Well, of course.
The name of a commoner they'd all looked down on was coming from the academy's top student.
And not as an insult, but praise.
"Instructor Kane is a true teacher. He drew out the timid me and elevated me to student council president. He passed on countless subjects, skills, and magical knowledge, helping me become the top of my class."
Mentioning me in a graduation speech, of all places.
And with such excessive praise.
I'd only seen her aptitude stats and given her a little guidance accordingly.
Helped her as much as I could.
...Of course, her aptitude was the highest I'd ever seen, so it took extra effort. But still.
Anyone could have done that much.
Was she trying to boost my reputation a bit?
Maybe because we'd lived together in the Harkur household?
Yeah, she was kind and considerate, so it was possible.
...But honestly, it would only make them despise me more.
"Hah, as if that pathetic commoner teacher did all that."
"She's just too nice. Probably mentioning him because he said a few words in passing."
See?
Guys who already thought the worst of me.
Even a slight mention like that would spark backlash if exaggerated.
Well... it didn't matter to me anymore. I was quitting today anyway.
"Instructor Kane possesses profound knowledge and outstanding skills in nearly every field. I even wondered if he might be an undiscovered hero. I think he may have greater abilities than anyone else here!"
"......"
"That concludes my remarks. Thank you."
Ah, no, she didn't have to go that far...
It was embarrassing just to hear.
Way too much hype.
After showering me with praise that made even me cringe, she stepped down from the podium.
She wore a bright, relieved smile, as if a weight had been lifted.
The stunned expressions of the students and faculty, staring at her and me in disbelief, were just icing on the cake.
#
"...? What's this?"
"My resignation letter."
I'd made up my mind three years ago, and there was no reason to hesitate.
So I handed over the envelope plainly labeled 'Resignation Letter' to the principal.
He rubbed his neatly trimmed gray mustache as he looked at it.
After three years, I knew it was his habit when something displeased him.
I had no idea what was bothering him this time, but it was probably what he wanted anyway.
While Marquis Harkur was alive, he'd been subtle, pressuring me to quit out of deference to the family.
Afterward, he'd openly nitpicked my every minor mistake to force me out.
If it weren't for Jenny, I'd have left this filthy, ugly academy long ago.
I stayed because of the marquis's dying wish and because she felt like a little sister I worried about.
"Hmph. Wouldn't leave when we told you to, but now that Jenny's graduated... your leash is off, so you're slinking away with your tail between your legs? Typical low-class commoner thinking."
"......"
What a straightforward personality.
No filter at all.
Being treated like lower class was something I'd dealt with since birth, so it didn't even anger me anymore.
It was just annoying to hear him yapping.
"I don't know what you whispered to that kind, capable Jenny to fool her, but you're still a worthless commoner. Trash with nothing to offer."
No point engaging with guys like him.
They'd interpret and act however they wanted anyway.
"Yes, this worthless trash on a snapped leash will be on my way. Goodbye."
As I turned to leave after that polite farewell, a shout laced with curses erupted behind me.
Daring to ignore him as a mere commoner, arrogant, watch out on dark roads, etc.
Oh no, how scary.
A so-called hero who saved the world and protected the people, threatening the very people he swore to defend.
I'd better hurry out of the academy before the fear gets to me.
Creak─ Clang!
As I exited the Hero Academy, the massive iron gate slammed shut with a harsh bang.
A towering gate that everyone yearned to enter.
But to me... it had been a prison I desperately wanted to escape.
I was finally free.
Finally out.
I'd never scale those high walls again.
"...Phew."
One lingering concern: Jenny.
Upon graduating from the academy, she'd immediately begin her duties as an imperial hero.
Carrying out missions under the empire's orders.
Almost all heroes or those with hero qualities graduate from Hero Academy and serve as affiliated heroes for various nations.
If adventurers are freelancers taking any job without affiliation,
then heroes are like field agents handling major public complaints or national issues.
"I'm worried."
That timid girl, thrown into national politics, sandwiched between imperial nobles and commoners...
Could she handle it?
"......"
Suddenly, her face flashed in my mind—eyes sparkling as she lavished me with that embarrassing praise.
"Pfft, with that much guts, she'll be fine on her own."
If she had the boldness to overhype a no-name commoner in front of all those heroes,
she'd excel at anything.
"The timid little thing's grown up."
Like sending off a fully grown daughter to marriage, I shook off the last speck of attachment.
"It was hell knowing you—let's never meet again!"
With a hearty farewell to the Hero Academy, I left that place behind.
#
"Hmph, he's finally gone."
Though overshadowed by the Harkur name, he was still a hero who'd fought alongside him.
Parus Remnant, the 13th principal of the Hero Academy.
Watching Kane walk away after shouting something at the main gate, he snorted derisively.
"A mere beast with no bloodline or anything... I really can't stand him."
Parus recalled Kane's impassive attitude from earlier.
And his usual demeanor—unfazed no matter what was said. He scowled deeply.
'Harkur... just like that guy.'
In his memory, one man overlapped with Kane.
The greatest hero, who died two years ago from an incurable illness: Marquis Harkur.
He'd been the same.
No matter how much they insulted or attacked the commoner-born man, he'd just laugh it off heartily.
It really got under his skin.
But he'd proven his strength and risen to marquis—a lowborn overturning his origins through sheer ability.
That's why Parus, despite hating his lowly birth,
had deeply respected Harkur the man.
But this Kane was different.
'That idiot, unlike Harkur, has zero ability.'
Yet he acted unfazed, just like Harkur.
And for some reason, Harkur's youngest daughter—Jenny Harkur, with top-tier hero talent—held him in high regard.
'I hate lowly commoners, but I hate even more those with no talent strutting around.'
That was why he despised Kane so much.
'But... why?'
Yet, in a corner of his mind,
an inexplicable unease stirred.
'Why did I see echoes of student-days Harkur in such a pathetic worm...?'
Something unknown he couldn't grasp.
An unidentified anxiety seeped in.