Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Freedom Comes with Responsibility. (1)
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FREEDOM COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY.
The harsh realities of the academy that emerged from Rin's story were exactly as Kane had anticipated.
A deranged teaching method that casually shoved students into danger under the guise of 'trials and overcoming them.'
Plus, a faculty composed entirely of heroes or Heroes who blindly believed they were always right.
And even the vicious custom of treating underclassmen like slaves.
How shocking it had been for Kane, who had initially wondered how the world's top educational institution might teach its students.
For the first time, he couldn't understand why Marquis Harkur had sent Jenny to a place like this.
Of course, they must have sent Kane along precisely because they knew what kind of place it was.
'Now that I think about it, that makes sense. Why did Marquis Harkur want to send his daughters to such a dangerous place?'
He probably didn't think it would be fine just because he himself had graduated safely.
If that were the case, he wouldn't have asked Kane to look after Jenny.
'Come to think of it, Marquis Harkur did say something like that.'
Kane recalled the words Marquis Harkur had spoken with a sorrowful expression on the day he entrusted Jenny to him.
'Jenny must become a Hero. My poor daughter. In the end, she'll follow in her father's footsteps.'
She must become a Hero.
She'll follow in her father's footsteps.
Before, Kane had simply thought it meant she was born with the talent of a Hero and needed to use that power for the world's benefit.
'Looking back now, maybe there was a deeper meaning...'
"...That's when Jenny Harkur spoke to me."
"Huh? Yeah?"
The moment Kane was about to sink into his thoughts, Jenny's name suddenly came from Rin's mouth, snapping him back to attention.
He looked at her with a startled expression.
"Jenny Harkur. You know, that amazing Hero everyone's talking about lately..."
Rin asked as if unsure whether he knew.
No way Kane wouldn't know.
She was like a little sister to him, and the very subject he'd just been lost in thought about.
"Ah, I know her. We go way back..."
As Kane said that, Rin nodded with an expression of understanding.
"I see. The person Jenny said would guide me properly must be..."
"Yeah?"
The person Jenny said would guide her properly?
Kane tilted his head, wondering what that meant.
"When I was struggling after those earlier incidents, Jenny told me that if I went to Hasler, there would be someone there to guide me right."
"......"
'Jenny said something like that...'
It wasn't exact, but it clearly seemed aimed at him.
To think she held him in such high regard.
Kane felt embarrassed yet proud at the same time.
And with that, he roughly understood why Rin had ended up in such a state in the Ode Swamp.
She must have followed Jenny's words and let her convictions lead her to Hasler.
'For an ordinary person, that would have been suicide...'
Still, that was the power of a Hero candidate, huh.
It was impressive she'd made it here with just a single sword.
"...But in the end, I fell into darkness, and the incident happened."
Rin's expression darkened again.
Demon possession.
The event that had completely broken her.
And even there, Jenny had appeared and purified her.
Jenny had saved her.
'As expected... She suits being a Hero.'
Not some government Hero tied to the state, handling missions.
A true Hero from the legends, saving people and bringing peace to the world.
A real one.
"Someday, if I meet her again, I want to thank her. Thanks to her..."
Rin trailed off, glancing at Kane furtively.
Ignoring that, Kane reacted to the 'if I meet her again' part.
"You'll see her soon. She should be coming to Hasler shortly."
"Really?"
At the news that Jenny was coming soon, Rin's eyes sparkled.
Who wouldn't be thrilled at the arrival of their lifesaver and redeemer?
'...Well, if things go smoothly.'
Kane swallowed his last words as he watched her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Oh, you're back. Heh heh, look at you. You asked for a few days' vacation, went to Hasler, and took care of the Troll Lord yourself?"
As soon as Jenny arrived at the Hero Management Bureau, she headed straight to the director's office.
And there, as always, sat a pudgy man in his mid-thirties leisurely enjoying tea time.
Director Eihan Sover.
He too was a former Hero and the head of the Sover family.
A man who held the rank of duke, second only to the imperial family.
Using that power, he had seized control of the Hero Management Bureau and wielded it like his personal fief—a textbook corrupt noble.
The emperor had tried several times to remove him from the position and install Marquis Harkur in his place.
But with Marquis Harkur's death and no suitable replacement found, and fierce opposition from nobles who were Heroes or former Heroes supporting him, the status quo persisted.
"Using even your vacation for that. What a dedicated girl."
Clueless to why Jenny had come, he approached her with his signature slimy grin.
"But that was off-duty work, so it won't count as a mission completion."
Jenny hadn't gone to Hasler on her vacation expecting official credit.
Was that the only way he could think?
And did he have to rub it in again, nailing down that she wouldn't get paid?
Pathetic enough already, but Eihan opened his mouth again to spew more ugliness.
"I sent Heroes there, you know? I figured they'd handle it just fine. But you had to go out of your way?"
Then he slammed his fist on the desk in anger.
BAM!!
"Fuck, were you that desperate for attention?!"
Though Director Eihan was a Hero who mainly used magic, a Hero was still a Hero.
His physical abilities far surpassed those of an ordinary person.
The desk he struck shattered to pieces.
"......"
But Jenny didn't flinch or show fear at the sight.
She simply fixed him with cold, dead eyes utterly unlike her usual gentle, kind self.
"Are you insane? You go and solve it like that, and you hog all the spotlight! The Heroes from the Hero Management Bureau could have handled it. Did you have to steal the glory?"
In the end, that was it.
He hated that only Jenny got the attention.
The bureau needed the credit for handling it well.
The rising star Hero, Jenny Harkur, swooping in to solve everything and claim all the glory and praise—it burned him up.
"Fuck, really. Thinks she's the only Hero in the world, the only talented one. That lowly blood from her father ain't going nowhere. Tsk tsk."
Even dragging the name of her late father, former Marquis Harkur, through the mud with a click of his tongue.
Finally, Jenny, who had been silently listening, spoke.
"That's why I'm quitting."
"Yeah, fuck off, quit... What? What did you say?"
Thud!
Jenny removed the Hero badge pinned to her chest and tossed it onto the remains of the shattered desk.
"Now the Hero Management Bureau won't miss out on attention because of me."
With that, Jenny turned to leave the office coolly.
"Hey! Hey, you! Stand right there!"
Director Eihan called her back.
"Are you crazy? Quitting as a Hero? What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He scowled furiously at her.
Jenny replied with an annoyed expression.
"I've judged that being a state-affiliated Hero has no future. So I'm quitting. You hated me anyway, right?"
Eihan let out an incredulous laugh.
"Ha, you crazy bitch. I don't know what bullshit you're on, but... You think we'll just let a valuable resource like a Hero go?"
He held up a communication orb.
It was connected to the Heroes and Hero candidates.
He meant to summon the others to stop her if needed.
"A resource, huh... Whatever. If you're so important, why do you lash out and mistreat me? And it seems like you're planning to call people to stop me..."
Her irritation finally boiling over, her face hardened, and she glared at Director Eihan with uncharacteristically sharp eyes.
"...If you don't want to lose all those precious Heroes, then stop."
ZZZZZZ—
She began releasing her vast magical power.
Ready for battle at any moment.
"......"
Director Eihan swallowed hard without realizing it.
That power was overwhelming.
Among all he'd seen, it rivaled 'Marquis Harkur'—a force worthy of history books worldwide.
She meant it.
If he tried to stop her here, Heroes or not, they'd all die.
To block her, he'd need to summon at least eight of the twelve active imperial Heroes.
But that would require immense sacrifice.
Such was the pressure she exuded.
"Well then, I'm off."
Jenny retracted her magic, flashed a smile, and left the office.
"Hah... Hah...!"
He couldn't say a word.
Couldn't do a thing.
Only after she left did he gasp for the breath he'd forgotten.
"Fuck, that fucking bitch... Just you wait. Let's see if you can survive on this continent after that."
Furious that she'd dared threaten him—someone even the emperor couldn't touch lightly—Director Eihan vowed revenge.
Of course, oblivious to all that.
Jenny was thrilled at the thought of quitting as an imperial Hero and rushing to Hasler to see Kane.
'Hehe, once I'm an adventurer, I can see Big Brother Kane whenever I want? And then we get even closer, and later... Kyaa!'
She lost herself in pleasant fantasies of a free life as an adventurer.