Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Fate is More Often Bad (5)
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Recent reactions to the Hero Academy have been mixed.
The critics say:
The Academy has gone back to its old ways.
This year, we trusted them and sent our kids, and this is what happens?
We thought it had become a safe training ground where no one got hurt or died.
But now they're coming back crippled or dead.
There was always backlash before, but the Hero Academy's immense prestige,
and the history of heroes and legends meant it was inevitable—you had to be prepared for it.
...That kind of talk kept anyone from making a real fuss.
But over the last three years, the Hero Academy had changed into something it wasn't supposed to be.
And the demon possession incident had tarnished its reputation a bit.
It's no longer an untouchable sanctuary.
On the flip side, the defenders say:
It's just gone back to normal; the last three years were the anomaly.
The Academy hasn't changed, so just leave it be.
Kids dying? That's how it's always been.
Heroes and legends rise by overcoming trials.
So the Hero Academy gives them grueling challenges, and the students overcome them—that's the natural order.
If the trials are so soft that no one gets hurt, do you really think proper heroes or legends will come out of it? That's their opinion.
"...Fuck."
Of course, the Hero Academy's teachers weren't thrilled with either side.
"Why are they blaming us when their own kids are too weak and get themselves killed?"
The critics go without saying.
"What? 'It's always been like this'? Fuck that—the Academy is advancing every day. It's just these students who can't keep up!"
Even the defenders, who claimed it had always been this way with no progress, rubbed them the wrong way.
They believed the Hero Academy was always right and constantly improving.
Students dying? That was just because this batch was weak and stupid.
"...But then why are the upperclassmen dying too...?"
Still, that didn't quite add up.
Until last year,
the second- and third-years had maintained decent grades and survival rates—not quite Jenny's class, but solid.
It was weird that they were starting to die or get injured too.
If only the freshmen were idiots, then only freshmen should die.
If the upperclassmen were idiots too, there should have been problems last year or the year before.
"Something's off. Starting this year... something's different."
A few staff members were beginning to notice something strange.
They'd been too narrow-minded, insisting the Academy could do no wrong, so they hadn't thought deeply about it.
But now the problems were too blatant to ignore.
They weren't idiots.
With everyone openly saying, "Something's wrong with the Academy starting this year,"
they couldn't miss it.
"What the hell is it? What's different from last year?"
New staff causing issues?
No, no new hires this year.
Same as last year.
The first-years influencing them?
This class had six—no, five heroes.
Watching such a hyped class crumble might have caused problems.
Or the reason it dropped from six to five.
That filthy princess hero's demon possession might have broken their spirits.
No, the timing didn't fit.
The new semester had only been going a month or so.
Problems had started before the possession, and it was too soon for first-years to affect upperclassmen.
'What's the problem?'
The staff were all former heroes or legends.
They never thought they were at fault.
They suspected external factors.
External factors.
What had suddenly changed this year?
"Come to think of it..."
"...It's gone."
Right—if no new people were the issue,
then it had to be something that was there before and now gone.
"Everything started going wrong when Jenny Harkur graduated."
Jenny Harkur, who graduated this year.
Yes, her.
She had been a star among the Academy's students.
People draw greater strength when they have a goal to reach.
"Come to think of it, the Academy's rise started when Jenny Harkur enrolled."
"Hey now, teacher. That's just coincidence."
"Yeah, it's just the Academy doing well."
They said that, but deep down they knew.
Someone besides them had driven the Academy's brilliant progress.
"Speaking of which, that guy started around the same time."
"Who?"
Then one teacher spoke up as if it just hit him.
"That commoner teacher."
"Ah, yeah, come to think of it."
The commoner teacher.
Kane, who had already quit.
"He enrolled and left at the exact same time as Miss Jenny."
"Well, that pathetic commoner got in on connections, and when Miss Jenny graduated, he couldn't hack it alone and bailed."
Jenny enrolled, Kane enrolled.
The Academy's revival began.
Jenny left, Kane left.
...The Academy started going weird again.
It all lined up.
As if... they were the cause of it all.
"...Nah, no way. Jenny Harkur, maybe, but that commoner teacher..."
"I heard he's in Hasler now."
"Hasler? Oh, that Troll Lord place?"
Come to think of it, they'd heard Jenny Harkur had just made a big splash there, slaying the Troll Lord.
Perfectly those two.
"...I heard he made a big showing in Hasler alongside Miss Jenny."
"...Rumors say Miss Jenny quit being a hero and went to Hasler."
At this point, something felt off.
Why would Jenny Harkur quit being a hero and go to Hasler of all places?
It was like she was following Kane.
And normally, when heroes or legends get involved, it's their feats that get the credit, right?
Why was Kane's name circulating too?
"......"
"......"
Something was wrong.
Was this Kane guy really just a powerless, pathetic commoner?
That's what crossed their minds.
But no one spoke up.
Admitting it would make it seem like the Academy's rise and fall hinged on Kane.
They suspected it in their heads but refused to accept it.
That a talentless commoner had such extraordinary power.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"What... did you just say?"
Principal Parus Remnant stared at Mersenne in front of him with an incredulous expression.
"I... er, no—I'm requesting the Hero Management Bureau recognize Miss Jenny's independent adventurer activities."
"...Hoo."
He let out a deep sigh and rubbed his throbbing head.
He'd sent Mersenne to bring Jenny back, trusting him.
And he came back alone.
That alone was infuriating enough.
But the story he brought was utterly absurd.
'The empire's benefits from Jenny Harkur acting as an adventurer? As if there are any!'
If Jenny Harkur became a Hasler adventurer, the empire would gain several advantages.
First, costs would drop dramatically.
Imperial heroes were expensive to maintain.
Issuing quests to the Adventurer's Guild was cheaper.
No pointless expenses when they weren't needed.
Subjugation, escort, exploration, war.
The Guild took any job.
Heroes for less money—that was the perk.
Second.
The Hasler Guild branch had not just Jenny Harkur, but Scarlett Harkur too.
Mersenne flinched as if he was about to name someone else, but anyway.
Scarlett Harkur.
Eldest daughter of the late Marquis Harkur, an S-rank adventurer said to have a legend's aptitude.
Rumors called her hero-level strong.
Her name was famous across the continent—no one hadn't heard it.
Scarlett Harkur's name definitely had pull.
The Guild itself, whatever, but building ties with her Hasler branch was smart.
If Jenny Harkur wasn't coming back as a hero and insisted on adventuring, fighting it was pointless.
Better to cozy up to the Hasler branch holding both Harkur sisters
and pave connections that could benefit the empire later.
"Plus, considering all this, the Harkur sisters and... that, the adventurers they shelter...! Er, no—Mr. Kane is there too. Building friendly ties with him would surely benefit the empire greatly."
"...?"
No idea why that useless commoner's name popped up out of nowhere.
But Parus did find the proposal appealing.
Rough, barbaric types might give the empire a bad image abroad... but honestly, with Jenny Harkur? Other countries would pay top coin to hire her—no image problem.
It might even improve adventurers' overall rep.
'Heroes doing adventuring? Must be decent treatment. Or something special?'
Lots of people would think that way.
Adventurers would gain pride and dignity, leading to fewer savage or underhanded acts.
No matter how you sliced it, this was good for the empire and the Guild.
All upside.
But...
"It makes no sense."
The empire would never allow it.
A powerful hero,
let alone Jenny Harkur at the pinnacle,
slipping from their grasp?
Take this to the Bureau, and they'd lose it—demand Jenny and Scarlett be subjugated or killed.
...Without realizing the massive sacrifices that would entail.
Nobles gonna noble.
If they can't control a huge power, they either seize it
or destroy it outright.
Because they don't know whose hands it might end up in.
That many skeletons in the closet.
So they try to snuff out the power.
"It's a ridiculous proposal."
Parus shook his head.
No matter how attractive, the empire's higher-ups wouldn't listen.
But before that.
"...You—what's gotten into you, suddenly playing matchmaker like this?"
Mersenne Remnant.
His own son.
But Parus couldn't fathom his son's behavior.
He'd always been a hero of light with immense responsibility toward heroes,
strict with himself and others.
That's why he'd gone to drag Jenny back to hero duty.
Yet here he was,
hyping up a lowly commoner like Kane and requesting Jenny be allowed to adventure.
Unless his soul got swapped, this made no sense.
'...He's a completely different person.'
Undeniably his son,
but Parus felt a disconnect.
This wasn't the son he knew.
Stoic, with firm convictions.
That's who he'd been.
"It makes perfect sense. This is what he proposed. Even the empire's nobles would see it if their brains worked at all."
What was this? It was like...
he'd been brainwashed or something, turned into a zealot.