40. Birth of a Star
40. Birth of a Star
That the new students' annual dungeon excursion had gone berserk and turned into a disaster caused a huge commotion among the enrolled students.
That such an incident could occur at an academy that touted safety as its biggest selling point—
The students, children of noble houses, were on the verge of an anxious explosion, but the Headmaster quelled their unease in a completely different way.
"When you counter a fire with an even bigger spectacle, it dies down quickly."
He turned Andy Robinson—the instructor of the class caught up in the incident and the one who actually rescued the students inside the berserk dungeon—into a hero.
Public opinion about him should have been negative under normal circumstances.
They had even done a preliminary survey of the dungeon, confirmed it was safe, and entered—and then the dungeon went berserk.
Due to the inadequate on-site investigation, it was a major accident that could have resulted in at least a written warning—or at most, dismissal.
Whether or not the Demon Church was behind the incident wasn't the main point.
In society, no matter the cause, when an incident occurs, someone has to take responsibility—that was simply how it worked.
But here, the Headmaster went the opposite way.
A valiant instructor, a former member of the Imperial Knights, who had rescued all the students when the dungeon's entrance was blocked by its rampage and they were isolated.
If he hadn't handled it properly, there would have been many casualties—but he became a hero who rescued every student without a single casualty.
The picture was quite good.
Andy was tall and handsome, and his skills were excellent.
The fact that he was from the Imperial Knights, and that he was from a humble family, worked in his favor as well.
Because the foundation of that knight order was an assembly of dragons who rose from humble streams—commoners, or those from unremarkable families, who achieved greatness.
A major incident like a dungeon going berserk had occurred, but the academy's instructor had rescued everyone without a single casualty.
His name was Andy Robinson, a knight formerly of the Imperial Knights, and now a swordsmanship instructor teaching students at the academy.
The academy had outstanding educators like this who worked hard for its students.
With this kind of spin, and a massive collaboration with the Newspaper Club's Count Malcolm, the result was that the anxious students quieted down with the emergence of a new hero.
Though if you really thought about it, the problem was that an accident had occurred in a dungeon the academy had loudly boasted was 'safely under control.'
With the emergence of more entertaining and stimulating news, such trivial details were quickly buried.
But while he was a hero from the Imperial Knights whom many admired, some people were displeased with this development.
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[You... the eldest son of House Lemnos—what is this disgraceful sight!!!!]
"I apologize, Father..."
In a dark room where not a single ray of sunlight entered, Edgar Lemnos kept his head bowed.
He was the only one inside, but he was bowing his head toward someone unseen.
In front of him sat an iron orb the size of a fist, and from within this object, the voice of his father, Edward Lemnos, resounded thunderously.
The sight of him bowing toward the iron orb made it appear as if he were bowing to Edward, who was not present.
Bowing to someone not present might seem strange, but to Edgar it was not strange at all.
Even during communications, one bowed one's head as a courtesy to the family head.
It was a behavior he had been taught from a very young age.
[You, who must lead the Five Pillars...!! How could you fail to play an active role in such an incident, while that green young brat from the Imperial Knights receives a medal!! How, at the academy!!]
Edgar's class had been scheduled to go on the practical exercise the next day.
On the day of the incident, Edgar was attending class in the academy's main building; by the time he learned what had happened, everything was already over—but he did not bother to voice that aloud.
If he did, he knew the lecture about making excuses would drag on.
With long-honed know-how, Edgar said nothing unnecessary.
[And... you were defeated in a duel by a fellow new student? How long has it been since you left home that you're already so lax!!! ]
The moment the topic he had dreaded came up, Edgar's expression hardened.
The fact that he had lost to Atlas was true.
The topics he'd been hearing until then had been one step removed, not directly relevant—but when his father pointedly addressed the fact that he had truly been defeated, his heart lurched.
[Lemnos has always been the torch of the vanguard, leading the Five Pillars!! If you lose like that, what becomes of the family's honor!!!
That's why those insolent Imperial Knights strut about with their shoulders squared!! Insolent bastards... just flattering themselves at His Majesty's side...!!]
Once again, Edward was expressing his fury by mentioning the Imperial Knights.
Whenever it involved the Imperial Knights, Edward... no, the Five Pillars all became emotional without exception.
Even that Golden Duke, a man who cared only for 'numbers,' would reveal his emotions when it came to the Imperial Knights.
Edward's emotions intensified, and his usual old stories began.
The deep, three-generation grudge between the Imperial Knights and the Five Pillars.
Edgar, who had been silently waiting for his reprimand to end, spoke heavily.
"The next duel... I will definitely win."
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Riber and Amy, hospitalized, were sharing the same hospital room.
Most of the other students had only scratches and didn't even need hospitalization, but those two were different.
The demonic energy of a Great Demon had invaded their bodies.
They had no choice but to be hospitalized.
In Amy's case, her anti-demon coat imbued with anti-demon force had protected her greatly, but if she had been an ordinary person, the situation was so serious that her legs would have already needed to be amputated.
"So I'm saying, what's with you acting all high and mighty over something that's really not a big deal, huh?"
"Owowowowow, it hurts..."
Inside the hospital room, I was pulling on Amy's cheek.
She was sitting up on the hospital bed with only her upper body raised, both legs wrapped thickly in bandages.
"You almost lost the use of your legs, you know that?"
"I... I know..."
The demonic energy of a Great Demon with a physical form had been eroding her bones and flesh.
If it had been even a little later, she would have been deemed unrecoverable and her legs would have been amputated—but she had miraculously recovered.
I needed to properly teach her a lesson from now on.
If another incident like this happened and she struggled alone until it reached an irreversible point, it would become troublesome.
"Atlas, don't bully Amy!!"
A soft impact to the back of my head snapped my head forward.
Riber had whacked me in the back of the head with a pillow.
"Amy... did that to save me..!! If you keep bullying her, I won't let it go!!"
Riber, who had been isolated together with Amy but had escaped safely to the dormitory thanks to Amy yielding her artifact, was angry at me with a face that looked ready to cry.
My head kept shaking as she pelted me with the pillow.
It didn't hurt, but it was annoying.
Compared to Amy, her visible injuries were minor, but internally she had problems.
She had faced a Great Demon bare-bodied, without any preparation whatsoever.
Due to the influence of the demonic energy, the mana flowing within her body had become slightly tangled, and she was gradually recovering.
If things had gone just a bit more wrong, even she would have been left with lasting aftereffects in her body.
"Then you scold her. She sent you off alone, telling you that she'd die by herself."
"I already did that a lot while you were gone."
So she'd already done it a lot.
It seemed the two of them had opened their hearts and talked together in the same hospital room, solidifying their friendship.
It was a matter unrelated to me, who was sleeping in the dormitory healthy and with my legs stretched out.
I opened the well-packaged wooden box I had been carrying and placed it on the shelf beside the bed.
"Well then, eat that, and everyone get well soon."
"Is it really okay for me to accept this?"
Inside the wooden box were two roots of a human-shaped herb with soil still clinging to them.
It was Prometheus, an herb that could only be gathered by going to the deepest part of the deepest forest—two roots of it.
It was the one I had harvested back when I'd been diligently gathering herbs in the deep forest, thanks to some Mr. or Ms. Assassin-sender from before.
It looked a bit off, but for restoring vitality, nothing beat it.
Riber held the box containing the Prometheus, her eyes wide and round.
From my perspective, having pulled it out myself, it just seemed like some herb casually picked from the back mountain, but if you took this Prometheus to the capital right now and sold it, you'd probably get around 20 gold coins.
For reference, 1 gold coin is roughly equivalent to an ordinary commoner's living expenses for three months.
It's expensive from a commoner's standpoint, but by the standards of titled nobles, it's not even terribly expensive, yet it's curious that she hesitated so much.
"Just accept it and eat it. You got in on a recommendation letter—why are you so stingy about accepting other people's goodwill?"
"Even so, something this expensive..."
"I harvested it myself. It didn't cost me any money, so just accept it and eat it. Now that you know it's valuable, make sure you don't go off somewhere and get hurt again."
If she won't eat it, I'll just have to force-feed her.
The problem was how it looked—if I made it into a medicine with just the active ingredients extracted and called it a nutritional supplement, it'd be completely undetectable.
Seeing Amy licking her lips while looking at the Prometheus, I didn't think I'd need to worry about that one.
Just then, out of the blue, the door to the hospital room opened.
"Examination time..."
A profoundly exhausted-looking woman entered abruptly without even knocking.
The first things visible were thick, large glasses and a white coat.
With a slouched posture, one arm in her pocket held charts tucked under it, while the other arm held a mug filled with a suspicious-looking liquid.
Just looking at her, she seemed short—but damn it all, she was still taller than me.
At that height, with such a severely hunched posture, if she straightened her back fully, she'd probably be in the late 160s...
Her wildly grown lime-green hair was roughly tied back, and large emerald eyes shone from skin shadowed with dark circles.
The most distinctive feature was, of course, the 'pointed ears' that protruded lengthily through her hair, strongly asserting their presence.
She was Magizoology Professor Niko Praha, the only elven faculty member at the academy.
And she was also the witness for my duel.
When it was decided that she would treat the two of them, I had felt an immense sense of reluctance.
A Magizoology professor treating people?
It gave off a somewhat dangerous feeling, as if she was about to... test something new on the two of them.
But the one who had requested treatment from her was Amy.
She had asked for Professor Niko Praha, saying she was the most qualified.
Since it was the patient's own direct request, there was nothing I could do to refuse.
Still, I couldn't help being uneasy.
"Don't worry too much. I also have an Imperial medical license."
"Whoa... look at how faded it is—it's from a hundred years ago!!"
"A medical license is a lifetime license. There's no problem."