Chapter 11
Chapter 11
When I decided to become a professor at the Academy, there was one thing I worried about.
The Academy was more comfortable and safer than the military or government service, but in exchange, it had nuclear bombs you absolutely had to stay away from.
The protagonists.
‘I especially hoped I wouldn’t run into any of the four Main Protagonists. Not under any circumstances.’
There were sixteen protagonists in Hero Academy.
There were four academies that served as the setting.
In other words, four protagonists were assigned to each academy.
The unusual thing was that the assignments were random.
One of the advantages of Hero Academy was that the protagonists ended up at different academies each time, making for a fresh playthrough.
‘I had no idea which protagonist would be assigned to which academy, so I’d been praying that the relatively safe(?) ones would be assigned to Rubiness Academy.’
The sixteen protagonists played different roles and had different levels of importance in the scenario.
There were four who were the Main Protagonists, and two of those stood above the rest.
Katrinne was the “true protagonist,” the very pinnacle even among those two.
In other words, I’d just blundered into the most dangerous bomb of all.
‘Damn it. Should I pretend I didn’t see her?’
But our eyes had already met, clear as day.
Katrinne’s eyes widened.
“You crazy bastard, Young Master Ban? What are you doing here?”
That reaction showed she recognized Ban.
Considering Katrinne’s status, it made sense.
‘She was the young lady of the Klein Ducal House, a Prestigious Magic Family.’
They were both members of the four great Ducal Houses, so apparently they’d known each other before this.
‘Though they probably weren’t on very good terms.’
Good terms, my ass.
The protagonist looking at me—Katrinne—had eyes full of contempt.
Katrinne already had a haughty, irritable look about her, but just her gaze alone was enough to make it feel as though I’d been pricked by a thorn and was bleeding.
‘Katrinne isn’t exactly a nice protagonist, either.’
She was the very definition of prickly.
Early in her first year, she was an outright “rage-inducing character,” and a lot of people hated her.
She only really started acting like a proper protagonist after the scenario had progressed to some extent.
‘Let’s exchange a few pleasantries and not get too involved.’
I thought of an appropriate greeting.
From the look of things, she’d tried to challenge the Wailing Cave and been forced to give up.
So I said:
“Did you try to challenge the Wailing Cave? I admire your courage, but surely you’ve realized that it’s beyond you, given your lack of talent. Now, would you mind getting out of the way? You’re in my way.”
Oh, crap.
In response to Katrinne’s hostility, the Black Flame Dragon’s Charisma had caused trouble again.
‘Damn it. What did I just say!? I need to clean up this mess—’
I blinked.
‘…Wait, do I really need to clean it up?’
I’ll say it again.
I must not get close to the protagonists.
And Katrinne was at the top of the list of people I had to run away from.
It wouldn’t be so bad if this chance made us enemies, so that neither of us ever wanted to see the other again.
‘It might make me a little nervous to have her assigned to the same academy, but she’s a student and I’m a professor. It’s not like Katrinne can hurt me, so it should be fine.’
And there was another reason I had to provoke her.
“Have you finished talking, you piece of trash, Young Master Ban?”
Her murderous glare made my heart give a little start, but I didn’t stop.
“No, I haven’t. I don’t know what you were hoping to get from the Wailing Cave, but give it up. No, from what I can see, you might be better off giving up the path of a mage altogether. There’s nothing more painful than clinging to something hopeless.”
Even I wanted to punch myself after hearing those shameless words.
“!!”
Just as expected, Katrinne’s face turned deathly pale.
“How dare you…”
She looked angrier than she had before—by a mile.
That was because I’d stepped right on her land mine.
I calmly recalled her character setting.
‘The ugly little disgrace of a Prestigious Magic Family.’
Like any true protagonist, Katrinne had a tragic past.
She was the illegitimate child of a Prestigious Magic Family.
And that wasn’t all: she had the worst possible talent for a mage, too.
‘A dullard with the worst talent, born a lowly bastard—she’s persecuted by everyone in the family.’
That was why she’d become so prickly.
Her attempt to challenge the Wailing Cave must have been an effort to somehow overcome her shortcomings.
Then she’d failed and been left utterly dejected.
A person with normal empathy would usually offer her some comfort.
‘But comfort isn’t going to help Katrinne right now.’
She was a heroic character who grew by overcoming Adversity.
All these trials and all this anger would serve as a stepping-stone for her growth.
More than anything—
“Hah! Don’t make me laugh! What would a piece of trash like you know? I’ll conquer the Wailing Cave right now and prove you wrong! You’d better get ready to kneel and apologize to me!”
With that, she spun around and marched into the Wailing Dungeon.
Alongside her retreating figure, a message appeared.
<Probability of Clearing the Wailing Cave>
-If you make the prickly hedgehog novice mage do your bidding like a sucker: 70%
The odds of success had risen dramatically.
Just as I’d intended.
-That child is not mine.
Katrinne was the child born after the duke of a Prestigious Magic Family spent a night indulging himself with a street prostitute.
The duke abandoned Katrinne after pressing a few coins into the prostitute’s hand.
Katrinne’s mother abandoned her, too.
When Katrinne was living alone in the back alleys, begging for food and getting through each day as best she could, her “father” appeared again.
-I was mistaken. Call me Father. From now on, you’re my daughter.
A prophecy had been handed down to the Prestigious Magic Family.
That Katrinne would become the “great star” who would illuminate this world.
-You will bring good fortune to our Klein Ducal House.
But had the prophecy been wrong?
Katrinne could hardly ever distinguish herself.
Not only did she fall far short of the geniuses from Prestigious Magic Families, but her achievements were even worse than those of ordinary people.
“Figures. What else could you expect from a lowborn brat?”
“Why did they even accept someone like that into the family?”
“The previous head of the house must have misread the causality.”
Their expectations turned to contempt.
From then on, Katrinne had to endure a time like hell.
How many nights had she fallen asleep without crying?
Bit by bit, a vicious determination took root in her.
‘I’ll make everyone acknowledge me. No matter what.’
This year, she would be entering the Academy.
She would prove it in front of everyone.
That she wasn’t some ugly, worthless girl.
‘I have to work a miracle in the Wailing Cave.’
“Those who walk the path of magic: if you overcome the Wailing Trial, you shall obtain ‘Mystery.’”
It was a story passed down like a legend.
She didn’t know exactly what ‘Mystery’ meant, but it was surely a power that would greatly aid a mage.
But just as she had failed helplessly and was sinking into despair, Ban appeared.
“Why not give up on the path of magic?”
‘What would a piece of trash like you know?’
Katrinne gritted her teeth.
The truth was—
She wasn’t angry because of Ban.
She had heard those words countless times already.
Her anger came from her own shortcomings.
‘This stupid cave. I’ll conquer it, no matter what!’
But as she continued making steady progress, Katrinne looked puzzled.
‘Why am I okay even though I can hear the Wailing?’
The Wailing Cave was, quite literally, a cave where wailing could be heard.
Wailing that gnawed away at one’s mind.
Even now, she could still hear it.
“Y-Young Master…! I can’t go on…! Guh!”
She saw the middle-aged mage who had followed Ban slump over and pass out.
It was exactly what Katrinne had experienced on her first attempt.
‘Why am I okay right now?’
It was still painful.
But… she could bear it?
‘…Could it be because I’m angry at that piece of trash?’
She was so furious, she had no room to pay attention to the wailing!
‘Urgh.’
As her anger eased a little, the wailing began to bore into her mind again.
‘N-no. At this rate, I’ll fail again…’
That was when it happened.
“Is this all you can manage? Pathetic.”
“!!”
It was Ban!
He seemed completely untroubled by the wailing. His haughty, irritating demeanor was exactly as it had been before.
“Go back. And never so much as look at magic again. I’m advising you for your own sake.”
“I told you to shut up!!!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs and pressed forward.
Ban had made her angry all over again, so she stopped paying attention to the wailing.
‘…Could he possibly be doing this on purpose?’
The question crossed her mind for an instant, but—
‘…That piece of trash? No way.’
Katrinne gave her head a firm shake.
There was no way.
Just look at him, still spouting nonsense.
“Tch. You’re in my way. Because of you, I can’t properly show off my greatness.”
‘Shut up!’
There was absolutely no way.
But was it just a coincidence?
Every time Katrinne faltered, Ban unleashed more of his infuriating nonsense, and thanks to that, Katrinne managed to advance deep into the cave.
‘Ugh. Why is this wailing so creepy?’
It was like listening to the horror soundtrack in a haunted house.
If it weren’t for Black Flame Dragon’s Charisma, my face would’ve gone deathly pale.
‘At least my Mana is only the size of a chestnut. That saved me.’
There was a secret to the Wailing Cave.
The stronger one’s Mana, the more severely it affected them.
On the other hand, if your Mana was below a certain level, it was only scary; it didn’t have much of an adverse effect.
‘They say even someone at First Star Rank would be affected quite severely.’
My Mana was less than a quarter of what a First Star Rank mage had, so I could hold out.
‘Katrinne’s pretty impressive too. Even if she’s a dunce, she must have a lot more Mana than I do.’
It meant her will was just that strong.
‘Katrinne especially has the latent trait Berserker. When she gets angry, her will grows even stronger.’
Every so often, some minor Monsters blocked our path, but they weren’t a problem.
“Those Monsters are too much for you. Step back.”
“What do you mean, they’re too much for me?! Shut your mouth and just watch my magic closely!”
All I had to do was provoke her like that, and Katrinne would bristle and fight in my place more fiercely than anyone.
‘Thank goodness. I’d have been in serious trouble without Katrinne.’
My Mana was so low that I’d have a hard time dealing with multiple minor Monsters like those.
‘Keep it up, heroine! Fight hard and save the world!’
But—
Soon, we ran into a problem.
We had reached the end of the cave.
“Th-this Monster…?”
Katrinne’s voice wavered.
Of course it did.
A being that shouldn’t have been possible was sitting there.
A skeleton wearing a mage’s robe.
A ‘Lich.’
An undead Monster at Level Seven.
‘This is why the dungeon can’t be cleared.’
The higher a mage’s skill, the more vulnerable they were to the wailing, so they couldn’t make it this far.
And someone with as little Mana as me couldn’t overcome the Lich, even if they did reach this place.
“Th-this…”
Katrinne clenched her fist tight.
“Now that we’ve come this far, I can’t give up…”
She looked like she was about to challenge it, and I nearly panicked.
‘Katrinne absolutely cannot take this on!’
I had a way to beat the Lich.
It wasn’t a guaranteed victory, but even if I failed, I could at least get away without dying.
‘But if Katrinne steps in, that’ll be a serious problem.’
In the worst-case scenario—
Katrinne could die.
‘Absolutely not! If you die, who’s going to fight the forces of evil and save the world?!’
No matter what happened, I had to make sure she survived safely until the very end.
“I’ll take on the lich.”
“…What did you say?”
I decided to make absolutely certain that Katrinne did not step in.
I would let her feel how worried I was.
“I am a magnanimous man. You may be rude, but I do not wish to watch you die a pointless death. Stay right there and let me protect you.”