Midterms (6): Just Be My Friend
“You actually knew a spot like this?”
“Yeah, I made a note of it the first time I arrived on the island.”
The place where Siwoo and I stood was a narrow gap between some rocks on the white-sand beach. In the game it had been a bugged area you couldn’t enter, but in reality you could simply crouch and slip inside. It seemed like the perfect hidden nook for a private conversation, so I had dragged Siwoo here.
“This spot should be fine, right? Then tell me more about that ‘demon’ you mentioned earlier. In detail.”
“All right…”
At Siwoo’s urging I recounted everything that had happened, starting from the moment Camilla’s incendiary round had streaked into the sky.
“An S-class demon with actual intelligence? Are you insane?! That’s an opponent the professors would have to fight together to even have a chance!”
Clearly unhappy that I had fought the creature alone, Siwoo grabbed my shoulder and raised his voice. The sudden shout startled me, but I wasn’t angry. I knew it came from worry.
“Thanks for worrying about me. But I’m fine.”
“That’s not the kind of thing you can just shrug off…!”
“I’m stronger than all the professors combined, so it doesn’t matter. That S-class chatterbox died the instant I hit it once.”
Siwoo bit his lip and slowly let go of my shoulder.
“Yeah… I guess I was worrying for nothing. You really are strong.”
He was right.
“Yep. I’m strong. So there’s no need to worry.”
I was strong, and I intended to stay that way. The only time I would probably need Siwoo’s help was when we faced the final boss. Of course, that was only in terms of raw combat power.
“Instead, I’d like you to worry about me in the everyday parts of life.”
“What?”
“You heard it from Aria, but I’ve barely experienced normal daily life.”
In either of my lives.
“That’s why I need your help to live like an ordinary person.”
My goal was to defeat the final boss and break every chain that bound me. But even if I gained freedom, what good was it if I had no idea how to enjoy it? I wanted to savor that freedom to the fullest. To do that, I would make friends. Having no one to share my hard-won freedom with… that would be far too lonely, wouldn’t it?
“So you don’t need to worry about my personal safety. Just get close to me and be my friend. That’s enough.”
“…You’re saying I shouldn’t interfere with your well-being, but I should still be your friend?”
“Exactly!”
As expected of the game’s protagonist—he understood me perfectly. It came out a little blunt, but… well, it was the truth. The kind of friend I wanted was exactly that.
“That’s…”
“That’s what?”
“No, never mind.”
“You can’t just trail off like that. Now I’m curious.”
They say one of the oldest ways to annoy someone is to stop talking mid-sentence. I glared at him, but Siwoo clearly had no intention of finishing and smoothly avoided my eyes.
“Fine, if you don’t want to say it, don’t. Let’s go.”
“Yeah… let’s go.”
Had he wanted to say something after all? Siwoo’s lips moved a few times, but whatever it was must have been too awkward to voice. He clamped his mouth shut and followed me out of the rocky crevice.
What I didn’t realize as we stepped back onto the beach was that Siwoo was quietly tormenting himself with a single question:
‘Can you really call it true friendship if it’s just spending time together without worrying about each other’s safety…?’
Two hours after Siwoo and I returned to base camp, the deep roar of a large airplane echoed from the distance.
“The professors are here! We’re saved!!!”
At one student’s shout, everyone in the camp began waving wildly at the approaching aircraft. The plane seemed to notice; it accelerated, touched down on the island, and the door flew open almost before it stopped. One of the professors leaped out.
“Kids! Are you all safe?!”
Dana jumped down and sprinted toward us. The students rushed to meet her with tears streaming down their faces. Their reunion was as fierce as that of a long-separated family.
“Phew… I’m so glad you’re all right… Now, what exactly happened here?”
“I…”
Camilla tried to step forward again, but I stopped her and spoke first.
“I’ll explain everything. Professor, could you follow me for a moment?”
“Huh? Sure, I guess…”
I led Dana back to the same rocky hiding spot where I had spoken with Siwoo and told her everything—both what had happened to me and what Siwoo’s group had gone through.
“An S-class demon… and you defeated it alone?”
“Yes.”
“I knew you were strong, but I had no idea you were this strong…”
Dana’s gaze sparkled with admiration. It made me a little smug, but that wasn’t why I had brought her here.
“Um… that’s not the important part. The real reason I called you here is different.”
“Different?”
“Professor, you’re going to report everything that happened here to the Director, aren’t you?”
“…”
Dana flinched and answered with silence.
I knew it. So Dana really had come to the academy as a teacher at the Director’s request. It made sense. Leaving someone as valuable as me without a single escort would have been strange. No matter how safe the academy was supposed to be, the complete lack of surveillance had felt off from the start.
“…Since when did you know?”
“I suspected it from the first time we met, but that little exchange just now confirmed it.”
“I’m sorry…”
Dana, who had been fidgeting, hung her head and apologized. Her eyes looked a little wet; she genuinely seemed to feel bad. But honestly, I was the one who felt awkward.
“Hey, stop sniffling. There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“Still… I hid the truth even though I’m a hero…”
“What truth? There was never any deception. Even if it hadn’t been you, someone would have been assigned to watch me anyway. If anything, I’m grateful it was you.”
“Really…?”
“Of course.”
Relieved that I wasn’t angry, Dana broke into a bright smile. I took one step closer and whispered in her ear.
“So let’s tweak the report together.”
“Eh…?”
Dana’s pupils trembled violently.
— Unprecedented intrusion of a C-class demon into the exam site. No student fatalities.
— A B-class demon attempted to steal a national treasure (Amplifier) and escape. Subdued by Plea. Treasure successfully recovered.
— Clear signs of command from an intelligent S-class demon.
“Hoo… I thought something had gone wrong at the test site when contact was lost, but this is far bigger than I expected.”
The dean sighed as he read the documents delivered to his office.
An unprecedented event: a C-class demon breaking into the academy’s midterm exam and running wild. It was a relief that no one had died. If even a single student had perished, the academy’s reputation would have sunk to the bottom.
And that wasn’t all.
A B-class demon had tried to steal one of the national treasures—the Amplifier—and escape.
On the surface it might not sound serious, but the implications were several times more grave. A B-class demon with almost no intelligence attempting to steal a strategic item could only mean it had been given orders.
And there was only one kind of being capable of commanding demons.
An intelligent S-class demon.
A living natural disaster that could annihilate an entire army alone. A monster among monsters that required the combined strength of the nation’s top S-class heroes to defeat.
Fortunately it seemed the S-class had not come in person, only sent a subordinate. But if an S-class had invaded the island directly…
“Just imagining it is horrifying.”
Most of the students would have died. Even with Plea—a powerhouse on the level of the Five Greats—among them, total annihilation might have been avoided, but the casualties would still have been severe.
“Still, it’s fortunate the damage stopped here… and the Amplifier was recovered safely. If I bow my head a few times and promise tighter security, this should be manageable.”
He could soothe the parents and Helline’s high officials by acknowledging responsibility and strengthening defenses. Had the Amplifier been lost, the higher-ups would have been furious regardless of casualties.
Compared to the scale of the incident, this counted as a smooth resolution.
“As an extra, I should give Cadet Plea some kind of gift.”
According to Professor Dana’s report, Plea had been the one to send Siwoo and Aria against the C-class demon, and she had also subdued the B-class and protected the Amplifier. A proper reward was in order.
Truthfully, ignoring her might earn him a severe scolding from Wilhelm—one of Helline’s most powerful figures—but the dean also genuinely wanted to thank the girl from a human perspective.
“Now what would make a good present…”
Money or goods were pointless; she was already on full scholarship. Spiritual elixirs were useless; her mana capacity was already the highest in the world. Strengthening a personal weapon made no sense when hers essentially functioned as a restraint.
“Hmm… I suppose I’ll have to ask her directly.”