Summer Vacation (1)
"Waaaaaaah!!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the stands, shaking the ground. The other professors and headhunters were all worked up, shouting and pointing excitedly at Han Min-ha.
"Professor Kyo. Just how on earth did you train that kid to pull off something like that?" Professor Yoo Hyeon-ju asked quietly, but I only smiled in response.
Han Min-ha's strategy had been excellent. Her opponent never allowed close combat, relying entirely on Wind Manipulation. She had turned that very ability against them, using it as propulsion to launch a creative attack. I had expected the fight to end once she angled her barrier to deflect the wind currents, but she had connected them into a semicircular runway instead. Han Min-ha had trusted in the strength of her own aura, which was why she had taken that final killing gale head-on. The sight of her streaking around with that purple tail at incredible speed before charging straight at Song Do-yun was a performance in itself.
Heroes overpowering villains with overwhelming skill and power were a common sight in the media. But it was rare to see the objectively disadvantaged side completely flip the board with an ingenious method. On top of that, Han Min-ha had been scraping the bottom of the rankings in the lowest class, while Song Do-yun was an ace even among the top class. It was the kind of dramatic comeback you only saw in movies. Han Min-ha would likely receive an excellent score. The PVP Combat Evaluation also carried significant weight. Well done, Han Min-ha. It wasn't the Secreto way, but it was truly outstanding.
The PVP Combat Evaluation had concluded. After even the spectators had all filed out, the faculty wrapped up their assessments. We checked every evaluation sheet for missing entries, errors, or typos, sealed them in envelopes, and stamped them. Combined with the written exam scores, overall rankings would be calculated, and class assignments for the next semester would be determined accordingly.
When I turned on my phone, nearly every news feed was plastered with articles about Han Min-ha's comeback victory. There were occasional mentions of Yoo Hee-won as well, but they seemed pushed further back since her matches lacked the same sensational impact. Yoo Hee-won's bouts had been impressive, but the gap between her and her opponents had been so vast that they ended rather anticlimactically.
Still... what kind of article titles were these?
"Revealing suit"? It was just a little torn during combat. Scrolling further, one article in particular caught my eye.
What was this now? Mastermind? During the advisor assignment period, I had been mentioned briefly. Yoo Hee-won was currently the most famous student at the academy and a promising hero candidate after graduation. Coincidentally, Han Min-ha, who had also drawn attention this time, was my student as well. Naturally, the media's interest extended to me as their common link. It wasn't particularly welcome, though. Having my name publicly mentioned and scrutinized like this was unpleasant. Well, as always, it would die down soon enough. I made a mental note of the reporters who had written the most sensational and baseless articles.
"Min-ha was really amazing, wasn't she, Professor?" Professor Jin Se-yeong said, sidling right up to my shoulder.
"Just a while ago she couldn't even clear the minimum altitude standard, and now look at her..."
"She has potential."
"I heard you gave her special training, Professor. How exactly did you do it?"
"I simply taught her the way I used to be taught. Nothing special."
"Hee... Still, that's impressive... Teach me too!"
Professor Jin Se-yeong looked up at me with sparkling eyes, like an eager puppy.
"Yes. I'll let you know later."
I smiled politely and stepped back slightly from her. Talking with Professor Jin was pleasant, but right now, checking on Han Min-ha at the academy clinic took priority.
"Professor Kyo."
Someone called my name from behind. Turning around, I saw the hero who had made eye contact and waved from the stands earlier smiling at me.
"An Jun-hyeok?"
The tall, powerfully built man over two meters in height flashed his white teeth and extended a hand.
"It's been a while."
"It has."
An immense strength radiated from his grip. He was still absurdly strong.
"Huh...? Regal Might? Professor, do you know him?" Professor Jin Se-yeong whispered from behind me. I nodded.
"We worked together once."
"Really...? How interesting..."
An Jun-hyeok, callsign Regal Might. An A-class hero with superhuman physical strength and a righteous, upright character rarely seen among modern heroes. He enjoyed tremendous popularity and was considered a strong candidate for S-class. We had a brief connection through Secreto.
"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you've become a professor?"
"Why else would I be sitting here evaluating students?"
An Jun-hyeok let out his characteristic low, hearty laugh.
"Doesn't suit you at all. The Professor Kyo I knew, teaching students?"
"More importantly, could you let go of my hand? It's starting to hurt."
"Ah, sorry."
As I massaged my hand after he released it, I asked, "What brings you here?"
"There's only one reason a active hero would come to a place like this."
"Here to scout sidekicks, then."
After graduation, heroes' career paths diverged. Some joined the Management Bureau as civil servants, while others entered companies to build experience before going independent and opening their own agencies. Others remained freelancers, taking jobs here and there. An Jun-hyeok was the type who had joined Secreto with me before leaving to establish his own agency. As a famous A-class hero, he received many requests and deployed frequently, so he likely had numerous sidekicks under his agency. For minor matters, he sometimes dispatched sidekicks alone, which meant active heroes were always in desperate need of capable ones. That was why they carved out time to attend the PVP Combat Evaluation as observers.
"Yeah. A few of my sidekicks are scheduled to go independent soon. I wanted to secure some promising talent in advance."
"How do they look?"
"That student named Yoo Hee-won was quite impressive. I heard she's the Advisory Chairman's only daughter."
"That's right. She'll probably graduate at B-class or higher."
"She certainly seemed like it."
I had secretly hoped he would mention Han Min-ha as well. But An Jun-hyeok didn't continue, apparently finding no one else particularly noteworthy besides Yoo Hee-won. Hiding my disappointment, I spoke up.
"Yoo Hee-won would be thrilled to hear she could join Regal Might's agency."
"I never said I was selecting her as a prospective sidekick, Suhyeon."
An Jun-hyeok smiled as he denied it.
"Of course I acknowledge her talent, but the fact that she's the Advisory Chairman's daughter is a bit concerning."
An Jun-hyeok disliked the Advisory Chairman. It went beyond dislike into outright loathing. All because of his righteous and upright nature. Secreto was an organization created to handle the dirty work the Management Bureau couldn't openly perform. Missions often required crossing moral and common-sense boundaries. An Jun-hyeok had clashed with the Advisory Chairman at every turn and ultimately couldn't endure it, leaving Secreto. Legal Might. His actions perfectly matched his callsign.
"I'd love to catch up more since it's been so long, but I need to head back to the agency right away."
An Jun-hyeok held out a business card.
"If you have time, drop by my agency sometime soon. We can talk properly then."
"Sure. Got it. I'll visit as soon as I can."
I accepted the card, slipped it into my pocket, and shook hands with him.
"Well then."
An Jun-hyeok raised his index and middle fingers to his eyebrow.
"Justice and common sense are—"
Really? He wanted me to do that in front of everyone? How embarrassing. Still... no reason not to humor an old colleague I hadn't seen in a while. I raised my own fingers to my eyebrow.
"—always in their place."
Regal Might grinned widely, teeth flashing, and snapped his hand away from his brow with vigor.
"See you around, Professor Kyo."
An Jun-hyeok left the arena with several sidekicks and staff in tow.
"Huh? Wasn't that Regal Might?" Professor Yoo Hyeon-ju, who had arrived late, asked while watching his retreating back.
"He's leaving, right? Thank goodness."
"Why do you say that?"
"Goshawk is here."
Following Professor Yoo Hyeon-ju's pointing finger, I spotted a short female hero chatting with other professors. Goshawk, a hero who stood at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Regal Might, the guardian of justice and common sense. If the two had crossed paths, things wouldn't have ended with polite words. The fact that she could attend so openly suggested she hadn't been expelled from the Management Bureau yet. Expelling her would be difficult anyway. If Goshawk were dismissed, it wouldn't be strange for her to defect straight to the villains' side. It was better to keep her under some form of control. Heroes like her were commonly called "black heroes."
Anyway, the affairs of active heroes weren't something I needed to concern myself with much. Now it was time to go see Han Min-ha. The most important people to me as an academy professor were my own students. I bid farewell to the professors and headed toward the academy clinic where Han Min-ha had been taken.