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Chapter 180: Interlude – Prison Break (1)
After the sudden assault by the Demonic Beast Legion,
The atmosphere inside the Hero Academy was filled with excitement, almost like a festival.
It might seem strange to celebrate after a large-scale attack, but think about it:
Despite facing an overwhelming assault from over ten thousand demonic beasts, the professors and cadets united and successfully repelled the attack without a single casualty.
Sure, there were minor injuries and some severe cases requiring hospitalization, but the fact that they managed to fend off the Demonic Beast Legion without any deaths was an accomplishment worthy of celebration for the academy.
Thus, a victory ceremony was held.
Well, calling it a "ceremony" might be an exaggeration.
It was more about the academy president presenting awards to cadets who distinguished themselves during the battle, followed by a day of feasting and merriment.
“Third-year warrior division cadet, Yuren Helios. Fourth-year warrior division cadet, Aaron Baek. Third-year support division cadet, Iris. Fourth-year magic division cadet, Sophia Evergreen. Second-year magic division cadet, Berald Ryu. And lastly…”
The president of the Hero Academy, Lionel Ryu, turned his gaze toward one particular cadet.
“Third-year warrior division cadet, Albert Hoover.”
“Y-Yes, sir!!!”
Albert responded in a tense voice.
“These cadets demonstrated courage and wisdom during this sudden disaster, and thus, I present these certificates of commendation.”
Following Lionel's words, the cadets ascended the stage.
“Wow! Albert looks so cool!”
“Sigh, Yuren is just too handsome….”
“Really? My type is that second-year guy, Berald.”
“Oh my, I didn’t know you had that kind of taste.”
“Ugh, I’m so jealous! I fought demonic beasts too!”
“Yeah, but you only managed to take down one and got carried away injured.”
“Hehe… but wow, the saintess is so pretty….”
As thunderous applause erupted, the cadets climbed the stage, met with awe-struck gazes from their peers.
“Silence.”
With a simple gesture, Lionel calmed the crowd and approached the cadets on stage to present each of them with their certificates.
“Time is short, so instead of hearing from everyone, we’ll have one cadet share their thoughts as a representative.”
Lionel scanned the stage and approached one cadet.
“Albert.”
“M-Me?”
“Please give your acceptance speech as the representative of the awardees.”
“M-Me? As the representative? Shouldn’t this be Aaron or Yuren instead…?”
“Hahaha!”
Lionel chuckled, seemingly satisfied with Albert’s panicked attempts to decline.
“Lucas was right about you.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re quite… impactful—oh, I mean, an exceptionally upright and earnest young man.”
“What did you just say?”
“Now! As everyone knows, Albert was the Class C representative who bravely rallied his peers and fought against the demonic beasts!”
Placing a hand on Albert’s shoulder, Lionel continued,
“In times of crisis, it is those who find courage who are the true ‘heroes!’ Let’s hear it for Albert!”
“Wooohooo!”
“Albert! Albert! Albert!”
“……”
Looking down at the hundreds of cadets cheering for him, Albert’s face turned pale.
“Uh… um, so, well… thank you for fighting alongside me even though it was scary….”
“Boooo!”
“Speak louder!”
“Urk.”
Clenching his eyes shut, Albert shouted in a loud voice,
“T-Today, we achieved a great victory! Some say the title of ‘hero’ has lost its meaning over the past 500 years, but…!”
Raising a tightly clenched fist into the air,
“From this day forth! We will make heroes great again!”
“Woohooo!”
“Albert! Albert! Albert!”
“Albert, I’m your fan!!!”
The victory ceremony officially began with thunderous cheers that seemed to shake the stage.
* * *
During the ceremony, I gathered my comrades in a private room in the main building’s dining hall that I had used before.
Not only my longtime allies from my past life—Yuren, Iris, Berald, and Sophia—but also my new connections since my return: Camilla, Professor Elisha, and Lanez.
The long table felt crowded with so many comrades present, filling me with an odd sense of emotion.
‘I wanted to invite more people.’
Albert, the star of the victory celebration, was too busy being dragged around, and Juliet had been summoned back to his family’s home in the Republic due to the recent attack.
‘Professor Lucas is probably meeting with Professor Bianca right now.’
Meanwhile, Professor Jade couldn’t come because he was busy cleaning up the mess Berald had made of his research lab.
‘Well, in some ways, this group is the perfect mix for candid discussions.’
After all, these comrades had some knowledge of each other’s “secrets.”
“Everyone, you worked hard.”
Clink.
We raised our glasses and toasted.
“We suffered injuries, but at least no one died.”
“Ha! That’s all thanks to Yuren hyung—er, I mean, Yurina noona!”
“No, Berald, you worked just as hard.”
“Heh. All I did was grab a bunch of magic potions from Professor Jade’s lab.”
“Really? Considering how many demonic beasts I saw you punch to death, I’d say you did more than enough.”
As Yuren and Berald exchanged lighthearted banter, Iris smirked mischievously and chimed in.
“By the way, did you know, Berald?”
“Hm? Know what?”
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“Yurina is technically a year younger than you in terms of actual age.”
“W-What? Now that you mention it….”
“A-Iris! You promised not to bring up age!”
“Oh dear~ I don’t recall making such a promise~.”
“Ugh….”
Yurina gulped down her drink, her cheeks flushed.
Watching this, Sophia and Lanez wore expressions of disbelief.
“Sigh. I still can’t believe it. Yuren Helios was actually a woman all along….”
“Y-Yeah. Same here.”
The two, who hadn’t known Yuren’s true identity for very long, still wore awkward expressions as if they hadn’t quite adjusted yet.
“Hehe. Senior’s magic was incredible, too.”
“…Really?”
“Of course! Honestly, to my eyes, it looked even stronger than Professor Bianca’s magic!”
“Well… if it’s just firepower, I suppose it’s comparable to Professor Bianca’s.”
Sophia twirled a lock of her hair with her fingertips and subtly turned her gaze away.
Seeing her legs fidget under the table, Berald’s compliment seemed to hit the mark.
Just as a warm atmosphere was about to form between the two—
“Haha! Other things might differ significantly, but at least in terms of firepower, it’s not lacking… The world of magic truly is profound!”
“…What?”
No.
Berald, you idiot.
What are you even saying?
“Heh… Other things differ significantly? Specifically, what?”
“Huh? Oh, you know, Senior.”
“Nope, not at all.”
With a sharp smile, Sophia stood up and approached Berald.
“Well, come over here and explain in detail exactly what’s so different, okay?”
“Argh! O-ow!”
Sophia roughly grabbed Berald by the ear and dragged him out of the room.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward silence fell in the room after Berald and Sophia left.
“Well… Berald was just being oblivious.”
“Yeah. Kind of like Dale.”
“What?”
Why am I catching strays here?
“Fufu. Just joking. Dale, you’re not that oblivious.”
“If anything, being too perceptive is the real problem.”
Yurina nodded knowingly and continued.
“You’re so perceptive that you end up flirting with literally everyone.”
“I—I’ve never done anything like that….”
“Taking back the part about being perceptive.”
Yurina frowned and pressed her heel down on my foot under the table.
“After playing with people’s feelings like that, you’re gonna say what? You’ve done nothing?”
“Exactly! Shamelessness has its limits!”
Thud!
Was it pent-up emotions, or was it the alcohol talking?
Iris slammed the table and burst out, her voice full of frustration.
“Huh? Flirting with people first, then later pretending you didn’t know?!”
“No, wait.”
Hold on a second.
Calm down, Your Holiness.
“In the first place, it’s your fault for being so seductive!!!”
A silence heavier than stone descended with her outburst.
Camilla silently clutched her head and downed her drink in one go, while everyone else avoided Iris’s gaze.
“…….”
Life sure takes you in unexpected directions.
Never did I imagine I’d hear something like this from the Saint (my lover in the past life).
“Uh… well.”
As if trying to break the awkward atmosphere, Yurina turned to me and asked.
“By the way, Dale, where were you and what were you doing during the war?”
Was there an unspoken agreement to forget Iris’s outburst just now?
Everyone quickly switched topics and focused on me.
“Yeah, I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“R-right! I even activated the tracking spell I placed on you, but the signal cut off midway!”
“Hmm?”
“…Tracking spell?”
“Ah! N-no! That’s not what I meant…!”
Lanez frantically waved her hands, her face turning pale.
“…….”
I’ll have to remember to disable that tracking spell later.
“Well, I was…”
“Candidate Dale was with me.”
Professor Elisha leaned back leisurely, arms crossed, as she spoke.
“The two of us were spending some quality time together.”
“Just the two of you….”
“…Spending quality time together?”
The room grew tense as Yurina and Iris’s gazes turned sharp.
The bigger issue, though, was—
“Oh, I see… Right… Why didn’t I think of that? If three’s an option… then four must be possible… Haha…”
Lanez, laughing like a broken machine, started trembling as she nervously chewed her fingernails and tapped her foot.
“Well, in that case… Before this gets out of hand… we’ll just have to… divide.”
“Pardon?”
Divide what, exactly?
‘…What are you talking about?’
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