Chapter 38: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 38
I woke up early in the morning and got ready for school. Despite my preparations, my anxiety hadn't completely disappeared. My hands were trembling slightly.
Opening the window, I took in the view of the awakening city and lit a magic herb cigarette I had bought from Leonor last Friday.
Don't worry. You'll be able to see this view again tomorrow morning.
Inhaling the smoke slowly, my trembling heart calmed a bit. By the time I finished smoking, the shaking in my hands had subsided. I burned the remaining stub, took a deep breath, and headed out for school.
*
When I entered the classroom, the class president was already there as usual.
"Did you have a good weekend?"
The class president greeted me in a slightly more friendly tone than usual. I nodded.
I thought we were going to start cleaning as usual, but maybe because we did club activities together on Friday, the class president seemed to have more to say.
She blushed and spoke up.
"Um, next time we have club activities..."
She hesitated, which was unlike her usual decisive self.
Finally making up her mind, she spoke a bit louder.
"Would you try the dish I make?"
Why was she asking so timidly to cook for me? I found it a bit absurd.
I glanced at the class president, who was waiting for my response with her eyes tightly shut, seemingly scared.
"What are you going to make?" I asked.
"Oh? Ch... chocolate?"
She stammered, clearly having not thought it through. She must really like chocolate to say it without thinking.
So the class president was going to cook for us in this week’s club activity? In the original story, such a thing was unthinkable.
If it could happen, it was a situation I had always hoped for. Filled with anticipation and hope, I replied to the class president.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"...Okay!"
She smiled brightly, looking pleased.
As cleaning finished, students began to fill the classroom, taking their seats. The closer the classroom came to being full, the closer the clock’s hour hand moved to 8.
The ticking of the second hand seemed to thunder in my ears.
Despite thinking I had calmed down, my hands started to tremble again.
With less than a minute left until the morning assembly started at 8, I watched the clock, feeling as though I were staring at a countdown timer for a bomb.
The second hand moved.
7:59:58
59 seconds
And as the second hand hit 12, marking 8 o'clock, a loud alarm blared throughout the city.
“What... what’s that alarm?”
“I got so scared! What’s that sound?”
“Is something happening outside?”
The classroom buzzed with confusion. Students stood up and crowded by the windows to check what was going on outside.
It was understandable. According to the original story, it had been decades since such an alarm sounded inside the barrier.
I clasped my trembling hands together and took deep breaths to calm down.
After a while, the alarm stopped, and a broadcast began.
[Attention citizens, a Level 2 monster alert has been issued for the entire city. All citizens are advised to quickly and orderly evacuate to the nearest shelter. Repeating, a Level 2 monster alert has been issued for the entire city -]
Over the broadcast, the sound of urgent footsteps approached from outside the classroom door.
Eve burst in, her expression serious.
To the buzzing students, she explained the situation with a stern face.
"It's an emergency. A massive group of monsters has been detected beyond the western border. Since the west is filled with vast farmlands, we cannot afford to lose it. An emergency mobilization order has been issued, including academy students. Normally, first-year students wouldn't be included, but this is an unprecedented situation. Based on the teachers' assessment, we will select students who can contribute to the defense. I’ll now announce who will remain at the school."
The area beyond the barrier, where devices to suppress and purify demonic energy were installed, was land reclaimed for human use. The edge of this land, where it met the still-uncleared territories, was called the border region.
A large-scale defense battle would unfold at the western border region. Heroes would be mobilized from within the barrier and other regions to fight against the massive group of monsters and protect the reclaimed land.
In the original story, first-year students were deployed but were assigned to relatively safer areas. Yoon Si-woo’s group and Sylvia’s group from Class A were separated and assigned to different places.
However, contrary to expectations, Yoon Si-woo’s group faced more monsters than anticipated, and they had to fight fiercely. Fortunately, with Yoon Si-woo’s valiant efforts, his group returned without casualties, while Sylvia’s group barely had to fight and returned safely.
If I could stick close to Sylvia, I might get through today safely.
That’s why I trained so hard. I didn't hesitate to do crazy things like facing a real sword barehanded, and though it was tough to kill goblins and monsters, I managed.
The fear of dying made anything else seem less scary.
"First, the 17 students who received a zero on the first day will stay at the school to assist with citizen evacuation. You know why without needing an explanation, right?"
There was a mix of resentment and relief among the students who had received zero on the first day.
All the members from my group, except for the class president, were included in that 17.
Not knowing what would happen next, their reaction was natural.
"Daniel, Andre, and Mei, you three have enough capability but will stay at the school. Even if monsters break in from the outside, the three of you can handle them without any damage."
The names she called were the spear-man, shield-man, and the class president.
I had tried to avoid calling them by name until now.
I avoided calling them by their names because they would be staying behind at the school. Calling them by their names might have made me grow attached.
All those who remained at the school today would die.
“Evande.”
Eve called my name next. She looked at me with a meaningful gaze and asked,
“What will you do?”
Contrary to my expectations, she gave me a choice. Despite my less-than-perfect performance in the previous training, she was implying I was sufficient.
The only martial art I knew was Taekwondo, and my ability to emit flames from my hands and feet was all I had. Even so, I, Scarlet Evande, was relatively strong compared to other students.
A lifeline was suddenly extended in front of me. If I stayed behind, the gymnasium door would protect everyone, and I could escape.
It was probably the best choice for me.
For a moment, I hesitated.
"Don't do anything you'll regret later."
Recalling what the history teacher had said, I cautiously pushed away that lifeline.
“I’ll stay.”
Eve nodded at my response.
“Understood. When you close the gymnasium door, the teacher will receive a signal. If anything happens, close the door and hold out inside. Help will be sent.”
I nodded.
As much as I didn’t want to think about it, if I followed Sylvia and something went wrong, resulting in everyone’s death, I would regret not choosing to stay behind for the rest of my life.
I pictured the sturdy door that seemed capable of holding back anything.
If I didn’t trust the outcome of my efforts to save everyone, who would?
Instead of grabbing the surest lifeline, I chose the one I discovered through my actions.
*
After Eve left with the students, we helped the nearby citizens evacuate to the gymnasium.
The magic called the Barrier perfectly blocked the miasma from entering, but it didn’t completely prevent monsters from crossing over. Since the Barrier blocked miasma, the monsters weakened significantly when they forced their way through, but they were still dangerous enough to harm citizens.
Usually, heroes stationed near the Barrier would deal with such monsters, but most of the heroes had been mobilized and were absent.
Therefore, shelters were set up to protect as many citizens as possible with the fewest heroes, minimizing potential damage from monsters that might cross the Barrier.
With the remaining students and some non-combat teachers, we could easily handle any weakened monsters that crossed the Barrier. In fact, it was an excessive force for a single shelter.
Normally, that is.
What had happened in the original story that led to everyone’s death?
Was it a monster too strong? Or too many monsters for the students to handle?
One thing was certain: whatever it was, it was the work of monsters.
The gymnasium was described as being filled with blood. If it were a terrorist attack, there would have been bodies. The absence of bodies meant it was the work of monsters.
Monsters devoured anything they saw, living or dead. Their stomachs had no limits, and they grew stronger the more they ate.
Time passed.
It seemed the citizens living nearby had almost finished evacuating.
The other students felt relieved, but I was still anxious.
I didn’t know when or where the monsters might attack.
I wanted to close the door immediately, but I couldn’t act on my own.
I thought I might be able to see the monsters approaching from the rooftop.
Whether there were many or just strong ones, they would be noticeable from a distance.
If the monsters were fast, it might be too late to notice from inside the gymnasium and close the door in time. Seeing them in advance would allow us to alert and close the door.
I persuaded the class president, the spear-man, and the shield-man to join me on the rooftop.
They laughed at my worries but followed me up to the rooftop.
A telekinetic girl from the third group, who hated bugs, joined us out of boredom.
From the rooftop, I watched the front gate, while the class president and the others watched different directions.
Honestly, five people weren’t necessary, but it didn’t matter.
We started observing the quiet city from the rooftop.
An hour passed.
I wondered if nothing would happen.
At that moment, I saw someone walking toward the academy from afar.
Had someone not evacuated yet?
Focusing on the small figure, I realized it was a girl with dark purple hair who had once spoken to me.
The telekinetic girl, who was wandering around and chatting with the others, saw her too and exclaimed,
“Someone hasn’t evacuated yet! I’ll tell her to hurry up!”
She brought her hands to her mouth and mimicked a megaphone.
I wondered what she was doing, but the girl who had walked to the front gate paused and looked our way.
It seemed the telekinetic girl had used her power to project her voice far.
For some reason, I felt like the girl’s eyes met mine.
The girl pulled out a large, black, shiny orb from her pocket.
Then, she smiled with her mouth stretched like melted cheese.
[■■■■■■■■-!!!!!!!!!]
A monstrous scream echoed.
Is that person one of the experiments?
ReplyDeleteBecause it totally smells like that, considering that this person wasn't interested in the shelter...
Where does this experiment thing comes from? With close to no info now at most she is related to witches.
DeleteSeems like the theory of her being a villain is somewhat coming to fruition
ReplyDeleteAn old acquaintance of the previous Scarlet has appeared, the blood bath is probably caused by her as well
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter !