Chapter 59: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 59
Painful days continued.
The pain experienced each day grew increasingly intense.
In proportion, the temperature and intensity of the flames that emanated also grew hotter and larger, but the silver-haired man recently only displayed a dissatisfied expression.
-This is still not enough...... Does it need to be improved a few more times?
Though it couldn't be heard within the room, I could read his lips through the transparent wall as he said so.
The burden on my body, under the man’s orders, grew so intense that sometimes even after receiving treatment, I couldn’t move my body for a while.
Every time that happened, the silver-haired man would click his tongue and leave the room, leaving only the other man to look at me lying down alone in the room.
Then, I would muster all my strength to crawl near the wall and tap it a couple of times.
It was a signal asking him to tell me a story.
[......You want to hear a story from me today too?]
I was too exhausted to even nod, so I blinked my eyes in response, indicating that I wanted to hear it.
[What story should I tell you today......]
The man, who always made sure I didn't feel any pain, ‘uncle’, had occasionally told me various stories whenever we were left alone since some time ago.
He would tell me about the place beyond the transparent wall of the room I lived in, a place called the outside, and it was a fascinating topic for me.
At first, it was uncle who one-sidedly told the stories, but at some point, I began to look forward to these times alone, wanting to hear more of his outside stories.
After contemplating for a moment, uncle began to speak.
[Outside, there’s a place called the Academy. It’s a place where kids with exceptional abilities like you go. It's a wonderful place that trains heroes who protect people.]
Hearing about a place where people like me went, I imagined a small room filled with people.
I thought about how that would feel and blinked my eyes eagerly, asking for more stories.
[What, are you interested? Alright. I’ll tell you more.]
As he continued his story for a while, uncle said something to me.
[Ten, I hope you can become someone who can protect people......]
Though I didn't quite understand, I wanted to listen to uncle’s words.
I closed my eyes and opened them again slowly, indicating that I understood.
Then uncle’s expression twisted.
-......I’m really sorry.
Uncle said, from a place where I couldn't hear, just like that.
*
People with unique abilities roamed the streets openly in this world.
From those born with supernatural powers to those who learned various magics to use such abilities.
Not everyone with such abilities became heroes, and some of them committed crimes using those powers.
In a world where one might need to protect people from appearing monsters or arrest criminals who could threaten with flames from their hands, heroes naturally took on the role of the police.
And today was the day for field experience, where students visited places where such heroes worked to try out their jobs firsthand.
Upon arriving at school, the kids were eager to capture criminals threatening the city.
The first-year students of the Academy, who visited the city's Department of Public Safety, were experiencing firsthand the work they had expected from heroes.
“Ugh! I hate paperwork! Florene thought we’d be catching bad guys today!”
“Florene. This is important work too, so don’t complain and learn it properly......”
Marin scolded Florene who was shouting.
Even so, Marin's expression also looked filled with boredom.
Other kids holding onto the documents didn't look much different.
When they first came here under the guidance of their homeroom teacher, they were full of anticipation, but now they were holding onto the documents with dead eyes.
Watching their expressions, I thought they found paperwork harder than fighting monsters.
The kids occasionally sent pleading looks towards the man standing behind them, silently checking if they were filling out the documents correctly, but it seemed pointless.
-Nice to meet you, students. I won't talk long. If you were able to get into the Academy, you must be somewhat proficient in combat. But maintaining public order also requires you to do other tasks. That includes filling out paperwork. Every resolved case must be documented. Got it? If you pass this off to someone else because you can't do it, you can't call yourself a hero.
The sharp-eyed man standing behind us had said this in a cold voice as soon as we arrived at the Department of Public Safety, and then explained the format for filling out the documents.
After that, he handed out a stack of documents from a mountain of paperwork piled on the desks for practice and silently watched us work for an hour.
Though it was almost like a simple repetitive task, most kids preferred moving their bodies over sitting down and filling out paperwork, so they seemed quite restless.
However, I was used to repetitive tasks.
Weeding, fortifying camps, raking leaves, and the worst of all, snow removal.
Recalling the horrible memory of clearing snow only to see it pile up again right after turning around, I filled out the documents mindlessly until the man behind us clapped his hands.
“Time’s up. The ten students who worked the hardest will be included in the next patrol session. The rest will continue with paperwork.”
“Noooo!!!”
“Ahhh, no way!!!”
Florene and Daniel screamed in despair as the kids grabbed their heads in frustration.
“If you find this much paperwork hard, you won’t make it.”
“Those fools, they should’ve worked hard from the start.”
Sylvia and Mei, who seemed certain to be in the top ten, looked at the others with pitying eyes.
Of course, I also made it into the top ten.
Though I was currently in a girl’s body, don’t underestimate someone who has completed military service.
*
The students included in the patrol group were me, Mei, Sylvia, Andre who was usually diligent, Yoon Si-woo who was spacing out for some reason, and Dwight from Class B along with four other students.
Surprisingly, Marin seemed to have been left behind, distracted by Florene sitting next to her.
As we lined up outside the building and waited for a while, a bob-haired woman in a noticeable fluorescent vest came out and laughed at us.
“Are these the kids going on patrol with me? Ahaha, the others must be having a hard time because of someone’s bad personality!”
Then, the sharp-eyed man glared at her and retorted sarcastically.
“If someone didn’t always dump paperwork and run away, we wouldn’t have to make them do this much.”
“Oh, it’s my fault! Kids, I’m sorry!”
The woman, seemingly the one who couldn't handle paperwork, gave an awkward smile and clasped her hands to her face towards the building.
Even though they couldn't hear her, she seemed to be apologizing to the kids inside doing paperwork. Eve-sensei, who had come out to see us off, chuckled at the sight.
The bob-haired woman smiled brightly and waved at Eve-sensei, then turned to us and introduced herself in a cheerful voice.
“Nice to meet you, kids! I’m Rhea, your senior by five years! Since you’re first-year students, this must be your first time, right? Let’s get going! Honestly, there’s not much to explain about patrolling!”
Introducing herself as Rhea, she smiled widely and walked ahead.
We followed her like ducklings.
A woman in a fluorescent vest labeled “Patrol” and ten students in school uniforms following her was an eye-catching sight, so passersby frequently spoke to us.
“On patrol again today? Oh my, are those students behind you? Thanks to you, we feel safe walking around. Thank you.”
“Haha, it’s nothing. It’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Though it could be annoying, Rhea responded to each citizen.
When someone asked why, she answered with a smile.
“Patrolling is partly to see if anything is happening, but also to let people know we’re always protecting them. If a few words can reassure people, it’s a good thing, right?”
Someone exclaimed in admiration.
They probably thought she was just someone who passed off paperwork.
Rhea, slightly embarrassed, laughed.
As we patrolled, Rhea kept talking.
She explained points to keep in mind while patrolling, and when she ran out of things to say, she chatted about random topics.
Thanks to that, the kids seemed to quickly warm up to her.
“By the way, does Eve-sensei still scare you guys by saying you’ll die if you don’t get stronger on the first day of class? She cares about her students so much that she says that, but it’s tough because she trains you so hard it feels like you really might die. Despite her cute appearance, she’s really scary.”
“Thanks to her, I feel like I’m going crazy every time I take her class.”
“But did you know? The really scary thing about Eve-sensei is that she never ages. I was shocked today. She looks exactly the same as when I entered the Academy. I heard she looked like that even in my seniors' time. She must be hiding her true appearance with illusion magic.”
While listening to such trivial stories and patrolling together, a beeping sound suddenly rang out.
Hearing it, Rhea took out a walkie-talkie from her waist.
A voice came through the walkie-talkie.
[Rhea, we got a report that a superhuman just blew up an empty shop on the street and fled. There are no casualties, but there might be more damage, so we need to apprehend them. It hasn’t been long, so they’re probably still in the area. I’ll send you the location of the first incident. Head there.]
Hearing this, Rhea looked at us and asked.
“The kids are on field practice right now, is it okay to take them along?”
[As long as nothing major happens, it’s fine. It’ll be a good experience for them.]
“Understood. Did you hear that, kids?”
Most of the kids, eyes shining at the mention of an incident, nodded eagerly.
The only ones who didn’t react much were me, Dwight who looked exhausted, and Yoon Si-woo who still looked dazed.
I couldn’t understand what had happened to him since yesterday to make him like that.
Man blows up shop, wow the damage is definitely there
ReplyDeleteOh well, that's some damage.
ReplyDeleteAnd i figure that stalker guy misunderstood something or is overthinking.
He's so annoying.
Yeah, the misunderstanding has to be cleared up for all their sakes
ReplyDeleteThe hero being permanently stunlocked because he assumes his crush had been knocked up from trying to make ends meet is hilarious but also bad for everyone's safety lol.
I think this misunderstanding need to fix asap lol, this stalker make assumption to fast everytime
ReplyDeleteHe is devastated
ReplyDelete