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Chapter 108: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 108 



Although Jessie's transformation made the classroom atmosphere a bit chaotic, everyone took their seats as it was time for the morning assembly.


Once all the seats were filled, except for the now-vacant seat of Yoon Si-woo, Ms. Eve entered the classroom with a lively voice, greeting the students.


“Long time no see, everyone~ It's been a month, right?”


As everyone responded to her greeting, Ms. Eve nodded and scanned the classroom, observing each student's face.


Her gaze lingered slightly longer on a particular spot.


It was probably Jessie’s seat.


As we guessed, Ms. Eve spoke again, this time with a serious expression.


“Some of you look a bit gloomy. I understand. Many people were affected by what happened a month ago, so you must have been impacted too. But since you all gathered here again, it means your resolve to become heroes hasn’t changed, right?”


Jessie and the other students silently nodded in response to her question.


Seeing this, Ms. Eve slowly nodded and said,


“As you know, a witch has appeared for the first time in hundreds of years. With such a formidable enemy, the expectations for you, future heroes, will be higher. Naturally, the intensity of the classes will also increase. But don't worry. I promise that although I might not be able to do much for you, I will ensure that every single one of you here becomes a respectable hero.”


While her words were touching, they essentially meant that she would train us even harder than before, causing the students' faces to turn pale.


However, everyone seemed to agree that we needed to become stronger, as Ms. Eve suggested.


Ms. Eve smiled, satisfied with the students' reactions, and said,


“It's good to see you're all motivated. There will be a special class this afternoon that I’m sure you'll all enjoy, so be mentally prepared during the morning classes. Oh, and Jessie, I think we need to have a talk. Please follow me.”


“Huh…”


Jessie’s voice showed her surprise at the mention of a talk.


Although she hesitated for a moment, she sighed softly and stood up to follow Ms. Eve out of the classroom as she smiled warmly, holding the door open.


Watching this made me feel a bit relieved.


Knowing that Ms. Eve, who never neglects anything related to her students, would take some action reassured me.


With those thoughts, the female teacher who teaches the 'Hero’s Mindset' class entered the classroom for the first period.


“Long time no see, everyone! I'm so happy to see you all after such a long time, but I also have some sad news. Due to recent disturbing events, the proportion of practical classes has increased, and theoretical classes have decreased. I'm really sad that I’ll have less time to see you. Are you sad too?”


Despite seeing her for the first time in a while, her passionate gestures made the students smile.


As everyone answered that they were, the teacher’s face filled with emotion.


“I'm glad you think so! Anyway, since we have less time together, I will work harder to teach you all, so please follow along diligently! Okay, everyone!”


The students smiled and responded with a cheerful “Yes!” to the teacher, who habitually shouted “Okay, everyone!”


Then, the teacher enthusiastically began the class with the same energetic gestures as usual, reminiscent of a fluttering sparrow.


Even though there had been bad incidents, her bright demeanor remained unchanged, offering a sense of comfort.


While listening to the lesson, the teacher suddenly said,


“That’s enough theory for today. Now let’s practice one of the most important things for a hero!”


Since the 'Hero’s Mindset' class was a theory class, everyone tilted their heads in confusion at the mention of practice.


Noting the students' reactions, the teacher gave a bright smile and said,


“From now on, we’re going to practice smiling together!”


“...Smiling?”


“Yes! Another word for it is a smile! Smiling is one of the most important things for a hero!”


The students looked even more puzzled, unable to understand why smiling was so crucial unless they were in the service industry.


Seeing their reactions, the teacher continued.


“You might not understand it well. Why do heroes, who just need to fight well, have to practice smiling? So, I’ll give you an example.”


The teacher then picked a student sitting in the front row and asked with a smile.


“Did you notice anything different about me during today’s class?”


“...No, you seemed the same as usual…”


“Right? You probably felt I was the same as always. That's exactly why heroes need to practice smiling.”


Then the teacher's smile slowly faded from her face.


The students gasped as they watched.


With the smile gone, the teacher's face looked incredibly sad.


In such a sorrowful expression, she began to speak slowly.


“...Actually, I lost a beloved family member in the incident a month ago. But none of you would have thought that something bad had happened to me. If you knew, you wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on the lesson, so I was smiling as usual.”


Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand and swallowing her sadness, the teacher continued with difficulty.


From her expression alone, we could guess how hard and sad it was for her.


It felt bitter.


I knew many people had been hurt by the recent incident, but seeing so many people grieving everywhere made my heart heavy.


Tears that her hands couldn’t wipe away streamed down her cheeks.


The teacher covered her face with both hands, as if trying to hide it.


After a while, when she lowered her hands, there was no trace of sadness left.


The teacher, who had looked so sorrowful, was smiling again as if nothing had happened.


“It’s not easy, but you must also be able to smile like this. No matter how sad or tough it is, you need to make people think that everything is normal and reassure them. That is the role of a hero.”


With those words, the teacher smiled brightly at us and spoke in a lively voice.


“Now, everyone. Let's practice smiling!”


But despite her cheerful shout, the students, who had glimpsed the deep sorrow behind her smile, couldn’t easily bring themselves to smile.


That was normal.


Smiling when you’re sad or going through a hard time isn’t as easy as it sounds.


If it’s not normal, it means you can do it.


“Oh! There's a student doing well! Everyone, smile like Scarlet here. Got it, everyone?”


For someone like me, who had already made it a habit to smile when sad or pretend to be okay when struggling, it was a simple task.


*


When lunchtime came, Jessie, who had been taken by Ms. Eve for a talk in the morning, returned.


The atmosphere, which had been tense, had softened quite a bit.


As Jessie entered the classroom, Mei approached and asked.


“You’ve been gone for quite a while... What did you talk about with the teacher?”


Blushing with embarrassment, Jessie replied,


“Well, we didn’t actually talk much. She said I needed to sleep first and took me to the infirmary. Even though I kept saying I couldn’t sleep, I found myself waking up at lunchtime. Hehe…”


In a world where magic exists, it seemed either the nurse or Ms. Eve had forced her to sleep.


Still, it seemed effective.


Seeing Jessie, who looked much better after a good half-day's sleep, put my mind at ease.


Although she wasn't her old self yet, with continuous care from the teacher, she might regain her bright appearance.


With these thoughts, I headed to the cafeteria with Jessie, Mei, and Sylvia, got our meals, and sat down.


Sylvia was on my left, and Jessie and Mei were across from me.


Although it had been a month, this seating arrangement had become natural during meals at the academy.


Thinking back, even in school, I always ended up eating with the same people.


Joining an already formed group made me feel like an intruder, so we naturally stuck to our usual groups.


Once formed, these groups rarely changed, but today, that unwritten rule was broken as someone placed their tray to my right.


“Scarlet, may I sit next to you?”


Curious about who had the courage to do so, I looked up to see Marin Eloise, the class president of Class B.


“Hello! Is it okay if Florene eats with us too?”


Just like a needle pulling thread, Florene Dolos from Class B, who often hung out with Marin, placed her tray across from Marin.


Without waiting for an answer, Florene sat down next to Jessie, whose eyes twitched in surprise.


Come to think of it, they had a bit of an argument before.


Though it ended amicably, Jessie was currently quite sensitive.


Worried that Jessie might say something to Florene, I quickly asked Marin,


“Uh, wh-what brings you here?”


Marin smiled gently and replied,


“When we talked at the department store last time, I felt we got along well. So, I wanted to chat and become friends. Is that okay?”


How could I refuse such a beautiful girl wanting to be friends?


As I nodded absentmindedly, I heard the clatter of cutlery being set down to my left.


I turned to see Sylvia glaring at Marin with a cold expression, exuding icy energy.


This was unexpected.


Was she upset about Marin joining our group?


But that didn’t seem like something Sylvia would get upset about…


Then, I suddenly remembered what had happened that night not long ago.


Oh, right…


Sylvia, still glaring at Marin, stood up and said in a chilly voice,


“Eloise, I need to talk to you. Let’s have a chat outside.”


‘I can’t accept this, no matter what!’


Recalling Sylvia’s furious voice from that night, I gulped.


Watching Sylvia and Marin leave the classroom, I silently cursed myself.


You idiot, you should have brought popcorn.



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