Chapter 158: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 158
Marin Eloise.
Seeing the girl collapse to the ground in despair after witnessing her father, gravely injured and teetering between life and death, left me at a loss for words.
Beyond her, I could see other kids frantically evacuating civilians in the distance.
Although we were short on hands, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Marin to get up and help because we needed her now. I knew the depth of the sorrow hidden in her twisted expression, even if only a little.
When I found out that my mom was hospitalized with a serious illness, I must have made the same kind of face.
No matter how strong someone is, there are moments that are just too hard to overcome.
So, just as I was about to turn away silently to help with the evacuation, I saw Marin bite her lip hard and get back on her feet.
I approached her as she silently moved to evacuate civilians again and asked gently,
“...Are you okay?”
Marin, wearing an expression that made it obvious she was struggling, answered,
“...Honestly, I’m not okay. How could I be?”
“Then...”
“I know what you’re going to say. But right now, I can’t just sit down and do nothing.”
Marin, who had just answered, glanced toward the direction of the hospital where her father had been taken moments ago and mumbled.
“Dad’s a hero, so he must have gotten hurt while fighting to protect people, right? I want to be someone who can proudly say I’m his daughter. So I have to get up now...”
Enduring her sadness, pushing through her pain.
“No matter how hard it is, heroes have to smile in front of people, don’t they?”
Given how she forced herself to smile despite being in more pain than anyone else, who wouldn’t be moved by this girl’s incredible mental strength?
I closed my mouth and nodded in respect for her decision.
The only thing I could do was ensure her resolve didn’t fade by completing our mission together safely.
---
“Everyone, please follow instructions and evacuate to a safe area in an orderly manner!”
“If there are children or the elderly nearby, please ensure they are escorted and evacuated safely!”
Perhaps because the invading beasts hadn’t reached the city center yet, the citizens appeared a bit shaken by the sudden situation, but fortunately, they were following our guidance without much chaos.
If our task had been just to evacuate the citizens of the city center, it might have taken some time, but it wouldn’t have been a major problem.
Unfortunately, the current situation was far from easy.
“We...we made it. Here, this place is safe, right?! It’s safe, isn’t it?!”
“I was scared... I was so scared, so I came here... Most of the heroes in our area left to fight the beasts...”
Even as we evacuated people, more kept appearing from somewhere.
Word had spread quickly, and people from all over the city were teleporting here in search of safety.
Some had fled from the eastern part of the city, where the beasts had broken in, while others had come because they felt uneasy after the heroes left their areas to assist elsewhere.
There were far too many for us, a group of first-years and a few heroes, to handle.
Our numbers were limited, but the number of people needing evacuation kept growing endlessly.
That alone was already a problem, but an even bigger issue was waiting for us.
“Damn it, last time, people were mind-controlled by beasts and went berserk, and now a witch and monsters have broken into the city! What the hell is going on?! Where are the heroes?!”
“I saw a beast devour a person right in front of me... I don’t want to end up like that...”
The more people gathered, the more there were those who lashed out, blaming the heroes, and those who panicked after witnessing death.
“Haha... The barrier’s been breached... It’s all over now. We’re finished...”
“What’s going on? There are only students here acting as heroes! How can we feel safe with just kids like these?!”
With the increasing number of people giving in to despair, shouting, and causing a scene, anxiety spread like a contagious disease among the crowd.
In the midst of this chaos, a small dot appeared in the sky, speeding rapidly toward us.
[■■■■■■■■■■!!!]
“It’s...it’s a beast!!!”
“Ahhh! Run away!!!”
The arrival of the beast served as the perfect catalyst to plunge the already anxious crowd into utter panic.
If the people stayed clustered together, we might still have been able to protect them from the beast with our strength.
But if they scattered in chaos, people would inevitably die where our hands couldn’t reach.
And disorder itself was dangerous.
“Ahhh, don’t step on me!!! No, aaah!!! Mom!!!”
“Kyahhh!!!”
People started falling and getting trampled in the rush to escape.
At this rate, people would be killed not by the beasts, but by each other.
“Everyone! Calm down! We’ll take care of the beast!!”
“Please don’t scatter!!”
But no matter how loudly we shouted, no matter how much we screamed until our voices gave out—
“I just want to live! I don’t want to die!”
“Eek! We have to run!!!”
Our voices couldn’t reach the panicked crowd swept away by the wave of disorder.
From above, the demonic beast looked down at the scattering prey, and below it, Marin was shouting with all her might, trying to contain the situation.
As I watched, a slow anger began to boil in my head.
…Why can’t people hear her?
Even though a girl, whose own family had been gravely injured, had gotten back up to protect them and was desperately yelling with all her strength.
The sight of the demonic beast looming in the sky, sowing chaos among the people.
The fact that Marin’s pleas, deserving of the utmost respect, were being ignored because of that single monster.
I hated every part of this situation.
I was furious.
[■■■■■■■■■■!!!]
The demonic beast dove toward the crowd.
And I charged toward it.
As the beast swooped down, I pushed aside a person who was frozen in fear and thrust my left arm deep into the gaping maw of the approaching monster.
The beast chewed greedily, but unfortunately for it, the arm it bit into had already been replaced after another monster devoured the original.
From inside the monster’s mouth, my metal left arm exploded in a burst of flames, packed with all the emotions I’d poured into it.
With a whoosh, flames much stronger than before engulfed the beast’s entire body, burning it to ash without giving it a chance to scream.
Once the blazing monster had completely disintegrated, leaving not even a speck of ash, I brushed off my artificial arm, which was exposed after the monster’s saliva burned away my uniform sleeve.
A friend made this for me, so I’d better keep it clean.
As I casually dusted off my prosthetic arm, I realized that the commotion among the crowd had disappeared along with the monster.
And I noticed that everyone’s eyes were now fixed on me.
Though I was momentarily flustered, I took a deep breath, composed myself, and seized the opportunity to address the crowd.
“As you just saw, we have the strength to take down these monsters, so you don’t need to worry. But if you ignore our instructions and scatter like before, we won’t be able to protect you even if we want to.”
To be honest, I was angry earlier, but I understood why people had acted that way.
They didn’t have the power to fight like us, and it’s only natural to be terrified when faced with creatures like that.
Fear can drive people mad.
I had fears of my own, so I could understand why they’d behaved the way they did.
“We understand your concerns about us being just students. But please know that we’re here to protect you. We may be young, but we are heroes. We will fight, and if need be, we will die for you. So please, let us protect you.”
I said this because I understood.
Because I understood their fear, I promised we would face it in their place.
That’s why we were here—to shoulder that fear for them.
So I asked them to help us fulfill our responsibility.
With all my sincerity, I spoke.
“So please, trust us a little more. Listen to what we say. And I promise we will do everything in our power to keep you safe.”
After my speech, we checked on the few people who were injured in the earlier commotion and resumed the evacuation.
Thankfully, my words seemed to have reached them, and the people cooperated much more smoothly than before.
Whenever someone didn’t comply, others stepped in to help keep them in line. Watching this, I felt something.
Most people are inherently good.
When they act otherwise, it’s simply because they’re afraid.
Heroes exist to shoulder that fear and protect the goodness in people.
However, as if refusing to let this peace last, small black dots began flying in from the sky once more, heading in different directions.
And when I saw one of those dots flying toward a particular place, my expression hardened.
“Hey, has the evacuation been completed in that direction?”
“Ah... that area... not yet...”
Marin, who was helping evacuate people beside me, responded, and I immediately bolted, shouting back,
“Sorry! Cover for me here for a bit!”
The place the beast was headed was the orphanage where Rion stayed.
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Inherently good? I think it's because of their self-preservation instincts judging that they would have better survival rates if they and everyone followed the orders of someone who clearly demonstrated that she could protect them.
ReplyDeleteOnly a spoiled brat with no experience of the world and its people would say humans are inherently good. If anything, humans are more inclined towards evil than good, because they have to overcome both their own nature as humans as well as any adverse circumstances in which they find themselves in order to become good.
ReplyDelete