Chapter 14: I Became the Last Place in the Academy

After the academy's daily schedule ended, I watched the kids leaving for a moment before moving the bag hanging next to my desk onto the desk.

Now that the weekend was starting, I was planning to take all the textbooks from Thursday and Friday's classes to review, so I could fill in the notes somehow.

As I was packing my books, Yun Hamin, who had been hesitant during lunchtime and hadn't said much, cautiously approached me.

"Kanna, maybe today..."

"No, it's okay."

It seemed he thought I would be patrolling the village again today.

I should have told him in advance.

Thinking that, I swallowed a sigh.

It was one thing to tell him the truth via smartphone, but I hadn't taken any evidence, which felt a bit disappointing.

I was so caught up in the thought of eliminating the anxiety as quickly as possible that I reached out immediately, so it couldn't be helped.

Even though I knew when it would explode, I couldn't help but think, "What if?"

It was the anxiety that arose because I wasn't walking the path that the original owner of this body should have walked, and I was even messing with the protagonist's actions.

I knew the end of this story, and I didn't know if it had changed or not, but one thing I could say for sure was that from now on, I wouldn't know the future.

Of course, the mastermind and their methods would remain the same.

But by doing this on my own accord.

The academy was not attacked, and at the same time, one village was saved from danger.

In fact, I had to check if anything was left, so I couldn't say it was perfect, but once I found one, the next would be easy.

"I'll contact you separately."

I replied and then took a step.

"Oh, okay."

Yun Hamin nodded as if he understood what I said.

Should I be grateful that he understood?

The gazes around me became a bit strange, and they seemed to be trying to figure out what it meant to contact me separately, but there wasn't much they could understand here.

Just a farewell.

"See you next week then."

\*

I said that, but the gazes of the people around me were sharp, so that's why I said it, but it wasn't like I didn't need help at all.

I wanted to bring real, solid evidence to the person who trusted me, so they would feel like they were right to trust me.

If that was the case, I had to hope there was other evidence.

Of course, it would be best if there was nothing else.

[Me: I found a totem yesterday.]

I stood at the bus stop and sent a message with my device.

The message sent to Yun Hamin was quickly answered.

[Yun Hamin: So, the injury to your hand this morning was because of that totem?]

I felt a strange sensation just from contacting someone, and in the meantime, I thought it was very like him to worry about my injured hand from this morning.

[Me: More importantly, if you're not with anyone, could you help me?]

[Yun Hamin: Where are you?]

[Me: Bus stop.]

After saying that, the device went silent, with a message saying he would be there soon.

Honestly, I thought he would be with Orca, but it seemed they didn't hang out that often.

"...You came quickly?"

Seeing him come here so quickly, sweat dripped down my face.

I didn't realize that his steps, which never strayed from the top spot, were so incredibly fast until I experienced it firsthand.

Well, no matter how he walked, it would be faster than me walking around blankly.

"I had to come quickly. But there was a totem... really? Where?"

His pupils seemed to shake.

He seemed horrified by the fact that there was a threat to this barrier.

I hadn't even shown him the totem yet. I hadn't even found it and proven that it was there again.

But he half-believed me and was looking at my hand.

"...Can I see your hand, just once?"

I flinched.

Then, I carefully held out my hand.

As I held out my hand wrapped in bandages, he carefully touched the finished part.

With a light 'pop' sound, the pressure on my hand loosened.

It became a little more comfortable, but in the end, I couldn't help but frown.

Removing the bandage attached to the wound felt a bit stinging.

And Yun Hamin's face also frowned a little when he saw it.

"...Oh my god. Is that a burn? How did it happen?"

"Well, the totem was shaped like a feather, and I tried to get rid of it by holding it in my hand and pouring all my Abilities into it..."

"Then you must have known this would happen... Why didn't you call me?"

He looked at me with eyes that seemed to be worried and wanting to scold me.

I whimpered, feeling a little guilty, and smiled bitterly.

"I thought I had to get rid of it quickly... I don't think I thought about anything else."

"...Are you okay?"

At those words, I raised my head again and looked at him.

As I stared at him with wide eyes, he said again.

"...Still, are you okay?"

"What?"

When I questioned him, he hesitated and opened his mouth.

"If you do that, no one will believe you, are you okay with that?"

I wonder.

"I guess? Shall we go then?"

I said nonchalantly and hurried my steps.

I ran towards a different scenery than before.

And so, I arrived once again at the village where I had visited yesterday and found the totem.

I went straight to the barrier and blankly raised my head to look around.

"...It's here. The totem was here."

I said that and quietly opened my mouth about the totem.

"It was shaped like a purple feather, and it was in such a remote place that other heroes didn't know what it was."

Yun Hamin listened to me for a moment and then groaned.

"I said it earlier, but no one will believe you if you do that."

"......"

I knew.

Who would believe me if there was no evidence like this?

"So, I came back to find evidence. Maybe, there's something else?"

I said that and put my hand on the barrier, looking at the surface of the wall that continued.

In fact, I hoped there was nothing else.

I also thought it would be nice if there was only this one.

If there were two, I would think there might be three, and if there were three, there would be four, and if there were four, there would be five, and I would have to move forward with constant anxiety.

But, still.

I wanted to make the trust I had barely gained, no, almost received for free, my own, so I was unknowingly looking for something that I should have been praying not to find.

I blamed myself for erasing it too hastily without leaving any evidence, and I regretted yesterday's events.

Stumble, stumble. I went forward powerlessly.

Yun Hamin followed me silently.

"...Kanna."

"Yeah?"

"Is it true that monsters will invade next Wednesday?"

Yun Hamin asked, as if repeating what I had said.

And the answer I could give was obvious.

"...It's probably true, but maybe not if there are no more totems."

What I was saying now was just the ramblings of someone who might be mentally ill.

I was doing everything myself, so who would want to get involved?

I had said all sorts of things about monsters attacking, but suddenly I erased the totem by myself, so now the probability of them not coming has increased, so who would just say, 'Oh, I see,' and move on?

I just felt sorry for Yun Hamin, who had tried to believe me.

The price of believing was just a lie that disappeared in vain.

In the end, nothing would happen, and a peaceful day would continue.

If that was the case, why was I so desperate, why did I have to wander around like that, and why did I have to get hurt like that?

It was clear that the answer would not be given, remaining only as a question.

"I'm sorry."

That was all I could say.

"I'm not someone you can trust, am I? Me."

I smiled playfully and kept walking.

I wasn't like Yun Hamin, so I didn't know what I was in such a hurry for, why I reached out with the feeling of 'as soon as possible.'

It was only when you were capable like Yun Hamin and had gained enough trust from those around you that you could act like that.

Even if I, who was incompetent and had no trust, did such a thing, no one would believe me, and I would just be telling a nonsensical story.

"No, you're not."

And there was a voice that cut off my self-deprecation.

I stopped walking and turned to look at Yun Hamin, who was following me.

"What?"

"...If you tell me why you're being serious, I'll keep believing you."

For a moment, I felt like my thoughts were frozen.

"What do you mean, tell you what's serious?"

"Looking for it like this now. I haven't seen any evidence. Even when I came, you were just about to look for it. You're looking for it, saying it might be somewhere again. But, is there really a reason to go that far?"

Yun Hamin moved his arm slightly and asked me for an explanation.

The arm that moved from the inside to the outside seemed to urge me for an answer.

Yes, the reason why I'm going this far.

"...You're not seriously doing something else because you hate exams, are you?"

"No."

Yun Hamin first erased the first anxious worry.

"...You're not talking like that because no one believes you, are you?"

"No."

It was a statement that could be considered a bit rude, but I answered calmly because it was a statement that was understandable enough in this situation.

I wasn't crazy enough to do something like that just because I asked them to believe me once without any evidence.

Two questions, two answers.

I readily denied them all, telling him that I was fine, and that I wasn't causing trouble because I wasn't believed, and that I wasn't trying to avoid exams by playing tricks.

Then, unable to find a third question, he narrowed his brows and looked at me as if in pain.

"Then, why...?"

"......"

I was silent.

It was difficult because I didn't know where to start and how much I could say.

The current teacher dies, the mentor and senior I would gain by becoming a hero die, the classmates die, and the Orca I loved dies.

Everything you cherished collapses and scatters, and nothing remains in your hands.

Even if I said that you would lose everything you had built around you, it would be nothing more than a curse to him now.

Everything was slander towards him.

And the most painful thing was,

Even in the midst of that, I had to say that you would survive.

It was something that should never happen to the hero, Yun Hamin.

He would cry out that even if he died, he should be the one to die, and even if he lived, he couldn't be the only one to survive.

Of course, that would never happen.

What should I say?

I can't tell you about the future.

It would only cause a backlash, so I had no choice but to save my words.

Yes, I just have to tell you why I'm doing this.

After hesitating for a moment, I smiled faintly, really faintly to hide the bitterness, and answered his question.

"Because I want you to smile."

Even knowing it was a really random answer, that's what I said.

The reason I'm working so hard since coming to this world isn't just to avoid dying, but my ultimate goal is to protect those around me and keep the smile on his face.

Because Yun Hamin was my hero.

Even beyond the text, he was a hero, upright, kind, and possessing great Abilities.

It was as if he was telling me that no matter how hard things got, there was always a way out.

No matter how tired and exhausted he was, he would eventually rise up and defeat the enemy, which was so cool that I cheered him on.

To the point where I would empathize, thinking, 'If it were me...'

I just thought that a protagonist who overcame adversity like that needed a smile.

Losing everything and despairing after trying so hard was something that couldn't happen.

I wanted to wipe away the tears he shed after losing everything at the very end.

I wanted to approach him and tell him that all of this was actually a nightmare.

Yun Hamin, upon hearing my answer, stared at me with wide eyes.

Having suddenly heard a strange answer, he seemed speechless, maintaining his silence for quite a while.

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