S17 The Voice That Foretells Collapse

Since the attack by Yugo, my surroundings have remained peaceful.

Yet, that incident did alter my thinking slightly.

This world cannot be treated the same as Japan.

It is a dangerous place—life could be threatened at any moment.

Still, I did not wish to change the core of my beliefs.

Perhaps it was a naive stance, having come this far, but I did not want to abandon entirely the moral framework cultivated in Japan.

Thus, I intended to avoid killing people, as much as possible, going forward.

That said, I had to become capable of defending myself.

The attack by Yugo had caused significant concern among those around me.

Even at my age, Sū, who remained attached to me, and Katia and Yuri, both expressed deep worry.

Katia, in particular, seemed more disturbed than she admitted by the incident.

“When I heard Shiro had been attacked, my mind went completely blank.”

I heard it from his own mouth.

I would likely have reacted the same way if something had happened to Katia.

When I said that, he suddenly looked down and muttered something under his breath.

“Seriously? Seriously me? No, wait—this isn’t me, right?”

I didn’t understand what was going on.

I was more concerned by his reaction than anything else.

But I had, in fact, caused concern.

If the teacher hadn’t arrived in time, I might have been killed by Yugo.

Thinking about that, I felt fear.

Fear of dying.

And I resolved to become stronger.

I had always tried to grow stronger, but now I committed myself with greater seriousness.

I used unused skill points to acquire promising abilities and focused on developing them intensively.

I also fought monsters as part of class instruction.

Without practical combat experience, I was defeated effortlessly.

Yet experience points still accrued.

And with experience points accrued, level increased.

No longer level one, as when attacked by Yugo.

As my body grew, status shifted from magic-focused to balanced.

A solid physique had formed, allowing physical stats to catch up with magical ones.

Now both sword and magic reached elite standards.

Still, I continued rigorous training.

I had grown stronger.

The sensation of strength was real.

Yet I knew someone stronger than myself.

I did not believe I could reach such a level.

But I wished to grow closer, even slightly.

Perhaps I had grown stronger, and with strength came desire.

At first, I sought strength only to protect myself.

Yet recently, I’ve come to want the ability to protect even those close to me.

Well, aside from Syrilis, there aren’t many people around me who are weak enough to need protection from me.

Still, I wanted to grow strong enough to be of use if anything happened.

And it’s not only those close to me that I wish to protect.

Over time, I’ve gradually grown closer to students who follow me without calculation—starting with Palton.

Not close enough to call friends, but if I can protect them, I want to.

Lately, I’ve wondered if this is what it means to be of royal blood.

Perhaps Julius-sama, the Hero, always fought with this kind of awareness.

Thinking this, I felt a slight sense of closeness to him.

I haven’t seen Julius-sama since entering the academy.

I did not know where my elder brother was or what he was doing at this moment.

I had heard reports of increased activity among the demon clans before, but within this isolated academy, information from the outside world rarely penetrated.

He might be engaged in battle against the demon clans.

Then again, there was no need to worry about him—he was capable enough—but the movements of the demon clans still drew my attention.

The instructor has also been absent lately.

He used to attend classes occasionally, but over the past year, he has scarcely appeared.

I still encounter him within the academy grounds, so his base of operations is undoubtedly here, but what he does when he is not visible remains unknown.

Speaking of absence—there is another.

Yugo has not been seen since the attack incident.

Whether he is even within the academy is uncertain.

There were reports of glimpses of him around the academy shortly after the attack incident. But for several years now, no such reports have surfaced.

Probably no longer within the academy.

It would be a lie to say I don’t wonder about his fate.

What he did still cannot be forgiven.

Yet, at the same time, I find myself feeling a measure of pity.

He was drowned in power—now he has lost it all.

For him, whose entire existence was defined by power, losing it must have been equivalent to losing everything.

I know it’s a naive thought. Still, I cannot stop myself from feeling that way.

With both the teacher and Yugo gone, daily life passed with startling calm.

Attended classes. Chatted with Sū and the others. Trained when time allowed.

Each day passed in this manner.

So peaceful, it began to feel as though the demon clan was not stirring at all.

[Condition met. Acquired title: 'Hero'.]

[Due to the effect of title 'Hero', acquired skills: 'Hero LV1', 'Holy Light Magic LV1'.]

A voice shattering the calm.

"Eh?"

The confusion in my voice echoed louder than expected through the classroom, despite the lesson still in progress.

"Shrein, is something wrong? Did you not understand something?"

The teacher, overseeing the class, turned to me.

Their voice passed through me, lost in my disarray.

"Shrein? Shrein!? What is it!? Are you alright!?"

My expression must have been severely off.

Because it didn’t make sense.

There was only one human in the world who held the title of Hero.

And the Hero I knew was also only one.

Titles, once obtained, could not be relinquished.

That meant the title of Hero could not be let go.

Not while alive.

That is precisely what has occurred.

It has come to this.

Unbelievable.

I do not wish to believe.

Yet the title is undeniably recorded in my status.

On this day, one hero died, and one hero was born.