—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So, what’s the matter?”
I asked, visiting Freya’s office for the first time since our last transaction.
Though whether it could be called a transaction was debatable.
“I have something to tell you regarding the assignment you gave me last time.”
An assignment. It was unusual for a student to give an assignment to a professor, but I had indeed given her one.
“You mean the one where I asked you to find your goal?”
“Yes, that one.”
“Was there any progress?”
She nodded. I was quite intrigued by her reaction.
Perhaps I would learn about her goal, which hadn’t been revealed until now.
But she crushed my expectations, saying,
“I still want to die.”
Her expression was utterly serious. It made me wonder if her only goal really was to die.
As she had said before, ‘Demon Lords,’ although varying individually, were mostly beings who had lived for a very long time.
Therefore, it was often difficult to understand their thoughts with human values.
Perhaps because of that, I found it hard to understand her thoughts.
“Is… dying really all you want?”
“Yes. Come to think of it, I’ve wanted that from the beginning.”
The cheerful atmosphere from the after-party had cooled down considerably. She stood up and opened a drawer in her office. And took out a sword from inside.
“Would you kill me?”
She offered me the sword. But I didn’t take it.
“Why me?”
“Because I have a feeling. If I’m going to die anyway, it’s better to die at the hands of a future great hero.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to ask the one who was your disciple…”
She shook her head.
“No, he’s different. You might already know, considering your information network.”
As she said, I already knew.
The 1st and 2nd ranked heroes weren’t playable characters.
However, they possessed strength that even playable characters couldn’t reach, and thanks to them, the Demon Lord couldn’t freely invade humanity. B
ut at the same time…
“They’re neglecting their duty, even though they could defeat all the Demon Lords.”
They had been actively working, but at some point, they stopped and went into hiding.
Since then, the balance between the Demon Lord’s side and humanity’s side had been maintained… but the Demon Lord’s side was already making moves to break that balance.
“But you’re different. You’ve already defeated three Demon Lords, and you’re planning to confront them head-on.”
Her deduction, based on my actions so far, was quite accurate. I was trying to stop them and, furthermore, I was planning to break the balance myself.
If I could gain SP by killing her, it would be quite helpful.
“So, kill me.”
She grabbed my hand and forced the sword into it.
“There’s no reason to hesitate anymore. The team mock battles are over, so my role is over. Even if I suddenly disappear, people who know my personality won’t be too suspicious.”
Everything she said was true. There was no reason for me not to kill her here.
If I swung the sword here, that would be the end of it.
“Then I’ll ask one last time.”
I raised the sword.
“Is dying truly your goal?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
Then there was no other way. I swung the raised sword.
And then I checked. ‘As expected.’ It was as I expected.
“Relax your expression since I’m not going to kill you.”
“Huh?”
I withdrew the sword, which I had stopped precariously close to her neck, and said,
“Who frowns like that when their goal is to die?”
It was true that there would be no problem if I killed her. But I didn’t really want to.
“But who doesn’t frown when they’re about to die?”
“Libero was smiling until the very end. You said you were inspired by his final moments.”
“That’s…”
So I had tested her by pretending to cut her neck. To see if she could really die smiling if I simply cut her down.
But that attempt was a failure.
“You’re quite drunk. To submit this as an assignment…”
I was also feeling a bit tipsy. But at this moment, I was more clear-headed than ever.
“I won’t kill you until you can die smiling.”
“What are you talking about? You’re a hero. You have to kill me, a Demon Lord.”
“No, my goal is not simply to kill Demon Lords. That’s just a process. My goal is to prevent the world’s destruction.”
And… I returned the sword to her.
I said to her, who received it,
“And what kind of Demon Lord casually handles a holy relic?”
At the same time, no Demon Lord could enter the holy city of Heilren.
You might ask, isn’t there an exception right in front of me?
No, there are no exceptions.
“You’re not a Demon Lord in the first place.”
I knew that for sure.
Even if I killed her, the Demon Lord kill achievement wouldn’t pop up, and my SP wouldn’t decrease either, as I knew from Seo Yoo-rang’s knowledge.
She looked surprised at my words, then focused her gaze on me.
And then, shaking her head in disbelief, she said,
“If you weren’t just guessing… how did you figure it out?”
If I had to say, it was thanks to the memories of the constellations. But I didn’t want to bring that up. So I decided to play it cool.
“I was going to let you keep believing it, but I think it’s time to reveal it.”
Actually, when I first visited Freya, this information was what I intended to use as a hostage.
If this was revealed, all the Demon Lords would become her enemies, and the Order, judging her to be of no further use, would likely abandon her.
However, that became unnecessary due to her sudden outburst about wanting to die.
“But what does it matter if I’m not a Demon Lord?”
“Huh?”
“After all, it’s true that I’ve lived a long time like those Demon Lords, and I still want to die.”
She was stubborn. I shook my head and said to her again,
“It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re a Demon Lord or not. It’s just that you seem to have some lingering attachments, unlike what you’re saying.”
“Lingering attachments… you might be right. But I don’t know what they are. Maybe it’s because I’m not a Demon Lord. I’ve only survived for a long time; I’ve never had a goal in my life.”
Never had a goal in her life. Hearing those words, I realized that the assignment I gave her was wrong in the first place.
“Then I’ll change the assignment.”
Asking her to find a goal when she didn’t have any in the first place. The order was completely wrong.
What she needed now was to create a goal.
“Like Libero, there might be cases where you have no choice but to have a goal due to circumstances. But in most cases, goals are set by oneself.”
The only goal this game gave me was ‘Become a hero.’ I was the one who struggled to become stronger and set the goal of preventing the world’s destruction.
If my only goal had been to become a hero, I wouldn’t be here now.
“I’ll give you a new assignment. This time, instead of finding a goal, create one yourself.”
“Create one? But I can’t think of anything…”
“It’s okay if it’s not a grand goal. Even those without grand goals live their remaining lives preciously. Just think about what you enjoy, or something you found rewarding.”
It wouldn’t be an easy task. She had lived for a long time and probably tried almost everything she could during her aimless wandering.
And the final destination she arrived at was death.
‘But if she succeeds in creating even one goal…’
I could save one ‘person’s’ life. At least I could prevent her from dying meaninglessly.
“Something I enjoy… something I found rewarding?”
She muttered for a moment and then nodded as if she understood.
“Alright. Then this is the last assignment.”
This was enough. The rest was up to her.
I was just starting to relax when… “Haaam…”
I started to feel drowsy, perhaps because the alcohol was kicking in again. I was also tired, probably because I had been bothered by Elsie and Yuseora earlier.
It seemed like it was time to go back.
“Then I’ll get going…”
My wrist was grabbed. It seemed impossible to break free from her brute strength. Then I had no choice but to resolve this with words.
“Um, weren’t we done talking?”
“I have an answer I want to test regarding the assignment.”
She had already come up with an answer?
She was much more proactive than I thought.
Of course, it would be great if that solved her assignment, but the word “test” bothered me a little.
“A test?”
“I thought of something while thinking about what I enjoy.”
She kept me there and opened a drawer, this time taking out several bottles of alcohol instead of a sword.
I wondered if it was okay for a professor to have so much alcohol in their office drawer, but since I had seen a sword come out of the top drawer, I didn’t have the energy to nitpick.
“I quite enjoy drinking.”
Well, she did look quite happy at the barbecue party earlier. But I wondered if I had any obligation to join her.
“Can’t you drink alone?”
“It doesn’t taste as good that way.”
Well, since I had Seo Yoo-rang’s memories of drinking alone as a daily routine, I couldn’t really relate. But it would be different for each individual.
“If you can’t drink anymore, just sit in front of me. As the one who gave the assignment, that much should be fine, right?”
Well, I wasn’t sure if drinking was suitable as a life goal in the first place.
But I didn’t want to stop her now that she was showing enthusiasm. One day should be fine.
I reluctantly sat down on the sofa across from her in the office. Then she took out glasses and poured alcohol into them.
The problem was that there were two glasses.
“You said it was okay if I didn’t drink?”
“One glass should be fine. Let’s have a toast.”
Well, one glass should be fine. The quiet office was different from the barbecue area earlier. Only the clinking of glasses echoed.
And then I lost consciousness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“What on earth…”
Sigrit, the Swordsmanship Class 1 instructor, was replaying the mock battle from earlier that day, alone in the Trial.
The candidates of 1-A were encircling from all sides, and in the center were the archer and the mage.
It was a standoff where, in normal cases, the outcome would be predictable. But this time was different.
The moment the three swordsmen, excluding the spearman who had died from an arrow, attacked simultaneously, the archer had subdued two of them in an instant.
It was such a fleeting moment that it was difficult to understand what had happened without replaying it multiple times.
‘First, he eliminated one swordsman with an arrow.’
Considering that close-range shooting was his specialty, it seemed understandable.
But that only applied if the opponent was an ordinary swordsman.
He had instructed his swordsmanship candidates to always use feints when facing Seo Yoo-rang, as if they were facing another swordsman.
When Seo Yoo-rang’s arrow first pierced the swordsman’s forehead, he suspected that his student hadn’t followed his instructions.
But after replaying it several times, he was certain that there had been a feint.
‘Then he saw through the feint perfectly.’
He had anticipated a thrust, not a swing.
That alone was hard to believe, but what happened next was even more absurd.
Seo Yoo-rang deflected a sword with an arrow. Of course, it wasn’t impossible.
Such a technique had been sufficiently researched, considering the characteristics of metal hero arrows.
However, the important thing was the power of the attack he had blocked.
‘Although he didn’t completely avoid damage, it’s at a level where he miraculously minimized the damage.’
He hadn’t created distance after blocking it; instead, he closed in and thrust the arrowhead into the opponent’s neck.
It was a move that seemed to take into account the next approaching enemy. There was something else noteworthy here.
His excessive calmness.
‘That’s not the movement of an ordinary candidate.’
Until this mock battle, he had judged that Seo Yoo-rang, being a candidate, would lack practical experience.
But seeing him fight so fiercely, he had to reconsider.
‘Just considering his practical experience, he’s at a level beyond a candidate, even surpassing most active heroes.’
To gain that much practical experience, he should have been actively working before entering the Hero Academy.
But he had never heard of such an archer. It was only natural, in a way.
‘It’s clear that this guy wasn’t originally an archer.’
He was someone who had fought mainly on the front lines, exchanging blows rather than using a bow. And there was evidence that could pinpoint the weapon he used.
‘He prioritized eliminating the spearman.’
That meant he found spearmanship more difficult to deal with than swordsmanship. Then it could be inferred that the weapon he used was a sword.
And putting all of this together…
‘A swordsman who has recently been very active.’
There was only one person who came to mind. But it didn’t make sense.
There was no reason for someone with such achievements to change their main weapon and re-enter the Hero Academy.
‘If there is a reason… a double identity?’
Then it would make sense. If that was the case, it would be better not to reveal it, even if he had figured it out.
The opponent was a rising hope of humanity.
Besides, he had experienced his abilities firsthand. But his concern lay elsewhere.
‘Did Freya take him knowing that?’
There was no doubt.
With Freya’s abilities, she would have figured out his identity the moment she saw him. The fact that she took him in meant…
‘I thought things had been quiet for a while.’
He clenched his fists until they hurt. He had a reason to meet Candidate Seo Yoo-rang as soon as possible.
‘I can’t let them do as they please.’
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
