The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 99: Interlude – Tangled Fate

Thanks to Iris’s healing magic, I was discharged from the infirmary faster than expected.

Afterward, I was enjoying a rare, relaxing afternoon, lounging on the sofa in Professor Lucas’s office.

“What are you doing here?”

Professor Lucas, flipping through some papers, glared at me harshly.

I shrugged, peeling an orange from a box in the corner of his office.

(Apparently, it was a gift from Professor Bianca.)

“Can’t you see? I’m a dedicated cadet who, after class, comes straight to the professor’s office to ask about the parts I didn’t understand.”

“This little brat... getting into trouble right after your suspension is over.”

With a heavy sigh and a hand rubbing his forehead, as if nursing a headache, Professor Lucas asked,

“Why aren’t you at the training grounds with Yuren today? You’ve been practically living there lately.”

“I’ve been banned.”

“Banned?”

Lucas raised an eyebrow, squinting at me.

“Don’t tell me... you got into a fight with Yuren?”

“What?”

“Heh, heh, heh. So you’re still a lively young man despite acting so mature!”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Fight with Yuren?

What fight?

Just yesterday, we were exchanging messages, with him asking if I’d eaten properly and reminding me to get to bed early.

‘Now that I think about it... our conversations sound more like those between a nagging parent and their wayward child than between friends.’

Well, whatever.

Though I’d been barred from the training grounds under the guise of "needing rest" by Yuren—no, Yurina—we were still in contact.

“Man, back in my day, I used to fight with my buddies all the time,”

Lucas said, suddenly lost in nostalgia.

I smirked and asked,

What did you usually fight about?”

“Well, fights are always over the most trivial things when you look back on them.”

“That’s true.”

“Like when a friend snatched the limited-edition bread from the school shop without even asking.”

“That’s really petty.”

Seriously?

Fighting over something like that?

What are you, kids?

“There was also the time we argued over whether a certain female cadet was pretty or plain, which led to a fight.”

“Interesting. And that cadet’s name was?”

“...”

“Professor Bianca, right?”

It was common knowledge among the cadets that Lucas and Bianca were from the same class.

“I... I was obviously on the ‘plain’ side!”

“Sure, sure, if you say so.”

He’s really one for unwavering loyalty, isn’t he?

I grinned mischievously as I asked,

“By the way, how’s it going with Professor Bianca these days?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking such irrelevant questions, but we’ve both been busy. Haven’t spoken much recently. The senior cadets just finished their ‘Hero Practicum’ a few days ago.”

The Hero Practicum.

It’s the first class that fourth-year cadets take, where they temporarily join a guild affiliated with the school for about two months, learning directly from active heroes.

“The Hero Practicum, huh...”

For me, it didn’t hold many good memories.

“Ugh. If those seniors hadn’t been out on their practicum during the Festival of Sealing, the demon beast incident could’ve been resolved much quicker,”

Lucas grumbled, flipping through his towering stack of paperwork again.

He had a point.

If the fourth-year cadets had been around during the Festival of Sealing, the demonic beast incident caused by Astaroth would’ve been dealt with much faster.

After all, this batch of seniors was so exceptional that they were considered one of the best classes in the academy’s 500-year history.

‘Many of them will go on to become central figures in the future war against the Demon King’s army.’

Aaron Beck, wielder of the Meteor Spear.

Bella Leonhart, the Ghost Blade.

Laios Ryu, the Thunder Emperor.

Sophia Evergreen, the Great Mage.

And many others.

This fourth-year class would produce a staggering number of renowned heroes in the future.

‘Of course, there’s one cadet from this class who will become the most famous of all.’

Among these countless outstanding figures, there was one cadet who would leave an indelible mark on the minds of everyone on the continent.

‘The Witch of the Night, Lanez Malam.’

A being who once turned half the continent into a frozen wasteland.

The most heinous sorceress, who accepted the blessing of the Demon God and massacred hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.

And.

The woman who met her end at the hands of “The Undying,” Dale Han.

‘Well, technically, all I did was deliver the final blow to an already dying witch.’

It wasn’t me but Yuren and our other companions who cornered the Witch of the Night.

‘I need to stop her this time, before she freezes half the continent.’

Of course, it wasn’t possible to simply find and kill her right now.

Too many eyes were on her within the academy, and pushing her too soon could trigger the dormant “witch’s power” inside her, causing it to go berserk.

‘If that happens, the entire academy will turn into a frozen wasteland.’

Shuddering at the thought of the endless, snowy white landscape I’d seen in my past life, I shook my head.

‘Anyway, it’s too early to deal with Lanez right now.’

There was no need to rush.

She wouldn’t accept the Demon God’s blessing and become the Witch of the Night for another 15 years.

‘Before dealing with Lanez, there’s someone else I need to meet first...’

A woman with red hair and a small stature naturally came to mind.

She had a fierce and prickly personality that didn’t match her cute appearance, but deep down, she was kinder and more caring than anyone else toward her comrades.

The senior who taught me magic every night, smacking me over the head with a staff taller than she was whenever I made a mistake.

As her image came to mind, I found myself smiling.

“...I need to go see Senior Sophia.”

“Huh? Who are you going to meet?”

“No one, really.”

I shrugged and stood up from the sofa.

“Professor, are all the fourth-year cadets back at the academy now?”

“Yeah, they are. Why do you ask?”

“I have my reasons.”

Smiling slyly, I turned to leave.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“Get out of here already.”

With Professor Lucas’s affectionate(?) send-off, I stepped out of his office.

* * *

Within the Hero Academy, "fourth-year cadets" receive somewhat special treatment.

This is because, being only a year away from graduating and becoming active heroes, the classes they take are focused on dangerous, practical training and exercises that are incomparable to what they’ve done before.

As a result, the building where the fourth-year cadets attend their classes is located in a somewhat remote part of the campus, unlike the buildings for first- through third-year students, which are clustered together in the center of the school.

“It\'s been a while.”

I looked up at the building with its old-fashioned, fairytale-like design and stepped inside.

As I walked down the wide corridor, I spotted a few familiar faces.

‘Oh, there\'s Bertrand the Iron Wall, and Kaeya the Blue Lynx.’

Among the cadets walking the halls were some who would become quite famous in the future.

‘I guess it’s true—this fourth-year class was truly exceptional.’

Well, there\'s a reason they\'re called the best class in the 500-year history of the Hero Academy.

"Now then..."

I wandered around the large building, frowning.

‘Where can I find Senior Sophia?’

I had come here just to catch a glimpse of her, but I had no idea where she might be.

‘Since she\'s a fourth-year, she must have an assigned seat in one of the classrooms.’

While there were no assigned seats for first- through third-year students, the fourth-years attended all their classes in a single room per class division, meaning each cadet had an assigned seat.

‘The problem is, I don’t know which class division she was in.’

Usually, each year had six divisions, from Class A to Class F, but I didn’t know which one Senior Sophia belonged to.

‘She didn’t talk much about her school days.’

I figured I’d just have to check all six divisions one by one.

Then, suddenly—

"Huh?"

I saw a familiar figure in the distance.

A petite woman with a slender frame, her short red hair just brushing the back of her neck.

She had a small body, barely reaching chest height, but fierce eyes that contrasted with her cute, almost animal-like appearance.

"Sophia..."

Even though I had grown somewhat accustomed to reuniting with my former comrades, like Iris, Yuren, and Berald, my heart still raced at the sight of her.

I straightened my clothes and thought about what to say first as I approached her.

"Hello, senior."

"...You."

When I greeted her up close, Senior Sophia’s eyes turned toward me.

"You’re Dale Han, third-year cadet, right?"

"Huh?"

She recognized me without me even saying my name.

Surprised, I looked at her in shock.

"I didn’t expect you to know who I was."

"Your name is quite famous even among the fourth-years."

She glared at me with cold, piercing eyes.

"So, what do you want?"

"Ah, if you don’t mind, senior, I’d like to talk for a moment—"

"I have nothing to say to someone working under that mad professor."

Before I could finish my sentence, she brushed past me and continued walking.

‘\'Mad professor\'? She must mean Professor Jade.’

It was common knowledge among the cadets that I frequently visited Professor Jade’s lab.

"Did Senior Sophia dislike Professor Jade?"

In my previous life, when I teamed up with Senior Sophia, Professor Jade had already passed away, so we never talked about him.

"Wait, senior, I think there’s been some misunderstanding—"

"I said I have nothing to talk about, didn’t I?"

She shot me a fierce look.

"Don’t hang around the fourth-year building and go back to where you belong, third-year."

With that, she walked off quickly.

"...Sigh."

I frowned as I watched her retreating figure.

‘Who knew meeting Professor Jade would turn out to be a curse?’

I was already aware that the future had started to change, but I hadn’t expected my relationship with Senior Sophia to sour in this way.

‘I’ll have to ask Professor Jade about this later. What on earth happened between the two of them?’

As I thought about that and was about to leave the fourth-year building—

"Hm?"

I spotted another familiar figure in the distance.

"...Berald?"

What’s he doing here?