The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

44. Special Lecturer (1)

Ah, now I realize, Beveridge.

How much you must have been frustrated while teaching me in my past life.

‘How did he teach me without a single curse word?’

I’ve only ever learned from others, never taught anyone before, so maybe that’s why, or maybe it’s just my nature that’s rotten to the core.

Not even five minutes into teaching martial arts, the plan I made at the start to ‘teach diligently without a single harsh word’ was immediately scrapped.

No.

It would be more accurate to say it had to be discarded.

“The microcosm! Huh? That microcosm, you crazy b*stard!”

“aaah! No way, does that mean you have a thing for young girls?!”

“What kind of nonsense is that.”

“Touching a girl who hasn’t come of age is a clear crime!”

“No.”

How could I not beat him up when he’s acting like this?

“Sigh… Life is a mess.”

After such a delightful(?) martial arts lesson filled with verbal and physical abuse.

I made a promise with Berald to meet twice a week.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we agreed to meet for two hours to teach martial arts.

‘I would love to drill him all week long if I could.’

But I had a mountain of things to do, so I couldn’t afford to focus only on Berald.

‘Well, even with just this much, Berald should be able to grow steadily on his own.’

At least in martial arts, Berald was a genius on par with Yuren.

A genius who, once taught one thing, could figure out ten or a hundred things on his own didn’t need to be taught all week long.

‘In fact, that might even hinder his growth.’

Anyway.

Berald was settled with this.

“What’s left is Yuren and Senior Sophia…”

I plan to contact those two in the near future.

‘It’s difficult right now.’

For now, it was hard to contact Senior Sophia because we were in different grades, and even if I did, it was difficult for me to teach her magic.

‘I only know the theory of magic well, but I’ve never actually used it properly.’

With swordsmanship or martial arts, I could at least mimic the basics without magic power, but magic was impossible to use without magic power in the first place.

‘It would be better to meet Senior Sophia after I become more familiar with magic.’

Next is Yuren.

“With Yuren… the difference in rank is just too great.”

Imagine it.

The scene where the last-ranked student goes to the top-ranked student and says, “Do you want to learn swordsmanship from me?”

“Just be glad if you don’t get cursed out.”

No matter how much recent rumors about me have spread throughout the school.

For Yuren, the elite of elites who has never missed the top rank since entering school, such rumors would have been nothing more than a joke.

“Even so, if I wait until after the comprehensive ranking evaluation to meet, another semester will pass by…”

While I was continuing to ponder what to do.

Ding!

A clear alarm sound rang from the Hero Watch placed by the bedside.

[Mr. Dale. You haven’t forgotten that classes start again today, right?]

A message from Iris appeared on the Hero Watch screen.

“She’s been sending messages quite often these days.”

It’s not like we never exchanged messages before.

But the number of messages from Iris has increased significantly since the last demonic beast incident.

‘Messages, huh.’

In my previous life, even if we had something to communicate, we could only talk on the phone.

“……”

Thinking about that time, the fact that I can exchange ‘messages’ with Iris now makes my heart swell with emotion.

‘I protected her.’

Although it didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped,

In the end, I managed to defeat Ashtaroth and protect her ‘seven eyes.’

Yes.

I, Dale Han.

A mere half-wit hero, succeeded in changing fate.

‘And I will continue to change it.’

As I was steeling my resolve with such thoughts.

Ding.

[Answer.]

Another message arrived from Iris.

I quickly picked up the Hero Watch and replied to her.

[Ah, sorry. I was just getting ready to head out.]

[Then let’s meet before the lecture and go together.]

[Sounds good. Where should we meet?]

[Let’s meet near the main building cafeteria.]

[Got it.]

Meeting before the lecture and going in together.

‘How refreshing.’

Even though this place is a hero school where candidates who have received the stigmata gather to train to become heroes.

In the end, it was still a place where grown men and women were gathered together.

Naturally, it wasn’t uncommon for relationships to develop between candidates who had eyes for each other.

‘In my past life, I used to fervently pray for those b*stards to get stabbed to death by demonic claws whenever I saw them.’

Who would have thought I would end up in such a situation (though I’m not yet in a relationship with Iris).

“Hehe.”

As I was thinking that and couldn’t help but smile.

Ding.

The Hero Watch alarm rang again.

[By the way, did you have breakfast?]

[No, I haven’t eaten.]

[Then I’ll make a simple sandwich for you to eat on the way.]

[It’s okay, I don’t need to eat.]

[What’s okay about it? Having a hearty breakfast is so important. I’ll also bring a vegetable juice, so don’t be late and come to the cafeteria.]

Hmm.

Looking at it again, it seemed more like a parent taking care of a childish kid rather than a lover.

“Ugh.”

Anyway.

I left the dormitory earlier than usual and headed to the main building cafeteria as per Iris’s command.

* * *

“Alright, from today, the ‘Practical Combat Training’ lecture that you all have been eagerly waiting for is starting again.”

Professor Lucas naturally spouted nonsense as soon as he entered the classroom.

“……”

“……”

Naturally, the cadets sitting in the lecture hall looked at Professor Lucas with expressions as if they had found a split cockroach in the bread they were eating.

Professor Lucas’s eyes gleamed like a hunting dog that had caught the scent of blood, and he raised the corners of his mouth in a sly grin.

“Oh, everyone doesn’t look too happy… Could it be that there are cadets who didn’t want to take my class?”

“No, sir!”

“Really? It’s written all over your faces.”

Professor Lucas stepped down from the podium and strode towards the cadets sitting in their seats.

Then, he gently placed his hand on the shoulder of a cadet sitting in the corner of the lecture hall, who was turning his head away as if avoiding eye contact.

“Cadet Albert.”

“……”

Albert, who did not respond even though his name was called, stubbornly kept his head turned.

Looking down at Albert, Professor Lucas asked with a concerned expression.

“Hmm. You look tired around the eyes. Did you not get enough sleep? If so, I have a special health juice that works wonders for fatigue…”

“For the two weeks I couldn’t see you, Professor.”

Albert, who had been turning his head away, looked back at Professor Lucas with teary eyes.

“Do you know how sad I was that I couldn’t attend your lectures?!”

Albert cried out as if wailing.

“Oh.”

“Wow, Albert finally…”

“I always knew this would happen someday.”

“Go, Albert!”

The lecture hall buzzed.

“Oh.”

Professor Lucas, who had been watching Albert with interest, let out a small laugh.

“Nice try, Cadet Albert.”

“Th-then…!”

“In that sense, how about a glass of juice?”

“No! Why do you always do this to me?!”

“Because your reactions are amusing.”

“Arghhh!”

Albert screamed in frustration, clutching his head.

Professor Lucas chuckled as he climbed back onto the podium.

“Good. Hearing Candidate Albert’s booming voice makes me feel like we’re finally back to normal.”

Professor Lucas looked around at the students seated in the lecture hall and began to speak.

“As you all know, our school was attacked by a demon two weeks ago.”

“……”

“The mastermind of the attack disguised himself as a professor and infiltrated the school, fleeing immediately after the incident occurred.”

His voice sank low.

“Fortunately, there were no fatalities. As a fellow professor, I sincerely apologize for failing to detect the demon’s identity in advance and prevent the incident.”

Professor Lucas bowed his head respectfully towards the candidates.

“…Oh.”

“Ahem.”

The candidates, who had never expected the notoriously fierce Professor Lucas, known as the ‘Bloodthirsty Hound,’ to act so humbly, exchanged bewildered glances.

Professor Lucas raised his head again.

“To prevent such incidents in the future, the school has decided to invite a special professor.”

“A special professor?”

“The special professor will observe the lectures of the current professors, ensure that the candidates’ education is being properly conducted, and verify that security measures are in place in case of emergencies.”

Professor Lucas’s gaze turned towards the lecture hall door.

Click.

The door opened, and a woman in a black suit entered with the sound of her heels clicking against the floor.

A scar ran across her left eye.

Her short black hair barely reached her neck, and she was taller than most adult men.

“This is Professor Elisha Baldwin, who will be joining us as a special professor. You might know her better by her nickname, ‘The Spider with the Scarred Eye.'”

As Professor Lucas introduced her, Professor Elisha Baldwin stepped onto the podium and cast a cold gaze over the candidates seated in the lecture hall.

“Tsk.”

A low clicking sound escaped her lips.

“I am Elisha Baldwin, and I will be taking on the role of special professor starting today.”

“……”

It was nothing more than a simple self-introduction.

Yet, a strange tension, as if they had been thrown into the middle of a battlefield, settled over the lecture hall.

Indeed.

No one could have expected that the ‘Spider with the Evil Eye,’ Elisha Baldwin, who proudly holds the 9th rank in the Three Kingdoms Hero Ranking, would come as a special professor, no matter how big this recent demonic beast incident was.

Of course, that ‘no one’ naturally included me.

‘Who would have thought Elisha Baldwin would come to the school as a professor.’

Naturally.

It was something I had never experienced in my previous life.

‘Has the future started to change?’

I had anticipated that such a day would come from the moment I killed Ashtaroth, but no matter how much, I didn’t expect it to start changing this quickly.

‘The butterfly effect.’

It was the theory that a small flap of a butterfly’s wings could create a massive storm on the other side of the continent.

‘In that sense, what I did was more than just a flap of wings.’

I killed Ashtaroth, the archbishop of dreams, not any other demon.

As a result, how much the future would change was an area I couldn’t dare to predict.

‘Anyway, the important fact right now is one.’

A giant ranked 9th in the Three Kingdoms Hero Ranking has come to the school as a special professor.

“Hmm.”

Elisha, who was calmly examining each candidate’s face, turned to Professor Lucas and opened her mouth.

“Professor Lucas.”

“Yes, senior.”

At the unfamiliar title of ‘senior’ that came out of Professor Lucas’s mouth, the candidates’ eyes widened.

‘Come to think of it, they said they were senior and junior during their candidate days.’

Judging by appearance alone, Professor Lucas looked old enough to be her uncle, but I heard that Elisha Baldwin was actually older.

“Can I evaluate the level of your candidates?”

“…Level?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. By the way, how will you evaluate….”

“I plan to have them spar with my assistant.”

Professor Elisha said so and turned her gaze to the classroom door.

“Assistant Vincent. Come in.”

At her words, the door creaked open, and a handsome young man with silver hair tied in a ponytail entered the classroom.

“Let’s see, the opponent… hmm, this candidate seems appropriate.”

Elisha turned on the Hero Watch and scanned the list of candidates, her gaze landing on a candidate sitting in the corner of the lecture hall.

“Candidate Albert. Come forward.”

At Professor Elisha’s call, the candidates’ eyes focused on Albert.