The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

76. Observation Class (2)

Time passed, and the day of the observation class arrived.

I flopped onto my bed, looking at the bustling school through the dormitory window from early in the morning.

“Sigh.”

A languid sigh escapes through my lips.

‘There’s really nothing to do around this time.’

As the name of the event suggests, the schedule is mostly centered around the cadets and their parents, so cadets like me, who have no parents visiting, often find themselves with a lot of free time during the event.

In fact, some cadets even welcomed the absence of their parents, as it was similar to getting a free day off from classes.

‘I used to hate parent observation days so much.’

Now, I feel nothing about not having parents to visit, but in my previous life, I lived with a tremendous inferiority complex about being an orphan without parents.

I even secretly wished for those who laughed happily with their parents to become unhappy.

“Ah, thinking about it now, it’s so damn embarrassing.”

I shook my head at the shameful memories of my past life.

‘Should I go watch the observation class?’

In the past, even if I had to go out, I would intentionally avoid the area where the observation class was being held, but now, there was no reason to do so.

The void left by the absence of my parents had already been filled to the brim by others.

“Alright.”

Anyway, lying in bed doing nothing is the same as having nothing to do.

In that case, it would be better to watch the ‘observation class’ that I never even thought of looking at in my previous life.

“Ugh.”

I got up from the bed, changed into my uniform, and went outside.

The school was already bustling with people as parents started to come in.

“Son~ How have you been? How’s school life? Are the classes manageable?”

“Ah, mom. Please don’t hug me in front of others. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Oh, listen to this brat talking? It feels like just yesterday I was changing your diapers.”

“I’m twenty now, what do you mean just yesterday.”

From parents who bicker affectionately.

“What is this result for the midterm evaluation? Huh? Do you even want to become a hero?”

“No, it’s just that… it was my first real battle, so I was a bit nervous.”

“Ha. Then what have you been learning for the past two years? Do you think we sent you here to play?”

“…Sorry.”

“Anyway. With those grades, I can’t write a recommendation letter for you to join your dad’s guild, so keep that in mind.”

“No, please! I have to get in there!”

As soon as they saw their child’s face, the parents started nagging incessantly.

‘How peaceful.’

The heroes’ demeanor before the demon army began to rampage was so carefree that it made one chuckle.

‘How long can these days last?’

Well.

Even I, who had experienced a previous life, couldn’t be sure.

The future had already begun to change in ways I couldn’t predict.

“Let’s see….”

I wandered around the bustling school plaza, looking around.

I searched for familiar faces, but none stood out.

‘Come to think of it, Iris said she was from an orphanage too.’

I wasn’t sure if Camilla was also from an orphanage, but given her position as the saint’s escort knight, her parents probably wouldn’t have come.

‘Beryl also said his parents wouldn’t come.’

In Beryl’s case, he was known as the ‘black sheep of the Ryu family,’ and he had asked his parents not to come himself, as he was deeply disliked by his family.

Today, the main family members of the Ryu family would probably be here.

‘Where is Yuren?’

I looked around the plaza for Yuren, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Sigh.”

After wandering around the campus aimlessly for a while, I started to feel thirsty.

‘It’s not even June yet, but it’s so hot.’

I walked to the back of the school building, thinking of getting a drink from the vending machine.

“…Was it difficult for you to come here?”

I heard Yuren’s voice from a distance.

“Huh?”

I tilted my head and walked in the direction of the voice.

There, I saw a blonde woman in an elegant dress that immediately made one think of the word ‘noblewoman,’ and behind her stood a man with sharp eyes, surveying the surroundings like a shadow.

‘Is she Yuren’s mother?’

I had heard that Yuren’s father had passed away when he was very young, so this man was probably a bodyguard who had come to attend to her.

‘Yuren’s mother’s name was… Rosanna Helios, right?’

Rosanna of the Flash.

In my previous life, I had never seen or spoken to her directly, but I had heard her name a few times.

‘She was said to be the hero who barely managed to put a respirator on the declining Helios family.’

She was quite a famous hero during her active years.

As I was recalling those old memories, Rozanna’s voice continued.

“Yes. You came well.”

“Why did you come so suddenly?”

“Can’t I come to see my son’s face?”

Rozanna looked at Yuren with cold eyes.

Yuren hastily shook his head with a flustered expression.

“N-no, it’s not that… It’s just… Mother, you’re very busy with family matters.”

“I came because I have something to talk about.”

“Something to talk about…?”

While Yuren was looking at her with a tense expression.

“Before that.”

Rozanna’s gaze turned towards me.

“Who is that person over there?”

“……”

Even though I wasn’t particularly hiding my presence, I didn’t expect to be noticed so easily.

I shrugged my shoulders and walked briskly towards Yuren.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dale Han, Yuren’s friend.”

“D-Dale? Why are you here…?”

Yuren looked at me with a startled expression.

“…Friend?”

Rozanna glared at me with sharp eyes and then let out a ridiculous laugh.

“Yuren, are you seriously hanging out with such a mongrel from the Republic?”

“……”

Republic mongrel.

It was a derogatory term used by the imperial nobles to belittle the people of the Republic. About 300 years ago, the Republic officially abolished the old currency units and name notations and began actively accepting the culture of the continent, and that’s when this rather historically significant derogatory term was coined.

From noble mtl dot com

‘Haven’t heard that in a while.’

When the Republic first opened its doors and changed the name notation, which originally followed the ‘surname+name’ order, to the continental style ‘name+surname’, this derogatory term was quite common.

After 300 years had passed, it had long become a dead language that no one used, except for a few stubborn imperial nobles.

‘Now I understand why Yuren rarely talked about his mother.’

Rosanna Helios was the epitome of the ‘stubborn imperial noble’ that Yuren had despised the most in his previous life.

“Mother! What kind of nonsense is that to say to my friend?”

As expected.

Yuren, who had been showing a consistently timid demeanor, twisted his face fiercely and stepped forward.

“…What?”

Rosanna looked at Yuren, who stood as if to block her path, with an incredulous expression.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Ugh…”

Yuren flinched at his mother’s cold voice, his shoulders trembling.

Like a frog facing a snake, Yuren stiffened.

Even in front of a demon, his legs had not trembled, but now they shook pitifully like aspen leaves.

“Th-that is…”

“Hah. This is why I said the dormitory system should be abolished…”

Rosanna let out a deep sigh and glared fiercely at Yuren.

“Where did you learn such insolent manners?”

“……”

“Did that republican mongrel teach you?”

“Ugh…!”

Grit.

Yuren, who had been trembling pitifully, clenched his teeth and glared at Rosanna.

“Any discriminatory remarks against other countries are prohibited within the Hero School! You know that, don’t you, Mother?!”

“Ha, are you lecturing me now?”

“It’s not a lecture, I’m informing you of the ‘neutral zone’ regulations!”

Despite his fear, Yuren did not back down and shouted clearly.

“Breaking the regulations will tarnish the honor of the Helios family!”

“Honor? Did you just say honor?”

Rosanna’s expression twisted fiercely.

Her holy mark emitted light, and golden magic enveloped her body.

“How dare you…! How dare you speak of the honor of the Helios family in front of me?!”

Whoosh!

An arm swung fiercely, cutting through the wind.

Before Rozanna’s palm could strike Yuren’s cheek.

Smack!

I grabbed Rozanna’s wildly swinging arm.

“Just watching quietly, you’re making a real fuss.”

I had no intention of getting involved in Yuren’s personal family matters, but seeing this scene, I couldn’t just stand by.

Pulling the grabbed arm, I stood in front of Rozanna.

“Enough already, lady.”

“…What?”

Rozanna stared at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Ah, lady…? Did you just call me a lady?”

“Well, what else should I call you? You’re not a young woman, are you?”

A person should have some conscience. Expecting to be called a young woman when you have a twenty-year-old son is a bit much.

“You insolent…!”

Perhaps the blatant term “lady” hit her hard.

With a face turning red and blue, Rozanna roughly shook off the arm I was holding.

No, to be precise, she tried to shake it off.

“Ugh?!”

Rozanna’s face twisted as she struggled to free her arm.

Even if she had retired from active duty, she was once a hero known as ‘Rozanna of the Flash,’ so she must have had some confidence in her skills.

‘Clumsy.’

If she was a hero who made a name for herself in the past, I was one of the ‘Last Five Heroes’ in my previous life.

Moreover, I had achieved far superior skills compared to back then.

Compared to the level I had reached, her skills were like a firefly under the sunlight.

“Eek!”

Rozanna’s face contorted fiercely as she gathered more magical power.

As expected of Yuren’s mother, she had much more pure magical power than I did.

But power is ultimately about who uses it and how.

As he continued to hold her arm, subtly shifting the center of gravity, Rosanna’s expression gradually twisted into a rough grimace.

“Robert!”

At Rosanna’s sharp cry, the man standing behind her like a shadow reached for the sword at his waist.

Just as the sword was halfway out of its sheath.

“Hey.”

Swish, thunk!

With a slap of his palm, the half-drawn sword slid back into its sheath.

The man called Robert stepped back with a bewildered expression.

“Don’t draw that.”

If you draw it, you’re dead.