It was early morning, before the other teachers had arrived.
Ib, who had come to school early, sat down at her desk, opened a drawer, and took out a photo album filled with pictures of her past students.
As she flipped through the album, familiar faces appeared.
Having taught at the academy for a long time, the album was packed with photos from those years.
However, Ib remembered every single student in those photos without fail.
Her hand paused as she slowly turned the pages when she found a photo of a boy with a name tag that read "Yest Offer" smiling brightly beside her.
Ib traced the smiling face in the photo with her finger, slowly recalling memories of the student before closing the album with a sad expression.
No matter how many times she experienced it, it never got easier.
The death of a student she had taught.
The world, once plagued by witches, is now filled with miasma, a toxic energy to ordinary people.
And the creatures known as monsters typically emerge in areas with high concentrations of miasma.
The barrier that the ancient mages set up in various parts of the world to prevent the invasion of miasma meant that the area inside the barrier was safe from monsters.
However, the space inside the barrier was limited.
People naturally felt the need to explore the space outside the barrier to obtain food or simply to expand their living areas.
Thus, they gradually installed devices to suppress and purify the miasma in the surrounding areas, and sometimes fought off the monsters that appeared, as they expanded their territory.
Even with these devices installed, it was not completely free of miasma, so monsters occasionally appeared, albeit very rarely.
Monsters that emerged in areas with low miasma concentrations were usually weak, but for some reason, the monster that appeared near the barrier last weekend was not.
Even a veteran hero, who had been thanking Ib for the past 10 years of keeping his limbs intact, lost his life while trying to buy time for people to evacuate.
Since seeing the familiar name in the condolence message that arrived after class yesterday, she had been trying to suppress her sadness, but it was not easy to control her emotions.
While lost in thought, Ib heard the door to the staff room creak open.
Thinking it was another teacher, she looked towards the door, only to see Scarlett Evande, a student from her class, standing there.
She didn't know why Scarlett had come to school so early, but from the way she was walking straight towards her, it was clear she had something to discuss.
Scarlett approached and spoke.
"Teacher, I have a question."
Ib, trying to keep her voice bright despite her mood, replied.
"Sure, Evande. What's your question?"
"Our gymnasium is incredibly sturdy. How much would it cost to build a building like that?"
"The gym? Hmm, I think the materials alone would cost over 1 trillion. Why do you ask? Are you interested in architecture, Evande?"
Scarlett, who usually had a nearly expressionless face, widened her eyes in surprise at the amount.
The teachers in charge of practical training had a tradition of calling overly confident students and telling them, "If you can break down the gymnasium wall, I'll let you graduate early."
This usually made even the most confident students walk around with their heads bowed like ripe rice plants the next day, earning the gym the nickname "Modesty Hall."
Scarlett, who had widened her eyes, returned to her usual expression and asked.
"I'm not interested in architecture, just curious. How much would it cost to install a door made of the same material at the entrance of the gym?"
"Hmm, you want to install a door where there's currently an open space? About 20 billion should do it, I think."
When Scarlett asked for 20 billion, a large sum of money, Ib was momentarily taken aback.
Then, recalling the conversation they had just had, she asked, just in case.
"Evande, is it really because you want to install a door on the gym?"
Scarlett nodded immediately.
Ib, seeing her nod, was momentarily speechless.
Finding it absurd, she paused for a moment before asking, with a hint of exasperation.
"Evande, can you tell me why you suddenly want to install a door on the gym?"
"Well... our school gym is also used as an evacuation center for citizens in emergencies. So, if monsters somehow get inside the barrier, having a door might keep us safe for a while..."
Scarlett, who said this, looked like a young child worried that a monster might jump out from under the bed and take her away.
Ib, trying to reassure her, laughed and said.
"Ahaha, so you're secretly a coward, Evande. There's no way monsters will appear here since we're inside the barrier, so don't worry so much."
"But... what if... what if they do? Monsters could somehow get inside the barrier..."
Despite Ib's words, Scarlett's voice was filled with worry.
Ib noticed her hands were trembling, perhaps from anxiety.
What could make someone who laughed off a sword embedded in her hand during sparring tremble so much?
She suddenly remembered Scarlett's reaction during a training session where they showed students their greatest fears through hallucinations.
Scarlett, who had broken out in a cold sweat, trembled, and eventually fainted, had seen something that terrified her.
Considering her reaction today and her previous one, it was possible that she had experienced a tragic event involving monsters in the past.
The information about students admitted to Aegis Academy was only accessible to the principal to prevent teachers from treating students unequally if they knew their backgrounds.
A rule that had been in place since the academy's founding, emphasizing the need to treat all students equally as they trained to become heroes.
Although it was not appropriate to ask about a student's personal information, Ib decided to ask anyway.
"Evande, can you tell me about your family?"
"...I don't have any. Family."
Her voice was small.
Ib thought it was possible, but it was as she suspected.
Feeling guilty for touching a sensitive spot, Ib smiled bitterly.
"Sorry... I shouldn't have asked."
"No, it's okay. But can you lend me the money?"
"Even if I lend you the money, you can't just install a door on the school building because you want to."
Scarlett's expression hardened at Ib's words.
Feeling guilty, Ib thought she could grant her request.
It was admirable that she wanted to do something for the people.
Ib smiled slightly and said.
"So, I'll talk to the principal about installing a door on the gym. Your reason sounds plausible, so it should be done soon."
"Really? Then please, as quickly as possible. Thank you so much. I want to do something to repay you, but I don't know how..."
Seeing her tense face relax, Ib could tell how happy she was about the door.
Scarlett, who had been grateful even for covering part of her uniform costs, seemed at a loss.
Ib, seeing her uncertainty, said.
"In return, I have one request."
"Anything I can do, I'll do it."
"Then, make one promise."
Ib extended her pinky finger.
From the beginning to now, there was only one thing she wanted from her students.
"Don't die, Evande."
Scarlett's eyes wavered at the sight of Ib's extended pinky finger.
After a moment's hesitation, she intertwined her pinky with Ib's.
And she answered with a determined voice.
"I won't die. Absolutely."
After bowing to Ib and leaving the staff room, Ib took out her phone.
Since Scarlett had said "as quickly as possible."
She would do her best to fulfill the request of her cute student.
Ib scanned through the numerous phone numbers of her clients registered in her phone.
She, a master of hallucination magic, earned money by showing clients their desired hallucinations.
Among her clients, who were not just passive observers but felt as if they were truly experiencing the hallucinations, were quite a few famous people.
One of them was the president of a well-known company in the construction and materials distribution industry.
"Yes, President. I apologize for contacting you so early in the morning. We're planning to install a door on our academy's gymnasium. Yes, what material will the door be made of? Of course, it should be the same as the gym. The reservation is a bit backed up, so it might take a month, I think?"
"Hmm, that's a problem. If an article about a famous company president's hobby being to become a cute girl and receive affection from other men appears on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper, it would be quite a problem for you, wouldn't it? Is this a threat? Oh, no. If you can do it early, I'll move your reservation up. Plus, I'll serve you exclusively until the end of business hours that day. How does that sound?"
"Really? You'll start the construction tomorrow? Our president is so generous. Wow, what a mood. When are you free this week? Oh, is today okay? Of course. How much will the construction cost? Yes, I'll pay in full today. Then, I'll see you with our top-notch cute girl, Angel, this evening~."
Ignoring the request to stop calling her that in real life, Ib ended the call.
After sending a group message to her clients to postpone their reservations by a day, her phone went crazy with incoming messages, so she just turned it off.
Regarding the construction, she would inform the principal later.
Since she had covered the entire cost of building the gym, adding a door didn't require additional permission.
She opened the photo album she had closed earlier and looked at the students' photos.
How many times had she attended the funerals of students who had become heroes?
No matter how much money she donated for the welfare and survival of heroes, people still died.
Ib found it sad that there were many things in the world that couldn't be controlled by money and power alone.
Author's Note (Afterword)
Ib, who has a suspiciously large amount of money and a clientele of capable uncles.
Her wealth, which can even fulfill dark TS desires, and her power, which holds countless weaknesses, are truly immense.
Evande's action was to bribe with money.
Fortunately, due to Ib's misunderstanding, it worked well.
She considered having Evande lie about having a convenient precognition ability like other possessed characters to get what she wanted, but decided against it, thinking Evande wouldn't do such a thing.
Phrases like "I believe you, you are a prophet" seem to require certain abilities and knowledge to say...
I started writing this after finishing my homework yesterday, but I was so tired that I fell asleep. I finished it today.
Why do professors lose their compassion as midterms approach?
A new fan art by BlueRabbit has been added to the fan art board!