Chapter 197.2

“I suppose it hasn’t been long since you were appointed here, Emilia-sensei. Well, our school works differently from the Demon King Academy. Though they may be students, they are still Heroes. Fighting for the people is their duty, and the great mission of the Hero Academy of Arclanisca.” (Zamira)

“Even so… Having them fight creatures they know nothing about… sounds like madness to me—” (Emilia)

“Emilia-sensei!” (Zamira)

Zamira glared at Emilia as if to admonish her.

“Are you implying that the royal court is insane? You better watch your language.” (Zamira)

“N-No… I mean no such thing… However, I believe it would be wiser to ask for the royal army’s support, just in case.” (Emilia)

“Unfortunately, I’m busy myself. I’ll leave the rest to you. Defer to the staff for further details.” (Zamira)

“Eh? Please wait a minute! I still have much discuss with—” (Emilia)

Ignoring Emilia’s complaint, Zamira walked off the podium.

His feet brought him to Lay’s seat.

The look on his face instantly went from a surly one to a smiling one.

He bowed as gracefully as his plump figure allowed him.

“It is an honor to meet you, Great Hero Kanon. My name is Zamira Engelo, and I am the headmaster of this academy. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” (Zamira)

The Hero Academy students stared at him blankly.

But Zamira was unperturbed, and proceeded.

“Kanon-sama, we humans have been waiting with great anticipation for the day of your rebirth. We have prepared a grand ceremony for you at the royal palace. All the citizens and soldiers will welcome and praise the return of the Great Hero Kanon. Will you please grace the palace with your presence this one time?” (Zamira)

Unusually enough, Lay replied not with a smile, but with a serious expression.

As I expected, his reluctance to take part in it was oozing from his entire being.

“I’m a demon now, though.” (Lay)

“Now, now. This is irrelevant. Only the Great Hero Kanon could have appropriated the power of demons and made it his own. No matter what anyone may say, you are the one true Hero. And the Sword of Three Races is proof of it. Human or not, anyone incapable of wielding Evansmana cannot call themself a Hero.” (Zamira)

A tongue-clicking sound could be heard from the Hero Academy’s side of the seats.

It came from Raos.

“Npw, let us be on our way. I have already prepared an escort for you. Though this may be a school exchange program, there is nothing for you from these phony heroes. Instead, why not relax at the royal palace? As the guest of honor, we will provide you with the highest level of hospitality.” (Zamira)

The reason why Zamira despised the Hero Academy so much was probably because he was a man dispatched from the royal palace. After Diego was gone, nobody wanted the position of headmaster of the Hero Academy, which had lost all authority, so his presence here was a temporary measure.

Along with his own ignorance, this may have been the reason he could talk about subjugating dragons with such excessive indifference.

“I cannot let this go unchallenged.” Ledriano declared after standing up.

“It’s true that we are not the reincarnations of Kanon, but even as a joke, how in his right mind could the headmaster of the Hero Academy call his own students phonies?” (Ledriano)

“Damn straight! Sure you wanna look down on us like that, ‘Mr. Bigshot’?” (Raos)

Raos stood up and glared at Zamira.

“Besides, what’s the deal with that troop of soldiers stationed out front? Are they supposed to escort the Hero Kanon? And when you hold a fancy ceremony at the royal palace, you dispatch a whole bunch of them to monitor the parade and stuff, right? And then, you tell us that because they’re so busy with all that shit, we students are supposed to fight dragons or whatever those monsters are by ourselves? Are you stupid or something?” (Raos)

“That’s gotta be mission impossible, anyway. So why don’t you let the real Hero handle it? Unlike us, he even has the Sword of Three Races in his arsenal, after all.” Heine continued.

As if to agree with Ledriano and co., the other Hero Academy students began to clamor.

Zamira turned around and shouted.

“Know your places, you scum! You’re in no position to complain! You should consider yourselves lucky you weren’t put to death for claiming the name of Hero Kanon with such impunity, and plotting against the royal court!!” (Zamira)

Ledriano lifted his glasses with his index finger.

“It was none other than the Hero Academy that assumed we were Kanon’s reincarnations. How does it make sense for you to put the blame on us?” (Ledriano)

“Then why were you pretending to be Kanon? If you never were, then you should’ve explained yourselves.” (Zamira)

“Don’t you know that this was due to the influence of <Sanctuary Aske>?” (Ledriano)

“You fool. Did you think the royal court was going to believe Dilhade’s version of the events without question? They have their own speculations. <Sanctuary Aske> didn’t influence anyone. That’s what Azesion chooses to believe. In fact, you don’t even have any way to prove it did.” (Zamira)

At that, Ledriano fell silent.

After I destroyed Jerga, his will disappeared from <Sanctuary Aske>.

So at this point, there was no way to prove his claims.

The royal court probably intended to take advantage of this and pretend that <Sanctuary Aske> had no influence on anyone.

They wanted to pass the whole thing off as more of a personal issue for the selective class rather than Jerga’s will affecting all of those who used the <Sanctuary Aske> spell.

So that they could cut them off at any time for the sake of convenience.

“Regardless of whether you were Kanon or not, if you were Heroes, then you should’ve been able to stop that ridiculous war. Assuming you’re not fakes, that is.” (Zamira)

Ledriano gritted his teeth.

His frustration was plain to see on his face.

“Are we clear now? The royal court has generously given you all a chance. A chance to slay dragons and earn back the title of true Heroes. Therefore, it’s only natural that you would have to risk your lives for it. You should be grateful, and you have no right to complain. There’s a limit to how much disrespect you can get away with!” (Zamira)

All the students of the selective class fell silent at once.

All of them were treated as Heroes until that last war broke out.

The fact that they weren’t Heroes anymore hurt them on a much deeper level than any harsh criticisms they received.

But one teacher, completely unconcerned about any of that, raised her voice.

“You’ve been talking about ‘Hero this’ and ‘Hero that’ incessantly for a while now, but what’s this all about? Why should we risk our lives for such nonsense? Are you sure you’re in your right mind?” (Emilia)

Confronted with all this absurdity, Emilia snapped at him.

If the students’ lives were going to be put in danger, then as their educator and supervisor, so would Emilia’s.

As she couldn’t care less about a Hero’s pride, this kind of mission was unacceptable to her.

“That’s just what it means to be a Hero. As long as they’re going to proclaim themselves as such, this is a mission they can’t avoid.” Zamira said with a sigh.

“In that case, it won’t be their problem if they deny being Heroes.” (Emilia)

“Huh…?” (Zamira)

Zamira looked puzzled.

He probably never expected to hear those words at all.

“If they die, that’s the end of it, isn’t it? Is that what being a Hero is all about, risking their lives for this kind of farce? Quite a worthless existence if you ask me. Just deploy the soldiers already. Do you think Dilhade will remain silent when you give such unfair treatment to mere students?” (Emilia)

Zamira sighed in exasperation.

“Emilia-sensei. If you’re here to teach at the Hero Academy as well, then I would like you to learn a little more about Heroes. Such lack of insight is the reason why no one ever listens to your lectures.” (Zamira)

“That’s because the students are undisciplined! It has absolutely nothing to do with this Hero nonsense!” (Emilia)

Zamira cocked his eyebrow and shook his head.

“This talk is leading us nowhere.” (Zamira)

After one-sidedly breaking off their conversation, Zamira turned back to Lay.

“O Great Hero Kanon. I deeply apologize for showing you such an unsightly display. If you insist on attending this class, then if you feel so inspired, would you like to attend the banquet after school? It would be our pleasure to discuss the ceremony in more detail with you.” (Zamira)

“Ah, almost forgot, Lay.” (Anos)

When I interrupted him, Zamira glared at me in annoyance.

“Wanna play in the water after school? They’ve got a huge lake nearby.” (Anos)

Zamira exhaled through his nose.

Although his displeasure was plain to see, he understood that I was acquainted with Lay, and displayed a fake smile.

“…Uhh, excuse me, little boy. But unfortunately, Kanon-sama has already made plans to—” (Zamira)

“Sure, sounds good.” (Lay)

“Huh?” Zamira uttered in a dimwitted voice.

And with the look of a buffoon.

“Sorry, but I’ll pass on that banquet.” (Lay)

“B-But why? Please reconsider. We will prepare any dish you could ask for.” (Zamira)

“Because I’ve already made plans to go have fun in the water after school.” Lay replied with a refreshing smile.