How to Teach a Hero at the Academy

Chapter 125 : Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Four Questions for Inheritance (3)

‘Well, well.’

Ernst sighed.

He was following Abel, who was walking ahead. After kicking a piece of stone that was rolling at his feet, he pretended to adjust his glasses and took in the scattered gazes around them.

‘You must have a bit of a headache.’

Beyond the curtains covering the windows of the private houses, sharp, honed gazes were directed at Abel. Anger, hatred, and along with them, fear. The anxiety engraved in the residents' gazes was clear. To them, Abel would be considered a murderer. Mistrust based on status, position, was rampant. The fact that he had executed the village chief while they were already wary must have been the final straw.

“Professor Argento.”

Thus, Ernst stood beside Abel.

He opened his mouth while walking side by side.

“I found a tactical controller while searching the post.”

It's an old model, but it works well, he said.

As Ernst whispered quietly,

“How much have you figured out?”

Abel asked in an indifferent tone.

Finding the tactical controller would mean he had observed what had happened yesterday.

“Well.”

Ernst shrugged.

Then he recited. The facts he had learned through the tactical controller.

He had heard the conversation that had passed between Robert and Eleanor. He had also heard Demian’s voice, which was in a state of panic. He had heard Abel’s voice that had echoed in the square, and witnessed the commotion that had subsided without any conclusion being reached. In such a situation, the only one who had been calm must have been Abel. That was why Ernst could evaluate it in a consistently dry manner.

“I don't think it was good.”

It was all a mistake.

Robert Olmstead, the village chief, should not have been killed right away.

The faith in the Sea God Cthanid, its true identity, should not have been declared to the residents.

It wasn't a commentary based on right and wrong. It was the result of an analysis based on practicality. The village chief could have been interrogated, and even if the truth was told to the residents, they would not have been trusted.

“……Of course, I can understand.”

There must have been no other choice.

Ernst was well aware of that too.

He must have had no choice but to pick out mistakes from countless mistakes. If so, Abel’s choice must have been barely right.

“It has become a little ridiculous. You're staying in the village chief's house after killing him. But the residents will only distrust you, Professor, they won't be able to rebel directly.”

Since you showed your skills as soon as you arrived here.

They must have felt a gap so wide it made them feel futile. While watching Abel deploy his aura on the sandy beach.

Excessively powerful force is both seen as a miracle and considered a curse. The residents were afraid of Abel. Just as serfs cannot rebel against a tyrannical noble, the residents of Portsmouth would not be able to rise up against Abel.

“There might also be a way to correct public opinion.”

The miko, and the elf.

Ernst presented two possibilities.

“Shouldn't we use them?”

The miko, Eleanor, was a girl who could testify about what had happened yesterday. Fortunately, Portsmouth's focal point was not just one. The village chief and the miko. The village had survived with those two as its focal points. If one of them had died, it was only right to reverse public opinion by using the other focal point.

In addition, the elf, Pnakotic, was an old woman who could testify about the distant past. Since she had lived for about a thousand years by rough estimation, she must also know the truth of the faith in Cthanid. If he could win over Pnakotic, he would be able to enlighten the residents.

“Honestly, I'm not worried.”

Ernst scratched the back of his neck.

“It's just gotten a little annoying, hasn't it. The world isn't a fairy tale. Going to a remote village, subjugating monsters, and then……”

Wow, amazing.

Wow, so gracious, he said.

Ernst said in an exaggerated tone and waved his arms.

“I didn't think I would be returning with such praise. I'm not Demian, am I. In a backward and dangerous place, problems are more likely to arise. And people's minds are also very likely to be sick.”

“……Yes.”

Abel nodded.

He stared at Ernst with his eyes narrowed.

“Then you must have other worries.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You don't have to try to be calm.”

Trying hard to maintain your composure will only make you look cynical.

Abel muttered as such.

“If you were optimistic, you wouldn't have had to follow me. What are you worried about, Ernst.”

“Don't you think you're thinking of me as too much of a good guy?”

I'm not particularly worried, he said.

After muttering with a sigh-filled voice, Ernst,

“I'm just tired.”

He took off his glasses.

He continued speaking while wiping the fogged lenses.

“That Demian kid, he couldn't sleep a wink. Even when I tried to talk to him, he was as stiff as a rock. If there's anything I'm worried about, it would have to be……”

His state of mind, wouldn't it.

Ernst whispered as such.

“I think I have a rough idea. What happened to that kid. It was something he had to go through someday. When he becomes a holy knight, he'll have to kill people as much as monsters. Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn't have hesitated, but……”

Demian and I are different.

Unlike me, who grew up in a family rife with power struggles, didn't Demian grow up in a damn good family.

“So I am concerned. I'm also somewhat responsible. The fact that that kid grew up to be a naive reader of knightly literature……”

And also……, he said.

Just as Ernst was about to chew over his words,

“Are you worried about the other children too?”

Abel opened his mouth first, and,

“……Don't be mean, Professor.”

Ernst, who was blowing on his glasses, frowned.

“If you say that, it makes me sound like a very affectionate person. I'm not worried, just concerned.”

They're all young, the kids who came here.

Ah, except for Lizer Leinhart.

Ernst said so.

“As I said, Demian is too soft. And also……”

“But he is righteously soft.”

While Ernst was speaking, Abel declared.

Ernst's eyes narrowed. Righteously soft. What on earth did that mean. Anyway, he was unpredictable. Trying to guess his inner thoughts from his expression alone, Abel's demeanor was too solid.

“Roberta is the youngest among us. Monika has learned the least among us.”

“Roberta knows how to read the tide of events well enough, and Monika has not learned little, but has come to know other things.”

Ernst, I……, he said.

Abel muttered in a small voice. He reached out and placed a hand on one of Ernst's shoulders.

“I am your teacher.”

“I know.”

Ernst put on his glasses.

He continued speaking while fidgeting with the temple of his glasses.

“You must be much smarter than me. So what, you see the potential in the children, unlike me……. Is that what you want to say?”

“No, it's different.”

Abel shook his head.

“Because I am a teacher, I sometimes become foolish. Especially when it comes to my students. You have a considerate understanding of the children. But as a teacher, I……”

I should not worry about you too much.

Nor should I trust you too much.

Abel muttered as such.

“I must worry while trusting, and I must trust while worrying. If you are concerned about your peers, I must refute it as a teacher. If you had said that you believed in your peers, I would have willingly been concerned as a teacher.”

Therefore, I ask you, he said.

Abel asked Ernst.

“Are you okay.”

Demian is too soft.

Roberta is young. Monika has learned little.

Then what about Ernst? Should I be worried or should I trust him. Abel was asking that. To make Ernst answer himself.

“You have a really bad personality, Professor.”

Ernst swept back his hair.

It's a really mean question. He thought so and opened his mouth.

“I'm fine.”

There's no problem at all.

Ernst had no choice but to answer that way, and,

“Then I will worry.”

Abel replied in a silent tone.

He patted Ernst's shoulder and then walked away.

* * *

Morning, on the hill of Portsmouth.

While the wet junk had not yet dried,

‘An elf lives in a place like this?’

Ernst thought, tilting his head.

It was too civilized for an elf's dwelling. In the first place, the idea of an elf running a junk shop was absurd. Usually, elves preferred to sleep outdoors. Elves tended to live in forests, and the tall tree branches were the homes of elves. The bodies of elves were made to recover their energy through the pure energy of nature.

“Lady Pnakotic, it is Abel Argento.”

Knock, knock.

Abel said, knocking on the door.

Before long, a presence was heard. It was too noisy for an elf's presence. Compared to humans, an elf's presence should be as small as the rustling of leaves……,

“I was waiting for you.”

Sure enough.

The one who appeared, opening the door, was a human.

Eleanor responded to Abel with a stern expression.

“Professor Abel Argento. And also……”

Eleanor's gaze shifted to Ernst.

“You were Demian's friend, right? What was your name again?”

“It is Ernst von Tresckow, beautiful miko.”

Damn it, she's not a miko, is she?

Even while thinking so, Ernst moved his body. He spoke, offering a greeting that was faithful to etiquette.

“Your dark blue hair is like the fierce sea. Please be at ease. When Portsmouth is purified, waves like your hair will ripple on the coast.”

“Please stop. I'm going to puke.”

What the hell is wrong with them.

A pair of friends acting like morons.

Muttering so, Eleanor turned her back on Ernst.

She gestured for them to enter and moved on.

“Have you been staying here.”

Abel, who was walking down the hallway, asked Eleanor.

Eleanor looked back at Abel. Yes, she said. While affirming in a quiet voice.

“The residents will be looking for me. They'll want to bombard me with questions about yesterday's commotion. So Lady Pnakotic took me in. The residents don't try to approach this place.”

That's understandable.

Abel thought, looking around Pnakotic's dwelling.

To those who didn't know, it would seem ominous. Countless magic circles and mana devices made up Pnakotic's dwelling. Amidst the steam pipes entangled like the veins of a beast, the magic circles engraved in the ancient way had turned a dark red and faded, making them feel like bloodstains.

“Lady Pnakotic, you have a visitor.”

Creak.

Eleanor said, opening the last room of the dwelling, and,

“Yes, you've finally come.”

While Pnakotic's voice was heard,

“Let's try to strike a bargain.”

Boom──.

A sound that filled the crudely arranged space.

Reacting to this, Ernst covered his ears. Along with the sound, it felt as if mana was intruding into his ears. Needless to say, it must be because of the huge mana device forged in the center of the last room. Because it was so shoddily made, mana was leaking out.

“The history of Portsmouth is contained within this device.”

A huge spherical orb.

Pnakotic said with her back to it.

“If I were to give this to you……”

Was it Abel Argento.

O human youth who seems decrepit at a glance.

Pnakotic muttered as such and smiled.

“What will you give me.”