How to Teach a Hero at the Academy

Chapter 181 : Chapter 181

Chapter 181: What to Prepare Before Departing on an Adventure (3)

"......You mean my father?"

Emilio's gaze narrowed.

Why was he asking about that man? And on top of that, whether he had truly died. Did he think there was a possibility he hadn't drawn his last breath? For what reason, exactly? Emilio couldn't easily guess. Abel's expression was as impassive as if it were masked, and the question leveled at Emilio was too heavy for him to digest.

"──Raaah!"

Emilio calmly turned his head.

He looked at Monica and Dietrich sparring in the training ground.

"Kuk──!"

Monica, who had been charging boldly, was flung back in an undignified heap.

As though shoved by an invisible curtain. It had to be because Dietrich had cast 'Pluralistic Variation of Air.'

"Professor Argento......, he must be an extraordinary person, isn't he?"

Emilio asked in a low voice.

Dietrich, who hadn't been able to control even a first-circle spell, he who couldn't move without a wheelchair, was wielding magic. Without so much as gripping a wand, without the slightest difficulty.

"That's why he helped Brother Dietrich move again, right? He even performed an exorcism on me. I heard exorcisms are only permitted for high-ranking clerics......."

"I've never once thought of myself as an extraordinary person."

"Is that because you're that humble?"

"I've never thought of myself as humble either."

"That is precisely why......."

Truly, you are humble, and so.

Emilio murmured, bowing his head.

The trees surrounding the training ground were swaying. So were the shadows of their branches. Emilio stared at them quietly. Sitting on a bench set at one side of the training ground.

"My father tried to heal me. Together with my mother."

It was something Abel already knew.

So it had been recorded. That Emilio's father had died in the middle of experimenting with a spell.

"My mother survived, but my father drew his last breath. Unlike Professor Argento, my parents weren't so extraordinary. And I wasn't born with any outstanding talent either."

"You are still young. It's too early to decide whether you're outstanding or not. More importantly, there is no need to be outstanding at all."

I simply......, and.

Abel murmured, chin propped on his hand.

Sitting side by side with Emilio.

"I'd like to know. Was your father's body actually found?"

"That is......."

Emilio turned his gaze toward Abel.

Abel wasn't looking at Emilio.

"Why do I keep──!"

He was only watching Monica as she charged.

"──getting bounced off?!"

Thunk.

He only sighed as he watched Monica being flung into the air.

Glancing sidelong at Abel, Emilio opened his mouth.

"......It wasn't found."

His father's body couldn't be found.

That was what Emilio said. The experiment his parents had planned required a large-scale magic circle, and somewhere in it, one of the strokes had been drawn wrong. That was what he'd heard from his mother. While Emilio had been asleep from the anesthesia, his father's body had been broken down to a density smaller than a spirit's and had vanished.

"So we placed his belongings inside his coffin. With no body, we substituted them with objects. If we didn't perform the funeral rites, Father would become a wraith. He would have been happy to know I've grown healthy......."

"What kind of man was your father?"

"He was a kind person."

Emilio wore a faint smile.

"He often told me. To stay healthy until I die a natural death. That it was the duty of every living thing."

"A fair thing to say."

Abel nodded slowly.

To remain healthy until death by the workings of nature. Meeting that standard alone was enough. As any living creature ought.

And yet, in the end, it was a laughable tale. Because it had been spoken by a man who had offered his own son up as a sacrifice.

"Professor Argento."

"Yes."

"I want to become an outstanding person."

When Emilio said that, Abel narrowed his eyes.

He rolled his black-blue eyes to look at Emilio.

"Outstanding enough that my name reaches Father in the Underworld."

"Your father may not be in the Underworld."

"Has he already reached the stage of reincarnation?"

Abel was silent for a moment, then,

"......I don't know."

he answered in a voice mixed with a sigh, and,

"I'm begging you──!"

Monica charged again.

"──use a different spell for once!"

Thunk.

Only to be flung back once more.

"What does it take to become an outstanding person. I've been thinking about it all this while. How to let Father know I exist."

Meanwhile, Emilio closed his eyes quietly.

Then, in a resolute tone, he whispered.

"I suppose the only way is to become a paladin. Just like Professor Argento......."

"You have no divine power."

Abel replied while scratching the back of his neck.

With an indifferent expression, tinged with a touch of annoyance.

"How do you intend to become a paladin without divine power?"

"I don't have much mana either. Mother said she thought I had none at all. If I search hard enough, maybe I'll find divine power too."

"That's a creative notion."

"Are you complimenting me?"

"Not in the slightest."

No body.

In that case, the possibility only grew stronger. That Emilio's father was still alive. Death was something one could fake in any number of ways.

His rank within the Parousia Denomination was unknown, and so was his intent in offering up his son's body. Very little had been confirmed about Emilio's father. Because of that, the suspicion was hardening.

What were they promising?

What had the Parousia Denomination used to tempt its subjects?

What had they used to draw in nobles including Grand Duke Marchand, and what had they used to make Emilio's father offer up his son?

"Put such absurd thoughts aside."

Pat.

Abel placed his hand on Emilio's head.

"Just live healthy."

And then he murmured.

"If you do, your father will be pleased as well."

***

"Damn it......."

Huff, haff.

Monica heaved for breath.

The taste of dirt lingered in her mouth. No doubt from rolling around on the ground of the training arena again and again. How could she not land a single hit? Wondering that, Monica stared straight ahead. She glared at Dietrich, who stood quietly upright.

"......Are you all right?"

Dietrich asked in a careful tone.

He seemed, at a glance, to be worried about Monica's condition.

"Wouldn't it be better to take a break? This is only sparring, not a real battle."

"I'm aware of that."

It didn't matter if she took a break.

The training would continue all day anyway.

That was what Abel had said. Because of that, Ernst and Roberta were watching Monica from a distance.

I know. I know all of it. But I can't say it. Straightening her stance, Monica thought. The fact alone that she was thoroughly pissed off──,

'......I can't say that.'

If she had proper weapons instead of a training longsword.

Or if she used aura, she was sure she could have landed a hit.

She hated even saying such things. What a pathetic sight she was.

"You may use it."

Had he peeked inside Monica's heart?

Dietrich spoke in a calm tone.

"You may use aura. Within the scope of strengthening your body, that is. But please spare me from a real blade. I'm afraid of swords."

"......Did you just read my mind?"

No, I mean......

It's not like I was actually thinking about a real blade and aura, and.

As Monica was muttering,

"That's impossible."

Dietrich wore a faint smile as he answered.

"Your expression is easy to read, that's all. You are not my blood relation, Lady Monica. I can only peer into my brother's heart."

"That's a creepy thing to say. As if you and Senior Lizer were one and the same......"

"We were supposed to be completed as one body."

Dietrich declared without hesitation.

"All identical twins were once a single fertilized egg. It would have been good if it had been completed as it was, but it failed, so it split apart. Of course, my brother and I weren't born from a fertilized egg, but......."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Damn it.

I really don't understand, and.

Monica muttered after him. She truly couldn't make sense of it.

Dietrich had no wand. That much she could accept. Because Lizer also didn't use a wand. Monica had a rough grasp of what kind of being Lizer was. Fundamentally a being like a spirit, wasn't that it? Because of that, they had even touched a Spirit's Nest together.

'But he's different.'

Dietrich and Lizer were different.

For one thing, there were no spirits. Elemental magic should be amplified through the aid of spirits, with mana as the medium, but no spirit whatsoever lingered beside Dietrich. The scale of spells that could be manifested without spirits was limited. At the very least, without a pact with a spirit, it shouldn't have been possible to erect such an unshakable defense.

"That's right."

Dietrich nodded.

As if once again peering into Monica's heart.

"My brother and I are different. A husk peeled off from my brother, who was meant to be completed flawlessly. That is what I am."

"No, never mind. I don't understand a single thing you're saying."

In any case, and.

Monica muttered as she lowered her body.

"......You've allowed it. Said I could use aura."

Paschht.

A green halo of light began to coil around Monica's feet.

Monica focused the aura circulating within her body into her legs. To secure speed. Break through before the spell is complete. Thinking that, she readied herself to charge.

'Green.'

Meanwhile, Dietrich narrowed his eyes.

'Vivid blades of grass, and tiny flower buds.'

He observed the aura enveloping Monica's legs.

He'd known through Lizer. What kind of power Monica could wield.

'It's a little different from what I heard.'

He'd known that Monica's aura manifested in the shape of grass stalks, but he'd heard nothing about flower buds. Perhaps the form had changed in the meantime. It was a matter that made no difference either way.

'Beautiful.'

Dietrich thought, and,

The bundle of aura wrapping Monica's legs. The flower buds formed within it bloomed in full, and,

"──I'm coming!"

Ku-woong──!

Monica charged.

As though kicking off empty air like a springboard.

'I envy her.'

Dietrich's eyes darted busily.

Only light could be caught by them. As Monica, transformed into a green flash, traced a curving arc through the air,

'I envy her, envy her, envy her.'

Dietrich closed his eyes at last.

'If only I too, like you......'

He had no need for spells.

He simply stretched out his arm.

'......could move like that.'

And so, Monica saw it.

Just before she could reach Dietrich, the hand reaching out toward her.

Why isn't he using a spell? The question was hers only for a moment. Coming to a sharp halt, Monica saw it. For just an instant, the halo of light scattering from Dietrich's hand. Divine power dispersing as though flesh were being torn away.

"I look forward to it."

Smoothly.

Dietrich grabbed the collar of Monica's clothes.

Then he whispered.

"Whether you can truly save my brother."

Thud.

Monica watched Dietrich collapse limply.

Before long, she heard it.

"Hero of Epezeria, Monica Lohengrin."