Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

→ News of Malevolent Star ←

Sunday.

I was in the Dean’s office, reporting my actions to Dean Heinkel.

I acted independently without informing the dean, and caused a disturbance within the academy. Although, it was an essential task.

Naturally, Dean Heinkel would have been informed about the incident that transpired in the dormitory last night.

So I informed Dean Heinkel that I had completely destroyed the organization that threatened Titania’s safety and now the royal family was investigating the organization’s mastermind behind the scenes.

I only shared necessary information and avoided divulging sensitive details, such as the fact that the Immortal King was Titania’s brother.

“…That’s what happened yesterday.”

“I see. I understand.”

Dean Heinkel laughed heartily while stroking his long beard.

“Instructor Eon, you’ve accomplished something really great. This is indeed an achievement befitting the name of Malevolent Star.”

“…You flatter me.”

“In fact, yesterday we received a number of reports stating that in the middle of the night, a man wearing the academy’s instructor uniform was running around and causing significant property damage in the campus… ”

“…….”

For the purpose of a swift resolution, I had to take some aggressive measures. Simply talking it out would have taken much longer.

Dean Heinkel nodded and spoke.

“Of course, The situation likely called for it and yet you didn’t spare any effort for the safety of the students, so naturally I’ll take care of the aftermath for you.”

“I would appreciate that.”

“Even so, it’s too small a reward as it pales in comparison to Instructor Eon’s efforts. I want to thank you personally… Hmmm, I wonder what would be an appropriate reward…

As I watched Dean Heinkel, who was lost in thought while stroking his beard, I interjected.

“It’s alright.”

“Do you mean you don’t need a reward ?”

I gave a serene nod while Dean Heinkel looked puzzled.

“It’s just something I had to do.”

Titania is my student, and I believe it’s the responsibility of an instructor to protect their students.

I didn’t do it because someone ordered me to nor did I seek a reward for it I just did what I had to do.

At those words, Dean Heinkel stopped stroking his beard and couldn’t take his eyes off me, showing a surprised expression. Then, he soon laughed heartily and stroked his beard again.

“My friend’s words were indeed correct.”

“…Are you talking about Marquis Kalshtein?”

“Right. Kalbad, that friend, often mentioned that it was both concerning and frustrating that someone with the potential to be a noble and accumulate immense wealth doesn’t seek anything.”

Dean Heinkel looked at me with his crinkled eyes.

“It’s as if they could leave at any moment.”

I didn’t respond to that statement and remained silent.

Feeling the atmosphere getting heavy, Dean Heinkel laughed and shook it off.

“Oh dear, it seems I’ve said something unnecessary. It’s not for nothing that they say old people tend to talk too much. I apologize if it was uncomfortable, Instructor Eon.”

“It’s not.”

“Still, the person who put in the most effort can’t go unrewarded. I’ll add a bonus to your salary this month, so please accept it, even if it’s just to save my face.”

I hesitantly nodded.

While I don’t usually need a lot of money and have few expenses, if I do have it, I might find someplace to use it.

As the conversation was almost over, Dean Heinkel suddenly pulled out something like a newspaper from the pile of documents on his desk.

“By the way, Instructor Eon, have you seen this already? A Juggler delivered it this morning .”

I checked what Dean Heinkel handed to me.

It was a newspaper with the large headline ‘Malevolent Star’.

* * *

Sunday.

Only one precious holiday was left.

While others returned to their homes or participated in club activities, enjoying their youth.

Marian was buried in documents alone in her room, her face full of dark circles.

“Ugh… Arghhhhh!”

Unable to withstand the stress-induced throbbing in her head, Marian threw the documents off her desk.

Her mood briefly lifted as she watched the documents flutter like trash around the room, but naturally, it was Marian herself who had to clean up those documents again.

“Ah… What am I doing?”

The reason why Marian had to struggle with paperwork to this extent.

Of course, it was because of the establishment of the student council for the Opal Black Class.

Assuming control of an established and well-functioning organization only requires completing the handover process, while creating a new organization from scratch requires a significant amount of effort.

Marian, who was born into nobility, developed her paperwork skills by assisting her mother with tasks such as managing the estate. However, even she faced difficulties when dealing with such an overwhelming amount of paperwork.

Of course, being this busy was also a result of Marian’s own doing.

With a total of eight students in the class, the student council, comprising just five members, had the option of functioning like a minor club on a smaller scale.

That’s right. Marian, with her experience in managing the territory, was aware that having a larger budget was beneficial.

She also knew that once a budget was allocated, it could decrease but would never increase without a really good reason.

Even if there are currently only eight people. As the semester continues, new students will inevitably join the Opal Black Class.

At that time, applying for a budget increase would involve a very cumbersome and complicated process. It was much better to get a lot of budget at once, even if it was painful now, than to do the same thing twice.

And most importantly, the fact of the matter was Marian’s pride.

Being a regular class with a smaller budget than other classes, being silenced or ridiculed at student council meetings because of its small size was something Marian’s high pride would never accept.

She still remembered when the student council president had read her budget application and said with an uncomfortable expression, “That’s a lot for just eight people, isn’t it?”

Honestly, it’s true. It’s unrealistic for the Diamond White Class with a total of a thousand students and the Opal Black Class with only eight students to have the same budget. It’s also true that it’s difficult to answer what the Opal Black Class consisting of only eight people would do with so much money.

However, even though the Opal Black Class had a small number of students, they hated being underestimated or treated poorly compared to other classes more than anything.

As a result, Marian had to spend her whole weekend buried in documents, squeezing out non-existent facts in addition to the usual application process, to convince them why the Opal Black Class needed so much budget.

Of course, if the Opal Black Class were really a small class of just eight people, her attempts wouldn’t have worked. Unfortunately, every aspect of the Opal Black Class was far from easy.

The presence of Marian, the granddaughter of one of the seven heroes of the continent, and the other students were part of it, but the most decisive factor was the existence of Princess Elizabeth.

No matter what, she’s the vice-president of a student council with a princess, so it’s only natural that they would argue they shouldn’t be treated too poorly on the other side.

Philion Academy emphasizes equality, but as with any human-operated organization, it’s impossible to be completely separate from power.

Long live power. Long live vested interests. Long live the princess.

The princess herself had helped for a short while yesterday, then suddenly disappeared somewhere, saying she had something to do, and never returned.

“Haah…”

In the end, it was all because of Instructor Eon.

What kind of plan B was her honors student strategy that made her go through all this trouble?

This won’t do. She needed to replenish her sugar levels as her blood pressure was rising.

Thinking so, she opened the drawer, but the snack box that had been full of chocolates was now completely empty. She had taken one out to eat whenever she needed it, and before she knew it, they were all gone.

Normally, she would have given up and concentrated on her work again, but Marian desperately needed sugar at the moment.

‘Now that I think about it, there were candies in the break room, right?’

While thinking about taking a break and having a cup of tea in the break room to get away from the documents for a moment, she ran into Schultz, who had just returned to the dormitory in the lobby.

Schultz, who had visited his family over the weekend, was holding a newspaper with a very serious expression on his face, unable to let it go.

“Schultz, you’re back already?”

“Um? Kalshtein?”

“Call me by my name, not my last name.”

“Right, I forgot. I’m still not used to it.”

Since the first day of the semester, when Elizabeth suggested it, the students of Opal Black Class had been calling each other by their first names.

If this hadn’t been the academy, there would have been no reason to call a princess by her name in the first place, but in fact, Marian found it much more comfortable to call her by her name instead of using some honorific.

Looking at the boy smiling awkwardly, Marian noticed that the newspaper he was holding was the most famous Shangria Daily in the Empire.

“You seem to have some interesting news? It’s the first time I’ve seen you holding a newspaper with such a serious expression.”

“Oh, there’s a piece of news that’s quite surprising.”

Schultz exaggeratedly said, as if to suggest she would be shocked to hear it.

“It’s said that the Malevolent Star has appeared in the Empire?”

“What?!”

Malevolent Star?

In the Empire?

No, why would that person suddenly?

Of course, it’s true that Malevolent Star is in the Empire, but that’s the information that only a very few people besides me would know, right?

Where did they find out? Come to think of it, he seemed a bit late yesterday; what on earth was he doing?

The sudden news of the Malevolent Star, who had disappeared for several years.

Marian, who knew the identity of the Malevolent Star, was very concerned about the content of the newspaper. However, it wasn’t Marian who reacted the most to Schultz’s words.

The door to the break room slowly opened, and Oznia walked into the lobby.

Her expression was unusually stern, as if she had overheard the conversation between the two.

“Tell me more about that.”

Marian saw Oznia’s eyes trembling so much for the first time.