Academy Slave Instructor

24 – Vessel of Desire

Vessel of Desire

The academy has ended training due to an unfortunate incident.

Scarred and covered in blood, the gathered academy students cheer when the philia, who protected the emperor’s lineage, return. Due to the nature of the empire that values honor, I sincerely praise those who protected Emilia.

Although she protected Emilia, Abigail, who had originally acted like assassins, was taken over by soldiers residing at the academy for her interrogation and was not there.

As the training ended ahead of schedule, servants from the aristocrats hurriedly ran to check on the safety of the academy students.

The academy suddenly became crowded with people, and as time passed, the academy students and people left little by little, and everyone left the academy except for the philias who stayed to listen.

“Then, I’m leaving. Good job~”

Lay, who entered the war late and killed the assassins in one shot, leaves the listening room early because he has nothing to say.

Originally, the interrogation is solemn and stiff, so even if you are not guilty, you should be careful about your actions.

While he is heading home, Leila, who accompanied him, casts a soundproofing spell around him and asks.

“Is the information in the report true?”

“I don’t know what’s written on the report.”

“That he cut down about 20 assassins with one swing of his sword.”

Leila, who is in the academy but is in the military, has read all of Rai’s listening reports. There was no way the soldiers would believe Rai’s telling the truth, and he cautioned against bluffing because he had to report, but other academy students also testified that the assassins all died after he swung his sword once.

It’s hard to believe, but there was even a testimony from her princess, Emilia, so the listeners who couldn’t speak were in trouble. Whether that’s true or not, the thought of posting a report is embarrassing.

It was clear that the superiors who were not on site would call right away, asking why the report was written like this. Even when she explains the situation, she doesn’t believe it and instead only curses at him to do things right.

“Yes, it’s true.”

Leila stared at Rai’s face as he answered casually, and let out a small sigh.

“… Don’t show your skills recklessly. If an academy instructor has skills similar to those of the strongest people in the empire, people’s attention will inevitably be drawn.”

“All of the instructors here say they’re elite. If you’re an elite, shouldn’t you do that? I heard that you can catch a dragon.”

Rai smiles bitterly as he talks about the instructors who gossip behind his back.

Even among elites, most of them are retired for some reason from research or field work. Furthermore, if you compare it to the devil of all nations who were hated by all nations, its meaning will fade, no matter how elite it is.

Leila, frowning at Rai’s teasing behavior, turned around and said,

“I will handle the report. Be careful in the future.”

“Yes-“

Rye gave a long answer while laughing. Heading into the listening room, Leila stops him and looks back to see his face still staring at him.

“Why?”

“Thank you.”

“……”

Lai, who did not expect to hear thanks from her mouth, couldn’t open her mouth. Layla turns her body back into position and salutes her lie.

“I cannot officially announce it due to circumstances, but I express my respect and gratitude on behalf of the Imperial Army for the honorable act of saving 6th Princess Emilia Shane Bernies, who is related to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“……”

Lay smirks as she stares blankly at Layla who has finished her salute with her restrained movements.

“Thank you…”

“Shut up.”

“… I haven’t told you everything yet.”

“You’re going to say something weird. Shut up and go home.”

Leyla returns to normal, blocks her words and walks away. Rai, who looked at her back with a puzzled expression, shrugged her shoulders and headed home.

* * *

“Mom, there’s a new product in Mr. Darren’s shop. They say it’s fruit from Saxony…”

Cara, having dinner with her family and talking about her daily life, has no one to come in, but when she suddenly sees the door slowly open, she stares in fright.

“… Brother?”

The person who opened the door and entered was Zeroa.

Since the incident of the princess’s attack had not yet spread to the streets, the family of Zeroa, a commoner, did not know that the training was over.

Her family sees Zeroa, who arrived a day earlier than expected, and asks what’s going on.

Zeroa, who arrived late at night because of her listening, said that her training was over early because of her circumstances, and said that she was tired and went into the room.

Parents with similar personalities say that training at the academy is difficult, but Kana, who knows her brother well, keeps staring at his visit.

She is not proud of anything, but thanks to her unique laxity, she always maintained her composure even when she flirted. But now she had such a shady face that Kana saw for the first time in her life.

‘Who bullied you? Or did I just get kicked out of the schedule?’

Kana, who couldn’t answer her thoughts alone, left the bread she was eating and went into her brother’s room. Her nervous parents see her Kana and continue to eat, saying nonsensical things such as ‘I’m Tal because I love her brother so much’.

When she entered, Zeroa was sitting on her old, shabby bed, staring blankly at her door.

“Huh? Kanaya, oppa, I’m a little tired…”

Kana shuts her door without saying anything and looks at Zeroa with a frown. Even as she shoots at her, he turns her head and looks down at the floor with her helpless eyes.

Kana, who had been staring at her for a long time without speaking, opened her mouth first.

“What happened?”

“……No, nothing happened.”

You say nothing happened, but your voice is weak. He has no backbone and is a hogu-like older brother, but such an appearance is rare. In particular, the person who always came in with a bright smile after entering the academy is now completely frustrated and can’t even make eye contact with people properly.

“Who is it? Who bullies you?”

“…… Me.”

“What?”

Kana, who did not understand Zeroa’s answer, asked back, but he did not answer. Kana, frustrated by her brother who only looked at her bottom as if she had hardened, bit her lip and she sat down beside him.

Maybe the thing I feared happened. Since the academy is full of geniuses who claim to be from the empire, it was clear that an ordinary brother would be seen as a retarded child beyond the relative ordinary.

I don’t know if pride remained in my brother’s body, but he was definitely hurt in his heart.

“Brother.”

“……”

“Brother. Look at me.”

Kana, who grabbed her by the shoulders and turned Zeroa to her side, looked at him with her serious eyes. Zeroa’s face looked haggard, wondering what she was doing.

Looking straight into her rotten dynamic eyes, Kana said strongly.

“My brother is not good.”

“……”

“Your brother is really bad.”

It seemed that she was about to bring out her comforting words, but at the words of her criticizing sister, Zeroa’s dazed eyes became clear. However, she didn’t return to normal, and there was a look of absurdity in his eyes.

“Up till now, watching my older brother, I thought why did that human live like that?”

“……”

Hearing Kana’s heart, whom she only thought of as her good sister, Zeroa opens her mouth small in shock. She emphasizes it once more as if it were the truth.

“Why do they live like that? Why aren’t they greedy? There are so many things they know how to do, but why don’t they go a little further? They looked very pathetic.”

“Ah… Were you pathetic?”

“Oh, really, really, really pathetic.”

After hearing Kana’s answer, Zeroa tried to lower her head again, and her hands on her shoulders grabbed his cheeks.

– Pair

I tried to grab her head, but she moved too fast and Kana, who blew her clapper, stopped in panic. Zeroa, who was beaten by her sister for the first time, also looks at her with her shaking eyes, and the two of them look at each other in silence for a while.

“Hmm. Listen closely, you pathetic brother.”

Kana, who dismissed her as something she didn’t have and moved on, clears her voice and speaks again.

“Your brother is talented.”

“No… No…”

“Yes!!”

Zeroa, who tried to lower her gaze at Kana’s loud voice, was startled and pulled her body back.

“Yes! How did you get accepted into the academy?! Are you an idiot at the academy? My brother has no talent, so why did you choose him?! Tell me, is the academy an idiot?”

“Oh, no…”

Surprised by her powerful Kana, Zeroa answers while stuttering her words.

Kana continues to speak loudly as she strikes her bed with her fist to see if she is angry.

“Don’t be afraid of me! If you go to the academy, you have to become strong and protect your cute little sister. Why be scared!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Be confident! Straighten your shoulders!”

Following Kana’s words, Zeroa hesitates, straightens her back, and puts on her stately posture. Originally, she had a good body because she did a lot of hard work, but after entering her academy, Kana nodded her head in satisfaction at the sight of her brother, whose body had grown significantly.

“It’s good. Oppa, oppa is a strong person.”

“……”

At Kana’s words that Zeroa is a strong person, she thinks of herself as she could do nothing but cause damage to her.

She was so distracted that she couldn’t remember how she survived, but some scenes of her were strongly imprinted in her head.

Abigail looked down with contempt, Diana didn’t show up despite the scar on her back, and Philia didn’t spare her body to fill the hole he had made.

And Arya, who saved her life by throwing her body.

Arya’s image of throwing herself into the mud to save herself is still vivid in front of her eyes.

Her words of strong people did not suit her.

As the life in her brother’s eyes fades again, Kana strikes Zeroa’s chest with her angry eyes.

“Evil-!”

Although Zeroa is weak, she entered the academy, so she is much stronger than the others. She did not even remove the light armor she was issued with during training. Kana, who blows her regime there, grabs her fist and rolls around.

Surprised to see her sister struggling on her bed, waving her legs in the air, Zeroa asks if she’s okay, but she jumps up and kicks Zeroa’s legs as she sits.

“……!!”

Of course, the shins are also protected by armor. Kana, who was silently expressing pain with her body, glared at Zeroa with her teary eyes.

“Be strong! If you’re not strong, you just have to be strong! Be strong and protect me! Protect my dad and mom! It hurts!! It hurts! I’m sick so go get some raspberry bread!!”

She screamed whether it was comforting or forced, and Kana limped out. She must have heard Kana’s shout as she opened the door and briefly saw the parents sitting at her table staring blankly at her, then the door closed.

Unable to understand what she was trying to do, Zeroa looked at the closed door blankly for a moment and then lowered her head.

– Bounce

“Buy it now and give it to me! Otherwise, I won’t talk to you for the rest of my life!”

Kana yells at her to come back in and buy it, then leaves. Zeroa, who had been watching blankly, is dumbfounded, so she lets out a blank laugh.

Not even having time to be frustrated by her sister’s insistence, he gets up slowly, hoping that Blanc’s shop hasn’t closed.

* * *

Rai was grilling the lizard again this time. Even though he has a kitchen, he sits idly by a bonfire in front of the house.

Now that the temperature has risen, it might be hot to be in front of a campfire during the day, but he looks at the lizards being grilled while humming as if nothing is wrong.

Rai, who was making a nasty expression, turned his head to see Zero Ah, who was about to enter the garden.

“Hey- it’s late. No, it’s faster than I thought.”

Zeroa did not respond to Rai’s words.

After the raid incident, Zeroa did not come for training. She is zero, but Rai doesn’t seem to care.

“You’ve got a nice face. You must have had quite a bit of fun being protected?”

“…… Instructor Rai.”

Zeroa, who approached Rai as he teased her, looked down at him with a firm expression.

“How can I become stronger?”

“How do I know that?”

Rye shrugged at Zeroa’s question and held out a well-cooked lizard skewer to him. Zeroa, who was looking at the skewer, politely received it with both hands and sat down next to Rai.

After grabbing another lizard and taking a bite, Rai mumbles and spits his bones into a bonfire.

“Do you want to become stronger?”

“Yes. I want to become stronger.”

“Why? You’ve had a good life up until now. Even being protected by a miser. I’m envious, somewhere a miser will protect you.”

Rai teases Arya by teasing her for saving her life, but Zeroa doesn’t react. If she was the usual guy, she would have said anything at a loss for what to do.

Leave Rai alone and focus on eating the lizard, and Zeroa, who had been silent for a while, opened her mouth.

“I want to protect.”

“If you say that in front of a miser, you’ll be punched first. A miser doesn’t come to the academy to be protected.”

“I know. I still want to protect it.”

After a moment of silence, Zeroa raises his head and looks at Rai. His eyes were more determined than ever.

“I didn’t come to the academy to be protected either.”

“You realize that now.”

“Yes, the Academy is a place you come to guard and protect.”

“Well- not everyone thinks like that.”

Rai giggles and tries to walk away from her, but Zeroa still speaks with strong eyes.

“I want to protect the people I respect, the people I love, the people I love, the people by my side. I want to protect them, even if they don’t want to be treated that way. I want to have the power to block the sword against them and defeat my enemies.”

After hearing his words, Rai nodded her head and asked.

“So. Stop using useless packaging and want to protect others. Is that for you or for others?”

“It’s for me. I want to stand next to them.”

Rai’s mouth goes up at the honest answer of Zeroa, who has always been considerate of others and has fallen into kindness.

People become stronger when they have desire.

Her desire was filled in the bowl of Zeroa, who considered herself ordinary and set her limits.

“Eat first. From now on, you’ll have to eat ignorantly. Otherwise, your stamina won’t hold up.”

“Yes!”

As soon as he hears her words, Zeroa devours the lizard voraciously. Lai thinks as he sees him concentrating on eating quickly without feeling the taste.

‘But honestly, I’m not confident.’

It was Rai who looked at Zeroa, who had the least talent among all humans, including adjutants and soldiers, who had been with him, and was worried about how to bully him and how he would grow.