Chapter 44: Special Professor (1)

Only now did I understand just how much old man Berald had probably suffered teaching me in my past life. Maybe it was because this was my first time teaching someone else instead of always being the student. Or maybe I was just hopeless by nature.

Whatever the reason was, not even five minutes had passed since I started teaching hand-to-hand combat when I scrapped my initial noble plan of “Let’s teach with patience, without saying a single harsh word.” No, “scrapped” didn’t quite cover it. It was more like I had no choice but to throw it out the window.

How the hell did he manage to teach me without swearing even once?

I wondered.

I screamed at him, “Microscopic world! Huh? Do you think it means micro skirt, you insane bastard?”

“Aagh! Wait, don’t tell me, Big Bro, are little girls your type?” Berald replied.

“What kind of bullshit is that now?”

“Touching an underage girl is a criminal offense!”

“What?” I said, frustrated. How was I not supposed to beat someone like that to within an inch of their life?

It made me sigh. “Haah! Life’s a god damn mess.”

And so, we ended our “delightful” martial arts lesson, full of foul language and mild battery. We had also settled on meeting twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for two-hour-long sessions. I wanted to drill him every day of the week, but I had way too much on my plate to babysit him full-time.

However, Berald was capable of growing on his own with just this much. At least in hand-to-hand combat, he was a genius on par with Yuren. If he was taught one thing, he would figure out ten or even a hundred on his own. There was no need to stick to someone like that 24/7. In fact, too much hand-holding could slow his progress.

“Now the ones left are Yuren and Senior Sophia,” I muttered.

I planned to reach out to them soon too, but it wasn’t the right time just yet. First of all, Senior Sophia and I were in different years, so it wasn’t easy to approach her. Even if I managed to, it was not like I could teach her magic anyway.

I only knew the magic theory inside and out, having barely used it in practice. With swordsmanship or hand-to-hand combat, I could at least fake it without mana, but magic was a different beast entirely. Without mana, I couldn’t even cast a spell. So, it was better to wait until I was more comfortable with magic before approaching Senior Sophia. Now, that left Yuren.

“But with Yuren, the gap between our ranks is just too wide,” I said to myself.

Just picturing our meeting was enough to show that: the lowest-ranked student walking up to the top of the year and saying, “Hey, want to learn swordsmanship from me?”

“I’d be lucky to walk away without getting cursed out,” I muttered.

Sure, plenty of rumors about me were circulating the campus lately, but Yuren, who had held the top spot since the very first day of school, probably brushed all that off as idle gossip.

“Waiting until after the end-of-semester ranking evaluation would mean wasting another whole term...”

As I was deep in thought, wondering what to do, a cheerful alert rang from my Hero Watch, resting by my pillow. It was a message from Iris, popping up on the Hero Watch screen.

Iris: Dale, you didn’t forget that classes resume today, did you?

“She’s been messaging me a lot lately,” I muttered.

Messages, huh!

I thought.

We had exchanged messages from time to time before, but ever since the demonic monster incident, her messages had increased noticeably. In my past life, even when we had reasons to stay in touch, phone calls were the only option. When I thought about that, the fact that I could now exchange casual texts with Iris filled my chest with something warm and overwhelming.

I had managed to protect her. It hadn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped, but in the end, I had defeated Astaroth and protected her Seven Eyes.

Yeah, I, Dale Han, a bottom-ranked halfwit of a hero, had successfully changed fate. And I’ll keep changing it.

As I steeled my resolve with that thought, I received another message from Iris.

Iris: Reply.

I quickly grabbed my Hero Watch and typed a response.

Dale: Ah, sorry! I was just getting ready to head out.

Iris: Then let’s meet before class and walk there together.

Dale: Sounds good. Where should we meet?

Iris: Let’s meet by the main building’s cafeteria.

Dale: Got it.

Walking into class together before it starts? That’s kind of cute

, I thought.

Although this was a hero academy where aspiring heroes trained after being blessed with a soul stigmata, ultimately, it was still a place full of young adult men and women. It wasn’t uncommon for sparks to fly between cadets.

In my past life, I used to wish those lovebirds would get mauled to death by demonic monster claws. Yet, here I was now, possibly in one of those situations, not that Iris and I were actually dating yet.

“

Hehe

!” A smile crept up on my face as another alert rang.

Iris: By the way, have you had breakfast?

Dale: Nope, not yet.

Iris: Then I’ll make some sandwiches, just something simple, so you can eat on the way.

Dale: It’s fine, really. I don’t need breakfast.

Iris: What do you mean, fine? Breakfast is important! I’ll bring some veggie juice too. Don’t be late. See you by the cafeteria.

It made me groan. This felt less like a girlfriend and more like a mom nagging her lazy kid.

Anyway, I obediently left the dorm earlier than usual and headed for the main building’s cafeteria as ordered by Iris.

***

The moment Professor Kane burst into the classroom, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he announced, “Alright, everyone! As of today, your most beloved ‘Practical Combat Training’ classes resume!”

Naturally, the cadets seated inside looked at him as though they had just found half a cockroach in their bread.

Professor Kane’s eyes gleamed like a hunting dog catching the scent of blood. A sly smirk tugged at his lips. “Oh? You all don’t look too happy. Don’t tell me... You don’t want to take my class?”

“N-no, sir!”

“Don’t lie. It’s written all over your faces.” Professor Kane stepped down from the podium and strode toward the seated cadets. He came to a stop beside one student slouched in the corner of the classroom, head turned away as if trying to avoid being noticed. “Albert.”

Albert stubbornly refused to look at him. Professor Kane leaned over and, in a tone laced with false concern, asked, “

Hmm

. You look a bit worn out around the eyes. Could it be that you didn’t get enough sleep? If that’s the case, I’ve got a special revitalizing juice I made just for...”

Albert finally turned, eyes misty with emotion, and looked up. “The two weeks we were apart, do you know how much it pained me to miss your lectures?”

As he wailed like a man mourning a great loss, the lecture hall buzzed with laughter and whispers.

“

Ohh!

”

“Wow, Albert finally lost it.”

“I knew this day would come eventually.”

“Go, Albert! We believe in you!”

Professor Kane chuckled, eyeing Albert with amused interest. “Well now. A valiant effort, Albert.”

“Th-then...” Albert replied.

“So, how about having some juice to commemorate returning to class?” Professor Kane said.

“No! Whyyyy is it always me?”

“Because your reactions are hilarious.”

Albert clutched his head and let out a despairing scream, while Professor Kane chuckled and returned to the podium. “Alright. Hearing Albert’s passionate voice really makes it feel like we’re back to our routine.”

He then glanced around the room at the students and took a more serious tone. “As most of you know, two weeks ago, our academy was the target of a terrorist attack carried out by a demon. The perpetrator had disguised themselves as a professor and infiltrated the academy. As soon as the incident occurred, they fled the premises.”

His voice dropped into a grim, heavy cadence. “Fortunately, there were no casualties. Still, as a fellow professor, I failed to recognize the demon’s identity in time and couldn’t prevent the attack.”

Finally, he bowed deeply to the class. “I sincerely apologize.”

The cadets exchanged uneasy glances.

“

Whoa!

”

“

Ahem

.”

None of them had expected Professor Kane, of all people, the man infamous for being known as the Bloodthirsty Hound, to act so contrite.

After a moment, Professor Kane straightened back up. “To prevent something like this from ever happening again, the academy has appointed a special professor who will be stationed here for the foreseeable future.”

“A special professor?”

“The special professor will sit in on lectures, observe how well the cadets are being trained, and evaluate our emergency readiness and security systems.” Professor Kane’s gaze shifted to the classroom door.

The door swung open with a neat mechanical sound. A tall woman stepped in, the sharp clicks of her heels echoing through the room. She was dressed in a fitted black suit, with a scar running diagonally across her left eye, and her short, jet-black hair barely reached the nape of her neck. She stood taller than most grown men.

Professor Kane pointed to her. “Let me introduce Professor Elisha Baldwin, who will be serving as our special professor. You probably know her better by her alias, the Cursed Eye Spider.”

Professor Baldwin stepped up to the podium and swept the room with a cold, assessing stare. She let out a faint, audible

tsk

. “I am Elisha Baldwin. As of today, I am your newly appointed special professor.”

It was a simple, straightforward introduction, nothing dramatic, yet the atmosphere in the classroom instantly shifted, like the pressure had dropped in the eye of a battlefield storm. It was no wonder. While the recent demon attack was serious, nobody had expected the academy to respond by bringing in someone like her: a hero ranked ninth on the Tri-Nation Hero Rankings.

Of course, when I said nobody, that included myself. Naturally, this hadn’t happened in my previous life. The future was changing. I knew the moment I had killed Astaroth that things would start to shift. Still, I never imagined the changes would come this quickly.

The butterfly effect,

I thought.

It was the idea that a single flap of a butterfly’s wings could stir up a storm on the other side of the continent. However, what I had done was far more than just a flutter. I hadn’t defeated just any demon; I had killed Astaroth, the Archbishop of Dreams and Fantasies. The implications were vast and unpredictable, even for me.

But one thing was certain right now. A heavyweight from the Tri-Nation Hero Rankings, who ranked ninth in the entire continent, had joined the academy as a special professor.

“

Hm!

” Professor Baldwin’s eyes calmly scanned the room, inspecting the faces of each cadet before turning to Professor Kane. “Professor Kane.”

“Yes, Senior.”

When Professor Kane uttered the word senior, every eye in the room went wide with surprise.

Ah, right. I think they were senior and junior cadets back in their academy days,

I thought.

Based on appearances alone, Professor Kane looked old enough to be her uncle. Still, I had heard that Professor Baldwin was actually the older of the two.

Professor Baldwin said, “I’d like to get a sense of your cadets’ overall skill level. Would that be alright?”

“Skill level?” Professor Kane replied.

“Yes.”

“Ah, yes, of course. How... would you like to go about evaluating?”

“I’ll have them spar with my assistant,” she said as her gaze flicked toward the classroom door. “Vincent. Come in.”

The door creaked open once more, and a striking young man with silver hair tied back in a ponytail stepped inside.

Professor Baldwin activated her Hero Watch, scanned the roster, and locked her eyes on someone seated quietly near the corner of the classroom. “Let’s see. This cadet should be a fair opponent.”

She commanded, “Albert. Step forward.”

At that moment, every pair of eyes in the lecture hall swiveled toward Albert.