The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
Heroes, by their nature, have long lifespans.
Due to the mana of Stigmas, heroes possess superhuman bodies far superior to ordinary humans.
They live much longer and age at a significantly slower pace.
Take President Lionel, for instance.
He was approaching 150 years old this year.
‘But.’
That doesn’t mean heroes are immortal or immune to all accidents and diseases, living forever without aging.
There is a considerable variance depending on the hero's caliber.
No matter how exceptional a hero’s abilities may be, once they surpass the age of 100, the aging process begins to accelerate.
Most heroes die before reaching 200 years old.
The so-called “Masters,” the elite among heroes who are counted on one hand, have occasionally lived past 200.
‘Even so, at most, they only lived 30 to 40 years longer.’
The oldest recorded death in the 500-year history of heroes was at the age of 262.
That was Emperor Anton Padshah, the previous monarch of the empire.
‘Which means.’
Even an emperor, wielding unparalleled power and wealth, couldn’t live to see 300.
And yet.
“Are you saying that a graduate from the Hero Academy 300 years ago is still alive?”
“Based on the information we have so far... yes.”
Professor Elisha nodded gravely.
“Is it possible the Wolf Mask is a descendant of that graduate?”
“That’s what I initially thought. The resemblance was too striking to ignore.”
However, Professor Elisha sighed softly and shook her head.
“After comparing the magical pattern left on the Wolf Mask's Stigma with the records of James Jean’s magical pattern in the Candidate Archives, they were a perfect match.”
Like fingerprints, every hero has a unique magical pattern.
‘Even the lock system on Hero Watches is based on this principle.’
While a skilled mage could intentionally mimic another person’s magical pattern, the Wolf Mask was already dead.
A corpse could not imitate someone else’s magical pattern.
“So, you’re saying the Wolf Mask is at least 300 years old.”
Since they graduated 300 years ago, their actual age must be at least 20 years older.
"That’s absurd."
Unless they had something like my Blessing of Revival.
How could an ordinary hero possibly live beyond 300 years?
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, something Lanez had mentioned before came to mind.
‘That person... their wounds healed incredibly fast.’
According to her, despite being pierced through the abdomen by the Spear of Ice, creating a fist-sized hole, the wound healed almost instantly.
‘That’s true; when I fought them, their wounds regenerated quickly too.’
Of course, in the end, Yurina’s Moonlight was so overwhelmingly powerful that the Wolf Mask had no time to heal and died.
Still, they had shown rapid healing for minor wounds sustained during battle.
And another thing.
‘The countless scars covering the Wolf Mask’s body.’
The scars, like a patchwork quilt of injuries, were decisive proof of the Wolf Mask’s regenerative abilities.
‘A normal person would have died long before accumulating that many scars.’
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Professor Elisha.
“Isn’t it possible the Wolf Mask possesses a blessing related to regeneration?”
“That’s a reasonable hypothesis. If they have a regenerative blessing, such longevity could be explained.”
Professor Elisha nodded as she gazed at me intently.
She knew I had lived not just 300 years but potentially thousands of years due to my Blessing of Revival, which made my theory more convincing.
But.
“...It’s not that simple.”
Professor Elisha sighed deeply and shook her head.
I frowned and looked at her.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Let me show you another photo.”
A new image appeared in the hologram.
It was a woman with short brown hair and blue eyes.
Her face was that of the Fox Mask, one of the Wolf Mask’s subordinates.
“Anika Deva. She was also a graduate of the Hero Academy.”
“No way....”
“132 years ago, to be exact.”
“...132 years.”
Graduating at the typical age of 21 meant the Fox Mask would be around 150 years old.
This was still within the expected lifespan of a hero.
“But upon examining her corpse, her appearance was remarkably youthful—no older than her early 30s.”
“......”
“For someone to maintain such a youthful appearance at 150 years old, they would need to be at least Master-level. Did you think the Fox Mask’s abilities were Master-level?”
“...No.”
Far from being Master-level, she ranked in the mid-to-lower tier among heroes.
“As you know, blessings are unique. No two people can share the same blessing.”
This meant.
“So, there must be another reason.”
“Exactly. And right now, we have no idea what that reason could be.”
Professor Elisha habitually reached into her coat for a cigarette but stopped when she noticed President Lionel quietly sitting at the table, listening to our conversation.
“Thank you for the explanation, Professor Elisha.”
President Lionel turned his gaze to me.
“This is why I called you, Candidate Dale.”
“...I’m not sure I understand.”
“This enigmatic group of masked individuals... Ah, we can’t keep calling them that. Let’s give them a proper name.”
He stroked his beard thoughtfully before snapping his fingers as an idea struck him.
“The Beast Corps. Let’s call them the Beast Mask Gang.”
“The Beast Mask Gang?”
“Yes. They wear animal masks and behave like beasts. The name fits, doesn’t it?”
"Indeed. Since they all wear animal masks and act no different from beasts, it’s a fitting name, isn’t it?"
The Beast Mask Gang.
"That works. From now on, let’s call them the Beast Mask Gang."
"Good. In any case, I want to entrust the mission of tracking down this gang and uncovering the identity of their leader to you, Cadet Dale."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
"...To me, sir?"
Assigning such a dangerous mission to a mere cadet rather than a professor?
And not just any cadet, but the one currently considered the worst troublemaker in the hero academy—dead last among the cadets.
"Are you sure it’s okay to entrust this mission to someone like me?"
"I’m entrusting it to you because it’s you."
Principal Lionel spoke with a faint smile.
"I already know that Cadet Dale possesses a very special power."
"......"
"In fact, I believe you might be stronger than the professors here—perhaps even stronger than Professor Elisha."
"...Why do you hold me in such high regard?"
Could it be that Professor Elisha had mentioned something about my identity?
Unintentionally, my gaze shifted toward her.
"Haha. This has nothing to do with Professor Elisha. I was curious about your capabilities, so I asked her, but she refused to say anything."
"Then..."
"Well, it’s just an old man’s intuition."
With a smile crinkling his lined eyes, Principal Lionel shrugged his shoulders.
The way he deftly avoided the topic suggested he had another reason for gauging my level.
"Let’s set that aside for now."
What mattered most at the moment was Principal Lionel's proposal.
"I’m not asking you to do this for nothing. If you help with this mission, I’ll reward you handsomely—with plenty of gold, and, if you wish, artifacts, elixirs, or high-grade mana stones."
Artifacts, elixirs, and high-grade mana stones.
I decided to take the opportunity to ask about the party training hall my team had discussed earlier.
"Oh? A party training hall, you say?"
"Can you arrange that?"
"Of course. Not just any training hall, but I’ll lend an unused building on campus exclusively for your party."
"Excuse me?"
An entire building, dedicated to our party?
"Haha. It just so happens we’ve been constructing a new facility for party training since the existing one is outdated. It wasn’t scheduled to open until next year, but if you’d like, I can let your party use it until you graduate."
"......"
A huge sum of gold, artifacts, elixirs, high-grade mana stones.
And now, even a state-of-the-art party training facility, all for us.
'What absurd conditions.'
It clearly showed how seriously Principal Lionel was taking the Beast Mask Gang.
"I’ll do it."
I didn’t hesitate to accept Principal Lionel's proposal.
‘After all, I’m curious about this gang too.’
If I was going to investigate them, it made sense to do so with full backing from the principal.
"Thank you."
With a faint smile tugging at his wrinkled lips, Principal Lionel continued.
"Then from this moment, I appoint you as a ‘Special Cadet.’"
"...A Special Cadet?"
"Someone with a special mission deserves an appropriate title, don’t you think?"
Principal Lionel took a black badge adorned with a seven-star emblem out of his drawer.
It wasn’t the gold seven-star badge given to the top-ranked cadets, but a black one.
"This black badge contains a magic code that links to your Hero Watch. With it, you’ll have the authority to leave the campus freely, even overnight, and bring along party members you deem necessary for your mission."
"...Wow."
I couldn’t help but laugh.
In short, it meant I could issue my own off-campus permits, something only professors could do.
"Isn’t this basically treating me like a professor rather than a cadet?"
"Well, the main difference is that your position cannot be disclosed publicly."
"Ah."
Indeed.
Even with the principal's authority, it would be impossible to openly announce that an ungraduated cadet had been given such power.
'Wait, hold on.'
If the position of Special Cadet couldn’t be revealed publicly...
"...Does that mean I’ll officially remain the lowest-ranked cadet?"
"That’s correct."
"......"
Thus, for the first time in the 500-year history of the hero academy, a Special Cadet (lowest-ranked) was born.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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