The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
The fourth year at Hero Academy carries a special meaning.
It’s the year right before graduation, and the comprehensive fourth-year evaluation has the greatest impact on the final graduation grade.
Because of that, cadets give their all during this period.
Since they'd be active as full-fledged heroes starting next year, the curriculum was also drastically different from previous years—dangerous, intense, and packed with classes that were essentially real-life simulations.
Anyway.
For the cadets, it was the first step toward a turning point in their lives... or rather, it should’ve been.
It was the second day of the semester.
"Wow, you really are something else."
Professor Lucas smirked when he spotted me seated in the far corner of the classroom.
"Even the densest idiot usually shows up on the first day of a new semester... but you? You’re in a league of your own, Dale."
"......"
A piercing gaze stabbed into me like it could break skin.
‘Damn it.’
Just as I expected.
I’d ended up missing the first day of the semester while catching up with Iris and Yurina—who I hadn’t seen all winter break.
"Uh... I-I caught a cold."
"Oh? Is that so? A so-called hero caught a cold?"
"Ha ha. I must’ve overtrained getting ready for the semester and weakened my body."
"You don’t think that’s the lamest excuse ever?"
"......"
This guy...
Why is he so sharp only when I don’t want him to be?
"Ahem. Well, you didn’t really do much on the first day, right?"
From what I’d heard from another cadet, all he’d done was explain that we’d be sticking with this newly assigned class group for the whole year, and that picking good party members early on was part of a hero’s job.
"Oh? So you’re saying it’s fine that you missed the first day?"
"...It’s not like I was the only one."
Naturally, Iris and Yurina—who were with me—also missed the first day of class.
"They’re different from you."
"How exactly?"
"Grades. Their grades. Hello?"
"Wait a second."
So, if your grades are good, you can skip class?
"Of course you can. Talented people can afford to slack off a bit. It’s the untalented ones being lazy that’s the real problem."
"Urgh."
I had nothing to say to that.
"Anyway. If you don’t want to keep sitting in the back row, stop skipping classes."
"...Yes, sir."
I let out a sigh and nodded.
"Alright, let’s start roll call!"
As Professor Lucas walked away, someone poked me in the back.
"Um... s-sorry, Dale."
Yurina—no, Yuren—whispered awkwardly, sitting right behind me.
"Don’t worry about it. I’m used to getting chewed out by Professor Lucas."
"R-right."
Yuren nodded, then looked down at the finger he’d been poking me with, smiling faintly.
"Hehe. Still, I’m glad we ended up in the same class."
He smiled brightly, clearly happy to be using the same classroom as me this year.
"Yeah. Didn’t expect us to be grouped together, honestly."
"Right! Iris and Camilla are in the same class too... I think party class this year’s gonna be fun."
He clenched his fist with excitement as he looked at Camilla and Iris sitting a few seats away.
I glanced over at the cheerful Yuren and let out a small chuckle.
He must’ve still felt a little sad about being in a different class from the rest of us last year, having to take all his lessons alone.
‘Anyway, all in the same group now, huh.’
Iris, Camilla, and Yurina.
And even Juliet and Albert.
Every cadet I had some connection with ended up in the same class as me.
‘Did Professor Elisha pull some strings?’
In my previous life, we were never all in the same group.
Someone definitely influenced the class assignments.
‘Well, I’m not complaining.’
With my duties as a “Special Cadet,” I wasn’t even sure how consistently I’d be able to attend classes this semester.
But obviously, being in a class with familiar faces was way better than sitting among complete strangers.
"Hey, you two. Enough chatting."
“Yikes.”
Yuren flinched and quickly sat back in his seat.
"Sigh. Seriously, how did those two even become friends..."
Professor Lucas shook his head in disbelief at the pairing of me and Yuren.
"Let’s see here... Cadet Albert!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
At the call of his name, a cadet shot his hand up.
Albert Hoover.
A face full of freckles and a timid expression.
Also known as “The Chosen One”—or, more recently, “Professor Lucas’s pet project.”
"Hehehe."
"...W-why are you laughing?"
Albert trembled like a capybara facing down a starving lion.
"Just thinking about spending another year with you brings a smile to my face."
"I feel like crying just thinking about it."
"Shall I take that as a sign of how happy you are?"
"No, not at a—eek?!"
When Professor Lucas pulled out a small bottle filled with green liquid from his coat, Albert let out a shriek, his face going ghost-white.
"I-I meant it! I really did!"
"Right, right."
Let’s have a good year together?
"Uuugh...!"
Overcome with emotion (?), Albert collapsed face-down onto his desk, sobbing.
‘Those two are still the same.’
I chuckled quietly and shook my head.
While each cadet was being called one by one for roll call, I glanced around the lecture hall.
Most of the faces were unfamiliar, but there were a few I recognized.
Dale.
Iris met my gaze and smiled brightly, waving at me.
"Are you feeling better?"
She mouthed the words silently.
I was about to nod and reply that I was fine, but before I could, Camilla tugged Iris closer and opened her mouth.
"Don't act like you know the Saintess in the lecture hall!"
Camilla glared fiercely, mouthing the scolding words.
Even though I knew she said it for Iris’s reputation, the way she hugged Iris’s arm while glaring sharply at me made her look more like a jealous lover.
"And so the polar bear loses its home again today..."
No, wait, that’s not it.
"Okay, okay. You don’t have to look at me like that."
I mouthed my reply to Camilla and turned my head.
"Juliet’s here too."
Now that I think about it, what ever happened to that crossdressing contest he mentioned?
"...Better not ask."
Anyway.
At this point, pretty much all the people I know in this grade ended up in the same class.
If I counted them, I could number them on one hand, but still.
“Compared to my past life, this is a huge improvement.”
It was way better than sitting all alone in a lecture hall without knowing a single soul.
As I was lost in those memories and letting out a silent bitter smile—
"Dale... right?"
A cadet sitting next to me turned and cautiously asked.
A man with jet-black hair, the kind of face you'd see nine times out of ten walking the streets of the Republic.
"Maurice Jin?"
"Yeah, that’s me."
Maurice nodded with a faint smile.
"We were in the same class last year too, but never got a chance to talk, huh?"
"Ah, yeah."
"I’ve heard so many rumors about you. I always wanted to chat. And then recently, I heard about you from my ‘father.’"
"Your father... Khalid?"
Maurice nodded again.
"Yeah. Not my biological father, but still."
"I heard about that too."
Khalid Han took him in as an adopted son after one of his favored subordinates died during a mission.
"Haha. So you know."
Maurice gave a wry smile and extended his hand toward me.
"Anyway, nice to officially meet you. Let’s get along this year since fate put us in the same class again."
"...Sure."
I shook the hand he offered and nodded.
Maurice Jin, huh.
I’d already had some personal interest in this guy.
Well, more suspicion than interest, if I’m being honest.
Now that I’ve met him, maybe I was just overthinking it?
At first glance, Maurice seemed completely average.
Though... he is definitely hiding his strength.
The energy I felt from our handshake.
He was clearly trying to suppress it, but there was no doubt—it was the kind of aura that leaks out when you’re holding back your mana.
The question is, why is he hiding it?
I didn’t have nearly enough clues yet to answer that.
“Oh right. My dad mentioned that you’re close with the ‘Empress’... Is that true?”
“Well... to some extent.”
“R-Really?!”
Maurice’s eyes widened as he bounced with excitement.
“S-So, what’s Her Majesty like? Is she really like the rumors say?”
“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but... more or less.”
Of course, the real Camillia behind the mask of the “Empress” was nothing like the rumors.
For some reason, I found myself wanting to be the only one who truly knew her real face.
“Whooooaaa! I knew it! I knew it! That’s just what I expected from Her Majesty!”
“...What do you mean, ‘just what you expected’?”
“A-Ah, sorry. Guess I got a little too excited.”
With an embarrassed smile, Maurice scratched the back of his head.
Then he leaned in and whispered quietly.
“Hey, Dale... If you’re interested, would you like to join a community I run?”
“Community?”
“It’s nothing serious. Just a place where like-minded cadets chat. Oh, and it’s through Hero Watch.”
“...What’s the name of this community?”
“Heh. Let me show you.”
Maurice lowered his arm under the desk and discreetly turned on his Hero Watch.
A blue holographic window floated into the air.
The name of the community displayed on it was—
“Those Who Wish to Be Trampled by Her Majesty.”
“.......”
So you’re the admin of that place, you sick bastard?

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