“Cough…!”

No one could say a word.

Only Selenda, spewing anger in streams, and Siegfried, slammed against the wall and exhaling rough breaths, were there.

Selenda was the leader of an A-rank mercenary group. To be precise, she had only temporarily stepped down from her position as leader to serve as a professor at the academy, but the actual leader was still Selenda.

Considering her individual combat power alone, she was in the upper tier of A-rank. If her mercenary group was included, her actual combat power might far exceed that.

If this were a game, her grade would probably be around SS-rank.

One of the things Selenda disliked was Heroes.

She had encountered the current Hero several times on the battlefield. The requests that came to an A-rank mercenary group were dangerous, and the Hero could not be absent from such situations.

The Hero, younger than Selenda, was initially similar to Siegfried. Although he matured as he aged, she knew it was thanks to the love and discipline he received from those he met on the battlefield.

That’s how Heroes are.

From a young age, those who are chosen as Heroes. Born with the love of the Goddess, and from the moment their aptitude blooms, they grow up receiving the expectations and love of many.

It may be natural for them to have a twisted personality. But that doesn’t give them a free pass.

Just because the world made them that way, no one should tolerate their misdeeds on the battlefield.

“You Heroes like to show off, and despite having power given to them to protect people without even trying, they only rely on that and act recklessly like fools.”

That was how Selenda defined Heroes. It wasn’t wrong. They didn’t obtain their power through their own efforts.

“At least in my class, you won’t be able to act up relying only on your power.”

Behind the Heroes is the Church of the Sun God. Since the Sun Church is the largest religion in the Empire, no one can easily touch them.

But that didn’t apply to Selenda. She was a professor, but she was also the leader of a mercenary group.

Although she was currently serving as a professor at the academy headmaster’s request, because of her connection, she could just leave if things went wrong.

“Do you understand, greenhorn?”

Siegfried, who had somehow staggered to his feet, spat blood-mixed saliva with a thud and looked at Selenda with hazy eyes.

The venom in his eyes seemed to express his will not to leave her alone, but Selenda didn’t even blink an eye.

To compete with her on equal footing, a mere few years would definitely not be enough.

“Piss off.”

As Selenda returned Siegfried’s words back to him and smiled bitterly, Siegfried, staring at her intently, suddenly shifted his gaze to Sylvia and obediently moved his steps outside the training ground.

Watching his departing figure until the end, Selenda sighed while running her hand through her hair.

“Ha.”

The reason she had hit Siegfried in a fit of anger was partly because he had injured a student.

“Damn it.”

But it was also because the sight of the half-destroyed training ground caught her eye.

Since the illusion magic was completely shattered by the power of the Holy Sword, it would definitely take a long time just to repair it. And the responsibility for that fell on Selenda, who was given the duty of management and supervision.

The sight of her blankly spewing curses was pitiable.

***

Helena Fell Degreff thought.

When was the last time she was this angry?

When Felix accidentally tore her cherished doll? Or when her mother and father employed a futile jealousy strategy to advance her relationship with Felix?

She couldn’t clearly remember either.

That was because being this angry in Helena’s short life would probably be within the top three.

Her head was hot. At the same time, it was cold.

With hazy sky-blue eyes that had lost their spirit, Helena slowly rose to her feet, looking down at Felix, who was now soundly asleep.

“…Helena?”

Sylvia, who had been monitoring the situation by her side, seemed to have dozed off for a moment and looked at Helena with a startled expression.

“Wh-where are you going?”

As she grabbed Helena’s arm, who was staggering with visibly clouded eyes, Helena only turned her head and looked at her.

“…I’m going to kill him.”

“Wh-who?”

Helena’s gloomy voice echoed. Sylvia was startled, stammering a question back, but Helena didn’t answer and only moved her steps towards the door.

“Where are you going…!”

Realizing what Helena was about to do if left alone, Sylvia hurriedly followed after her. However, she didn’t pay attention to such trivial things.

Sylvia, who was a non-combatant, and Conan, who was behind them, didn’t notice. Still, Helena, who directly witnessed the sword strike Siegfried unleashed behind Felix’s back, could tell.

It wasn’t an ‘accident’. Unlike Felix had said, it wasn’t that Siegfried unleashed the sword strike to show off his power.

The sword strike Siegfried unleashed clearly contained ‘murderous intent’ to kill someone. And that one of them, who was at the end of it, was the target.

At the same time, Helena also saw Siegfried clicking his tongue in a low voice after confirming that Felix was alive, although no one else heard it.

That’s why she, who wasn’t a fool, could tell. Siegfried’s sword strike was intentional, and at the same time, the fact that his target was Felix.

Helena’s eyes narrowed. She could understand to some extent that he would unleash a sword strike towards them. No, she couldn’t understand it, but she thought it was possible.

But if Siegfried had targeted Felix, and he was injured because of that,

‘Absolutely.’

It was unforgivable.

Helena, who headed to her dormitory, drew out her cherished sword she hadn’t used for a while.

The cherished sword that the Degreff Barony had prepared for Helena was a famous sword that had cost quite a bit of money, so it wasn’t rusted at all. She examined the sword’s sharpness with her eyes, held it in her hand indifferently, and headed out of the room again.

“Helena…!!”

Sylvia finally realized what Helena was trying to do and shouted as if screaming to dissuade her.

But the moment she faced Helena’s indifferent eyes.

Sylvia couldn’t say a word.

Her eyes, the sky-blue eyes that used to sparkle,

Were empty.

“Since he touched Felix, I won’t leave him alone.”

Helena kept muttering those words as she walked.

***
Son of a bitch.

I blankly spat out curses and grabbed my dizzy head as I opened my eyes.

Siegfried is a crazy bastard indeed. Reminding myself of that fact again, I took a deep breath as I half-raised my body on the bed.

Thanks to Sylvia’s quick treatment, I survived. If it weren’t for that, I really could have lost my life. Although I managed to cut through the sword strike at the very last moment, preventing further damage.

It could have been dangerous if it weren’t for Sylvia’s treatment, which was close to that of a saint.

“Phew…”

Another long sigh escaped.

Siegfried’s actions went too far. When I faced the sword strike, I could tell it wasn’t simply to show off.

The problem was that I didn’t know the basis for Siegfried’s actions. Even in the original novel, he could be considered the top bastard among the three male leads.

It’s not for nothing that I say Cain is the only sane one among the three.

However, no matter how crazy his actions were, Siegfried had his own reasons for his behavior. That was the difference from Leonhardt, who acted without any basis.

There was no basis for him to act out like this when he had only transferred.

I bit my lower lip as I held my head. Then, I had to think about why that guy could act that way.

“…Leonhardt?”

Is it because Leonhardt met a different ending than in the original work?

Did that snowball roll all the way here? Since there were more than one or two differences from the original work, I couldn’t help but have a headache.

“No way.”

Has the Second Prince already contacted Siegfried?

As I pondered the assumption that suddenly crossed my mind, I shook my head and rose to my feet.

Even though I had cut through the sword strike and Sylvia had treated me, my physical condition wasn’t perfect. For now, I should go back and rest well today and start observing Siegfried from tomorrow.

Even though he’s a Hero, he has the solid backing of the Sun Church, so it’s difficult to rashly provoke him.

Of course, I definitely have to collect today’s debt with interest.

With that thought, I got up and left the room.