Painful days continued.

The pain I experienced each day became increasingly intense.

In proportion, the temperature and intensity of the flames emanating from me grew hotter and larger, yet the man with silver hair only wore a dissatisfied expression these days.

– Still not enough… Do I need to improve it a few more times?

Though I couldn’t hear it inside the room, I could read his lips through the transparent wall, understanding what he was saying.

The burden on my body, enforced by the man’s orders, grew to the point where sometimes, even after receiving treatment, I couldn’t move for a while.

Each time this happened, the silver-haired man would click his tongue and leave the room, while the other man would occasionally find himself alone, looking at me sprawled out on the floor.

In those moments, I would muster all my strength to crawl near the wall and knock on it a couple of times.

It was a signal asking him to tell me a story.

[……Do you want to hear an uncle’s story today too?]

I didn’t even have the strength to nod, so I blinked as a way to signify that I wanted to listen.

[What story should I tell you today……]

The man who always made sure I didn’t feel pain, “uncle,” had begun to share various stories whenever we were left alone together.

He would tell me about the place outside the transparent wall of the room I lived in, a place called the outside, which was a fascinating topic for me.

Certainly, at first, he solely told stories, but at some point, I began to look forward to these moments, eager to hear more about the outside from him.

After considering for a moment, the uncle began to speak.

[There’s a place outside called the Academy. It’s where children with exceptional abilities like you go. It’s a wonderful place that trains heroes to protect people.]

Hearing that it was a place where people like me attended, I imagined a small room packed with people.

I pondered what that might feel like, blinking eagerly to mean I wanted to hear more.

[What, are you interested? Got it. I’ll tell you more.]

As the uncle shared stories for a while, he made this remark to me.

[Tenth, I hope you can become someone who can protect people……]

Though I didn’t quite understand the words, I wanted to listen to the uncle’s voice.

I closed my eyes tightly for a moment before reopening them.

It was a sign that I understood.

Then, the uncle’s expression twisted.

– ……I’m sorry. Truly.

The uncle said that from a place where I couldn’t hear him.

*

In this world, individuals with unique abilities roamed freely in the streets.

From those born with superpowers to those who had learned various magic spells to use such abilities.

Not everyone with such powers became heroes, and some of them committed crimes using their strengths.

In a world where one must protect people from emerging monsters and might face criminals who could threaten with flames, heroes naturally took on the role of the police.

And today was the day of a hands-on field experience, where students would visit places where these heroes worked to try out their jobs firsthand.

Upon arriving at school, the kids were fired up with enthusiasm to catch the criminals threatening the city.

First-year students from the Academy, visiting the Public Security Bureau of the city, were experiencing what they had expected from the work of heroes.

“Ugh! I hate paperwork! Florene thought we were going to run around and catch bad guys today!”

“Florene, this is important work too, so stop complaining and learn it properly……”

Marin reprimanded the shouting Florene.

However, even Marin’s expression seemed full of boredom.

Other kids holding on to documents didn’t look much different.

When they first arrived here with their homeroom teacher, they had been brimming with anticipation, but now they sat holding documents with dead eyes.

Watching their faces made me think that they were struggling with the paperwork more than they would with fighting monsters.

The kids occasionally cast pleading looks at the man standing behind them, checking if they were filling out the documents correctly, but it seemed pointless.

– Nice to meet you, students. I won’t bore you with long speeches. If you’re here at the Academy, you must have some skill in combat. However, to maintain the city’s security, you also need to know how to do other things. And that includes paperwork. Every case resolved must be documented. Understand? If you can’t handle this and pass it off to someone else, you can’t call yourself a hero.

The sharp-eyed man behind us said this in a chilling tone the moment we arrived at the Public Security Bureau, then informed us of the document completion format.

After that, he distributed a stack of papers from the mountain of paperwork piled on the desks for the students to train on, watching quietly as they worked for an hour.

Though it was nearly a simple repetitive task, most of the kids preferred to be moving around rather than sitting down doing paperwork, so they seemed to be a bit restless.

But I was well acquainted with repetitive work.

Weeding, camp maintenance, leaf raking, and the worst was definitely snow shoveling.

Recalling the dreadful memory of clearing snow only to see it accumulate again when I turned around, I mindlessly filled out documents until the man behind us clapped his hands.

“Time’s up. Only the ten who worked the hardest will be included in the next patrol shift. The rest will continue with paperwork.”

“Noooooo!!!”

“Ugh, this can’t be happening!!!”

The despairing screams of Florene and Daniel echoed as the children tore at their hair in frustration.

“You shouldn’t find this paperwork so hard.”

“Those fools, they should’ve worked harder from the start.”

Sylvia and Mei, who looked sure to be in the top ten, cast sympathetic glances at the unfortunate souls.

Of course, I naturally fell in that top ten too.

Although I was currently in a girl’s body, don’t underestimate someone who has served in the military.

*

The kids included in the patrol squad were me, Mei, Sylvia, Andre who was usually diligent, Yoon Si-woo who seemed to be dazed for some reason, Dwight from Class B, and four other students.

Surprisingly, Marin seemed to have been left behind, distracted by Florene sitting beside her.

As we waited outside the building in a line, a woman with short hair wearing a bright fluorescent vest stepped out and laughed out loud upon seeing us.

“Are these the kids who will patrol with me? Ahaha, the ones left behind will suffer because of a grumpy someone!”

In that moment, the sharp-eyed man shot a pointed look at her and sarcastically replied.

“If someone hadn’t repeatedly dumped the paperwork to run away, we wouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“Oh, it was my fault! Kids, I’m so sorry!”

The woman, seemingly the one who couldn’t handle the paperwork, wore an awkward smile and clasped her hands toward the building.

Even though they probably couldn’t hear it, she seemed to apologize to the kids inside who were wrestling with paperwork. Teacher Eve, who had come out to send us off, chuckled at the scene.

The short-haired woman smiled brightly at Teacher Eve, waved her hand, and then turned to us to introduce herself in a cheerful voice.

“Nice to meet you, kids! I’m Rhea, your five-year senior! Since you’re in first year, this must be your first time, right? Let’s get going! Honestly, there’s not much to explain about patrolling!”

Introducing herself as Rhea, she grinned and strode confidently ahead.

We followed her like ducklings.

A woman in a fluorescent vest marked “Patrol” followed by ten students in school uniforms was an eye-catching sight, attracting the attention of passersby who often approached us.

“You’re on patrol again today? Oh my, those students back there, right? Thanks to you, we can roam with peace of mind. Thank you.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. It’s our duty.”

Even though it might have been a hassle, Rhea responded to each citizen.

When someone asked her why, she replied with a smile.

“Patrols are also for checking what happens, but it’s also to let people know we’re always watching over them. If a few words can reassure people, that’s a good thing, right?”

Someone exclaimed in admiration.

They probably thought she was just someone who passed off paperwork to others.

Rhea, feeling slightly embarrassed, chuckled.

As we patrolled, Rhea kept chatting.

She explained what to pay attention to while on patrol and filled the gaps in conversation with light banter.

So it seemed the kids quickly became friendly with her.

“By the way, does Teacher Eve still scare you on the first day of classes with that ‘if you don’t get stronger, you’ll die’ spiel? She cares so much for her students that she says that, but it’s so intense sometimes I think it’s genuinely going to happen. Sadly, she’s really scary despite her cute appearance.”

“Thanks to her, I feel like going mad every time I take her class.”

“But did you know? The real scary part about Teacher Eve is that she never ages. I was shocked today. How is it that she looks exactly the same as when I enrolled? I heard that she looked the same even when my seniors were around. She must be hiding her true appearance with illusion magic.”

As we listened to these silly stories while patrolling, a beep suddenly sounded.

Upon hearing it, Rhea pulled out a radio from her waistband.

A voice came through the radio.

[Rhea, we just received a report that a super-powered being exploded an empty shop on the street and fled. Luckily, there are no casualties, but there might be further damage, so we need to apprehend them. It hasn’t been long since it happened, so they should still be in the area. I’ll send you the location of the incident. Please head there.]

Hearing this, Rhea looked back at us and asked.

“The kids are in field training; is it okay to take them along?”

[As long as nothing major occurs, it should be fine. This will be a good experience for them.]

“Understood. Did you all hear that, kids?”

At the mention of an incident, most of the kids’ eyes sparkled as they nodded vigorously.

The only ones who didn’t show much reaction were me, Dwight who looked exhausted, and Yoon Si-woo who continued to wear a dazed look.

I couldn’t comprehend what had happened to him since yesterday that made him act like this.