Although Jessie’s transformation slightly stirred up the atmosphere in the classroom, everyone was seen sitting down in their seats as it was soon time for the morning assembly.

Once the students’ seats were filled, except for the now vacant spot of Yoon Si-woo, Ms. Eve opened the classroom door and entered with a lively voice, greeting the students.

“Hello everyone! It’s been a while~ It’s been a month, hasn’t it?”

As everyone responded to her greeting, Ms. Eve nodded and scanned the classroom with her eyes, observing the students’ faces.

It appeared her gaze lingered a bit longer at one particular spot.

Probably Jessie’s seat.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Ms. Eve opened her mouth again, this time with a serious expression.

“Some of you seem a bit gloomy. I understand. A lot of people were affected by what happened a month ago, so you must have been influenced by it, big or small. But since you’re all gathered here again, it means your desire to become heroes hasn’t changed, right?”

I noticed Jessie and the other students nodding quietly in response to her question.

Seeing this, Ms. Eve nodded slowly and said:

“As you all know, a witch has appeared again after hundreds of years. With such a powerful enemy, the expectations for you, who will become heroes in the future, will also rise. Naturally, the intensity of our classes will become tougher. But don’t worry. I promise you this: even if I can’t do much for you, I will make sure every single one of you here becomes a respectable hero.”

Though it was somewhat touching, when you peel back the layers, it was a declaration that she would push us harder than ever before, which made the students’ faces turn pale.

However, it seemed everyone felt the necessity of becoming stronger, as Ms. Eve suggested.

Ms. Eve smiled, seeming satisfied with the students’ reactions, and said:

“I’m glad to see everyone so motivated. This afternoon, we have a special class that I think you’ll all be really happy about, so prepare your minds during our morning classes. Oh, and Jessie, I think we need to have a chat, so please come with me.”

“Uh…?”

Jessie exclaimed in surprise at the mention of a chat.

She seemed hesitant for a moment, but as Ms. Eve opened the classroom door and waited with a bright smile, she let out a light sigh and rose from her seat to follow her.

Seeing that made me feel a bit relieved.

If Ms. Eve, who never overlooks anything concerning her students, was taking measures, I felt reassured.

While I was thinking about that, the teacher in charge of the “Hero’s Mindset” subject entered the classroom for the first period.

“Hello everyone! I’m so happy to see you all after such a long time, but unfortunately, I also have some sad news. Due to increasing scary incidents lately, the proportion of practical classes has gone up while the theoretical classes have decreased. I’m really sad that I’ll have less time to see you all. Are you feeling sad too?”

Even though it had been a while, the enthusiastic gestures of the teacher brought smiles to the students’ faces.

When everyone responded affirmatively, the teacher looked visibly moved and said:

“I’m glad you all think that! Anyway, since we have less time together, I will work even harder to teach you, so please do your best to keep up with me! Got it, everyone!”

As she shouted her signature line, “Got it, everyone!” the students cheerfully replied with a resonant “Yes!”

Then, the teacher energetically began her lesson with movements reminiscent of a little sparrow flapping its wings.

Even though there had been unfortunate events, her bright demeanor remained unchanged, providing a sense of comfort.

During the class, she suddenly said:

“Alright, that’s enough theory for today. Now, let’s practice one of the most important things for a hero together!”

Since the Hero’s Mindset class was theoretical, everyone tilted their heads in confusion when the word “practice” came up.

Noticing the students’ baffled reactions, the teacher widened her smile and continued:

“From now on, we’re going to practice smiling together!”

“…Smiling?”

“Yes! Another word for it is a smile! Smiling is one of the most important things for a hero!”

At the teacher’s words, the students wore even more puzzled expressions.

They looked as if they couldn’t understand why smiling was that crucial unless they were in the service industry.

In response to their bewilderment, the teacher explained further.

“You might not understand at first. You might be wondering why a hero who just needs to fight well has to practice smiling. So, let me give you an example.”

With that, the teacher picked one student sitting at the front and smiled while asking,

“Did you notice anything different about me during today’s class?”

“…No, you just seemed the same as usual…”

“Exactly! You probably felt I was the same as always. That right there is why heroes need to practice smiling.”

And then, gradually, the smile faded from the teacher’s face.

At that moment, I heard the students swallow nervously.

The teacher’s face was so sorrowful without a smile.

In that expression, she slowly opened her mouth and said:

“…Actually, I lost a loved one due to the incident a month ago. But none of you would have thought anything bad would have happened to me. If you knew something like that, you wouldn’t be able to concentrate in class, so I’ve been smiling as usual.”

As she wiped away tears with the back of her hand, the teacher struggled to continue through her sorrow.

Just by looking at her, one could roughly guess how difficult and sad things were for her.

It left a bitter feeling in my heart.

While I knew many people were hurt by the recent incident, seeing so many sad faces everywhere weighed heavily on my heart.

Tears that the teacher couldn’t wipe away were streaming down her cheeks.

Trying to hide it, she covered her face with both hands.

Then, after a brief moment, when she pulled her hands away, there were no longer any traces of sadness left.

The once sorrowful teacher was smiling again as if nothing had happened.

“I know it’s not easy, but you all need to be able to smile like this as well. No matter how sad or hard it is, you need to make those who see you feel like, ‘Oh, nothing is wrong. Today is just like any other day,’ so they can be reassured. That is the role of a hero.”

With that, the teacher smiled brightly at us and cheerfully shouted:

“Okay, everyone! Now, let’s practice smiling ourselves!”

However, despite the teacher’s cheerful shout, the students who glimpsed the deep sorrow hidden behind her smile found it hard to return a smile.

That was normal.

It isn’t easy to smile when you’re going through hard or sad times.

If it isn’t normal, it also means you can do it.

“Oh! We have a good example here! Everyone, just smile like Scarlett here. Got it, everyone?”

For someone like me, who had gotten used to smiling when feeling sad or pretending everything was fine when suffering, it was a simple task.

*

When lunchtime arrived, Jessie, who had been taken away by Ms. Eve for a chat earlier, returned.

The tense atmosphere from earlier had softened significantly.

As Jessie entered the classroom, Mei approached and asked.

“You’ve been gone for a while… What did you talk about with the teacher?”

Jessie, blushing with embarrassment, opened her mouth.

“Well, actually, we didn’t talk much. She said I needed to sleep first and dragged me to the infirmary. I told her I couldn’t sleep while lying on the bed, but I blinked and it was lunchtime. Hehe…”

Considering it’s a world where magic exists, it seemed that either the school nurse or Ms. Eve had forcibly put her to sleep.

But the effect seemed to be evident.

Seeing Jessie looking much better after a solid half-day of sleep, I felt relieved.

Although she wasn’t back to her usual self yet, if she continued to receive care from the teacher, she could reclaim her bright spirit.

With those thoughts in mind, I headed to the cafeteria with Jessie, Mei, and Sylvia, got our meals, and sat down at a table.

Sylvia was on my left, with Jessie and Mei across from me.

Though it had only been a month, this seating arrangement had naturally become the norm during meals at the academy.

Thinking back, it seemed that even at school, I always ended up eating with the same group of people.

Integrating into an already established group gave off a vibe of being an unwelcome guest, so naturally, we bonded within our usual groups.

Once formed, those groups usually saw little change, but today, that unspoken rule was broken when someone placed their tray down beside me.

“Scarlett, is it okay if I sit beside you?”

Curious about who had the courage to do that, I looked up to see Marin Eloise, the leader of Class B.

“Hey! Is it alright if Floaine joins us too?”

Almost always seen in tandem, Floaine Dolos from Class B placed her tray in front of Marin.

Without waiting for an answer, Floaine sat down next to Jessie, whose eyes trembled in surprise.

Come to think of it, they had a minor argument last time.

Though they had ended amicably, Jessie was currently in a rather sensitive state.

Worried about what Jessie might say to Floaine for sitting beside her without permission, I urgently turned to Marin.

“U-um! W-what brings you here?”

Marin smiled calmly and replied.

“When we chatted at the department store last time, I felt like we really clicked. I wanted to chat a bit more and become closer. Is that okay?”

How could I refuse a lovely girl asking to be friends?

Nodding blankly, I suddenly heard the sound of cutlery clattering from my left.

Wondering what was happening, I turned to see Sylvia giving Marin an icy glare, emanating a cold wave.

That was unexpected.

Did she not like Marin joining our group?

But I didn’t think something like that seemed to bother Sylvia…

At that moment, a recent nighttime event flickered through my mind.

Oh, right…

Sylvia, still glaring at Marin, slowly stood up and muttered with a chilly tone.

“Eloise, I have something to say. Let’s step outside for a moment and talk.”

‘I absolutely won’t accept that!’

Recalling Sylvia’s angry voice from that night made me instinctively swallow hard.

As I watched Sylvia take Marin outside, I chided myself.

You idiot, you should have brought popcorn.