Running Away From The Hero! (Remake)

RATH 54
TL: Eevee

7. Is your backside safe? (6)

#9 Their story: A certain student council president’s story

“Where… is this place?”
“I don’t know. It looks like a classroom, but it’s my first time seeing it.”
“Risen’s seen what it looks like outside. Wake him up and ask him.”
“No, he’s a goner. Risen… might not wake up again.”

Karen had been poking Risen, who was sprawled out with his tongue dangling out of his mouth, but when she got no response she shook her head.

And at that response, all the rest of us could do was sigh.

“Does that mean we have to break through this ourselves?”
“Probably. At least I think this is still somewhere on school grounds. Because he definitely said that he was going to teach us that being able to go to school was a blessing.”
“Going to school a blessing…”

But even so, who would have thought he’d imprison the students.

This is no longer a problem between nobility. This is a problem as a student, no, as a human!

Just what the hell have we done wrong for him to do pull off something this ridiculous!

Because we didn’t go to school?

Was not going to school during the holidays really that grave a sin?

Fine, let’s say it is a sin. But even if it is, the silver devil appears if you don’t escape the academy in time?

At the very least if that thing didn’t show up then we wouldn’t have tried to run away like this!

In that case our fate is to either escape from here.

“They’re not really going to keep us here until the start of the new term?”
“Hiik!”
“They wouldn’t!”

Professor Nicerwin said that he would teach us just how much of a blessing ‘going to school’ was.

To pick his words apart, we became unable to go to school.

He would teach someone already at school, the blessing of being able to go to school?

“Re, really?”

Although I personally had my doubts, the majority of the people here were thinking “surely they wouldn’t?”

But the enemy was Professor Nicerwin.

Every time we thought “but even so, would that ever happen?” the person who made that a reality was Professor Nicerwin.

If anyone else to say it, it would be bullshit but if Professor Nicerwin says it then it becomes reality!

Who would ever have thought we’d end up doing morning pre-reading, afternoon after-school classes, night time self-directed night study, and special holiday study during the holidays?

But this academy, no, Professor Nicerwin actually went forward and implemented these absolutely ridiculous ideas, and let alone the teachers, not even the parents are uttering so much as a squeak of complaint.

And then ourselves?

If he had imprisoned us on grounds of yet another new special study programme?

“We need to search this place now!”

As I hurriedly jumped up and opened the sole door in the room, the one the silver devil had come in through, outside was a hallway that was slightly narrower than normal.

The mood, colours, and overall outward appearance was very much a familiar Yugrasia hallway.

“Damn it…”

But even as I took in the sight I couldn’t help but spit out a curse.

Because.

“Where, where the heck is this…”

Indeed. Minimum two years.
And at most we’ve been in this school for three years, would there be anywhere in the school that we, the student council might be unfamiliar with?

The fact that we, the ones who do all the odd jobs in the school don’t know this place, means that no one knows where this place is.

“Pres, where is this? Is this actually inside the academy?”
“Judging by the looks of this, we are still in the academy. But, not someplace we know.”
“Damn it, to think there’s a place in the school that not even the student council knows about. You guys think that this might actually be a different academy? If it’s another school then we wouldn’t be familiar with it.”

As one after another began to scream externally or whimper softly in despair, one student offered his opinion.

“That might be possible.”

To begin with, the Four Great Academies were built in the same place at the same time.

So if it’s another school, it wouldn’t be weird for there to be a place we were familiar with, yet didn’t know.

But.

“That’s probably not going to be it. Professor Nicerwin’s final goal is victory in the imperial festival. There’s nothing to be gained by leaking out information about us.”

He said he would make us victorious in the imperial festival to raise Yugrasia’s glory days once again.

And would such a person really reveal our abilities to a third party so easily?

He could possibly do this to advertise Yugrasia to the populace, or to prospective parents.

But right now it was the holidays, very close to the imperial festival.

When the second semester begins, we’re all going straight into imperial festival preparations, so would he really reveal our abilities to the enemy?

“That’s true, Pres.”
“No, if it’s that human then once this is over then he might go [Your weaknesses have already been revealed so find a solution to them!] and say something as careless as that.”
“That’s also a definite possibility.”

Even I unconsciously nodded at that opinion.

But either way, this was an unfamiliar place.

And moreover, what we were wearing were not our uniforms which were inlaid with all sorts of defensive spells, but our very thin pajamas.

Even if only a very small number of teachers were guarding this place, it seemed like escaping from here was going to be difficult.

But for the sake of our holidays, we need to get through this crisis.

“Well then, same as always, Risen… is dead. Then Karen and I will split the class into two and search for a way out.
“Can we escape?”
“Professor Nicerwin always gives us a way to escape before he tells us to escape on our own. But avoid combat as much as possible. If the silver devil in particular happens to show up again, run away at all costs and spread word around you.”
“Understood!”

At the mention of the silver devil, everyone became tense.

“Alright, don’t let your guards down. Our objective is solely escape. If there is anyone who falls behind, it’s unfortunate but we’ll have to leave them!”

You could think of us as heartless.

But we, who had been trained by the night study all knew.

Just how many sacrifices were needed to save a single comrade!

After we realised this, even if we were abandoned, even if we had to abandon someone, we were all able to keep a level head.

This is the progress of the students of Yugrasia, honed by the night study!

“Pres’s group check the right side, and the vice-pres’s group should check out the classrooms on the left hand side.”
“The important thing is to discover ways to escape, and find out where this place is.”

As we nodded, we split up into groups of four and the odd group of five as we began to search the rooms.

“It looks like a classroom…”
“But it’s not a place we know.”

Even if the academy had changed a lot due to Professor Nicerwin’s modifications, the overall architecture remained.

But despite looking like a classroom of Yugrasia, this was an unknown classroom that none of us had ever seen before.

Was this made with escapes in mind? There weren’t even any windows on the classroom walls so everything was dark.

“Let’s look for clues.”

As we searched the desks and tables, even the furniture.

“Identified something that appears to be a textbook from a desk!”
“I found a weird card in the locker!”
“Only chalk on the blackboard!”

There were three things we found on the classroom walls.

A black card, a mysterious textbook. And a piece of chalk.

“Let’s check out this textbook first.”

And once we flipped open the cover, there was!

“Blank?”

No matter how many pages we looked at, unlike the vibrant cover, there was nothing inside but blank pages.

“There’s nothing here?”
“Isn’t this classroom a bust?”
“Hmm…”

Was it really? The opponent was Professor Nicerwin.

Would the person who thinks of nothing but how to make his students suffer, really craft such a simple trap?

In my opinion, never.

Knowing that human, he’d probably fill up the entire textbook with random letters.

And once we decoded it, we’d probably get something like [Ehhh gotcha!] or [Too bad! Better luck next time!].

Now, bearing this in mind.

That type of person left a hint on this blank page. In that case?

“We need to use the tools in our surroundings.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look closely.”

I crushed the chalk to a powder, and sprinkled it onto the blank page.

And when I scraped off the excess with the card…

“Ohhhhhh!”
“I can see letters!”
“Amazing, pres!”

This is my skill, the student council president of Yugrasia!

We will no longer be one-sidedly bullied any longer, Professor Nicerwin!

Soon, we could see visible letters in front of us.

And through this we will be able to find a way to escape from here!

And that way is!

[Too bad. Better luck next time.]

***

-Graaaaaaaagghhhhhh! God damn it all!

I watched the stuco pres screaming as he clutched his head.

You thought you used your heads, but I am standing above you all!

“Uwee, the pres got baited! Fwappyfwappy baited!”
“They’ve still got a long way to go.”

Although it seemed like the others still hadn’t found any clues yet, the stuco pres alone found a way.

But there’s no way I’d give out hints as easy as that, now would I?

Naturally the majority of them are fails.

The probability of a real hint is 3%.

“But owner? Are ya really not gonna let the kids go back?”
“Since that is what I said I will need to hold to that.”
“Whaddabout food?”
“That will come if they succeed their missions.”
“That’s… of course enough for everyone ta eat, right?”
“Of course not enough for everyone.”
“Owner’s totes a devil!”

I simply copied a few comedy programs from my past life.

If there was a devil then it would be the producers of those comedy shows.

“It’s getting close to time, so prepare to head out.”
“Wiing? Party time alweady?”

I showed a clock to the girl who was saying pointless things.

The time was 1PM.

Meaning, the time that the students’ time attack began.

“Ah, but owner! The kids’re struggling lately cause the student council isn’t there with ’em, izzit still alwight for me to beat ’em up?”
“Doesn’t matter. The majority of the student council are on the eight floor anyway. The kids on the third floor can do it if they try hard enough.”

Moreover those kids aren’t even trying either.

It’s just because that vice-president Risen just openly goes around breaking walls and shit, but the area where this magic tool can actually observe is limited.

To begin with, this thing was constructed small, with a tiny mana footprint to be undetectable by students so it has its limits for surveillance, let alone close observation!

And in all honesty, if a large number of students all charge through the first floor, spread out and break through the walls then there would be a limit to the number of students that would be caught.

Although of course if they did that then the metal bat would immediately be dispatched to the main gates, but the ones with summons capable of flight would still be able to escape.

But the majority of these kids have either given up, or lost reason and repeatedly charge at Professor Muam.

No seriously, charging in headfirst against a spirit king of water, are they even thinking?

“So don’t hold back.”
“Wiing, of courth! Imma fair goddess that doesn’t hold back against anyone!”

I have no idea when she’ll give up on that goddess concept.

Well, judging by that confident face of hers it seems like Miss Aris will have quite the hard time today, but this is all for victory at the imperial festival!

If you went by the mood in the school alone then we’ve already all but won the imperial festival, but who knows what could happen in between.

You could have a demon king proposing to the hero, or when you’ve finally become a civil servant in the empire, your childhood friend became a hero and you end up going on an adventure with her.(1)

That makes no sense? That nonsense exists somewhere in this wide world.

Even in my case, you’ve got the imperial princess of the most powerful nation on the continent chasing me to marry her?

And moreover, not asking me to marry her, but to marry her.

This is a very important difference.

Because my own opinion doesn’t even matter here!

In all reality does any of this make any sense?

It’s a title where if you felt like it, your descendants could potentially aim for the title of emperor.

And said princess with that position is aiming for a man with an unknown background, no, at this point confirmed as a member of an evil organization!

That’s the kind of man his daughter wants to marry, and the emperor’s reaction was something like “Hm. Uh? Congratulations?”

I know fully well that it’s weirder for this country to not have fallen already, but isn’t this seriously way overboard?

“Owner, owner. ‘Nuff whining ’bout ya circumstances, I’ma go now, kay?”

As if my exasperations bored her, the metal bat patted my shoulders as she moved out with light footsteps.

Our current location was my office… or not, but instead the hidden office on the tenth floor!

The reason the metal bat always appears from above is because of this.

This office that not even the majority of the staff know about that was prepared especially for the students’ growth.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Has it started already?”

As I heard the slams from upstairs, I turned my attention back to the magic video tool.

There’s no better entertainment than watching a fight, you know?