Running Away From The Hero! (Remake)

RATH 61
TL: Eevee

7. Is your backside safe? (13)

“Hooo?”

After the vice-president Risen escaped, the student council were surprisingly quieter than I had expected them to be so I undertook an investigation, and the results were amusing to say the least.

“His bootlicking skills are pretty good.”

Like the metal bat beside me said, the vice-president Risen’s ability to suck up to people was nothing short of exemplary.

Using his shared experiences as a baseline, he used items that were essential to the other students as bait and made allies one by one.

Moreover, he provided food and other daily necessities and appealed of himself as a necessity, and the results were successful.

“That’s no fun.”
“Owner? Dint’ya say that this was to remind the students how important coming to school was? But fun? Fuu~uun~?”
“They say even geniuses can’t defeat people that enjoy something.”
“That’s their problem. Owner’s got nuffin’ ta do with thaat?!”

Lately this kid’s been retorting back at me a fair bit.

Did something happen that I wasn’t aware of, why’s she caring so much for the students?

“That’s cause, the students’re obvs way to pitiful, dat’s why!”

This kid, now what the heck is she saying.

“If you didn’t go around hitting everyone, I could guarantee that the students would have absolutely no complaints left anymore whatsoever?”
“Uwiit? That ain’t rite!”

Just why are the students risking everything to escape from school?

The answer to a majority of them would be to avoid this kid’s tushitushis.

“In that case, no more action for you from now on.”
“Owner, owner said it rite? It’s youth ‘cuz it hurts! So these kids in the prime of their youths need me!”

What a clean stance change.

If she’d been a tiny bit quicker she could even pass for a politician back in my previous world.

“Cuz it’s meh! The textbook example of stance changing!”

And the unique thing is that said textbook example was all for the sake of hitting people.

“So owner, whatcha gonna do? You gonna tell th’ vice-pres to stop, or penalise the other stuco members on the rooftop?”

Now what kind of dreary suggestion is that.

“I’m not going to do anything?”
“There’s no way my owner would do that?”

Now just what kind of human does this thing take me for.

“Course that’d be an evil human more demonic than a demon, exactly like the evil god’s apostle!”
“What evil god’s apostle. You say that carelessly and I’m going to get hauled off.”
“Wiing, the evil god’s apostle’s denying the evil god, awuu!”

Since she kept on harping on about the evil god’s apostle I delivered a chop to her head and she bit her tongue.

Perhaps even metal hurts when it bites its tongue, no, to begin with I’d have to research to see what part of the bat corresponds to the tongue anyway, but this amusing research topic would have to be put off till later.

“Since it’s about time for them to get out on their own anyway, it shouldn’t matter if there’s a bit of assistance.”
“About time to get out? I reckon that’s probs a long way off.”

The person on the scene knows of the situation on the scene the best.

The metal bat’s opinion who was guiding (violating) the students on the site in person would probably be correct.

And even in reality, they have still yet to break through Professor Muam on the first floor.

“But they’ll escape all the faster because of that!”
“Owner’s words’re always so fulla bullshit I can’t understand it!”

Hmph, this creature knows much too little about the organisms named students.

“Hmph, owner’s being mean cause I can’t even go to th’ academy cuzza you, it’s unfair!”
“Eh, you’re not old enough to attend the academy?”
“Wiing? Yer rite?”

I nodded after I simply told her the simple truth of it.

“And for the record students, are creatures that study.”
“That’s obvious innit? Even I know dat?”

Indeed, the duty of a student is to study.

“And for the record, if you tell someone that’s crying to not cry, they want to cry even harder.”
“Really?”

Judging by her tilted head it seems she doesn’t get it.

In that case let’s give her a personal example.

“If Aris came begging to you to not hit her, and begging while crying as well, what would you do?”
“Haak? Our absolutely delicious Aris begging in tears… U, unni can’t wait any longer! Hak! It’s, it’s this feeling!”
“Yes, it’s that feeling.”

Actually I think it’s a bit, no, a lot different but since she understands I’ll let it slide for now.

“And the specifics of that kind of people, if you keep telling them to study, the less they actually want to do it.”
“Even if they don’t wanna what can they do? Owner’s locking them up and making ’em.”
“Normally if they don’t want to they run away, and the ones that run away you lock up and make them study.”

And if you lock them up they run away again, and the one who is teaching them does their best to stop that.

The endless Möbius strip(1) of education is the same in any world.

“So what’s that got to do with the students escaping now?”
“Simple logic. They want to go, yet we are holding them back. But in front of them is a giant wall. A giant wall that they cannot escape without climbing over, but is too big for them to.”
“So they can’t?”
“But these kids are going to face an even greater ordeal very soon.”
“Dat me?”
“No, the start of the new semester.”
“Wiing?”

The metal bat’s eyes widened to saucers.

Yes, she wouldn’t have thought of that.

The reason the kids are running to leave school was to get away from her, but their first and foremost priority was to enjoy their holidays.

But if the holidays were ending?

If their normal academy life returned?

Without ever having experienced the joys of the holidays.

“There’s less than a month till the end of the holidays. And moreover since the student council have to prepare for the imperial festival, they need to mobilise during the holidays as well.”
“P, poor them…”
“And so they need to try even harder to enjoy their holidays.”

Especially the first years, who couldn’t possibly waste the first holidays of their lives like this!

#15 Their story: Aris ril Letia’s story.

“Kuaaaaahhhghhh!”

As the daughter of a marquis, no a noble lady I shouldn’t scream like this, and I knew it.

But, sometimes there are situations where you just have to scream.

“What is it, Aris?”
“Milady, did something happen?”
“Did a devil appear?”

As I clutched my head in a stress-induced headache the other students began to gather, but it seemed they didn’t know why I was like this.

The reason I was despairing, was simply because I checked today’s date.

And the meaning of that was.

“There’s, exactly one month left.”
“Till the imperial festival? No, there’s at least two months left til the imperial festival though?”
“A month? What’s there in a month?”

Yes, everyone else didn’t get it.
Yes, that was very well possible.
Because it is simply unimaginable.

“Lady Aris, just what do we have a month left of?”

To my very pure classmate, I told them the shocking truth I had just come to terms with.

“We only have a month left of the holidays.”
“…Come again?”

For a moment, there was silence in the surroundings.

Yes, indeed.

We’ve never had a break, but there’s only a month left of the holidays.

Other people are all back home with their families and resting up, or going on adventures with friends.

Or if not, just staying at their dorms to go sightseeing in the capital would be what you’d expect from a normal holiday life.

But we’ve never enjoyed any of that despite the holidays coming to a close.

“Kyaaaaaahhhhk!”
“Nooooooooooo!”

After a long silence, screams and shouts began to burst out from around the classroom.

In an academy where the majority of the students are nobles, normally you’d never see this happen, but only in Yugrasia are these things frequent occurrences.

“It looks like you all get it. It just one month’s time, we have to do the night study again.”
“L, lies?”
“That can’t be! Why is it that even though the holidays have started, I don’t have any memories of the holidays!”
“The only memory I have of the holidays are getting knocked out by the silver devil!”

The commotion that began with my scream didn’t settle down until a teacher came into begin the lesson.

“As I thought this… this is the only way!”

And the conclusion I came to.

To find an answer to this ridiculous holiday life.

“What do we have to do to break through!”
“Hm… and you came to me to ask that question?”

The person that looked at me, taken aback was a teacher of short stature.

Asking Professor Muam, the final boss himself, was my direct approach.

“Yes!”

At my forthright words Professor Muam seemed to think for a bit before he sighed and said with a bitter smile.

“Become a swordsmaster.”
“Is there no other way?”
“Yes.”

My expression probably turned to something similar to Professor Muam’s.

Swordsmaster.

The pinnacle of dreams known as the beginning and end of the sword that every swordsman dreamed of.

If there were people who approached the wall of a swordsmaster at a young age, yet never broke through until they died, there are also people who broke through to become a swordsmaster in their old age.

The realm that was said to be administered solely by the gods of war and magic.

And I had to enter that realm purely to enjoy my holidays.

“…Does that make any sense to you?”

Even the person acclaimed throughout the empire and throughout the continent, the daughter of the Aresta marquisate, Sir Reia whom they called the Sword Princess couldn’t become a swordsmaster at my age.

And you’re telling me to do that?

“No, even if there are many humans overflowing with potential, the only ones that are that monstrous are the heroes.”

Professor Muam’s nodded and his reply was straight and direct.

“Indeed, but on the contrary it would be obvious, would it not Miss Aris?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, even if I look like this I’m the strongest elementalist of the gnomes, the contractor of the Spirit King of Water whose appearances are all recorded in the history books, wouldn’t it be weirder for students to be able to defeat me no matter how talented they are?”
“Th, that’s…”

When he put it like that, he was right.

The opponent was the contractor of the Spirit King of Water, the most famous of the four elemental spirit kings.

And I need to defeat him, and the other teachers in under 30 minutes.

…Professor Nicerwin had given us an impossible mission to begin with!

“At the very least you must be a swordsmaster to break the barrier of a Spirit King, and if you were to take advantage of the gap that formed then you might find a way to escape, but that would be impossible as long as you lacked a swordsmaster, no?”
“It would.”

After I heard the answer I stood blankly outside Professor Muam’s office for a long time, until the bell went off for the next class when I hurriedly rushed back to the classroom.

And the next break period.

“Isn’t it impossible?”

I couldn’t focus on studying, and after brooding on it I ended up coming to Professor Nicerwin to complain.

But.

“Don’t you just have to become a swordsmaster?”

The opponent was Professor Nicerwin!

To me who was complaining about the impossible difficulty where it was impossible to defeat unless you were a swordsmaster, he replied with an answer implying that it was our fault we didn’t have a swordsmaster.

“No, do you seriously believe it’s possible to become a swordsmaster?!”
“I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Words just aren’t getting through to him.

No seriously, he’s saying as if it was the most obvious thing.

“That’s impossible!”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to become a Grand Swordsmaster of legend or anything, what’s so impossible about that? Moreover, Miss Aris, you’re on the precipice of that very threshold.”

This man, although he knows nearly everything about summons, it seems he knows almost nothing about swordsmanship.

“Many, many swordsmen dedicate their entire lives to step over that threshold.”
“Life is always an uncertain thing. You always miss what’s right in front of you, after all.”
“In that case, do you know how to become a swordsmaster, Professor?”

At his statement that belittled the entirety of swordsmen, I said in a mild outburst of anger as a swordsman and not a student, but the Professor’s answer was completely unexpected.

“I know the theory.”
“Huh?”

Now just what the hell did this human just say.

“Hm… could you please call over Professor Muam for a minute.”

At his all-too deadpan words.

I didn’t believe for an instant that he was telling the truth, but my body was already moving to call over Professor Muam.

“What is it Professor Nicerwin? Miss Aris said that you were looking for me.”
“I have something to tell Miss Aris, and I need your help for that.”
“Hm? Really?”

At Professor Nicerwin’s words, Professor Muam nodded before doing what Professor Nicerwin instructed him to do.

“Is this alright?”

And what Professor Muam created shortly afterwards was pure white snow.

As fresh snow you could only see in winter piled on top of Professor Nicerwin’s desk, Professor Nicerwin rolled some up into a snowball and showed it to me, saying.

“Now, do you see this?”
“Yes.”

The moment I nodded, he smiled and said.

As he threw the snowball in my face.

Smack!

“Then, did it hurt?”

…Teacher or no, is he looking for a fucking fight?