The Last Place Hero's Return-Chapter 75: Observation Class (1)

A few days had passed since our successful expedition into the ruins, and our classes had resumed.

Standing before the cadets in the lecture hall, Professor Kane said, “As many of you have probably seen through your Hero Watches, we have a parent observation class scheduled for next week.”

The parent observation class was an annual tradition held around this time every year. It was one of the rare moments when the Hero Academy, which operated strictly as a full-boarding institution and prohibited outside access to all outsiders, including parents, opened its doors to the public.

Recent rumors said it might be canceled because of the Sealing Festival incident, but it was still on. However, it wasn’t an event that had anything to do with me since I had no parents to invite, after all. But people like me were rare exceptions. For most other cadets, it was an entirely different matter.

Groans and complaints echoed throughout the hall. It wasn’t surprising, as few cadets were ever happy about this observation day.

“So, it’s that time again, huh.”

“Ugh! I really hope they don’t come this year.”

“I know, right?”

“Seriously, what are we? Ten-year-olds? Why do we even have this parent class?”

“Hahh! I thought the Sealing Festival incident would’ve been a good excuse to cancel it.”

Like one cadet said, we weren’t kids anymore, so there was no point in upholding this tradition. Well, the truth was that this observation class also acted as a kind of networking event for active heroes.

Due to the hereditary nature of soul stigmatas, powers were passed down from parent to child, and most cadets were born to currently active heroes. Therefore, the observation class was more of an excuse to gather all those hard-to-schedule parents in one place.

Sometimes on this day, some parents would show up and leave without even seeing their kids. That was rare, of course. Most parents dropped in to see how their children were doing, check how different modern schooling was compared to their own academy days—over eighty percent of parents were alumni themselves—and use the opportunity to catch up with other parents.

Even if cadets were technically legal adults under continental law, they still looked like helpless kids in their parents’ eyes. That was just how parents were.

Professor Kane then said, “This year’s observation class will be carried out under the direct instruction of Headmaster Ryu, so expect thorough preparations.”

The chorus of complaints continued.

“Ugh!”

“Come on!”

“We already have too much homework, and now this?!”

Professor Kane sighed as he looked over the class. “I know, I know. But with that recent incident, you all understand why this is necessary.”

The rampage of the demonic monsters during the Sealing Festival had rattled the academy. The administration needed to prove to the parents that the academy was still a safe place.

He continued, “Alright. You’ve all experienced this in the past couple of years, so you should know what the most important part of these preparations is, right?”

Complete silence ensued.

Professor Kane’s piercing gaze swept across the class, then settled on me. “Let’s see... Dale, why don’t you—”

Before he could finish, Albert shot up from his seat with a scowl and a clenched fist. “Aw, c’mon! Fine! I’ll answer! You were going to call on me again anyway, weren’t you?”

“No, actually. I thought it’d be unfair to call on you every time, so I was about to ask Dale,” Professor Kane replied.

“W-wait, seriously?”

“Well, now that you’re already up, let’s hear it, Albert.”

Albert slammed his desk in frustration. “Damn it!”

I couldn’t help but grin as I looked at his back. Thanks, Albert. I owe you one. Thanks to you, I get to stay out of the spotlight.

Professor Kane looked at him and asked, “Well then, go ahead. What’s the most important part of preparing for the observation class?”

Albert answered, “That would be...”

He pulled a small notebook from inside his jacket. Tucked inside it was an old, faded photograph. In the picture, a younger Albert smiled brightly between his two parents. He continued, “I believe it’s our smiles, Professor.”

“Oh?”

“Why do parents travel all the way here from the Empire, the Holy Empire, and the Republic? Isn’t it because they want to see with their own eyes how well their children are doing? Whether they are healthy? Happy?” Albert explained.

“Go on.”

Albert clenched his fists, eyes gleaming with conviction. “That’s why, to reassure them, the most important thing we cadets can prepare... is our smile! And to help us smile, I believe it’s essential that we not be overloaded with assignments during this time!”

Professor Kane folded his arms and nodded slowly. “Hmmm, I see. So, reduce assignments to make room for smiles, is it? That’s one way to look at it.”

“T-then does that mean...”

“However.” Professor Kane shook his head. “Albert. I’m afraid you’re laboring under a serious misconception.”

“A misconception, sir?”

Still smiling, Professor Kane slung an arm around Albert’s shoulders. “Smiles don’t always come from joy or happiness.”

“Sir?”

“Let me show you. Albert, smile for me.”

“Right now? That’s kind of...”

Still hugging Albert with one arm, Professor Kane raised a fist the size of a watermelon and waved it threateningly in front of his face. “Smile.”

“AH HAH HAH HAH! O-oh my gosh, Professor, you’re such a joker! AH HAH HAH!”

“How are you feeling, Albert? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“AHAHA! Absolutely, Professor!”

“Are you happy?”

“Of course! AHAHAHA!”

Professor Kane finally lowered his fist, a satisfied grin on his face. “Good, good. That’s the spirit.”

With a face pale as a ghost and gasping for breath, Albert finally wriggled free from Professor Kane’s grasp.

“There you have it,” Professor Kane said, spreading his arms wide. “As you all just saw, a person doesn’t have to be happy or cheerful to smile. The thing we need to prepare isn’t some smile.”

Even when life was painful and hard, people could still smile. The truly necessary thing to get ready for the parent observation day was something else entirely.

Grinning devilishly, Professor Kane pulled out an assortment of cleaning supplies and placed them atop the podium. “It’s cleaning. A spotless, immaculate cleaning job! So pristine you could lick the floor with your tongue and not taste a speck of dust. That’s what you should all be focusing on. Today, we’ll start with a full wet-cleaning of the hall.”

Groans rippled across the room like a slow wave of despair. Just imagining days of nonstop cleaning until the observation day made every cadet’s soul leave their body a little.

Amidst the heavy sighs, I calmly raised my hand. “Professor Kane.”

“Yes?”

“You said we all need to clean for the parent observation class. But shouldn’t those of us without parents be exempt?”

“Oh?”

I pressed on without hesitation. “I don’t even know my parents’ names. I grew up alone in an orphanage. And now, you’re asking me to clean the school just to impress parents who don’t even exist in my life? This is emotional violence, sir!”

Professor Kane let out a low sigh, clearly moved, or so it seemed. “I see. I must apologize. I didn’t consider the pain you carry in your heart, Dale.”

Seizing the moment, I stood up and declared passionately, “So, please, allow me to be excused from cleaning!”

“Well, it can’t be helped. In that case, I’ll become your parent,” he said.

“What?”

Come again? I said in my mind.

Professor Kane continued, “I may be an old bachelor who’s never even married, but if it means healing a wounded cadet’s heart, I’ll gladly take on that role!”

“No.”

“From now on, you may call me Father, Dale.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re still cleaning.”

“Fuck!”

No matter how passionately I resisted, it was all for nothing. In the end, every single cadet, including me, was mobilized for school-wide cleaning duty.

So, this is what it feels like to stand powerless before the current of fate, even when you know what’s coming, I thought.

Sighing, I resigned to my fate, pushing my mop down the corridor with bitter futility. As we continued scrubbing and sweeping, I noticed something up ahead. Yuren was standing by the window, gazing blankly outside.

Approaching him, I asked, “Hey, are you slacking off?”

When he saw me, he jumped in surprise. “Huh? D-Dale?!”

“What, why so jumpy? Scared I’ll rat you out to the professor?”

“N-no! That’s not it.” Yuren gave an awkward chuckle and scratched the back of his head. “I was just... thinking about something.”

“What kind of something?”

“Nothing important.”

Belying his reply, his eyes, which were tinged with something bitter, darted away from mine. It didn’t seem like “nothing important” to me.

Still, if he didn’t want to talk about it, there was no need to press him. Everyone had at least one or two things weighing on their mind. And Yuren was more than capable of handling his problems. After all, this was the man who stood against the Demon God himself without flinching, who fought until the end without breaking. He was the sun I followed. A bit of soul-searching? He could handle that on his own just fine.

I asked, “Anyway, your mom’s coming for the observation day, right?”

“My mom?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’ve got a mom, don’t you?”

This conversation made me realize I knew almost nothing about Yuren’s mother. By the time I had teamed up with him post-mercenary life, she had already passed away, and Yuren seldom talked about his family.

“Ah, my mother? She won’t be coming. She’s really busy,” he replied.

“Really?”

“Yeah. She didn’t come last year or the year before either.”

“Heh! We’re in the same boat then.”

Well, in my case, it was more like the boat never existed.

I said, “Want to sneak off somewhere and train together that day? Since no one is coming for us, we can’t participate in the class anyway.”

Yuren’s face lit up like a lamp, and he nodded eagerly. “R-really? That sounds great!”

Just as we were deciding where and when to meet, a soft chime rang out from Yuren’s Hero Watch. He said, “Huh? Wait a sec, I think I got a message.”

He tapped the screen and began to read, but as his eyes scanned each line, his smile slowly drained away.

“What is it? What does the message say?” I asked.

“M-my mom...” His voice trembled as he whispered, “My mom... said she’s coming to the academy.”

Just like that, a new expression came over Yuren’s face, one I had never seen before. Not once in all the ten years I knew him, and not even during his final battle against the Demon God.

This was different. This was fear.