Chapter 76

Chapter 76. Parent Observation Class (2)

Time flew by, and it was the day of the Parent Observation Class.

From early morning, the school was bustling. I lay back on my bed, looking out the dormitory window.

“Haah.”

A lazy sigh escaped my lips.

‘There’s really nothing to do at this time.’

As the name suggests, the Parent Observation Class was mostly for the candidates and their parents, so candidates like me, who had no parents visiting, often had a lot of free time during the event.

It was practically a free day off, so some candidates even preferred not having their parents come.

‘I used to hate Parent Observation Class days so much.’

Now, I don’t feel anything about not having parents visit, but in my past life, I lived with a deep sense of inferiority about being an orphan.

I secretly wished that those who were happily laughing with their parents would become unhappy.

“Ugh, thinking about it now, it’s so embarrassing.”

I shook my head, feeling the heat of my past life’s memories.

‘Maybe I should go check out the Parent Observation Class.’

In the past, even if I had to go out, I would deliberately avoid the areas where the Parent Observation Class was being held, but now there was no reason to do that.

The void left by the absence of my parents had already been filled to the brim by other people.

“Alright.”

It’s not like I had anything better to do lying in bed, wasting time.

Might as well go check out the ‘Parent Observation Class’ that I wouldn’t even have thought of looking at in my past life.

“Hop.”

I got out of bed, changed into my uniform, and headed outside.

The school was already bustling with parents starting to arrive.

“My son~ How have you been? How’s school life? Are the classes manageable?”

“Ah, Mom. Please don’t hug me in front of everyone. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Look at this kid talking. It feels like just yesterday I was changing your diapers.”

“I’m twenty now, what do you mean ‘just yesterday’?”

From parents bickering affectionately.

“What’s with this midterm result? Huh? Do you even want to be a hero?”

“No, it’s just… this was my first real combat, so I was a bit nervous.”

“Tch. Then what have you been learning for the past two years? Who do you think sent you here to play around?”

“…Sorry.”

“Anyway. With grades like that, I can’t write you a recommendation letter for your dad’s guild.”

“Ah, no! I have to get in there!”

To parents who started scolding their kids the moment they saw them.

‘So peaceful.’

The heroes, before the Devil God’s army truly started to wreak havoc, were so carefree it made me want to laugh.

‘How long will days like this last?’

Who knows.

Even I, who had lived through a past life, couldn’t be sure.

The future had already started to change in ways I couldn’t predict.

“Let’s see…”

I wandered through the bustling school plaza, looking around.

I wondered if I’d see any familiar faces, but no one stood out.

‘Come to think of it, Iris said she was from an orphanage.’

I’m not sure if Camila was also from an orphanage, but given her position as the Saint’s escort knight, even if she had parents, they probably wouldn’t come.

‘Berald also said his parents weren’t coming.’

In Berald’s case, he was known as the ‘black sheep of the Ryu family’ and was thoroughly disliked by the main family, so he himself had asked his parents not to come.

Probably because the main family members of the Ryu family would be here today.

‘Where’s Yuren?’

I looked around the plaza for Yuren, but he wasn’t around.

“Huu.”

After wandering aimlessly around the school for a while, I started to feel thirsty.

‘It’s not even June yet, but it’s already so hot.’

I headed to the back of the school building to grab a drink from the vending machine.

“…Did you have any trouble getting here?”

Yuren’s voice came from afar.

“Huh?”

I tilted my head and walked towards the direction of the voice.

There, I saw a woman in an elegant, old-fashioned dress that immediately made me think of the word ‘noblewoman,’ and a man standing behind her like a shadow, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.

‘Is that Yuren’s mother?’

I heard Yuren’s father passed away when he was young, so that man was probably her escort knight.

‘Her name was… Rozanna Helios, right?’

Rozanna of the Flash.

I had never seen or spoken to her in my past life, but I had heard her name a few times.

‘She was the hero who barely kept the declining Helios family afloat.’

She was quite a famous hero in her active days.

As I was reminiscing, Rozanna’s voice continued.

“Yes. I made it safely.”

“Uh… why did you come all of a sudden?”

“Can’t I come to see my son?”

Rozanna looked at Yuren with cold eyes.

Yuren shook his head in a panic.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant… it’s just… you’re so busy with family matters.”

“I came because I have something to discuss.”

“Something to discuss…?”

Yuren looked at her nervously.

“Before that.”

Rozanna’s gaze turned towards me.

“Who is that over there?”

“……”

I wasn’t exactly hiding, but I didn’t think I’d be noticed so easily.

I shrugged and walked over to Yuren.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dale Han, Yuren’s friend.”

“Da-Dale? What are you doing here…?”

Yuren looked at me, startled.

“…Friend?”

Rozanna glared at me sharply, then let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Yuren, have you been hanging out with this Republic mongrel?”

“……”

Republic mongrel.

A derogatory term mainly used by Imperial nobles to belittle Republic citizens, a term that had been around since about 300 years ago when the Republic officially abolished its old currency and naming conventions and started adopting the continent’s culture.

‘Haven’t heard that in a while.’

Back when the Republic first opened its doors and changed its naming convention from ‘family name + given name’ to ‘given name + family name’ to match the continent’s style, this term was quite common.

But after 300 years, it had long become a dead word, used only by some stubborn Imperial nobles.

‘Now I get why Yuren rarely talked about his mother.’

Rozanna Helios was the epitome of the ‘stubborn Imperial noble’ that Yuren despised in his past life.

“Mother! What kind of nonsense are you saying to my friend?”

As expected.

Yuren, who had been shrinking back, stepped forward with a fierce expression.

“…What?”

Rozanna looked at Yuren, who had stepped in front of me, with a disbelieving expression.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh…”

Yuren flinched at his mother’s cold voice.

Like a frog facing a snake, Yuren stiffened.

His legs, which hadn’t trembled even in front of the Devil God, were now shaking pitifully.

“W-well, you see…”

“Sigh. This is why I said we should abolish the dormitory system…”

Rozanna sighed deeply and glared at Yuren.

“Where did you learn such insolent manners?”

“……”

“Did that Republic mongrel teach you?”

“Uh…!”

Yuren gritted his teeth and glared at Rozanna.

“Discriminatory remarks against other nations are prohibited within the Hero School! You know that, right, Mother?!”

“Ha, are you lecturing me now?”

“It’s not a lecture, it’s informing you of the ‘Neutral Zone’ regulations!”

Yuren, trembling with fear but standing his ground, spoke clearly.

“Violating the regulations will tarnish the honor of the Helios family!”

“Honor? Did you just say honor?”

Rozanna’s expression twisted fiercely.

Her Holy Mark glowed, and golden magic power enveloped her body.

“How dare you…! How dare you speak of the Helios family’s honor in front of me?!”

Whoosh!

Her arm swung fiercely through the air.

Just before Rozanna’s palm struck Yuren’s cheek.

Thud!

I caught her arm mid-swing.

“Can’t just stand by and watch this nonsense.”

I hadn’t planned to get involved in Yuren’s family matters, but seeing this, I couldn’t just stand by.

I pulled her arm and stood in front of Rozanna.

“Cut it out, lady.”

“…What?”

Rozanna stared at me, her mouth agape.

“Ah, lady…? Did you just call me ‘lady’?”

“Well, what else should I call you? You’re not exactly a ‘miss,’ are you?”

A person should have some conscience. You can’t expect to be called ‘miss’ when you have a twenty-year-old son.

“You insolent…!”

The blatant term ‘lady’ seemed to hit her hard.

Her face turned red and blue as she tried to shake off my grip.

No, to be precise, she tried to shake it off.

“Uh?!”

Despite her efforts, her arm didn’t budge, and her expression twisted.

Even though she had retired, she was once a hero known as ‘Rozanna of the Flash,’ so she must have been confident in her skills.

‘Amateur.’

If she was a hero who made a name for herself in the past, I was one of the ‘Last Five Heroes’ in my past life.

And now, I had achieved even greater heights in terms of skill.

Compared to my current level, hers was like a firefly in the sunlight.

“Eek!”

Rozanna’s expression twisted fiercely as she unleashed more magic power.

As expected of Yuren’s mother, in terms of pure magic power, she had far more than me.

But strength is also about who uses it and how.

By subtly shifting my weight, I kept her arm locked, and Rozanna’s expression grew increasingly strained.

“Robert!”

At Rozanna’s sharp call, the man standing like a shadow behind her reached for the sword at his waist.

As the sword was halfway drawn.

“Hey.”

Swish, thud!

I slapped the hilt of the sword, and it slid back into its sheath.

The man called Robert stumbled back in shock.

“Don’t draw it, that thing.”

If you draw it, you’re dead.