I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 63
Late evening.
On the small bed set aside in a room full of attendants, Eric sighed.
‘I think the Instructor is overestimating me.’
He could not sleep at all because the conversation he had with Eugene earlier that day kept nagging at him.
“Even if you don’t step up yourself, the secured witnesses will end up on the stand. Right?”
“…That’s true. That was part of the deal.”
“Even if something happens to you personally.”
“…Yes.”
“Do you know why I still want to protect you?”
“That is….”
“The head of the Halenber house, Jeff Halenber.”
“…….”
“You’re the only one who can persuade him, Eric Halenber.”
“Me… my father?”
“If Jeff Halenber exposed Bernhardt’s corruption as an insider, he’d at least get some degree of preferential treatment. At this point, that’s about all we could hope for.”
“…Instructor, hadn’t you wanted Halenber to collapse?”
“I only wanted to keep the balance. That had the best chance of success.”
“Chance… of success, you mean.”
“Don’t forget. There was only one way left for Halenber to survive.”
“Sigh….”
Why had the Instructor said that at the end?
‘Does he think I’d still be attached to Halenber?’
If that was what he thought, he was completely mistaken.
He knew how they treated him in Halenber.
He knew what kind of son Eric Halenber was to his father.
That man wouldn’t know any of it.
‘Convince that cold-blooded man… That’s impossible for me.’
Making the Hockma incident public meant toppling Halenber.
She had carried it out knowing that. She had chosen it because she believed it was the right thing to do.
She didn’t care if she became a victim dragged into it. She believed that was the path for her.
Even that required enormous resolve from Eric.
And yet they had asked him to do even more.
Feeling the work had grown far beyond what he could handle, he sighed again.
‘…Was Francia always like this too?’
Calamity always came when one was utterly unprepared.
Resistance meant death, so those caught up in it had no choice but to submit.
He had long justified to himself that, as a weak person, submission was the only thing permitted to him.
Until now.
Those who were prepared could seize an opportunity precisely when it arrived.
Eugene Carter had, in effect, hurled a fastball at him.
“Whether you cut Halenber’s throat entirely or barely revive him — that was your choice.”
Eric exhaled deeply and slowly rose.
Even in the dim room, his two fists looked distinct.
“…With them laying out the ground like this, how could I refuse.”
Above all.
He couldn’t make a fool of himself in front of the woman he liked, could he?
He clenched both hands tightly and forced a smile.
Walter Clark, who had returned to Karbenna late, hurried straight to the Chairwoman’s office first thing the next morning.
It was partly because of the letter Carter had asked him to deliver, but he also had personal questions he wanted to ask.
‘With this many teaching aids, it would be easy to run separate classes too.’
Walter walked briskly, skillfully pulling a leather case that was firmly secured with a wooden frame.
As soon as he reached the Chairwoman’s office, he scanned the surroundings.
“Huh?”
There were no servants in sight.
Instead, a heavy voice sounded from the other side.
“I heard the servants took leave.”
When he turned toward the familiar voice, Frederick Lake was approaching.
“Ah, Head of Academic Affairs.”
After Walter’s salute was half-acknowledged, Frederick asked again.
“What are all those trunks for?”
“…I brought them from the Magic Tower.”
“From the Magic Tower? What’s that about?”
“It’s a long story to explain… For now, let’s go in. Didn’t you have business with the Chairwoman?”
“Hmm.”
Frederick scratched his chin, nodded slightly, and knocked on the door.
Knock—knock—
“This is Head of Academic Affairs. I’ve come with Professor Walter, the herbology supervisor. May we come in?”
He expected to be told to enter immediately, but the room inside was unnervingly quiet.
“Maybe she hasn’t come in yet? It is the weekend….”
“If so, she would at least have left a sign at the entrance.”
A sudden uneasy premonition made Frederick grab the handle roughly.
Creak, creak!
No matter how hard he pulled, as if it were locked from the inside, it wouldn’t open.
“I’ll—”
“No, never mind.”
Before Walter could draw his wand, Frederick’s left foot struck the handle area.
Kraaang!
He kicked the left door open, smashing it completely, and hurried inside.
Unexpectedly, Michel Bernhardt was in her usual seat.
The big difference was that she lay face-down on the desk, foaming at the mouth.
“Chairwoman!”
They both rushed to support her, but Michel’s consciousness was already completely gone.
Frederick first helped lift her and carefully laid her on the floor.
“Who on earth—”
“I’ll take a look!”
Walter began touching her in sequence — both wrists, both ankles, collarbones, and thighs — reading the flow of mana.
A thousand possible scenarios flashed through his head.
‘…It’s not poison, at least.’
If it had been poison, an abnormal amount of mana would be emanating from somewhere across the body.
Right now, the mana flow cut off intermittently and didn’t reach the peripheral areas, and that flow weakened in an instant.
‘Then it must be a curse…’
Was there a curse that could so quickly steal someone’s consciousness and lifeforce?
‘Judgment later.’
When the cause could not be precisely identified, the only option was to alleviate the symptoms.
Fortunately, he had more than enough herbs and potions at his disposal.
“…You didn’t foresee even this, did you, Carter?”
While Walter began symptomatic treatment using the contents from his case,
Frederick started to carefully track down the culprit’s trail.
‘The possibility of an outsider is extremely low.’
She had been entangled in countless assassination attempts before.
Her instincts, honed through all of that, were almost prophetic. There were probably fewer than five people in the Empire capable of deceiving her.
‘Then what about an insider?’
If it were someone she trusted completely who had betrayed her and caused this incident—
“…No.”
That didn’t make sense.
Frederick shook his head again.
Because, of course—
There was no one in this world whom Michel Bernhardt “trusted completely.”
‘…Then who the hell?’
Lost in thought, Frederick’s gaze caught on something odd around the desk.
Between the piles of papers scattered haphazardly, a sheet stuck out, its edge stained with a dark brown liquid.
“Looks like… a coffee stain.”
When he instinctively looked under the desk, he found a small teacup lying shattered.
Just as Frederick picked up the cup—
A series of coughing sounds echoed beside him.
“S-success! Head of Academic Affairs! Honestly, I was half-convinced it wouldn’t work, but…!”
“…….”
Michel, who had barely managed to lift her upper body, had regained consciousness.
Frederick carefully approached, knelt on one knee, and met her eyes.
“Are you all right?”
Instead of an answer, Michel weakly asked in a tired voice:
“…Where is Oliver?”
The reality was far more tragic.
“Kyaaaah!!”
“Huff… Huff….”
Oliver was standing in the servants’ lounge—
Hanging by the neck.
A maid who had entered casually fainted on the spot upon seeing the sight, and Frederick could only stand there, breathing heavily, staring at the horror before him.
Beneath where he hung, a small note had fallen.
― I have resolved to give my life in protest against Michel Bernhardt’s oppression. Please burn my body and scatter the ashes. Divide the wages issued in my name equally among the servants of Karbenna.
“…Damn it.”
Frederick quietly folded the note and tucked it into his breast pocket.
Perhaps because the scream had been so loud, people had already gathered, despite the early morning hour.
“What happened here?”
“Please explain, Head of Academic Affairs!”
Though he himself was just as bewildered, Frederick had no choice but to offer explanations for a while, since he was the one on the scene.
After calling the Facility Management Department to preserve the site, he returned to the Chairwoman’s office.
By then, Michel had already fully recovered and regained her usual composed gaze.
As soon as Frederick entered and shut the door, Michel sealed the entrance completely with magic.
The door Frederick had broken earlier had already been restored.
“…First, I must say this.”
She bowed at a ninety-degree angle toward the two men.
“Professor Walter, and Head of Academic Affairs—if not for you, I would have surely died. Thank you.”
“…….”
Hearing a genuine expression of gratitude from the Chairwoman felt so unfamiliar that both men fell silent.
Walter forced a chuckle, trying to act composed.
“Honestly, we were just lucky. If I hadn’t brought enough anti-magic herbs from the Magic Tower, there’d have been no way to help.”
“…How did you come up with using anti-magic herbs for treatment?”
“Judging from the mana reaction, it didn’t seem like poisoning… so I simply tried to raise her anti-magic index through symptomatic treatment.”
“You would’ve needed at least twenty high-grade anti-magic herbs.”
“Ah, that’s because Carter—”
“Carter?”
At Michel’s sharp tone, Walter stiffened and hurriedly replied.
“Carter—no, Instructor Eugene Carter—said there were many unused herbs and magic stones in the Magic Tower and advised me to take some. He also left a message.”
“…A message?”
Walter pulled out a letter envelope he had carefully kept and handed it to her.
“…….”
As she read the letter, Michel’s expression did not change in the slightest.
For a woman who had been on the verge of death moments ago, her face was almost unnervingly calm.
After finishing, she smiled broadly and murmured.
“…Interesting.”
Her family was desperate to kill her, while a complete stranger was desperate to save her.
How could one even explain such a contradiction?
Placing the contents back into the envelope, she gestured for Frederick to come closer.
“…….”
“…….”
“You understand?”
“…I do.”
After their brief exchange, he slung his arm over Walter’s shoulder.
“Come on, we’re leaving.”
“Huh? But her treatment’s not finished—”
“Hey, I said let’s go.”
“You must get a proper diagnosis and prescription, Chairwoman! I only provided emergency treatment…!”
Bang!
As Frederick dragged Walter out, the wide room fell into a suffocating silence once more.
Touching her heated eyes, Michel finally steadied her breath.
Diagnosis and prescription—she needed neither.
She had long known both the cause and the cure for her condition.
As tears welled up again, she clenched her teeth.
Those memories were now faint, but back then, the two of them had been smiling together.
When had the first cracks begun to form?
Since when had her sister wanted to kill her?
Reaching into the air, Michel muttered bitterly.
“…So that’s how you want to play it, Chloe.”
Did you really think this seat would be yours if I died?
Did you think that would erase your arrogance and stupidity?
Do you really not understand why Edgar Bernhardt—your father—never acknowledged you?
“…If that’s truly what you want, then fine.”
I’ll show you exactly what happens when someone with nothing left to lose fights with everything they have.
She rose from her seat and headed toward her private chamber.
There was not a single trace of hesitation in her steps.