Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

→ The Seven Heroes ←

“I hate this class.”

Oznia slumped onto the sofa and muttered, barely moving her lips.

To be honest, Marian secretly agreed with her. She had barely managed to complete the 20 round trips, but now she didn’t have the strength to even lift a finger. The thought of doing this again in the next class made her feel utterly disheartened.

She needed to show her true ability.

Was she capable of doing it? She felt a bit unsure now.

Marian stared listlessly out the dormitory window. Batar was still sprinting around the training ground, looking completely unfazed even after the class had ended.

Her hands trembled so much while showering in her private room that she thought she would die, but did he not get tired at all? Was everyone from his immigrant tribe like that? Marian’s prejudices towards immigrants became even more solidified.

At that moment, someone touched Marian’s shoulder.

“Marian.”

“Huh?”

The one who called her was Titania, a classmate.

A warm light flowed from Titania’s hands, and as it did, the fatigue in Marian’s body, which had made it hard to even move a finger, disappeared and her breathing became comfortable.

Surprised, Marian asked,

“Huh? What’s this? Holy magic? Titania, you know how to use magic too?”

“It’s not magic, but an application of spirit magic. It’s like a secret art of the forest that only elves can use… However, it can only help invigorate the body, so it’s not that much of a help.”

“No, it really helped! Thanks to you, I feel alive again.”

“I’m glad. Let me know if you ever need it.”

Titania smiled warmly and approached the collapsed Oznia on the sofa, using the same secret art on her.

What is she? An angel, maybe?

Were elves actually angels?

Marian’s prejudice towards immigrants vanished.

“Ugh, ugh… ugh…”

Oznia groaned like a zombie, writhing her arms and legs on the sofa after receiving Titania’s secret art. For a moment, Marian thought it was a scene of an undead being revived, even though she knew it was a healing spell.

Of course, there was no way Titania had learned necromancy. The notorious elf necromancer from the previous war briefly crossed Marian’s mind, but associating the High Elves of Liniya Forest with necromancy was absurd.

Anyway, after healing Oznia as well, Titania spoke in a regretful tone.

“I’d like to help the other students too, but Schultz and Elizabeth are still taking showers, and Saladin won’t even come out of his room. Batar… well, he doesn’t need it right now, does he?”

Peering out the window, Marian saw Batar running even faster than before in the training ground and clicked her tongue. A warrior of his size running in armor on the battlefield would be like a walking magic train. Of course, the nomadic tribes didn’t wear armor for religious reasons.

Just then, Gwyn entered the lounge, with the tips of her hair slightly damp as if she had just finished showering. Titania approached Gwyn, who was drying herself by the fireplace, with a relieved expression.

“Gwyn, are you tired from running? Want me to help you recover?”

“Huh? No, it’s nothing. Back in the day, my master and I used to climb and run on cliffs many times steeper than the ones on the back mountain every single day.”

“Many times steeper cliffs… every day? Why?”

“Because that’s how training was done. Mountain climbing was a daily routine, so this was nothing.”

Titania’s face turned pale. Marian also imagined what kind of training Gwyn had gone through in her hometown and made a similar expression.

No, wasn’t that basically abuse? Was it okay for a master to do that?

Well, maybe one needs to endure that much to be a disciple of Sword Saint.

It was already well known that Gwyn Tris was a disciple of the Sword Saint. Her mentioning her master’s name during the entrance exam had briefly become the talk of the social world, so there was no way that Marian, the belle of the social circle, wouldn’t know about it.

“Indeed, the Seven Heroes of the continent.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Marian nodded in agreement to herself.

Gwyn looked at her with a puzzled expression.

***

Continental History class.

Although it’s called continental history, since the Empire holds power over the continent, it is essentially a history class from the Empire’s perspective. Moreover, learning the history of the Empire was a basic requirement for an imperial noble.

“…And so, Emperor Philion ended the continental conflict that lasted for decades after the fall of the Third Empire and established the Fourth Empire. That’s the current Galateia Empire. Is there anything up to this point that’s not understood?”

As a noble, Marian had been taught history by a private tutor since childhood, so she had no trouble understanding the class content. Therefore, she was more preoccupied with a different question than the class content.

Lirya Bennett, the instructor, continued her lecture while writing on the blackboard with her small stature.

How is she really 26 years old?

Does that make sense? I’d believe it if she said she was my younger sister.

Schultz seemed to have the same question as Marian, as he was unable to concentrate on the class with a confused expression.

When Instructor Lirya first entered the classroom, he thought she was a student from another class and tried to kindly send her away. Even though Lirya was wearing the instructor’s uniform.

The incongruity between her face and age was so severe that he couldn’t even recognize it as an instructor’s uniform.

“Next time, let’s learn about Emperor Philion’s early reign during the founding of the empire! That’s all for today’s class.”

The surprising age aside, Instructor Lirya’s teaching skills were excellent.

Her clear enunciation and pleasant voice made the class content easy to understand, and she explained the history by focusing on the key points rather than making it complicated. Frankly, she was much better than Marian’s private tutor.

Foreign student Gwyn and elf Titania were also nodding their heads and focusing on the class.

Instructor Lirya checked her watch while organizing her teaching materials.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about? We have some awkward leftover time.”

When an instructor says something like that, it’s usually best to say there’s nothing.

Some students just want to end the class early, and it’s a bother if everyone has to wait and not leave because of one person’s question. If someone is really curious, they can ask individually after class.

However, there was one student in this class who was oblivious to this.

“Me!”

“Uh, so… Gwyn, what are you curious about?”

“What is the Continental Seven Heroes?”

As Gwyn raised her hand, even the students who were annoyed and wanted to end the class soon inadvertently listened at the mention of the Continental Seven Heroes.

The Continental Seven Heroes. Marian wondered if Gwyn had been curious about what she had mentioned in passing yesterday.

“Ah, Gwyn doesn’t know what the Continental Seven Heroes are? If you lived outside the Empire, that’s possible.”

Lirya, receiving the question, looked a bit troubled, but she couldn’t ignore the student’s question and continued to explain sincerely.

“First of all, remember that the name ‘Continental Seven Heroes’ is something people came up with for fun, and it’s not an official position of the Empire.”

Lirya wrote the names of the seven people on the blackboard.

“The Continental Seven Heroes refers to the seven heroes who made the most impressive achievements during the last Great War.”

‘Hero of Light’ Wilhelm von Galatea.

‘Battlefield Saintess’ Charlotte Orsia.

‘Dragon’s Marshal’ Kalbad von Kalshtein.

‘Sword Saint’ Jun Chek.

‘Crimson Sage’ Ruellyn Elsid.

‘Goddess’ Champion’ Notos Gariott.

And ‘Malevolent Star’.

“I consider all those who fought risking their lives in the last Great War as heroes. However, many people think that without these seven, we couldn’t have won the war, and I agree with that opinion. Considering their accomplishments, humanity might have even been annihilated.”

“The Hero Party is so famous that there isn’t a single person who wouldn’t know about them, right? Among them, two people belong to the Continental Seven Heroes. It’s not an exaggeration to say that ‘Sword Saint’, ‘Crimson Sage’, and ‘Goddess’ Champion’ almost single-handedly supported the battlefield, and they are also one of the Continental Seven Heroes.”

“Although not strong in terms of strength, many people see ‘Dragon’s Marshal’, who commanded the war as the Commander-in-Chief of the imperial army, as one of the Continental Seven Heroes. Perhaps the decisive operation that miraculously withdrew 90% of the human alliance forces, which were on the verge of being annihilated by falling into the enemy’s trap, might come up in the exam later.”

As she listened to Lirya’s explanation, Marian was lost in thought for a moment.

Looking at it this way, our class has a lot of connections with the Continental Seven Heroes.

Elizabeth is the Hero of Light’s sister. Marian is the granddaughter of Marquis Kalshtein, and Gwyn and Oznia are the disciples of Sword Saint and Crimson Sage respectively. Even Instructor Eon is not just related, but the Malevolent Star himself, one of the Continental Seven Heroes.

Gwyn looked at the blackboard with sparkling eyes and said,

“Wow! So my master was a comrade of such people?”

“Uh, it’s a bit ambiguous to call them comrades? The Continental Seven Heroes refers to the most famous people who contributed to each front in the war. There are records of them fighting together a few times, but they mostly fought on their own respective fronts.”

As Gwyn quietly listened to Lirya’s explanation, she tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh? But, Instructor, who is the Malevolent Star?”

“Uh?”

“Only the Malevolent Star’s name isn’t written, and you left out the explanation. Isn’t that person one of the Continental Seven Heroes?”

“No, you’re right. The Malevolent Star is also one of the Continental Seven Heroes. But this person is a bit ambiguous, so…”

Marian secretly nodded her head.

She could understand Instructor Lirya’s attitude. As a history teacher, she would want to teach her students only the confirmed historical records. It might be a little difficult for a major to mention the rumors or groundless stories that circulate among people.

The Malevolent Star.

A hero of unknown identity, with no information on whether he is a knight, a mercenary, a soldier, or an adventurer.

He is like a legend of the battlefield, with only eyewitness accounts passed on through word of mouth, and no official records.

Some say he single-handedly tore and killed tens of thousands of monsters.

Some say he blocked a demon army commander alone and saved countless soldiers.

Some even say he might have killed the Demon King.

As the hero, who disappeared suddenly after the war ended, was hardly known, there are numerous rumors and speculations.

There are rumors that he lost his life during the war, that he is the Empire’s secret weapon and the Imperial Family deliberately hid his identity, and even absurd rumors that he was Emperor Philion who came down to save the Empire, then disappeared again, and that he is the Malevolent Star.

But Marian knows. The Malevolent Star is alive and teaching students here.

No one else knows everyone is curious about the Malevolent Star, but only I know.

‘…Huh?’

It’s strange.

Why… does this feel good?

I don’t like Instructor Eon. It’s not even Instructor Eon himself. I felt some kind of pleasure in the fact that I was the only one who knew his secret identity. My mouth itched, but I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t even pretend to know. But I was so curious.

What kind of expression would these people have if they knew the Malevolent Star was here?

Feeling an inexplicable impulse, Marian’s feet fidgeted.