The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character

Ban Frok was feeling good.

No—"good" wasn't the right word.

What he felt after watching that frail cadet, Rin Evans, was closer to vindicated.

At last, someone worthy had appeared. Not because of their strength, nor their speed, nor their mastery over mana… but because Rin understood. The boy did not waste food. He respected the gift of the soil. He had the eyes of one who knew the weight of a single grain of rice.

Ban could still see it clearly—the way Rin had accepted the tomato he'd tossed earlier, not letting it fall to the ground, even while under pressure.

That was no coincidence.

"That's the spirit of a farmer's heir…" Ban muttered to himself, already imagining raising this kid into a proper successor.

The thought brought a wide, satisfied smile to his face.

But the smile faded in an instant. His ears twitched. Something… was wrong.

'A vegetable thief?'

Without hesitation, Ban dashed toward the source of the disturbance.

If someone was so desperate for food that they had to steal from his farm, he could forgive them—he might even share part of his harvest. But vegetables were more delicate than they looked. In the wrong hands, they could be bruised, broken… or worse, ruined forever.

And then there were the traps. Harmless enough for him, but to an untrained thief, they could cause injury.

Still, when he arrived, Ban realized his worries were misplaced.

The intruder wasn't after vegetables. One look told him this person wasn't the type to be caught in a simple snare.

"Impressive," Ban murmured, narrowing his eyes.

He wasn't proud of it, but Ban was often oblivious to danger. If even his dull instincts were on edge now, that meant this person was radiating something truly… ominous.

"Yeah, I see you're not here for my vegetables," Ban said cautiously. "So, what's your business?"

He rested a hand near his hidden weapon. Something told him he might actually need it.

[Are you afraid?]

The voice came distorted through a strange modulator, the tone unreadable.

[There's nothing to fear. I've only come to make a proposal.]

"…A proposal?"

The mask—pure white, shaped like a demon's face—offered no clues. He couldn't even tell if the figure was a man or a woman.

[Yes. A proposal. One where you have nothing to lose… and everything to gain.]

Ban's lips pressed into a thin line.

Whoever this was, they weren't just dangerous. They were confident.

Ban didn't move, but the air between them felt heavier.

"You talk like a traveling merchant," he said slowly, "but you don't smell like one."

[You notice smells?] the figure asked, tilting their head ever so slightly.

"I notice everything," Ban replied. "Especially the scent of someone who's stepped foot on a farm… or never has."

The masked figure gave a small, almost amused sound. [Then you already know I'm not here to haggle over cabbages.]

Ban's eyes narrowed. "Then why waste my time?"

[Because, unlike others, you have no fixed roots.]

"That's not true," Ban said, his tone a little sharper. "Roots run deep, even if you can't see them."

[Ah, but roots can be moved. Transplanted. Given richer soil… better sunlight.]

Ban's fingers twitched near his weapon, but he didn't draw it. "You're not talking about farming anymore, are you?"

[Call it… cultivation of a different kind.]

Ban kept his expression unreadable. "And what do you want me to grow?"

The masked figure didn't answer directly. Instead, they took a slow step closer. [A seed you've been carrying for a long time.]

Ban chuckled once, but it was humorless. "That's a clever line. Still vague enough that I don't have to hit you."

[If you hit me, you'll never hear the rest.]

"I'm starting to think I don't want to."

[You will.]

Ban tilted his head. "You seem confident for someone who's trespassing."

[Confidence is easy when you know the harvest is inevitable.]

Ban just wanted nothing but attack the intruder but somthing was holding him back.

It wasn't the scent of soil or vegetables.

It was something far older.

And it made him uneasy in a way no blight or pest ever had.

"Don't beat around the bush and tell me why did you come here for."

There was silence for a moment, until the reply come.

[Okay, I will.]

----

Rin Evans POV

Honestly, I really didn't want to do this right now.

Recruiting Ban Frok in the middle of the night? That wasn't exactly my idea of a fun evening. But I couldn't afford to waste time either.

It wasn't like there'd been a villain attack or anything—there weren't any casualties worth mentioning. The reason everything got delayed was… Ban Frok.

Because of him, the ranking matches were postponed for a whole day.

At first, I didn't think much of it.

Just a one-day delay, right? No big deal.

But then a thought hit me—a thought that made me sweat more than I'd like to admit.

Ban had taken an interest in me.

That was a huge problem.

I was supposed to recruit him as my ally for my villain arc. Not the other way around.

And I sure as hell had no intention of becoming a farmer just because that idiot decided I'd make a good apprentice.

I knew how he was—if I didn't move now, he'd keep pestering me until I gave in and joined him in tilling fields or whatever backbreaking nonsense he called a "noble life."

That's why I decided to make my move.

Right now. In the middle of the night.

I took out the mask I'd stolen from the dead body of an elf.

Originally, it belonged to the villain organization Twelve Signs in the novel—but here it was, in my hands.

It was a relic, which meant it could change its shape, design, and other details. After a lot of deliberation, I decided on something simple: pure white, with two horns.

"Sigh… damn it."

This was embarrassing.

The fact that I had to wear this mask just to go recruit someone was almost despair-inducing.

I mean, sure, I chose to walk down the path of a villain, so it's not like I could complain about doing shady things. But this? Wearing a ridiculous horned mask while sneaking around like some bargain-bin comic book antagonist?

Agonizing.

Still, I had no choice but to do it.

And if I was going to do it, I might as well do it thoroughly.