All sorts of rumors circulated around the Academy, but nothing was as significant as Yoon Ha-min, the former Top Rank, becoming the Bottom Rank.
As his homeroom teacher, I had warned him that such behavior would only hurt himself, but I couldn't deny my share of responsibility for failing to prevent it.
Even though I couldn't have stopped his impulsive action, I knew people would question why he felt compelled to act that way in the first place. I had been mentally preparing myself to accept the situation.
Mental preparation, however, didn't make hearing harsh words any easier or less painful.
After being thoroughly chewed out by the Vice Principal, I felt like I'd aged a year.
A hollow sigh escaped me as my soul felt completely drained.
While teachers are told never to dislike students or discriminate between them, I knew—as did the principal and vice principal—that this was impossible in practice.
They might publicly emphasize fairness and equality, but in reality, everyone favors students who show dedication and promise for heroic careers. This was no secret.
That's why they questioned me so intensely about a Top Rank student suddenly becoming Bottom Rank.
I felt the same way. That's partly why I was so annoyed with Yoon Ha-min.
If he was unhappy with the Academy's atmosphere, he could have said something beforehand. If he was planning something like this, he could have given me some warning.
Or perhaps he kept quiet precisely because he feared I would try to stop him.
My head throbbed.
I managed to explain away the practical exam failure by blaming the Mysterious Person's attack, but there was no way to cover up his written exam performance.
I tried to rationalize it. Some students are just like this. Maybe his feelings for Kanna drove him to such extremes, but wasn't his decision still too hasty?
It certainly seemed premature to me.
These students aren't going to die in a few years—they have long lives ahead of them.
Yet ironically, these adolescent years determine much of their future.
We call them children, kids, or teenagers because they're not yet mature, but expecting them to envision their adult futures seems rather unfair.
Couldn't they dream after they've matured?
The Academy was the same way. Many students didn't enter after carefully considering the world and studying to become heroes. Instead, they came on impulse thinking, "Oh, that looks good," or due to pressure and recommendations from adults around them.
Yoon Ha-min definitely hadn't entered with a casual attitude, but he seemed unaware of the consequences his actions would bring.
Or did he know and act anyway?
Well... when you're young and in love, that person can feel like your entire world. Maybe Yoon Ha-min was no different.
Either way, his choices and actions were giving me a headache.
Like spilled water that can't be gathered back up, his recorded grades couldn't be changed.
Even if Yoon Ha-min regretted it later, this moment would surely hold him back in the future.
"...What should I do?"
I muttered weakly, but no one answered.
No one seemed concerned about the responsibility I had to bear.
*
Chei. One of the six Representatives who made major decisions within the Wall, and the person in charge of the Academy.
The Academy's goal wasn't simply to educate and employ graduates as heroes, but to find and create heroes strong enough to reassure the people inside the Wall.
The Wall had stood unbroken for a long time, and people's vigilance was waning.
The elderly who remembered the terror of monsters had tried repeatedly to remind younger generations of that fear, hoping they wouldn't have to experience it themselves.
But there were limits to this approach. The voices of the elderly diminished, and eventually only textbooks and history remained to remind people of that terror.
It couldn't be helped.
You can't make someone feel as though they've experienced something they haven't.
You can't prevent people from taking lightly what they haven't directly faced.
How could those living in peace, bought with countless sacrifices, understand the weight of those sacrifices?
But that's precisely why they needed to understand. They needed to be awakened.
Already, Mysterious Persons had begun to act, and monsters had started breaking through the Wall.
Humanity, which had grown complacent and arbitrarily concluded that life within the Wall was peaceful, needed to realize they were wrong. They needed to understand in order to overcome the approaching terror.
What they hadn't known until experiencing it, they finally realized after experiencing it.
The fear that their friends could disappear at any moment, the sense of loss that comes only after family members are gone, the sadness of being the only one left, and the despair of knowing they too would die—people became vulnerable in the face of these emotions, and in that gap, heroes rose again.
But not all heroes had to fight monsters.
"Since I've taken over from Representative Takas, you'll follow my orders from now on."
[...Yes.]
The beings who had received orders from Representative Takas didn't fight monsters.
They only needed to act as limbs for the Representative who dreamed of peace within the Wall.
[...Yes, the target is currently living in Yoon Ha-min's home.]
"I see, and her condition is as the hospital diagnosed?"
[Yes.]
Chei flipped through the documents he had received from Takas.
They contained information Takas had individually collected, arranged in an easy-to-understand format.
Complete with Takas's approval stamp.
She had encountered Mysterious Persons several times. The first time, she went missing after contact with a Mysterious Person. The second time, only the Ramiris family servant near her died. The third time, she seemed to know the Mysterious Person, but showed a cooperative attitude after absorbing the Totem.
They had agreed to amputate her limbs, but couldn't confirm whether that would prevent her transformation into a Mysterious Person. They assigned someone to watch her to determine if she maintained separate communication with Mysterious Persons or if her mere existence helped them break the Wall.
The fourth contact.
This time, the Mysterious Person didn't seek out Kanna; rather, Kanna sought them out and fought. Whether due to an Unrefined Mana explosion or not, her prosthetic arms and legs fell off and new limbs grew.
They judged that her body had already completed transformation into a Mysterious Person and couldn't be stopped.
Evidence collection continued as it was difficult to find a connection between Kanna Aurora and the Mysterious Person.
Chei read through the documents and asked again.
"So there's been no separate contact with Mysterious Persons, is that right?"
[Yes, that's correct. The target hasn't even attended the Academy and has only been active inside Yoon Ha-min's home.]
"I see. Please continue the surveillance."
Chei ended the call.
He leaned back in his chair and spun around.
After half a rotation, his worries resumed.
Looking at the hospital diagnosis, he thought she might have bribed someone to lie, but since she wasn't even going to the Academy or trying to contact others elsewhere, it seemed genuine.
Or perhaps she wanted it to appear that way.
How much easier it would be if they only had to fight the Mysterious Persons and monsters breaking through the Wall.
Nothing gave him more headaches than having someone inside who might be colluding with Mysterious Persons.
He clicked his tongue in frustration, but nothing improved.
Even during the council meetings, they couldn't execute someone based on suspicion alone.
At the same time, he felt uncomfortable about expelling someone, regardless of the greater good.
If they were to do it, they needed clear justification.
This couldn't become a witch hunt.
That's why they needed evidence.
Giving her prosthetic limbs and releasing her was all for this purpose.
They were waiting for her to carelessly contact Mysterious Persons, but Kanna Aurora seemed to do nothing but fight against them.
If she had been instructed to act independently, that might explain it, but considering her last encounter nearly killed her—if she fought so hard she risked her sanity—it was difficult to see it that way.
"...Takas, I wonder if you've targeted the wrong student..."
No, he couldn't judge hastily.
Takas was also a Representative, so he must have had his reasons for his actions.
Just as he was about to sigh deeply, a sound that seemed to catch his breath rang out.
He answered the alarm that pierced his ears.
[Representative, I'm contacting you since you took over from Representative Takas.]
"Yes, go ahead."
[...I've learned that student Yoon Ha-min went to Prika Agency and demanded a Totem.]
Prika, Prika. Lignum Pellein?
"Is this information reported by President Lignum Pellein?"
[No, it was provided by an employee inside, but...]
"I understand. I'll note it as unconfirmed information for now."
[I'll send you the entry records at least.]
"Yes, please do."
Chei tilted his head.
Then, seeing Yoon Ha-min entering the Prika Agency, he narrowed his eyes.
Yoon Ha-min and Kanna live together.
Yoon Ha-min visits the Prika Agency.
In cahoots... that seemed unlikely given that the other party was Lignum Pellein.
If not that, then perhaps it was Yoon Ha-min's desperate attempt to obtain a Totem.
Why would he need a Totem?
What would he use it for if given one?
It was certainly a matter worth suspicion.
If it were true.