The Villains I Taught Became Heroes - Chapter 60



59 – Do That Only to Me – 3

***

The next day. It was the second day of classes at the academy.

“This is today’s class location.”

The academy had several facilities created through the collaboration of the Ivory Tower and the Dwarves, among which was the artificial ruins.

As the name suggests, it was an artificially created ruin that, when infused with magical power, would automatically restore traps and golems that replaced monsters.

“I think everyone knows where this is. It can be said to be one of the academy’s prides and the ruin you will visit the most before entering actual combat.”

Half of them are listening to my explanation, while the other half are not.

I’ve memorized their faces.

I’ll give them an assignment later.

“Since everyone is likely familiar with how to conquer ruins, I’ll skip the basic strategies. Now, before we start the actual exploration of the ruins, we need to form parties…”

In the game, this was the first time I moved with the main characters.

Then, I should arrange Arisha’s party accordingly.

“Gather with your close friends. But that seems too harsh, so I’ll set it up first. Arisha, Ludwig, Lumina, Rifa. You guys are Team 1. And next…”

As I simply formed the teams, some looked satisfied while others wore dissatisfied expressions.

But what can be done? If the instructor says to do it, the students have no choice but to comply.

“I’ll join this exploration and lend my strength in case any problems arise, so don’t worry too much. Also, since it doesn’t affect your scores, you don’t need to stress about it.”

“Instructor! I have a question! When can we go to the ruins just among ourselves?”

“You can go to the artificial ruins by yourselves once you can conquer them without my help. And if your rank in conquering artificial ruins is B or higher, then you can proceed to explore the ruins.”

According to the main story, after clearing the Chapter 1 boss, they will venture into the ruins by themselves.

It’s quite unfortunate that I won’t be able to participate then.

However, that doesn’t mean I can just sit back and relax.

I have my own tasks at hand.

I glanced at Arisha and her companions from Team 1.

As they prepared to enter the ruins, one student raised their hand.

“Aren’t you supposed to keep entering the ruins, instructor? Are you okay with that?”

“How considerate of you. Well done. Here, have a praise sticker.”

“ooo!! But where do I put this?”

“If you collect ten, I’ll grant you a wish. Anyway, don’t worry about me. The academy instructors aren’t that weak.”

If I get exhausted just from entering a few artificial ruins, I’ll never dream of the true ending.

Since then, the number of students sending me worried glances or offering encouragement like “You can do it!” has increased.

—

Such transparent little brats.

“Then let’s get started from Group 1. The rest of you, read the ruins攻略 guide while you wait. Anyone who scores below average on the quiz after class will receive a penalty.”

“What happens if we accumulate penalties?”

“You’ll be held back.”

“……”

So being held back is scary, huh.

Everyone started reading the guide with a sullen expression.

Watching this, I turned my gaze to the Arisha party.

“Then let’s go in.”

The攻略 of the artificial ruins could be seen as a tutorial in the main story.

Originally, it was meant to teach character controls and combat techniques, but since this was reality, such soft matters would not apply.

“Who knows the basics of攻略 for the ruins?”

“To tackle traps, a specialist in trap disarming must lead. Follow their instructions, but to prepare for monster ambushes, warriors equipped with heavy armor or shields should take the second row. In the third row, there should be mages or ranged attackers who can support them, and the fourth row should consist of those capable of healing and large-scale support.”

Lumina raised her hand and answered. It was a proper response.

“Alright. So what should we do now?”

The party consisted of Arisha, the fighter; Ludwig, the swordsman; Lumina, the mage; and Rifa, the magical engineer. It was a slightly different composition from the basic party setup.

Because of this, the three pondered, and Arisha raised her hand with a bright smile.

“We need to deal with the traps using the mage’s spells or ranged attacks!”

“What about discovering the traps?”

“We can use the fighter’s detection… or those with good instincts can step forward, right?”

“Correct. Here’s a praise sticker.”

“Yay~!”

Arisha, who received the praise sticker from me, happily tucked it into her pocket and bounced with joy.

Ludwig, looking enviously at her, asked Arisha.

“What wish would you make if you collect ten of them?”

“Um… it’s a secret!”

“I’m jealous…”

“…Hey, shouldn’t we be heading out soon?”

Right. This isn’t a picnic.

As Arisha mentioned earlier, she took the lead.

About ten minutes had passed since she used one of the fighter’s skills, detection, to lead the way.

With a thud, a golem appeared.

The first monster of the tutorial, the golem.

Though it’s called a golem, it’s made of mud, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with.

“I don’t think we need to mention combat specifically, right? Just fight well on your own.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Yap!!”

“Ugh!!”

“Fire Arrow!!”

“Fire Arrow!!”

Arisha and Ludwig quickly charged to the front to attack the golem, while Lumina and Rifa, capable of using magic, supported them with spells.

—

It was the first coordinated attack, but everyone had the basics down, so the golem couldn’t hold out for long and crumbled.

“Hmph. This is about it.”

But if you catch that and act all cool… Arisha puffed her cheeks slightly as she watched Ludwig sweep his hair back and sheathe his sword.

“Teacher! Isn’t it too weak?!”

“Don’t worry. As we progress, the numbers will increase a bit more. Let’s move on.”

They captured the golem and advanced further, disarming the traps.

Next, the enemies would increase.

Just as I was thinking that while walking…

– Kuuung!!

A sound like the ruins collapsing echoed.

At the same time, what appeared from the crumbling wall was a monster revealing its saw-like teeth.

It was a Giant Rockworm.

A greedy monster that devours rocks and everything inside them had suddenly appeared here.

Uh… This shouldn’t happen in the main story.

“Now, the Giant Rockworm!”

Lumina’s voice was filled with fear.

And rightly so, as the Giant Rockworm is a monster that, when encountered in ruins, is often said to lead the party to total annihilation.

It was only natural to be terrified upon suddenly encountering such a creature.

“Step back.”

I drew my sword and charged at it.

Then, with one strike, as the rock-hard shell shattered and its insides were revealed, I plunged my fist inside and activated my magic.

“Lightning Spear.”

– Pzzzzzzzzzt!!

The electric shock that burst from within engulfed the Giant Rockworm, causing it to twitch and then go limp.

It had fainted.

In that case, it was right to finish it off here.

I approached the Giant Rockworm’s head and used Moonlight Slash to behead it.

“There was a bit of an incident, but since there were no special problems, let’s just move on.”

According to the academy instructor’s guidelines, if a problem arises during training that can be resolved by the instructor’s power, the instructor can decide whether to continue the lesson.

The Giant Rockworm was something I could handle easily, and I didn’t foresee any special issues arising next, so I suggested we continue the training.

“Yeah! Teacher!”

Arisha maintained her usual brightness, but the other three did not.

“…Hey, a bit of an incident?”

“It’s a Giant Rockworm?!”

“Ughhh…”

While Arisha seemed fine to continue, the other three looked like they wanted to go back.

To them, I spoke as kindly as I could.

“Oh. Are you scared?”

“W-Who’s scared!!”

“This is nothing at all?!”

—

“…Huh… I can keep going…”

Indeed, the magic words work well anywhere.

The three of them, instantly revitalized, began to gather their strength.

Thus, they continued their exploration of the ruins, and without any special issues, they were able to reach the reward room.

“I can give an overall evaluation of A.”

There were no significant problems aside from a very minor incident.

In that case, giving an A is only natural.

***

“What could be important to that person?”

Ludwig, reading the guidebook, muttered, unable to shake off his unease.

As he spoke while watching Ihyun lead the other team members into the ruins, Lumina let out a sigh.

“It was the same before. He said catching the great monster that appeared in the kingdom was no big deal.”

“He said something similar after fighting the great demon.”

“Looks like everyone knows the instructor?”

Excluding Rifa, all three had met Ihyun in the past.

They looked up at each other and nodded slightly.

“Why would such an extraordinary person come to the academy as an instructor? He could hold a high position anywhere.”

“That’s true. My father said he could give Instructor Ihyun a position among the Five Element Generals…”

“My father also said he would offer him the position of Chancellor.”

Yet both had been declined.

Of course, the position of academy instructor was an honorable one, but it was not on par with the positions of the Empire’s Five Element Generals or the Kingdom’s Chancellor.

Thus, Arisha thought to herself.

‘…Could it really be? That statement…’

The idea that he came to the academy to see her.

That thought kept swirling in Arisha’s mind.

After class, Arisha went to the cafeteria for a brief break and found Ihyun reading documents alone, just like yesterday.

Not wanting to just pass by, she hurried over and sat in front of him.

“Teacher! Are you alone again?”

“You’ve come?”

A gentle smile.

It was the same smile she had seen before.

Returning his smile, Arisha this time showed interest in the documents Ihyun was looking at, placing her ordered cookies and strawberry drink in front of him.

“What is it?”

“Nothing much. Just one of the instructor’s duties.”

“It seems like everything is no big deal to you. Catching the great demon was no big deal, subduing the great monster was no big deal, and catching the giant rockworm was no big deal. What’s important to you?”

“What’s important to me… Well, I suppose it’s that you do well in your academy life?”

“…Here we go again. Seriously~. Teacher, if you keep saying that, others will misunderstand. So from now on, you’re banned from saying that to anyone but me. Got it?”

Arisha poked Ihyun’s hand with her finger and smiled brightly.

But behind that smile, Arisha’s fair cheeks were subtly flushed like a peach.

The face of the academy’s dean turned pale as he read a letter.

“…W-why is the Saintess of the Sword coming to the academy…?”

It was because of the absurd news of a VIP’s visit.