Hero, Go To School! - Chapter 12

The red text appeared like a warning.

I could feel Ian’s body trembling above me, his fury barely contained. The weight and heat of him pressed down on me, but I forced my face to remain calm as I provoked him.

“Why don’t you keep going, then?”

His eyes flashed dangerously.

“What did you do to me?”

His fierce voice was tight with rage.

“Nothing at all.”

“No spell could ever control me like this… So why, why…”

His voice wavered with confusion and frustration, the ends of his words scattering into nothing.

“Like it or not, we’re stuck in this together. There’s no point in fighting each other. We have to work together.”

His face was still twisted with hostility.

“Damn barbarians!”

The voice that burst out from between his clenched teeth was rough and unsteady, like metal scraping against metal. It brushed against my neck as he spoke, the sound almost ticklish.

Despite his intense outburst, Ian was shaking visibly. I watched him for a moment before speaking calmly.

“Clear your head and think carefully.”

His chest rose and fell slowly. In each breath, there was a tension and complexity that words couldn’t fully explain.

Ian shook his head as if he didn’t want to hear another word. This bastard really wasn’t going to give in so easily. But I knew his resistance couldn’t last forever.

I looked at him and let a small smile play at the corners of my mouth.

“You’re already dead, you know.”

At that single phrase, his movements stopped completely. The air around us fell into a silence so heavy it was almost tangible.

“You died, and 400 years have already passed.”

When I finished speaking, I could feel the last bit of strength drain out of his body.

Ian stopped struggling entirely.

Even his stubborn resistance faded away, and he just looked at me in silence.

***

The sun that had been so high in the sky slowly sank below the horizon.

The reddish glow of the sunset seeped into the room, washing Ian’s profile in soft light. The warm, red glow that slipped across his cheek and jawline made his expression stand out even more clearly.

He stared fixedly at one spot, his face calm and thoughtful, like he was mulling something over. His blue eyes held my reflection, but I could tell he was really looking at something else entirely.

Meanwhile, I began untying the ropes that bound his body, one by one. I moved slowly and carefully, and gradually the tight bindings loosened.

At last, I managed to completely free him from the ropes and quietly set them aside.

“Ah.”

The short sound he let out drifted through the air emptily. Ian didn’t even seem to realize that he was finally free, staying still in that spot for a long moment.

Then, as if he had just seen a ghost, he suddenly stepped back in alarm.

His eyes dropped to his own hands. He flexed his fingers and turned his hands over, examining his forearms as if he was trying to confirm something.

His movements became faster and faster until his hands were on his face. Ian started tracing the features of his face with his fingertips, touching and prodding like he didn’t want to believe what he was feeling.

“This can’t be real.”

He grabbed a mirror from the nearby table and finally came face to face with his reflection. That was when his movements froze.

Ian’s expression crumbled in an instant. His fingers drifted along his jaw, then up along his cheekbones, trying to find some clue in the smooth lines.

But no matter how he touched, examined, or searched, the face staring back at him in the mirror was that of Ian Zenor, someone he’d never seen before in his life. It wasn’t the face he remembered.

He couldn’t stand it any longer. He lifted the mirror high above his head and slammed it down on his forehead with all his strength.

Crash-!

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The shattering sound sent glass fragments scattering across the floor. The frame of the mirror in his hand was crushed and unrecognizable, while the floor was littered with shards that bounced away in every direction.

A red mark began to bloom in the center of Ian’s forehead, blood slowly dripping down the bridge of his nose and pooling on the floor in little droplets.

But he didn’t even seem to feel the pain. He just stared blankly at the broken mirror in his hand, as if everything around him was unreal, as if even the blood running down his fingers meant nothing to him.

“This pale, pathetic weakling, who the hell is he!”

“Oh god, the duke and duchess are going to throw a fit when they see this.”

“Just the sight of this disgusting shell makes me sick.”