Hero, Go To School! - Chapter 26

At that moment, two maids passed in front of the storage room, their arms full of laundry. I raised my hand high to let them know we were here.

“Excuse me!”

“Oh, goodness. Miss?”

“Could you tell them that Ian and I are here?”

This guy’s built like a damn door. I can’t move him on my own.

Ian was so completely out of it that even after I revealed our location myself, he didn’t react in the slightest. I reached out and wiped his still-glistening lips with my thumb. Ian flinched and pulled his head back, hitting the back of his skull against the protective wall.

“Ah.”

I narrowed my eyes and asked.

“How do you feel?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I mean your body. How do you feel right now?”

He stared at me blankly for a moment, then muttered a quiet reply.

“It’s… kind of standing.”

“……”

I paused. It took a moment to fully process what he meant. And right then, I felt something hard brush lightly against my side.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant! I was asking about the poison. Do you feel any symptoms?”

Ian turned his head away, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, clearly flustered. His already-red ears turned so bright they looked like they might catch fire.

“Not really… I don’t think…”

“You’re fine, right? No one here would poison your food. Everyone here cares about you deeply. So don’t pull anything stupid. Let’s just focus on doing our part, okay? We catch the traitor, and we each go back to where we belong.”

“……”

Ian nodded quickly before I had even finished speaking.

This idiot, did he even hear what I said properly?

Not long after, a crowd of servants arrived. The Duke and Duchess were with them, of course. It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes, but in that short time, they looked like they’d aged ten years.

“Ian!”

The Duke and Duchess lunged at Ian with outstretched arms. Ian was in such a daze that he reacted a second too late.

His eyes changed instantly, as if his combat instincts were awakened. He looked around sharply, but this time he didn’t swat his parents aggressively as he’d done before. He dodged and kept his distance.

As I watched him carefully, my gaze panned down to his waist.

… Crazy.

I felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have. He was still half-mast. His thing exuded a cold, hard aura, similar to Ian’s nerves of steel.

He turned away quickly, blocking his thing from view before his parents looked down.

“Are you okay, are you hurt?”

Helith asked. I answered on Ian’s behalf.

“I think he was a little shaken, but he’s calm now. Don’t worry, please go inside first. I’ll be back after I speak with Ian a bit more.”

The Duck and Duchess exchanged glances. Helith put his arm around Josefina’s shoulder and nodded

“Alright Lillian, I’ll trust you. But please don’t stay too long.”

“I won’t.”

Although Helith’s tone was calm, it still had deep love and concern for Ian. Josefina sighed and nodded.

“I’ll see you later then, Ian, no matter what happens is fine with us. But please don’t worry us too much.”

They slowly turned around. The maids followed after them, guiding them out of the storage room. Once the door closed, the space fell instantly silent.

I stood still for a moment, quietly staring at the spot where they had just been. Then I slowly turned my head to face Ian. He averted his gaze without a word.

***

The sense of unease came from something unexpected.

A thin cloud brushed lightly past the moon. The full moon hanging in the deep blue sky shone as brightly as daylight, with countless stars scattered around it. It was a sight unimaginable in the night skies of Seoul.

Constellations I had once learned about, like Orion or the Big Dipper, were nowhere to be seen here. Instead, unfamiliar and alien stars twinkled like a language from another world.

The realization that this land was something entirely separate from Earth struck me again, embedding itself in my chest. The more beautiful the sky appeared, the sharper that sense of alienness became.

A creeping fear began to rise. Ever since arriving here, I had been too overwhelmed by the endless stream of quests and the lunatic of a guide to fully grasp my situation.

But now, with the noise of the world quieted. Only now did the reality of it sink in. I missed the place I came from, the people I loved, the familiar noise and scenery. And the crushing uncertainty that I might never return settled over my chest like the cold light of the full moon.

“I will be able to go back… right?”

My voice, heavy with conflict, scattered into the air. It wasn’t a question meant for anyone. I didn’t expect anyone to hear it.

But the sky answered only with silence.