“I’d like to have a private lesson with you.”
For a moment, I forgot it was a natural conversation between a student and a professor. I looked at Natalie, scratching my head. She was looking at me with the eyes of a curious student. I slowly considered what she was saying and then shook my head.
“I believe I can learn so much more under your guidance.”
Natalie continued. It sounded like something a future graduate student would say. If I were a professor, I would have given her a secret lesson and recruited her as a future slave, but alas, I am not a professor. I had no intention of stirring up controversy by treating someone special.
“That won’t work. I’m not a tutor but an instructor at the Academy, and if you feel my classes aren’t up to your level, Natalie, you’re free not to attend them.”
“Your class is the only reason I stay in the Academy.”
I looked at her, scratching my head in confusion. As I tried to think of a plan, I saw Eugene and Cora approaching us. Eugene had a look of disbelief, and Cora’s face was flushed for some reason.
“You have an unexpectedly clumsy side.”
“Natalie, you’re embarrassing the Hero…Professor. I know you want to learn… but this isn’t it.”
Eugene and Cora said, grabbing Natalie by the shoulders. She was dragged backward, and she looked clueless.
“I’m sorry, professor. She just doesn’t feel like she’s in the right class because she’s so much better than the rest of us. She just wants to go further.”
“Exactly. But what you teach is already amazing, so don’t make it any harder for us average students…”
I smiled, looking at Eugene and Cora, eagerly defending Natalie and making excuses. Natalie and the cultists, whether she had anything to do with them or not, I needed to get to know her better, but… no, this was my best chance. I let out a deep sigh.
“How about we do it this way, then.”
The two who had been walking away and the one who had been dragged stopped.
“I’ll open special classes to the exemplary students and give them more intense training. Of course, the conditions to join will be strict.”
The three freshmen blinked and looked at me. Cora was the first to realize, and her face lit up. I walked up to the three who were backing away.
“The criteria, for now, is reaching 20 minutes in the test we had earlier, and I’ll think of another exercise in the meantime.”
I walked back to my desk and gathered my belongings.
“Well, I believe you’ll want to join, Natalie. Besides her, are you two joining as well?
Cora snapped her head toward Eugene with a sparkle. He avoided her gaze and turned to face me.
“So…the training will be more intense than today’s drill?”
“It’ll be more like the real thing because today’s practice wasn’t exactly a real drill either.”
Eugene’s expression twisted into one of despair. Cora looked defiant, and Natalie looked at me with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Is that okay with you, Natalie?”
Natalie looked as if she wanted to say something more, but then she shook her head as if she had decided to be convinced. Her eyes did not belong to a cultist, no matter how I looked at them.
“Uh, yeah.”
I smiled bitterly and left the lecture hall, leaving the three of them behind. I could hear them talking about what the special class would have.
***
“…”
Nella stared at the Hero walking down the hall. She’d expected him to be a little overwhelmed by being an instructor, but he was adjusting well to life at the Academy. The new students greeted him dutifully, even if they found it difficult when they saw his face, and the Hero who returned the greeting had a rather kind face.
“…He wasn’t always like that.”
He wasn’t the kind of guy who could be that nice to people. Nella frowned and watched Elroy’s face. These days, her eyes seemed glued to him every chance they could. It wasn’t like she had a crush on him. Nella clicked her tongue in disgust.
“Are you trying to make everyone know your face…”
Nella didn’t want to run into him. Elroy’s demeanor toward Nella had naturally changed over the past few weeks, but it hadn’t changed how she treated him. She wanted Elroy to treat her as he did before.
“I’d rather you look down on me.”
‘I can never forgive him, but it doesn’t matter anymore,’ Nella thought, crushing any thoughts of his redemption in her mind. She tried frantically to make him regret sending her away, so she wasn’t happy with how kindly he greeted her.
“You suck.”
If he did, he’d admit that he wasn’t worthy of the members of the Hero’s Party and wasn’t good enough to stay.
The elevator reached the first floor, and the two professors stepped off in intense discussion. Nella let them pass with a bored glance, then boarded the elevator and pressed the eleventh floor. The doors, which were about to slam shut, suddenly stopped and opened with unnatural speed.
“…Why are you doing this to me?”
It was the Hero. He smirked, stepped into the elevator, and moved to the corner opposite Nella. The bastard was so damned tall, even in her heels, she had to look up. Nella stared at the elevator buttons, irritated by this trivial fact.
“Are you not going to press a button?”
At Nella’s blunt question, Elroy gave her a brief glance. Nella turned her head to avoid eye contact but still saw his reflection shrug.
“I thought we were going to the observation terrace?”
“Observation….”
Nella started to nod, then turned around to look at Elroy.
“Surprised you’re going for once.”
“Because I’ve been getting a steady stream of reports, I didn’t have the need. But it’s better to see it with my own eyes.”
This was another problem. Lately, whenever he’d come face to face with Nella, he’d look at her with a bit of sadness.
She just really wanted to know.
“What are you looking at?”
“Just wondering how you’re doing.”
Nella scowled and turned away from him.
“It’s none of your business.”
Fortunately, the elevator didn’t stop once during the eleven-floor ride. Nella crossed her arms, glancing back at Elroy, who said nothing more to her pointed response. Today’s observation should be as silent as possible. With that resolve, Nella waited eagerly for the elevator doors to open.
“I’m going first.”
Nella said, with a tone that told him not to follow, and walked ahead of Elroy. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her. Nella glanced back wistfully and then stepped forward again.
***
“…As you can see, its current path hasn’t changed, and it seems to follow our projected trajectory. At this rate, it’ll collide at the end of summer.”
Before the observation, Nella briefed everyone on the situation, her face as stony as a plaster statue. To add to her anger, the Hero’s lifeless eyes had turned into the sparkle of a student in class during her briefing. Nella glanced into his turquoise eyes and continued her explanation. At his side sat the pink-haired mage, as usual.
“Today’s observations are equally significant. To redetermine the speed of the Meteor’s travel and the timing of its impact. The closer it gets, the more accurate our data will be, and we can eventually find the precise time of impact.”
All the windows in the observation room were open. It was a spring night, the cold breeze chilling the room. Nella looked out at the twinkling stars of the night sky. The constellations were beautiful.
“Okay, let’s start up the telescope and observe. Keep an eye on the screen on the right, as the image will be shown on the crystal in real-time.”
Having finished the briefing, Nella returned to her seat. She looked exhausted. She stared at the telescope as it slowly rose to the sky. The screen showed a part of the night sky.
“…The one with the longest tail is the Sixth Disaster, right?”
The professor, who was new to the observation, asked. Nella shook her head and pointed to the actual Disaster. The Meteor traveled at a snail’s pace, weaving between other celestial bodies.
“Isn’t it going to hit something along the way? It looks like it’s gonna hit another meteor or moon before it gets here.”
Nella sighed and shook her head.
“It’s not impossible, but it’s the Disaster. According to the report on the Mist, it had some sentience, so the chance of that is low.
People are weak; when something wrong is right in front of them, they’ll do anything to avoid it, especially if it’s irresistible and complex.
“The timing of the impact will be as expected. It’s been moving steadily, so our prediction is accurate. Summer, probably around June.”
There was a murmur of agreement at Nella’s words.
“What happens when that thing hits?”
“You’re asking the obvious: We die. Probably every human on this planet dies.”
Dry swallows could be heard from around the room.
“Well, is there a plan B? You’ve had a lot of time to make a contingency. After all, it’s something you’ve been observing for a very long time.”
“We’re thinking about it, but everyone has to be involved.”
The professors fell silent, and Nella tilted her head to look at Elroy with a puzzled expression.
‘There’s the Hero I know…’
His face was livid. He stared at the Meteor like a wolf at its prey and stroked the sword at his side. A chill ran through her back, and Nella bit her lip at the sensation. The mad Hero seemed to be genuinely thinking about how to split the Disaster. She’d noticed it since the battle with the Kraken, but he was insane.
“Starting from the next observation, I’m thinking of holding a conference on Disaster preparedness.”
Professor Edwin suddenly spoke up as everyone silently watched the approaching Meteor.
“How we’re going to deal with the Disaster, what we’re going to do about it, and what the aftermath will be like. I want you to think about it and give me your thoughts by then.”
And with that, the observation session ended in uncharacteristic silence. The Hero and the Wizard of the Hero’s party remained silent until the end, then exchanged serious looks with each other as they left the observation room. Nella followed them the rest of the way, then looked away again. The telescope was still showing the Disaster.
“I see you’ve been looking at the Hero.”
It was Edwin’s voice. There was no one left in the observation room. Edwin was looking into the night sky, not through the telescope, but with his naked eye.
“Didn’t you say you disliked him?”
Edwin asked, his voice full of meaning. Nella looked up and saw Edwin staring coldly into the night sky.
“Huh?”
And then, as he looked back at her, his eyes were filled with an unearthly grimness.
