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He had been alive for what seemed like hundreds of years, but there was no end to his learning.

The pattern on the cover of the tattered book as it turned the last page was one that was often seen in the East, far, far away from here.

The book contained information about the origins of the Spectral Sword, a sword that seals the souls of those who have died.

In essence, it was a dangerous tome that was illegal to carry on the continent but the man didn’t care.

No law could stop him and he wasn’t reading it to do anything bad in the first place.

It’s just that “the East” wasn’t his strong suit, and the man he was paying attention to had a Spectral Sword.

As he flips through the pages, the man’s attention is drawn to the book.

Finally, he reads the part he’s been wondering about.

“Having a Spectral Sword doesn’t mean you can talk to spirits. However, there are some rare individuals who are able to communicate with the spirits, such as those who grew up in close proximity to death, or who were born with a killer streak and have no qualms about killing. They are basically unaffected by the spirits’ aura and will never be corrupted by them. However, their end will be no different than that of a spirit.”

The man pauses in his recitation and frowns, then reads the rest of the paragraph.

“…Exceptionally, it is said that demons and demigods who used the Spectral Sword were also able to communicate with the spirits. And… So you have to be close to death to be able to communicate with the dead. Interesting.”

The man looks up from his reading and recalls Zetto, who has a white bandage over his eyes.

Zetto’s Spectral Sword appeared to contain the soul of his supposed mentor.

He assumed it was because he was so connected to the spirit that he could communicate with it, but apparently not.

“Close to death…?”

He didn’t know much about the Eastern term, but from the way it was used to describe those who had no qualms about killing, it seemed to refer to those who had an innate sense of cruelty but that was a far cry from the Zetto he knew.

“Tsk…”

The man clicked his tongue once and closed the book for a moment then he sat back in his chair deep in thought.

“…Master.”

Someone calls out to him, entering the room.

The woman, neatly dressed in a maid’s uniform, bows her head once before continuing.

“This has just come in, sir, but the first-year cadets who went on the field trip to the desert are on their way back to the Academy.”

The woman’s name was Itea.

She was a golem created by a man who had the title of Sage, though she had the appearance of a human.

The Sage had considerable knowledge of magecraft, enough to create Itea, but it was not widely known.

If he were to reveal his knowledge to the world, civilization could advance rapidly. However, too much advancement tends to have many negative side effects, so it was something that was rarely talked about in the academy.

“This is sudden news.”

It was not yet the day the first-year cadets were scheduled to return from their field trip so something must have gone wrong.

The Sage, needing an explanation, turned his head to look at Itea.

“From what I’ve heard, the ‘otherworlders’ have inexplicably disappeared overnight without a trace, and the Lord of Delgrad, Cecily Windless, has decided to send the cadets back urgently.”

The Sage frowns at Itea’s explanation.

“The otherworldly species has disappeared, what does that mean?”

“They say that they have literally disappeared…They haven’t been seen anywhere in the desert for two days now.”

“Hmm… Strange, those hunks of scrap metal that seemed to have no purpose whatsoever disappeared overnight…”

The Sage rubbed his chin and thought.

The Sage was well acquainted with the Otherworlders since they were beings from another world, with a civilization completely different from this one.

The fact that they were called ‘otherworldly’ in the first place was largely due to the influence of the Sage, who had participated in the investigation of otherworldly beings while hiding his identity at the time.

Aside from their aggression toward humans, there was nothing unusual about them, so the Sage kept his intervention to a minimum, as he always did.

And the desert city of Delgrad was doing a good job of keeping them at bay.

“…It seems likely that there is a being that can give them orders. Have you investigated the ‘temple’?”

“What temple are you referring to…”

Itea interrupted, unable to understand the Sage’s words.

“Ah, I mean the ‘ruins’. I once set foot there before they entered the desert. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Otherworlders made it impossible to enter again…”

As the Sage spoke, he recalled memories of the past, more than two hundred years ago.

“There was a ‘temple’ there, though it had become inaccessible due to the appearance of the otherworldly race.”

The Sage was also interested in archaeology, even if he was now a living ‘fossil’.

The temple, built before the Sage himself was born, contained statues of demons.

Why would a temple dedicated to demons be in the desert, in the land of humans?

The Sage speculated that it was because the demons had always been feared by humans.

Of all the demons one had its horns distorted by predation from its own kind, a demon who had attempted to break the bonds between demons and humans and become a ‘king’ himself.

But he failed so he was forgotten and his name was erased.

The demon that left no record and was thought to have been wiped out, ironically left a mark on the land of humans.

Perhaps that was a temple in honor of the demon who couldn’t become king.

The Sage had come to that conclusion.

“Well, we could send a team to investigate the ruins, but they wouldn’t find anything.”

Shaking himself out of his reverie, the Sage tossed the book on his desk and leaned back in his chair.

As far as he could tell, the Otherworlders had used the temple as a base.

“They’ve hidden themselves… Preserving their forces… Whoa…”

The Otherworlders movements were significant and the Sage sighed inwardly.

“The Demon King’s resurrection is said to be just around the corner, and the otherworldly races have suddenly begun to conserve their troops…When is Leon going to show up, has he even been born?”

The Sage grumbled as he brought up the name of his old comrade, the Hero Leon.

Unfortunately, it seemed highly unlikely that Leon, who had been caught in a ‘bridle’, would have any memory of it.

If one possessed the qualities of a hero, entering the Innocence Academy would be a very easy task and there was no reason why a reincarnated hero couldn’t join the Academy.

What better place to learn and be safe than the Academy?

That’s why the Sage had created several devices within the Innocence Academy that would allow Leon to regain his memories.

One of them is a necklace…

‘…The necklace was taken by Zetto.’

The Sage scratched his head.

‘I still have the painting, though, and a thief almost stole it…’

Fortunately, the necklace wasn’t the only device.

It was just a matter of whether or not the reincarnated Leon could recall his memories.

If he could recall the memories of his previous life, he would be able to fulfill his role as the Hero, but that was the Sage’s personal desire.

He wanted to have another conversation with his friend, who had been dead for hundreds of years… It was one of the Sage’s few small desires.

***

Unfortunately, I left the desert without a chance to speak with Ismir in private.

As expected, Delgrad is on high alert, and the cadets are escorted out of the desert by warriors.

Ismir, who had been assigned to accompany us in the carriage on our way out of the desert, whined that it was a nuisance and demanded to be made an academy instructor.

Lucia couldn’t do anything about it besides, Ismir is not a good instructor…she’s not good at teaching anyone at all.

A ‘guard’ was one thing, but an instructor was a far cry.

Anyway…The desert was peaceful and quiet, and so I parted ways with Ismir, ending my journey into the desert.

Back at the academy, the instructors called the cadets together and gave them an agenda.

The field trip was for joint combat, but since so many cadets hadn’t fought, they would organize a separate class for joint combat.

The group stays the same, but instead of going on another field trip, this time it’s within the academy.

After the announcement, the cadets are given a break from the harsh environment of the desert and the auditorium erupted in cheers at the mention of a break.

Orphele Aisin, the heir to the House of Water Aisin, one of the continent’s four elemental families, was especially pleased, clapping for a long time.

Once, Orphele, who was having trouble dealing with the heat of the desert, splashed water on his head, and the other members of the group, who were watching closely, asked him to do the same.

According to Crank, who was in the same group, it was very cool.

…Perhaps Orphele was considered a “watering can” or “shower” in the desert.

Anyway, I was given a few days of rest, but there was no rest for me, as I had work to do during this precious break.

So, before heading out of the academy, I made a quick stop at a general store to pick up some supplies.

[I wonder why you bought so much candy… Did you need something to eat on the trip? Did my student have a sweet tooth?]

Sierra wondered as she watched me leave the general store with a bunch of candy.

I quickly turn down an alleyway and step into the shadows, answering her in a stammering voice.

“…I thought he might like them.”

[Phew… You’re joking too much, didn’t you say that the reincarnated hero must have memories of his previous life. Would great man like him eat candy that little child would like? ]

“Haha… is that so…?”

[Yes. You might as well get him some liquor.]

Sierra may be saying this because she’s not quite sure what the reincarnated hero looks like yet.

The candy in the general store was an item that could be used to increase the hero likability.

I still don’t know if I actually played a game with that setting or if my memory is skewed, but at least I know she won’t end up hating the candy.

I wonder what Sierra’s reaction would be to seeing the hero enjoying candy?

…Well, I could save that for later.

***

“Rei!”

A boy waved and ran toward her.

Under the shade of the tree the boy had run to, Rei, the reincarnation of Leon the Hero, and the director of the orphanage stood together.

‘…Doesn’t he get tired?’

It was a boy who had always shown reasonable interest in Rei.

Even though Rei was in a woman’s body, she had no interest in men, but that didn’t mean she was particularly interested in women.

This was true even when he was the hero, Leon.

He’d been told by his comrades that he was a “blind man” but he still didn’t know why he was being called that.

“Heh… Heh…”

Crossing her arms, Rei glared at the boy who had come up to her and gasped for air.

It was clear in his eyes that he was going to say something about playing with him again and that’s exactly what he did.

“Rei, do you want to play…?”

“Don’t interrupt my rest.”

Rei had drawn the line firmly today.

She’d had a lot on her mind lately and didn’t feel relaxed enough to play with a small child.

She had no intention of playing with him, especially not with a boy who blushed every time she looked at him.

The director next to her gently interrupted her.

“Rei, you’re being harsh to your friend….”

“…”

Rei was undeterred and turned her head away from the boy.

Concerned about Rei’s lack of friends, the director reaches into his pocket.

She hears a rustling sound and when she realizes what she has in her hand, her eyes light up.

“Hey, Rei, why don’t you go trick-or-treating with your friend?”

“……”

Rei rolls her eyes.

“Candy” is one of the things that has been bothering her lately.

It was triggered by an acquaintance of the director visiting the orphanage one day and saying something like, “I haven’t seen you in a long time, you’ve all grown.

Rei looked at the candy with a pouty face, her cheeks flushed.

Lately, the director had been giving her candy whenever she did something commendable.

Leon had always said he had a terrible taste for sweets, let alone candy, but since becoming Rei, why something so sweet was so appealing… she couldn’t figure it out.

“…”

Rei held out her hand to the director but he gave her a nonchalant look.

“Can you promise me you’ll have fun with your friends instead, and not just take candy?”

It was impossible for the director not to notice.

‘A promise…’

Rei was a “hero” after all.

A hero who didn’t keep his word wasn’t a hero, no matter how small the promise.

So as soon as Rei got her candy, she would have to play with the boy.

It was the kind of thing that could take a mental toll on her.

‘Still…’

…it was hard to give up.

Rei’s jaw dropped, but then she nodded weakly, acknowledging the director’s words.

She then held out her tiny hands.

“…Candy, please.”

In front of the giant wall of candy, Rei crumbles into nothingness.

The director laughs at Rei’s cute behavior and puts the candy in her tiny hands.

“Rei, are you really going to play with me?!”

The boy watching the scene exclaims excitedly.

“Alas, I will play with you. I keep my promises since I’m a hero.”

Rei picks up a good-sized branch that was lying around.

The director watches them with a smirk on his face, wondering if they’ll have a sword fight, since she’s always been fond of heroes.

After examining the branch with her eyes, Rei turned to the boy, who had been giving her expectant glances.

“…Have you ever heard of picking up branches?”