[Hated Hero, Leaving the Academy]

“I see. The ball… it’s that time of the year already, huh.

Two days before the ball, after classes, I was visiting Ms. Teixeira’s laboratory to show her the Holy Sword.

“I bet Tayte is looking forward to it, right?”

“Y-yes… but, I only invited her a few days ago, and it made her cry.”

“Isn’t that just because she was happy to be invited?”

“W-well, that may be so…”

Actually, I still regretted the fact that I hadn’t invited her earlier. But in any case, I was going to make Tayte enjoy the ball to the fullest.

“So, where’s the Holy Sword?”

“…………”

“Barrett?”

“Oh, y-yes.” My mind ended up being filled with Tayte again, and I failed to register Ms. Teixeira’s words.

“…You truly like Tayte, don’t you?”

“W-well, that’s…”

“You’re now the complete opposite of you a year ago. Not only in your attitude toward Tayte, but also toward your personal life in general… is this the work of the Holy Sword…?”

“T-that’s right! After being chosen by the Holy Sword, I felt like my eyes have been opened! I realized that I couldn’t stay as I was before!”

Let’s dump everything on the Holy Sword for now. It was the quickest, and above all, the least suspicion-arousing explanation. Being reborn after receiving God’s Holy Sword—if that wasn’t a Hero-ish backstory, I didn’t know what was.

“Well, show some restraint at the ball, okay?”

“I’ll keep your words in mind. So, how’s the Holy Sword?”

“Nothing noteworthy… However, you seem to have gotten familiar with handling it.”

“I’ve been doing special training, after all.”

Every morning, I trained my control over the Holy Sword before breakfast. In【The Rise of the Weakest Holy Swordsman】—essentially, the original work—Barrett wasn’t able to fully draw out the power of the Holy Sword.

It came about from his immaturity.

Not to mention, his immaturity also brought Mr. Abel to a pitiful end. Be it those around him or the readers pointed out that the Holy Sword was wasted in his hand.

“Hard working is always a good thing, but remember not to overdo it.”

“I understand that much, you know?”

There were still four years until I graduated from the academy—until then, I’d keep trying to bring out the power of the Holy Sword while maintaining my current pace, that was what I planned. Fortunately, there was no hostile force targeting me yet.

――Ah, hang on a sec.

Speaking of hostile force,

“Um, Ms. Teixeira.”

“Mm? What’s up?”

“About Rick—”

“I’m not telling you.”

She cut me off before I could finish my words.

I knew she had my best interest in mind, but… I couldn’t just sit still and watch.

“Ms. Teixeira…”

“No means no. The security of the academy has been strengthened since then. Such an incident will never occur again. If someone was foolish enough to attempt to cause another incident, we’d catch him instantly.”

I supposed she was confident in her words.

Ms. Teixeira had a slightly smug look on her face as she said them.

In the end, unable to get the latest news, I returned to the dormitory to prepare for my visit to Tayte’s family manor tomorrow.

◇◇◇

The following day—the first of two days off.

Tayte and I were being swayed in the carriage.

Today, Priim served as the coachman, and the other two maids tagged along in a different carriage as escorts. Additionally, there was a total of five carriages on which armed knights ride. Their carriages ran close to ours so as to protect me and Tayte.

“…Isn’t this overkill?”

Assuming that this excessive security wasn’t a precaution for the berserk incident… this was obviously an overkill. A strange sense of tension enveloped me, but…

“Look, Barrett! There is a wild horse over there!”

…Tayte was looking out the window, watching the scenery outside, seemingly worry-free.

“Where… oh? You’re right!”

“Its children are nearby as well! They’re cute, aren’t they?”

“You like animals, huh.”

“Yes♪.”

Well, it came as no surprise seeing that she seemed to be the type of person liked by animals.

“Ah! There’s a deer!”

As I admired the sight of Tayte excitedly looking out the window, a good quality time passed until we arrived at the mansion.