I Became the Academy’s War Hero-Chapter 47 : Because That’s More Important to Me (1)

Chapter 47: Because That’s More Important to Me (1)
For first aid, we moved several hundred meters away from the site and into the forest.
While I was making a makeshift bed out of plants, Walter gathered a pile of herbs useful for treatment.
“This should be enough to cover the wounds.”
“…Thanks, Walter.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Leaving her care in Walter’s hands, I headed back to the scene once again.
On the surface, I told myself it was to look for clues about the enemies, but truthfully, there was a bigger reason.
“……”
It was true that I felt somewhat deflated by how weak the enemy turned out to be.
It was also true that witnessing humans being turned into beasts had shaken my composure.
Still, I thought—at least I hadn’t let my guard down.
If I had, I wouldn’t have been able to instantly sever the throat of that suicidal maniac who somehow survived the explosion.
But even with my quick judgment, his spell hadn’t stopped.
In the end, I had no choice but to confront that self-detonation head-on.
Regen Stock E
Regenerates a certain amount of damaged body tissue.
※ When all stocks are consumed, the trait disappears. [Remaining Stock: 1]
The ability I had devoured from the tamed beast during the welcome banquet—Regen Stock.
I had believed in it and endured, but the result had been miserable.
“…Guess that was never enough.”
Of the eight remaining stocks, only one was left.
If Rubia’s barrier had been delayed by even a few seconds, I would’ve been dead for sure.
In the end, the only reason I survived was because Rubia had sacrificed herself in my place.
That was a reality almost too heavy for me to bear.
If Eugene Carter had been stronger—had possessed more abilities—he wouldn’t have left such a horrible wound on Rubia.
Of course, she wouldn’t have fainted either.
“…Damn it.”
After self-reproach and disappointment came guilt toward Rubia, and finally, anger toward the enemy.
As I searched the area, I tried my best to suppress the thoughts that kept welling up.
Instead, I focused only on what I needed to do next.
I couldn’t let myself be ruled by temporary emotions like this.
Failure, regret, anger—all of them were merely fuel to reach my goal.
This wasn’t like before, when I could redo things endlessly.
Mistakes might happen—but they could never be fatal.
If I didn’t respond as if every chance were my last, I’d eventually be caught off guard in the most unexpected way.
After about ten minutes of searching, the result was just as expected—nothing.
I planned to check once more the spot where Rubia and I had stood, then return to Walter.
“……”
Then, something faintly gleamed in my vision.
Following the glint, I found a metallic object half-buried in the ground.
“This is….”
It was a steel identification tag.
The name and number were engraved upon it.
Ian Flos, 73–10854, B
The moment I saw it, I muttered instinctively.
“Ian Flos, enlisted in the year 73, blood type B….”
Those bastards had somehow turned humans into beasts and used them for combat.
I hadn’t seen it directly in the game, but I remembered some characters gossiping about such rumors—or that related books had been banned.
There couldn’t be many factions bold and skilled enough to attempt human beastification.
If I limited it to within the Empire… only two came to mind—the Imperial Court and the Bernhardt Family.
Even the assassination attempt in Karbenna had turned out to be Bernhardt’s doing.
It was highly likely they were involved this time as well.
Keeping that in mind, I repeated the name again.
“Ian Flos… Ian Flos….”
Unfortunately, nothing came to mind right away.
“…Well, I’ll probably find a lead soon enough.”
More importantly right now was Rubia’s recovery.
Muttering to myself, I tucked the tag deep into my inner pocket.
Then, as I was about to take another step, my left foot caught on something hard.
“…What’s this?”
Right next to where the tag had been buried, a small leather-bound book peeked out from the ground.
“Okay, that’s it. I’ve done everything I can for now. We’ll need to return to Karbenna for proper treatment.”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Walter spoke.
I nodded and placed my hand on Rubia’s forehead.
Her complexion was pale, yet her fever was burning high.
“……”
The most basic aftereffect of mana exhaustion was fainting.
When most of the mana in the body was consumed, the mana heart would draw upon the body’s energy to compensate for the lack.
To do this more efficiently, it would forcibly put the body into a dormant state.
That was the in-world explanation—but in truth, it was rare for mana depletion to cause unconsciousness.
Even if one did faint, as long as the mana heart was functioning properly, consciousness usually returned within ten minutes.
Yeah… usually, anyway.
Seeing my grim expression, Walter nodded as well.
“I said that, but honestly… I’m not sure returning to Karbenna is the right call.”
“Agreed.”
He examined Rubia’s injured right arm and spoke.
“You know there aren’t any real experts on this stuff in Karbenna. No precedent cases either. At best, they’ll just keep her in strict rest until she wakes up.”
“True enough….”
“More than that—if they find out we’re alive, do you think those bastards will just sit still? They’re the kind who’d use human beastification and suicidal assassins.”
“Come on, no way.”
“No, think about it. We’re right now—”
“…Yeah, that’s what I would’ve said before.”
But after this battle, my thoughts had changed.
If saving all of them was my goal, then the trials that came with it were only natural. I’d already prepared myself for that.
Even so.
Even factoring in Apocalypse Mode and the Hockma incident… this was happening too fast.
The war hero with ties to both Karbenna and the Imperial Special Task Force was now moving for the Empire’s renewal.
Since I possessed Eugene Carter—this had been my justification and logic all along.
I, who belonged to two organizations that, whether by reputation or influence, were second to none within the Empire, had never expected they would try to push me out by such an extreme method.
And at a time when we had resumed activity for less than a month.
‘Did they think that if they didn’t finish me now, there’d be no way to deal with me later?’
Or maybe it was an expression of confidence.
That they could kill someone like me any time, and that an incident of this scale could be covered up without trouble.
In fact, they had left no physical evidence.
We still didn’t even know which group the assassins belonged to, and the mutated creatures that would have been the biggest proof had vanished without a trace.
The only clues we had were a dog tag and a book—those two things and nothing else.
Thinking those thoughts, I looked at Rubia Magnus with a worried expression.
Just then.
A murmur started up in the distance.
“…….”
“…….”
We exchanged looks without speaking and slowly moved toward the source of the noise.
“Not visible here either, Colonel Belfor!”
“Then search more thoroughly, you bastard!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Soldiers were pushing through the underbrush toward us.
The moment I saw their familiar uniforms, Rubia and I both exhaled in relief.
“Phew… for a moment I thought they were enemy reinforcements… whoa?!”
Maybe from tension easing, Walter Clark hadn’t seen a fallen tree root and tripped.
He flailed and tumbled helplessly, finally coming to rest on the flat forest path.
And standing before him was our comrade, Eric Belfor.
“…What are you doing here, you?”
When we entered the entrance of Operation Area C―1997, a makeshift encampment the team had set up came into view.
As soon as we arrived at the camp I laid Rubia on one of the officers’ beds first.
It was just past one in the morning.
We sent the personnel in the command post out on the pretense of rest, and sat facing each other with the distance of a single chair between us.
“Honestly, it’s lucky your spine didn’t snap, I thought.”
Walter Clark spoke first.
He rubbed his side and turned his head toward Belfor.
“But how did you know to get there in time?”
Belfor tilted his head as if incredulous.
“Well, you’d hear an explosion of that size nearby—how could you not go check?”
“Ah… that’s true.”
“Besides, the Karbenna advance party was due to arrive, so it made it even more worrying. What on earth happened?”
I told him the truth about both assassination attempts, including this one.
“…….”
Belfor had listened in silence, but his expression grew increasingly twisted.
“…If Professor Rubia hadn’t sacrificed herself, we’d have all been dead there. It was a miracle we survived.”
When I finished, Belfor stared coldly into the air with a hard face.
“Hah… those bastards, who do they take us for.”
Then he glared at me again.
“We should this to the Commander, Carter.”
His eyes were full of conviction as if he’d already reached a conclusion.
Walter slapped his knee and nodded vigorously at Belfor’s suggestion.
“Right, let’s do that! Even if it’s the Bernhardt family, who do they think they’re messing with—the Special Task Force!”
But I couldn’t give either a yes or a no.
After thinking for a long time, I finally said:
“No… it’s too soon.”
“What? Why?!”
Walter slammed the table in anger, but I didn’t flinch.
Belfor added calmly.
“This is no longer your personal problem, Carter. The prestige of both the Special Task Force and the Imperial Court is at stake.”
“Do you really think the Special Task Force Commander will see it that way?”
“…….”
I stared at the large map fixed to the front of the command post and continued.
“And what are you going to say when you go?”
“That would be….”
“That Bernhardt tried to kill us, so punish them? There’s no clear evidence, is there?”
Walter beat his chest in frustration and shouted from the side.
“Hey, Carter! Aren’t you mad? Strangers tried to kill you out of nowhere!”
“I am. They made Rubia like this. If they were standing in front of me, I’d want to snap their necks on the spot.”
Exactly because of that, we had to prepare more thoroughly and with greater certainty.
If we faced them head-on with half-measures, we wouldn’t even have bones left to pick up.
I snorted and smiled at the two who’d fallen silent without offering an opinion.
“Hey, lighten up. I said it’s too early—not that I don’t plan to expose them.”
“…When do you plan to act?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“…You really need to learn how to share intel better.”
I handed Belfor the dog tag I had picked up earlier while he shook his head with a sulky face.
“Stop the pointless chatter and dig up this guy’s background. And rent me a carriage.”
“Ian Floss, service number ’73… but why a carriage?”
Belfor muttered as he looked at the dog tag and then asked me outright.
I stood up and answered with one line.
“I’m going to visit the Magic Tower.”