Chapter 46: The Strongest Hero

The man was strange.

His gaze—no, his very presence—was like a ray of light cutting through water. Pure. Undiluted. As if he wasn't just standing in the garden but was somehow part of it.

Agni cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had stretched just a beat too long.

"Yeah... I'm kinda lost," he said, forcing a sheepish grin. "Like, where are my classes? Haha..."

The man's golden eyes studied him for a moment—calm, unbothered, reading him like an open book.

"You don't look lost," the man said

Then, without warning: "You're Aldric’s kid, aren't you?"

Agni's stomach dropped.

Fuck.

"Agni, right?"

Agni blinked, his mind scrambling. How does he know my father?—of course he knows. Everyone knows.

"Yes," he said carefully, keeping his expression neutral.

The man nodded once, satisfied. "I see."

A pause.

"I've heard about your performance in the Class Selection Exam," the man continued, his tone neither praising nor critical—just factual. "It was good."

Agni's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"But slacking off classes is not."

And tensed right back up.

Before Agni could protest, the man reached forward and tapped the schedule paper in Agni's hand.

The parchment glowed faintly, lines of ink shifting and rearranging themselves until the flat page transformed into a three-dimensional map—buildings rising like miniature towers, pathways glowing softly, labels appearing in golden script.

"It shows your classes if you put some mana into it," the man explained simply.

Agni stared at the map, then down at his hand—at the other paper still clutched in his palm. The medical exemption from Doctor Aldous.

Yeah. About that.

His fingers tightened around the document, crumpling it slightly.

"Yeah, regarding that..." Agni started, then stopped.

What am I supposed to say? 'Sorry, can't use mana or I'll lose magic forever'? That'll go over great.

"Nothing," he said instead, forcing another smile. "Thank you, sir."

The man's golden eyes lingered on him for a moment—like he could see straight through the deflection—but he didn't press.

"You are?" Agni asked, seizing the chance to redirect. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Principal Rae," the man said simply. "I believe my formal introduction to the first years was missed due to my personal research."

Agni's brain stuttered to a halt.

Principal Rae.

The name echoed in his mind, pulling up fragments of memory

"The strongest hero of all time. He studied in this very academy."

Agni's eyes widened slightly, reassessing the man in front of him.

This is Principal Rae? The legend? The benchmark every other hero was measured against?

He looked... normal. Well, aside from the whole "one with nature" aura thing.

"Regardless..." Rae began, his tone shifting slightly—

"Ah, like—what was your first year like?" Agni cut in, unable to stop himself. "You know, the Class Selection Exam and all that?"

Silence.

Both of them blinked at each other.

Agni grimaced. "Ah. I made this awkward. I didn't intend on cutting you off—"

Principal Rae blinked again, his expression unchanging. "It was long ago."

His face betrayed nothing—no nostalgia, no amusement, no annoyance. Just... blank.

Agni pressed on anyway, curiosity overriding social awareness. "So shouldn't you hold the record for, like, scoring the most points in the exam? I heard you're the strongest."

Rae looked at Agni.

Really looked at him.

The gaze was raw—unfiltered in a way that made Agni's skin prickle.

Then Rae sighed—soft, almost inaudible.

"I scored nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine points," (9,999) he said quietly. "The academy doesn't register it because it wouldn't be motivating for students."

Agni frowned. "Why not? That doesn't look like that much..."

His tone carried genuine disappointment.

In Agni’s head the math was simple, after all Cassius was sitting comfortably around 6,000+ certainly additional 3,000 wasn’t difficult for “Strongest”.

Rae blinked.

For the first time, something flickered across his face. Surprise.

"The number of points available in a zone," Rae said slowly, carefully, "is ten thousand."(10,000)

"Ohhh."

The sound escaped Agni's lips as understanding clicked into place, his mouth forming a perfect O.

"That makes sense."

He nodded to himself, satisfied, then turned on his heel. "Right. Off I go!"

And just like that, he walked away— one hand still clutching the crumpled medical exemption, the cloth bag swinging in and out , the other holding the now-glowing map.

Rae stood there, staring at the spot where Agni had been.

A frown slowly formed on his face—subtle, but present.

Did I just... explain to a child how strong I am?

The thought settled uncomfortably in his mind.

He'd fought the devil. Sealed him.

And a young prince had just made him feel the need to justify his exam score.

Before he could process that further—

SLASH.

The air beside him tore open.

Not violently. Not dramatically. Just... split.

A man stepped through.

He had bright green hair— luminescent in the dappled sunlight—and sharp green eyes hidden behind thin glasses. His long, pointed ears flushed red as he rubbed the back of his head with right hand, the other holding a steaming paper bag.

"Rae!" the man said cheerfully, grinning wide. "You're late."

Rae's face smoothed back into blankness. "No, you are late."

The green-haired man—just laughed. "I stopped by this new bakery that opened. I had to check it out."

He held up the bag proudly. "Got chocolate buns."

Rae stared at him. "You're supposed to be handling the freshers. It's Professor Marcus who's doing everything."

The man shrugged, completely unbothered. "Hey, I passed my duties onto you. And now you intend on passing them back to me?" He grinned wider. "I stopped being principal long ago, remember?"

He leaned against the purple-leaved tree, crossing his arms. "How about you give Marcus a promotion, make him vice principal, and actually employ him for the job you make him do?"

Rae's golden eyes narrowed slightly. "Regardless of that, Professor Marcus is still young to take over command."

He paused, then added pointedly: "Moreover, it doesn't suit Vice Principal Julian to be skipping his duties."

Julian laughed again—loud, carefree, echoing through the garden. "No, no." He waved dismissively, already turning toward the pathway. "Anyways, I'm off to my office."

Then he stopped, glancing back over his shoulder with a knowing look.

"You're the one skipping the orientation and other dozens of events. How do you intend on making it up to the freshers for that?"

His green eyes sparkled with mischief.

Then, softer—more careful: "And it seems like you had no luck with the Revolutionary Forces again... since you keep coming back to this tree."

Rae's expression shifted.

Just for a moment.

His blank mask cracked— vulnerability flickering across his face before he caught it and smoothed it away.

But Julian had already seen it.

"Change of plans!" Julian announced suddenly, plopping down on the grass beneath the purple-leaved tree. He pulled the chocolate buns from the bag, the smell of warm pastry filling the air. "I'm going to enjoy my buns here in the garden."

He bit into one, sighing contentedly. "You go handle your mysterious principal business."

Rae stood there for a moment longer, staring at the tree's bark.

Then he looked down at his own schedule—the parchment appearing in his hand with a faint shimmer of light.

"Don't worry," he said quietly, more to himself than to Julian. "I have just the thing in mind to make up for it."

His face returned to its usual blank calm as he turned and walked toward the garden's exit.

Behind him, Julian munched on chocolate buns, completely content.

Rae's schedule glowed faintly in his hand, text appearing in elegant script:

Spirit Garden
Special Class
Sanctum
By: Principal Rae

Author Note: