The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character-Chapter 36: Serena Claudia [1]

"Hello, Cadet Rin Evans."

Seriously—who could've predicted this would happen just a day before the official quests were set to begin?

Definitely not me.

I hadn't seen this coming at all.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," I replied politely.

"Haha, you're way too stiff. Relax a little—I'm not going to eat you. I'm vegetarian, you know?"

"Haha... Thanks, I guess?"

The woman sitting across from me was none other than the chairman of Velcrest Academy.

And right now, I was in her office.

Not by choice, obviously.

Dragged here first thing in the morning, half-awake and half-aware—calling it "kidnapping" might be a stretch, but "forcibly escorted" didn't sound much better.

Where were the human rights in this world?

Anyway, what's done is done. I had known we'd meet eventually, just not this soon—or in this kind of setup.

Letting out a quiet sigh, I took a moment to really look at her again.

Long platinum-silver hair. Deep, forest-green eyes. And a beauty so ethereal it felt unfair.

No one even came close to her.

"That's better," she said, smiling as she noticed the tension leave my shoulders.

"You're looking much more at ease these days. I have to say, I'm genuinely impressed—enrolling earlier than the rest of the cadets, and training so diligently from the start."

She smiled, a subtle curve to her lips, but her presence alone was enough to keep me tense.

There was a reason she stood out so much—why she felt different.

Because she wasn't human.

She was an elf.

A High Elf, to be exact.

That explained a lot.

Sure, she had used magic to mask her features, blending in well enough to pass as a human at first glance. But if you looked closely—really looked—you could still spot the faint taper of her ears, just a little longer than human ones.

She wasn't originally from Earth.

She came here after the dungeons appeared, one of the first non-human beings to cross over from another dimension.

And unlike many of her kind, she didn't keep her distance.

As a High Elf, her natural curiosity got the better of her. She was fascinated by human culture—our messiness, our contradictions, our ambition. So she changed her appearance, took on a human identity, and even became a hero under that guise.

Only a handful of people knew her true identity.

Professor Lena was one of them.

And somehow... I was now on that very short list too.

She was supposed to retire, return to her world. That was the plan. But just before she left, she was offered the position of Chairman at Velcrest Academy.

True to her nature, curiosity won out once again—and she accepted.

And that's what brought her here.

And me, to her office.

"Now," she said, folding her hands on the desk, "why do you think I called you here, Cadet Rin Evans? Come on, take a guess."

Her eyes sparkled with a mix of amusement and an almost suffocating level of curiosity. There was something too interested in them.

"...I'm not sure," I admitted.

Too many possibilities.

It could've been because of my increasing interactions with Professor Lena—that might've raised some eyebrows. Or maybe it was about the less-than-polite way I talked to the professor during the entrance ceremony.

As I tried to sort through the options, she smiled and spoke again, her tone light but deliberate.

"Your father wants to see you."

"...What?"

Just one sentence—simple, direct—but it hit me like a sledgehammer.

"Of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to meet him."

"Really?"

Wait, were the gods finally on my side?

"Haha, no. You absolutely have to meet him."

Ah, there it is. Should've known. She was just messing with me. Classic.

"Haha..."

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

I let out a hollow laugh, the kind an underpaid office worker gives when their boss cracks a painfully unfunny joke. That's what I'd become—someone who had to play along.

Still, there was a silver lining.

At least none of my earlier predictions had come true. That was... something.

"Jokes aside," she continued, folding her arms, "in principle, all students accepted into the academy are treated as adults. We assume you're responsible for your own choices and actions. However—there are always exceptions."

I got what she was hinting at.

"Your father's threatening to cut off all support to the academy—money, equipment, everything. He's using the terrorist attack as leverage, saying he won't donate a single coin if I don't let him see you. So, I'm left with no choice but to ask you a favor."

Yeah, ask.

But we both knew if I refused, it wouldn't stay a "favor" for long.

She was the kind of person who latched onto things the moment they caught her eye. And once she had a reason? She'd run wild.

Honestly, her actions in the original story were so over-the-top, it made you wonder how she lived as long as she did. Like, was she even a proper high-elf?

Oh, right—speaking of living long...

She died in the original story.

Yeah.

One of the strongest characters in the world. A legend who never dropped below top 20 in the global hero rankings.

And she just... died.

Why?

No special reason.

She just did.

But it was good thing, in it's own way.

Now I know what card's should play next.

"It's fine. I'll meet him," I said calmly. "I don't want the academy's funding to take a hit just because of my father."

The chairman raised an eyebrow at that.

"Haa... I'm sorry you have to deal with this," she said with a sigh. "I looked into your family background and... I know your relationship with them isn't exactly great."

Wait—hold on a second.

Sure, it made sense that she'd dig into my background. She is the chairman, after all. But keeping that information to herself is one thing. Telling me straight to my face that she did it?

What happened to personal boundaries? Privacy? Ever heard of human rights?

I mean, come on—how do you just casually drop that?

And more importantly, why would she say it out loud?

She clearly had the brains to keep classified information under wraps, so why the sudden lapse?

Was this some kind of psychological tactic?

Either way, I kept my expression neutral and didn't react. No need to give her more than I already had.