Those Cast Aside

After leaving the mud-doll squad behind, Leopin sprinted at full speed back to the academy, since dusk was already falling.

He expected the field to be empty at night, but Monaka and Kotone were standing there holding a finish tape.

Leopin broke through the tape.

The time he recorded was one that would have rewritten the world record for the Hell Marathon.

However, that great record never became public—it was buried in the darkness.

Leopin didn’t care about that.

For him, the greatest reward was that the two girls had waited for him to return, and celebrated him so grandly.

And the three of them, huddled close, watched the fireworks painting the night sky like a ceremonial salute.

“Wow… beautiful…”

“The letters written there seem rather ominous, but it is very beautiful indeed. It is as though a flower bloomed in an instant, only to scatter away…”

“So it’s not just Monaka—Kotone, you like fireworks too?”

“Yes, Master. To tell the truth, I’ve always dreamed of watching fireworks like this together with you.”

“I’m glad your wish came true, Kotone-san!”

“Yes, thank you, Monaka-sama. Today has become a truly wonderful day.”

“Come to think of it, I never properly thanked you two. I pretty much made it to the finish because of you.”

At that, Monaka leaned her head against Leopin, as if presenting him the crown of her head.

Seeing that, Kotone followed timidly, like a kitten imitating the resident cat.

“Good, good… thank you, both of you.”

Leopin patted Monaka’s head with his right hand and Kotone’s head with his left.

The two girls clenched his dress shirt tightly, and clasped hands as if sharing their joy.

Now then—despite being a teacher, Nickbacca was the first to use a distress flare.

From there, he desperately tried to pin the blame on Leopin somehow.

But the rescue team had witnessed him getting beaten up by goblins, and at that same time, Leopin was on the academy field.

No matter what kind of absurd, miracle-level excuse he tried, it was impossible to shift responsibility onto Leopin.

The vice principal—the one who had instigated the whole event—didn’t defend Nickbacca at all.

Instead, he quickly moved to discard him.

“No! Nickbacca-san! For a physical education teacher like you to make students do such recklessness as a Hell Marathon-zansu! And after running them until they couldn’t even return, you get attacked by goblins and call for rescue-zansu!? It’s a mystery how you were ever hired as a teacher of our Royal Pioneer Academy-zansu!”

“Niku!? N-no, Vice Principal! I only did as you told me—!”

“No! Silence-zansu! Not only are you trying to frame… Leopin-kun, you’re even trying to pin blame on me—an outrageous teacher-zansu! I’d like to downgrade you by two ranks, but since you’re already submitting your resignation, I’ll let that slide-zansu! Now pack your things and get out at once-zansu!”

“N-no waaaaaay!?!?”

At the Royal Pioneer Academy, the first dropout finally appeared.

Many had expected it from the start.

They’d assumed the first to disappear would be that boy—good for nothing but dexterity.

But when the lid was opened, the dropout wasn’t him at all.

It wasn’t even a student.

It was the physical education teacher…!

Nickbacca came from a prestigious family packed with famous athletes, and Nickbacca himself had once served with distinction in the military.

And the Royal Pioneer Academy where he taught was a future elite institution, certain to make its name thunder across the world.

If he remained as a founding instructor, even becoming part of the royal circle someday wasn’t a mere dream.

So where did an elite among elites go wrong…?

Yes—Leopin…!

Simply by making an enemy of Leopin… his entire life fell behind the pack…!

Early the morning after the academy decided to expel him, Nickbacca clung to a thick pillar and screamed.

“Niku! N-no! No no no no! Nooooo! If I get fired from this academy, I’ll be cast out from my family too! If that happens, I can’t go on living! It’s over! Everything is oooover!”

At last, the academy guards forcibly peeled Nickbacca off and hauled him away in an animal cage.

Like a gorilla being sold to a circus, he kept screaming from behind the bars.

“H-help meeeeeee! I-I was wrong! Looking back, I had a hunch even during that first P.E. class! That you were more capable than anyone in this academy…! And what made it undeniable was what happened during the Hell Marathon!”

Ah, what cruel irony…!

At the very end, he finally realized the boy’s excellence…!

“If it’s you, breaking these bars and rescuing me would be easy! So please! Let me out of here right now! I’ll do anything—anything! Keep me at your side! Let me work in your house! Leopin! Leooooopiiiiiiin!”

I felt like I heard a desperate cry for help, and I woke up.

“Ugh… what, was that just my imagination…”

And as usual, I noticed my body was glowing.