The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character

Rachel poked at her half-eaten rice, casually flicking a bit of egg onto her spoon as she spoke.

"Anyway, last week, we had this assignment in the city outskirts. Supposed to be a routine sweep—just a few low-level beasts making a mess. Turned out to be a whole nest."

She said it like someone describing a minor inconvenience.

"Five heroes were sent in. One of them panicked and triggered an explosion rune too early. Collapsed the front of the cavern. So guess who had to dig through rubble with her bare hands?"

"You?"

She smirked. "Please. I made the rookie do it while I handled the real threat."

I let out a quiet breath, halfway between a scoff and a laugh. She sounded proud. She probably was.

"You get paid extra for that kind of thing?"

Rachel leaned back, stretching a little. "Hazard bonus. Not much, but enough to treat myself to that new imported shampoo."

I blinked. "You risk your life for shampoo?"

"For volume and shine? Absolutely."

I stared at her.

She stared right back, completely serious.

We both broke into a chuckle.

The mood had lightened again. This part of her—talking about her work, her routines, her little joys—it was easier to digest. I listened quietly, nodding here and there as she continued. Even if I didn't ask, she kept going, and strangely… I didn't mind hearing it.

"So," I finally asked, "do you like being a hero?"

Rachel looked up at that. Help us out by reading on MVLEMPYR.

The question seemed to catch her off guard.

"I… yeah," she said after a beat. "I do. It's hard, but it's worth it. Sometimes, you help people, and they look at you like you just pulled them out of the abyss. That look—it sticks with you."

Her voice had changed—more honest. More grounded.

"Besides," she added, lips quirking, "someone has to keep idiots like you safe, right?"

"I see," I said dryly. "So it's a self-imposed burden."

"Someone's gotta do it."

I smirked faintly, but she beat me to the punch, changing the subject with a sudden seriousness.

"You should come home."

The words hit harder than they should've.

I looked up.

Rachel was staring at me again, all the humor drained from her eyes. She wasn't joking this time.

"...What?"

"I know you're trying fine for now. But your body isn't what it used to be, Rin. You're recovering, sure—but the academy's pace isn't gentle. Especially not for someone who almost died before coming to academy."

I stayed silent. Digesting new information I got about old Rin.

'So he almost died before coming academy? I see. That's explain why both father and sister always tell me come back home.'

It's also Ironic that he died at the academy in novel too.

"I'm not saying this to control you," she added, voice softer now. "I just… I don't want to get a call saying something happened again. You can rest at home. Catch up slowly. No pressure."

I lowered my spoon. The rice was cold now, forgotten.

"And if someone tries anything again—" she paused, smile gone, eyes sharp, "—I'll deal with it. Personally."

Her tone dipped into something darker.

Something final.

"I will get revenge. That's my job."

The air shifted.

That word.

Revenge.

It echoed in my mind, loud and unsettling.

Revenge.

Why?

Why did she say it like that—so naturally? Like it had always been on the table?

My thoughts stumbled. Slipped.

I stared at her face. At the way her jaw was set, her eyes firm. This wasn't some passing remark.

She meant it.

It wasn't just concern.

It was a promise.

A threat.

A memory—someone else's—flickered at the edge of my mind. Something old Rin felt. Something buried deep.

But I couldn't reach it yet.

Still… I felt the weight of that word press down on me.

Revenge.

That single word echoed like a gunshot in my mind.

Revenge? What the hell did the original me get caught up in? Who did he piss off bad enough that even my sister—Rachel freaking Evans—was talking about payback?

What kind of mess had I inherited by becoming Rin Evans?

I opened my mouth to say something, anything—

"Please, Rin…" Rachel's voice was unusually soft now, pleading. "Say something."

"Sister, I…"

I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Because someone else had to pick that exact moment to barge in.

"That's quite the overreach, for an external inspector to interfere with a cadet's academy life, External Inspector Rachel Evans."

…I didn't even need to turn around to recognize that voice.

Professor Lena. Great.

Of all people, why was she here right now?

I turned my head slowly, like I was afraid of what I'd see—and sure enough, there she was. Professor Lena stood at the edge of our table, smiling like nothing was out of the ordinary. But her eyes? They told a completely different story.

Cold.

Sharp.

Rachel's expression changed too—gone was the warmth she had when talking to me. Now she looked like a veteran hero standing before a worthy opponent.

"…I'm speaking to my younger brother as family," she said calmly. "Not as an inspector. So I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of this, Professor Lena."

I shrunk slightly in my seat.

Yep. The temperature in the room just dropped ten degrees.

Lena's smile didn't waver, but her next words cut through the air like a knife.

"Family," she repeated, almost like she was testing the word.

And then—she scoffed.

SCOFFED.

Wait… Professor Lena scoffs? I didn't even know she could do that.

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Are you laughing?" Her voice was dangerously low now. "And who exactly do you think you are, stepping into a family conversation like this?"

"Of course, a mere homeroom teacher wouldn't dream of meddling in someone else's family," Lena replied smoothly. "That is… if the family was acting like a proper family."

The silence that followed was deafening.

I felt like I'd been transported into the middle of a battlefield, and somehow, I was the hill both sides were trying to take.

Rachel leaned back slightly, folding her arms.

Lena stood her ground, unbothered.

And I sat there with my spoon halfway to my mouth, wondering if I could pretend to choke and be escorted out.

Just five minutes ago, we were talking about her recent hero missions.

She had been describing how she helped rescue a group of students caught in a collapsing dungeon outside the capital—how she navigated through the rubble, activated a barrier in time, and even fought off a mutated beast that had been hiding underground.

It was genuinely impressive stuff.

I'd listened quietly, even asked her how she knew to activate the barrier just in time.

She answered with a smile, "When you've seen enough near-deaths, you start predicting them like weather forecasts."

It was almost… nice.

Until she dropped the bomb.

Telling me to quit the academy.

Telling me to come home.

Telling me she'd take revenge.

And now, this.

A showdown between an B-class hero and my homeroom professor over me.

Great. Just great.

Could I ask to be reincarnated again?

Maybe as a squirrel this time?

Because this was starting to feel like way too much for one reincarnated soul.