Hero, Go To School! - Chapter 2
“Young Lady, you’re not actually going up there, are you?”
“Yep.”
I answered with a tone dripping with annoyance, and the people around me panicked, trying to stop me. I don’t want to go either. But I’m the only one who can stop that bastard.
Letting out a long, irritated sigh, I climbed the statue where he’d perched himself.
Ian, who’d been throwing wild punches at the patrol like a madman, froze the moment he spotted me.
For a moment, we locked eyes in a quiet standoff.
Gulp-.
Ian’s bulging throat bobbed up and down dramatically. Then, in a split second, he twisted his body and began sliding down the opposite side. So fast that white dust from the stone billowed like smoke beneath his feet.
“Ian!”
I hurried after him. But unlike Ian, whose physical abilities were as unhinged as his mental state, I was just an ordinary woman. Like a crow trying to follow a stork, I pushed myself too far and ended up twisting my ankle.
Losing balance happened in an instant. My foot slipped, my body tilted, and I began to fall. My shortened skirt fluttered in the air, and my hair flew with it.
I flailed, trying to grab onto anything, but nothing was within reach. My hands only swung helplessly in the empty air.
“Ahhh!”
Screams erupted from the people in the plaza all at once. The sense of vertigo spread from deep in my stomach to the tips of my toes, and my vision turned white.
The thought that I was about to crash into the ground sent a wave of cold terror through my chest. Unable to overcome the fear, I squeezed my eyes shut.
At that moment, someone wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up with force. There was a thud as our chests collided. The impact knocked the wind out of me, but the strong grip holding me started to drive out the icy fear.
When I opened my eyes, Ian’s face was close. His breath was ragged, and his eyes were shaken with surprise and relief.
I grabbed his shoulders with trembling hands and stared back at him. There was still tension in his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
Ian asked while trying to catch his breath. His voice trembled slightly.
“You, that was so dangerous… Ah!”
The moment I came to my senses, I grabbed a handful of Ian’s hair.
“You little bastard, how hard is it to sit through a damn class! Do you have a death wish? Huh?! Are you trying to live forever or what!”
“Just listen to me for a second.”
“Why the hell did you smash a perfectly good statue!”
“You want me to just stand there and watch that grotesque thing meant to insult me?”
Ian pointed furiously with eyes full of rage. Every word was dripping with barely restrained fury.
I shouted, desperate to knock some sense into him.
“It’s not insulting you, it’s honoring you! Worship! Reverence! Don’t you know what that means?!”
Ian scoffed with a scowl on his face.
“Worship me? In those ragged clothes only male prostitutes wear? Don’t try to fool me with that slippery tongue of yours.”
And just like that, we were at each other’s throats, yanking hair and shouting. Ian’s face flushed red with anger, and I, unwilling to back down, clenched my teeth and gripped his hair tightly.
Then it happened.
I suddenly felt something closing in around us. My hands lost strength and slid off him. We both paused and looked around.
Damn it.
The patrol had surrounded us, eyes fixed on Ian with ropes in hand, looking ready to strike. Of course.
I stepped away from Ian and stood upright. With everyone watching the crime unfold, it didn’t seem like he’d be getting out anytime soon. I lowered my voice and whispered to him.
“For now, don’t do anything. Just stay still. I’ll get you out of here soon… huh?”
Why were they tying me up too?
The patrol didn’t just bind Ian. They wrapped the rope around me as well.
For some reason, they were treating me like a criminal right alongside him. I stared at them in disbelief. Judging by the stubborn looks in their eyes, there was no way they were going to listen.
Still, I had to stop them from dragging me off with Ian like some accomplice.
“W-wait a second. Officers, there’s been a mistake. I’m the one who caught this guy, okay?”
My words might as well have been spoken to a wall. From the moment Ian saved me, they had lumped us together. No matter how desperately I pleaded my innocence, it made no difference.
And so, Ian and I ended up seated side by side in the prisoner transport wagon, leaving the plaza to a chorus of angry shouting and accusations.
Inside the wagon, we made brief eye contact.
You lunatic. What are you looking at?
With a sigh, I leaned against the wall of the wagon. This was truly the worst possible outcome. I couldn’t end up with a criminal record like this.
If begging wouldn’t work, then there was only one thing left.
Threats.
I stared straight at the officer sitting across from me.
“What.”
He frowned.
“Do you even know who this is? This guy right here is Ian Zenor, the one and only son of Duke and Duchess Zenor.”
The officer sneered in response.
“Then I must be the emperor’s secret child.”
“No, seriously! Don’t say I didn’t warn you—just look closely. This golden hair, not a trace of impurity, those ocean-blue eyes, that annoyingly handsome face! He looks exactly like the Duke and Duchess, doesn’t he?”
A twitch flickered across the officer’s face.
It was true, Ian’s looks were far too polished for a commoner.
I didn’t miss the moment the officer, who had been laughing so smugly, suddenly
wiped the grin off his face. I jumped in quickly.
“If you let us go now, I’ll personally inform the Duke and Duchess about your sharp instincts and generous heart. I’ll make sure you’re well rewarded.”
The officer’s gaze began to waver.
But there was still a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
“…Are you really Lord Ian Zenor?”
His voice held a trace of disbelief.
Ian, who had been staring straight ahead this whole time, finally turned his head.
“Nope!”
“What?”
With a proud expression, Ian shouted like a proclamation.
“My name isn’t some whiny little brat’s name like that. I am the great Ares Balta—”
“Ian, for the love of god, shut up!”
I couldn’t take it anymore and slammed my forehead into his face.
Ian let out a choked grunt and hung his head. I quickly turned to the officer to explain.
“Officer, wait, that’s not what I—”
But the damage was done. The officer’s expression turned ice cold.
Convinced we had been mocking him the entire time, he shoved gags into both our mouths.
“Mmph! Mmph mm!”
I struggled to protest, but my cries never reached his ears.
And so, Ian and I were dragged off, side by side, to the underground prison, now accused of impersonating nobles.
<Warning!>
—Criminal records will prevent academy admission.
A system window flashed before us, hinting grimly at our future.
I stared at the message in despair, then shut my eyes tight inside the cold prison cell.
Damn it. What kind of dogshit possession life is this?!
