I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 740 - Side Story 13: Companion (1)

Rudger thought that three years was by no means a short period of time.

Of course, time is relative.

For someone who harbors a great cause and moves toward that goal, three years would be a very short time.

But conversely, for someone who simply lives according to the flow of time and enjoys everyday life, three years was sufficiently long.

Hans had also lived busily for three years, but at least he no longer lived while immersed in something.

After the holy war ended and under the Empire's guidance, he had seized the peaceful life he so desired.

Hans had acquired vast wealth. It wasn't that the Empire had provided support, but money that Hans had earned himself while working under Rudger.

In the first place, most of the large sum Rudger had earned through his activities was used to research Relics, but it was Hans who managed those funds.

Rather, Rudger had readily handed over the overflowing money to Hans, telling him to use it as he saw fit.

Besides that, there was also the profit earned from operating Royal Street together with Violetta. Hans' assets far exceeded those of an ordinary millionaire.

'Hans isn't the type to be bound by honor in the first place, so he wouldn't do anything excessive, and he's not the type to spend money lavishly either, so he probably just saved most of it.'

Was that all? He had even overcome the constitution that tormented him, so it could be said that Hans had achieved most of his hopes in this life.

'So it's not particularly surprising that such a Hans would get a woman.'

Hans was still at a prime age. He looked a bit, no, very worn out in appearance, but he was younger than Rudger.

Moreover, Hans had cultivated the courage to not bat an eye at most things through his activities with Rudger.

Even if he acted like a coward, he was the type who would properly come through when it mattered. It wasn't just that he had a lot of money; he had acquired his own firmness and confidence as well.

Objectively evaluated, he was no less than an excellent marriage prospect as people would say.

'Well, there would be quite a lot to scrutinize to consider him an ordinary marriage prospect.'

For instance, an item like 'Your husband-to-be can manifest beast factors and transform into a monster—are you okay with that?' would need to be included as mandatory.

With just that one thing, the number of people willing to meet Hans would drastically decrease.

'No, it might not just drastically decrease but converge to 0 percent.'

If there was a woman who liked transforming into a beast, that would be serious in its own way. In that case, wouldn't one need to worry about Hans rather than the other party.

But looking at the reaction Hans was showing now, Alex's words were presumed to be true. It was certain that Hans had gotten a woman.

'Who on earth could it be?'

Given Hans' personality, if she was someone he truly liked, he wouldn't hide everything. That guy, even if he looks like that, has quite a naive side to him.

He would have at least explained to the other party what kind of situation he was in, yet if they were maintaining a relationship despite that, it would mean the woman he was dating had accepted it.

Is there someone with such a broad mind? For Rudger, it was hard to accept that purely.

"Who is it, Hans? The woman you're dating." 

"N-no. Brother, that's..."

Hans avoided Rudger's gaze while breaking out in a cold sweat. Perhaps because he had been caught off guard while trying to tease Alex, combined with the effects of alcohol, his mind didn't seem to be working properly.

"At this point, I'm very curious. I already knew about Alex's love story, so I vaguely expected it would turn out like this, but you're different, aren't you, Hans?"

Hans hadn't had much contact with women until now. In the first place, he had lived in the shadows, helping Rudger with his work by his side.

Even if he had such intentions, the situation wasn't favorable, so he wouldn't have had the opportunity.

Hans, at a loss for words, glared at Alex with a resentful look. Alex shrugged with a mischievous smile. Who told you to tease first?

"You had to say it sooner or later anyway. Rather, think of it as me helping you." 

"......"

It wasn't exactly wrong. Hans finally let out a deep sigh. Perhaps having expelled quite a bit through his alcoholic breath, some reason returned to his eyes.

After contemplating for a moment, Hans steeled his resolve and opened his mouth.

"I was actually planning to tell you about it too, Brother. It's just that since it's been a long time since we reunited, I didn't particularly mention it." 

"Since we're on the topic, let me hear it. So who is it?" 

"Well..."

Just as he was about to speak, a sense of helplessness seemed to wash over Hans again as he clamped his mouth shut. Unable to watch any longer, Alex helped from the side.

"Why? The leader knows her too, doesn't he?" 

"Someone I know?"

Rudger showed a surprised reaction. No, perhaps this was right. If it were someone he had never seen before meeting Hans, he would have been suspicious first.

Rather, it might be because they were acquaintances that she could accept everything about Hans's constitution. Thinking that way made him even more curious.

The number of women Rudger knew was quite substantial. And the majority possessed extraordinary talents. Among them, who on earth would match with Hans?

"Well, that is..."

As Rudger and Alex's gazes focused on him, Hans' Adam's apple twitched. Eventually, unable to withstand those gazes, Hans squeezed his eyes shut and made a confession that wasn't quite a confession.

"Seridan." 

"......"

The moment he heard that name, Rudger felt as if the world had stopped for an instant.

Of course, thanks to his experience going through all manner of hardships until now, he was able to quickly regain his reason.

Rudger cleared his throat and carefully asked again.

"I think I heard something wrong, who did you say?" 

"Seridan, I said. Seridan Ironfeet." 

"......"

Rudger had no choice but to accept the reality he had tried to deny.

When he glanced at Alex, he was clutching his stomach and snickering, finding this situation too amusing to endure.

It seemed he had expected this reaction, and it had hit right on the mark.

"Really?"

When asked that way, Alex wiped away the tears that had gathered in his eyes and answered.

"Yeah. It's real. That guy Hans is living in the house he so desired now, right? But he's not living there alone." 

"Not alone means..." 

"He built a large warehouse near the house, one sturdy enough to withstand any ordinary explosion. It's definitely not a structure someone living alone would build."

When Rudger looked back at Hans, Hans nodded with a face flushed red with embarrassment, as if saying it was all true.

"...Since when?" 

"Well, I'm not sure myself. How should I put it? Should I say it just happened that way?"

Hans scratched his disheveled hair with his hand while Rudger tried to recall the relationship between Hans and Seridan.

Seridan, who had always tormented Hans, and Hans, who showed annoyance as if fed up with such a Seridan.

But those two had that kind of relationship? Hmm. As Rudger reflected on past memories, he discovered a strange sense of dissonance.

Come to think of it, Seridan had persistently tormented only Hans.

At the time, he thought it was because Hans had a personality that was easy to tease, so Seridan had targeted him, but was that not it?

"Why, Leader. You know, that thing." 

"That thing?" 

"Because she likes someone, she deliberately keeps picking fights and tormenting them to get their attention. That was Seridan's personality."

So to summarize what Alex was saying, it meant that Seridan had been paying attention to Hans deep down, so she deliberately tormented him to attract his attention.

"Come on, she's not some neighborhood brat..." 

"If we're being precise, Seridan is a brat though, isn't she?" 

"No, don't put it that way. She just, she's just not good at expressing emotions."

When Hans came to her defense, Rudger's eyes widened. To think words defending Seridan would come from Hans' mouth?

Alex whistled too.

"Wow. But she's my woman, is that it?" 

"N-no, that's not it..." 

"Well, Seridan appearing that way is inevitable due to racial characteristics."

At Alex's words, Rudger found himself nodding without realizing it. That's right. Come to think of it, wasn't Seridan a dwarf? And her appearance, no matter how favorably expressed, was never adult-like. Rather, that appearance seemed too young.

"Hans, you..."

Did he read the subtle emotion dwelling in Rudger's voice? Hans bristled and objected.

"N-no, what! What's the problem!" 

"Should I call it a problem..." 

"In the first place, aren't all dwarves similar! If you put it that way, are all people who like dwarves like that?!"

There wasn't much to say if he went that far. Wouldn't it seem like racial discrimination to say yes here?

"But Seridan, she's not that old, is she?" 

"She's already an adult by age too. It's just that her outward appearance is like that. And in the first place, I didn't end up in that kind of relationship with Seridan because of her outward appearance."

Hans, perhaps truly feeling wronged, wanted to make sure this point was clear.

"It's purely because our personalities match, and there's a charm I came to know through being together until now. So I absolutely do not have a preference for that sort of thing." 

"Rather than liking her because she's that type, it's that you liked her and she happened to be that type. Mm-hmm. It's a common pattern."

Alex nodded as if it made sense. Hans glared at Alex. The person adding commentary from the side was always the most annoying.

"No, even considering that, I'm surprised. Even if Seridan had such feelings, I never thought you, Hans, would have similar thoughts." 

"Well, that's..."

Hans replied awkwardly.

"Seridan was the one who always accepted me as I am."

Hans' words also made sense. Come to think of it, Seridan had never been frightened by Hans' constitution. Rather, didn't she even play pranks using Hans' constitution?

He had thought it was purely because of her spirit of inquiry or perhaps a tomboyish way of thinking. But put differently, it also meant she didn't care about Hans' constitution at all.

For Hans, who had trauma and an inferiority complex about this more than anyone, Seridan's behavior must have felt rather grateful.

"I really feel caught off guard. Of all things, for you two to have that kind of relationship. No, rather should I say it suits you two well because it's you two?"

Although Rudger believed there was no such thing as a match made in heaven, he felt that Hans and Seridan were an exception.

"Well, there's no particular prohibition against men dating, so... if you both like each other, I have no intention of opposing it. Rather, I'd like to congratulate you." 

"Brother, are you teasing me too?" 

"I'm thinking about this seriously. Well, you're also on the young side, Hans. It's a good thing if you have a partner."

That voice contained no intention whatsoever to tease or belittle Hans. When he first heard it, he was tremendously surprised, but thinking carefully, the two were a well-matched pair.

Of course, judging by their outward appearance alone, didn't it seem like quite a dangerous combination? Weren't they both people who had lived abandoned in their own worlds in the first place?

The two knew about each other's wounds better than anyone. It might have been inevitable that such two people were drawn to each other.

"This is cause for celebration. When will you hold the ceremony?" 

"That's still pending. It hasn't been that long since we became this kind of relationship." 

"But why did you come alone? Where's Seridan?" 

"She'll come soon. I wanted to come so quickly that I departed first." 

"Normally, wouldn't she be upset, but thinking of Seridan's personality, she probably doesn't think much of it." 

"Rather, Seridan never doubted that you would return someday, Brother. So she wasn't particularly surprised at the news of your return either. Should I say she thought it was something that was scheduled to happen?"

‘Right. I figured Seridan would be like that.‘

Rudger nodded in understanding. Hans, seeing such a Rudger, asked with half-opened eyes.

"More importantly, what about you, Brother?" 

"Me? What are you talking about?" 

"No, whether it's me or Alex, we somehow made partners, but why don't you have anyone yet, Brother?" 

"Are those words to say to someone who was trapped in null space for three years?" 

"No, so what I mean is. Now you've returned too, Brother, and even the constraints of your status have disappeared."

Alex chimed in from the side too.

"That's right. Now the leader doesn't need to live in hiding anymore, right? You're truly a free man." 

"What does that have to do with the question from a moment ago?" 

"How could it not be related? Now the leader has the leisure to turn his eyes to his surroundings."

Rudger reluctantly nodded. It wasn't wrong.

"Then, shouldn't the leader also start getting a woman soon?" 

"Me?"

Rudger answered with a snort as if it were absurd. 

Hans and Alex were rather flustered by that reaction.

"No, Leader. I'm saying this just between us, but with someone like you, Leader, women would line up saying they like you. And yet you have no interest?" 

"Aren't I someone with the bloodline of a fallen kingdom and an uncertain status?" 

"No, that's all in the past now. Besides, you're going to use that name as is now. Isn't that enough?"

Rudger stroked his chin with his hand.

"Hmm. I've never thought about such things. In the first place, I don't have that kind of experience, so I don't even have a sense of where to start meeting people." 

"No, Brother. You have many women around you."

At those words, Rudger asked back as if he didn't understand.

"There are many, but so what?" 

"...Isn't there even one person among them that you're interested in, Brother?" 

"I've never thought about such things. I didn't have the leisure for it. And what good is it if I like someone? Isn't the other person's feelings important too?"

Rudger's answer was nothing if not textbook. 

Hans and Alex looked at Rudger as if dumbfounded.

"Why are you like that?" 

"...No, thinking about it now, it's such a Brother-like answer."