I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 748 – Side Story 21: Finding Oneself (3)

Sedina Roschen was a girl born with a fateful destiny.

She was a half-blood born between a human and an elf, a half-elf. Although it was a world where demi-humans existed, due to a war that occurred 100 years ago, relations between humans and demi-humans were not very good.

Countless casualties resulted from the war of conquest waged by humans. After 100 years had passed, all the humans from that time had grown old and died, replaced by a new generation, but the demi-humans had not.

Especially in the case of elves with long lifespans, there were still many who remembered the events of that day.

Sedina was born from the union of such an elf and a human. Thinking about the past, Sedina's existence would be closer to an impurity rather than a blessing opening a new era.

'Beyond simple love, even Sedina's bloodline is extraordinary.'

Sedina's mother was the head of Plante.

Plante was a family that had managed and communicated with World Trees for generations. And the family head was the one and only existence capable of the most seamless communication with the World Trees.

Sedina, who inherited the blood of Plante, was the elf closest to the World Trees. Even though half of that blood was mixed with human blood, its value was never diminished.

'But Plante committed the taboo of trying to increase the World Trees, and the family itself was expelled from the Elf Kingdom.'

The family called Plante shattered into countless pieces and disappeared, and the family head, Ella Plante, had to flee to avoid pursuers.

Ella Plante left the forest and went out into the human world. But the Lifrey family, which tried to completely eliminate Plante, persistently tracked her down.

This was the same even when Ella Plante was part of the Roschen family.

Due to the long life of fleeing and attacks by assassins, Ella Plante became weak, and eventually passed away when Sedina was still young.

As a result, Sedina became estranged from her family and had to spend agonizing days in loneliness.

'Having become twisted, she hated everything and joined the Black Dawn Society, but even in the Black Dawn Society, she could only remain an outsider.'

While taking on only miscellaneous tasks that other Orders avoided, Sedina finally met a man.

First Order [John Doe], or more precisely, Rudger Chelici, who had unintentionally stolen his identity.

'Many things happened.'

While active as part of the Black Dawn Society, after learning Rudger's identity, she came to be part of [U.N.Owen].

Then she was kidnapped by First Order Ventmin Lifrey, who had discovered Sedina's bloodline, and almost became a puppet as a sacrifice for communication with the World Trees.

The civil war that broke out in the kingdom that day was probably the first and last throughout elf history.

Even after that, Sedina participated in the Holy War to help Rudger. The largest-scale war that would determine the fate of all humanity across the continent.

It was a chaotic battlefield where one could lose their life if things went wrong.

'But Sedina overcame all those adversities and stood here.'

While Rudger had lived various lives, Sedina had also lived an equally eventful life.

"How have you spent the past three years?" 

"You're asking about after the Holy War ended. Many things did happen."

After the Holy War ended, Sedina, being an elf, reached some kind of agreement with the people gathered there.

They decided that the Elf Kingdom was unrelated to this war, and that everything that happened through plants was all the magic of the Demon King.

Of course, some of the soldiers who participated in the Holy War at the time didn't believe those words, but there wasn't much they could dispute.

Because the World Trees that Sedina created in the Holy War they had witnessed were to the extent that they could be dismissed as 'mere trifles.'

The giant iceberg, the endless fear and army of beasts, the wind elemental lord bringing a massive storm, the giant white castle rising into the sky.

And beyond the night sky, even the sight of Lumensis visible through the shattered dimensional rift.

As if dreaming, it was a succession of unbelievable scenes. Having seen such things, there was no way special plants prepared by elves would remain in their memory.

"The heads of each nation gathered there reached some kind of agreement. To minimize and conceal the incident as much as possible." 

"Not a bad choice. Nothing good would come from those events becoming known."

While truth was important, truth didn't always lead only in the right direction. Sometimes, for people's well-being and mental health, pleasant lies were necessary.

"So after returning, I focused on managing the chaotic internal affairs of the Elf Kingdom. We too were ultimately wounded by the civil war." 

"It must not have been an easy process." 

"Still, it was possible because everyone worked together. We fought once, but that's why we could band together even more firmly. Of course, that was possible thanks to the power of the World Tree."

The kingdom and capital were half-destroyed by the civil war. However, the power of the World Tree made it possible to restore the destroyed capital to its former state. In fact, they made it bigger, more magnificent, and sturdier than before.

"Great Mother Ambella, Teacher Vierano, and my father helped greatly."

It was the Roschen family that helped rebuild the Elf Kingdom. Her father, who was both Sedina's father and the head of Roschen, provided massive support of necessary supplies to the Elf Kingdom.

It was something possible because Roschen dominated the Empire's economy.

Thus the Elf Kingdom was rebuilt, and they could become stronger than before. And in the newly opened era of peace, Sedina, as the new head of Plante, made an agreement with humans.

"We made a peace agreement with the Empire. The purpose is that no one fights anymore and we get along well with each other."

The scene of Sedina and Aileen meeting and having a conversation was featured prominently in newspapers at the time.

"It's a shame I couldn't see that directly." 

"Ahaha. It just looked good on the outside, but it was a very boring and long process. There was quite a bit of opposition too."

There was resistance among the elves, and there was resistance among the humans too. They were said to live in the same world, but they were ultimately different species.

Not understanding species other than one's own kind and rejecting them was, funny as it sounds, a 'natural' thing for them.

"Still, the world is definitely getting better. It's changing very slowly, but it's also picking up speed. Maybe someday true complete peace will arrive."

The agreement wasn't just concluded in words alone. The Elf Kingdom opened various exchanges with the Exilion Empire and actively conducted trade.

It was the Roschen family that played the bridgehead role.

"Was it intentional?" 

"Well. My father is a very meticulous person, but he probably didn't intend things to go that far." 

"Right, that makes sense. Without seeing the future, there's no way to predict that far ahead." 

"If anything, what was done with pure goodwill ended up working out well instead."

Thanks to that, the Roschen family became the bridgehead mediating trade with the Elf Kingdom. They were already raking in massive amounts of money day after day, but this was literally like giving wings to a tiger.

"Father is investing that money in various businesses, welfare, and donations. He thinks that since it's money earned through goodwill, the profits should be repaid with goodwill too." 

"He seems to have changed a lot." 

"It's all thanks to you, Teacher. Ah, should I not call you Teacher anymore?"

Sedina asked with a bashful smile.

"Of course. You're a graduate now, and I'm not a teacher anymore. Not yet." 

"Not yet?" 

"I received an offer to become a Theon teacher again if I'd like so I said I'd think about it."

"Are you thinking of working as a teacher again?"

"I've just become free. I haven't decided what I'll do from now on. So for now, I've decided to just leave it as one possibility."

Just then, the wind blew. The wind imbued with the energy of the forest was refreshing and felt good. It felt like his complicated head was naturally clearing up.

"So I'm going to search for what I'll do from now on, what I can do." 

"The reason you came here...is to find one of those answers?" 

"Sedina, I spent three years alone in a space with nothing. But after returning to this world, so much had changed."

The world had changed. And the people living in that world had changed too.

All the people he had encountered were like that.

The U.N.Owen colleagues, Aileen, Rene, Casey Selmore too, and Sedina, whom he was facing now, had also changed.

Facing that change made him feel proud, but on the other hand, he felt a sense of alienation that he himself wasn't there.

"I can't stay stagnant forever. So I must move forward, but blindly stepping forward is no easy task. So I'm going to look back at the past. Because if I read the footsteps I've walked and meet people again, I'll realize something." 

"You need some kind of motivation, Teacher." 

"I could also just move forward without thinking. That could also be a good method. But not for me."

After pondering what to say for a moment, Sedina spoke.

"You know, Teacher, you're feeling a bit of alienation or loneliness at our changes, aren't you?" 

"That's about right. Even if I try to deny it, human emotions aren't that easy."

If it had been him from before, who ran only for a single purpose, he would have dismissed this as a 'trivial' emotion.

Something he didn't need to care about, just a dying candle flame that would be forgotten on its own if ignored.

But now it was different.

Even if it was a tiny tender flame, Rudger didn't want to let it go out.

For him, there was no longer anything trivial, because that too was an element that constituted him.

As a result, he couldn't help but become more emotional than before. He didn't know if this change was right. But Rudger decided to willingly accept it.

No one knows what awaits at the end of the path one walks. Still, he had never stopped walking.

At least wasn't the unknown path he was about to take now much better than the bloody thorny path of before?

"I think you don't need to think that way, Teacher. No, I actually wish you'd be more confident."

Sedina noticed that change in Rudger. She was Sedina, who had assisted him from closer than anyone else.

Although that period wasn't long, for Sedina, the time she was Rudger's assistant was far more valuable and dense than all the life she had lived until then.

"Because I was able to change like this entirely thanks to you, Teacher."

That's why Sedina wanted to be of help to Rudger.

"You taught me magic when I was nothing, and showed me the path I should take. You saved me when I was in danger, and even solved the problems I was suffering from." 

"That was possible because of your will." 

"That may be so. But in the end, it was you, Teacher, who lit the fuse that became that trigger. Because I had that past, I could come this far like now."

It wasn't all just good things. Sometimes she suffered, sometimes she collapsed, and was swayed by negative emotions.

Above all, what tormented her was the fact that Rudger, whom she cherished so much, had disappeared from this world.

Would there really be any value in a world without Teacher? It would be a lie if such dark emotions hadn't surfaced.

But ultimately, being able to endure was also thanks to Rudger's advice.

This world is the place Teacher worked so hard to protect. So she couldn't arbitrarily make judgments about it.

Right. Let's believe. Teacher will return. For that, the Empire is now conducting dimensional research and Rene is working hard too. This side won't spare full support either.

Because only then, when he returns again, will she be able to show him her wonderful self.

"Just like right now."

In Sedina's eyes looking at him without wavering, all kinds of emotions swirled. But among them, the most solid and shining like starlight in the sky was pride in her current self.

"It's not just me. Everyone was like that. All the people you encountered on the path you walked, Teacher. So you don't need to feel too much self-blame. Because this is truly an amazing thing."

Sedina didn't know how properly her sincerity was conveyed to Rudger. Conveying this feeling only through formalized words was far too difficult.

That's why all she could do was face him head-on with sincerity.

Sedina watched Rudger nervously. She worried what if Rudger didn't understand these words of hers.

"I see."

Rudger, as if realizing something, nodded with a much more relieved voice. A gentle smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

"What I've been doing wasn't wrong."

Sedina's sincerity had been conveyed. Rudger could feel great comfort in her words.

It was just when Sedina's expression brightened. In the space where only the two had been, a new voice rang out.

[Oh my, has my son-in-law arrived?]