Chapter 54: The Class of Rebellious Students!

Gladius brings Saiba to the door of a classroom, labelled 'Class 1-B'. Saiba peeks inside and sees complete mayhem. Students chatting, playing, and fooling around, completely disregarding any of the school rules.

The students look to be in the middle of their teen years and they're all wearing the same school uniform. The uniform consists of a white polo shirt with black slacks for the males and the same white polo shirt with a black skirt for the females.

In the front of the room, a woman with a worried expression is trying very hard to calm the students, with no luck. The woman is wearing a long sleeve shirt under a long, plain dress.

Gladius pats Saiba on the back and says,

"Alright then! I'll leave it to you!"

Saiba turns around as it seems Gladius has completely disappeared. Saiba mumbles,

"It's been a while since I've been in a school... At least I don't have to be a student anymore!"

Saiba throws the door open and stomps inside. He grabs the students' complete attention as their stares lock onto him. Saiba puts his hand on the teacher's shoulder and whispers,

"Let me take over..."

He announces,

"Alright boys and girls! I'm the legendary hero of Estrelia! I heard you were messing around and giving the teacher some problems! That changes today! I'm gonna whip you all into shape, so you better be ready!"

One of the students shouts,

"How old are you, mister?"

Confidently, Saiba answers,

"I'm 16 and a half!"

The student shouts back,

"That's only one year older than us! You're a kid too!"

Another student shouts,

"There's no way you're a hero! If you were a hero, anyone could be a hero!"

One more student shouts,

"Get out! You're just a wannabe!"

Saiba gets fed-up with the heckling as he snaps and shouts,

"Alright then! You guys wanna go!? Let's settle this in the courtyard! I didn't wanna mess with some kids, but you're really asking for it! Come on! Fight me!"

Suddenly, a towering, beast of a human stands up from his seat. He has a menacing glare that stares down Saiba, piercing his soul. Saiba feels a chill run down his spine as he gulps, completely terrified. Stuttering, Saiba says,

"A-Are you my opponent..?"

He clears his throat and shouts,

"Come on! Let's settle this with our fists!"

The two lead the way, walking towards the courtyard, with the rest of the students following close behind and the teacher scurrying in the back, worried out of her mind.

Saiba and the large student stand across from each other, surrounded by the first-year students. Saiba gets his hands up and taunts,

"Come at me! Or are you too scared?"

The monstrous student grunts and stomps toward Saiba. With ease, he grasps Saiba by the head and picks him up off the ground, making them see eye-to-eye. Trembling, Saiba mumbles,

"H-Hey buddy... H-How's it going..?"

The large student simply headbutts him as Saiba goes limp and falls unconscious.

Soon after, Saiba wakes up in a bed, lying within an infirmary room. He slowly opens his eyes and is met with the face of the teacher from before.

Quickly, Saiba sits up and moves away from her. The teacher says,

"Oh! I didn't mean to startle you!"

Saiba replies,

"No, no. I-It's alright!"

He sits back normally while asking,

"Anyways, what happened to me back there?"

The teacher answers,

"You lost consciousness, so I asked some of the teachers to assist me in bringing you here."

Saiba rubs his forehead and says,

"That's probably why my head hurts..."

The teacher's expression becomes a confused one as she says,

"Actually, you might have a headache. Gordie stopped himself before hitting you. You fainted from shock."

Saiba becomes disappointed as he mumbles,

"Oh... I see..."

He regains his composure and says,

"So Gordie's his name, huh? I'm gonna go teach him a lesson!"

The teacher frantically replies,

"No, no! I handle that mess! I'll make sure to reprimand him for doing that to the Legendary Hero!"

Saiba asks,

"Wait, you believe me?"

She replies,

"Well, yes, of course. You saved me. There's no way you couldn't be a Legendary Hero."

Saiba thinks back to his journey and finally recognizes the woman standing in front of him. He mutters,

"Annabelle..?"

Annoyed, she replied,

"It's Isabelle! I can't believe you forgot!"

Saiba chuckles awkwardly before asking,

"What are you doing here?"

Isabelle answers,

"After you left, the Royal Army came to help us rebuild. They offered me a job here as a teacher, so I accepted."

She then questions,

"How come you're here, Mr. Hero?"

Saiba answers,

"The King told me to make those kids settle down."

With a surprised expression, Isabelle responds,

"From the King!? That's going to be quite a struggle. They're all good kids at heart, but they just don't like listening..."

Saiba stands up and announces,

"Don't worry! I got this! I'm a Legendary Hero after all!"