Senem ad scholam-VI

DATE:21th of March, the 70th year after the Coronation

LOCATION: Concord Metropolis

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While leaving the professor's laboratory, I was thinking about just how stupid this situation was.

The heroes thought I was some kind of undiscovered progidy, with miraculous power that could save many.

But that just wasn't true. For all the genius of the professor, he isn't in my body and has no actual experience with my ability. I never even used it near him! All of that he got from his stupid scan.

What he doesn't get is that I know it's limits, and this is exactly why I don't call it a superpower.

The headaches aren't just from lack of training, it is just something beyond a human body can handle. Heck I used it hundreds of times. I have more than confirmed I can't use it more than two times a day.

I hate this situation, more so because I will be put in a difficult position full of expectant eye and I will disappoint them. All of them. Just like-

-

And then there is this girl that looks up to me with hopeful eyes. Who am I supposed to be to her? A replacement for UltraMan? That isn't the case as she doesn't see me as a tutor. Is it friendship? Does she have no friends that she wastes her time with a stranger like myself? I just don't get it.

I never felt companionship, or I was punished whenever I did, so I just can't get what she sees in me. Her struggles? She appears to have had a sheltered childhood. Her own passion? If she were truly passionate she would know I don't give a rat's ass about neither heroes nor photography, my supposed job. I am not even good at faking it yet she still falls for it. Is the fantasy so strong?

Wait, fall.... Did she fall for me? I don't think so, but I really can't think of anything else.

The smell of antiseptic has started to irritate me. Too much to feel in the span of a single day. I should avoid hospitals for a while.

We got back to the car and I was the least excited out of it. Even the cloud assistant was in a better mood. It was my loss. My complete failure.

It was another hour long journey back to the city. This time we stopped close to some suburbs, although there were still many apartment blocks in sight. Just goes to show how populated the area is.

The "school" as they called it took the shape of a boarding school.

Above the gates, the name Zenith Academy was carved into stone, the letters bold and timeless. Alice took the initiative and invited me to look around the place while John was filling my paperwork at the headmaster's office.

Once inside, the campus spread out before me. The main courtyard was wide and open, with stone pathways that seemed to weave through perfectly manicured lawns and groves of trees. Everything looked like it was placed with purpose—no building seemed out of place. Some of the structures had this classical, almost gothic feel with high archways and intricate stonework, while others were sleek and modern, all glass and steel reflecting the sunlight. It was a weird, yet beautiful, a mix of old and new.

To my left, I could see a series of tall, marble-like columns supporting what looked like a library, or maybe a hall. The building was wrapped in ivy, giving it a sense of age and wisdom. Ahead of me, across the courtyard, stood a massive glass building, its walls so transparent it looked like you could see straight through to the sky on the other side. Inside, I could make out figures moving about, but the way the light hit it made it feel like some kind of beacon or symbol of the future. What a gimmick.

Everything felt huge, but not overwhelming. It was more like the school was designed to make you feel small in a good way, like you were part of something much bigger. I call this the first step in subduing your freedom. The busy streets loomed in the background, but the noise wasn't too bad. Even though I didn't know anything about the school's curriculum yet, it reeked of indoctrination. Of course, through the perspective of a foolish teen this may seem grandiose, but in the end the purpose of this facility was integrating possibly dangerous individuals or recruiting powerful people for the major leagues. And they have been doing this for a while considering how old the place is. Weren't the first appearance of heroes in the 20th year after the coronation? Zenith was much older...

This doesn't make sense.

But just as I expected, it was mostly dedicated to nurturing young heroes. Along these highschoolers I could be mistaken for their teacher. Was I supposed to go to class like some bozo 10 streak repeater? I don't want to be a super senior....

Alice was really glad to present me all the "secret" places in this facility. She went here before she started going to college. This no doubt is the place where she met UltraMan. Was he a teacher here?

"My favorite place in the school is the library. It is one of the oldest in Concord." Now that I think about it she supposedly does know about it.

"So I didn't hear, when did this academy start functioning?"

"About two hundred years or so? Back then it was a normal boarding school. Even before that, the main building was the residence of one of the old king's cousins. It was donated to a great dean to be used as a school. The founder, Zilliam Crimson came from Concord University, but wanted to modernize the teaching methods. His great grandson, Zilliam Crimson the forth, turned this into a facility meant to facilitate a proper education and sociality for the superpowered. We would have been alone, in an ulwelcoming world without the community he built." Is that really so? From my perspective the world is still unwelcoming. The only difference I see for heroes is the brand deals and extra money coming from their power. In that regard, the dean was the greatest marketeer in history. They should study this in economics.

"So who is the dean now?"

"A descendant of the forth Zilliam. It is a lady this time. Madame Zilliam has so much wisdom. You'll really like her!" Why is even the woman named Zilliam? A family tradition? Naah. Can't be.

We found a shaded bench near a tree and sat down. As I heard chirping, I realized there was a bird nest somewhere in the green expanse of leaves. The tree was very big.

" It's so calm out here.... You don't find places like this in the city!" Was it nostalgia that affected her? Sure, I suppose the air was cleaner, but we were west of Concord, so still at coast. The dust irritated me. Not to mention the chirping.

" Sure is."

I suppose I am not much of a nature guy.

" You know, I sometimes wonder what would Kevin say if he knew he had such an amazing cousin."

" Now now, I am not that great." I really am not.

" Oh, come on! Only two in a million are born or develop superpowers. That must feel special, right?"

"Perhaps..."

"But, I don't mean it that way. The way you care, like at the doctor where you placed yourself in danger to understand your power. I am sure Kevin would appreciate such a passion."

"I suppose I was inspired by him a long time ago."

"Really? How so?"

"I learned from him to pursue my own passion. Wasn't his dream to become a wrestler?"

"Yes! You are right!" Giddy with excitement, I found her eyes glowing brighter.

"I was also inspired by Kevin, although not his young sense. I only met him years after he became UltraMan. But I was a fan ever since his first appearance!" She looked at me, supposedly waiting for a question, but decided to answer it herself. " A person with so much power, still deciding to use it for good, how could I not be inspired!" Her constant praising over the many that was started to get on my nerves. What was this? Was I supposed to care about what I did? I don't.

Another thing is her mental state. What will happen when she knows UltraMan isn't coming back? Not today's worry.

I see students glancing at us from the distance. I believe classes are still going, so are they perhaps skipping? I see smoke in the distance. Probably cigarettes then.

Peeking at Alice, it looks like she also noticed.

"Did the school have smokers even in your days?"

"N-noo? Smoking isn't good for you. Uhh, let's go tell them!" It was clear that Alice was out of her depth. Did the student body degrade in these short years? Or was her perspective wrong from the start? Either way, we got up and went in that direction.

" Wait, what role do I even have here? Am I a student?"

"Haha, I don't think the madame will have you go for classes. Although... Woahh, I could be your teacher. That could be fun!" No it wouldn't be. I am a grown man!

The closest to us was a boy, he looked about 17? He had dark hair and pure black pupils. Quite creepy. He also was the only one not in uniform. He had a hoodie and baggy jeans instead of the shirt and vest stipulated by academy. I don't know why Alice likes this style so much. She never dresses so elegantly herself, mostly in baggy clothes or sportswear. A really strange wardrobe for such a petite "lady". Anyway, I think the boy was supposed to keep watch, but I think they didn't recognize us as teachers so they didn't even bother to leave. The nerve! Three of them still had cigarettes in their hands. Together with the look-out, there were about 6 students, probably the same age.

"Yo substitute. Came with ya girl to scold us?" Gosh his eyes are horrible to look at. The complete opposite of the girl near me. But wait, substitute? Only then did I r alize I was still in the beige shirt and tie. No wonder...

As I was still detesting the clothes John gave me, Alice took the initiative in their repromation.

"That is not proper behaviour for our school."

"It's not like you are the first one to say that." Alice 0-1.

"Nooo, Yakov, how can you saaay that? We are pansy students of the Zenith Academy! We can't be free, can we." One of the background delinquents came forward. He had slick hair and unlike his friend was in uniform, but had his shirt mostly unbuttoned. He reeked of hair gel.

"I-I didn't mean it like that at all!"

" Spare us the pandering, you aren't even a teacher here." Alice 0-2

"Well I will be. And even if I wasn't, this isn't how you should act. Do you want me to call the head-mistress?" I don't really get why she bothers. I personally live my life trying to avoid useless conflict.

"Damn, I am so scared." Was I supposed to intervene. What was I supposed to say to such insubordination.

" H-hey!" Seems like Alice also gave up. I don't think she interacts much with people like them.

" Now now boys, Missie is right. We should go to class." Now a gal wanted to uselessly add her part into this clownery. I felt a little bad for Alice. Should I punch this girl? Or should I beat them all up? I think I am at the very least stronger than her. At least her...

" Woahh, Silvia talked. Let's go back!" Was she some sort of queen bee? She is sl rebelious " She wore her vest and had a zippered sweater bound beside her skirt. Quite stereotypical to be honest. What am I talking about? All of them were unoriginal. Should hurt them? I am sure these teenagers do not know of actual pain.

This girl Silvia started shivering and turned away from me. They quickeened their pace back inside the main buidking. I was surprised when Alice grabbed my sleeve.

"Y-ou don't have to scare them like that" I was genuinely confused.

"I am sure they are simply misguided, I don't think they took us seriously." Wait a second. What did I do?

"Then you have much work to do, miss teacher."

We went to the Dean's office to sign what I needed to stay here. She was more amiable than I thought. She was about fifty? But it was clear that she took great care of her appearance. Perhaps even more than me. If she wanted to, I honestly believe she could fool someone that she was much younger.

Apparently I will be a substitute teacher, just like those delinquents called me. Some of the teachers are on leave and she doesn't really want to tell more people than she has to about what truly goes in this academy. She isn't wrong. If I wasn't sent to kill UltraMan I may have just been contracted to " empty" a place like this.

The professor said he will provide me with some chemicals, supposedly safter than the coke I used to get, though from what he said it sounded more like I was about to get super cocaine. We will see.

In the meantime I don't have anything to do. Alice will also be a substitute for the art teacher who is on maternity leave. Or was it paternity? Anyway, she wanted me to take that position, but I don't know a thing about art so I denied it.

I think I will be in charge of history? In hindsight art would have been better as I also don't know much about Concord's history. Guess I have studying to do.

Alice showed me the teacher dorms. Apparently their rooms are about double that of students, but I can't really call it a big space. A raised bed with a desk underneath and some wardrobes on the other side, A small bathroom with a shower and mirror... There was a big window opposite of the entrance. Kind of it. I was told these used to be premium student rooms or something, but a past Dean decided there was no point in creating an unequal environment. The school is paid for by superhero dynasty donors so it's not like tuition is a thing. I believe they also get a cut of your profit from advertisement for a few years after graduation. Not a bad system, though I am not much of a fan of this commercialisation of heroism.

Alice has her room on the same floor. There are eight rooms, four bathrooms with a bathtub and a lounge in this private wing of the third floor. I think the guards and maid sleep on the second, though they received rooms similar to students. The three story auxiliary building we are in is about half the size of the main building where the classrooms are located. I remember there are about 200 students in all grades, though I am unsure if all rooms are filled.

I wanted to go to sleep early because my muscles still hurt from the scanner, but Alice dragged me to the lounge to meet the other teachers. There we found four people of the technically 8 man strong staff.

We introduced ourselves, well mostly myself because they still remembered Alice from her days at Zenik. Seems like teachers don't change often here. I think the rest are nice people, though the more we talked the more fake I found them. They really like rumours, though I can't blame them. There isn't much to do here. I should start keeping My distance from this girl as it has gotten annoying to be mistaken so many times for her boyfriend. She looks quite fine physically but her attitude frankly repulses me. They say we get along really well but I only know her since yesterday. She's basically a stranger to me no matter what fanfiction she has regarding my connection with UltraMan.

I especially hate how she talks as if we are great friends and have much in common. Kind of delulu if you ask me.

It would have been easier if I told them I was Kevin's "cousin", but it would be bad if any one of them informed the Donn. I can't trust the people here. I was surprised that Alice didn't mouth out such a "spicy" news right there. Seems like she at least understands that much about risk.

They kept saying I should make them some photos another time if I was so passionate about it. Is this how teachers talk between themselves? I found their tones really snobbish. But what do I know? I apparently am regarded as "A great guy to have around" so I must be saying bogus things. I didn't think heroes are so easy to fool with a simple persona.

At about ten I managed to get out of there there and went to my room to prepare to sleep.

Only then did I realize that all of my care inventory was blown out inside my loaned car.

That really sank my heart. Do I get a salary here? Or....

The rough life of a substitute teacher awaited!

Or...

It was then that I realized something terrible. No, how couldn't I have thought about it sooner? I should have ran while I still could.

One of the supposedly nice teachers was called David Ackerman, or with his pseudonym "Mr. Perfect".

I remember him. How could I ever forget? This school's sports teacher has the ability to manipulate his body as if it was rubber. He is also the combat practice instructor. I was told he uses it so that that children don't get hurt in practice.

But that is so wrong. So, so wrong.

Mr. Perfect is the name of a government slaughterer, because I can't call him anything else. One of the biggest murderers in history. He alone has killed more people than I will do in dozens of lifetimes no even more.

He was the kind of agent when no one was supposed to remain alive in a general area. A killing machine and cleaning staff all in one. This... Thing was Much, Much bigger danger than anything UltraMan did.

I was shaking all over, but I... I had to stop! He could hear me from anywhere in this facility. I know he can. He was much more dangerous than anything the Donn could send at me.

Why is he here? Did he retire? It makes no sense. He was here for years so it is not a trap meant for me. But why?

And I have just went into his reach with no knowledge about it. I absolutely have to make sure he doesn't know what happened. If not it will be much worse than death.

Should I just end it all now before he can?

No...

I went too far to give up now....

That night I found myself back in the void.