In the executive meeting room of [Ford Company], located in the northern magical city.
About twenty people wearing masks were holding a meeting.
One of them addressed the man seated at the head of the table.
"···As per your instructions, we have successfully attached the 'replacement body' to Oswald. That concludes today's agenda, Thomas."
The man known as Thomas nodded.
"Alright, let's conclude today's meeting here. You've all worked hard."
"““Yes. Good work, Thomas!”””
Everyone stood up and bowed to Thomas.
As Thomas nodded in response, they began to leave the meeting room in an orderly fashion.
"Could you spare a moment?"
Thomas called out to one of the departing individuals.
He was the head of the 13th Bioresearch Ward, responsible for attaching Oswald's left arm.
He re-entered the meeting room and approached Thomas.
"Of course, Thomas."
"I have a favor to ask, something I couldn't bring up during the meeting with the other research ward heads present. Would you mind?"
"Anything, just say the word."
The head of the 13th Bioresearch Ward bowed respectfully, his admiration for Thomas evident.
Accustomed to such treatment, Thomas spoke nonchalantly.
"While Oswald is in your research ward, could you report on his activities? The more detailed, the better. You know his temperament, so make sure not to let on."
"Yes. I understand, Thomas. There's also the pretext of monitoring the 'replacement body's' progress, so it should be manageable."
"Thank you. I appreciate your effort."
Thomas patted his shoulder.
The man bowed repeatedly.
"Thank you, Thomas. I'll do my best."
"Sorry to take up your valuable time. You may go."
The head of the 13th Bioresearch Ward left the meeting room.
Left alone, Thomas sat back down and began writing something on a piece of paper.
[Target: Theo Lyn Waldeurk]
[Note: Suspected to have the ability to use wide-range magic nullification.]
[Priority: Capture is a must.]
[Do not kill. Capture alive, but if there's heavy resistance, it's permissible to sever limbs.]
The next day, Monday.
All departments at Elinia Academy conducted classes as usual.
The Hero Department was no exception.
After finishing the last lecture of the day, Mari stood at the podium and addressed the students.
"There are many journalists, guild & national officials on campus currently. If they ask you anything, try to avoid answering as much as possible! If you must, consult with the senior professor first!"
─Yeah~
The students responded half-heartedly.
Mari sighed inwardly as she continued.
"This week marks the official start of the aide recruitment period, please don't wander around too much. Got it? It's best to be cautious when the atmosphere is tense. The wisest thing to do is to return to the dormitory right after class, right?"
─Yeah right~
The students responded lackadaisically again.
In other words, Mari's advice fell on deaf ears.
Although most students were present at the site of last Friday's violent intrusion, they escaped quickly and weren't greatly affected.
'Who would be foolish enough to go straight back to the dorms?'
With the official start of the aide recruitment period this week, almost no student planned to head straight back to the dormitory.
The relationship between a hero and their aide is inseparable.
Having a talented aide can change the course of a hero's life, a fact well known among the students.
Naturally, most of them planned to rush out immediately after class to scout for promising talents.
While the top-ranking students could effortlessly receive applications from excellent aides, the same wasn't true for others.
Of course, there was one student who didn't need to hustle, even though he wasn't top-ranking.
A student who had already recruited two extraordinary talents early in the term.
As if sharing the same thought, the students all glanced at one person.
"······."
There sat Theo, wearing his usual indifferent expression.
As soon as class ended, he began packing his belongings.
Noctar, sitting next to him, suggested.
"Theo, how about we train together, it's been a while."
"I don't mind, but are you sure you don't need to recruit aides?"
"Oh, that? I sorted it all out over the weekend. I approached the guys who looked impressive in the martial arts competition, and they all agreed."
Noctar smiled proudly as he showed Theo a piece of paper.
On it were the names of four aides under Noctar, all orcs studying in other departments.
'A racial supremacist in our midst.'
Even for an orc like Noctar, there should have been human aide applicants.
Theo shook his head disapprovingly and, looking at the other orc classmates, asked.
"Have you all found your aides too?"
"Of course, Theo. Wanna see?"
The orcs simultaneously showed Theo their papers.
As expected, their aides were all orcs from other departments.
Resigned, Theo said.
"······Let's just go and train."
Theo turned and left the classroom.
"Great! Let's go! I feel rusty after resting from the competition!"
"Let's start with a spar against me, Theo! I want to test the skills of the winner!"
The orcs chirped excitedly as they followed Theo out of the classroom.
"See, Theo has good connections. Shall we join them?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
Watching this, Neike, Piel, and Aisha followed behind them.
The moment Theo stepped outside the classroom building, he realized something.
Heading straight to the training ground was going to be impossible.
In front of the classroom building, swarms of journalists, guild & national representatives had gathered.
Their numbers were easily over a hundred.
"Hey, it's Theo!"
"What are you waiting for? Rush in! We haven't been able to get a single interview with any relevant parties since yesterday!"
The journalists were the first to dash forward.
"That guy even turned down Ataraxia's S-class sponsorship... Do we stand a chance?"
"Can't know unless we try! We've come this far, can't go back empty-handed now! Move it! If we don't act now, we won't get a word in edgewise today!"
Following them, the guild representatives made their move.
"The Waldeurk family hasn't been active externally for over three years, but... even so, they should be more favorable towards our empire than the kingdom."
"......Didn't expect journalists and guild reps to move this quickly."
Then came the national representatives.
Although each group had different things to say as they moved, they shared one common goal.
Their primary interest wasn't Neike, Piel, or Aisha, but Theo.
Even with Theo's recent rise to fame, the overwhelming interest in him was staggering.
"······."
Theo calmly observed the crowd surging towards him like a swarm.
Eventually, his gaze settled on a group standing at a distance.
There were Oliver and his team, along with Hailey, the cause of the current situation.
─Man, I've never seen a lunatic like Theo. Not only did he talk back to me, but he didn't back down at all. I can't speak for his abilities, but I have to admit he's got guts.
─Oh, there's another reason he's a lunatic. He turned down the S-class sponsorship. Didn't even think for a second, just straight-up refused. And it's not like he's some naive kid who doesn't understand what it means. You should've seen Hailey's face at that time.
Oliver had been narrating his encounter with Theo to the journalists.
His remarks, as one of the most talked-about heroes of the continent, incited journalists, guild representatives, and even the more reserved national officials to act.
Theo, having read the newspaper, already knew about this.
'Even so, I didn't expect this much of a crowd. This is exhausting.'
While the rising reputation was welcome, the crowd was overwhelming.
Even if he spent just 2-3 minutes with each person, it would take until midnight.
Regardless, the surrounding journalists shouted eagerly at Theo.
"Many of us rescheduled our other appointments and traveled from far-off kingdoms just to interview Theo!"
"We did the same! Our entire team has been waiting just to hear Theo's story! We're not asking for much, just 5 minutes! Please spare us just 5 minutes!"
Their strategy was to appeal to emotions.
While their words were somewhat exaggerated, most of it was true.
'The academy's catering and accommodation services must be overwhelmed.'
Theo was aware of this fact.
He also recognized that the journalists in front of him were highly likely to become his ardent fans.
Considering the effort they made to come all this way, he felt obliged to give them some level of satisfaction. He couldn't just turn them away.
If he did dismiss them outright, there was a chance they might become his detractors.
'But attending to each one individually would take too much time.'
As Theo pondered, Mari's words echoed in his mind.
─If you must, consult with the senior professor first!
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om