The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

7. Laying the Foundation (3)

The lab was so cluttered that the word “chaos” was an understatement.

The smell of unknown reagents and alchemical tools was unpleasantly pungent.

“Do you know what a stigma is?”

Professor Jade, who was perched on a chair (more like a lump of moldy leather), suddenly asked me.

I looked around the lab for a place to sit, but soon gave up and opened my mouth.

“Isn’t it the blessing given by the seven gods?”

“…Blessing, you say.”

Heh heh heh.

Professor Jade laughed, his shoulders shaking as if something was very amusing.

“Then what about the divine protection?”

“It’s a special ability that manifests in only a very few who have awakened the stigmata.”

“What do you think is the most significant feature of the divine protection?”

The most significant feature of the divine protection.

The answer to this question was not difficult.

Because I had felt it keenly over the past hundreds… no, perhaps thousands of years.

“Once it manifests, it doesn’t disappear no matter what you do.”

“Ho.”

A strange light appeared in Professor Jade’s eyes.

“That’s an unusual answer.”

“What part do you mean?”

“Usually, when asked about the most significant feature of the divine protection, people generally point out its ‘uniqueness.’ Unlike the stigmata, the divine protection appears differently for each person.”

“…….”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

Indeed.

As Professor Jade said, it would be common for most people to point out the uniqueness of the divine protection as its most significant feature.

There wouldn’t be many people who would struggle to erase the divine protection they had barely obtained.

“Well, anyway, as you said, once the divine protection manifests, it doesn’t change or disappear.”

Professor Jade continued his explanation quietly, arms crossed.

The image of him drooling and bursting into mad laughter when I first saw him was gone, replaced by a rather calm demeanor.

‘This man isn’t usually like this.’

The image of Professor Jade in my memory was eccentric, bizarre, and seemed broken in some way.

Why was he suddenly so calm?

“Then let’s go back to talking about the stigmata.”

Tap, tap.

Wrinkled fingers tapped on the left chest.

“Stigmata usually awaken around the age of 10, but it can happen as early as 3 or as late as 18.”

This is a well-known fact.

“There are some variables in which of the seven gods’ stigmata will awaken, but generally, children inherit the same stigmata as their parents.”

“Isn’t that something we learn in the basic education class in the first year?”

Why is he explaining something that even the lowest-ranked students know in such a long-winded manner?

“The traits inherited through genetics… phenomena that manifest at a certain age. Once manifested, they never disappear. Doesn’t that remind you of something?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

Shaking my head, I answered, and Professor Jade opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Baldness.”

What?

“In other words, logically speaking, all heroes who have awakened stigmata experience something similar to baldness.”

“No.”

What nonsense is this guy talking about?

“Why, don’t you think it’s an apt analogy?”

“I don’t know if it’s apt, but it’s certainly an analogy that would get you beaten up if people from the Holy Kingdom heard it.”

If I told Iris what Professor Jade just said, wouldn’t she have smashed his head with the Bible while smiling kindly?

“Really?”

Professor Jade shrugged and continued with a nonchalant expression.

“Then, seeing that I’m fine now, you must not be from the Holy Kingdom.”

His calm eyes stared at me.

“Even if you’re not from the Holy Kingdom, you’re not from the Empire where faith in the Seven Gods is deeply rooted.”

Then there’s only one place left.

About five hundred years ago.

A country founded by ‘foreigners’ who came from another world during the Demon War.

A country where faith in the Seven Gods is relatively weak, and ‘freedom’ is the greatest national ideology on the surface.

“You must be from the Republic.”

“……”

Did he spout all that nonsense just to figure that out?

“If you had asked where I was from, it would have been simple.”

“The mouth always tends to lie, doesn’t it?”

As expected.

It is indeed the eccentric professor I knew.

“By the way, what would you have done if I were from the Holy Kingdom?”

“Of course, I would have kicked you out immediately. I don’t want to get involved with those Holy Kingdom folks.”

Well.

From the perspective of the Holy Kingdom, which believes in and follows the Seven Gods, Professor Jade’s research, which artificially influences the ‘Holy Mark,’ would be close to blasphemy.

‘There are even rumors that the Holy Kingdom puts all kinds of pressure every year to stop the research on the Holy Mark.’

Looking at the state of this laboratory now, it seems that the pressure from the Holy Kingdom is not just a rumor.

The only reason Professor Jade has not been expelled from the school despite the annual pressure from the Holy Kingdom is one.

He is a descendant of Julius Bastian, the legendary hero known as the ‘Great Sage,’ who was one of the five great heroes who sealed the Demon King in the past.

“So, you want to participate in the research on potions that influence the Holy Mark?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but that seems difficult.”

“Is it because I’m from the Warrior Department? If that’s the case, you don’t need to worry…”

“No, that’s not the reason.”

“Um… then why is it difficult?”

“The reason is simple.”

Professor Jade continued with his characteristic quirky smile.

“There is no research funding.”

“……”

Ah, that was the reason.

‘Looking at the state of this laboratory… it doesn’t seem like there is any research funding.’

I sighed deeply as I looked around the inside of the laboratory, which was no different from a haunted house.

Still, to think that a person who is a descendant of the ‘Great Sage’ has fallen to the point where he has no money for research.

‘The problem is, I don’t have a single penny either.’

What money would an orphaned candidate without parents have?

The only reason I can attend school now is because the Republic supports my tuition.

“How much research funding do you need?”

“Well, it depends on what you’re researching, but you’ll need at least a million gold.”

“…….”

A million gold.

Converted to the old currency unit of the Republic, ‘won,’ it amounted to roughly a billion won.

‘Damn it.’

I never thought the plan would be thwarted for such a reason.

‘If I give up on the stigmatic amplifier, it would be resolved.’

The problem was that Professor Jade’s value wasn’t limited to just inventing the stigmatic amplifier.

Jade Bastion.

True to the name ‘descendant of the great sage,’ he possessed genius intellect, sharp insight, and unparalleled development skills that others couldn’t even dream of imitating.

‘Though for some reason, he was a bit out of his mind.’

Thinking about what he would create through his research in the future, the current situation felt all the more regrettable.

‘If it goes on like this… will it happen again?’

In a previous life, Professor Jade developed the stigmatic amplifier and led the war against the demons to victory, only to take his own life shortly after.

The exact reason for his suicide was unknown.

But if the lack of research funds, leaving him to waste away in a trashy lab, was one of the reasons…

‘Humanity would lose the descendant of the great sage once again in vain.’

Both the stigmatic amplifier and Professor Jade were too precious to lose like this.

“I’ll find a way to secure the research funds… somehow.”

“Heh heh heh. How do you plan to do that?”

“By any means necessary.”

With that, I turned and left the lab.

Stepping out from the gloomy lab, the warm sunlight felt like emerging from an underground tunnel.

“Sigh.”

How on earth am I supposed to gather a million gold?

‘It’s not that there aren’t ways.’

But none of them were feasible for a cadet.

‘I can’t just quit being a cadet to earn money.’

If I didn’t graduate from the academy, I wouldn’t get an official hero certification, so whether I hunted monsters to sell magic stones or captured demons for bounties, it would all have to be done through illegal means.

‘Quitting the academy is not an option.’

Above all, aren’t there comrades from my past life at this school?

I couldn’t just quit school for the sake of reuniting with them.

“Ugh.”

As I continued to ponder and headed back to the dormitory.

“Hey, doormat! Where are you going?”

A voice called out from afar.

For reference, ‘doormat’ was a derogatory nickname given to me for consistently maintaining the lowest rank in the comprehensive evaluations every semester.

‘This voice…?’

I turned my head towards the familiar voice and saw a blonde male student grinning, with three female students gathered behind him.

“……”

What was that b*stard’s name again?

I can’t remember.

“Ha, look at this b*stard. If I call you, you should come running immediately. What are you doing?”

The blonde male student chuckled and gestured for me to come quickly.

Seeing his cocky demeanor suddenly brought back old memories.

“Ah, I remember now.”

Juliet Kang.

He was a fellow cadet from the same republic who often bullied me.

I had completely forgotten about him since we hadn’t crossed paths after graduation.

‘To think we’d meet again like this.’

A chuckle escaped my lips at the unexpected encounter with an old acquaintance(?).

“…Hey. I told you to come here immediately, why are you grinning? Do you want to die?”

“Juliet-senpai~ That’s the guy, right? The one who’s always last in the comprehensive evaluations.”

“And he’s an orphan too, right? Ha~ This is why this school is hopeless. As long as you have a stigma, even trash like him gets admitted…”

“I think only people with a solid background like Juliet-senpai should be admitted!”

As Juliet struck a pose and made a remark, the female students behind him screamed in delight.

“…Ha.”

I sighed at the sight and shook my head as I turned away.

I didn’t have the luxury to deal with such idiots.

I needed to think of a way to quickly gather 1 million gold…

“You b*stard, you think you can lose your mind just because you got lucky and won once in a non-magic duel? Huh?”

Juliet approached with a fierce expression.

“Oh right, I heard a rumor that you were hitting on the saintess? Tsk tsk. Anyway, a lowlife like you doesn’t know his place… Well, I understand your feelings though.”

Juliet continued in a low voice, so the girls behind her couldn’t hear, with a sly smile.

“Our saintess’s ‘blessing pouch’ is… quite a size that no man can just pass by, right?”

Hehehe.

Juliet made a lewd gesture in front of her chest with a lascivious smile.

“……”

Thud.

My steps towards the dormitory stopped.

“Wow~ Look at that angry face. Oh, I’m so scared. Why are you like this between friends? Huh? Are you going to hit me?”

I smiled brightly at Juliet, who was shaking her body exaggeratedly.

‘Come to think of it.’

Another forgotten fact came to mind.

‘Juliet Kang’s family is definitely one of the top five conglomerates in the Republic, right?’