"Professor Ismera. I was worried you wouldn't come."

I smiled as I tossed aside the branch I had been wielding, and Ismera forced a smile in return.

"I just needed to clear my head a bit..."

Ismera hesitantly approached me.

"You're... sweating a lot..."

"I was helping out with some work while you were clearing your head. If I want to earn my meal, I should do my part."

I made a joke, but Ismera didn't laugh.

"You could have bathed in the stream..."

"From what I saw earlier today, that seems like it would be a bad idea around here?"

"I see..."

Ismera nodded slowly, seemingly understanding what I meant.

"Have you made your decision? Principal Kirrin must be waiting anxiously."

Instead of answering my question, Ismera quietly spoke.

"Well..."

But she trailed off and remained silent for a while with her head bowed.

"Well... I'm sorry."

Just as I was about to ask again, Ismera suddenly bowed deeply at the waist.

"I apologize for all my rudeness until now. I was late because I was thinking about how to properly apologize..."

"Ah, yes. You could just apologize normally, no need to go that far."

"No. What I did was too much... I didn't think a casual apology would be sufficient."

Ismera said this while maintaining her deep bow.

"Though it may sound like an excuse, I didn't dislike Professor Dian personally. It's just that..."

Here, Ismera couldn't continue and began to fumble for words, so I finished her thought.

"You resented the Combat Department Head with imperial connections who was an obstacle to your advancement to Principal. Not the person, but the position."

"That's right..."

Ismera bowed her head even lower.

"I know this apology isn't enough. But above all else, an apology should come first... Please forgive me... Please..."

"Hmm, should I forgive you?"

As I smiled and stroked my chin, Ismera's shoulders trembled silently.

"Alright. I'm in a good mood. I'll forgive you!"

"Th-thank you..."

Ismera kept bowing so deeply that her forehead nearly touched her knees.

In all my life, I've never seen an elf begging like this to a human.

"And also..."

Still with her head bowed, Ismera stammered.

"Th-thank you... for saving me..."

"Ah, yes. Well, that was just the natural thing to do."

"Foolishly... I didn't recognize you... and repaid your kindness with hostility..."

"I was wearing a mask then. And I didn't recognize you either. You were just a tiny little thing back then, but elves grow up so quickly."

"Regardless of the reason, I apologize... If only I had realized sooner..."

Ismera's voice began to grow moist with emotion.

"Things would have been different... If someone could send me back in time with magic... the first thing I'd do is slap my past self for treating Professor Dian so harshly..."

"Don't blame yourself too much. These things happen."

"I'm truly sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay. I've accepted your apology."

When I gently patted Ismera's shoulder, she collapsed to her knees.

"I'm so sorry, Professor... I couldn't repay your kindness for saving me... I couldn't keep Mister's words to never give up or despair..."

Ismera pressed her hands to the ground and let her tears fall.

"I wanted to become Principal... Once I had to leave the forest for the city, I wanted to go all the way to the top... But no matter how hard I struggled, I kept treading water..."

Oh dear...

"I wanted to kill Kirrin... I hated that she was above me just because of her background, even though she did nothing... With lower academic credentials and less ability than me... just because she had good parents..."

Ismera shook her head violently.

"Still, I tried not to give up! I told myself that Kirrin would eventually step down... that I should be patient and do my best in my current position... But then suddenly you were appointed..."

Stopping there, Ismera took several deep breaths.

"I'm sorry, Mister... Far from becoming an admirable person... I've just been consumed by jealousy... and in the end, I gave up everything, fell into despair, and ran away like a coward... deluding myself that the world didn't want me to succeed..."

Curled up with her forehead pressed to the ground, Ismera's shoulders shook as she wept.

"I'm sorry... I originally wanted to thank you... But I'm just sorry for everything, Mister..."

After watching Ismera for a moment, I sighed.

"Ismera."

I knelt on one knee and placed my hand on her hunched back.

"I understand your apology, and I appreciate your thanks. But actually, I'm the one who should be thanking you right now."

I stroked her trembling back as I spoke.

"Thank you for becoming such an amazing person."

"That's not true... I'm a failure..."

"How are you a failure? You earned your Advanced Master's degree in less than ten years after coming to the city. That's incredibly impressive, isn't it?"

"It's not..."

"What are you talking about! Others spend twenty years and might not even succeed, but you did it without any basic education. You did well. It's remarkable."

I continued stroking her back as I spoke.

"And this might be criticizing my superior, but... I heard that since the academy's founding, you've essentially been acting as Vice Principal in Kirrin's place, leading the academy."

"I only did that to get in the good graces of the Intelligence Office..."

"Just because your motivation wasn't pure doesn't mean the results should be dismissed. And it's not something anyone without considerable dedication would even attempt."

Ismera's sobbing and trembling gradually began to subside.

"Plus, I heard you send most of your academy salary as funds for the Great Forest restoration project. I could never imagine doing something like that."

"Everyone else does the same... It's not just me..."

"Are those people also persevering and working diligently in difficult situations like you?"

Ismera didn't answer that.

"You lost the Great Forest, moved to an unfamiliar city, and earned that difficult Advanced Master's degree. Despite having almost no chance of advancement because of a Principal under imperial protection, instead of openly complaining, you diligently maintained the academy and sent all your money to your clan. An ordinary person would have given up and run away long ago."

"But in the end, I ran away too..."

"Running away isn't always bad, Ismera. It's much better than stubbornly holding on until you break. Running away takes courage too. Above all, I don't think I ever asked you not to run and just endure."

Ismera slowly raised her head.

"In situations where others would have thrown everything away asking 'why is this happening only to me?', you've demonstrated your abilities without reservation. So you're not a failure."

"Mister... I..."

"You said it yourself, right? If you had known sooner that I was that person, things would have been different. I feel the same way. What if I had known that you were the elf I saved back then?"

"You probably... would have hated me... thinking I was a monster of an elf who didn't even recognize your kindness..."

"No. I would have embraced you tightly instead. To thank you."

"What...?"

I smiled as I met Ismera's upward gaze.

"I'm grateful to you."

"Grateful to me...?"

"Yes, Ismera. Thank you for growing up so well."

I reached out and stroked her head.

"I was worried that you might be living a listless, meaningless life after losing the Great Forest. If that had been the case, my act of saving you from the flames back then would have been rendered worthless."

A special light appeared in Ismera's green eyes, like stars in the night sky reflected in her pupils.

"When I returned after killing the Demon King, the Imperial Castle offered me various gifts. A noble title, territory, gold coins, and other things I can't remember. But I gave up everything except the money."

"Why...?"

"Because they were meaningless. It's not like you need to kill a Demon King to become a noble or own territory. Titles and lands can be obtained through other means. They couldn't serve as medals for the achievement of killing the Demon King. Of course, I needed the money. I didn't want to work hard to earn it."

I smiled as I added that joke at the end.

"But Ismera, seeing people I saved living well years later is different from those things. That's a reward I could never have received if I hadn't been part of the Demon King Assassination Task Force. There probably aren't many people in this world who can hear someone say 'thank you for saving me ten years ago.'"

"That's true..."

"So thank you. For making what I did meaningful. For proving that my choice back then wasn't wrong."

I grabbed Ismera's shoulders and smiled brightly.

"Saving you back then was truly the right thing to do!"

# # # # #

Dian's radiant smile filled Ismera's vision.

In that moment, as if time had stopped, Ismera forgot even to breathe.

Dian's smile was full of firm conviction and affection, completely dispelling all the self-blame and regret that had been weighing Ismera down.

As his hand touched her shoulder, Ismera realized she was still someone important to someone else.

"Uwaaaaaaahhhh!!"

Ismera threw her arms around Dian and burst into loud sobs like a child.