Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 222: The Principal’s Melancholy
“I’m sorry… Rest-kun.”
After Rest left and the door closed behind him, Velroid Hahn, the academy principal, let out a sigh of regret as he muttered an apology.
The principal had been asked about Leonard Gascoigne, but there was something he hadn’t told Rest—a truth he decided not to disclose.
It wasn’t deception.
The principal had judged that Rest, still a student and under twenty despite his noble lineage, did not need to know.
(For Lord Gascoigne to personally go out of his way to take an interest in him… Rest-kun is likely one of those reincarnated individuals.)
Although Rest had deliberately avoided the topic, the principal saw through the ambiguity.
He knew the truth: this world contained beings referred to as “reincarnators.” Since ancient times, they had influenced the world in countless ways.
The core members of the Council of Sages—those who called themselves the “Planets”—were all individuals reincarnated from another world.
(The Dowager Queen… Lady Frederica, was also a reincarnator. If only I had been stronger back then, I might have prevented her from falling into ruin…)
The principal’s face twisted with bitterness.
He had known the Dowager Queen, Frederica Iwood.
He had been powerless to save her from being forced into marriage by a tyrant who had taken a liking to her. He could not protect her betrothed, who had been his close friend.
And so… the Dowager Queen fell. She had misused her power.
(If only I’d possessed the strength and status I have now, perhaps I could have saved her…)
At the time, the principal had been little more than a slightly talented magician.
He had not yet joined the Council of Sages, nor did he wield the influence to advise a king.
It was something he could not have helped. Something that could not be helped.
Even so, the memory of watching a woman he could have saved fall into ruin, powerless to intervene, haunted him. Even after all these years, it had not faded.
“Rest-kun… stay strong. Become much stronger, much more resilient…”
Calling out to the boy who was no longer present, he recalled the words Rest had spoken during his entrance exam interview.
‘…I want to be happy. I want to become someone people would call successful.’
‘The inferiority complex I carry from being unloved by my parents, from being oppressed by the people who should have been my family, hasn’t gone away.’
‘I want a family that can truly understand each other, a family that can care for and love one another… A family that might fight sometimes but would never oppress one another. A family that can connect deeply in their hearts… and as many of them as possible.’
What Rest had expressed was a perfectly normal human wish, yet the principal understood just how difficult it was to achieve.
(Just as the Council of Sages works for peace in the human world… there are those who exist solely to disrupt it. Enemies who crave chaos and seek humanity’s destruction.)
Rest wasn’t yet ready to know about the organizations that opposed the Council of Sages.
Aside from the council’s members, such as the principal himself, only the leaders of various nations were aware of their existence.
(One day, they will discover that Rest-kun is a reincarnator of great power. They won’t leave him be. Just as they drove Lady Frederica to ruin, they will attempt to drag Rest-kun down as an enemy of humanity…)
Gascoigne fears it.
He fears that Rest will fall into the hands of the enemy, which is why he issued his warning.
“It’s so you can achieve your dreams… You must become much, much stronger.”
So that Rest can gain and protect the family he holds dear.
He wants Rest to grow stronger.
(Until you are able to protect those precious to you with your own hands… I must continue to do my best as well…)
The principal once again steeled his resolve.
It was far too soon for retirement.
Even if his back ached, even if his magic prowess no longer flowed as it did in his youth… he had to keep going, had to keep pushing himself.
To nurture the younger generation and entrust the future to them—
That was his duty as an elder pioneer and as an educator.