Chapter 21: The Real Savior Is... A Student Who Just Awakened?!

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The Real Savior Is... A Student Who Just Awakened?!

Captain Adrian Cross still held the principal’s hand, looking as though he wanted to bow down before the two men on the spot.

"Rest assured! I’ll personally report your achievements to the Alliance!"

He spoke with unrestrained enthusiasm.

"You two will receive the highest credit for this incident! This is a major act of heroism! I’ll make sure the entire city of Westmere learns what you’ve done today!"

The more Adrian spoke, the more excited he became. His voice grew louder, and he nearly forgot that the two men before him were severely injured.

However, the principal and vice principal, who were still receiving medical treatment, wore increasingly complicated expressions.

Awkwardness.

Embarrassment.

And perhaps even a little shame.

"Cough, cough..."

The principal’s face reddened. Whether it was because of blood loss or embarrassment, even he couldn’t say.

Unable to endure any more praise, he awkwardly pulled his hand from Adrian’s grasp.

"Captain Cross, please calm down for a moment."

He forced a wry smile and glanced at the vice principal, whose expression suggested that he wished the ground would swallow him whole.

Then he sighed.

"Although I’d love to accept all that credit, I still have a conscience."

"Huh?"

Adrian froze.

For a moment, he wondered whether he had misunderstood.

"What do you mean? You didn’t defeat the attackers?"

The principal shook his head.

Then he slowly raised his hand and pointed toward Nathaniel Beaumont, who stood nearby, quietly brushing dust from his sleeves.

"Captain Cross, let me explain."

"The vice principal and I did everything we could to restrain those enemies. We were prepared to sacrifice our lives to protect the students."

His expression became serious.

"But the person who truly killed the three leaders of the Lion Syndicate, turned the battle around, and saved everyone here..."

He paused.

"Was Nathaniel Beaumont."

The atmosphere seemed to freeze.

Adrian’s expression stopped moving.

His neck turned with the stiff, mechanical movement of a rusty machine as he followed the principal’s finger toward Nathaniel.

Nathaniel had just finished brushing a speck of dust from his cuff. Noticing Adrian’s gaze, he raised his head and offered a polite nod.

"Captain Cross. It’s been a while."

Adrian’s mouth fell open.

His eyes widened as he looked from Nathaniel to the three fallen leaders of the Lion Syndicate lying nearby.

Then he looked back at Nathaniel.

His mind went completely blank.

"Who... who?"

His voice rose into an almost comical squeak.

"You’re saying... him?"

He pointed at Nathaniel with a trembling finger.

"A student who turned eighteen and awakened today?"

"That he killed three Level 100-plus powerhouses?!"

Adrian’s first thought was that everyone was playing a joke on him.

It was absurd.

Completely unbelievable.

The claim was more ridiculous than the idea of an ant bringing down an elephant with a single bite.

He searched the principal’s face for a hint of amusement. Then he looked at the vice principal and the surrounding teachers, hoping someone would burst out laughing and admit that this was all a misunderstanding.

Nobody laughed.

The principal remained solemn.

The vice principal nodded weakly.

The teachers looked at Nathaniel with expressions of gratitude and awe.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of a joke.

Adrian’s heart sank.

As an experienced Guard Team captain, he forced himself to regain his composure.

He released the principal’s hand and strode toward the nearest corpse, the bald leader of the Lion Syndicate.

Squatting beside the body, he began examining the injuries.

The man’s condition was horrifying.

There were no obvious burns from holy light, nor were there the characteristic wounds of a giant battleaxe.

Instead, the bones throughout his body appeared to have been shattered. His muscle tissue had suffered catastrophic damage, as though an incomprehensibly powerful force had struck him from above and crushed his body.

Adrian’s expression grew increasingly grave.

This wasn’t the kind of damage he would expect from a Holy Light Priest or a Berserk Battleaxe warrior.

The destruction was far too overwhelming.

It suggested a level of offensive power that was almost impossible to believe.

His fingers trembled slightly as he stood.

Slowly, he turned back toward Nathaniel.

The young man remained composed, standing straight amid the ruined gymnasium and the countless gazes directed at him.

There was no arrogance in his posture.

No attempt to show off.

He simply stood there, calm and collected, as though he had everything under control.

Adrian stared at him.

The evidence was right before his eyes.

No matter how unbelievable it seemed, he couldn’t deny what had happened.

"Gulp."

He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

"It really was... him?"

The words escaped as a whisper.

He had no choice but to accept the truth.

Nathaniel Beaumont, a student who had awakened only hours ago, had killed three terrifying powerhouses and saved more than a thousand people.

Adrian took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging inside him.

Then he walked toward Nathaniel.

As he approached the young man, a strange feeling of familiarity crossed his mind.

For a moment, he remembered Nathaniel’s parents when they were younger.

Both had been extraordinary talents who had once made their names known throughout Westmere. Their strength and achievements had helped protect the region during some of its most dangerous years.

Adrian had witnessed their rise.

But looking at Nathaniel now, he couldn’t help wondering whether the next generation had already surpassed the previous one.

"Hoo..."

Adrian raised his hand and gave Nathaniel’s shoulder a firm pat.

"Young Nathaniel..."

His voice carried deep emotion.

"You’re an even greater genius than your parents were at your age!"

He shook his head in amazement.

"The student has surpassed the master!"

"If your parents knew what you accomplished today, they’d probably be celebrating all night!"

Nathaniel accepted the praise without becoming conceited.

"You’re being too generous, Captain Cross. I was fortunate."

"Fortunate?"

Adrian’s smile faded.

His expression became serious.

"No. This wasn’t luck."

At that moment, he was no longer merely an older acquaintance praising a talented youngster.

He was the captain of Westmere’s Guard Team, a man responsible for protecting the lives of everyone in the city.

He took half a step backward.

Then, in front of the teachers, students, and assembled Guard Team personnel, he bowed deeply to Nathaniel.

"Captain Cross, you don’t have to do that!"

The principal tried to intervene, but Adrian raised one hand to stop him.

He maintained his bow and spoke in a heavy voice.

"Nathaniel, this bow represents the Westmere Guard Team."

His tone was filled with regret.

"I’m apologizing to you, to the principal and vice principal, and to every teacher and student here."

He straightened slightly but kept his expression solemn.

"This was a serious failure on our part."

The surrounding officers fell silent.

Adrian continued.

"The Lion Syndicate is an S-Rank wanted organization. Its members entered Westmere, infiltrated a school during one of the most important ceremonies of the year, and deployed a sealing barrier that blocked communications."

His fists tightened.

"Yet our Guard Team failed to detect them before they attacked."

He looked around at the ruined gymnasium.

"We failed to protect the people who were counting on us."

Cold sweat formed on his back as he considered what might have happened.

If Nathaniel hadn’t been here, the gymnasium would likely have become a graveyard.

The principal and vice principal might have died trying to protect the students. More than a thousand young people could have been slaughtered before the Guard Team even realized what was happening.

It would have been one of the darkest tragedies in Westmere’s history.

And Adrian would have carried responsibility for that failure for the rest of his life.

He looked directly at Nathaniel.

"If you hadn’t turned the battle around..."

His voice grew heavier.

"The consequences would have been unimaginable."

For a moment, he couldn’t find anything else to say.

Then he bowed once more.

"Thank you for saving them."