The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 103 - Ismera’s Great Forest (2)

Kaiden is a genius mage known for being a member of the Demon King Slayer Task Force.

An ordinary elf with no backing like Ismera is no match for someone like him.

If the mage Kaiden accepts the offer, Ismera will undoubtedly have to step down from her position as Head Professor.

In that case, will she be demoted to a subject professor?

The people who received orders from her until just yesterday would become her equals?

That’s something Ismera can’t even imagine. It would be better to just quit.

But if she quits, what comes next…?

What happens next…?

She would have to return to the forest, right? But…

There’s no forest to return to.

The forest where Ismera’s tribe lived was burned down by the Demon King’s army during the Four-Year War.

Since then, the tribe has been steadily working on restoration, but it’s no easy task.

The place where elves live is typically called a "Great Forest," a very deep forest.

The vegetation there is typically thousands of years old on average, so it’s almost impossible to restore it to its former state in just ten years.

Then why not find another Great Forest? But all the suitable ones already have native inhabitants.

Yet elves are extremely exclusive, not just towards other races but also towards other elf tribes, so it’s not easy to merge their homes.

And Ismera’s tribe has no intention of doing that whatsoever.

Elves are too stubborn to simply flip over a place where they’ve lived for tens of thousands of years, passed down from their ancestors.

For this reason, Ismera’s tribe stubbornly continues planting trees in the ashes of the burned-down forest, hoping that someday, even if it’s not in their generation but in the future, it will once again become their home.

The problem is that none of this comes for free.

Even for a race that lives in harmony with the forest, it’s not as if they can get resources from the forest for free, from start to finish.

Moreover, it’s about restoring land that was completely burned to the ground.

So some members of Ismera’s tribe stay in the forest to work on restoration, while others go out into the human world to earn money to support the effort.

For this reason, Ismera has been sending most of her salary from the academy to her tribe.

One of the reasons she wants to become Headmaster is exactly this: a salary increase.

No one knows about these circumstances because she’s never spoken about them.

Elves are such a noble and arrogant race.

And now, one of the continent’s heroes, the mage Kaiden, is coming to take her place.

The peaceful forest was burned down, and Ismera barely escaped death’s door.

For the sake of her tribe and the forest’s restoration, she humbled herself and came to the human city, bowing her head low, and worked her way up to this position.

She’s endured serving under an incompetent Dark Elf who’s under the Emperor’s protection, thinking only of her tribe and the forest.

Then suddenly, this human named Dian was appointed, and now even the mage Kaiden is coming.

The Second Princess is someone who gets things done, and since she couldn’t touch Kirrin, she will undoubtedly push through with this personnel change.

If Kaiden comes… she’ll have to leave the academy...

But with her qualifications as a senior scholar and experience as Head Professor at the Imperial Academy, it won’t be entirely hopeless...

But...

Leaving on her own terms to find better conditions and being pushed out like this are completely different things.

Ismera furrowed her brow and covered her face with both hands.

“Haha...”

A hollow laugh escaped her.

Why is the world so eager to trample all over me…?

# # # # #

On the way out of the hall after receiving the awards and prize money.

“Where did those guys disappear to?!”

Hindrasta grumbled as she sharply scanned the crowd.

She was looking for the Leblanc mercenaries.

“Did they already bolt? Hey! Excuse me! I need to ask something!”

Hindrasta ran to a staff member at the entrance and asked about the whereabouts of the Leblanc mercenaries.

“Those people just rode off on their horses and left the headquarters.”

“Aaaaah! No way!”

Hindrasta screamed, causing everyone passing by to turn and look.

“Come on now, you can always settle money issues later. Even if you catch them and rough them up, you won’t get much out of it. We’ll have to go to their mercenary camp.”

“If they touched even a single copper coin, they’re going to get wrecked...”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

As we calmed Hindrasta down and left the hall, we saw Ismera standing in the distance.

“Professor Ismera!”

The kids ran over and swarmed around Ismera.

“Professor! We got first place!”

“Where were you? Mage Kaiden even showed the evaluation videos.”

“The exact problem you taught us came up! You really are amazing, Professor!”

Watching the excited children, Ismera forced a smile on her dry lips.

“You did well. I’m really proud of you.”

For some reason, Ismera didn’t seem happy at all.

Wasn’t she the one who wanted to win first place more than anyone?

“It’s party time! Everyone, gather at Dian’s house!”

“Yay!”

When Kirrin excitedly shouted, the kids jumped up and down in joy.

But Ismera remained still, unmoved like a withered old tree.

Even the smile on her lips quickly faded.

“Let’s head back for now. Professor Ismera must be very tired.”

We got into the carriage and headed back to the academy.

The entire ride back, Ismera didn’t say a single word.

# # # # #

A grand welcoming ceremony was held at the academy.

All the faculty and students came out to greet us, and as the kids stepped out of the carriage, they nervously gave their impressions and were met with rounds of applause.

“Dian, say a few words too. You taught the kids, after all.”

“No, I’m fine.”

I shook my head as Kirrin pushed me forward.

The congratulations and attention should be reserved for the kids.

“But where is Professor Ismera...”

“She said she was tired and went in first.”

“I see...”

She must be really exhausted. She barely slept the entire month, focusing all her energy on teaching the kids to prove her abilities.

After the welcoming ceremony, I called out Merilda.

“Merilda. Go and talk to Professor Ismera later about the private lessons.”

“Understood, Professor.”

After the competition, Merilda was supposed to become Ismera’s private pupil, and a promise is a promise.

Hopefully, this will help improve Ismera’s condition a bit.

In the evening, at Kirrin’s suggestion, we held a small celebration at my house.

The attendees were Kirrin, the kids, me, and the professors from the Combat Department who had helped with the competition preparations.

“Professor Dian, why didn’t Professor Ismera come?”

“She’s tired.”

At my answer, Olysia nodded.

“Her complexion was really bad. I’ve never seen an elf before, but that definitely didn’t look normal.”

“Elves living outside the forest is abnormal in itself.”

Elves are a race born in the forest, live in the forest, and die in the forest.

Even though it’s been just ten years, living in a city teeming with humans and other races doesn’t suit elves.

But as far as I know, Professor Ismera has no forest to return to. It burned down during the Four-Year War.

The forests where elves live are called "Great Forests," deep and ancient woods scattered across the continent.

It’s a mystical place, almost like another world within this world, lined with towering trees reaching the sky.

They certainly exist, yet they’re treated almost like legends.

Even though Linus and I roamed the entire continent, I’ve only been to one of those Great Forests once.

During the war, the Demon King’s army indiscriminately attacked the elves’ Great Forests to obtain strong, durable wood for siege weapons.

The elves resisted as individual tribes, but it was a battle they were never going to win.

So, in the early stages of the war, many elves died, but it wasn’t until the mid-war that the Human Alliance became aware of this.

Because of their stubborn pride in "protecting my own forest," they didn’t seek any outside help.

Ismera is probably one of those who survived from the many Great Forest tribes that were wiped out.

But now that I think about it, I heard that Linus is also involved in the restoration of the Tiraellen Forest.

That forest is also one of the Great Forests, and it just so happened that the army that attacked it was the one Linus and I were tracking to assassinate the commander.

When we tracked them down, the forest was under attack, and after we killed the commander, the Demon King’s army, in a "you die, I die" frenzy, set the forest on fire.

I lifted my arm and reached under my shirt collar, feeling the rough scar.

I got this while rescuing surviving elves when a burning tree fell here and gave me a severe burn.

At the time, I was so preoccupied that I didn’t even realize my clothes were on fire, but later Linus noticed and, instead of just putting it out, stomped on me relentlessly to extinguish it.

That crazy guy, I could’ve just rolled on the ground.

Didn’t he suggest the last time I went to his house that we visit that forest sometime?

What a troublesome guy. He just won’t leave me alone.