The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 111: Final Evaluation (1)

If you asked the candidates attending Hero Academy what the most important thing was, 9 out of 10 would answer without hesitation, “Overall Ranking.”

Whether they were superhumans blessed with stigmas by the Seven Gods, or saviors of mankind who protect humanity from demons and monsters, heroes, at their core, were still "humans" just like ordinary people who had not received a stigma.

Fundamentally, humans live for their own benefit and safety, and heroes are no different.

For now, they're merely "candidates" attending the same school, but after graduation, their statuses will vary greatly.

Some will receive high-ranking positions in their home countries or join large guilds and live comfortably.

Others will scrape by in mid-sized guilds.

And some will end up in nameless mercenary groups, crawling through mud as low-ranking mercenaries.

‘It's no wonder candidates are so obsessed with their overall rankings.’

Anyway.

Several things affected this overall ranking.

First, there's class attitude and diligence.

Honestly, this wasn't a major factor.

As long as you didn’t completely slack off, your ranking wouldn’t be heavily affected by this.

Second, there were bonus points you could earn during class.

This didn’t matter much for lower or mid-tier candidates, but for the top-tier candidates, it could be a key factor in determining their grades.

And finally, the midterm and final exam scores.

These were the biggest factors in determining the overall ranking, and among them, the final exam was especially important, to the point where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that your entire semester's grades hinged on it.

In particular, the final exam was usually conducted as a group evaluation.

Since your grade could depend on who you formed a party with, the whole school turned into a bustling marketplace during exam season.

“Maurice, have you found a party for the final exam yet?”

“If you don’t mind, do you want to join my party?”

“Is there anyone in the Magic Department who hasn’t found a party yet?!”

“Are you crazy, leader?! How can you put five Warriors in a five-person party?!”

“I don’t know anyone in the Support or Magic Departments, what am I supposed to do?!”

“Argh! We need a Support! We need a Support Department student!!!”

“Looking for someone to join our final exam party! (We’re looking for fast learners and hard carries, execution if unqualified).”

As I walked into the classroom, I could feel the heat and frenzy as if I had walked into a cult meeting.

‘It’s chaos.’

Well, it was to be expected. If you didn’t find party members by the set deadline, you’d be forced into a randomly assigned party, nicknamed "the lottery," making it even more competitive.

‘In my previous life, I was always stuck in those lottery parties.’

I still vividly remembered the disgusted expressions of my party members when I joined their party.

Even after all this time, it was a bitter memory.

‘But.’

Now, things were different.

‘Hmmm.’

I sat leisurely in the back of the classroom, crossing my legs.

Reclining against the back of the chair, I watched the candidates scrambling to find party members with a relaxed expression.

The candidates’ gazes shifted toward me.

‘Well, it’s only natural.’

Usually, Support and Magic Department candidates, who are fewer in number, were treated like nobles compared to Warriors.

But that was only in "general" cases.

‘For top-tier Warrior candidates, it’s the opposite—Support and Magic Department candidates line up to join their party.’

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Although my current grades were far from top-tier, unofficially, it was widely believed that I ranked in the top five among the Warriors.

‘After all, I’ve proven my skills.’

My performance during the Sealing Ritual, where I slaughtered dozens of monsters, and my overwhelming victory over Instructor Vincent during a sparring session were still hot topics in the academy.

In other words, according to the rumors, I was a Warrior candidate on par with top-tier students like Yuren, Maurice, and Camilla.

With that kind of reputation, wouldn’t there be plenty of candidates eager to recruit me into their party?

‘I’m no longer the undesirable candidate no one wanted in their party.’

Ah, how miserable those days were.

I had been called a defective product, a reject, expired trash—enduring all kinds of insults and mockery.

Even now, the memories stirred my heart with bitterness.

‘I thought I’d forgotten all about it after going through so much in my previous life.’

They say the trauma of school days lasts a lifetime.

No matter how much time passed, the humiliation and powerlessness I felt during that time were etched deep in my memory.

‘But now, the tables have turned.’

In my previous life, I was powerless.

Now, I held the power.

Back then, I was treated as a lowly commoner; now, I was someone they had to serve like nobility.

‘Come, come! Wag your tails and beg to have me in your party, you fools!’

I grinned as I watched the candidates sneak glances in my direction.

And yet.

“Ah, man… we still need a few more Warriors.”

“Isn’t there anyone decent from the Warrior Department?”

“Should we ask Yuren?”

“Do you think Yuren would join our party?”

……

“How about Camilla?”

“Camilla’s good, but she’ll definitely follow the Saint.”

“That’s true.”

……

“What about Juliet?”

“I asked him, but he was already in a party. You know, with those rich kids from the Republic.”

“Ugh, even here it’s all about connections?”

“This is so unfair. How are us commoners supposed to find a party?”

……

“I heard all the top-tier Warrior candidates have already found parties.”

“Sigh. Is there really no one left?”

“We’ve got no choice. Let’s try convincing Felix.”

“Felix is fine, but his personality’s a bit…”

Wait a minute.

“I’m… being left out?”

‘What is this?’

Fine, I could understand being overshadowed by Yuren or Camilla, but how was I being passed over for Juliet and Felix?

‘Weren’t they just making a big fuss about how I’m stronger than Yuren?’

Shouldn’t they be swarming me, begging me to join their party?

And yet, why?

"Ugh, there's really no one to recruit."

"This test already feels like a failure..."

"Let's try to rope in someone from the Support Division first. I heard if you're in a Support Division party, you can easily recruit top-tier warriors too."

Not a single person came to find me?

'Hah. They said my reputation was so well-known even among the fourth years, but was that all nonsense?'

As I sighed at this incomprehensible situation.

—Ah, yeah. It's that guy. The crazy guy among the third-year cadets, who deliberately hides his skills and purposefully keeps his overall evaluation score low.

Laios' words suddenly flashed through my mind.

"...Ah."

Only then did I realize the reason behind this baffling situation.

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'Come to think of it, there was a rumor going around that I was purposefully keeping my overall evaluation score low.'

In other words.

From the cadets' perspective, no matter how skilled I might be, I'm perceived as someone with a peculiar preference for deliberately keeping poor grades.

"Damn it..."

Who in the world would willingly stay at the bottom?

"Hah."

Honestly, I didn't care much about my school grades.

What mattered was preparing for the upcoming calamity, saving my comrades, and changing the future—not trivial things like school grades.

'But now that it's come to this, it's a bit annoying.'

I never expected the label of "bottom tier," which had followed me around in my previous life, to stick with me even after reincarnation.

"Ugh."

As I was grumbling and ruffling my hair in frustration.

"Uh... This is Dale's classroom, right?"

A familiar voice reached my ears.

"Oh! It’s, it’s Yuren!"

"That's Yuren Helios from Class A, right? The heir to the Sun Sword."

"Rumor has it he's stronger than the professors."

"Wow... He’s seriously handsome."

"What's Yuren doing in Class C?"

As Yuren appeared, the classroom started buzzing.

Yuren, accustomed to being the center of attention, walked over to me casually.

"There you are, Dale."

"What’s up?"

"Ah... It’s nothing, really."

Yuren hesitated for a moment, glancing at me as he continued.

"For the upcoming final evaluation... want to team up with me?"

"......!"

Honestly, if you asked me if I didn’t expect this kind of offer, I'd say I did.

Yuren... No, Yurina and I trained together daily, and we were on good terms, so I thought it was highly likely we’d form a party for the final evaluation.

But.

Thinking about it and actually hearing the offer are two entirely different things.

Especially in a situation where I felt somewhat abandoned.

"Yuren, you're the only one I can count on!"

"W-What? Dale?"

In a surge of emotion, I grabbed Yuren in a hug.

Yuren, clearly flustered, looked around in confusion, then cleared his throat awkwardly, his face turning red.

"I-I trust in your abilities, Dale."

"Haha, just leave it to me."

I patted my chest, grinning.

As Yuren and I were bantering like that, Iris approached.

"Hmm. So Yuren will be the fourth member of our party?"

"...Huh?"

Our party?

Fourth member?

"Um? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh? No... Did we agree to form a party before?"

"No. But do we really need to say it out loud? You, Camilla, and I are obviously in the same party, right?"

Iris tilted her head as if I’d said something obvious.

"Wait... You weren't planning on finding another Support Division cadet, were you?"

"No way. Who’s better than you, our Saintess?"

I quickly shook my head and gave a sheepish smile.

'So that means it's me, Yuren, Camilla, and Iris in one party.'

The heir to the Sun Sword, the future sword candidate of the Holy Kingdom, and the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, all in the same party.

'This is...'

Honestly, this was a party so strong that if we didn’t get first place, it wouldn’t make sense.

'Looks like I'll finally experience being first place for the first time in my life.'

Even before the final evaluation had started, I was already declaring victory in my mind when Camilla approached and asked,

"So, do you have someone in mind for the last party member?"

"Hmm. The last member, huh."

Berald was in a different grade, so I couldn’t call him, and I heard Juliet had already found a party.

'To be honest, with this lineup, it'd be better to take in someone less skilled.'

While the main focus of the final evaluation was the party’s overall performance, there were also individual contribution points awarded.

'And those contribution points are quite significant.'

It was a sort of penalty to prevent only top-tier cadets from forming parties together.

In other words, cadets had to weigh the party’s overall performance against the individual contribution points that could provide additional bonuses.

Looking at it from that perspective, with our already excessively skilled party, there was no need to add more competition.

"Well, we could just leave the last spot to be filled randomly."

"Hmm... I don’t like the idea of teaming up with someone I don’t know, but I guess we don’t have a choice."

"I'm with you on that."

Iris and Yuren both agreed with my suggestion.

'Well, I kind of feel sorry for whoever gets selected at random.'

Honestly, who could possibly make a meaningful contribution in a party with such exceptional members?

'Well, it’s not really my problem.'

I smirked wryly, feeling a bit of sympathy for the random cadet who would join us.

* * *

And then, on the day of the final evaluation.

The last member of our party, selected by random draw, was—

"Uh... H-Hello?"

A freckle-faced cadet with an awkward expression.

His name, as he nervously glanced around, was—

"I-I'm Albert!"

Albert Hoover, the 'Chosen One.'

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