The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly
Chapter 225

Chapter 225 - Side Story, Or (5)

Life at the Academy resumed.

Our senior class now had only a few months left until graduation.

After that, each would scatter according to their aptitude and be deployed in the field.

Our Academy is a Special Operations Academy — a place that produces public officials tasked with covert operations, including the so-called Special Mission Unit.

Some might end up working in relatively safe areas like cryptography or surveillance, but others, like Linus and I during the war, might become frontline field agents.

In short, depending on what and how much one learned at the Academy, the students' career paths — even their survival — could be determined.

That’s why we can’t just halfheartedly teach them enough to earn a diploma.

As a result, the final semester for seniors was filled almost entirely with practical exercises.

Naturally, this placed a heavy burden on our Combat Studies department — myself included.

Unlike before, when I could take it easy, I now had to take a firm grip and lead the department properly.

The more often I appeared on the field, the louder the students’ wails grew.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Now, right before graduation, was the time to break them properly.

I had learned something from meeting countless field agents during the war:

The less experienced Special Agents die faster.

Sure, it sounds obvious. But the issue wasn’t just their lack of skill.

Fresh recruits, straight out of training, are often overflowing with confidence.

They overestimate their abilities, rush in recklessly — and then, one day, they die.

It’s the same for the students.

That’s why I had to push them to their limit during the final semester — to instill some humility.

On top of that, I made one additional request to Kaiden.

“Will the students be able to handle it? It could be quite the mental shock.”

“They’ll be fine. If they experience it unprepared later, they’ll panic and die without doing a thing.”

Kaiden, who had learned the term “panic” from me, nodded in understanding.

“Understood. I’ll prepare it immediately.”

Kaiden sealed off an entire classroom with illusion magic and divided the seniors into groups to send them in one after another.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

“HELP MEEEEE!!!”

“BLEUUEEEHHHH!!”

Not a single one lasted more than a few minutes before fleeing in a panic.

The illusions Kaiden showed were all battle scenes we had experienced during the war.

Life-or-death encounters between the Demon King’s army and the Human Alliance — with only victory or annihilation as possible outcomes.

Neither Merilda nor Knightley were exempt.

In fact, Knightley fainted and had to be carried to the infirmary by Hindrasta.

Merilda, having survived a Demon Army attack in her village as a child, was somewhat prepared, but Knightley had never seen a demon in her life.

Demons truly are terrifying creatures.

They have horns on their heads, and while they’re slightly larger than humans, they still fall within the general category of bipedal sentient species.

In fact, orcs — far more familiar to humans — look more monstrous.

But the issue is their ferocity in combat.

Once they enter battle, demons display an ominous, threatening gleam in their eyes.

And when the fight begins, they don’t stop until limbs are severed and death is imminent.

There are no surrenders, no prisoners. Like moths flying into flame, like mayflies with no tomorrow — they fight with that intensity.

To other races, they must look like bloodthirsty monsters.

But there's historical context to why demons fight so desperately.

They’ve long been persecuted across the continent.

Their horns resemble those of demons that occasionally appeared in the continent’s history.

And so, people came to see them as demonic servants — shunned, discriminated against, eventually becoming untouchables.

Demons scattered across the continent lived in tents on barren hills and wilderness near cities, doing filthy and dangerous work no one else wanted.

Until the appearance of the Demon King — a once-in-a-lifetime hero to the demon race.

The Four-Year War was their first and last chance. Its outcome meant the survival or extinction of their kind.

So they had no choice but to throw everything into it.

Sounds like a case of “Sorry, but tough luck.”

Still, there was a reason behind the divine oracle that called for the death of the Demon King and the defeat of his army.

The demons’ ultimate goal was the annihilation of humanity and the enslavement of the other races.

And demons aren’t native to this world.

According to the author’s notes in the original novel, demons were a foreign race that ended up here by accident from another world.

From the perspective of the goddess, the rightful owner of this world, she couldn’t just stand by while outsiders tried to kill her own children.

And so, in the original story, the divine oracle descended, and Linus and the rest formed the Demon King Assassination Special Unit, eventually killing the Demon King and winning the war.

And as a side character who got reincarnated into such a story, I had to ensure the ending happened as written — to avoid any unpredictable, dangerous deviations.

Sure, the demons had their reasons, but so did I.

Anyway, in the end, I managed to steer things toward the ending I knew, retired quietly without revealing my true identity to the world...

And now…

Hmm? What is this feeling?

Wait a minute. In the original… I’m pretty sure…

Linus, Celine, Lormane, Kaiden…

Hmmm… What is this...? Am I wrong?

But even as I tried to think about it, it danced just outside my grasp — faint and vague.

I think it was something from the original story…

Did I forget?

Well, it has been 15 years since I got isekai’d.

No way I could remember every detail of a novel I read back then.

Still… what is this unsettling feeling?

Hnnng… It’s seriously uncomfortable…

Am I missing something right now?

# # # \#

Deep in a treacherous forest.

A dark elf moved as one with the shadows of the trees, leaving neither sound nor trace.

His name was Drevlon, eldest son of the Nemara clan.

He was journeying with his father, clan chief Nemara, to search for other dark elf clans who had gone into hiding after evading war crimes trials at the end of the war.

Their numbers had dwindled following the clan’s internal conflict, and they needed to replenish their ranks.

Fortunately, they had recently been granted conditional pardon authority from the newly crowned Empress Mirelis.

If luck was on their side, they could bring back any surviving dark elves willing to defect and restore their clan.

Despite his size, Drevlon climbed the tree swiftly and quietly.

Hidden among the leaves, Nemara was already observing the surroundings ahead.

“Father, I’m back.”

“Report.”

“It’s just as we suspected.”

Though Drevlon’s report carried a heavy tone, Nemara’s expression remained unchanged.

Even with his late human wife, Marian — whom he had loved most in the world — Nemara had seldom shown emotion.

He wasn’t one to be swayed easily, especially in matters of duty.

“Lead me.”

Following Drevlon’s guidance, Nemara moved deeper into the forest.

Soon, the two dark elves lay prone between boulders.

There were multiple presences ahead.

Remaining hidden, Nemara observed the scene below with keen eyes.

They had come searching for hidden dark elf clans — but stumbled upon something else entirely.

Still, it wasn’t a worthless discovery.

In fact, it might prove far more valuable than finding the dark elves.

But…

No matter how they looked at it, the scale of what they were witnessing was far beyond what the two of them could handle alone.

If they entered now, they’d die.

And then, the secret would die with them, never to reach the Empire.

Nemara signed to Drevlon in hand signals.

Withdraw.

Drevlon nodded once, then slowly turned his prone body.

Slipping past the rocks, the dark elves sprinted away with incredible speed.

In a forest this deep and dark, there are few beings in the world that could match the full sprint of a dark elf.

Not even the demons conducting that massive, unidentified ritual in secrecy.

Meanwhile, back at the drawbridge of the imperial palace, chaos was erupting.

“I’m here to meet the fifth member of the Demon King Slaying Special Force!!”

The young man flailed as the palace guards restrained him.

This unknown, suspicious man had suddenly tried to storm the palace — and of course, was stopped by the guards.

Then he started yelling about needing to meet some hidden fifth member of the Demon King Slaying Special Force.

Completely insane.

Everyone knows the Demon King Slaying Special Force consists of Linus, Celine, Lormane, and Kaiden. Four members.

Ask any five-year-old in the marketplace — they’d know.

A fifth member? This guy’s just some delusional nutjob.

There are always crazies claiming they were secret agents of the Demon King Slaying unit.

“The protagonist…! Agh! A new—guh!”

The man was slammed to the ground and silenced under a barrage of batons before he could finish his sentence.