Teacher Charles Became the Hero Who Defeated the Fiend!

The news spread like wildfire through the church school.

That night, the monster’s rampage had been catastrophic.

It breathed fire, spewed water, and summoned thunderbolts—nearly leveling Ipoli’s capital.

Adults whispered it was a fiend escaped from hell itself.

Some students’ families had been caught in the disaster; a few children had even seen the city’s flames firsthand.

Everyone was terrified.

As the hero personally commended by the king—the man who’d driven off the beast armed only with a steel fork—Teacher Charles’s legend naturally took flight.

Lofna tasted the spotlight for the first time.

After all, she’d stood at the city’s edge that night, witnessing Teacher Charles’s entire battle against the "fiend."

With her limited vocabulary, she wildly exaggerated what she’d seen, retelling the tale endlessly to classmates.

She painted Charles as a mythic hero, blowing his feats completely out of proportion.

Of course, she left out how Teacher Charles had sent her home the next day—and how her mother had spanked her for it.

Classmates grew envious of Lofna and awed by Teacher Charles.

Sadly, he hadn’t returned to school since that day.

Alongside Prince Noren, he’d taken up the hunt for the fiend, scouring the land for clues to its whereabouts.

This relieved students who’d misbehaved in math class—but crushed Lofna.

She’d bragged about seeing Teacher Charles wield magic, even claiming she’d faced the fiend beside him. With no proof, many accused her of lying.

She desperately needed him to reappear and vouch for her.

Yet weeks passed with no sign of Teacher Charles.

A few children who’d heard rumors claimed to know his location.

Traders resting in the city had spoken of a "little fiend" lurking in Ipoli’s southern Great Swamp—a shadowy creature that hid in the marshes, ambushing passersby to steal food.

But this fiend was dim-witted. It only stole snacks.

One unlucky trader’s wagon, laden with goods for sale, had been flipped by a sudden gale into the swamp.

The man wailed in despair, expecting ruin—only for the wagon to be blown back moments later. His coins remained untouched; only the white bread and ham were gone.

Clearly, the fiend was foolish, stealing only food.

"Wow, that fiend’s dumb. Doesn’t it know money buys more snacks?"

"You’re the dumb one! How could a fiend spend coins in town? It hides from Teacher Charles now. He and Prince Noren have searched the Great Swamp repeatedly but can’t catch it—it’s terrified after he thrashed it!"

Still, the children weren’t worried. Even if Teacher Charles failed, adults assured them the fiend’s appearance had been reported to the higher echelons of the Eternal Church.

Soon, legendary Holy Knights would arrive to exterminate it.

The fiend was doomed.

The children who’d heard about the traders’ gossip—and the first to learn of the Holy Knights’ arrival—replaced Lofna as the new center of attention.

Lofna grew frantic. Some now openly called her a liar, insisting Teacher Charles didn’t even know her.

She needed proof. Now.

The fiend supposedly hid deep in the southern Great Swamp, emerging only to snatch food.

The Great Swamp—a silent expanse of reeds, its clear lakes masking bottomless mud. Even seasoned traders gave it a wide berth.

Adults always warned children to avoid the black marshes; every year, countless souls were swallowed by its deceptively calm waters.

A fiend hiding there made perfect sense.

After much thought, Lofna hatched a plan: lure the monster out with food. Once she saw it clearly, she’d report its whereabouts to Teacher Charles. She’d help him—and earn his praise.

That was her entire strategy.

At dawn one weekend, she woke, stashed her breakfast bread inside her clothes, and pretended to finish it.

Slipping out the door, she snatched a chunk of cheese her mother had made the night before, wrapped both in cloth, and set off.

Her mother and the maids, busy milking cows, paid no mind—they thought she was just playing outside.

After all, she was just a child, and the Great Swamp lay far from the city.

She walked for hours, nearly turning back many times. But memories of Teacher Charles battling the fiend—and classmates mocking her as a liar—fueled her on.

Brimming with childish energy, she ran and skipped all morning, even hitching a brief ride on a hay cart.

After another half-hour’s walk past noon, she finally reached the Great Swamp’s edge.

Before her stretched endless reeds, land fractured by lakes and streams.

Doubt struck her.

She’d already eaten half her food out of hunger.

Would the remaining bread crumbs and cheese chunks even attract the fiend?

"Uh..." Lofna realized the flaw in her plan.

A little girl stood no chance of finding a phantom monster in this boundless swamp.

"Mr. Fiend?" She cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting toward the marsh: "I brought cheese! Want some?"

"Anyone hungry for cheese?"

"My mom made it! It’s delicious!"

Silence answered her. Only the wind sighed through the reeds, as if laughing at her foolishness.

Sighing, she pulled out the remaining food, ready to eat it and head home—she’d already missed lunch, and her mother would surely spank her bottom again.

But as she lifted the cheese to her lips, a gust of wind stung her eyes. Blinking, she was knocked flat by another strange breeze.

She yelped, scrambling up—only to find the cheese gone.

"My cheese! Who took my cheese?"

She spun around, panicked. No one was there.

Only the Great Swamp’s cold wind replied.

"Fine. I still have bread crumbs." Giving up, she shrugged and pulled out the stale crumbs.

Another gust snatched the cloth from her hands, carrying the food toward the swamp.

"Hey!" She lunged after it.

She forgot the danger ahead.

Beneath the shallow lakes lay deep, sucking mud that could swallow lives—even an elephant.

She plunged into the water, flailing to stand, but her arms sank uselessly. The mud clutched at her like invisible hands, dragging her deeper.

Lofna gasped, choking on water.

She sank further, about to join the swamp’s countless victims—

—when a force lifted her from the icy water.

Spitting out mud, Lofna blinked. Before her stood a small figure shrouded in black mist.

Shorter and skinnier than her, it stood on the lake’s surface without sinking. It tilted its head, munching the stolen cheese near where a mouth might be.

Lofna heard distinct chewing sounds.

"..."

Stunned, she recognized it instantly—the shadowy figure from the city gates that night.

Her plan had worked.

"Fiend!" she cried.

The creature froze mid-chew.

"I’m not a fiend," it said in a small, girlish voice.

"You’ve hurt so many people! And you stole my cheese!"

"I didn’t mean to that night..." Its voice turned sad. "You said you brought cheese for anyone who wanted it... And I saved you just now, didn’t I?"

"You saved me?"

"Yes."

The creature raised a hand, murmuring strange words. From the still water, a boulder rose as if lifted by a giant’s hand, then thudded onto the shore, spraying mud.

"Like this," it explained. "I pulled you out when you fell in."

"Oh." Lofna understood. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." It was oddly polite.

Silence hung between them.

Lofna studied the misty figure—its childlike voice, its reasonableness.

"What are you, then?" she asked. "If you’re not a fiend?"

"..." It hesitated.

"I’m Lofna," she declared. "Teacher Charles’s student! A future mage learning magic from him, fighting monsters at his side!"

(It was a story she’d invented for herself.)

"Teacher Charles? You’re his student too? You know magic?" The creature perked up—then flinched, scanning the reeds wildly. "Is Teacher Charles nearby?"

"No, I came alone!" Lofna puffed out her chest. "I’m proving my strength! I’ll catch the fiend myself! See? I lured you out with cheese!"

"But I’m not a fiend. You caught the wrong monster."

"Then what are you? I told you my name. Yours now."

"...I’m Hilna von Ipoli." The mist slowly faded, revealing a filthy face and a torn, once-elegant blouse.

"Hilna..." Lofna’s eyes widened.

She knew that name.

And the surname—Ipoli.

Her own surname.

"Huh?!" She squinted at the grime-streaked face—and remembered.

"I saw you at the Winter Solstice Ceremony!" Lofna gasped. "You wore a fancy dress, sipping chilled juice. There was a whole platter of fried chicken legs beside you—I had roast meat pies and fried cutlets that day..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You’re my sister."