Meeting Song Sia in the Club Room (3)
"You have a membership? How?"
Song Sia was thrown. No matter how she turned it over in her mind, there was no way Lee Junwoo could have gotten his hands on that particular membership. Even among the High Class cadets, it was impossible unless you were the child of a major guild executive at the very least.
"An acquaintance of mine gifted it to me."
"Who on earth?"
"Scarlet, the second-year vice president. Well — more precisely, it came through one more person in between."
That made no sense. Vice President Scarlet was the daughter of Istad, the famous military enterprise. Song Sia was still only a high-school student, but she had already been invited to Theia Academy's high-society gathering for the children of the elite, and she had attended.
Everyone has gathered here to make me shine. Ohohoho!!
Scarlet was a bright, high-energy young lady. Even so, her looks were excellent enough that plenty of boys tried to get close to her — a completely different atmosphere from Song Sia, who had simply sat in a corner with a cold expression and shared the space.
Still, she seemed picky about men.
Especially the type who looked at a man's face more than his skill. Song Sia glanced at Lee Junwoo again. With her near-total emotional deficit, she could appraise him with even colder clarity. His looks ranked high even among Theia's male cadets. Honestly speaking, he was handsome.
If Scarlet starts chasing after Junwoo, that would be a problem.
Of course, she knew his personality. She still believed he hadn't fully let go of An Yumin. But if a woman with Scarlet's looks and wealth started tempting him, it would be stranger if he didn't fall for it.
A chill ran through her chest. Being alone with Lee Junwoo right now — she liked it. Even though the two of them weren't anything to each other. It was a feeling Song Sia couldn't explain, but she wanted to stretch this moment out longer. She didn't want anyone to take it from her. That was why she had joined Crime Year, a club that meant nothing to her, just for the contact point with him.
Scarlet-sunbae. If I arrange a little accident at the next social gathering…
Not a bad idea. If she disappeared for a few months with injuries short of death, Scarlet would lose any chance to seduce Junwoo. But then she recalled what he had just said.
Wait. He said it came through one more person.
Then he might not have gotten it from Scarlet directly — from someone close to her. A woman surfaced in her mind at once.
There was a maid who attended Scarlet at that gathering.
She remembered her as a classmate from the same high school. The name was probably Choi Hana. If anything, that one was more likely to have a connection with Junwoo than Scarlet was.
"That must be a pretty expensive gift. Are you dating the person who gave it to you?"
She tested him. Junwoo shook his head.
"No. Just an acquaintance."
"An acquaintance — a classmate? Same department?"
She pressed him.
"Yeah. A party member I'll be working with going forward."
Meaning not a lover. The way he said it was so natural and matter-of-fact that it didn't seem like a lie.
Not something I need to be on guard about yet, then.
That was when Junwoo suddenly asked her,
"How are you all doing these days? An Yumin?"
Song Sia froze.
She studied Junwoo's face again.
Why Yumin first, of all people?
It might have been a simple check-in. Still, it bothered her. Maybe the lingering attachment was still there.
"Why An Yumin?"
Her voice rose without her meaning it to.
"Yumin's the party leader. And the main dealer. If the party leader's in good shape, you can keep running High Class party activities the way you used to."
"That's… maybe true."
"Aegis is a party I was part of once, too. I hope you all keep doing well."
The words reassured her and unsettled her at the same time.
He was exiled from Aegis, and he's still rooting for Aegis to succeed?
This was the same Lee Junwoo who had taken a shock severe enough to trigger a panic attack. And now he wore the easy expression of someone who had overcome it — and was cheering them on instead.
As expected, Junwoo is…
He was exactly as kind as Song Sia had always known him to be. A man that soft-hearted would never forget An Yumin easily.
That can't happen.
Her heart went cold. She knew better than An Yumin herself how sincere he had been toward her. So she could never, under any circumstances, let Junwoo and Yumin grow close again.
"I see. Still, you don't need to worry about An Yumin."
"Yeah?"
"Seems like she's got a guy she's getting along with pretty well these days."
The moment the words left her mouth, Song Sia flinched. It was an obvious lie. An Yumin didn't have a single close male friend — there was no way. She had just thrown out whatever came to mind in her panic. But in the next instant, her head went cold and clear.
No. Actually, that's a perfect thing to say.
That misunderstanding could absolutely make him let go of any remaining attachment to Yumin. And Aegis just so happened to have a suitable man on hand. Song Sia hurried on.
"We recruited a new member into Aegis. A guy named Jeong Ungyeong. He's pretty good-looking. Looks like An Yumin fell for him first."
"…I see. That's good, then. Hell Week shouldn't be a problem either."
She watched his face. His expression was calm, but for a moment he looked lost in thought.
Good. If I can just peel An Yumin away from Junwoo like this…
Even if it was a lie, planting a negative image of Yumin would be useful. That was the surest way for her to get closer to him.
"An Yumin seems like the type who likes capable men. Jeong Ungyeong is our year, but his high-school grades were solid."
"……"
"Honestly… the reason Yumin was the first one to say we should kick you out was probably your skill, too."
Junwoo didn't answer. She couldn't read his thoughts, so she spoke even more urgently.
"I agreed, but our family principle is to follow the party leader's opinion. I couldn't oppose it. An Yumin is Aegis's party leader."
Even she knew it was a pathetic excuse. But right now she had to say something — anything.
"So you don't need to worry about Yumin. More than that — everything I said earlier is true. Looking after the welfare of people who leave is also a principle of our family. If you want…"
Valhalla's Apostles. She could put him in as an intern at that guild. She said it.
"How about it? If you're interested, I'll recommend you to our guild myself."
It was a temptation almost no one could refuse. Accepting a mere academy freshman as an intern simply didn't happen. Valhalla's Apostles stood at the absolute peak of the hunter world.
A place Junwoo could never enter even if he died and came back.
But she was the guildmaster's daughter. She could force a recommendation and create the seat somehow. Of course she would have to clean up everything that came after — but if it meant keeping Junwoo at her side, she would do anything.
The wait for his answer felt endless. At last he opened his mouth.
"I appreciate you thinking of me, but with my skill, an internship at your guild is out of the question. You should look for someone else."
Then he drained the drink he had belatedly picked up.
"I've got a class next, so I should go. And I only joined Aegis as volunteer work anyway. You don't need to look after me like that."
Clunk—
He set the empty bottle down and turned his back. Song Sia called after him in a rush.
"There's a club freshman welcome party next week. Are you coming?"
At that, Junwoo glanced back for a moment.
"Well, see you then?"
With that, he left. The shelter where they had just been sitting together seemed to turn into cold winter. They had been face to face only moments ago, but the truth was that her relationship with Lee Junwoo wasn't even close enough to call friendship.
A wave of anemia from her fierce blood-craving made her head spin.
Junwoo…
If her father had seen her, he would have slapped her across the face for how low she had lowered herself — begging him to take a severance package he didn't want, begging him to come to the welcome party. Song Sia had been the one pleading first.
She sank down right there, hugging her shoulders.
Everything An Yumin received from Junwoo… I want it too…
She wanted to see him again. But the Junwoo walking away never once looked back. A premonition settled over her that maybe it was completely impossible. She shook her head hard.
That can't happen.
And today had only made her more certain. Song Sia sincerely wanted Lee Junwoo's blood. That meant making him her thrall. Of course, when a female vampire fell in love, her position reversed completely — just like her mother.
Even so… I need Junwoo.
Even if she ended up subordinate to him, she wanted him to stay by her side. In that moment, Song Sia once again recalled that during the coming Hell Week, High Class and Middle Class cadets would train together.
Wednesday.
Hell Week began. For the next four days, high-intensity training would continue without break. The official name was the Freshman Physical Ability Test, but in practice it meant driving a cadet's body to its absolute limit and measuring the maximum of their physical capability.
I can hold out, right?
The cadets headed for the mountain that connected to Theia's campus. Of course the mountain was Theia property too, and Leticein's Ark applied to the training grounds prepared there as well.
In the original, it was the night of the third day.
A B-rank villain would appear, punching through the cadet protection system. Lower grade than the instructors supervising the training — but Leticein's Ark was the highest-grade system among the countless protective measures currently in place. No instructor imagined it could be breached. The cadets would take a villain attack at the most dangerous possible moment.
So handling it alone is a bit much.
The final quest of original Chapter 1. And with the current reality running on hard mode, clearing it would be anything but easy. But the important part wasn't a solo quest. Hell Week itself was party-based training. That meant he could get help not only from his Middle Class party members, but from High Class as well. Fifteen Middle Class and fifteen High Class went into the same training group, so the two classes naturally fell into a competitive structure.
Meaning I can put Aegis's three to good use, too.
That was why he had asked Song Sia about An Yumin a few days ago. From what he'd heard, she was getting along well with Jeong Ungyeong, so there was nothing much to worry about.
Jeong Ungyeong is a solid, reliable character in her own right.
As long as she didn't defect to the villains, she would pull her weight either way.
That was when someone shouted toward the cadets gathered at the training ground.
"Attention! Did you all come here to play?! Get your heads on straight!!"
A skinhead. A musclebound instructor in sunglasses and a shaved head strode in — the kind of man who looked foul-tempered at a glance. The moment Group 1 cadets confirmed his name, their faces went ashen.
"Everyone on the ground!"
Group 1 hit the dirt in a scramble. And for the next three hours, they were properly put through the wringer on the training field.
Instructor Yong Hooncheol looked down at the Group 1 cadets he was responsible for this time.
They said this High Class's talent was no joke.
That assessment didn't seem wrong. For three hours they had been rolled across the training ground with their main weapons in hand, and the light in their eyes still hadn't died.
Well. If they have any pride, that's only natural.
Whenever joint training like this was held, the two classes were always trained together — deliberately, for High Class's sake. Putting them through it alongside Middle Class was a way of putting them on edge.
"Do it properly! Does High Class want to lose to Middle Class?!"
High Class pride was on the line, so even these freshmen were desperately enduring the near-torture of the guerrilla calisthenics he kept repeating.
An Yumin. As expected, she's something else.
That cadet in particular stood out. Yong Hooncheol had already heard the name of the freshman representative. More than that — any hunter of his generation would know the hero Ju Eunji. And An Yumin was her daughter.
Blood really doesn't lie, does it.
Pure physical training with mana use restricted. So no matter how good the physical stats, fatigue should have been setting in by now. Currently they were holding a horse stance. The Middle Class cadets' legs were shaking, but An Yumin's expression hadn't changed once. She was enduring a punishment-level drill in the same perfect posture she had started with.
Her physical balance is excellent. The kind of training you'd only get with a top-tier trainer — has she already been doing it on her own?
He turned his head to look at the other cadets. And right then, Yong Hooncheol found himself puzzled by one of them.
Hmm?
One cadet was struggling through the training more visibly than the rest of Middle Class. Probably a mage class — mages tended to neglect physical training. But when he checked the cadet profile, he tilted his head.
A Paladin? And yet his physical ability is this poor? Strange.
Even so, he was placed in Middle Class, which was a little odd. Yong Hooncheol checked the grades more carefully. The instructors who had passed him for class assignment were Lee Suyeon and Seong Junhyeok — both highly regarded at Theia, instructors Yong Hooncheol himself respected.
Exceptional faith? Or a lucky high evaluation…
But the recorded evaluation opponent was Song Sia. Song Yuhwan's daughter. Under-evaluation was one thing — over-evaluation was essentially impossible. The boy was trembling as if he might collapse at any second. But if at least the light in his eyes was still alive, then Lee Junwoo had every right to be in Middle Class.
In that case, I should check him myself. Hmm?
In that exact moment, Yong Hooncheol froze in surprise.
What the hell?
He checked again just to be sure. There was no mistake.
Lee Junwoo was smiling.