Ch 158
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 158
"We've arrived."
"Thank you for your hard work, driver. Come on, everyone get up."
Most of the kids are sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.
It was a relatively short distance of about an hour and a half.
They went out early in the morning saying they wanted to ski more before returning the equipment, so they must have been tired.
I woke the kids up and got them off the bus.
"Everyone be careful going home. Just because it's vacation doesn't mean you should sleep in and play around every day—study a bit too."
"Ugh."
"Teacher, you're probably the only teacher who nags even during vacation."
"Oh ho, then do you think there's another teacher besides me who would take the entire class to a ski resort during vacation?"
"Yes. You're the best, Teacher."
Yesterday I had a slight feeling, but now that I really think this is the last time, I'm getting sentimental.
Of course, I didn't show it at all and greeted each one with a smiling face.
The kids don't know anything yet.
I watched the kids leave and returned to where I had parked my car.
As I opened the door and started the engine, I felt a vibration from inside my jacket.
[Teacher, it was really fun.]
[Thank you.]
[I want to be in your class next year too.]
[Have a good vacation, Teacher.]
[Teacher, thank you.]
These are messages from my class students.
I felt a bit emotional, but I didn't reply and just closed the app.
I have to start supplementary classes tomorrow, so there's a lot to handle before then.
I started the engine and immediately set the GPS.
The estimated time was two hours, but I also stopped by a mart on the way and traffic was quite heavy, so it took almost three hours to reach my destination.
I parked nearby, sent a message saying I had arrived, and waited for a moment when Seo-ra came out wearing floral work pants.
"Senior!"
"It's been a while. Nice style."
"Ah, I was doing farm work with the kids and came out."
"Farm work? What farm work in the middle of winter?"
"We made a small greenhouse in the corner of the orphanage last time."
She says this with a bright smile—this girl is still the same as ever.
"But what brings you all the way here?"
"Ah, I have something to talk about. First, let's move those things together."
I opened the trunk and pointed to the rice, ramen, and snacks I had bought at the mart on the way.
"You didn't need to bring anything. There are lots of snacks too. The kids will love them. Thank you."
"I couldn't come empty-handed. It's nothing special."
After moving everything, I briefly greeted the director as well.
I had only come once before, but perhaps because I had donated quite a bit of money, she remembered my previous visit.
After chatting appropriately, I brought Seo-ra out.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Well..."
"Oh, right! Senior, did you know I'll be working at the same school as you starting next year?"
"I know."
"Huh? How do you know? I just got the call this morning that my rotation request was approved. Oh, did you pull some strings for me?"
Since it's Choi Seo-ra who becomes Lee Ji-sung's homeroom teacher in the original work, there's no way I wouldn't know.
"No, it's not like that... It's just that in my position, I naturally come to know such things."
"That sounds a bit arrogant..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Just tell me what you wanted to talk about. I promised to help with dinner preparation, so I need to go back soon."
"I met Kim In-hak a few days ago."
As soon as I mentioned Kim In-hak's name, the smile completely disappeared from Seo-ra's face.
"...You met that bastard? Why?"
"Why? I promised to help you, didn't I?"
A few days before going to the ski resort with my class kids, I met Kim In-hak.
Although he's now in the opposition party rather than the ruling party due to the change in president, he's still a three-term congressman and quite a veteran, so it was considerably difficult to arrange a meeting.
"Did you ask him directly when you met?"
"Yeah. I asked him directly about the incident where your parents died."
"What did that bastard say? It wasn't something he did on his own, right? Who's behind it?"
"He said he couldn't remember."
BANG!
As soon as she heard this, Seo-ra punched the door next to her with her fist.
"What are you doing? Is your hand okay?"
"What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that? He can't remember?"
"It was a long time ago, and there were so many people who made such requests back then..."
"Then I should consider all the high-ranking officials from that time as my enemies, right?"
Just from the atmosphere, it seems like she wants to kill them all.
"...Well, I don't think that's a very good idea. Personally, I felt like Kim In-hak knew but was making excuses."
"He already claimed he couldn't remember, so would asking again make him tell us?"
"Since he wouldn't talk when I asked nicely, I have no choice but to move to the next stage."
"What?"
"This time I'm planning to meet him without an appointment. You'll come with me, right?"
If he can't remember, I'll have to help him remember.
If I press a blade to his throat, he might be able to recall memories that weren't coming back.
***
"That's... That's really Kim In-hak."
"Did you think I brought a fake Kim In-hak?"
"Senior, even though you changed your appearance, will this be okay?"
"It'll be fine, so don't worry and just tie him to that chair over there."
Kidnapping Kim In-hak wasn't that difficult.
The house he lives in isn't a residential complex with tight security like Lee Ji-hoon's, but a house with a garden.
I changed my appearance with magic and just broke down the door.
There were family members besides Kim In-hak in the house, but I subdued them with pressure point attacks and used Warp magic.
Choi Seo-ra said she wanted to come with me, but if she were there, I couldn't freely use Warp magic or appearance-changing magic, so I had her wait here.
After Seo-ra finished tying up Kim In-hak, I approached to release the pressure points, but Seo-ra stopped me.
"Why?"
"Wouldn't it be better to cover his eyes before waking him up? Even if he doesn't know my face, he knows yours, Senior."
"Are you planning to let him live? If that's not the case, then it doesn't matter, does it?"
Even if there's someone behind him, Kim In-hak is the one who gave orders to the Hunters.
Even if I don't kill him, at least making him an idiot is guaranteed.
Seo-ra seemed to understand what I meant and stepped back, and I released Kim In-hak's pressure points.
"What... What? Hunter Kang Shin-hyeok? Don't tell me you're the one who ordered the kidnapping?"
"That's right."
"That's right? What the hell is this? And who is that woman... UGH!"
Since he still didn't seem to understand the situation, I lightly hit his stomach.
"You talk too much. From now on, only we'll be asking questions..."
"...Do you think you'll be safe after doing this?"
"Don't you understand the situation, or does being a congressman give you multiple lives?"
As I spoke and created Hand Gang to show him, he finally quieted down.
"Wh... What do you want?"
"My question is the same as last time. But if the answer is also the same, that would be troublesome, so you'd better answer well."
"If it's about that, I really can't remember..."
"That bastard is really..."
Seo-ra got excited and approached, but I stopped her and created Hand Gang again.
"If one part gets cut off, maybe your memory will return?"
As I spoke and pressed Hand Gang to his throat, he started spilling names.
It was a lie that he couldn't remember, but it was true that many people had made requests.
There were former ministers, vice ministers, conglomerate heads, congressmen from both parties, and even a former prime minister.
Since he remembered many by position rather than name, I looked them up one by one on the internet and organized the list.
A total of 18 people.
Since it was an incident from 15 years ago, some had retired or died, but most were still wielding power like Kim In-hak.
"Is this really all of them?"
"Y-yes. So please let me go now. When people above me pressured me like this, I just did what I was told..."
"Shut up! You piece of trash bastard. Are you calling that an excuse right now? If you hadn't given such orders, our parents would have..."
Chicken-dropping-like tears fall from Seo-ra's eyes.
"I had no choice, I tell you! Besides, if we couldn't save everyone, it made sense to make sure we saved the people who pay more taxes... UGH!"
Seo-ra approached and slapped Kim In-hak right across the face.
If Seo-ra hadn't hit him first, I probably would have.
"Senior, could you step aside for a moment?"
"Ah, I don't mind, but I'd like to stop you from killing him."
"Why? Earlier you too..."
"If you kill trash like this, it'll only dirty your hands."
"I don't care about that."
"Do you think your parents in heaven would want you to get blood on your hands for revenge?"
"..."
"Sometimes living can be more painful than dying."
After finishing my words, I simultaneously reached into my pocket, took out a handkerchief, handed it to Seo-ra, and left the spot.
Actually, I had quite a lot of internal conflict before proceeding with this matter.
While I'm thinking of erasing Kang Shin-hyeok to minimize changes to the future caused by me, helping Choi Seo-ra doesn't make sense.
To prevent the future from changing, leaving things as they are would be best.
But if I leave things alone, Choi Seo-ra is destined to be sentenced to life imprisonment by the protagonist.
Of course, that's also a problem I could solve by intervening and mediating in the middle...
In the first place, I promised Choi Seo-ra that I would help her.
Even though she was the one who dragged Kang Shin-hyeok into Antas, I helped her so she could get out without much trouble.
In this world where I don't know a single person, she was the only one who called me Senior and treated me warmly.
Most importantly, Choi Seo-ra is the person that Kang Shin-hyeok, whom I'm currently possessing, liked.
***
"You said it was vacation, but you haven't come for three days—what have you been doing?"
As soon as I entered the portal, Luciel's nagging poured out.
Looking at her expression, she seemed to have been waiting and planning this.
"S-sorry."
Between taking the kids to the ski resort, handling Seo-ra's matter, and processing various things to erase Kang Shin-hyeok, I was too busy.
"Just with words? You two didn't go somewhere nice together, did you?"
"Sister, no. Teacher was so busy that I'm meeting him for the first time today too."
"If you're lying, you both die."
"It's true."
"Fine, I'll trust you, so sneaky cat, you pass, and Shin-hyeok, you hurry up and give me chocolate bars."
"Chocolate bars? I didn't buy chocolate bars..."
"You didn't buy chocolate bars?"
Luciel's eyes look like they're about to shoot lasers.
I bought about ten boxes three days ago, so there should still be plenty.
"I bought you a lot before."
"I finished eating those ages ago."
"I think I bought almost ten boxes, and you ate all of that in just three days?"
"Since you didn't come, I got annoyed and ate them... Even the one box I was trying to save, Master secretly stole and ate!"
Why is that old man stealing a kid's food?
I immediately left the portal, bought chocolate bars again, and barely appeased her.
When I went to see Master, he was lying down scratching his belly while watching TV.
"You're here?"
"When someone comes, at least look at their face and greet them."
"What's the point of being formal between us? You brought Running Man episode 422 and Amazing Friday episode 102, right?"
I remember when he mentioned it, but I forgot.
"Th-those were both canceled this week."
"What? Why?"
He jumped up from his seat and glared at me with an expression that didn't look good.
"The-the broadcasting company union went on strike."
"Ugh, tsk tsk, those guys are always on strike."
"R-right."
"Strike? Aren't you talking about Running Man, the program on SCS? I watch that too, and it aired normally this week. I haven't heard that TBN, the broadcaster for Amazing Friday, went on strike either."
Just when I thought it was going well, Se-jin ruined everything.
"Really? My disciple?"
"No... Master, that's not..."
"Shall we have a sparring match after a long time?"
It won't be sparring but beating disguised as sparring...
I tried to refuse, but Master said he learned somewhere that refusal is refused and dragged me out.
"People can forget things. If you keep doing this, there'll be no chicken in the future."
"Doesn't matter. Even without you, I have our precious great-disciple."
"If I tell Se-jin not to buy it for you either..."
"Hey... Teacher, you shouldn't do that to Great-grandfather."
That Se-jin bastard—and she says she likes me...
"Threatening with food is honestly too much."
Even Luciel adds her comment, and I have absolutely no allies.
"Fine. I'll download them again and bring them. Se-jin, you come too."
"Me too?"
"Shin-hyeok, you bastard... You're not planning to scold our precious great-disciple, are you?"
"It's not like that. I have something to talk about."
I grabbed Se-jin's hand and left the portal.
"T-Teacher?"
"Let's go to your house first."
It's not a lie that I have something to talk about.
Of course, scolding is included too.