Ch 71
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 71
I took out my phone to check the time and saw it was almost 1:10.
She still wasn't answering her phone.
"The festival organizing committee would like to inform you. The martial arts tournament will begin at 2 PM shortly, so participating students please come to the magic dueling arena by 1:30."
Even after the announcement was made, Se-jin still hadn't come, so I left the magic dueling arena.
I went to Se-jin's classroom, but she wasn't there either.
I asked the homeroom teacher and students, but they all said they hadn't seen her.
Thinking we might have crossed paths, I called Hong Lee Seol who should be at the dueling arena.
"Hong Seol, has Se-jin arrived? I came to Se-jin's classroom but the teacher and kids said they haven't seen her either, so I'm wondering if we crossed paths."
—Wait a moment... It doesn't seem like she's come yet?
"I understand. I'll look around a bit more for now."
I hung up and came to the organizing committee's side, but Se-jin wasn't there either.
The kids all seemed oblivious too.
"Um... Teacher Kang, she might be on the dormitory rooftop."
It was the vice president I'd seen during the interview before.
"The dormitory rooftop?"
"I heard she used to train on the rooftop frequently before. Since her phone isn't turned off, maybe she lost track of time while training?"
"That could be it. Thank you."
There were no other places that came to mind and not much time left, so I quickly headed to the girls' dormitory.
As soon as I arrived, I first entered the supervisor's office at the entrance.
The girls' dormitory was one of the most heavily secured areas in Hunter School, where even male teachers couldn't enter freely.
"Teacher Kang, what brings you here?"
I was going to contact the vice principal if they said no, but fortunately the supervisor was someone I'd met several times at faculty gatherings.
"The martial arts tournament is about to start, but Se-jin isn't answering calls and I can't find her. The vice president said she might be on the dormitory rooftop, so I was wondering if I could check?"
"Se-jin? I don't think I've seen her, but if it's the rooftop, there's CCTV."
The supervisor pressed the computer a few times and the rooftop appeared on screen.
"Oh? She really was on the rooftop."
That girl Se-jin was leaning against the railing, and from the looks of it, she seemed to be resting after training alone.
Training is one thing, but she should check the time while doing it.
I'll have to give her a talking-to when the supervisor brings her down.
"Can you make an announcement to the rooftop? She keeps not answering her phone."
"We don't have that kind of equipment, so I'll have to go tell her directly. Please wait here for a moment. I'll go and come back."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
After the supervisor left, I took out my phone to check the time and saw it was already past 1:30.
The announcement earlier said to come by 1:30, so I'm a bit worried, but if I can just get her there by the official start time, it should work out somehow, right?
I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at the CCTV again, then was shocked and rushed out of the supervisor's office.
That girl Se-jin had climbed up on top of the railing she was leaning against earlier.
Anyone could see she was about to make a bad choice... What on earth is wrong with the kid?
Even if I entered the dormitory right now and ran up the stairs, it seemed like I'd be too late, so I drew up my internal energy and rushed toward the building's exterior wall.
The moment I touched the wall, I sent all my internal energy to my legs and kicked off the ground.
I climbed straight up the exterior wall, and though I felt like I was slipping a bit in the middle, I stepped on a protruding window frame and leaped again.
I barely made it to the rooftop and could see Se-jin still standing precariously on the railing.
"Kim Se-jin, stop!"
"Tea... Teacher?"
"I don't know what circumstances are making you do this, but first, it's dangerous there, so don't stand there and come down so we can talk. Okay?"
I shouted without realizing it in my urgency, but I'm worried she might get startled and jump right off.
"Ah... Yes..."
Just as I thought 'thank goodness' and approached Se-jin, a strong wind suddenly blew.
"Whoaa?"
Se-jin swayed and lost her balance, but I leaped forward with all my strength again and barely managed to grab her.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm... I'm fine."
I can't understand at all why this kid who never gave me any trouble is acting like this.
"Why did you climb up there in the first place?"
"Well..."
"What's going on? No, let's talk while going down. It's time for the martial arts tournament. Can you move?"
"Teacher, I'm not going to participate in the martial arts tournament."
"You're not participating in the tournament? What do you mean?"
"Actually, I was about to jump just now because I didn't want to participate in the tournament."
"You never said anything like that before? No, more than that, if you don't want to participate in the tournament, you could just say you don't want to do it and forfeit. Why try to die?"
"What? I wasn't trying to die. I thought if I drew up magic and fell feet first, I'd only break bones. If I got hurt like that, I wouldn't be able to participate in the tournament..."
The girls' dormitory is a 4-story building, so as she said, it's not incredibly high, but it's nearly 20 meters.
If she's lucky, she might end up with just broken bones as Se-jin said, but if something went wrong, she could become paralyzed or even die.
I thought well of her as student council president and a deep-thinking kid... What kind of thoughtless nonsense is this?
I was angry and almost said something harsh without realizing it, but I barely held back.
"Why on earth are you doing this?"
"If I can't win the WHCU tournament, you'll have to quit school and go to Ares Guild, right?"
"I told you last time that it was okay. I said I trust you."
"Don't lie. You're not okay with it at all."
"What makes you think that?"
"I heard you talking with Teacher Kim on Monday."
Monday's conversation with Teacher Kim... Ah! Was it then?
***
"Teacher Kang, have a cup of coffee."
"Thank you. You really are the only one, Teacher Kim."
"It's nothing special, but you're overdoing it. Huh? Isn't this WHCU tournament footage? Are you already analyzing their capabilities?"
"Se-jin will win the martial arts tournament anyway, so I should watch in advance."
"Most of last tournament's participants were third-years, so they won't be competing this time, right?"
"That's why I'm only watching matches of students who can compete this time."
"How is it? Can Se-jin win?"
"There are no easy opponents, but our Se-jin is also an outstanding student, so well..."
"You don't sound confident? Is it because of last year's winner? I also looked up footage once last time, and it was at a level where you couldn't believe they were a student. In this year's tournament, Se-jin also..."
"Got completely crushed."
"Teacher Kang saw it too. Since they were second-year students last year, they'll compete this year too, but can Se-jin beat them?"
"Well. I'd have to see them fight to know for sure, but it seems like it'll be a bit difficult."
"Can't we just pretend it never happened even now? They say if Se-jin can't win, Teacher Kang will have to quit school."
"Kim Dae-chan probably won't back down. Even if he accepted it, he'd make things harder for Se-jin going forward, saying, "Look, his way was right."
"Se-jin will be an adult in a month now. She'll be able to take care of herself..."
"Hey, people don't suddenly change completely just because they become adults, and Se-jin is too kind, so if I step back here, she'll continue to be pushed around."
"Still, I think Teacher Kang should take care of himself first... Is it okay if you quit school?"
"I told Se-jin it was okay, but honestly, that was a lie. I'm just getting used to the work now, I've grown close to the kids, and you too, Teacher Kim—most of the people around me are school people. They say if you don't see someone, you grow distant, and if I leave school, we won't be able to stay as close as we are now, right?"
"I'll contact and meet with Teacher Kang even if you leave school."
"Thank you for saying that. It's about time for the kids to come, so let's go out and prepare now."
***
Thinking about it, on Monday when I was leaving the office with Teacher Kim, Se-jin was there.
But since she always came early and trained alone, I never thought she might have heard our conversation.
"Right. First, I apologize for lying. But the teacher said that because I was worried you might feel burdened, Se-jin. It wasn't with bad intentions."
"I know. I know you were being considerate of me, teacher..."
I must have overdone it too much at that time.
"So you're saying you won't participate because the teacher doesn't want to quit school?"
Wow, this is a little—no, very touching.
"Actually, there's something I didn't tell you, teacher."
"What is it?"
"If I can't win, we only decided that you'd come to Ares Guild, but we didn't decide how long you'd stay, right?"
"Huh? That... That's right."
"He said you might leave after just one year and told me to marry you."
"Ma... Marriage?"
At first I was confused as if I'd been hit in the head with a hammer, but soon anger welled up.
How could a father say such a thing to his daughter?
That bastard Kim Dae-chan doesn't seem to think of Se-jin as his child.
"Since you stood up for me, father seems to think you have special feelings for me."
"No, that's..."
"I know that's not the case. You were trying to help me with pure intentions, right?"
"Right."
Haa... Really, the more I hear, the angrier I get.
It seems like Se-jin's inability to focus in class and spacing out was all because of this.
How much that kind kid must have suffered mentally... I feel so sorry for her.
"I knew father was greedy, but I didn't know he'd go this far. I should have said something earlier, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you such a petty and despicable story. I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for? You didn't do anything wro... Well, not nothing. That action just now was definitely wrong. How could you think of jumping from the rooftop!"
"I couldn't think of any other way besides this. If I just forfeited instead of getting hurt and withdrawing, father would say you made me do it because you weren't confident and demand that you keep your promise."
Se-jin is right.
Kim Dae-chan, who would use even his own daughter to tie me to the guild, would definitely do that and more.
But still, I can't just overlook Se-jin's actions without pointing them out.
"Even so, that's not right. What if you got seriously hurt or something went wrong?"
Healing magic exists in this world, but healing magic is by no means omnipotent.
It can't heal paralysis or vegetative states, and it can't bring back the dead.
"No one has ever stood up for me like this before. Just as you said you stood up because I'm your student, I also didn't want to cause trouble for you because you're my teacher."
Each of Se-jin's words feels like sharp awls piercing my chest.
Kim Dae-chan is the source of all this trouble, but I'm really an idiot too.
Se-jin was willing to give up winning the martial arts tournament and even harm herself for my sake, yet I was hesitating and couldn't make a decision because I was reluctant to teach her martial arts.
I even said she was my student first...
I'm so ashamed that I want to hide in a mouse hole if there was one, but an apology comes first.
"I'm sorry."
I bowed my head as I spoke.
"Why are you doing that? I'm not trying to blame you, teacher."
"I only said nice-sounding words about you being my student and that I trust you, but I don't think I really trusted you. I failed to give you trust and made you make this choice... I'm really not qualified as a teacher."
"That's not true. You're a better teacher than anyone."
A good teacher...
Do I deserve to hear such words?
It makes me even more ashamed.
"You didn't do anything wrong either, teacher, so please raise your head quickly. People will think it's strange if they see this."
When I raised my head, Se-jin was looking at me with a very worried expression.
Really, the more I think about it, the more I realize what an idiot I was.
"Se-jin, I know it's shameless of me after disappointing you once already, but won't you trust me one last time?"
"What? What do you mean..."
"Let's participate in the tournament. I'll definitely make you win, Se-jin."
"Um... It's not that I don't trust you, teacher, but honestly, I don't have confidence I can beat Bianca."
"Right. Bianca is strong. If you fight now, you'll lose a hundred out of a hundred times."
"..."
"But we still have time, don't we? We can overcome it sufficiently. This isn't just superficial talk like last time, it's sincere."
Master was right.
Disciples and students were never different things.
Before, I only said she was my student in words, swept up in the atmosphere, but now I truly think of Se-jin as my student... No, my person.
She didn't answer immediately, but her contemplation wasn't very long.
"Yes. I'll do it. I always said I trust you, teacher... I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? I'm the one who's more sorry. Then let's go quickly."
"Um... But teacher, is it okay to go now? There doesn't seem to be much time left until it starts."
I took out my phone to check the time and saw less than 10 minutes remained until the official start at 2 o'clock.
Not coming by 1:30 could be overlooked with proper excuses, but we absolutely have to be there by 2 o'clock...
The girls' dormitory and the magic dueling arena are quite far apart.
But well, it's not like there's no way.
"Get on my back."
"What?"
"I don't usually let just anyone on my back, but we don't have time."
"No, um... If we just run from now..."
"We'll be late even if we run, so get on quickly. What if you're first up even if we make it on time?"
"Still, it's a bit..."
"If you don't want to get on my back, should I carry you like a princess?"
"Uh, I'll get on your back."
She should have gotten on obediently from the start... Such a troublesome kid.
"Teacher? The rooftop entrance is that way..."
"At this time, we'll be late even if we take the stairs."
"What? Then how... Surely not, right?"
She was going to jump alone earlier anyway. To save time, we have no choice but to jump down.
"You said you trust me. It's dangerous if you move, so hold on tight."
Without giving her time to answer in case she said she'd get down, I immediately jumped over the railing.