140. The Chairwoman in Crisis (2)
140. The Chairwoman in Crisis (2)
The first-year cadets quietly returned to the academy on the flying ship.
After returning, the cadets gathered in their usual cliques for drinking parties to soothe their exhausted minds and bodies after the Midterm Evaluation.
"Ahh—now this is booze! This is the taste of the real world! Ahh, I've missed this so much! Eating nothing but wild mugwort every day. I'm just so damn happy to see you guys!"
A cadet with blonde pigtails set her beer glass on both palms and spoke with theatrical exaggeration.
"......How is this bitch still not human after eating nothing but mugwort for two weeks?"
"Even a bear needs a hundred days to become human. Two weeks was just too short for her to turn human......."
"......Says the two of you, who were going ooga-booga like wild beasts until just recently."
These were ordinary cadets who were normally close with Lee Min-young.
"I am finally, truly tasting civilization! We've finished the Midterm Evaluation, so... is it vacation soon?"
"Yeah, a week of maintenance time, then vacation."
"Hah—seriously, that was brutal. The Midterm Evaluation. I'd only ever heard about it. Never knew it'd be this tough."
Everyone nodded at the pigtailed cadet's words.
"......But didn't this exam feel a bit weird to you?"
A bespectacled female cadet suddenly cut in.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean this Midterm Evaluation. The Demonized Humans showing up....... Even if she believed in us, we really were in serious danger, right?"
"W-Were we?"
The pigtailed cadet tilted her head in confusion.
"If the Magic Emperor already knew the Demonized Humans had infiltrated the exam, shouldn't she have just canceled it from the start? Or dealt with them herself before leaving?"
"......Mm, y-yeah, you're right? We really were in a pretty dangerous situation."
"W-Well, nobody died though! I mean, didn't everything turn out fine?"
"Min-young, what do you think about this exam?"
The bespectacled cadet turned her head toward Lee Min-young and asked.
'Just as Shin Se-hee said.......'
Lee Min-young had entered the Utopia Party as an intern during this exam, but her official induction was planned to take place as late as possible.
That was because she had taken on the role of managing the Utopia Party's image by remaining an ordinary supporter.
'......She's a terrifying person. So far out of my league I wouldn't even dare to measure myself against her.'
The final day of the Midterm Evaluation.
The speech Jin Yu-ha had delivered in the plaza was so impressive that it shocked everyone. But it had logical holes.
And so, at the time, everyone had been utterly swept up by his looks and voice,
'Ah, so that's how it was? The Chairwoman....... She was trusting us.......'
nodding along, but after a moment's thought, a sense of wrongness would creep in, making them tilt their heads in confusion!
Having predicted this exact situation, Shin Se-hee had pulled Lee Min-young aside on the flying ship back to the academy and asked her:
"Lee Min-young, what did you think of Jin Yu-ha's speech this time?"
"Ah, um....... I thought it was plausible."
"Plausible?"
"Yes. First of all, to the public, this incident will look quite impressive. It's a binary choice between saving civilians or saving cadets."
"Yes."
"Through this incident, the Magic Emperor will look like she put priority on rescuing civilians after trusting the cadets and leaving the Demonized Humans to them, even though they appeared during the Midterm Evaluation."
"However, the fact that you said 'plausible' means you have another reason. What might that be?"
Under Shin Se-hee's piercing gaze, Lee Min-young gulped.
"......It didn't resolve the doubts of the cadets who actually underwent the exam."
Shin Se-hee nodded slowly, as if satisfied with Lee Min-young's answer.
"Exactly. Of course, Jin Yu-ha must have spoken to paint that outward picture, but it's not just the general public we need to consider. We have to consider the cadets as well."
"Still, isn't it fine to leave it alone? Even if they have doubts, there were no casualties. With time, it'll naturally fade away as just a little episode......."
"No. We are going to make Jin Yu-ha's statements perfectly true. I'm the type who doesn't leave behind even the smallest ember."
Shin Se-hee grabbed Lee Min-young by the shoulder and brought her face close to her ear.
"So, there's something I need you to do from now on."
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.
.
"Hey, you guys. Did you see this video?"
Her eyes shining, Lee Min-young held out her phone to the cadets who had come drinking together.
Holding the phone she'd handed them, everyone's mouths fell open with a stupid expression.
On the screen was the image of Jin Yu-ha swinging his sword.
Against a bald, vicious Demonized Human covered in burn scars.
It had flashy production, as if shot by a professional cinematographer.
Jin Yu-ha, whose looks were already extraordinary, looked like a movie star fighting an enemy through the lens.
The cadets watched the video with bated breath, completely absorbed.
One by one, wounds accumulated on Jin Yu-ha's body.
But despite that, what escaped their lips was less worry or tension than pure admiration.
Because Jin Yu-ha was engaged in an overwhelmingly dominant battle against that Demonized Human.
Thud.
Finally, as Rebecca collapsed to the floor, the video ended.
"Huh......?"
"W-W-What the hell!?"
"What is this cinematic quality......."
"Jin Yu-ha? That's Jin Yu-ha, right? Is he actually insane?"
The cadets looked up with dumbfounded faces.
"......Hey, isn't this Demonized Human that Rebecca? Bald, burn marks. I remembered her because she stood out so much......."
"Uh....... I think that's right? AA-Rank Demonized Human, Rebecca."
"This Demonized Human came to our Midterm Evaluation site too? We seriously almost all got wiped ou—."
"But Jin Yu-ha just claps her."
.......
An AA-Rank wanted Demonized Human is a monster that makes even professional hunters tremble in fear.
Jin Yu-ha had beaten that Demonized Human. Overwhelmingly, at that.
It was a situation where, no matter what you tried to say, only the thought "This is absurd" came to mind.
Even the cadets who had personally seen Jin Yu-ha slaughtering Demonized Humans right before their eyes experienced cognitive dissonance.
After giving them enough time to accept the situation,
Lee Min-young opened her mouth.
"Right? This is why the Chairwoman had judged, 'It's not dangerous even if there are Demonized Humans.'"
"......What?"
"No, think about it. One cadet shows this kind of dominant performance against an AA-Rank Demonized Human. Would she have been worried about other Demonized Humans harming the cadets?"
"Ah......."
The pigtailed cadet let out a sigh of realization.
"And yet, the Chairwoman still bowed her head and apologized to us."
"......You mean, 'I didn't know you were this weak. I'm sorry......'?"
The bespectacled cadet asked with eyes that said "no way."
As if indignant herself, Lee Min-young nodded emphatically.
"Yeah. Since a fellow cadet like Jin Yu-ha can fight an AA-Rank Demonized Human like that, the Chairwoman must have judged that we too could at least endure, even if we couldn't perform as well."
"Come to think of it, Fighting Dog did actually take down a Demonized Human......."
"Yeah, but compared to them—to Utopia—we were just too weak."
At Lee Min-young's words, the cadets bit their lips firmly.
These were people who had become Hunters to protect people, too.
Proud individuals who had built reputations as Hunters in their own right before passing hellish exams to enter Velvet Academy.
No matter how remarkable Utopia proved to be,
they had not simply sat idle and given up.
They were cadets who had endured bone-grinding training, dreaming of the day they too would be called heroes before the public.
The pigtailed cadet slowly closed her eyes.
"......We failed to meet the Chairwoman's expectations."
"Yes. But the Chairwoman believed it was her own misjudgment that put us in danger, so she bowed her head."
Persuasiveness gradually crept into Lee Min-young's voice as she spoke to the cadets.
"It was us, not Jin Yu-ha, that the Chairwoman was talking about when she said, 'Hold out until the instructors arrive.'"
There might be falsehood mixed into what she was saying now, but her inner feelings were sincere.
"We are Hunters. Hunters who stake their lives against Demonized Humans and protect civilians from monsters! So, these Demonized Humans appeared without warning, and because they were stronger than expected, you're going to blame Chairwoman Rina......? Do you truly believe that's the right thing to do?"
Lee Min-young looked around at the cadets.
Then, the pigtailed cadet brought the beer in her hand to her mouth and downed it in one go.
Gulp, gulp—
"Ahh—! Whew! I'm sorry, but I'm gonna call it a night here."
"......Huh? Why?"
Clack.
The pigtailed cadet set her glass down with a soft sound and said:
"I'm gonna go train."
Then, one by one, the others, who had been exchanging glances, also downed the beer in front of them and stood up.
"M-Me too! I'm going too!"
"Me too!"
And so, the cadets dispersed.
Hah—
Lee Min-young let out a sigh of relief as she watched the backs of the cadets leaving.
'......By this standard, was my first mission... fairly successful? Then, the next influential cadets.......'
* * *
A few days later.
Velvet Hunter Academy was currently buzzing inside and out.
Because stories of Velvet Hunter Academy, always kept strictly confidential, had leaked out to the world.
Moreover, since it was about the Midterm Evaluation, the public's interest was immense.
『 [Official] Velvet Hunter Academy, Chairwoman Rina's Exam. 』
『 Today's Hot Issue! Utopia's Jin Yu-ha, Footage of Slaying [AA-Rank Demonized Human Rebecca]. 』
『 [Exclusive!] Humanity's NO.1 Protector! Magic Emperor's Cuteness? Direct Footage from an S-Rank Gate Explosion Site! 』
『 Flower on the Cliff, Jin Yu-ha. His Skill Wasn't Hype!? 』
— Whoa, what's going on? Isn't this the first time academy internal materials have been made public like this?
┗ It's 'going on,' not 'going on' you illiterate bastard.
┗ Sure thing, your dad is 'the more the merrier.'
— Aaaah!!! Ha, the Magic Emperor is so cute. Is this why they're called NO.1 cutie lololol did anyone see the person who shot that?
┗ lmaoooo that convo with the natural monument who didn't know Magic Emperor was fucking hilarious.
┗ Thanks for saving me, little kid.
┗ Not a little kid.
┗ Thank you, are you an academy student?
┗ Not a student.
┗ You're amazing for being so young.
┗ .......
— ......Has anyone seen this Jin Yu-ha video? Hey, check it. Where'd all the bastards swearing Jin Yu-ha's skills were all hype go? Did they all dive underwater?
┗ Fr fr lol just GOAT. Just light.
┗ He's literally proving it with skill, so damn satisfying. Feels like watching a movie.
┗ The bastards who gnashed their teeth denying Jin Yu-ha's skills are all clamming the fuck up now that his skills are public lolololololol
┗ Sign the waiver this instant!
┗ ......Urgh, J-Jin Yu-ha is n-not Utopia's Poster Boy.......
┗ ......Urgh, J-Jin Yu-ha is s-stronger than Kang Do-hee... you son of a bitch! Who told you to look so fucking fuckable!!! T_T Fighting that well with that face is cheating!!!!!
┗ Roger, Fighting Dog bastard apprehended.
— Damn, Velvet Academy exams are no joke. They literally made it an exam to hunt an AA-Rank Demonized Human.......
┗ But isn't this way too dangerous?
┗ Yes, but they still caught it, didn't they? Creamed it? An AA-Rank Demonized Human scrub, CUT!
┗ No matter how you slice it, as an academy exam. You're telling first-year cadets to hunt a Demonized Human?
┗ Bullshit. So you're saying they spent all that money and time training these Hunters, only to have them run away because a Demonized Human showed up? It's not like they brought in some clueless brat and spoon-fed them. They're training people who were already Hunters.
┗ No, I'm just saying it feels like safety insensitivity. And the video is way too brutal.......
┗ Wait, are you a Demonized Human by any chance? Seeing how you're empathizing with a Demonized Human, your ideology is suspicious as fuck.
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It was summer.