Don't Leave It Out (2)
Don't Leave It Out (2)
[ Finance Department ]
An explosion occurred during an experiment in the Magic Research Building.
As a result, equipment and supplies were destroyed or damaged.
Kim Na-hyeon, the responsible officer in the Finance Department, had come to work to process the destroyed items as losses and register the newly ordered replacements as academy property.
He had already completed all necessary tasks before the vacation, but as the youngest in the department, he was now an exemplary member of society who humbly accepted an unscheduled shift as if it were nothing new.
Having skillfully dealt with the culprit responsible for dragging him to work, Kim Na-hyeon put on the coat he had hung on his chair to head home quickly. All that remained was to check that no equipment was left on, then return to his cozy nest.
'That was the plan.......'
Kim Na-hyeon took off the coat he had just put on, hung it back on his chair, and turned on his computer that had been asleep.
Seeing the screen light up, he swallowed hard and rolled his eyes to the opposite side.
A giant man whose face was half-hidden by bizarrely designed glasses.
Perched on the man's neck, a snow-white girl like a fairy.
And, as if perfectly matching the season, a figure glaring this way with a chilly expression.......
'Why is an Executor here...!!'
He had even turned off the heating to leave, but the cold sweat persistently drenching his back made him want to cry for real.
"Uh, may I ask what brings you here...?"
Summoning his courage to leave this place even a second sooner, he asked the people before him.
The man, Baek Woo-jin, showed him his left hand with the ring.
'......A ring?'
The ring was clearly unusual, so Kim Na-hyeon's gaze went to it.
"Are you perhaps a professor?"
"Yes."
"Wow...... Ah, no...."
Kim Na-hyeon inadvertently let out an admiring sound at the deep voice that seemed to melt his ears. Then he flinched, hastily covered his mouth, and blinked.
'This is the first time I've seen a Black Ring.'
He had been preparing for the upcoming Ring Scramble, so he couldn't help but find the existence of this ring suspicious.
After all, the registered ring grades at Arena Academy were divided into four tiers including the Chairman's, and black was not among them.
'It didn't seem like a lie....'
If the man had come alone, he might have been somewhat suspicious. After all, just being able to enter the academy meant his identity was guaranteed.
But just because someone's identity is guaranteed doesn't mean they're sane—especially not the professors from the Magic Department.
They were the type who would pull all sorts of crazy stunts and shows to secure their budgets, and Kim Na-hyeon had been tricked a few times before being set straight by the department head.
So Kim Na-hyeon would have suspected the man was a Magic Department professor who had altered his face with magic, if not for the presence of Claire Vin Asen standing behind him.
No matter how crazy those folks were, he figured they wouldn't dare impersonate a monster who could pummel double-digit rankers with his fists.
"It's not that I don't believe you. But the Black Ring isn't registered in the system, you see? So... may I check for a moment whether the ring you're wearing is genuine?"
Baek Woo-jin removed the ring from his index finger and handed it over.
"Thank you. It won't take even a minute, so just a moment...."
Carrying the shiny Black Ring, he headed to the department head's desk. He skillfully manipulated the safe behind it, opened it, and took out a small machine from inside.
The rings worn by professors each had a unique mana code. The machine he had taken out was for identifying those codes.
"Oof~!!"
The downside was that it was made when Arena Academy was founded, so it was damn large and heavy.
'Let's see... put this here... press this button....'
―Ding.
With a clear sound, the machine emitted a blue light.
It was a signal that the ring was officially registered with the academy.
Kim Na-hyeon shoved the damn heavy machine back into the safe and returned to his spot. Politely holding the ring out to its owner, he said:
"You really are a professor....... Then... what brings you here...?"
Baek Woo-jin slid the ring onto his index finger and answered.
"It seems the money that was supposed to be paid to me wasn't disbursed properly."
"Ah...... I see."
Well, it was a money matter, so of course he'd come to the Finance Department.
"Did you bring your contract? As I mentioned earlier, you're not registered in the system."
Kim Na-hyeon had concluded that the man was a new professor recently scouted by the Chairman. And that the damn Academic Affairs Department had omitted him.
But his assumption was completely overturned when Baek Woo-jin spoke.
"No. It will be properly registered in the system. Someone just deliberately hid it."
"......Excuse me?"
What kind of lunatic would do that...?
Is that some new form of suicide?
Kim Na-hyeon blinked blankly, and Baek Woo-jin continued, unconcerned.
"Tell your department head. By tomorrow, make sure everything is paid in full, without leaving out a single penny."
"D-Department head... No, wait, excuse me? Professor?!"
Kim Na-hyeon shouted urgently at Baek Woo-jin's back as the man said his piece and turned to leave. But Baek Woo-jin's pace didn't slow, and he exited the Finance Department.
"Department head......."
"Eek?!"
Kim Na-hyeon flinched at the frosty female voice that burrowed into his ears and whipped his head toward the source.
A woman with a cold impression, even colder than ice.
"Ah, uh, I-I'm sorry......."
"......."
Claire glared at Kim Na-hyeon for a moment, then continued.
"Tell the department head to contact me once the professor's matter is settled."
"Huh? Ah, yes. I-I'll definitely relay that."
Kim Na-hyeon kept nodding like a broken doll, and after staring at him briefly, Claire turned and left the Finance Department to follow Baek Woo-jin.
A few minutes after she left.
"Whoa...... fuck."
Kim Na-hyeon rubbed his pounding chest and collapsed into his chair as if melting. Then he operated the smartwatch on his wrist.
[Kim Seong-won - Captain Baldy]
-Our love is Chu~♥
The girl group song that didn't suit his age played on.
-Uh~ what's up. Something happen?
A gruff middle-aged man's voice echoed through the Finance Department, accompanied by the faint sound of waves.
Kim Na-hyeon asked the department head, who had once again gone out to sea for fishing.
"Chief. By any chance, is there a professor with a Black Ring—"
-Cough, cough...!! W-What color?!
At the department head's bewildered question through the smartwatch, Kim Na-hyeon nodded.
'You crazy bald bastard.'
**
Inside the study, bathed in bright light.
"Baaaek— Woo— Jiiin......."
A fluffy white bundle, full from dinner and a warm shower, was sitting on my lap, scribbling my name crookedly in a notebook.
The desk and chair for Baek Ha-na were being delivered to the temple tomorrow, so this would be the last day for her to sit on my lap.
Watching what Baek Ha-na was doing for a moment, I finally raised my right hand.
"Aack!!"
"I've told you twice not to hold it like that."
I even warned her at dinner tonight.
She just wouldn't change the way she gripped it.
"But... this is comfortable."
The little rascal leaned against my chest, tilted her head up slightly to look at me, and said that.
"......It's just because you're not used to it."
"Hmm."
I took the pencil away and placed it back in her hand.
She pouted, her soft cheeks puffing out slightly, but soon bent over her notebook again and began scribbling.
'Still, her memory is impressive.'
It had barely been an hour since I taught her the letters. Yet she had memorized every character in that short time. Still, why is she only scribbling my name...?
Since she was practicing writing on her own, I didn't remark on that.
'Anyway.......'
I wonder how they'll respond.
The Black Ring not recorded in the system.
One could think that when the original owner's soul shattered, the ring's existence naturally vanished with him, but I was a player before I was this body's owner.
The moment the final boss, Void, awakens.
At that very moment, the Barrier—one of Arena Academy's symbols—disappears.
Then the intruders swarm.
The Black Ring is made known to the world by one of those intruders.
Though the owner's identity was cleanly erased, the ring's existence was definitely recorded in the academy.
Just as Void awakens on the same day in every route, the Barrier of the academy disappearing is an event that occurs in every route.
'So the culprit would be the same.'
The reason was unknown, but the culprit was always the same person.
The Finance Department head, Kim Seong-won.
Given his position, this person named Kim Seong-won was someone I inevitably encountered at least once in every route.
In that place where settings constantly changed, there were only a few unchanging characters. Kim Seong-won was one of them.
Strict and eccentric, but never a man who commits fraud.
That was why I had refused Claire's offer to actively help resolve this issue.
'Kim Seong-won should be useful.'
Blending my existence naturally into the academy around the time Baek Ha-na enrolls.
If he can do that, I won't have to go around the academy bothering to make my presence known to students little by little. I can use that time entirely for Baek Ha-na's education.
'Still, I am curious.'
For what purpose did he conceal it?
Where did the money that should have been paid go?
The process of uncovering previously unknown information. Even this body, so drained of emotion, felt a little pleasure from it.
Thud.
After writing, she started nodding off, and finally, unable to fight sleep, she leaned her head against my chest.
With a soft roll, the pencil settled in a corner of the notebook. I tidied it away and closed the notebook filled with my name.
Then I picked up the little rascal who had spent most of the day perched on my neck, yet dozed off as if she were tired.
I turned off the study light, went into the bedroom, and laid her on the bed.
Her parted lips.
With her still clutching my sleeve, I lay down next to her and moved my mana.
Among the items I had bought at the mart, one floated up and landed in my hand.
I gently brought it to her small mouth.
"Mm......."
Fortunately, without rejecting it, she took it into her mouth, her cheeks working softly, and soon quieted down.
The item I had bought for her after she had bitten my clothes and drooled all over my chest this morning.
A pink pacifier.
'......It should be fine for a few days.'