It's a Crime!!
It's a Crime!!
November 17th.
Nearly a month had passed since the participants for the Academy Festival were chosen.
"Refine your mana more delicately. There's still waste in the conversion to lightning energy."
"...Yes."
Nam Seo-hee nodded weakly, watching Claire with a look of pure exhaustion. Claire had driven her to her absolute limit with nothing more than a wooden sword.
"Rest."
"Thank you... for your hard work."
Nam Seo-hee steadied her breathing as she stepped out of the training room.
"You worked hard."
"Haa..."
Kang Han-na, lounging in a chair, tossed her a towel like it was second nature. Nam Seo-hee caught it, wiped the sweat running down her face, and let out a short sigh.
-Kang Seok-ho.
"Y-yes!!"
Kang Seok-ho, who had been waiting with a face full of nerves, shot up from his seat and entered the training room.
Nam Seo-hee sank into the chair beside Kang Han-na, looked up at the screen, and spoke.
"Has the professor been here?"
"No, and I doubt he's showing up today."
Kang Han-na fished a snack out of the mountain of food piled below and popped it into her mouth without much thought. It was all stuff Baek Woo-jin had brought during his near-daily visits.
-Ghuk?!
-Never shut your eyes, in any situation. In real combat, that single blink is the direct line to your death.
-Yessir!!
On the first day, Claire had thoroughly shredded Kang Seok-ho's soul. The single-minded desire to never again experience that hellish pain led to explosive growth.
Kaaang—!!
-Hnngh!!
-Your movements are still too big.
Smack—!!
-Gahk?!
Kang Seok-ho managed to block Claire's first strike by manifesting his Steel Ability and immediately launched a counterattack. But a follow-up hit slammed into his side and sent him rolling across the floor.
"So the stick really is the best teacher, huh?"
Kang Seok-ho hadn't just learned to partially manifest his steel ability on any part of his body at will. He'd also picked up a trick to make his attacks more dangerous: turning his arm and wrist into steel at the moment of the swing for an instant surge of weight.
Considering his past self—coasting on innate talent, leaning on boosted mana from fancy elixirs while getting pummeled by Baek Ha-na every single day—his growth was nothing short of staggering.
"More importantly, what did you mean about the professor not coming today?"
"Huh? Oh, you know. Today's that thing."
"What thing."
Chew, chew.
Kang Han-na crunched on a milk chocolate bar that smelled faintly of fragrant butter as she answered.
"The practical exam for the kids who'll be your juniors."
"...Practical."
Nam Seo-hee murmured the word softly, then turned back to Kang Han-na.
"We're on break?"
"We are. Has been for two weeks now."
Kang Han-na ate another piece of chocolate and snorted a short laugh.
"Had no idea time was passing, did you? I was the same at first."
She was right.
Every day, you boxed yourself up in a training room, received guidance from the professors, and only went back to the dorms when it was late.
No holidays. Every meal except breakfast was grabbed inside the training room. And since you always went back to the dorm completely drained of stamina, all you could do was shower and crash.
Without even attending lectures, the flow of time had completely slipped away from them.
Messages flew in from Maria and Idni several times a day, but most of it was just chatter and talk about Fairy.
"Is the professor a proctor again?"
"Of course. Who else is there to do it besides Professor Baek?"
"The Chairman...?"
"Took off for some faraway rift the second the closing ceremony ended. Want one?"
"...I'll eat after lunch."
Nam Seo-hee tossed the towel she'd had around her neck into a basket overflowing with others and stood up.
"Let me know when Ha-na comes out."
"Anyone watching would think the two of you were dating."
"I've got no complaints about her."
"Eh, even as a girl, I gotta admit she's pretty. Don't go doing anything weird."
Kang Han-na gave her a narrow-eyed look, but Nam Seo-hee just brushed past her lightly.
"I'd never do anything she wouldn't like."
"...That's somehow way creepier."
Nam Seo-hee didn't reply and walked into the training room assigned to her.
Left alone, Kang Han-na rummaged around for a new chocolate.
-Ggweek!!
Beyond the screen, Kang Seok-ho was once again rolling on the floor in a rather pitiful state.
**
Be-beep—!!
An alarm chimed from Claire's wrist.
She lowered the wooden sword she was holding.
"We end here for today."
"Th-thank you very much...!!"
A third-year female student, leaning on her spear like a staff for support, bowed her head toward Claire.
Claire waved a hand lightly in acknowledgment, then exited the training room.
"Great work again today!!"
"Mm."
Kang Han-na darted over and took the wooden sword from Claire's hand as if it were a given.
She stowed it on the rack, then asked cautiously.
"So, if you're free, would you maybe like to get a meal together?"
The students who had stepped out for a short break all perked up their ears. Every last one of them was ready to pounce on the chance if it came.
"I have a prior engagement. We'll share a meal next time."
"Oh, I see!!"
Kang Han-na scratched her head and laughed, and the alert students relaxed again, settling back into their breaks.
Swish.
Without shedding a single drop of sweat, Claire extended her hand. A small bag placed in the corner flew into her grasp.
It was the storage artifact that Baek Woo-jin had been regularly carrying lately.
Bag in hand, Claire stopped in front of the very last training room door—the one glowing with a red light.
Beep, be-beep.
She manipulated the buttons on the firmly shut door.
Psshhh.
The door slid wide open, and Claire walked inside.
Pssht.
The door closed again. Kang Han-na and the other students stood there for a moment, staring blankly at the door flickering with red light.
·
·
·
Hwoooosh—!!
A snow wind raged with the force of a blizzard threatening to swallow everything.
"Pause."
The instant Claire's lips closed, the snow wind—which had been blowing fiercely enough to blind you at arm's length—stopped dead.
The deep snow piled all around vanished like a mirage, and the stark white walls and floor of the training room revealed themselves.
Claire, standing at its center, called out to the girl gasping for air.
"Miss Ha-na."
"Hahk, ha-ahk...?"
Baek Ha-na, breathing as if she were about to keel over, turned her head. The moment she spotted Claire at the door, she flopped down into a sit.
"Un...nieee..."
"You've worked hard."
With a faint smile, Claire walked over and sat down beside Baek Ha-na.
"Slowly. No matter how far you push yourself into extreme situations, you must not let your breathing become ragged."
"Hoooh, haaah... huuuuhp... haa..."
Taking the well-worn nagging to heart once more, Baek Ha-na closed her eyes and did her best to steady her ragged breathing.
While she did, Claire pulled the packed meals Baek Woo-jin had made early that morning out of the bag and set them on the floor.
"Phew."
As her breathing steadied, Baek Ha-na opened her eyes.
"...Woo-jin's not coming?"
"He's supervising exams."
"Exams? Evaluation matches?"
"No, the new student practical exam."
"New students...?"
Baek Ha-na's eyes widened at the word.
Click.
While Baek Ha-na composed herself, Claire opened the lids of the lunch boxes, arranged the utensils neatly, and placed them in front of her.
"Ah... th-thanks."
Baek Ha-na snapped out of it, picked up her chopsticks, and spoke.
"So, what happened with the second-semester evaluation?"
"Ask Maria and Idni about it later."
"Tch... you could just tell me, you know."
Baek Ha-na pouted, and Claire laughed silently as she picked up her own chopsticks.
Without any cue, the two of them reached for the food Baek Woo-jin had poured his care into.
Starting with the soft-yet-firm rolled omelet, moving on to the well-grilled beef and vegetables, then a sandwich with just the right amount of dressing.
A cheese gratin that Baek Ha-na would love and more besides. Calling it a lunch box bordered on criminal—it was a ridiculously luxurious spread.
"How's the training going?"
"...Hard."
Baek Ha-na popped a piece of rolled omelet into her mouth and continued.
"Not fun either... and I just don't feel like it..."
Gulp.
She swallowed the omelet, its sweetness and saltiness mellowing in perfect balance, and pointed the tips of her chopsticks above her head.
"That thing isn't what I wanted... I wanted to spend time with Woo-jin..."
She glared up at the Crystal for a second, then her shoulders slumped low.
"But the person I want to see—I'm lucky if I catch a glimpse of his face once a day, and even then it's barely an hour. Forget it. I'm dropping out of this candidate nonsense..."
"Umm..."
Claire wrestled with how to soothe Baek Ha-na, who had sunk into a deep gloom.
"Uh, Miss Ha-na? I understand how you feel, but if you want to show him a proper, adult image of yourself, you need to endure this too."
"...Until when?"
"Uuumm..."
Claire couldn't easily answer.
Staring at Claire, Baek Ha-na pouted and grumbled.
"...You have it good, big sis. Even if you're busy during the day, you get to sleep with Woo-jin every night."
"N-no! I-I mean, the p-professor has been coming in at dawn and leaving right away lately... so... w-we don't *sleep* together..."
"Even if you're not sleeping together, you're still with him..."
"That's... w-well, I'm his assistant professor... and... the mansion needs cleaning too..."
Claire, the very same person who swung a wooden sword while looking at students with cool, indifferent eyes, was now fiddling with her fingers as her cheeks flushed pink.
"Uuuugh!! I barely get to see Woo-jin's face and I'm stuck here getting rolled by that weird thing!! It's not fair!! It's totally not fair!!"
"M-Miss Ha-na?!"
"And, y'know?! Woo-jin's the same!! If he's just gonna leave me alone like this, then he can just—!!"
Shouting loudly enough to shake the training room, Baek Ha-na suddenly clammed up.
"Ugh, uuuugh..."
Claire blinked. She was watching Baek Ha-na's face tilt downward, her expression growing redder by the second.
"...Miss Ha-na?"
"Uuuugh!! Idiot!! Moron!! I don't *really* hate him... I don't hate him, okay!!"
Face burning crimson, Baek Ha-na started moving her chopsticks, stuffing the remaining food into her mouth haphazardly.
"Miss Ha-na, please don't be so impatient. I promised you I'd talk to him when the chance comes, didn't I?"
"...Gulp. That's what I'm saying is too hard to wait for... nothing's even set in stone yet..."
Seeing Baek Ha-na sink into an even deeper depression than before, Claire gave it some serious thought.
"Miss Ha-na."
"...What."
Baek Ha-na looked up.
Claire, facing Baek Ha-na's listless gaze, leaned in and whispered quietly.
"During the closing of this festival..."
**
Ba-ba-bam—!!
A jarring noise blared from my pocket.
It was a sound that should absolutely never come from my smartphone—the thing was perpetually set to vibrate.
The culprit was obvious, so I pulled out the phone.
[ (⇀‸↼‶) Eavesdropping on ladies' talk is a crime!! ]
"......"
[ (¬◡¬)✧ Try listening in one more time and I'm telling Claire everything. ]
[ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Heheh, but I'm gonna listen!! ]
That was the last message before the smartphone screen went black.
I seriously debated whether to march straight to the God of Amusement's temple and smash every last one of his divine statues to bits.
'...I can just check on it later.'
I stashed the smartphone back into my pocket—better that than risking a broken phone—and summoned Kim Seong-won.
"You called, sir."
I tossed the documents I'd laid out on the desk over to him.
"When you work out the dormitory room assignments, put those guys together."
"Understood. Is there anything else?"
"I'll give you another list tomorrow. Handle those kids the same."
"Yes, sir. I'll prepare in advance so there are no mistakes."
With a bow of his head, Kim Seong-won left the proctor's office.
'That's ten just for today...'
Once the practical exam had wrapped up, I'd scanned the campus for those wearing the skins of students. I'd run a quick sweep.
'I'm curious how many more will crawl their way in.'