The Kids' Fight (3)
The Kids' Fight (3)
"Let go of me."
Clearly furious, yet utterly frigid in tone.
A cold voice swept quietly through the whole training room.
"Y-you can't just charge in like that."
"... I get it, so let go."
"Uh, uh-huh."
A sharp edge crept into Baek Ha-na's voice. Idni quickly unwrapped her arms from around her waist and ducked behind Maria's back.
Maria sighed at Idni, who was using her like a shield despite being taller.
"Seo-hee, you move aside too."
"...... Fine."
At Baek Ha-na's equally resolute attitude, Nam Seo-hee slowly stepped sideways. Then she fixed a fierce glare on Na Ju-hee, who had claimed Baek Ha-na's attention, and the girl hiding behind her.
Once the three clinging to her had peeled away, Baek Ha-na slipped her hands into her jacket pockets and approached Na Ju-hee.
"So."
Kwaaak—!!
She pulled on the black gloves Baek Woo-jin had gifted her, stopping directly in front of Na Ju-hee and looking down at her.
"If I beat you, that means I can do whatever I want with the girl behind you?"
"I said I won't interfere with whatever you do to her. But you'll have to deal with the aftermath yourself. Provided you win at all, of course."
"Fine."
-......!!
The girl hiding behind Na Ju-hee swallowed hard at Baek Ha-na's piercing gaze and retreated quickly.
With only the two of them left on the makeshift arena, Na Ju-hee asked.
"Knockout, ring-out, surrender. There's no one here to show mercy, so I figure we settle this by those three."
"Doesn't matter. And...."
Baek Ha-na's eyes narrowed.
"It'd be fine to make it a bit wider."
"It's the same size as a sparring arena allocation. I'd say this is plenty. Not enough for you?"
"I think it's not enough for you, not me."
"......."
Na Ju-hee's eyebrows dipped slightly.
An unmistakably contemptuous remark.
But Baek Ha-na wasn't finished.
"So you don't come up with excuses later—something like the space was too cramped—I think it's just better to widen it."
"...... Hah."
A short exhale escaped Na Ju-hee.
She swept her red hair upward and answered.
"I appreciate the consideration, but that's what I want to ask you. I could even make it narrower, if you prefer. How about it?"
Ability-type Awakened fundamentally possessed greater internal mana reserves than Enhancement-types. Moreover, they could not only wield their awakened ability but also learn and cast magic suited to their affinity and constitution.
For that reason, so long as sufficient distance was maintained, in a clash between Enhancement-type and Ability-type Awakened of otherwise comparable conditions, the Ability-type would win one hundred times out of a hundred. The gap between them was that decisive a factor in determining a match.
Both of them knew this perfectly well. They stared each other down, their contrasting eyes locked.
"In that case...."
Ssssss.
"We can take it as both sides agreeing to proceed as-is?"
Na Ju-hee glanced briefly at the white tail trailing near Baek Ha-na's hips and at her ears, then nodded.
"Obviously."
"Good."
Baek Ha-na turned and moved to the far boundary line.
"For the start."
"It seems fairest to ask the person who came with you."
Na Ju-hee spoke toward Maria, who was still holding Idni's mouth shut from a distance away.
"Would you mind tossing a coin or something?"
"... That's easy enough."
Maria released her grip on Idni's muzzle and drew a silver medal from her pocket. She addressed the pair still staring each other down.
"I'm throwing it."
Ting—!!
The medal sprang from Maria's hand, spinning high into the air.
Every held-breath gaze fixed on it.
The moment that gradually slowing medal struck the floor, the top-ranked fighters of each category would collide.
Everyone present silently considered this to be the de facto match to decide the first-year Top Seat.
And finally.
Ting—!!
The medal hit the floor.
At once, Baek Ha-na charged straight at Na Ju-hee with no special feint. The gap between them, wide open, snapped shut in an instant.
But Na Ju-hee did not panic in the slightest. She simply swept her arm toward the onrushing Baek Ha-na.
Fwoooosh—!!
A single, simple motion conjured flames carrying enough heat to make the surrounding air warp.
To manifest magic required understanding the formula and giving it shape through the appropriate incantation. But she was different. She merely needed to release her mana—converted to elemental form—into whatever shape she desired.
That alone let her command feats that ordinary Awakened could scarcely imitate. The world was not fair, and within that unfair world, she was unmistakably among the chosen—an existence meant to reign above others.
And yet, humiliating her fiancé in front of everyone day after day. That was tantamount to humiliating her as well, and more broadly, the same as spitting on the entire Top 10 Guilds.
Every society has its unspoken rules, its customary practices, and a minimum line one must observe.
But the opponent before her had crossed that line far too many times.
'I'll show you the difference in class......!!'
Not all top-ranks are truly equal.
Here and now, she would personally demonstrate that there were skies above the sky.
Fwhoooosh—!!
The blossoming fire spread thinly like a curtain, rushing at Baek Ha-na.
She could leap over it to dodge, or she could clad herself in mana and smash through. The former meant giving her opponent an opportunity to strike her defenseless in midair; the latter meant expending a considerable amount of mana.
Fwhoooosh—!!
The immense wall of flame engulfed Baek Ha-na outright.
And exactly as Na Ju-hee had predicted, Baek Ha-na used the mana sheathed around her body as a barrier and broke straight through the blazing curtain.
'Idiot.'
Na Ju-hee fired flame after flame at Baek Ha-na, who closed the distance in a single, unwavering straight line as if ignorant of any concept like evasion.
Layered walls of high-grade pure elemental magic—the sort normally taught only in third year—rose to smother Baek Ha-na.
Even so, those menacingly roaring barriers of fire could not halt Baek Ha-na's advance.
In the space of a few steps, the distance collapsed.
Anyone watching without context would have been convinced Na Ju-hee was finished and would have turned away.
You could shield your body with mana, yes, but doing so accelerated mana consumption drastically. And unlike Enhancement-types, an Ability-type with a frail body became worse than an ordinary person the instant their mana ran dry.
Hwoooosh—!!
Baek Ha-na's fist, aimed squarely at her face.
At the merciless blow, Na Ju-hee smiled, a little bitter, and murmured quietly.
"I'll show you how absurd the world really is."
Fwoooosh——!!
Before Baek Ha-na's fist could land, blazing red flames erupted over Na Ju-hee's body. No—Na Ju-hee herself had become fire.
Na Ju-hee made no move to dodge the punch. She shouted at Baek Ha-na.
【A punch like yours could never—】
Puhwaaak—!!
Baek Ha-na's fist smashed squarely into Na Ju-hee's flame-transformed face. Small and large sparks scattered as the fire-engulfed Na Ju-hee rolled across the floor.
Tiny smoldering embers left in her path told everyone plainly just how far she had tumbled.
【......Huh?】
Her vision swam.
A throbbing ache in her cheek.
And the students staring down at her with horrified expressions.
Na Ju-hee genuinely could not comprehend what had just happened.
Her mana was rapidly draining, and she had definitely converted her body into fire itself through elementalization.
'Then how......?'
Into Na Ju-hee's ear, still struggling to accept the situation, a cool voice—a stark contrast to her own blazing state—spoke low and soft.
"Line. You crossed it."
'......Line?'
The chilling tone sent a jolt through her. Na Ju-hee pushed herself up slowly and looked around. Her eyes went wide.
Her body lay outside the diagonal marks dividing the training room's zones.
"You said something about showing me something. We'll save that for next time."
【.......】
Baek Ha-na turned and began walking toward the half-dazed girl. Na Ju-hee stared blankly at her back.
'I... lost?'
She'd used elementalization and still lost.
In front of the people who followed her, no less.
She'd failed to dodge a mere punch and gone rolling across the floor like a disgrace.
'I... I....'
Fwoosh—!!
Embers big and small flew from Na Ju-hee's body.
Behind her, the students sensed something wrong and moved to act—
【I......!!】
Fwooooosh——!!
Once more, powerful flames surged from Na Ju-hee.
But the change didn't stop there.
Fwahhh.
A portion of the fire she radiated turned into fine white powder, dispersing into the air. The moment Kang Seok-ho spotted it, his eyes flew open and he yelled.
"Block it!! N-no, everyone get back!!"
Alongside Kang Seok-ho's desperate shout, a handful of wind carrying embers rose upward from Na Ju-hee.
The instant that rising wind and embers touched the white powder.
———!!
A colossal explosion swallowed the training room.
**
On a shoreline beneath warm sunlight.
"Whoa there~!!"
Kim Seong-won made a great fuss, grabbing the fishing rod hooked over the boat's side and flailing about in a hurry.
Chwaaak—!!
A fish dragged up from below the surface thrashed its tail frantically.
"Whoa!! Hey!! Min-sik!!"
"Hold on, you bastard!!"
At Kim Seong-won's racket, Chief of Academic Affairs Choi Min-sik frowned and picked up the landing net. He was about to move to scoop up the fish—
—Buzzzz.
The smartwatch on his wrist went off noisily.
"What now?"
It was the weekend, and his family was all traveling separately, so there was no one who'd have reason to contact him. He checked his wrist; the call was from the staff member pulling duty today.
"Hey!! My arm's about to fall off!!"
"Wait a second."
Landing the fish was important, but Kim Seong-won had been annoyingly catching ten fish by himself for every one Choi Min-sik managed, all while being insufferably smug about it. So Choi Min-sik set the net down and took the call first.
"Yeah, what is it?"
-Well... I'm sorry for interrupting your break.
"Never mind that. Something blowing up over there isn't your fault. Just tell me what's going on."
"Aaaah—!!"
-... Is everything all right there?
"Yeah. I'm fine. Talk."
Choi Min-sik pressed his finger to his temple, watching with vindictive satisfaction as Kim Seong-won wrestled with the fish while he listened to the smartwatch.
-The thing is, I just got a report. You know the first-year training room? I'm told part of the second floor there collapsed.
"...... What do you mean, collapsed?"
-I had trouble believing it too, but there are photos and video.
"... First-years did this? No—anyone hurt?"
-Fortunately, they're all sturdy kids. No one was seriously injured.
"That's something, at least... So. First-years brought it down?"
-Yes. For now, the students responsible didn't run and are staying at the scene, so the list—
"Ghak—!!"
The fishing line snapped, and Kim Seong-won went rolling across the boat's deck along with the rod.
"Keep talking. Just a minor tumble."
-R-right... I've written up the list, but according to the parties involved, two people caused the trouble. They both admitted as much.
"Two people?"
-Yes. Looking at the list, it's Top 10 Guild children and their followers. Three apprentice clergy were mixed in, too.
"Ah......."
Listening to the report, Choi Min-sik frowned and nodded.
A rough picture of the incident was already forming in his head.
"Handle the paperwork so we can convene the Disciplinary Committee first thing Monday."
-Should I submit everyone on the list?
"Obvious—!! Obviously submit them all!!"
Kim Seong-won, who'd been sprawled on the deck, sprang up with a face full of fury and shoved himself into the call.
"These kids barely turned adults, and what do they do? Pick up the worst habits and start gang fights on the sacred academy grounds? That alone is grounds for discipline, and then—what? They wrecked something? You rotten bastards, do you know how expensive that facility is?!"
"......."
Choi Min-sik covered the ear Kim Seong-won was shouting into and asked.
"Definitely a bit much to submit only two. Send me the list."
-I've already sent it.
"Yeah? One moment."
Choi Min-sik pulled out his smartphone and opened his email. He tapped into the freshly arrived message from five minutes ago.
"There's a lot."
"Just submit them all. What's there to pick? Not like they're short on money anyway."
Choi Min-sik skimmed the list alongside Kim Seong-won and asked.
"So, about those two you said admitted causing it—what were their names?"
He needed to know so he could exclude them while sorting the remaining names.
-Yes. Na Ju-hee and Baek Ha-na, sir—
"Pffft!!"
"Ah, jeez......."
Choi Min-sik was brushing Kim Seong-won's spit off the screen and about to say something.
"... That's not happening."
Kim Seong-won, his face gone pale, muttered.
"N-no way in hell!!"
"What are you— Mmff?!"
Kim Seong-won clamped a hand over Choi Min-sik's mouth and shouted at the smartwatch.
"No disciplinary action!!"
-...... Excuse me?
When the staff member responded in a voice thick with confusion, Kim Seong-won hurriedly continued.
"Y-you know... stuff. Huh? Kids might trade a few hits and scuffle. That's just what they do, right? And you're talking about discipline over that?!"
-Didn't you just say, sir, that they were kids barely turned adults?
"Hey!! That's just how the saying goes!! Some brats just hit twenty, what do you mean adults?! In my day, huh? You weren't even treated like an adult until you were over thirty!!"
-...... So what should I do?
"Just sit tight for now!! I'm heading there!!"
Kim Seong-won ended the call on his own and hollered at the captain they'd rented the boat from.
"Back to shore!!"
Since they'd already paid in full, the captain turned the boat around without further question. Only then did Choi Min-sik, finally freed, fix Kim Seong-won with a razor-sharp glare.
"You son of a bitch. If you're gonna die, die alone. Have you lost your mind?"
"Lost my mind? You, buddy, should be bowing in gratitude to me today."
"What nonsense—"
"Baek Ha-na."
"... What about her?"
At Choi Min-sik's question, Kim Seong-won answered with a rigid face.
"Professor Baek raised that kid like his own daughter."
Others might not know, but he knew.
Because he'd personally handled things like Baek Ha-na's dormitory issues and various other matters at Baek Woo-jin's direction. Above all, he'd witnessed Baek Woo-jin holding the young Baek Ha-na in his arms more than a dozen times. How could he not know?
"... Are you serious?"
"You think I'd joke?"
"......."
At Kim Seong-won's confirmation, Choi Min-sik gave a heavy nod and muttered.
"... Kids naturally fight and grow up. Yeah... that's right."
"Exactly."
The two men nodded calmly to each other, then began racking their brains on how to clean up the mess once they got back.
Still completely unaware that one more incident remained, unheard of.