Grade Evaluation (3)
Grade Evaluation (3)
"Professor."
Claire, who had worn a faint smile just moments ago, had already slipped back into her usual expressionless mask.
This wasn't a development I welcomed. As I'd told her at the mansion, I'd brought her out purely for a change of pace—an extension of rest. Now she was looking up at me with that same resolve to fulfill her role, even here.
I stirred the mana pooled around my heart and let it flow through the hand I held.
"Go inside first and wait."
"...Pardon?"
Emotion crept back into that expressionless face.
Looking into her slightly widened eyes, I released her hand.
"I mean, this isn't a sight worth showing that bastard. Go inside and watch for now."
"Ah, that...."
I brought my hand to her cheek as she hesitated, unsure whether it was truly all right—more to straighten the strands of hair the wind had tousled.
"You don't need to worry. I'm the one who invited you out today."
I finished speaking as I gently nudged her back, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Spend today not as the Executor, not as an assistant professor, but as the woman Claire Vin Asen."
This was my way of repaying, in equal standing, the consideration she had shown me all this time.
**
In front of the Grand Auditorium, blocked by faculty staff.
Namgung Min, master of the Changgung Guild and father of Nam Seo-hee, scratched his head as he watched the young professor sweating profusely before him.
'The atmosphere's certainly changed a fair bit since Yeon-hee's time.'
His second daughter, Nam Yeon-hee, had graduated six years ago. Plenty of time had passed. Still, he hadn't expected the world to change so much that a young professor who looked like he'd only just put on his ring could withstand the pressure of five guild masters.
'Or is he not actually holding on?'
The man's complexion was deathly pale, his legs trembling as if he might collapse at any moment. If so, what was driving him to endure such mental and physical strain?
It wasn't as though major guild leaders stepping forward like this was a rare occurrence.
'Though this time, the intent is a little different.'
In the past, they'd leave their seats out of genuine curiosity about their enrolled children's growth. Today, they had agreed to move together to see both their children and a certain girl.
Up front stood Kang Min-ho, guild master of the Iron Knights, his brow furrowed. Beside him, Na Hee-je, guild master of Red Flame, her eyes slit like a viper's.
A single girl had effortlessly crushed the children of those two.
'Well, it's none of my concern.'
Except that the girl those five were so heatedly trying to meet happened to be the closest friend of his own cherished youngest daughter. He had come purely to catch a glimpse of Nam Seo-hee's face. His intentions were entirely different from those others, teeming with impure motives.
He'd heard the Sword of Vuar had even stepped forward as the girl's guardian. That alone made him want to avoid meeting her in this fashion. There was nothing to gain by drawing unwanted attention.
'Moths to a flame, the lot of them.'
They must have heard the same through their own children, and yet here they were.
'He's holding out stubbornly, though.'
The young professor looked ready to crumble, yet he didn't. What grit.
Outside these walls, he'd have lost a limb and been rolling on the ground by now. Even accounting for being inside the academy, this was remarkable nerve. Enough to make Namgung Min want to recruit him.
'Maybe I should just leave.'
The Grade Evaluation wasn't confined to today alone. Was there any point in groveling here? Besides, whatever had driven that young professor to hold his ground so desperately was starting to bother him.
'I'll head back.'
The mass purge of professors with guild ties. The fact that none of them would open their mouths no matter what. And this year, the way information was being controlled so tightly, as if the God of Amusement himself was restricting the flow.
'Lining it all up, something's clearly shifted in a big way.'
Just as Namgung Min neatly put the thought aside and turned to head back to the fourth-year stage—
"Uh, uhh...?"
At the professor's dazed voice from behind, Namgung Min stopped mid-step and glanced back. He wanted to check whether someone had lost their temper and gotten physical.
But contrary to their foul tempers, none of them had committed such an emotional act. They were leaders of their own organizations, after all.
'What's this?'
The professor had stepped aside from the entrance, but more than that—the firmly shut doors had seemed to open on their own before closing again. As if someone invisible had walked inside.
'Doesn't seem like magic.'
He was planning to leave anyway. Why bother paying attention?
The moment Namgung Min lost interest and turned his head—
"Huh...?!"
He stumbled two steps backward as a figure appeared before him like a mirage. He quickly scanned the newcomer.
Towering height that forced him to look up. Unkempt hair.
'...Those glasses?'
Contrary to the aura that made him instinctively hesitate to approach, the man's face was adorned with absurdly comical glasses that didn't suit him at all. A memory surfaced—his youngest daughter had once mentioned those very glasses.
"Baek Woo-jin...?"
That was it. He remembered hearing that the guardian of his youngest daughter's closest friend wore glasses exactly like those.
"Parent observation is in winter."
"Excuse me? Ah, yes...."
He didn't quite understand, but his instincts signaled him to simply nod and comply. Namgung Min followed his gut.
"Wait here."
"Er, yes. But your name is...?"
Namgung Min watched the man's back as he strode forward, ignoring the question, and his hands clenched and unclenched.
'...Did the Chairman somehow rejuvenate himself?'
Not only had he failed to detect the man's presence until he was right in front of him, but even now, after exchanging words beside him, he still couldn't sense the man's presence as he walked away.
Namgung Min felt as though he were watching a ghost for the first time in a very long while.
"Ah!! Professor Baek!!"
The young professor, blue-faced and dazed, wore an expression like an Awakened who'd stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter as he rushed over.
'So it is that girl's guardian.'
But going by the way the young professor addressed him, he wasn't merely a guardian—he was an academy professor, and one in a fairly high position at that.
Not that he fully grasped the situation, but something was clearly about to happen. Namgung Min reinforced his hearing with mana.
"Th-the situation is...."
"I know."
When Professor Baek Woo-jin, the girl's guardian, lightly patted the young professor's shoulder, something remarkable happened—the man's deathly pallor returned to its natural color.
"Step aside."
"Yes, yes...."
Baek Woo-jin pushed the young professor aside and faced the gazes fixed on him.
"I'll give you a choice."
He raised his right hand and extended his index finger.
"One. Return to where you should be, as you are."
The middle finger beside it rose.
"Two. Continue with what you were about to do."
As Baek Woo-jin's two extended fingers folded, a flat, emotionless voice settled over the surroundings, driving into everyone's ears.
"You'd best choose before my peace is disturbed."
The words held no emotion whatsoever. Yet—
'...He's dangerous.'
He had no idea how those facing the girl's guardian took it. But Namgung Min, who had personally experienced Baek Woo-jin appearing behind him without notice, knew by instinct that what he'd just heard was no mere advice.
And the situation took a strange turn.
"...I can see you're a professor. But we're meeting for the first time, and I find your lack of courtesy uncomfortable."
Kang Min-ho, master of the Iron Knights and father of Kang Seok-ho, swept his gaze over Baek Woo-jin as if testing the waters.
Despite his clearly provocative words, Kang Min-ho's stance was ambiguous, and Namgung Min could tell that the others, too, felt an inexplicable unease from the being before them.
"Ignoring me?"
Kang Min-ho sharpened his tone, but Baek Woo-jin simply stood with his hands behind his back, offering no reaction.
Just then.
"The Executor's lover?"
"Lover? Ah...!!"
Someone spoke, and it spread like a contagion, reaching even Namgung Min.
'So the man the Executor is involved with is him, too.'
No information about the man had been made public, but the description from the rumors matched. Especially those irreplaceable, ridiculous glasses.
"Haa...."
"So that's what it was."
Once the contagion had spread, the atmosphere shifted again.
From guarded gazes to looks of displeasure.
Yet the words that came out carried a politeness that contradicted those looks.
"My apologies. I made a scene just to catch a glimpse of my enrolled child's face."
"I apologize as well. She's a daughter I raised dearly since she was little."
As if trying to build connections on the spot, the formation of wary stances crumbled, and they gathered around Baek Woo-jin.
"You look remarkably young, and your abilities are impressive, too."
"Are those glasses a special artifact?"
"Ah, why don't we move somewhere else to talk instead?"
Namgung Min let out a dry laugh at the conversation, flowing as smoothly as if their tongues were greased. Then—
"If you're not busy, how about a quick chat—"
"I gave you a chance."
Crack—!!
With the sound of twisting joints, the thick wrist of Kang Min-ho—who had been reaching to place a hand on Baek Woo-jin's shoulder—twisted in a direction the human body was never meant to turn.
"You crazy—!!"
Before he could even react to his right hand being wrenched by a single grip, Kang Min-ho manifested his ability straight at Baek Woo-jin.
"Unauthorized individuals are prohibited from ability manifestation."
Slam—!!
Along with another dull impact, Kang Min-ho's body, which had been fully sheathed in steel, crumpled powerlessly to the ground.
Baek Woo-jin had twisted his arm, pulled him in, and used the back of his hand to turn Kang Min-ho's jaw.
"Furthermore."
Baek Woo-jin's actions didn't end there.
"Mana—"
Thwack—!!
Na Hee-je of Red Flame, standing right beside him, went rolling across the floor, her nasal bone twisted.
"You left your designated areas."
The Black Lion guild master's face was driven into the ground.
"And threatened academy staff."
Crack-crack-crack—!!
"Grrrk...?!"
The left and right legs of the Milky Way and Star Cluster guild masters—who had forgotten even their signature magic and tried to flee on two feet—rotated past the limits of human anatomy.
"Accordingly, I am expelling you. However, as this appears to be your independent action, I will refrain from revoking your guilds' observer status as well."
Namgung Min could not properly process the events that had unfolded in an instant.
"Namgung Min."
"......Yes?"
Dazed, he snapped to attention at the sound of his name.
"Clean this up discreetly before the students come out."
"......Yes."
In a way, he was practically an accomplice to those men himself. Namgung Min nodded obediently without protest.
"I'll overlook the unauthorized departure for this."
"I'll handle it cleanly."
Namgung Min was a man quick to weigh profit and loss.
**
After dealing with the heads of the Top 10 Guilds, I quietly entered the Grand Auditorium.
'I'll have to stay on guard.'
Had I tipped the balance without using the Authority of Emptiness, I would have certainly drawn blood.
I shook off the unpleasant feeling and walked, tracking Claire's mana.
Unlike the entrance ceremony, a massive Summoning Device was now installed at the center of the hall.
Students would face summoned monsters while observers, other students, and professors all watched. That was the first day's evaluation event.
-Peep-peep!!
"Yes. How very sparkly."
Right beside the Summoning Device, I spotted Claire, playing along with the bouncing Fairy's rhythm.
"Claire."
"Ah...."
She lifted her head with a small sound, the Fairy still perched on her palm.
"Was it... difficult?"
I wasn't sure why she'd phrased it as a question, but I nodded and extended my hand.
-Peep!!
Claire set the Fairy on her shoulder, then carefully placed her hand over the one I offered.
"In just a little while, it will be Miss Ha-na's turn."
"I see."
I gave a small nod and held Claire's hand.
-Peep-peeng!!
In place of our silence, the little imp kept chattering noisily, its eyes sparkling without pause.