Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Academy's Saintess (3)
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daeng-dong-daeng-dong- ♬
Deep inside the classroom, the bell signaling the end of class rang out.
The sound every student, regardless of the era, eagerly awaited.
But the girl sitting in this very spot, Aisha, couldn't pay it any mind.
"......"
Her face pale as a corpse, she remained standing blankly amid the students leaving the classroom first.
No thoughts surfaced in the girl's mind. Only a gut-wrenching sense of crisis.
Her tightly clasped hands trembled as if in prayer.
'W-what do I do....?'
This afternoon, her head had been so full of worries that she hadn't absorbed a single lesson.
And it seemed she wasn't the only one who couldn't focus.
The moment class ended, the other students' voices began filling the room with murmurs.
"Oh my god, the academy director himself.... actually did that..."
"....no implants?... "
"....even mentioned the chairman.... no way, for real...?"
Each snippet that drifted into her ears made Aisha flinch involuntarily.
She was reminded once more of whom she'd been rude to today.
Her face crumpled in misery as she hung her head.
A meaningless whimper escaped her mumbling lips.
"Hic..."
It had to be a dream. Just a dream. She repeated it to herself over and over, but the cold reality before her eyes remained unchanged.
The girl couldn't even turn her head to the side.
That empty seat where someone had sat briefly.
Ever since its owner had left under the academy director's courteous guidance, a clear void had formed around that one spot. No one dared approach it.
Even for networking or flattery aimed at advancement, there were limits to whom you could approach.
No matter how opportunistic, no one had the guts to casually approach a 'natural disaster' who could upend heaven and earth with a single word.
Reality wasn't fiction. Against someone who could make your head roll with one misstep or displeasing glance, the best policy was to steer clear.
In this academy, the first lesson was precisely that hierarchy.
And that 'young lady' just now... the director himself had come out and escorted her with utmost respect. No matter how she thought about it, that treatment surpassed even the special class students.
'Maybe, the chairman's, the one they only talk about...'
Aisha's hands shook again as the thought reached that point.
Gloom drizzled down like a light rain amid the dark clouds filling her heart.
She resented herself from just hours ago, who had naively rejoiced at making a friend in a similar situation.
The girl had always been lonely. In Aisha's class, she was still the only scholarship student who'd gotten in through exams, aside from herself.
A kid from a poor single-parent family with no connections or backing. Even if she was a bit smart, here she was just an ugly duckling.
Amid elites fiercely competing for their futures, the lone girl was seen as 'not worth forging ties with,' and no one gave her a second glance.
The alienation of being in a place where she didn't belong, the isolation of being treated like an invisible ghost. It was suffocating, like sinking into deep water.
When she first passed the prestigious Lumina Academy, her widowed mother had been overjoyed, as if she owned the world.
She'd teared up, saying her daughter's life was set now.
But in a world of prodigies with money and talent, the girl was always an outsider.
The only reason she stayed was her unwillingness to betray her mother's expectations.
'Is it too much to hope for even one friend...?'
Aisha tried to bury her worries in random thoughts.
Before she knew it, the day's classes were over. Naturally, nothing stuck in her head.
All she'd done was tremble in the classroom like a diseased chicken awaiting the slaughter.
Fortunately, nothing happened until the academy day ended.
It seemed today wasn't her execution day.
"Hoo...."
Aisha slumped her small shoulders and trudged out of the classroom to the elevator.
A mix of relief at surviving the day, anxiety over what tomorrow might bring, and loneliness at being alone again once more.
With those complicated feelings, she stepped out of the academy building.
On the listless walk home.
It was right then, as she passed a dim alley near the building.
"Ah~ Aisha~ Fancy meeting you here?"
The distinctive mocking drawl made Aisha's shoulders twitch.
Pretending not to hear, the girl quickened her pace to pass by.
But a languid, intimidating voice came from behind again.
"Don't make me say it twice. Come here, our cute little puppy."
Only then did the girl, head bowed deeply, hesitantly follow the voice into the alley.
She didn't know what hell might await in class tomorrow if she ignored them.
There, a few girls in uniforms were gathered.
One might think corporate academy students were all prim elites, but these girls looked nothing like it. Cigarettes dangling from smirking lips, uniforms altered to their whims. Flashy cyberware and tattoos covering their bodies.
They hardly looked like students at all.
Aisha's face went white at the sight.
"H-hi, Roxy.... Weren't you absent today....?"
The girl called Roxy exhaled a long plume of smoke, eyeing her lazily.
"Switched to afternoon classes. Was a bit... busy at the club last night."
She flicked her ash and continued.
"But hey, Aisha. You were cutting it real close on that test, huh? How many times do I gotta tell you? Don't score better than me, you beggar bitch. I got chewed out by Dad."
"......."
The girl just bowed her head instead of replying.
The day she'd briefly hoped to make her first friend.
Today would go down as the worst.
=============
"This is the exclusive lounge for special class students only, miss. We've brought in the latest refresh pods and VR gear..."
As explained, I was being shown around the special class facilities at the academy.
Honestly, it felt a bit overwhelming.
Not only had the academy director come to fetch me from the general class, but several faculty members were trailing us like high-ranking escorts. It wasn't like a corporate exec inspecting the site... this was excessive hospitality for one student.
But oblivious or not to my feelings, the balding director continued his fervent explanations.
"Did the greenhouse garden and private dining please you? Ah, over there are individual research labs. One per student, for free-topic pursuits..."
And he was right. The special class facilities I'd toured were on another level from the general ones I'd seen before. Less an academy, more a five-star hotel.
Even more astonishing: this vast, luxurious space was for just a few dozen students.
Nominally, the special class was for students without cyberware.
But in this fully digitized city, almost no one survives without implants. Only the tiniest elite at the top, born with everything solved.
So, the special class was essentially a closed social club for them.
'Okay, I get that much....'
Even for top-tier heirs, the academy head—a corporate academy bigwig—didn't need to fawn with 'miss' this and 'miss' that.
So, midway through the tour, I asked him.
"Director, mind if I ask how I was introduced to you?"
"Ah, well... I heard you're the chairman's wife's cousin's daughter. That the chairman himself, your godfather, cherishes you like a daughter. Is that incorrect...?"
He gauged my reaction. I just nodded it was right.
But it was news to me too.
'Godfather could've mentioned this beforehand....'
A surprise with the new identity, I suppose.
Sure, a relative of the chairman's wife—who'd lived as common folk—popping up suddenly wouldn't raise eyebrows. The couple's famous love made it natural for him to take in her kin as family.
But this 'young lady' treatment. It caused unnecessary fuss, leaving me embarrassed and awkward throughout.
As the tour continued, a question occurred to me.
"We haven't run into anyone... No students today?"
Indeed, the spacious luxury facilities had been empty all day.
The director explained.
"Ah, special class students rarely come to the academy in person. They prefer remote lectures or show up only for specific classes on set days. Since today isn't one, it looks a bit deserted."
Those 'specific classes' were probably the social gatherings.
I nodded, and he added,
"There are a few in attendance today, though... Anyone in particular you'd like to meet?"
"Oh, no. Just curious."
The facility tour soon wrapped up. The director and faculty seemed itching to do more, but today was just orientation—enrollment and intro, no classes.
Not a 'social day,' so no more business. Lectures could be remote anyway...
I had a hunch personal visits here would be rare for me.
With today's business done.
The faculty escorted us to the first-floor lobby, bowing until we left.
Leaving that burdensome send-off behind, I finally reunited with Esty.
"Esty, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Not at all. It's my job. Everything alright?"
"Yeah, facilities are nice... Teachers were a bit much, but kind. Special class allows escorts, so no need to wait alone next time."
"Good to hear."
As we chatted, walking to the parking spot outside the academy building,
Esty suddenly turned her head toward somewhere.
"? What's up?"
I followed her gaze.
In a dim alley near the building, voices leaked from the shadows.
"......."
I instinctively stepped closer. The voices grew clearer.
".....do.... as I say.... "
'Students?'
Shadows of a few people deep in the alley.
They seemed to be in academy uniforms.
'What's going on? Something's happening....'
Then, unexpectedly, someone blocked our path.
"Stop."
Strangers—burly cyberware brutes in bursting suits, like bodyguards.
They obscured the alley view.
One waved us off like pesky nuisances.
"Ladies, mind your own business and be on your way."
"....."
Esty glanced at me, asking how to proceed.
I hesitated. Unsure of the situation, was intervening right?
Honestly, a bit reluctant.
This was downtown, not the outskirts. A big fuss would bring ODPD.
Godfather sent me here not to clash with students on day one. Needless drama could inconvenience not just me, but him too.
Suppress curiosity and walk away—no issues for me.
"........"
But... no, I couldn't.
'She's crying.'
The sobs still reached me.
Whoever it was, someone in that alley was weeping.
I couldn't just pass by.
Esty, reading my mind without a word, stepped forward.
The men scowled fiercely, cracking their necks and knuckles.
"Insisting on trouble, huh..."
Thud! Crunch!! Boom!!!
Dull thuds echoed, and moments later, Esty dusted off her slightly bloodied fist and said quietly,
"Handled. Let's go."
"Thanks, Esty."
If I'd misjudged, I'd sincerely apologize to them.
But no turning back now. I steadied my breath and entered the alley.
The scene finally came into view.
In one corner, uniformed students surrounded a girl.
Slap- smack-
"You beggar bitch, lowlife, keep getting on my nerves!"
The tear-streaked girl taking slaps to the face looked familiar.
My breath caught at the sight.
The bright-eyed girl who'd guided me around the academy.
The one who'd mustered courage to ask to be friends.
And who, oddly, seemed overly scared of the corporate kids...
"....."
Before I knew it, I was pushing through the surrounding students.
"Wh-what?"
"Who's that?"
I grabbed the wrist of the perpetrator as she reared back for another slap.
The girl turned, face shocked.
"Huh? Who the hell-"
I stared straight into her eyes and growled,
"What did you do to my friend?"