Proper Education (2)
'This can't be real.' Was the scene unfolding before my eyes truly happening? Karne, who had dragged me to the meeting spot in a daze, rubbed her eyes at the unbelievable sight in front of her.
Crack. Crunch.
“Gaaaah!”
“Aaaagh! My arm! My leg!!”
“Ughk.”
With those gruesome sounds, people lay sprawled across the ground, clutching their arms, legs, and other body parts while screaming. They were all the lowlife second-year seniors who had tried to extort money from her under the guise of a threat.
'Even if they are second-years…' It wasn’t that she couldn’t hit them just because they were her seniors. It was simply that second-years had learned far more and accumulated more experience, making them difficult opponents. Honestly, she and her classmates hadn’t even properly started learning anything here yet. But the second-years? They had already spent an entire year training at the academy and honing their skills. They were on a completely different level from freshmen who had just enrolled.
'But Zeon is different.' It was like watching an adult toy with a baby who had only just learned to walk. Zeon didn’t seem to be struggling at all as he overwhelmed the seniors. Their positions had been completely reversed.
As a result, in just five short minutes, every single one of them except for one had been rendered combat incapable. But there was still no room for relief, because the one person left standing was clearly from an entirely different class than the ones he had just fought.
'That senior is definitely…' One of the promising talents who had proudly taken fifth place in last year’s first-year evaluation, making his name known to many. The public had been buzzing that the top ten from last year’s first-year class—meaning this year’s second-years—possessed enough strength and potential to rival fully grown adult heroes. To secure fifth place in what was being called the Golden Generation was no small feat.
'This is dangerous! Really dangerous!' She absolutely couldn’t let him fight that senior. Something terrible would happen for sure. Karne tried to stop Zeon before a major accident occurred, but his body shot forward faster than she could react.
Boom.
“Hmm?”
“Heavy. You’re definitely not an ordinary first-year.”
As expected, Zeon’s attack was blocked. The senior casually stopped Zeon’s fist with one hand. Thanks to the tattoo on his face, his smile looked more like a sneer as he looked at Zeon and said,
“But with an attack like this, you won’t be able to—”
“Then how about this?”
Heavenly Demon Divine Art
“Ughk!”
'…Huh?'
Karne rubbed her eyes again, recalling what she had just witnessed. What had she just seen? If it wasn’t her imagination, a strange black energy had swirled around Zeon’s body before slamming the senior straight into the ground.
'It’s still there, plain as day.' Convinced it wasn’t a mistake or an illusion, Karne felt goosebumps rise all over her body as she stared at the bizarre black current still mysteriously enveloping Zeon. She instinctively took a step back.
'What on earth is that…'
“H-how can a first-year be this…”
“You really were quite strong, senior. Among your peers, that’s definitely something to be proud of, right?”
“Are you mocking me right now!”
Even while sprawled on the ground, those ferocious eyes hadn’t lost their edge. Zeon simply watched him with an unreadable expression.
“Mocking you? Not at all.”
Squeeze. Crunch.
“Gaaaah!!”
“Who here is going to listen to what I have to say?”
'Uh, me?' He hadn’t forgotten about her, right? Karne wanted to shout that, but the atmosphere made her quietly keep her mouth shut instead.
“Senior. From now on, you won’t be extorting innocent students anymore, will you?”
“Ugh… Y-yes. I won’t do it again.”
“Aww~ Just words?”
Vrrrrrrrr.
“…Huh?”
'What is that?'
The same black current that had taken down the senior earlier rose up again, coalescing above Zeon’s hand into what looked like a sheet of black parchment.
“Here, why don’t you write your name on this nice and clear for me.”
“This is…”
“A contract, of course. One that says you and your friends will never do something like this again.”
— Do not pay attention to, listen to, or let your gaze be stolen by this soul-binding oath disguised as a mere contract.
“Eek?!”
The chilling voice that suddenly echoed in her head made Karne clutch her skull.
'Ugh… The hallucinations again.' Ever since she was young, Karne had heard strange voices. She quickly shook her head, trying to dispel the auditory hallucination. It seemed to happen more frequently after she obtained her weapon at the academy.
“I-I’ll do it! I agree to the contract!”
“Good~ Then please sign right here. Oh, and by the way, use your blood. A second-year senior isn’t scared of drawing a little blood, right?”
“Kgh… Fine. Just give me the contract.”
While Karne had been distracted by the hallucination, something must have happened. The second-year senior, whose fierce glare and aura had vanished, now accepted the contract Zeon held out with a thoroughly subdued attitude.
“That’s right. Ah, please sign down here as well.”
“Ugh…”
Slice.
Who would believe that this was a promising talent with a bright future, kneeling before a junior from a lower year and cutting his own finger with a knife to sign a contract in blood?
Karne felt like everything happening right now was a dream. An overwhelming display of force solving everything in a way she could never manage.
'I’m jealous.' That overwhelming power. That arrogant attitude of looking down on his opponents. Watching Zeon do what she could never do, feeling vicarious satisfaction just from observing him, made her clenched fists tighten even more.
'Is this really the right way to do it?' I broke out in a cold sweat as I looked down at the senior groveling pathetically at my feet. I really hadn’t meant to go this far. I was just planning to break a few bones. I never intended to form a soul-binding oath like this. It felt a bit too heavy-handed.
— Hmph! Your face is full of hesitation. But it seems our master thinks differently.
— Do you really believe scum like them will keep a promise made with mere words? Absolutely not, so do not be mistaken!
'…Well, that’s true.' Just like she said, it was a common cliché for most people to go right back to their evil ways once released. That second-year senior was probably the same type.
— Still, to create such a clean oath on your first attempt. Your talent is truly unparalleled.
Cheonma seemed to be misunderstanding something. This was simply an item I had created many times in the game, so it came easily. Since I remembered the image and its effects clearly, making it was simple. I recalled how the terrifying penalty—if the contract was broken, a portion of the soul (experience and stats) and lifespan (one month of real-time login ban) would be transferred to the other party—made even the worst PK players desperately try to uphold it.
Shrrrrrip.
The moment the second-year senior finished signing, the contract tore itself to shreds in midair and vanished. With that, the contract was complete. From now on, that senior would be unable to commit any evil deeds or crimes similar to what he had done today.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
…Hmm, why does it feel so hard to stay standing? It was like all the strength had drained from my body.
— You used the power of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, so you’re just feeling a little dizzy. Do not worry too much.
Ah, so that’s what it was. I nodded lightly and approached my friend, who had been quietly hiding behind me the whole time. At least moving my body wasn’t a problem.
“Let’s head back now.”
“…….”
“Hey, friend?”
“Karne.”
“Yeah?”
When I tilted my head, my friend—who had been silent until now—grabbed my hand with a determined look in her eyes and said,
“Call me Karne! …That’s my name, after all.”
“Huh? Oh… right, Karne. Let’s go now.”
Why was she acting like this all of a sudden? The shift in her demeanor left me completely bewildered.
— Those eyes… it has been quite a while since I last saw them.
— Disciple. If you don’t want to end up exhausted later, make sure to manage your surroundings properly.
Cheonma left me with what sounded like a warning, as if an elder who had already lived through life was giving advice to a junior. I nodded blankly, but at the same time, I couldn’t quite understand what she meant. Manage my surroundings? What exactly?
— Seeing that face of yours already makes me worried.
Cheonma shook her head as she said that. And so, after resolving the incident, Karne and I returned to our respective classes… Ah, right. I should tell them this before we leave.
I turned my head toward the second-year senior, who was grimacing as he tried to pull himself together, and said,
“By the way, senior, I’ll be counting on you to keep the streets clean from now on.”
“W-what? What are you talking about now?”
“Huh…? It was all written in the contract.”
The conditions I had added to the contract were two-fold.
First. The signer and everyone around them would no longer commit the same evil deeds as before.
Second. If they witnessed anyone else committing evil, they would use all their power to stop it.
From now on, they had become the cleaning crew responsible for making these streets spotless.
At my words, the senior who had signed the contract on behalf of the group, along with the others behind him, turned deathly pale.
“H-how can guys like us do something like that!”
“That’s right! There are third-years here too!”
“And?”
“…What?”
Honestly, how ridiculous. I let out a small sigh.
“You are second-years, and I am a first-year. So, looking at the current result, who won?”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
They couldn’t answer. Because they had lost. And there was no real need to worry. While I didn’t know about the others, the second-year senior I had faced at the end definitely had real skill.
“Then I’ll take it that there are no complaints. I’ll be looking forward to clean streets from now on.”
Even if third-years were around, they probably wouldn’t break so easily. And even if the contract did break, it didn’t matter. That would just be the time for me to step in. There was one more condition in the contract that I hadn’t told them about: if any evil deed occurred and the second-year senior—the one currently in charge—became incapacitated, a signal would be sent to me.
'With this, one sub-scenario has been deleted.' Thinking about how much time and annoyance it had caused me, I already felt much more at ease.