A Gentleman's Revenge (1)
A Gentleman's Revenge (1)
[Miss Baek A-rin, is the head of the Changhae family coming to the Birth Festival?]
I was in Baek A-rin's arms, letting her melt against me while she held me.
Concentrating so hard my head seemed to creak, I was analyzing her condition when a thought suddenly crossed my mind. I pushed it into the necklace.
"Haaah, hmm... well..."
Baek A-rin blinked, trailing off. Her breath, now comfortably warm, brushed against my hair. Limp as water, she tightened her arms around me and continued in a languid voice.
"There was a chain rampage in the territory recently. Father has been leading troops to deal with it, so it isn't certain."
[Ah...]
"The territory is so vast that it's a common occurrence. Most of it is uninhabited land full of dungeons and monsters, so there are no casualties, but we have to handle it swiftly because it'll keep growing if left alone."
Among the Three Great Families, the largest jurisdiction—or rather, territory—belongs to the Changhae family.
Unlike the Calamity Flame and Taesan families, which are coiled within the Korean peninsula, the Changhae family holds a vast territory stretching from the north.
Of course, most of that territory is barren land shaped by a subarctic climate, but vast lands also mean many dungeons.
With a large jurisdiction comes more dungeons and monsters to manage. Many forces have collapsed under that weight.
Existing powers typically reduce unnecessary territory, while newly established ones maintain small holdings. The Changhae family operates differently.
That is because they have the strength to handle the dungeons and monsters generated across their vast lands.
'And right below them, Calamity Flame and Taesan are holding firm.'
The Three Great Families have maintained a relationship that is practically a blood alliance for the past two hundred years.
They interact actively in peacetime and generously send whatever is needed.
Even when the Twin-headed Poison Dragon appeared and turned China upside down, Calamity Flame and Taesan were horrified alongside them, and the family heads led their troops up to lend their strength.
"Haaah, fuu... If it's settled quickly, he might come even if late; if the situation drags on, he might not make it."
[Understood.]
But that also means investing just as much attention into managing the territory, so the head of Changhae must be a terribly busy man. That was Baek A-rin's explanation for why she couldn't be sure he would visit during the Birth Festival.
Baek A-rin shrugged and buried her nose in my hair. Sniff, sniff... Her comfortably warm breath tickled my scalp.
The sight of her so blatantly smelling me. It didn't bother me. Others do it too, and Baek A-rin especially would always bury her nose in my hair whenever her body melted against mine.
'......'
I didn't find it unpleasant, but I did have one complaint: only Baek A-rin was doing the smelling.
Every time she moved, her greatly puffed-out dress shirt rubbed against my face. Her outer coat had long since been taken off, and her dress shirt was half-soaked with water and sweat.
I pressed my nose deep into that chest and sniffed and sniffed with all my might, yet couldn't catch a thing. That was my complaint.
...I felt an impulse at those times, but I held it back somehow and just pouted.
'So I might not meet the head of the Changhae family at the Birth Festival?'
The current head of Changhae is Baek A-rin's birth father, Baek Wol-seon. He is renowned as one of the most powerful among the top-grade heroes.
'I wonder if that man knows about Baek A-rin's condition...'
Her own father. If it is the parent she has been with since birth, it wouldn't be strange if he knew about her condition.
Conversely, since it's a secret hard to uncover even with Observation Authority, there is a chance he might not know.
Either way, I strongly wish to meet him and ask.
'...Of course, the thought of actually meeting him makes me incredibly nervous...'
As I hugged Baek A-rin's waist tightly, the ring on her finger suddenly caught my eye.
It was the ring I had made for her last time, worn on her left ring finger.
Seeing it there tickled a strange satisfaction in my chest.
.
.
.
Though overshadowed by the grand festivities of the Birth Festival, the schedule for midterm evaluations was also drawing near.
The midterm is an evaluation taken every semester. The second-semester midterm is held right before the Birth Festival.
It isn't conducted on as grand a scale as the first semester's, though.
Usually, the first-semester midterm is grueling, while the second-semester one is relatively relaxed.
That is why this midterm runs over two days instead of five. No outsiders are invited, and no big tournament is held or broadcast externally.
The schedule is simple: written exams on the first day, and practicals by major on the second.
Furthermore, its overall weighting is lower than the first semester, so the cadets didn't feel much pressure.
Still, since it was an evaluation that affected their grades, even cadets who had been excited about the Birth Festival kept up a moderate level of tension while preparing for the midterm.
I was similar.
I wasn't particularly tense. I just spent the past few days studying and training together with everyone at the mansion.
"We will now begin the written evaluation."
Thus came the first day of midterms.
I sat down in the evaluation hall assigned to me and waited for the start.
Unfortunately, I had been assigned to a different hall from everyone else. It even sparked the foolish suspicion that some odd manipulation had occurred.
"There are thirty questions. Testing time is one hour per subject. If you complete all questions in one subject, you may move directly to the next. Cadets who finish the evaluation within the given time are free to leave early."
As I listened to the instructions echoing from the speakers high above, memories of the first semester came flooding back.
I still vividly remember the exam I entered after all that hundredfold tension—reviewing my organized notes several times, meditating, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves. It was incredibly difficult, and with time so tight, I couldn't stop moving my head and fingers.
How anxious I had been that I might slip and my rank would plummet. If that had happened, how people saw me would have dropped right along with it.
Honestly, I didn't care much about my own prestige, but I had desperately done my best to avoid shaming my teacher, who had taught me.
"Time has elapsed. The written evaluation will now begin."
Now I wasn't particularly tense. When an approaching staff member asked for it, I removed my smartwatch and handed it over. After a brief wait, the exam began.
With a calm expression, I checked the questions displayed on the tablet.
Just like the first semester, the first subject was magic. A wicked design that places a difficult subject first to unsettle the cadets' minds.
'Thirty questions in one hour... Both the number of problems and the time have decreased compared to the first semester. The difficulty... has increased proportionally to what we have covered in class.'
Amidst the other cadets hastily starting to solve the problems, I operated the tablet and checked all thirty questions for the magic subject.
Immediately, I deployed some Divided Thought to calculate the questions in parallel.
'Solving done.'
- Ssk, sssk...
When other cadets were just starting their first problem, my pen moved without a moment's pause.
[I will be leaving now.]
"Huh? Ah, yes, understood. You may leave the tablet at your desk. You can retrieve your submitted belongings at the desk."
[Thank you.]
And so I was able to leave early, passing cadets who were sweating profusely and flailing their pens.
I didn't doubt the results, even if I had hurried a little.
I retrieved my smartwatch from the staff member, who had a flustered expression as if to ask if I was really leaving already, and hurried out of the evaluation hall.
- Whooong!
- ...Puuu...
A cold, biting wind whipped at my hair. When I exhaled into it, a puff of white mist emerged.
I moved my feet quickly, passing a tree whose leaves had fallen in a rustling cascade.
Passersby were dressed thicker, while the trees had shed their leaves.
Siyoram had, before I knew it, taken on a winter atmosphere.
It was a season I thoroughly hated.
A cold and bitter season.
Snow and ice frozen everywhere—how hard it had been to fall asleep on that ground... The memory of cold that pierced to the marrow made my limbs tingle involuntarily.
I quickened my pace and soon arrived at my destination.
The entrance to Evaluation Hall No. 6, still desolate.
I killed time by lingering near the desolate entrance.
- Praise me, I think I got all the Superhuman Special Law answers right.
- Did you write down all the Exception Law in Disaster Situations?
- Ah shit... Huh?
After a short wait, when the exam ending time came, cadets started pouring out of the entrance.
What began as one or two cadets dotting the exit soon became a flood.
Among them, the cadet who had been grumbling at the very front spotted me, and his eyes grew wide.
[Hello.]
"Ah, yes. Hello."
When I nodded slightly in response, the cadet awkwardly greeted me back. The cadets following behind him also showed surprised reactions upon seeing me.
I turned my eyes away from them and opened them slightly wider. I ignored the sound of people swallowing their breath for some reason and shifted my gaze left and right.
Everywhere I looked, my vision was full of dull fog. I recognized the cadet gaping ahead of me, but he didn't reflect in my actual sight.
Through that, a flash of red caught my eye.
Bright red hair and jewel-like glittering eyes.
Instead of the baseball jacket she usually preferred, she was wearing the cadet uniform's outer coat I had personally draped over her.
A sweet body scent wafting from afar.
And coiled around that neck of hers, a red scarf the exact same color as her gently swaying hair.
"Hee-hee."
The corners of my mouth, which had been set in a straight line, curled upward in satisfaction. Ignoring the noise continuously buzzing around me, I moved my feet.
"[Yeon-hwa.]"
Hong Yeon-hwa, trudging out with both hands shoved in her pockets, opened her eyes wide. In that gap, I scurried over and snuggled right into her arms.
The chilly surroundings instantly became warm. As I felt the cozy body heat radiating through her clothes, I lifted my head with a goofy smile.
"What, were you waiting outside? You should've waited inside somewhere warm..."
Hong Yeon-hwa, eyes wide, placed her hands on my cheeks. My slightly cold cheeks melted against her body heat.
"[I arrived just before it ended, so it's fine... Yeah, keep touching.]"
A purring-like sound naturally rumbled from my throat. I caught her hand as it was about to pull away and pressed my cheek back into it.
As I stood on tiptoe and nuzzled my head, I faintly felt the soft texture of the red scarf.
"Hm-hmm."
Satisfaction swelled up within me once more.
It was a warm winter.
* * *
[Mental State 「Possessiveness」 is influencing Mental State 「Yo?Jeong」.]