The Long-Awaited Disciple
I found her. Akasa Ardel.
She had grown bored with the talent drought that had dragged on for years. 'Should I just go back to being a mercenary?' She had taken the professor position at the persistent request of the chairman, but even that was starting to wear thin. When she had accepted the role, she had clearly stated that she would teach anyone who showed talent, and do nothing if there wasn't anyone worth her time. That condition had been honored perfectly—perhaps too perfectly. No one had caught her eye in all this time. No matter how good the pay was, collecting a fat salary for years while doing absolutely nothing weighed on her conscience. At this point, announcing the return of the Mercenary King and traveling the world again didn't sound half bad.
She had wanted to take a disciple to ensure the lineage of her one-man transmission wouldn't die out. But with no talent in sight... 'It might be faster if I go look for one myself.' Even though she couldn't be certain she'd find a disciple in Mirinae Academy, where only the greatest concentrations of talent gathered, it still seemed better than rotting away here doing nothing. In truth, the conditions she was looking for might have been absurd from the start. The candidate had to be unable to use mana, yet possess a body thoroughly trained through physical conditioning. If they could even sense natural mana on top of that, it would be the cherry on top.
But recently, she had begun to think that such a being could never even enter Mirinae Academy in the first place. She finally understood how her own master must have felt when he said he had waited ten years for her. 'Yeah. Let's call it quits.' If she lived long enough, a disciple would turn up eventually.
The moment Akasa stood up, having finished organizing her thoughts and ready to announce her resignation—
"Huh. What kind of crazy bastard is pulling this kind of stunt?"
She sensed a flow of black mana coming from the direction of the Mirinae Academy S-class dormitory. Thinking it was perfect timing since she was bored anyway, she immediately moved, dashing toward the location at high speed. But midway—
'It's gone.'
The aura of black mana had vanished. It seemed someone nearby had already subdued it, but strangely, she couldn't sense any mana from that person. For a human being, there should have been at least a trace of mana, no matter how faint. Driven by intense curiosity, she accelerated even more and arrived at the scene, where she discovered a boy standing there.
'Oh?'
The traces of demonic beasts fading around them, a student who appeared to have fainted, and the boy standing tall. Just from the scene alone, she could instantly understand what had happened.
'A first-year took down a low-grade demon?'
Not only that, but she couldn't feel any mana from him, and if she looked closely, she could sense the faintest trace of natural mana as well.
'...!'
On top of that, the clear signs of extremely rigorous physical training visible across his body. Akasa licked her lips and immediately decided to test him as a potential disciple. The situation was already over and the culprit had fainted, so there was plenty of time.
'Let's start with a killing intent reaction.'
The recklessness of immediately testing the practical combat ability of a talent she had finally found after years of searching. It was proof that her years as a mercenary had twisted her common sense a little.
Boom!
'I was only planning to threaten him, but he dodged it perfectly?'
She had leaped forward out of curiosity to see how he would react to a strike with killing intent. She never expected him to notice it in advance and evade. Even simply raising an arm into a defensive stance would have been enough to pass, but the boy before her had done far more than that.
'Maybe I should pretend I don't know anything and probe him a bit.'
After asking Lee Seokhyun a few questions, Akasa finally asked the most important one.
"...I'm asking if you did this."
"Y-yes... Yessir."
It was a foolish-sounding answer, but it was more than enough.
'Found him.'
The disciple she had waited so long for had finally appeared right before her eyes. And at the exact moment she had decided to leave the academy? It was nothing short of fate.
Akasa smiled brightly as she looked at Lee Seokhyun, her grin deepening.
"You. Become my disciple."
She had no intention of accepting refusal.
"You. Become my disciple."
"..."
The moment she appeared and immediately started talking about taking him as a disciple, I cheered inwardly.
'She's already skipped over the entire process in her head and reached the conclusion that she'll take me as her disciple.'
Akasa Ardel was one of the essential elements needed when playing as Lee Seokhyun. She was an absolutely crucial figure required to safely get through the early stages. No matter what, I had to become her disciple. But for her to come find me first and offer it herself? It almost felt like things were going too smoothly.
'That killing intent from earlier was probably just her testing how much talent I had.'
She had come after sensing the black mana, but the situation was already over. And then she found a guy standing there with no detectable mana. Of course she would want to test him. On top of that, the moment she saw the natural mana and the thoroughly trained body, she immediately offered to take him as a disciple.
'She has no intention of accepting a refusal, either.'
Unlike her level of martial prowess, Akasa Ardel had an extremely simple personality and couldn't hide her expressions. She was the free-spirited Mercenary King who had clear likes and dislikes and refused to do anything she didn't want to do. That was Akasa.
Normally, the moment she confirmed that the student who had turned into a demon had been captured alive, she should have focused her attention there. But because raising a disciple was far more important to her, she was pouring all her attention onto me.
"Your disciple?"
"That's right, my disciple! You might not know who I am since you're only a first-year, but you'll definitely come to realize just how incredible this opportunity is."
Rather than listing off who she was and what achievements she had accomplished in exhaustive detail, she spoke of the future instead. How great it would be to become her disciple and what kind of influence it would bring. I was honestly impressed by how systematically she was pitching herself.
'If it wasn't for me, she really would have quit the academy.'
Her eyes were filled with pure joy that something she thought would never happen had finally come true.
'Well, in the original story we met outside the academy anyway.'
The reason Lee Seokhyun, who preferred routes that avoided entering the academy, was able to meet Akasa was precisely because of her resignation from the academy. My original plan had been to spread rumors as quickly as possible and meet her before she quit. But thanks to the black mana, we ended up meeting even faster than through rumors, and that was actually better. I didn't need to prove my ability separately, and she was the one courting me first. It was the most ideal scenario possible.
Since Akasa had no idea what I was thinking and assumed I was hesitating, she continued speaking.
"You don't have to give me an answer right this moment, but I'd really like it to be a positive one. I've never seen a talent like you before."
She was using the most flattering words she could muster to persuade me. Since I had to inherit her one-man transmission anyway, there was no need to drag it out. I was about to give her an immediate answer when—
"What in the world is going on here!"
"Is that a demon?!"
"Did Seokhyun do this?"
The first-year representative professors arrived in a rush. Each of them began investigating and analyzing the situation using their own unique abilities. They trusted that Akasa, who was right in front of me, had already confirmed my safety and physical condition. It was a refreshingly professional sight—everyone trusting each other and doing their own jobs perfectly.
'They're completely different from when I was choosing my classes.'
They were clearly proving with their actions that being a representative professor was no ordinary position. Among them, Gainard—who was relatively less specialized in this kind of work—hoisted the fainted Kim Baeseong onto his back. Just before he moved to interrogate Kim Baeseong, he spotted Akasa and spoke up.
"Did you find a disciple?"
"Yeah. Just now."
"I knew you wouldn't—I've told you over and over, you need to lower your standards and start from the beginning with the mindset of raising one from scratch...? Wait, what?"
"I said I found one. Just now."
Gainard froze. He had been about to preach his philosophy on taking disciples when he stopped mid-sentence at the word "found." He looked back and forth between me and Akasa, then turned to her with a regretful expression.
"If you're talking about Lee Seokhyun, unfortunately he's already agreed to become my disciple."
"Excuse me? Gainard, I can't just let that slide."
"Exactly. We've told you multiple times that Seokhyun is an outsider."
"..."
The moment the topic of 'Whose disciple is Lee Seokhyun?' came up, all traces of professionalism vanished. I wasn't trying to belittle them, but they looked like children fighting over a toy. Where had all the cool, impressive figures who taught students and advanced the story gone?
'Is this because of me?'
If things got this awkward, the final responsibility would definitely get pushed onto me. To avoid the worst-case scenario of someone demanding, 'So whose disciple are you going to be, Lee Seokhyun?!' I decided to make the first move.
"Then I'll go prepare to receive the investigation for now."
Since I was involved with a demon, it was only natural that I had to undergo questioning. But I could at least rest first, so I asked for their understanding. The possibility that I had turned into a demon had already been ruled out the moment I met Akasa, so after receiving permission, I was able to leave the area.
'All my business here is done.'
You have acquired the Hidden Skill: Great Adversary.
You have achieved the Accomplishment: One-Man Army.
Now it was time to check out the sweet rewards.