76. Ha-na Knows Nothing
76. Ha-na Knows Nothing
76. Ha-na Knows Nothing
After the long, drawn-out regular classes at the academy finally ended, Yu Ha-yeon, Ban Ha-na, and I were walking toward the Villain Research Club we'd joined.
Tap, tap.
The sound of our footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Yu Ha-yeon turned to me and asked, "Han Si-jun. What did you talk about with Na Yu-na back then? On the rooftop."
"Something about taking responsibility, I think?"
"...Responsibility?"
"No, not that kind of responsibility, Yu Ha-yeon. Could you unclench your fists before we keep talking?"
Yu Ha-yeon stared at me with dead eyes.
Her two tightly clenched fists looked ready to fly at me at any moment.
What on earth happened to this girl...?
I mulled that over as I started explaining. "Back then, I was found at Na Yu-na's company, remember? She was grilling me about that."
"Ah, so that's what it was...? And here I was agonizing over whether I needed to check Na Yu-na's stomach..."
"...What exactly would you be checking for?"
"I know, right...?"
Heh-heh.
Yu Ha-yeon answered with a laugh.
I realized what she must have been imagining, but I had no desire to voice that realization out loud.
"Anyway, she said she'd use Ban Ha-na and me as bodyguards, but I haven't heard anything since."
"Pfft...! She's going to use you two as bodyguards? Na Yu-na? That girl?"
"..."
Yu Ha-yeon burst into laughter at the word "bodyguards."
A remark that carried the meaning of who's protecting whom.
I took no damage from that remark, but the villain Ban Ha-na apparently felt differently.
"I can be a bodyguard too! Don't laugh...!"
"Aren't you more suited to running away than protecting someone?"
"Heroes don't run...!"
Ha-na, you're a villain, you know.
Maybe she'd gotten too used to Hero Academy life; she seemed to have forgotten she was a villain.
Ban Ha-na launched into a pitch for herself. "I'm good at protecting things! I protect the house well! And I keep a good sleep schedule!"
"Yeah. I see. Very impressive."
"Y-y-you...!"
Ban Ha-na bristled at Yu Ha-yeon's nonchalant answer.
She hurled a fact laced with fury back at Yu Ha-yeon.
"You couldn't even protect S-Si-jun! Don't talk back...!"
"...Are you quite finished?"
"Eep...!"
The moment Yu Ha-yeon showed signs of anger, Ban Ha-na immediately tucked her tail.
Maybe because she resembled a rabbit, Ban Ha-na was remarkably quick to tuck her tail.
"You. Stay right there."
"Si-jun, save me...!"
"Will you two stop fighting...? You're embarrassing me..."
I held back Yu Ha-yeon, who was reaching a hand toward Ban Ha-na.
There were other students besides us in the hallway, and the attention was swiveling our way.
I'd tolerate it if they took it to the rooftop, but not here and now.
More importantly—
"Let's go in. Seems like everyone's already here except us."
We were standing in front of the club room, which radiated the presence of a large crowd.
Judging by the raucous noise leaking from inside, we were the last to arrive.
Slide.
And so we stepped into our first club activity.
***
Slide.
The moment the door opened and we walked in, a flood of eyes turned toward us latecomers.
Total members: 19.
Sixteen pairs of eyes.
An awkward current was flowing, all that attention pouring onto us.
I turned my gaze toward someone familiar.
I nearly died because of you, Lee Seol-ha.
Lee Seol-ha, blinded by jealousy.
That button she passed me had almost gotten me killed in the Room Cafe.
As I exchanged a silent look with Lee Seol-ha's dark navy eyes, she turned her head and let out a small sniff.
"...Hmph."
Lee Seol-ha was clearly sulking.
Seeing how tightly she was clutching her phone, it looked like she was pouting because I hadn't contacted her.
"Excuse me, junior Han Si-jun?"
"Yes, Madam President."
Jin Ye-sol—the president of the Villain Research Club and the president of the Hero Academy student council—spoke to me as I stood there without taking any action.
She tilted her head, sending her refreshing blue hair swaying.
"What on earth made you think tardiness on your very first day was acceptable? Especially as a junior?"
"It's not late yet, though...?"
"When a senior speaks to you, you answer with 'yes' or 'Yes.' Understood? And since I'm your senior, I'll speak casually, okay?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
President Jin Ye-sol seemed a few screws loose.
At her eccentric behavior, the bespectacled male club member spoke up. "Madam President. Stop tormenting the new members and take your seat, please."
"Fine~ You know I was joking, right? Sorry~ You three can sit in those empty seats over there."
Since Lee Seol-ha was sitting in the direction she pointed, that was probably the section for first-year students.
I gave Jin Ye-sol a nod and headed to my seat.
Among everyone I'd met so far, she was second only to Han Yu-wol in missing a few screws.
"Han Si-jun, I told you we picked the wrong club...! Let's switch while we still can...!"
"It's fine. Everyone except that one person is normal."
The silver lining was that all the other members of the Villain Research Club were people who took villains seriously.
A club where you could earn arrest authority for villains and develop real combat instincts.
...Naturally, this place attracts people who despise villains.
It was safest to assume that most of the people sitting here harbored malice toward villains.
Still, Jin Ye-sol had surely filtered out anyone with excessive vengefulness from the applications.
Once we were seated, Jin Ye-sol, who was already at the front, signaled the start of the club session.
"Welcome to the Villain Research Club. I'm the oldest here, so I'll speak casually for convenience. That okay?"
"Yes..."
She was already speaking casually, so why even ask?
Geniuses definitely had something about them that was impossible to understand.
"I'll try not to take up too much of your precious... time. I'd like the new members to just get a feel for what the Villain Research Club is about. I won't be asking any questions today, as a special exception. Let's get started then."
Jin Ye-sol set off entirely at her own pace.
And with that, the Villain Research Club presentation began.
"Our Villain Research Club is, as the name suggests, a club that studies villains. Look at the screen, please."
Click.
The bespectacled vice president manipulated the projector with a remote.
His name was Lee Jin-woo. A character with round glasses and high intelligence who covered for Jin Ye-sol's low social skills.
On the screen, red dots were marked across a map of the academy.
Jin Ye-sol continued her explanation, "These red dots represent incidents occurring on academy grounds. What does everyone think they are? First-years, don't answer. Seol-ha, you're the exception."
Beaming.
Jin Ye-sol smiled at Lee Seol-ha.
Lee Seol-ha must have found the smile burdensome, because she immediately turned her head.
In the middle of this, a second-year male member spoke up, "...These are all spaces used by female students."
"Correct. Good answer. That junior's name is...?"
"...I've been in the club since my first year... It's Kim Ji-seok, Madam President."
"Ah, of course I knew that! Junior Ji-seok! I was joking, just joking."
It seemed a little too genuine to be a joke.
Jin Ye-sol pointed at the red dots with a stick and explained, "Now, as you can see, reports of crimes targeting female students have been coming in continuously lately. Someone suddenly groping people and running away in the park, missing laundry left out to dry, a man entering the female dormitory..."
"..."
The moment the story about the man in the female dorm came up, Yu Ha-yeon and Lee Seol-ha both stared daggers at me.
What's more, Lee Seol-ha—maybe because of her misandry—was looking at me like I was trash.
'This is so unfair...'
Feeling wronged, I kept listening to Jin Ye-sol's explanation.
"When we're getting a lot of reports like these, what's the right move for us? Obviously, we need to act too, right? So, fitting for a Villain Research Club, we'll take turns conducting evening patrols. I'll assume everyone agrees and move forward. No objections?"
"..."
The Villain Research Club, it seemed, moved at Jin Ye-sol's whim more than I'd expected.
Ban Ha-na seemed to find something puzzling about Jin Ye-sol's words and asked me, "Si-jun. But why is a research club doing patrols?"
"You have to catch the culprit. They probably said it helps you understand a villain's mindset."
Arrest a criminal, even for a small incident.
The Villain Research Club operated on the idea that doing so allowed you to understand a villain's thoughts just a little.
It was quite literally the study of 'villains' themselves.
Jin Ye-sol turned her gaze to the first-year students and spoke in a shameless tone, "For now, I'll entrust these patrols to the first-year students. It's absolutely not because I'm lazy—it's a test for you! Got it, juniors?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
The first-years had no choice but to answer.
Beside me, Yu Ha-yeon kept muttering, "I want to desert..."
"Hold on, Yu Ha-yeon."
Even if we quit, let's at least grab a Hidden Piece first.
Since this patrol rotation offered one, I took her warm hand and placated her.
Jin Ye-sol gave Lee Jin-woo a meaningful look.
He promptly pressed the remote and switched the screen.
"And we need to decide which villain to study this year, right? Last year it was those sewer rats, so this year I'm thinking of researching a different villain group."
The villain group Dogs of the Sewer.
They were active in the Back Alley I'd visited right after landing in this world. It seemed the Villain Research Club had already finished studying them last year.
Jin Ye-sol placed a long pointer on the screen and introduced the villain group that would be this year's subject.
The name was one I was all too familiar with.
"The group our club will be studying this year is Black Dawn. Our junior Han Si-jun here probably knows them quite well, wouldn't you say?"
"...I suppose you could say that."
Jin Ye-sol grinned at my answer.
There wasn't a single student in this academy who didn't know I'd been kidnapped by Black Dawn.
What kind of face was Ban Ha-na making at the news that we'd be studying Black Dawn?
Curious, I looked at her expression.
And I was astonished.
"Ha-na, you..."
"Si-jun! We get to study Black Dawn!"
Ban Ha-na looked inexplicably thrilled.
'Don't tell me, Ha-na... you...'
Do you not know that you're in Black Dawn...?
"Hehe...!"
Ban Ha-na clapped her hands with pure, unknowing eyes.
A face utterly free of guile.
It was undeniable: she had no idea she was a member of Black Dawn.