Chapter 417: Peaceful Daily Life at Leilan Academy (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 417: Peaceful Daily Life at Leilan Academy (End)
After those minor incidents passed, the new members of the Academy’s Student Council were chosen. Aside from our core group, the only addition was Jo Mi-hyang, the president of the Cooking Research Club.
Well, even though we were the new Student Council, not much really changed for most of us.
Everyone just took advantage of the fact that there were no longer penalties for skipping class, spending their time clearing dungeons or hunting villains instead.
Some dedicated themselves to club activities, while others actually attended the classes they didn’t have to, focusing on their studies.
“Ah, Junior, could you hand me those documents over there?”
Well, everyone except me.
“Ah, Cadet Kang So-hyun. While you’re at it, I’d like you to find a petition in that pile of papers.”
Having taken on the role of Vice President during yesterday’s first Student Council meeting, I was currently stuck in a hell of my own making, processing all sorts of paperwork alongside Chairperson Leilan and Baek Seol.
…If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have been so rash as to ask if there was anything I could do to help.
At the very least, it wasn’t something I should have asked so lightheartedly.
I mean, about half of these issues were caused by me anyway, so it was only right that I helped.
There were concerns regarding the reliability of the newly formed organization, demands for a clear blueprint for the future, simple complaints, and criticisms that were practically just picking fights. On top of that, standard Academy administrative tasks were mixed in.
Occasionally, I’d look closely at a document hoping for something positive, only to find that most were from people trying to get a foot in the door of our organization under the guise of “support,” or requests from external groups for cooperation in capturing villains.
Even though I was using my Cloning Technique to speed through the approvals, this insane mountain of paperwork showed no signs of shrinking.
How on earth did the Chairperson handle all of this by herself normally…?
When I looked at her with that question in my eyes, the Chairperson had a look of profound moved on her face.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun is a genius at menial labor. No, even ‘genius’ isn’t enough. Your work speed is more than ten times the usual. If we’re lucky, we might finish all the backlogged paperwork within today…!”
…She looked so genuinely happy that I couldn’t even say anything.
Turning my head to look at Baek Seol, I saw that she had been wearing a smile the entire time, as if something was constantly amusing her.
“…Do you like this kind of menial work?”
“No? I think it’s inefficient for humans to do this manually, so I hope it gets replaced by machines someday.”
‘It’s just nice because you’re here, Junior.’
Um, let’s pretend I didn’t see her inner thoughts.
“Ah, I see.”
“Oh? Aren’t you going to ask why I’m smiling?”
“I don’t think it would be very good for my mental health.”
“Really? From where I’m sitting, it looks like you know exactly what I’m thinking~”
“Haha, how could I possibly read someone’s mind? Let’s stop the small talk and get back to work, shall we?”
“Hmm, you had no problem playing around in bed with Ha-ru, so why are you being so cold to me?”
The Chairperson’s pen slipped, and the document she was processing tore.
“…Ah, um. No. My apologies. I was just a bit surprised by that sudden bit of information.”
“I didn’t expect my private life to be exposed like this either.”
“Well, I just felt a bit slighted that my junior is only cold to me. Are you mad?”
“…I’m not.”
“You could at least show a little anger. How mischievous. Though, I suppose that’s part of your charm, Junior~”
Whether it was because she was good at multitasking or just skilled, Baek Seol continued to process documents efficiently while smiling. Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she asked:
“Can I call you Mr. Vice President instead of Junior?”
“…Pardon?”
“I mean, there are too many other people who call you ‘Junior,’ and I can’t help it if you pretend not to hear me. But you can’t mistake ‘Mr. Vice President,’ right? I’d like us to become a bit closer through this opportunity.”
‘Because he’d be horrified if I said I wanted to call him by a pet name. Ah, but I kind of want to see that reaction too.’
“…If I say no, will you stop?”
“Hmm, then I suppose I’ll have no choice but to think of a pet name just for you, Junior.”
“…Just call me that.”
“Hehe, thank you, Mr. Vice President.”
Fine. I’m not even going to look in Baek Seol’s direction until all this paperwork is done.
With that thought, I turned my head, only to find that the Chairperson—who had been working so diligently—was now malfunctioning.
She was fidgeting, looking as though she desperately wanted to ask me something. Unfortunately, ever since I adapted to the power of the World Tree, I could no longer see inside the Chairperson’s head.
…I was curious about what she was thinking, and a bit scared, but I didn’t have the courage to dare ask.
And so, I focused my gaze back on the documents.
“…Hm?”
I found a document for an event scheduled for the end of this month.
“Right. There’s the Field Learning trip.”
Just as the 2nd and 3rd years went on school trips and the 4th years went on a graduation trip, I knew the 1st years also went on a trip.
I had just forgotten that it happened in the winter because life had been so busy lately.
The Field Learning was exactly what it sounded like—more of a training exercise than a vacation. It involved experiencing what real heroes do or studying the history of heroes at museums and such.
Well, as you can probably tell from the description, it was one of the most boring events.
The only highlights were the recreation time and chatting with friends in the dorms before bed.
But looking closer, I noticed something quite strange.
“…Eh? Canceled?”
That was right.
I had misunderstood after only seeing the first part; the document wasn’t about the Field Learning itself, but rather about canceling it and replacing it with another event.
Now, I could understand this happening in the original story or the 1st Timeline when things were chaotic, but I couldn’t understand why the final 1st-year event was being canceled now, when most of the problems had been settled.
“What is it, Cadet Kang So-hyun?”
“It’s about this.”
“Ah, ah…! I’d forgotten, I need to process that as well.”
The Chairperson’s reaction meant she knew about the cancellation, but what could the reason be…?
“Starting this year, as a trial, we decided to send the 1st years on a vacation-oriented trip instead of a training-oriented one. I can’t believe I haven’t processed this until now…”
“…Huh?”
Ah, right. It did say it was being replaced by another event, not just canceled.
I panicked for a second thinking something major had happened.
“But there’s less than a month left in the academic calendar. Can we even resolve this now?”
“…Probably not, right?”
“…It looks like you’ve already terminated the contract with the original training facility?”
“Well, there were so many incidents this year that processing for relatively low-priority events got pushed back…”
“Pushed back?”
“…And it seems I forgot about it entirely.”
Honestly, it was a bit absurd, but the Chairperson isn’t a god… well, she technically is a god now, but regardless, she isn’t a perfect being. I suppose she can make mistakes.
She had been handling this vast amount of paperwork almost entirely on her own while participating in battles and being pressured by external forces. It was understandable that she might miss or make a mistake on a document or two.
“…This is a problem. Should I try to contact a travel agency right now? No, even if we decide immediately, we need approvals and have to conduct a participation survey. The schedule is far too tight.”
True. Most of the 1st-year class would be participating, so suddenly arranging a schedule now wouldn’t be easy.
“Wait a moment.”
That is, if I weren’t the son of the chairman of the second-largest group in the country.
[Yes, what is it?]
When I called my father directly on my smartphone, I heard his voice, which felt like it had been a while.
…Well, maybe it was because I had seen my mother recently.
Or maybe it was just because I heard his voice so suddenly, but I felt like I might need to have a proper conversation with him again soon.
“There’s an opportunity to sell a favor to the Chairperson of the Academy.”
Well, talk is talk, but I had to solve the urgent matter first.
[…Do you need military force, or is this a business matter?]
“Business. The Academy decided to send the 1st years on a vacation instead of training starting this year, but they forgot to process the paperwork because of all the incidents.”
[I see. Then tell her that if she uses the services provided by our Yuseong Group, we can offer a domestic trip at a very reasonable price.]
“He says that if you swear to continue contracting with Yuseong Group in the future, he’ll help you out without fleecing you too much.”
Actually, the Cheonhwa Group would be better in this regard, but I’d used the Cheon Mu-jin chance too often lately. Besides, shouldn’t I show some filial piety to my father once in a while?
“…Whew, fine. I’ll make a decision after hearing the terms.”
And at the tear-inducingly reasonable terms, the Chairperson marveled and stamped the documents with a trembling hand.
After that, there were a few more minor incidents, but thanks to my clones and Baek Seol’s efforts, we were able to clear the mountain of paperwork that had been tormenting the Chairperson before the day was over.
The Chairperson mentioned she couldn’t remember the last time she’d finished work on time and offered to buy us dinner, but she looked like she desperately needed rest, so we decided to just head back.
* * *
The next day during homeroom, since the announcement was going to be posted soon anyway and everyone seemed to be secretly looking forward to it, I told them. Everyone reacted exactly as expected.
“Whoa, the seniors gave us such a huge scare saying it was incredibly boring, but we’re just going to play!?”
Starting with Ga-eul, everyone else seemed quite happy. At this point, I hadn’t even imagined that the kids would start bickering over such a trivial thing.
“Since we have to go by the end of this month, they’ll probably tell you to pick a destination within this week.”
“Oh, as the Student Council Vice President, can’t you give us a hint about the candidates?”
Even though she still wasn’t in our class, Ha-ni, who was sitting naturally by my side, started a little roleplay.
“You guys are on the Student Council too, you know. Anyway, I can tell you—not because I’m the Vice President, but because I’m the son of Yuseong Group.”
I told them that while it wouldn’t be overseas for the 1st years, it was limited to domestic locations, but it wasn’t much different.
We had narrowed it down to one place purely for relaxation and another where they could at least gain something.
“You’ll have to choose between Jeju Island and Gyeongju.”
For reference, in this world, Gyeongju is a travel destination on par with Jeju Island, and it’s also a training ground that heroes visit at least once.
In the original world, there was a saying that you’d find an artifact if you just dug into the ground there, and it was the same here.
Of course, the chances of a high-grade artifact appearing were slim, but for ordinary people, picking up even a Hero-grade or Rare-grade artifact meant a windfall.
“Eh, what? Then it’s too easy.”
“Right. Everyone’s going to pick the same thing.”
“The balance is a bit off~”
“Yeah, who would make a choice like that given the chance?”
Everyone nodded with smiling faces, as if the answer was obvious.
“Gyeongju, obviously.”
“Jeju Island, obviously.”
“Wait, Gyeongju…?”
“Going to Jeju is the right call…?”
After their opinions split so clearly, everyone began to look at each other with expressions as if they were looking at incomprehensible creatures.
“…Uh, well, both have their own charms, right?”
Except for me, who honestly didn’t care which one we chose.
“Don’t you think you’re taking the joke too far, Lilac? You’re picking Jeju over Gyeongju? Gyeongju not only has many artifacts, but because so many are buried there, the mana density is also very high. It’s the optimal place for training.”
“Well, of course Gyeongju isn’t bad. Self-improvement is important, and it’s true there’s a chance to find artifacts. But I think that actually ruins the essence of a trip. The Academy said they revamped the trip for the sake of relaxation.”
Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak looked at each other with an atmosphere similar to the original story.
“Why would you want to go to Gyeongju?”
“I mean, it’s not even summer, so why go to Jeju? Gyeongju has plenty of cool stuff too.”
Ga-eul and Ha-ni clashed.
“Well, I think Jeju is better than Gyeongju? The winter sea has its own charm, doesn’t it? And it’s the season when sashimi tastes the best.”
“No, we have to go to Gyeongju. I think you’ve forgotten because he finds them so easily, but artifacts aren’t normally that easy to come by, you know?”
Aisha and Ju Ri-ra fought.
Wait, I told them so they could be happy, so why are they fighting…?
Lee Yu-na, the only one not participating in the battle, would surely follow wherever Lilac wanted to go…
“Lilac. This time, I want to go to Gyeongju too.”
…Is the world coming to an end? Lee Yu-na is taking the opposite side of Lilac?
With Yu-na’s statement as the final blow, a strange tension began to flow through the class.
“Good morning, everyone. I have some news today that you’ll all be happy to hear…?”
Cathy Noona, who entered the class at the worst possible timing, looked around trying to grasp the situation before tilting her head in confusion.
“…First of all, can those of you who aren’t in this class please leave?”
Well, the fight entered a lull for a very common-sense reason.