Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Commendation Ceremony (3)
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Thud thud.
A female secretary who appeared to be in her mid-twenties emerged from the dean's office.
She was the dean's secretary, someone I'd seen often in the game. It felt nice to see her again after so long.
"Award recipients, please come inside."
The five cadets entered the dean's office one by one.
The moment we stepped in, my eyes were drawn to the luxurious carpet, the row of leather sofas lined up neatly, and the solid wooden table placed between the two rows of seating.
A massive, ornate chandelier illuminated the space from above, while sunlight streaming through the windows added a touch of elegance.
Overwhelmed by the opulent atmosphere from the start, I only belatedly noticed the person seated at the head of the room.
The dean, who had been sitting in his chair from the beginning, made eye contact with each of us entering the room, then clapped his hands and spoke up.
"Well, well! All the talents of Victoria Academy are gathered here! Haha!"
Clap clap clap.
The dean clapped enthusiastically all by himself in the quiet atmosphere until the female secretary lightly nudged him. Only then did he stop and continue.
"Oh, sorry about that. I get caught up in the moment. I called you all here to get a look at the faces of today's awardees beforehand. I'm the one presenting the awards myself, after all."
The female secretary handed out a sheet of paper to each of us.
Lucy and I received two each.
The papers outlined the awards we were receiving and the general stage movements.
"The commendation ceremony is scheduled for 10 o'clock. They're probably preparing for the rehearsal by now, so head to the auditorium and do a light run-through. Oh, you two—stay behind a moment."
The dean gave me and Lucy a glance, and the secretary who had been standing behind him stepped out of the dean's office.
"Follow me."
Elise, Moon Soo-rin, and the second-year male cadet followed the secretary out. Lucy and I were left alone.
"H-Ho-yeon. What's going on? Why are just the two of us staying?"
"It's fine. Just relax."
Does she still not get it? This should be obvious. We're the only two getting a separate award at the commendation ceremony. Obviously, it's for subjugating Felix.
This isn't just slow on the uptake.
Maybe it's a defense mechanism where she's deliberately avoiding memories related to Felix.
Refusing to let her thoughts wander in that direction as much as possible.
If that's really the case, I'd feel pretty guilty.
Once the cadets' footsteps had completely faded, the dean spoke up.
"I'm sure you've already guessed, but we're planning to award you for the incident where you detected and subdued the mine Felix."
Lucy's face suddenly paled.
"Y-Yes? W-Wait a—"
Thud.
I grabbed Lucy's hand tightly just as she was about to speak.
I shook my head at her surprised gaze.
It meant to stay quiet for now.
Lucy looked like she wanted to say something, her lips twitching, but she eventually closed her mouth.
"Mm, of course it's nerve-wracking. Unlike the outstanding cadets, you'll be receiving your awards alongside the hunters."
No wonder the printout's stage directions didn't include the outstanding cadets—they're getting theirs separately. For words meant to ease our nerves, they sure made us more tense.
In fact, Lucy's trembling intensified.
But... something felt off.
The award was too big. Sure, a cadet catching a mine that had infiltrated the academy was a huge deal worthy of major recognition, but from Victoria Academy's perspective, this wasn't something they'd want to blow up this much.
Like how they covered up my previous incident. Places like this are usually full of selfish types.
But I couldn't exactly ask why the award was so unusually large, so I decided to stay quiet.
"So, I've been thinking about what reward to give you two. It's mostly decided, but there's some opposition."
In addition to the stage direction printouts, we received secret oath documents.
How huge a reward are they giving that we need nondisclosure agreements?
Perhaps reading the tension on my face, the dean gave a friendly smile.
"Don't be nervous, both of you. Think of yourselves as the stars here and carry yourselves with pride. Once this ceremony ends, all the rumors about you will vanish."
"...Yes. Thank you."
With nothing more to say, we followed the dean's instruction to join the rehearsal and left the office.
"I-I can't accept this."
Once we were a good distance from the dean's office, Lucy suddenly grabbed me and said.
"Lucy."
"I didn't do anything. I got stupidly caught by the mine, passed out the moment you came to rescue me, and woke up in the hospital room. Why am I getting an award? I can't accept it."
Lucy's eyes were trembling. Her rejection was stronger than I'd expected.
But I couldn't say now that I'd caught the mine alone, and we couldn't cancel the commendation ceremony.
⚔ Heroine Status Window ⚔ 💖 Affection: 93 🔥 Lust: 40 🍽️ Appetite: 30 😴 Fatigue: 35 Current Status: I can't accept an award after committing such a huge blunder. Thank goodness—or whatever you call it—that her reluctance to accept the award stemmed from guilt toward me.
If it were hatred of anything related to Felix, I'd have considered forfeiting the ceremony for her mental health, but this wasn't the worst case. Relief.
This opened a path forward.
"Lucy..."
"I'm sorry. Really sorry, but this is too much..."
"Lucy. Do it for me."
"..."
"If I say I took down the mine alone, the attention on me will skyrocket. People jealous of me might even become threats."
In truth, I'd already given up on avoiding attention while conquering the heroines—who knows what aggro I'll pull next.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure extra attention meant threats.
But Lucy had no way of knowing that.
"...Okay."
"Thanks. For thinking of me."
"No big deal. Getting an award is good for me too, right? Adds a line to the resume later!"
Lucy bought my persuasion.
She seemed relieved once she realized accepting the award would help me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Next, a moment of silence to honor the hunters who sacrificed their lives in the gate suppression."
Solemn background music played as the audience began their silence.
"Whoa, I'm so nervous. Shaking."
"Don't stress. It'll be nothing."
Lucy and I were waiting backstage for our presentation.
"Nothing? We're up next after the next! Ugh..."
"Yeah, pretty much."
Right after the commendations for the hunters who contributed to the gate suppression, it was our turn.
But why haven't those people shown up yet? It's almost time.
"A-young, hold on. It's just dinner among colleagues. Why so prickly?"
"Sorry. I've been busy lately."
"A-young, wait!"
Voices of people entering the waiting area reached us.
Familiar name and voice.
Soon, a woman with straight black hair and snow-white skin entered the waiting room.
"Haa, really. Oh? Ho-yeon?"
"A-young. Hello."
"Oh, right! They said cadets who subdued the mine were attending today's commendation ceremony! Why didn't I remember that?!"
This damn academy only kept info from me and Lucy, it seems.
They handle things like absolute trash.
"A-young! Hm?"
The man entering late spotted me talking with Baek A-young, narrowed his eyes, and approached with a displeased expression.
After scanning me up and down, he seemed somewhat relieved and smiled.
"Ah~ So you're the stars—no, cadets—who caught that mine?"
"..."
Even on a first meeting, how could someone be this obnoxious? The moment he learned I was a cadet, he treated me like utter dirt. Asshole.
"I'm Kang Ye-chan, receiving the award with A-young. A-rank hunter, working for the association."
"Yes. Nice to meet you. A-young, you didn't mention you were getting an award today."
I let Kang Ye-chan's words go in one ear and out the other.
"They told me to keep it secret. People outside probably don't even know I'm getting one."
"Didn't the whole association show up? Without you two, it'd be obvious."
"Huh? Really?"
Baek A-young muttered something like "Is that so?" while I watched, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
She's surprisingly innocent. Minus the rape fetish.
"Haha, you know A-young? How'd you..."
"Next group, get ready!"
"Ah, gotta go. See you later!"
"Yes. Good luck!"
Baek A-young and Kang Ye-chan followed the guide onto the stage.
They weren't at the rehearsal earlier—hope they do okay.
"Lucy, let's prepare. Our turn soon."
"Yeah. But... how do you know the Saintess?"
Lucy's piecing together my girl connections through this ceremony. A bit scary.
"Met her while volunteering over the weekend. I'll tell you later."
"Volunteering...? You really live a full life..."
"Just a hobby."
Everything's for seducing women, but Lucy looked at me like I was some amazing person.
Good misconception—let it ride.
"Next cadets! Come on up!"
"Let's go."
"...U-Uh-huh!"
She seems super tense. She'll be fine, right?
"Eek!"
Lucy looked so nervous I gave her shoulders a quick rub.
"Relax. It'll be over quick."
"U... Okay."
- Next, commendations for the cadets who subdued the mine.
We slowly ascended the stage.
First came the bright lights welcoming us, then the massive crowd.
A crowd so huge it made no sense why we were receiving awards here.
Among them, I glimpsed the entire academy's cadets, association executives, guild leaders from major groups—pretty much everyone had sent reps.
We walked slowly to stand before the dean.
"These cadets, by subduing the mine that infiltrated the academy, have become exemplars for society, demonstrating responsibility and justice... Hereby commended. Cadet Lee Ho-yeon."
"Thank you."
I accepted the commendation certificate from the dean as politely and dignified as possible, tucking it under my left arm.
"Lucy. Same as above."
"Tha...nk...you."
"...?"
"Pfft."
A snicker came from somewhere in the audience.
Lucy's face flushed red—not just her cheeks, but her ears too—as she took the certificate.
Does being in front of so many people make her that nervous?
"This concludes the commendation ceremony."
The ceremony ended with the dean's declaration and applause.
It felt like barely a minute to me, but I pity the academy cadets sitting through it—must've been boring as hell.
Clap clap clap.
The cadets' joyful applause filled the grand hall.
Once the thunderous clapping died down, the dean spoke again.
"As dean of Victoria Academy, I am deeply impressed by these two cadets' valor."
Suddenly? Wasn't it over?
"An academy meant to safely nurture its future felt deep responsibility for this incident occurring and for leaving the resolution to students."
The dean's sudden actions left me and Lucy flustered, and the seated audience looked puzzled too.
"But first, I wish to reward these two students."
The dean took a breath and continued.
"We will open the academy's treasure vault. Each student will be granted one treasure."
Murmur murmur.
The audience began buzzing.
The academy's treasure vault. I'd only heard about it in the setting—never seen it myself.
Rumor had it priceless artifacts accumulated over eras were stored there... but rumors are just rumors.
"Victoria Academy always stands with its cadets to protect the truth. Ugly rumors cling to the heroes who subdued the mine. I state clearly here: Victoria Academy does not engage in star-making schemes. That is all."
No wonder he said the rumors would vanish after the ceremony—this was it.
Yeah, if the dean says it himself, most rumors would die out.
Those who refuse to believe will keep denying anyway—even if they saw me kill the mine, they'd call it a scam.
After the dean's speech ended, we descended the stage and were called back to the dean's office.
"Well done. Lucy, you seemed quite tense."
"S-Sorry."
"Hahaha, no worries. I was the same at that age."
The atmosphere relaxed now that the ceremony was over.
I couldn't hold back my lingering question any longer.
"Dean, may I ask something?"
"Hm? Of course. Ask away."
"Why go to such lengths for us? It doesn't benefit the academy at all, does it?"
The doubt I'd harbored. The dean raised an eyebrow slightly at my question and sighed.
"Why threaten like that if you won't even tell your disciple..."
"Pardon?"
"Professor Im Sol's been looking out for you like that. First time I've seen her act that way."
The dean looked utterly exhausted as he spoke.
"Ah..."
Finally, the secret behind this massive award and ceremony revealed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Here we are—the academy's treasure vault."
The dean stood by a bookshelf in his office and drew a magic circle.
With a humming sound, the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a secret space.
"Its location being what it is, we had no choice but nondisclosure forms. Bear with us."
Fair enough—no one would guess it was hidden here.
"Alright, Ho-yeon, you pick first."
I slowly entered the vault.
Various weapons were on display inside.
[Millennium Sword]
[Glacial Scepter]
[Flames of War]
.
.
.
"Don't need a weapon..."
Things never go as planned, but my goal is fighting from safe range.
I headed deeper, past the weapons.
There were various artifacts. And magic books too.
"Oh... this is a must. There's treasure hidden here."
Treasure vault national rule.
The junk no one touches is always the best stuff.
Plus, since it's junk, not treasure, I could ask for an extra one—perfect.
"Speaking of, what's the professor's deal?"
Im Sol looking out for me like that, and here I am just satisfying lust. Feels kinda guilty.
'Next time, get good info without sex,' I vowed.
Rummaging through the artifacts like crazy, I spotted a magic book rolling in the corner.
"Found it. Hidden gem."
The gem I'd been seeking revealed itself.