The Academy's Savior
“Aeris!”
Reika shouted. A mid-tier wind spirit appeared before her. The spirit became wind itself and sank into Reika’s rapier.
She possessed her weapon with a spirit. Not bad. Spirit arts like that aren’t easy.
I couldn’t just stand there. One of the reasons Reika had challenged me to a spar was probably because I was a spirit user like her.
“Moka.”
Crackling electricity flared as the Thunder Owl appeared. Moka beat its massive wings and fixed its gaze on Reika.
“Kook!”
Moka swept its right wing. Lightning surged toward Reika.
She didn’t panic. She responded with calm precision, lightly swinging her rapier to raise a curtain of wind in front of her. Moka’s lightning hit the wind barrier, scattered, and vanished.
Even if Moka wasn’t going all out… she blocked it way too easily. Means her fundamentals are solid.
An ordinary academy student wouldn’t even react to Moka’s lightning. The fact that Reika had both reacted and countered already put her above average.
Reika swung her rapier. A blade of wind qi sliced through the air toward me. I stepped lightly and slipped past it. As long as I could feel it and see it, there was no reason I couldn’t dodge.
Moka. Want to fight like her?
I raised my practice sword. The meaning was clear: possess the blade.
“Kook. Kook.”
Moka shook its head. It didn’t want to possess the sword. I considered forcing it, then dropped the idea. Moka usually obeyed me without much fuss. If it was showing this much reluctance, it really didn’t want to do it.
Then scatter lightning around Reika. Turn this whole space into a domain of thunder.
“Kook!”
Moka flew around the training room. Every time it moved, lightning stretched in every direction. Reika wrapped herself in a wind barrier so the bolts wouldn’t touch her. Her green hair fluttered in the breeze.
Mana has limits, so she won’t hold that forever. The moment the wind dies down, I’ll use Charna and close in.
The wind around Reika began to whirl. The gale swelled and swept the entire area. I read her intent immediately. She planned to end the spar with one big finishing move. Pretty fiery way of thinking.
Then I’ll break through head-on.
I thrust my sword forward and charged straight at Reika.
Lightning edge overlaid the sword as it carved through the wind curtain blocking the way.
The wind barrier parted far too easily. Startled, Reika stumbled back, then raised her rapier to block my sword.
“Aeris!!”
She called the spirit’s name. Instantly the wind and air around us condensed and crushed down on my body.
Not enough to stop me.
I forced my leaden feet forward and swung. The blade cut across her upper body. She was wearing special training gear, so she took no real injury. Instead her top shredded open, revealing a plain white bra.
“Ugh…!”
Reika hastily covered her chest with her arms. Too late. The scan was already done. Shinbo Reika was an E-cup.
“I lost. I felt it back when you saved me too… you’re stronger than me. Um, sorry, but… could we keep sparring?”
I stared at her. Her face was red, but she was waiting for my answer.
“Sure. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“Thanks. Just wait a second. I’ll change into a new training outfit and come right back.”
I watched her retreating figure and checked her favorability.
Reika’s Favorability: 55
One spar and her favorability had already risen by one.
That told me roughly what kind of girl she was.
It’ll probably climb to around 60–63 just from sparring. For a while I’ll keep training with Reika after class.
After finishing the spar with Reika, we ate dinner together and then parted ways.
Nine at night. An awkward hour for anything else. I returned to the dorm, washed up, and headed for Choi Dayeon’s room. Just as I was about to knock, the door next to hers opened and Choi Jeonghwa stepped out. She wore a tight-fitting dress, arms crossed, glaring at me.
As Dayeon’s mother she looked a lot like her daughter. If her hair had been long instead of short, I could have believed she was Dayeon ten years from now. Even as things stood, if someone claimed they were sisters instead of mother and daughter, most people would buy it without a second thought.
Hostility radiated from her gaze.
“Seong Yujin. Come to my room for a minute. We need to talk.”
“Why would I talk with an ajumma like you?”
I made the reply as deliberately annoying as possible. Choi Jeonghwa’s lips trembled. The look she gave me grew even sharper.
“Just like Seong Ha-ri’s son… that personality is a carbon copy.”
Did she hate Seong Ha-ri? For someone who supposedly disliked her, I’d seen them hanging out together often enough.
“Ajumma. Just spit out whatever you want. I’ve got to go play with Dayeon.”
“…Play? You little…!”
She clenched her fists and shook with rage. Even the way she got angry looked like Dayeon. After a moment she exhaled and let the tension drain from her body.
“Let’s talk inside first. You don’t want to have this conversation out here either, do you?”
“Can’t we just include Dayeon?”
“…It’s about Dayeon. I know what kind of relationship you two have. Let’s discuss it quietly between us.”
“Fine, whatever.”
I stepped into Choi Jeonghwa’s room. The moment I entered, the distinctive scent of a mature woman’s cosmetics hit me. Expensive-looking products sat on the desk. Unlike Seong Ha-ri, she seemed serious about maintaining her looks.
She offered me a chair, but I ignored it and sat on the bed instead. She stared at me like she couldn’t believe it, then crossed her legs on the chair and set the mood.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Let Dayeon go. From now on I want the two of you to be people who don’t even speak to each other.”
“I don’t see what right an ajumma like you has to say that.”
“I’m Dayeon’s mother. I have every right.”
“Would Dayeon be happy if she found out about this?”
“She’d hate it. But I can’t just sit back and watch my daughter get dragged around by you any longer.”
“You’re misunderstanding. Dayeon likes having sex with me.”
Sex.
The blunt word made Choi Jeonghwa’s cheeks flush a little. She didn’t seem to have much resistance to that kind of language.
“I know you’re blackmailing Dayeon with photos.”
“Oh, that? Dayeon gave me permission to take them.”
“Dayeon gave permission? You think I’ll believe that kind of lie?!”
“It’s true. Believe whatever you want.”
I openly fiddled with my smartphone and opened the photo gallery. It was packed with every lewd picture of Choi Dayeon I’d taken so far. Just the stills easily numbered over three hundred. There were about thirty videos as well.
“Ajumma. Look at this one. Dayeon likes it too.”
It was a recent shot. After getting fucked all night she’d even wet herself and was grinning idiotically.
Choi Jeonghwa’s eyes went wide. She lunged for me. I’d been ready; I used Charna and slipped her hand.
Cold sweat ran down my back. A fraction slower and she would have snatched the phone.
At this point I got curious about her stats.
Trait: Silent Enhancement (A+)
Skills: Martial Arts (A+), High-Speed Movement (A), Heavy Strike (S), Elemental Resistance (B+)
Favorability:7
Overall high stats.
But she still hadn’t gotten the phone. Before she could try again I spoke quickly.
“If you try to snatch my phone one more time… I won’t hold back. I’ll upload Choi Dayeon’s photos and videos to the internet. You know I can do that even without the phone, right?”
“…Sorry. I lost my head for a second. This is a serious problem for my daughter. You understand?”
“Yeah. I get it. My mom doesn’t care about anything else either if something happens to me.”
“…Does Seong Ha-ri know what you’re doing?”
“Of course not.”
Choi Jeonghwa’s lips curled as if she’d just found a handle on me.
“If Seong Ha-ri finds out she’ll be devastated. If you just promise to let Dayeon go and never approach her again… I can keep your secret.”
I laughed in pure disbelief.
“Ajumma. Do you take me for some complete fucking idiot? You’ll tell Mom? Go ahead. I’ll get scolded a bit and that’ll be the end of it. But what about your daughter? She becomes a whore. A whore. Every single person in the world will know exactly what Dayeon’s pussy looks like and the face she makes when she cums. There won’t be a bigger disgrace for the Geumhwa Group. I guarantee their stock will crash into the dirt. Right?”
Choi Jeonghwa’s face turned bright red. She clenched her fists so hard they shook.
“You… you… you…! You think I’ll just sit still after that?! I could snap and kill you right now! The Geumhwa Group has more than enough power for that!”
“If you kill me, my mom will snap too. And you’d better not even think about quietly murdering me here.”
Snap.
I flicked my fingers.
The Thunder Owl appeared beside me.
“Kook!”
It greeted Choi Jeonghwa, then turned back into a spirit form and vanished. Her face went deathly pale.
“An ajumma with no spiritual sense wouldn’t know, but my spirit is still in this room. If anything happens to me it’ll run straight to Mom and tattle.”
“I-I’m sorry. Ajumma lost her composure for a moment.”
“This is your last chance. If you’ve got more to say, say it. If not, drop it here. Ah, I really want to shove my cock into Dayeon’s pussy~”
Grind.
I could hear her teeth grinding from here.
“I-I have a proposal. Don’t you want money? Or maybe some elixir or artifact you want…?”
“Don’t need it. I can get most of that stuff myself.”
“A company? I run an auto-parts company. I’ll give it to you. Revenue over twenty billion, about three hundred employees. How about it? Don’t you want people calling you ‘boss’?”
“No matter how I look at it, hearing Dayeon call me ‘Master’ is better.”
“…….”
“…….”
I stayed silent. Choi Jeonghwa realized I wanted something else.
“…What do you want?”
“First, money. Around five billion? Just put it on a card for convenience. And while you’re at it, a nice supercar.”
“…And?”
“Sexual desire. Dayeon isn’t satisfying mine, so someone else has to, right? I don’t want a whore.”
“…There’s an actress who would suit you. It’ll cost us a lot, but… she’ll be right up your alley. A famous name.”
“Sexual entertainment? Heh. The Geumhwa Group’s really gone that far.”
“It’s not sexual entertainment. It’s buying that actress’s life for a fair price.”
“That’s exactly sexual entertainment, ajumma. And I don’t like that kind of thing. Besides, the woman I want is…”
“…The woman you want?”
I put on a vile smile and looked Choi Jeonghwa up and down with open lust. She shot up from the chair in shock.
“Y-you’re crazy! A-are you saying you want me?!”
“Ajumma. Listen carefully to the offer I’m about to make. You see all those photos and videos of Dayeon on here?”
I waved the phone side to side. Her eyes followed it.
“You copy everything Dayeon does in those photos and videos. Then I’ll delete them all. Including the ones already online. About ten videos, three hundred photos. If you suffer for a week or two, every last one can be gone. How about it?”
“Y-you want me to do the filthy things in those pictures…?! With you?!”
“If you don’t like it, fine. I’m already pissed off, so I’ll just upload Dayeon’s photos and videos to the internet. Tonight’s the night the Geumhwa Group collapses.”
I stood up from the bed. Without a shred of hesitation I turned and headed for the door.
“N-no!”