Academy's Savior

I reverse-summoned Makina and Stormbreaker, then approached Clara.

Flute still in hand, she watched me with a somewhat stiff posture.

"I never imagined you were that famous dark hero, Red Light."

In this world, Red Light was a dark hero who slaughtered villains without mercy. Private justice, however, was a crime here, which made Red Light a villain in the eyes of the law. His bounty had climbed as high as eight billion, and it had risen again only recently.

I operated as Red Light for stress relief and to raise my good karma. Killing villains nudged that karma upward, little by little.

"Going to report me to the Hero Association?"

"I'm not that shameless. I've got plenty of questions from last time and this time both… but I'll hold them back. Still, answer me this much. Why were you here?"

I had intervened at far too convenient a moment. Her suspicion was only natural. Before answering, I checked Clara's status window.

The number that mattered was affinity. It had once sat below thirty; now it had climbed to forty. Clara was genuinely grateful to me.

Or maybe she simply felt freer now that she knew my secret as Red Light. Having me know her secrets one-sidedly must have rankled.

"I was passing through the city when I saw you heading this way with a hard look on your face. Moving alone without bodyguards struck me as odd, so I followed. Sure enough, trouble found you. Why were you out without protection?"

Clara let out a sigh.

"I planned to hole up in my room and write music today—no guards needed. Meeting Tim wasn't on the schedule."

Her gaze drifted sideways. At the end of that look lay Tim's corpse, still holding residual warmth. Clara's face darkened at the sight, but that was all. She did not scold me for killing. That was simply her nature: merciless toward criminals.

"He suddenly came looking for you? Didn't that seem strange?"

"A little, yes. So I swept the area with sound waves before meeting him… I never imagined he'd teleport in a Madojeong executive on the spot. I'm grateful. Without you, things would have gone as badly as they could."

"What now? Report it?"

"I don't want this blown up. Let's settle it between us. The bodies… I'll bury them."

"I'll follow your lead. I don't want a bigger mess either. Better to incinerate them completely than bury them."

"Incinerate…? Won't that make too much smoke?"

"It's fine if we burn them in an instant. Or… you're not planning to send keepsakes to their families, are you?"

"…Would their families even be proud of them?"

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"Who knows."

I could not give a firm answer. Plenty of people still covered for criminals simply because they were family.

Clara and I dug a suitable pit and dumped the corpses in. Using Makina's power, I fashioned an ultra-high-heat plasma projector and reduced the bodies to ash in moments.

"Clara. Needless to say, the fact that I'm Red Light stays secret."

"…I'll keep it. Don't worry. I may not look it, but my lips are tighter than anyone's. And… some people call you a villain, but to me you're a dark hero."

"Thanks for saying that. If you ever need my help, just say the word. I can even play bodyguard. Though taking Hamson Hemingford's head is a bit much for me right now."

"You'd kill Hamson Hemingford for me? Make an enemy of the entire Hemingford family? Don't even joke about that."

In a world slowed to a near standstill, I let my eyes travel over Clara's body.

Calmly ordered golden hair, dazzling blue eyes, porcelain skin, delicate features carved like a sculpture. And the figure—tall at a hundred seventy centimeters, breasts swelling to an I-cup, a narrow waist, hips just as eye-catching as the chest, plump thighs, long limbs. A body so erotic it seemed designed for sex.

Looking again, she's more than enough to become mine.

Time resumed its normal flow.

"I'm not joking. I'm already operating as Red Light. What's America or the Hemingfords to me?"

"…A man who'd make an enemy of America for my sake. I think I felt a little flutter."

Clara smiled.

She said it without a change of expression, so the claim of being moved might have been a lie… yet, surprisingly, it was sincere.

Affinity that had been forty-two jumped three points in an instant to forty-five. She truly had felt a thrill at my words. The old saying that a single word can settle a thousand-nyang debt existed for a reason.

Clara held out her right hand. When I simply stood there, she spoke with mild impatience.

"Don't you know how to shake hands? Why are you just standing there? Or is my hand dirty?"

"I get that you want a handshake… I was just wondering why all of a sudden."

"It means let's get along well as friends from now on."

"A bit late for that…"

I took her hand. It was warm and soft.

"Did you know? You're the first friend I've made in Korea."

"I'm the first? You have celebrity friends."

"You don't know everything about me either. Those people are more like coworkers than friends. We act close when the cameras are rolling. Half of them approach me just to ride my popularity."

"And the other half?"

"They're after my body. I'm pretty damn attractive as a woman, aren't I?"

"Granted. The bewitching woman who completely captivated Hamson Hemingford."

"…If we weren't friends, I'd have cursed you out the second I heard a joke like that."

"I said it because we are friends."

Clara laughed as if she'd just heard something ridiculous.

After that we returned to the academy together. I wanted to grab dinner with her, but she refused on the grounds that a scandal would be disastrous.

The old dormitory at Arashi Academy had far more drawbacks than advantages. Yet one particular merit made the rest bearable.

The girls' rooms are close by, so meeting them is easy. Especially the ones involved with me—I can even have sex with them.

The soundproofing was solid; careful work meant no one would overhear. Even without it, my abilities could erase any noise.

Second is the large bathhouse. In the Baekhwan world it's standard, but in other worlds a proper communal bath is hard to come by.

There were no separate men's and women's baths. That did not mean mixed bathing. The designation simply switched by time slot.

The others seem to avoid the bathhouse out of laziness.

A shower could be taken in one's own room, after all.

I did the same when I was lazy or in a hurry, but whenever I had time I used the bathhouse.

Today I headed there again. A board stood at the entrance, a red cloth bearing the character for "Woman."

The meaning was simple: this was currently women's bathing time.

Came all this way—no turning back now.

I grinned and pulled out the Ghost Cloak, slipping it on.

Becoming invisible to peep on the women's bath. No man could simply walk past that opportunity.

Seong Ha-ri said she had something to discuss with the headmaster of Arashi Academy and would be late. In other words, she definitely isn't in the bathhouse.

The Ghost Cloak outperformed even an Illusiter, but it was not omnipotent. Someone of Seong Ha-ri's caliber could still sense a presence through it.

This isn't my first time entering the women's bath… yet every time still gets my heart racing.

I stepped inside.

First I checked the shoe lockers. Two pairs of slippers sat inside. Names were written on them.

Choi Dayeon. Ryu Hana.

A rather mismatched pair.

I passed the changing room and approached the bath itself. The sliding door was shut. This was the delicate part. Ideally one waited for someone else to enter and slipped in with them… but there was no way to know when anyone would arrive or leave. Risky or not, I had to go in. Only then could I see them naked.

Just be careful. Careful. Luckily the entrance is a fair distance from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the actual baths.

Extreme control was required. I eased the door open a crack barely wide enough for a pinky. Pressing an eye to the gap, I checked the interior. No one near the door. Rolling only my eyes, I located them.

Choi Dayeon was soaking in the hot-spring-style pool; Ryu Hana stood under a shower.

Ryu Hana's closer… huh?

Ryu Hana stepped out.

Startled but calm, I quietly closed the door and retreated. She opened it and emerged, then dried herself with a towel right at the entrance. I watched.

She wiped her body roughly and carefully dried her long light-purple hair. I calmly surveyed her figure.

Just as I thought—clothes make her look skinny. Her real body is… wait. Her breasts are bigger than I expected.

I was genuinely surprised.

I never imagined Ryu Hana would possess a figure that defied my predictions.

In clothes she looks like a full B-cup, but naked she's an F-cup! Nice shape, and the nipples are pink.

Not a scrap of fat on her waist, of course, and her hips rose high and firm. I could see only part of her pussy—also pink. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠There was hair, but it was extremely sparse, the same light purple as her head. So pale you had to look closely; from a distance she would appear completely bare.

I barely restrained the urge to touch her. The conquest of Ryu Hana was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still in progress. I could not ruin it here.

She finished drying her hair roughly and began putting on underwear.

A sports bra? Compressing those big breasts… so that's why she looks skinny. Doesn't that feel stifling?

The performance of a sports bra that could flatten that chest was impressive in its own right.

Once Ryu Hana left, I cracked the bath door open again. Choi Dayeon was no longer in the pool. She sat perched on a rock at the edge, thighs spread wide, fingers working her pussy.

Masturbating in the bathhouse.

She hasn't had sex recently… must be pent-up.