Chapter 223: Conception (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 223: Conception (2)
As soon as dawn broke, I climbed onto Hon's back.
"Please make sure to take care of what we talked about yesterday," I asked the Sword Emperor and Director Seong one last time.
"Do not worry. I will see to it no matter what."
"I will also show results that satisfy you in the near future, Lord Heavenly Sword! Have a safe drive...? Anyway, have a safe flight!"
With the two seeing us off, Hon flapped her wings and took to the sky.
Flap.
In the middle of our flight, Hon suddenly spoke up.
"Um, Lord Sword Demon, you didn't forget the promise we made back then, right?"
A promise? What promise? Did I make a separate promise with Hon?
When I didn't answer right away, Hon turned her head back slightly. She narrowed her eyes and mumbled,
"Triple Hanwoo..."
Ah, that. The blatant lie I told to coax her. I had completely forgotten about it.
The problem was that Triple Hanwoo was an imaginary meat that didn't even exist. 1++ was the absolute ceiling for Hanwoo.
Still, feigning ignorance would be shameless. Hon had helped me immensely, both materially and spiritually, beyond measure.
Racking my brains for a solution, I finally spoke up.
"Hon, have you ever heard of Wagyu?"
"Wagyu-yong...? What is that-yong?"
Why does she add "-yong" to the end of every sentence when she's in dragon form? Is it a gimmick? It completely ruins her imposing dragon presence.
"It's a meat similar to Triple Hanwoo, and it's extremely expensive. It costs around three hundred thousand won per serving."
"Th-Three hundred thousand won-yong!?"
Hon's back jolted.
'Not long ago, she treated fifty-thousand-won bills like tissue paper to blow her nose with...'
Now, it seemed the value of money was firmly engraved in her mind. An understanding of economics awakened through beef.
'Let's look on the bright side.'
It was better for Hon to adapt to worldly ways quickly. Filling her head with basic human common sense—even just a surface layer—would make her academy life much smoother.
...Though regardless of that, I couldn't help a bittersweet feeling. Is this how it feels to watch a baby grow up? It felt strange. At this rate, she'd probably end up asking me to buy her a smartphone later.
I gave a bitter smile and continued, "Anyway, since you worked hard, I'll buy you as much as you want to eat."
Of course, using Choi Seol-ah's money.
Even though I received sponsorship funds and had an income as one of the Seven Stars, I couldn't possibly handle Hon's monstrous appetite.
At the bare minimum, twenty servings of Wagyu would be sucked straight into her gullet.
'And if I buy her Wagyu once, I'll have to keep buying it for her, won't I?'
The zeroes in my bank account would evaporate into a single digit. Good lord, I felt dizzy just thinking about it.
Flap!
An even stronger flap of her wings sliced through the clouds. Land came into view between them. Our return home was at hand.
*
At that same time, Weapon let out a long sigh.
"Whew... I expected as much, but preparing to create a new class is tougher than I thought."
While the Director was away, Weapon was faithfully carrying out his duties. He carved out every spare moment between classes and even cut into his sleep schedule.
For the past few days, Weapon had been working harder than at any other point in his entire life. Saki shook her head at his passion.
"Weapon, aren't you going way over the top?"
The reason he went this far? Because it was a mission personally handed down by the Director.
Kang Geomma was a Seven Stars Hero—a grand figure with the authority to command anyone.
Yet the Director had asked him. This stemmed from the trust built between them.
'I, Speed Weapon, have been chosen by Lord Heavenly Sword!'
He could never disappoint the Director. He was a man with a duty to live up to expectations.
In addition, there was a strange excitement that came with "Creating a Special Class!" This, too, was unprecedented—just like Kang Geomma becoming one of the Seven Stars.
Joaquin Academy's academic culture was notoriously conservative. To put it nicely, it had a solid foundation; to put it bluntly, it was lukewarm toward change.
This wasn't unique to Joaquin Academy. Resisting change was a trait shared by almost all institutions with a long history.
'That's why the Academy rots so easily.'
He'd heard that nobles attempting corrupt admissions through bribes were popping up left and right. Weapon shook his head side to side.
'It can't go on like this.'
A wind of revolution needed to blow through this utterly stagnant academy.
'This special class will be the first step.'
And he was leaving his footprint on the pages of enlightenment history. Weapon clenched his fist tightly.
"I can do this."
It was a recent realization, but Weapon possessed a remarkable talent for practical, administrative work—far more than Saki.
A meaningful smile spread across his lips.
'Well, just because someone is smart doesn't mean they're good at hands-on legwork.'
Weapon thoroughly scanned the document folder in his hands.
"It's almost wrapped up now."
Creating a special class. Weapon had three main tasks to accomplish.
First was the recruitment and organization of the members mentioned by the Director. The most crucial first step. If he stalled here, everything would be in vain.
Weapon poured his heart and soul into analyzing the Star Class trio.
He organized disposition charts for each student, ran interview simulations, and even tried guessing their MBTI types.
Thoroughly prepared, Weapon made his way to the Star Class. Wearing a genial smile, he approached them one by one and asked carefully. The responses were...
"Yeah, sure. I'll join. Thanks for asking me."
Next Hero Candidate, Leon von Reinhardt ☑
"Whoa, a new class Geomma's starting? He wants to recruit me into it?! I'm in! I'm totally in! If they don't let me in, I'll smash down the door to get in!"
Spear Saint's Niece, Rachel de Myura ☑
"He personally called out my name? Ah, it's not that I hate the idea! I'm just a bit flustered, that's all! It's not like I need time to think about it... I'll join. B-But please do me one favor."
"A favor?"
"It's nothing big, just... can you keep it a secret from Geomma that I agreed right away?"
"Uh, sure... I can do that... But why?"
Golden eyes tinged with pity met his.
"Weapon, you really lack tact... Never mind. Forget I said anything."
"...?"
Sword Emperor's Granddaughter, Abel von Nibelung ☑
The Star Class trio complied readily. There wasn't a moment of hesitation or a single question asked.
The moment he brought up the magic words "Kang Geomma," they nodded instantly. It made all his painstaking effort feel utterly pointless.
"Well then."
Weapon felt a wave of futility. What had he stayed up all night for if it was going to be this easy? He knew the Director was immensely popular, but this was beyond simple. This wasn't just a fast track; it was a super-pass.
'All that hard work for nothing!'
Weapon smacked his lips in disappointment. Regardless, the first step had been successfully completed. He moved on to the second stage.
The additional task given to him by the Director: naming the class!
Originally, this was a procedure the Director was supposed to handle. However, because the Director had departed in a hurry, Weapon ended up taking over the role.
Overwhelmed by pressure, Weapon tore at his hair and pulled another all-nighter.
"No, not this one either."
Crumpled sheets of paper piled up like a mountain in the trash can. Finally, after long hours of anguish that stretched into the dawn...
"Th-Th-This is it...!"
Weapon finally wrote it down.
『Heaven Class.』
A class name evoking Kang Geomma's epithet, "Heavenly Sword." It felt somewhat grand, but that only made him like it more.
Shouldn't it be higher than the "Star Class" (星)? The sun or the moon wouldn't cut it. The sky that encompasses them all—Heaven! That resonated deeply.
'Of course! It's the class where Lord Heavenly Sword, hero of the Seven Stars, will reside. It has to be at least this majestic.'
Proud of himself, Weapon danced around in the early morning light. It was a habitual quirk of his whenever he couldn't contain his joy—something his cousin Rachel referred to as "Monkey Magic."
So far, it had been smooth sailing. Only one last procedure remained: the approval of the Academy Principal, which was obvious enough.
In fact, the initial proposal for creating a new class had come directly from the Principal herself. Thus, requesting approval was merely a formal procedure. And yet...
Standing in front of the Principal's office door, Weapon broke into a cold sweat. He stared blankly at the sleek nameplate. The hand he raised to knock hesitated and dropped again and again.
Weapon was terrified.
'A private audience with the Principal.'
Few people, even among graduates, had ever held a private conversation with the current Academy Principal. That was because she was constantly buried in work, making it nearly impossible to book her time. Even average professors had to schedule an appointment six months in advance.
'Though the Director visits the Principal's office like it's an arcade ever since the beginning of the first semester.'
The Director was just an anomaly. Weapon's reaction was actually the normal one.
"Don't be nervous, Weapon. This is the last step. You can live up to the Director's expectations."
Just as Weapon muttered self-deprecatingly, an agitated voice suddenly echoed from beyond the door.
"What?! Why are you calling out of the blue?! Where have you been holed up for the last ten years?!"
Following the Principal's voice, another voice filtered through.
—Have you been well, Duri?
The voice was laced with a bit of static. It seemed she was on speakerphone.
"I-I told you not to call me that! Why use such a tacky name like Duri?!"
—Why not~? If you're the second child, you're Duri~!
Weapon pressed his ear firmly against the door. The voice and tone of the person on the phone didn't sound unfamiliar.
Who is that?
*
The moment I arrived at my dormitory room, I threw myself onto the bed.
After lying there like a corpse for a few minutes, I rubbed my face against the bedsheets and slowly sat up.
"Sleep or no sleep, I should at least wash up before going to bed."
Having not washed properly for three days, I felt utterly filthy. I had seen too much blood on Hawaii Island, getting covered in the blood of dozens of Dark Elves. Even then, all I could do was wipe myself down with a wet towel.
There was a shower room equipped in the barracks, but because I was staying with Hon, I couldn't use it.
Some might wonder why I was being so sensitive, but sharing a shower room with a girl? From the perspective of a lifelong single guy, that was completely out of the question.
I slipped out of bed and walked toward the bathroom. I brought my smartphone along to listen to music while taking a shower.
It was then. Buzz— my phone vibrated repeatedly. Missed calls, text messages, and various other notifications flooded in all at once. Since Hawaii Island had been out of service range, everything was just now pouring through.
I checked my messages while stripping off my clothes layer by layer. There was a status report sent by Weapon, neatly organized and attached as a file.
A chuckle escaped my lips. He had been doing a great job while I was away.
'Still, I can't check all of these one by one.'
Personal and professional messages were scrambled together. At this rate, I wouldn't even be able to wash up, let alone sleep.
I quickly devised a solution. Speaking into my smartphone, I said,
"Vixbig, filter out only the personal messages and read them aloud to me while I shower."
[I thought I finally had a moment of peace...]
A low sigh bounced off the bathroom tiles. Grumbling as usual, Vixbig nevertheless sorted through the notifications.
[Huh?]
Vixbig sounded unusually surprised.
[Master Geomma, the sender of this message is a bit strange.]
Focused on adjusting the water temperature, I replied indifferently,
"If it's spam, just block it."
[It doesn't seem to be spam. But how should I put this... The prefix is 019, which is a really old phone number format. So I traced it back, and...]
Silence fell. Vixbig spoke up once more.
[It's a text message from the former Academy Principal's number.]
Saaaa.
The showerhead blasted ice-cold water.
Ah, damn it. Failed to adjust the temperature.