Chapter 27: Preparation (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: Preparation (2)
Siegfried and Medea stepped out of the hospital room.
Click, clack.
The sound of their footsteps echoed down the hallway.
The orange glow of the sunset draped over their faces. Medea, who had been walking ahead, suddenly came to a halt. The Sword Emperor, following behind, stopped in sync with her.
Medea turned her head toward the window.
Beyond the glass, the main building of Joaquin Academy towered high, piercing the clouds as if standing guard over the entire campus. Medea pointed a straight index finger toward the view.
“…Zieg, do you remember? When we first entered this academy, you were sprawled out on that wooden bench over there. When I told you to move, you just blindly drew your sword. What was it you said? Something about not taking orders from anyone? You had a serious case of eighth-grader syndrome back then. Honestly, even you have to admit it was a bit much, right?”
“I have no memory of that.”
The Sword Emperor shrugged nonchalantly, drawing a faint smile from Medea. Her mint-colored eyes shimmered with nostalgia.
“It feels like only yesterday that we enrolled, yet I’ve already spent sixty years tied to this place. By the time I graduated, I never wanted to set foot here again. Life is funny that way… I suppose it’s worth living a long time just to see how things turn out, isn’t it?”
The Sword Emperor stroked his chin and nodded. A similar sense of longing settled in his golden eyes. Memories, by nature, tended to be contagious.
The Joaquin Academy of today had devolved into a networking hub for the children of the corrupt elite, but it was also the place where he had met comrades with whom he had weathered countless storms.
It was a place of love and hate—one he couldn't quite bring himself to love, yet couldn't truly loathe.
“But the funny thing is, even though I’ve been here for over sixty years, I haven't even witnessed a tenth of Joaquin Academy’s history. Even when we enrolled, this place was already ancient. Such a long, storied history. Despite the various incidents over the years, the academy has nurtured and protected students for seven centuries. And yet…”
Medea bit her lower lip, letting her words trail off. The nostalgia vanished from her profile, replaced by a deepening shade of fury.
Her green hair, bathed in the twilight glow, began to flutter and drift in the air. Her rage had reached its boiling point.
As a vein throbbed at Medea’s pale, delicate temple, fine cracks like chains began to spiderweb across the window beside her. The swirling air caused the atmosphere to turn frigid.
Before the midterm exams, she had received a report from the instructors stating that the preliminary inspection was complete. Though rare, Scopuli Island was known as a habitat for the Majin Mermaid, so multiple thorough inspections had been conducted.
Yet, despite all that effort, the academy’s students had nearly lost their lives.
And to a Majin, no less. It was an unprecedented failure in the history of the academy.
No, it was something that should never have happened.
As the principal, Medea could not help but feel the full weight of the responsibility. She ground her teeth in silence.
“…….”
The Sword Emperor could tell exactly how Medea felt just by the slight trembling of her frame.
Setting aside her title as principal, she was a woman whose sincerity toward her students was genuine. Though her personality could be a bit… shameless at times, her mindset as an educator was second to none.
They had spent over half a century together. Silence was enough for them to communicate. However, if this continued, every window in the hospital was going to shatter.
The Sword Emperor gave Medea a light pat on the shoulder.
At his touch, her hair, which had been floating like a spectral entity, settled softly back down. The green locks resting on her shoulders looked as fresh as new spring leaves.
“Sorry, sorry. I lost my cool for a moment.”
Feeling awkward, Medea scratched her cheek and forced a bright smile. Then, as if trying to change the mood, she began to pour out praises for Kang Geomma.
“Anyway, isn't our Geomma amazing? They say he took down a Mermaid all by himself. What do you think, Zieg?”
The Sword Emperor’s brow furrowed at the question. He let out a low sigh and muttered to himself.
‘A heaven-sent talent.’
There was no other way to describe it.
Countless names hailed as once-in-a-century geniuses or the darlings of the era had flashed briefly before losing their luster like dying meteors.
In hero families hungry for glory, a child is labeled a genius the moment they show even a hint of talent at a young age. The word "genius" was thrown around without any real standard.
The Sword Emperor did not use that word lightly. He had strictly forbidden the use of that term even for his own granddaughter, Abel.
But this was a talent from a distant realm. A "genius" was surely a term meant for a boy like him. The Sword Emperor let out a silent, hollow laugh.
If he could accumulate enough experience, just how far could Kang Geomma grow? The Sword Emperor himself was an old man over seventy, but Kang Geomma was a boy in the prime of his youth.
Perhaps this boy could reach "that realm" that he himself had dreamed of his entire life.
Various thoughts drifted through Siegfried’s mind. After a moment of reflection, he let out a low hum and spoke.
“I think I’ll impose on the academy for a while, Medea.”
Medea’s eyes widened as she stared at him. It was shocking to hear such words from an old man who usually insisted on living in seclusion at the Nibelung Estate.
However, Siegfried’s golden eyes were burning like the midday sun.
That blazing light was the gaze of a swordsman consumed by a competitive spirit. Seeing this, Medea’s eyes curved into beautiful crescents, and she nodded.
Medea tucked her hands behind her back and hummed a tune as she walked forward with a light step. The cracks on the window vanished in an instant.
*
After being discharged, the first thing I did was visit the campus blacksmith. I needed to reforge and strengthen the armament I received as a midterm reward, Murasame.
Since its dimensions didn't fit the Blessing of the Sword God, reforging was unavoidable. To be honest, in its current state, Murasame was nothing more than a metal stick to me. Plus, if a blacksmith gave it a good oiling, I might be able to boost its performance.
The blacksmith, glowing red from the heat of the forge, readily accepted my bold request. In exchange, he stipulated that he would take the leftover metal scraps as his fee.
Since the sword was only about 60 centimeters long to begin with, splitting it into two blades was impossible anyway. I was lucky I didn't have to pay an expensive maintenance fee. The blacksmith told me to come back in a week.
I stood in front of the door to the Wolf Class.
I stared blankly at the nameplate written in Hanja for a moment before quietly opening the door and stepping inside.
Students were chatting amiably. They glanced at me once before going back to their conversations.
It seemed that, as the principal said, the fact that I had decapitated a Majin on Scopuli Island was being kept a secret.
It feels a bit weird to say this myself, but the reason my classmates were laughing and having such a good time was probably because I had stopped that Mermaid.
I walked past the podium and took my usual seat at the end of the third row. The warm sunlight streaming in felt good against my face.
“Geomma-kun!”
A familiar voice called out to me from the back of the classroom. I turned my head.
“Chloe? What happened to you?”
Clack, clack.
Chloe was approaching me with labored steps, leaning on crutches. The crutches tucked under her arms seemed a bit too large for her height, forcing her small shoulders upward.
“Hehe, it just turned out this way. But Speed-something-san, who was in our group, gave me emergency treatment, so the doctor said I can walk without crutches in about a week!”
Chloe thumped her chest with a fist as if it were no big deal. With her shoulders squared and her chest held high, I could feel that she, too, had grown a step further.
It wasn't just my effort alone. While it was an undeniable fact that I killed the Majin Mermaid, it was only possible because my teammates had fulfilled their roles. Chloe’s request for backup, Rachel’s one-against-a-hundred stand, and even Speed Weapon’s healing buffs.
…But thinking back on it, the protagonist, Leon, didn't do a damn thing.
Seeing the protagonist be more useless than expected made my faith in him start to wither. Can that guy really defeat the Demon King?
Based on his track record so far, forget the Demon King—he’d probably get gatekept by some low-level lackey of a Corps Commander.
‘Maybe it’s just because he got sucker-punched?’
As I tilted my head in thought, Chloe looked up at me with sparkling eyes. Like a puppy waiting for praise, she seemed to be wagging an invisible tail.
The sight was quite cute, and a chuckle escaped me.
I wanted to pat her head, but if I did that in the middle of the classroom, the male students would start whistling and catcalling. I pulled back my reaching hand and simply gave her a bright smile.
“Thanks, Chloe. I survived because you called for help.”
“The amazing one is you, Geomma-kun! You took down a Majin all by yourself!”
“Well, I got lucky. Honestly, I barely made it out alive too.”
“…Hehe, so cool.”
A crimson blush spread across Chloe’s cheeks as she scratched her head.
As if suddenly remembering, she began to explain various things that had happened while I was hospitalized.
From personal details, like how the group members had chipped in to cover the cost of the VVIP room, to the rampant rumors about the conflict between Principal Medea and the Joaquin Council of Elders regarding the reinforcement of the academy’s security.
It seemed a lot had been happening during the week I was out. While Chloe was explaining and I was nodding along, the classroom door swung open violently.
“Everyone, quiet and take your seats!”
Instructor Lee Won-bin shouted at the top of his lungs, silencing the students. Unlike his usual self, he was visibly tense. Beads of sweat poured from his thinning hairline, soaking his collar.
Once the atmosphere in the classroom settled, Instructor Lee Won-bin put a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat.
He glanced outside the classroom and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his scalp. The light reflected off his smooth, bald head, making it dazzlingly bright.
“Before we begin morning drills, I have an announcement to make.”
A slight sense of discomfort flickered in the instructor’s eyes as he spoke. The students also seemed to sense that something was unusual from his stiff tone.
“This is sudden news. I would like to introduce the person who will be serving as a co-instructor for our class for the time being.”
After speaking, Instructor Lee Won-bin rushed to the classroom door and stood in a respectful, welcoming posture. It was a strange sight that felt almost alien.
Soon after, a man entered the classroom. As if by some unspoken agreement, the students’ jaws dropped in unison. Gasps of admiration broke out here and there.
The man gave Instructor Lee Won-bin a light pat on the back and walked toward the podium with an intellectual stride. Lee Won-bin hesitated, trying to stand beside him, before stepping back a few paces.
“I am Siegfried von Nibelung. I will be serving as a temporary instructor for the Wolf Class alongside Instructor Lee Won-bin for a while.”
“E-Emperor, please, just call me Won-bin.”
“We are in the same line of work now; I cannot do that.”
“Ah… yes, I understand.”
Instructor Lee Won-bin bowed his head, his face flushing with a mix of embarrassment and reverence.
The students began to buzz loudly.
In the midst of the heated atmosphere, I was the only one frozen, unable to process the situation.
…Why is that old man here?
*
Night deepened over Joaquin Academy.
It was a night of the new moon, with the lunar orb hiding behind ink-black clouds. Only the streetlights on the grounds flickered at intervals, their light dimmed by a creeping night mist that added a suspicious air to the surroundings.
In the shroud of darkness, a man and a woman were engaged in a secret conversation. However, judging by the sharp slap that rang out, it was no romantic tryst.
“I am sorry.”
Slap!
the middle-aged man, his hair streaked with gray, didn't dare touch his stinging right cheek and instead kept his head bowed low.
The female instructor smiled thinly and tapped her left cheek with her index finger. Without a word of protest, the man offered his left cheek.
Slap!
The blow was so powerful that the man’s head snapped to the side. He suppressed his surging anger and humiliation. No, he had to suppress it.
‘Otherwise…’
The man slightly raised his gaze to look at the female instructor. Amidst the damp mist, the woman’s purple eyes and hair shimmered with an eerie glow. Her long, slender limbs gave her a striking silhouette.
The female instructor had a bag of gummy worms tucked under her arm, pulling them out one by one and chewing on them.
She licked the sugar off her fingers and then wiped them on the man’s shoulder.
‘Damn it!’
The middle-aged man cursed inwardly. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look up lest his feelings show.
Given his status, this was something he had never experienced and should never have had to endure. The female instructor stared at him for a moment before speaking in a languid tone.
“You should have done it right the first time. Haa, honestly. You really have a talent for being a nuisance, don't you? Isn't that right, Elder?”
“…I am sorry.”
“Is ‘sorry’ all you have to say? You have to take responsibility. Responsibility! Ugh, what a pain. Was it really that hard to just half-kill that Leon brat and bring him in? Even if he is a Hero Candidate, you even brought a Mermaid along—how could you fail? Because of your mistake, that Sword Emperor geezer has nested himself in the academy.”
“I am sorry, Instructor Kim.”
“Haa. From now on, if you say ‘I am sorry’ one more time… you know what happens, right?”
The female instructor extended her index finger and poked the Elder’s forehead repeatedly.
The man, well into his forties, looked like he was on the verge of tears. The female instructor heartlessly popped another gummy worm into her mouth.
“Anyway, did you find out what I asked?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Seriously, I still can't believe it. A Mermaid taken down in a mere first-year midterm exam. Then again, considering the members who enrolled this year, I guess they could do anything if they put their strength together. Tsk.”
“Actually, about that…”
As the middle-aged man hesitated, the woman glared at him with cold, hollow eyes. The man, his face turning pale, stammered as he continued.
“It seems she was defeated by a single student.”
“…One person? Was it Leon?”
“No.”
“Then who? You know I hate being kept in suspense.”
“It was this year’s top student, Kang Geomma.”
Her purple eyes widened significantly. The man just stood there, his lips quivering as he watched her.
Soon, the female instructor’s expression smoothed over. She narrowed her eyes and whispered low into the Elder’s ear.
“The 5th Corps Commander is very angry about this incident. You know there won't be a next time, right?”
“……!”
She gave the male instructor a wink. The man bit his lower lip, his body trembling violently.
“Now, get lost. I can't stand the sight of you.”
“I am sorr—ahem!”
The man barely swallowed the words that were about to slip out. He scurried backward like a court eunuch before quickly making his escape.
Whoosh!
Ominous flames flickered atop the female instructor’s palm. The fierce purple fire danced and swayed, reflecting in her retinas.
“Kang Geomma…”
After muttering the name blankly for a moment, she extinguished the flames, a predatory curve forming on her lips.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had some real fun.”
The bag of gummies, now turned to charcoal, gave off a cloying, burnt sweetness.