The Black Fox Arrives at Jindal Academy
Jeon Chayeon
***
Jeong Seohee’s handling of her affairs was swift.
She teleported here and there in an instant, then returned and told Chayeon, “Your admission processing is complete.”
With that, Chayeon was now entering the female dormitory assigned to her.
It wasn’t as nice as Seohee’s house, but the building had been maintained very well.
Chayeon muttered to herself while looking at the room that seemed plenty spacious for one person to use alone.
“How the hell did this happen?”
The sun was already dipping low, casting long shadows.
When she had left in the morning, she never imagined she would end up here, so Chayeon was carrying only the bare minimum of possessions.
She was pondering where to get everyday items when a few things suddenly popped into view in front of her eyes: a toothbrush, soap, and more.
“Huh?”
A voice sounded right beside her ear.
[Chayeon, I’ve given you the things that seem necessary right now. There are still plenty of other essentials you’ll need, but we can figure those out later while you and your unnie go shopping.]
It was Seohee’s voice.
It seemed these things were also possible.
“…But what is this?”
She picked up a particularly bulky item and discovered it was a pink pajama set for girls.
Cartoon chicks, bunnies, and all sorts of adorable patterns were printed on it.
[Ah, that’s the pajamas. It’d be uncomfortable to sleep in your uniform, right?]
“I don’t need it.”
Chayeon answered firmly, but there was no response.
Apparently the item was visible to her, but the voice could not be heard.
Chayeon flung the pajamas aside with a snap.
[You’re too harsh!]
Her ears stung from the loud exclamation.
Still, seeing it so clearly from afar made the privacy issue serious.
Even just going to the bathroom would be a problem.
<>
The quiet Black Fox spoke for the first time in a while, sounding oddly pleased.
At the same time, Seohee’s voice rang in her ear.
[Privacy issues don’t need to worry about. Unnie isn’t a pervert who peeks at people anytime she wants. It’s just now that’s the exception.]
“According to that, we’ll just leave it alone.”
Even though she had been flustered since they met, Seohee was the type who always kept her word.
Chayeon had firmly believed she would do just that.
After roughly sorting through the items that had appeared, Chayeon was looking over the documents Seohee had given her before leaving.
The entire academy map, school rules, and curriculum schedule.
Chayeon was told she would be entering Jindal as a first-year student starting tomorrow.
The curriculum included electrical engineering, mathematical physics, Korean history, East Asian history, Roman history, and a full lineup of foreign languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and German.
What was the point of teaching all this?
Chayeon, who had lived a life completely detached from academics, was already feeling her head ache.
Mixed in were unusual subjects like demonology and spirit culture, as well as martial arts basics and spirit ability control—topics never seen in ordinary society.
“I feel like I’ve gone back to being a high school student.”
Chayeon sighed while staring at the packed timetable.
Classes started at eight sharp tomorrow.
Chayeon, who usually woke up early, would have no trouble waking up, but still, the life of being tied to rules didn’t sit well with her.
“But what happened to that guy?”
Chayeon thought of Namyeon, whom she had parted ways with that afternoon.
According to Seohee, he had entered the academy before her.
Just following her? How had he even gotten inside?
She could just ask him directly.
Chayeon opened her phone and pressed the call button.
No matter how long she waited, the call did not connect.
After a moment, only a monotonous voicemail message played: “The number you have dialed is not in service.”
“I guess he made it back safely, then.”
Chayeon trusted Seohee’s words and stopped worrying.
As long as he was safe, she could ask about the details whenever contact was made.
“Sleep well.”
It was still early, but there was nothing to do.
She considered working out, but the current frail body would likely not handle it.
Since she had to wake up early tomorrow, she needed to figure out how much fatigue her body could endure while living normally.
Chayeon threw off her clothes, including her underwear, and climbed onto the bed.
<>
“Shut up.”
Chayeon brushed aside the oddly expectant voice from the Black Fox and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, at dawn, Chayeon stood in her room wearing the only gray uniform she had.
Seohee appeared from behind a beige puff dress, her curvaceous figure radiating strong presence.
“Seohee noona.”
“You told me to call you Teacher.”
“Ah, Teacher.”
Seohee was about to say unnie or something else, but Chayeon quickly corrected her.
“Something the matter from morning?”
“I gave you the map, but since it’s your first time, I figured you’d get lost. I’ll show you to the classroom.”
The academy grounds were absurdly vast, and inside them stood not only educational buildings but also living quarters and its own commercial district.
People had no idea a region of this scale was hiding inside a cult headquarters.
“Here. For the next half year, excluding practical training, you’ll attend the rest of your classes here. Work hard.”
Seohee escorted Chayeon to the front of the classroom and then vanished from sight as if wondering when she had been there.
Chayeon was struggling to adapt.
Upon entering the classroom, several people caught her eye.
Their ages varied, but most looked like students who had not yet reached adulthood.
‘What? Almost kids?’
Still, to others, Chayeon appeared no older than them.
“I’ve never seen that face before.”
“Oh! A transfer student after two months!”
Students who spotted Chayeon gave her curious glances.
According to what Seohee had told her yesterday, new students entered the academy frequently.
Whenever they found a new spirit ability user, they brought them here and enrolled them. It seemed that was why, even though there was a concept of grades, Chayeon was apparently placed in the “transfer student” category.
And more importantly,
“What’s your name?”
“Wow! She’s super pretty! Her skin is so white!”
“Where are you from?”
“How old are you? Middle school? High school?”
…It felt like she had genuinely returned to her student days, including the overly sweet attitude of the kids, except for that.
“Excuse me.”
Chayeon, who had been standing still like a doll since entering the classroom, finally spoke, and every head turned toward her.
As she gained attention, Chayeon said,
“This is annoying. Everyone, clear out.”
The classroom atmosphere cooled instantly.
<<…You’ve completely failed at social skills.>>
Only the quiet voice of the Black Fox echoed in her mind.
***
Kawada Arena was a spirit ability user turning sixteen this year.
Born between a Japanese father and a Korean mother, she had lived in Japan until age eight before moving to Korea.
Shortly after the new year began, her spirit ability awakened.
It was after she heard the voice of an unknown entity calling itself the Pure White Witch.
After that, they came to find her at Jindal.
They invited her to enter Jindal for her safety and to fight demons.
So Arena had been receiving education at Jindal since early this year.
There were others who had received their spirit abilities this year and come to this place as well. Aside from a few, most were her age, so she could easily become friends with them.
After half a year of education and training, she had come to realize one thing.
That the Pure White Witch spirit was a remarkably noble spirit, and that her own power granted from it was also extremely strong.
Her spirit ability was self-proclaimed Absolute Severance.
It was the ability to cut through any object of solid density.
It cut through anything.
For a girl who had only recently passed second year of middle school, that was an incredibly cool spirit ability.
All spirit abilities had limitations, and hers was strangely tied to clothing.
Her ability could not be used without the “witch outfit” granted by the witch spirit.
And that “witch outfit” was not exactly a witch’s clothes, but rather a white dress such as actresses might wear to film festivals, along with a white pointed hat and a broom.
The weapon for using Absolute Severance was also determined—it was none other than the broom-sword personally bestowed by the spirit.
This item with the ridiculous name was literally a broom fused with a sword; holding the tip of the broom produced a long blade that emerged from within.
The tip of the broom served as the hilt, and the rest acted as a sheath.
Because of that, her outfit was always fixed.
A fantasy novel witch-like appearance.
At first it had been somewhat embarrassing, but with understanding friends and her admiration for her outstanding spirit ability, she had even secretly felt proud about it later.
No matter how outstanding a spirit ability, one could not neglect the basics.
Arena had judged that to utilize the power of Absolute Severance, she needed to be skilled in swordsmanship.
And fortunately, Arena had been learning swordsmanship from her father since she was young.
She had focused on martial arts with a solid foundation built from childhood.
Combined with the fundamentals and talent she had accumulated since her early days, she had grown rapidly.
Within first-year students, her grades ranked second.
She was the most excellent student aside from the first-year top student, who was scheduled to advance grades next month due to her overwhelming strength.
With all that background, her pride had recently been soaring to the heavens.
She did not realize it herself, but she carried a kind of elitist consciousness and a sense of mission as a spirit ability user.
A huge responsibility to protect humanity from demons.
To such an Arena, the girl who had transferred in a week ago—Jeon Chayeon—was an extremely disagreeable opponent.
A cute appearance that would charm anyone, paired with rough words that immediately made everyone uncomfortable.
After that, not only had she not been reformed, but she had acted even more on her own terms and earned even greater dislike.
Moreover, the girl had dozed off during lessons far more than necessary, even when her eyes were wide open.
That behavior was incomprehensible to Arena.
They were pooling all their strength to fight demons—why was this girl so uncooperative?
No matter how she looked, she was supposedly her age, yet the way she looked at people seemed like she was looking at children. It did not sit right.
Presumptuous.
That was how Arena could summarize her evaluation of Chayeon.
She did not know what spirit ability Chayeon had obtained, but she was clearly arrogant for boasting about even one.
Fortunately, the weapon Chayeon would use was a sword.
A weapon on par with hers.
As for spirit ability and pure skill, Arena had no intention of falling behind.
Today was the first actual swordsmanship practice class since Chayeon had enrolled.
She would show an example and break that arrogant nose.
That was Arena’s resolve.