Fake Breasts and Supplementary Admissions (2)
After finishing our meal with Unia, we secured a room. A hotel inside the terminal. It was worlds apart from the inns in villages like Pregnant in terms of size and facilities—if that place was a two-star motel, then this, the Silverstar Hotel West Terminal Branch, was easily a four-star hotel.
Though the rooms are pretty sparse because of that.
The greenbelt was a restricted development zone, and even the terminal facilities had been built only with the academy's permission. Could high-rises like twenty-story hotels sprout up like weeds there? No way. It was just a space built into the terminal for short-term stays.
The room had a bed, a bathroom, and maybe a table. And yet, it qualified as a four-star or better because it was a Silverstar Hotel—you could use most of Silverstar's facilities in the terminal.
"At a discounted rate, right?"
Unia fiddled with her rectangular silver card and let out a hollow laugh.
"Sleeping one night costs as much as five days' wages for normal folks..."
In real-world terms, about 500,000 won per night. And that was just for the stay—meals and daily necessities had to be bought separately from Silverstar's partner restaurants and other terminal facilities. At a discount, sure, but not free, just as Unia said.
"Isn't this a bit much?"
"Where there's demand, there's supply."
I sat on the bed a finger's breadth from where Unia had plopped down.
"Think about how many people want to spend a night as close to the academy as possible. Just yesterday, this place was probably fully booked."
"Sure, yeah. For some, this room rate is blood money they have to shed tears to pay..."
"But for others, crashing here for a night is pocket change."
This was a medieval fantasy world, but Silverstar Group ran on the crudest modern capitalist logic.
"By the way, Miss Unia. There's one more scary bit of news I should share."
"What is it?"
"The amount we're paying for tonight is the regular rate—not the 'peak season' rate."
"...Huh?"
"Yesterday, it was probably about a month's salary."
One, two million won or so.
"Same today. Most people left on trains after the entrance exam, but if someone insists on sticking around the terminal, they hand over a room, no questions asked."
"Like they did for us?"
"Exactly. From Silverstar's perspective, we're premium guests. Empty rooms anyway, and folks willing to pay top dollar to stay."
Unia's mouth dropped open in shock. The cost far exceeded her budget for this academy trip, and her eyes trembled.
"Y-You're saying we're gonna keep paying that? For up to a week...?"
"Yep."
She was flustered that I'd covered it all.
"Miss Unia. Money's meant to be earned to be spent—now or later."
"B-But...!"
"It might feel like burning cash, but if paying that gets us admitted, it's worth ten times over."
"...No."
Unia covered her face with one hand.
"Are you really sure about this?"
"Dead sure. There'll be dropouts, and supplementary admissions will happen."
If not, I'd make it so.
"Besides, it's my money I'm spending, not yours, right Miss Unia?"
Precisely, gold I'd appropriately farmed on the train.
"Don't worry about it—use whatever you need. Hotel charges the same whether one person sleeps or two."
"S-Still..."
"If it's really bothering you, let's say I 'hired' you, Miss Unia."
"Hired me?"
"Yeah."
Unia was the type who couldn't stand owing debts. She'd give without expecting payback, but if someone did her a favor, she'd repay it no matter what.
"If Binyu Group attacks the terminal and comes for me, you block 'em."
"......."
"The terminal's pretty safe anyway, so no need to stay up all night vigilant. Just rest well, and handle tomorrow when it comes. Got it?"
"......Got it."
She still looked unconvinced, tilting her head, but I pointed at the bed she was on.
"Good. Let's crash. Until word from the academy."
"...When will that be?"
"Dunno. Once today passes..."
Probably.
"Earliest, lunch tomorrow?"
By now, they'd be in an emergency meeting.
Esdinas Academy faculty conference room.
The mood in the dimly lit room was oppressively heavy, a far cry from the morning's entrance exam bustle. Some seats were empty, instructors had shown up in pajamas with coats thrown over, and even Dean Ederson Lionheart, the academic vice director, looked beet-red from being dragged in mid-drinking binge.
Whether they'd been sleeping, enjoying personal time, or boozing—no one had dressed properly. They'd all rushed here for one reason.
"Thank you all for gathering on such short notice for this emergency. I'm Julius, and I'll stake my instructor position to explain the situation."
Admissions Director Julius had called them together over a shocking issue.
"It's this."
"......."
Next to Julius stood a human-sized mannequin. Its chest was developed like a woman's stripped bare, and below—
"Hold on. What the hell is this?"
A woman in a white gown with light green hair took off her glasses and raised her hand.
"Director Julius. Did you vandalize this mannequin? Upper body's female, but the lower body's male skeleton...!"
"Exactly."
Julius boldly thumped the mannequin's chest.
"This is how the admissions fraud happened."
"What even is..."
"Instructor Esta."
Julius called to Esta, who sat quietly.
"Draw your sword, channel your aura, and slash the mannequin's chest."
"Hey!"
The green-haired instructor in the gown shouted, but Esta stood silently and picked up a fork from her table.
"Sadly, this'll have to substitute for a sword."
"It's fine. You need swordmaster-level aura to cut it properly anyway."
"......Right."
Schwick.
Esta infused the fork with aura and swung at the mannequin's chest.
Thud.
Something fell downward, and instructors shot up from their seats one by one.
"Wh-What in the...?!"
"It's a mana prosthetic made to mimic real flesh."
From the severed spot flowed a sticky liquid that had filled it tight. White like foggy mist, solidified slime fluid.
"Mana scans of all incoming female students revealed about sixteen cases of fraud in two varieties."
"Two varieties...?"
"One: wearing 'clothes' with the mana prosthetic stuffed inside."
Julius undid a hook on the mannequin's back, like stripping off women's underwear, and part of it peeled away. Like a vest or tank top.
"Some girls 'wore' this."
Sliced vertically, the mana prosthetic spilled out, but on Julius, it made his upper body look female.
"They wore...that?"
"Yes. A kind of mana stone application—basically a 'mana pouch'."
"How'd they get it?"
"...I already called one in privately and checked hands-on."
"You touched a freshman?!"
Ederson slammed the table with a fist, furious.
"A sub-C-rank fraudster. Hardly a freshman."
"Grr...!"
He bowed his head at Julius's words.
"I'll take responsibility. But we can't ignore this fraud."
"...What's the second case?"
"This."
Julius picked up a translucent prosthetic.
"Not wearing it like clothes, but inserting it into the body."
He gestured below his underbust in midair, mimicking shoving it in from below.
"They slit their skin...and shoved that inside?"
"High likelihood."
"......."
"Vice dean and dean are absent, so someone has to decide. I, Julius, stake my position to propose a full investigation."
"......For now, where are those sixteen—no, fifteen students?"
"To sweep them up secretly, we haven't summoned or moved them yet. They're probably chatting in dorm rooms with roommates, prepared for passers."
Currently, the 300 admits were assigned rooms in the dorms for them, talking with new roommates.
"...Call them out separately. And since it's about female students..."
Ederson stood gravely.
"Instructors Esta and Fiona."
The named were the White Sword Saint Esta, and the green-haired woman in white gown beside her.
"You two take responsibility for checking those fifteen. Confirm if they entered the academy with 'false hearts'."
"Understood."
"Sigh... Fine. We'll check, but if they really did this to get in, what then?"
"...Expel them, but we can't publicize it widely."
Ederson squeezed his eyes shut.
"Director Julius, start investigating with Instructors Esta and Fiona. The rest of us discuss their handling."
"...So yeah, they're probably deep in meetings right now?"
"......What happens to them?"
"They die, or live like they're dead."
Unia shot up from her seat.
"No way...!"
"Can't be helped. Criminals rotting in prison is the same everywhere, right?"
They'd committed the crime of fake breast manipulation.
"Ugh..."
"They'll probably have to stay inside the academy at least three years. No going out."
"......One question."
Unia placed a hand on her chest and tilted her head.
"How do you know all this?"
"......."
"That it'd get found out, how?"
"That's..."
The most certain, perfect justification to resolve Unia's doubts.
"Y'know."
Looking her in the eye, I answered with utmost seriousness.
"I can see the future."
"......?"
"More precisely, fragments of possible futures with countless possibilities."
Heroine conquer method: one of them.
—When using original knowledge gets you caught, the proper response?
"Seeing the future...is possible?"
"Fragmentary and limited, but not impossible."
—Just say you see the future. If it happens for real, what can they do? Puhuhu.
"It comes at a cost, though."
"A cost?"
—That way, they can't demand future info anytime.
"Yeah."
—For example...
"The price for seeing the future is my lifespan."
—The man sacrificing his life to help the heroine. Score some points with that. Puhuhu.
No precog. Just inductive reasoning from original knowledge.
"So then...maybe..."
"Miss Unia."
I winked lightly at her.
"Sometimes, there are things more important than lifespan, right?"
Total bullshit, but hey.