The Special Class of the Old Schoolhouse (2)
[Shortly after, Esdinas Academy Old School Building, 1st floor temporary lounge.]
The students at the academy range in age from 17 to 21. If you enroll at the minimum age, you graduate right as you become an adult. Enroll at 19, and you'll hit adulthood—20 years old—while still in school. Naturally, this creates one big headache for the academy.
Young men and women in their early twenties. Good-looking, with solid baseline specs to boot. And given the academy's focus on physical training, what do you think happens?
'It's like an Olympic village.'
All sorts of drama between guys and girls is inevitable. Not like those wild foreign drama parties or college MT trips from H.O. movies, of course.
"I thought Esdinas Academy was super strict and all about discipline. I had no idea it was actually written into the school rules."
Unia sat on the sofa, her voice dazed as she spoke. Exactly like that.
"Even with all these nobles and rich kids, stuff still happens."
I sat across from her on the sofa and swept my hand over the whole building.
"Dorms are separated by gender, and instructors patrol the entire Esdinas grounds, keeping a close eye. But when love strikes between a guy and a girl, history gets made anywhere, anytime."
"I-Is it okay to say stuff like that so casually?"
"I'm speaking from an academic, political, and realistic standpoint, Miss Unia. Even if it veers a bit into sexual territory."
Unia gave me a complicated look.
"This place..."
"Someone once called it a 'legally sanctioned breeding ground for superior stock.'"
Was that too blunt? A staff member's face stiffened as they passed by outside the lounge.
"So be careful, Miss Unia. Guys eyeing you could come rushing in any second."
But they relaxed at my follow-up and kept walking down the hall.
"...Should I close the door?"
"Better leave it open. They're worried about that exact thing happening, just in case."
"......."
"Don't sweat it. As long as it doesn't break the school rules, we're good."
"But..."
Unia pointed at the massive tome on the table in front of us—easily over 700 pages.
"As long as you don't violate what's written here, you can do whatever without punishment... is how some people interpret it?"
"Pretty much."
I flipped open the book and pointed to the warning from Dean Ederson.
"No pregnancies while enrolled. If you get pregnant, you'll have to focus on childcare, which tanks your studies."
"......."
"It's a warning to stay focused on academics—a hard line. Crystal clear for everyone."
"So... as long as there's no pregnancy."
Unia swallowed hard.
"...It's okay after graduation?"
"By then you're an adult anyway, and about a third of the students here come for that purpose from the start."
That purpose.
Unia bit her lower lip.
"...To find a good partner."
"Yeah. Let's use some more realistic, wholesome terms here."
The staff patrolling outside—not the ones cleaning the Old School Building, but pretending otherwise—kept passing by the lounge. Busy with cleanup, sure, but also watching the 'first residents' like us for any funny business.
"Esdinas Academy gathers top-tier men and women from all over. In marriage market terms, it's like a hexagon where every stat is maxed."
"Hexagon?"
"Looks, wealth, education, talent, status, bloodline. That covers it."
"......So you pick the opposite sex with the best overall stats and lock in marriage right after graduation."
"That's the idea. It's basically one form of 'graduation.'"
Esdinas graduation has two meanings.
"Most students aim just for the diploma. Others? They graduate not only with that, but envision starting adult life at 20 with their partner—leaving as minors, returning as adults."
"The academy's turned into one big... social club."
"Close enough."
Think high-society balls where nobles flirt shamelessly. The academy's the same. It doesn't suppress it—it even encourages it to a degree.
"Why shell out big bucks for family-hosted balls and invitations when the academy sets up the perfect environment for love to bloom?"
"Here, you meet pre-vetted, proven partners."
"Exactly."
In modern terms, it's like an elite school district for chaebol heirs, politicians' kids, old-money families, and celebs' offspring. Why send them there? Better education, sure—but ultimately, to scout in-laws through their teens.
"The academy's packed with royalty already. Mostly nobles, but even commoners—tycoons nobles can't ignore. Sole disciple of a grand mage, heir to a merchant house that could bankrupt a noble family with one contract."
"Uh, um..."
"And amid all that, we're total outliers."
I pointed at Unia, then myself.
"Not from some special noble house, right?"
"......."
"Looks-wise, we pass with flying colors from their view. Hell, they'd envy and covet us."
Me aside, once Unia's looks get out, classmates and seniors will be drooling.
"Info's probably leaked already, to some extent."
"Info?"
"On you and me. Staff are human too."
A few looked guilty passing by outside.
"For example..."
"Pardon the intrusion."
And in strode this woman, bold as brass.
"Instructor Esta...?"
"Calling me instructor already? Not bad. Easier for me too."
The White Sword Saint, Esta, shut the lounge door.
"You had a ton to explain, but you're doing it so kindly and thoroughly, I barely need to warn you myself."
"I kinda like explaining stuff."
I bowed politely to Instructor Esta.
"......?"
Esta stared at me, tilting her head.
"Something wrong?"
"Don't we... know each other from somewhere before?"
Esta eyed me curiously.
"We met on the train."
"No, before that."
"Before that."
I shrugged lightly.
"If you remember, it was fate. If not, just one face in the crowd."
"......."
"Kidding. First time was the train. You never heard of 'Red Sun Phoenix' before, right?"
"True."
Esta nodded calmly and took the empty spot on the sofa.
"Sneaking in impersonating a noble to begin with."
"W-Wait! That's...!"
Unia waved her hands in panic at Esta's words.
"He's...!"
"It's fine, Miss Unia. Not the first faker here."
"Huh?"
"The imperial crown prince once disguised as a commoner. Used a noble name no one recognized."
Esta poured tea from the teapot into her cup like it was no big deal.
"Esdinas doesn't distinguish nobles from commoners. What matters is your grades here, proof of your skills and talent."
Esta filled her cup with herbal tea and tapped it lightly with her finger.
"Enroll as an average commoner, graduate as a swordmaster with nobles begging you to join their nation. Some with real confidence declare their own family name pre-enrollment, becoming founding heads."
"Ah, I-I see."
Unia sighed in relief at Esta's explanation.
"Um, Instructor?"
"Yes?"
"Did you come to explain what's in store for us?"
Esta arched one brow and smirked at Unia's question.
"Why think that?"
"Other instructors and staff just passed by. You're the first to come in directly."
"Spot on. Correct."
Esta took a sip, set down her cup.
"Not just explaining—I'll be living here in the Old School Building too from now on."
"...Pardon?"
Unia's face stiffened.
"Why the surprise?"
Esta smiled like it was obvious.
"You think they'd leave 17-year-old boys and girls alone in an old forest building? Need at least one adult."
"A-Adult..."
"And above all, we'll be together long-term."
Esta pulled a necklace from her bosom.
"I'm your class instructor now."
"In...structor?"
"Yep."
Esta held up four fingers.
"16 into one special class, divided into four teams for varied training."
"Uh..."
"Details after the other 14 special admits join, but here's what you should know upfront."
"And scouting us at the same time?"
Esta paused at my question.
"Scouting?"
"...You seem to know something. Or good instincts?"
"Feels like preemptive contact."
"Mercenary senses? No record of that, though."
"Heh."
Background check's done, huh.
"Here to verify my blank past?"
"Part of it."
"What if I'm so secretive I had to erase everything?"
"Academy'll judge that while you're here."
Esta smirked provocatively.
"Not bad enough to get rejected, right?"
"Th-That's!"
Unia shot her hand up.
"I-I can vouch for him!"
"......Wha?"
Esta looked flustered.
"You two aren't...?"
"No. Nothing like that."
I waved off Esta's misunderstanding firmly.
"Yet."
"......."
"Hey, who knows what happens after graduation?"
This was Esdinas Academy.
"Come in alone, leave with a crowd—what's weird about that?"
"......."
"The current emperor graduated dragging seven seniors and classmates back as concubines, right?"
"True, but."
"Me?"
I made a number with my fingers.
"I'm aiming for the all-time record."
"......."
"Don't look at me like I'm crazy, Instructor Esta. You too, Miss Unia."
They had to become my harem.
"You never know with people."
Otherwise, they were the Apocalypse.
"All for world peace."
Until purified by me, they all carried the potential Apocalypse seed that could end the world.
Heroines.
"You serious?"
"Of course."
If they became the protagonist's heroines, they'd be world-ending nukes. Destroying the mid-plane, even the demon world I came from, wiping out all demons.
So.
'Until the detonator's removed, they're potential enemies.'
Heroines were the world's—and my—foes.
'They could become the goddess's spearhead, ready to kill me anytime.'
Unia before me, Esta, all the other heroines—same deal.
'Once angels descend, they're no longer who I knew—just slaughter machines for world destruction.'
Persuasion, brainwashing—useless.
Apocalypse meant GAME OVER.
If.
Unia, Esta, any heroine.
'Falls for the original protagonist, suffers mentally, turns into an apocalyptic angel.'
Then, kill them.
But.
If they stopped being heroines.
If their bodies and hearts could no longer be called original heroines.
If they wished to be my woman, not the protagonist's?
Just beautiful women then.
Like Chang Yeom said.
-Until you Cumming Dream, you're not my woman.
Until they became mine, original heroines could puppet for the goddess or the protagonist anytime.
-Only after Cumming Dream are you truly mine.
Puhuhu.