Operation: Academy Transfer
I fell silent for a moment at Sayulcheon's question.
It wasn't that I was testing her. I was genuinely wrestling with how to answer.
Is that sword even mine?
The blade Sayulcheon had been eyeing was the one Albedo had casually driven into the ground and left behind. But she had told me to take it with me when I headed for Arca — which I could reasonably interpret as a transfer of ownership.
So yes. It was my sword.
"Yes. It's mine."
"……Why is it stuck in the ground?"
"I didn't put it there. A friend I made in the Destroyed Kingdom left it like that before she went."
I told Sayulcheon the unvarnished truth, meeting her grave expression without a single lie. Realizing I wasn't putting on an act, she let out a long sigh.
I was just as confused as she was and would have loved to sigh myself — but the mood really didn't allow for it.
"Hoo. You've made a rather wise and powerful friend, it seems. The aura clinging to that sword is keeping monsters from approaching this area."
"I—I see."
At her words, my gaze drifted to Albedo's sword… no, my sword now. I had half-suspected it, but to think a single blade had truly been holding the Destroyed Kingdom's monsters at bay…
There was no chance she was bluffing. Given Sayulcheon's skill and influence, there was no way a woman this clearly deep in serious thought would invent something like that on the spot.
Origin Academy of Arca — the very school I was aiming for. And the strongest of its thirteen instructors, Instructor Number One, a walking strategic weapon who had appeared in the story itself: that was Sayulcheon.
"An immense power dwells in that sword. Even I find it unsettling."
"Is that so?"
What? Why can't I feel anything?
The question had barely crossed my mind before Sayulcheon seemed to share a similar doubt. She studied me for a moment, concluded that I didn't know the reason either, and turned away with another sigh.
But she didn't stop at turning away. She strode straight toward the sword and seized the hilt without hesitation.
CRACKLE—!
"……!"
In the same instant, scarlet and white energy exploded outward like lightning. As if rejecting Sayulcheon's grip, the power whipped up a gale and shoved her hand away with violent force. She began to raise a golden aura, as if intending to crush the energy by sheer strength — then abruptly let it subside. Releasing the hilt, she turned to me with a thoughtful look.
"Will you try drawing it?"
"Pardon?"
"There must be a reason she left it planted like that — specifically as a sword. You might be able to pull it free without incident."
I gauged the situation for a moment, then carefully took hold of the blade. Unlike when Sayulcheon had touched it, the sword came free as easily as plucking a chopstick from a block of tofu. I had honestly been wondering whether I'd need to transmute the cracked ground around it — but it slid out with startling smoothness.
"Just as I thought."
A faint smile touched Sayulcheon's lips as she watched me draw the sword with ease.
"That blade is bound to resonate with your energy."
"Resonate with my energy?"
"Yes. The force that erupted when I touched it moved as though it were aiding you the moment you took hold."
Had it? Honestly, outside of alchemy I couldn't do much of anything, so I had no idea. If I'd at least learned a basic Ether cultivation method, I might have felt something — but right now, all I could tell was that the sword was incredibly light. It looked like a real blade in both material and construction, yet swinging it felt like waving a toy sword made of styrofoam.
"Still, something is strange."
"Ma'am?"
"I came because I suddenly detected the aura of Antares — who should have been slain. Yet the only things here are that sword bearing Antares's power… and you."
Cold sweat prickled down my back. Even to my own ears, I sounded like an extremely suspicious person right about now. Fortunately, Sayulcheon didn't seem inclined to do anything about me on the spot.
"We should introduce ourselves properly first. My name is Sayulcheon. What is yours?"
"Ryu Seojun."
"……Not a name I know."
Well, of course not. Setting aside all the isekai possession nonsense, I was essentially a life-form that had spontaneously generated in the middle of the Destroyed Kingdom.
"So why were you simply standing here?"
I would have loved to know that myself. But I couldn't answer a question with another question, so I decided to invent a plausible story.
A child born to a couple wandering the Destroyed Kingdom. The couple died in a monster attack, but the child survived and grew up strong. At last, the grown youth set out to leave the wasteland for the wider world, traveling with a friend he met by chance all the way to the border…
…The part where that friend jammed a sword into the ground like a totem and vanished was a bit of a flaw, but it was still a perfectly believable tale for the Destroyed Kingdom. Given the environment there, it might not just be plausible — it might be downright common.
"……I see. I would like to meet this friend of yours myself. Is there any way to find them?"
"We only traveled together by chance. Then she suddenly planted the sword and disappeared — so I don't know either."
Sayulcheon was clearly curious about Albedo's true identity. The problem was that I didn't properly know who Albedo was either, so even if she asked, I had nothing useful to give. The most I knew was a personal preference: she really loved salt-roasted lamb.
Even so, I decided this was a golden opportunity. More than anything, I had already figured out that the "certain woman" Albedo had mentioned was Sayulcheon. I had no way of knowing what history bound them together — but Albedo had clearly anticipated all of this when she left my side.
If she's going to set the board this thoroughly, only an idiot would fail to take the win.
I had been fretting over how to resolve my identity problem. Meeting Sayulcheon meant I no longer had to worry. If I could win her over properly, I could get myself a decent identity and become a citizen of Arca.
"Lady Sayulcheon."
"What is it?"
"Would you be able to take me to Arca?"
I put on a tense air and set my face as if steeling myself for something grave. …I could dress it up however I liked, but the truth was I really was nervous. My Gift guaranteed my alchemy — it did nothing to rewrite my natural personality.
At my request, Sayulcheon's brow twitched. She was silent for a moment, then asked quietly,
"For what reason?"
"There's only one reason a young man my age would want to go to Arca."
"……Enrollment at Origin Academy?"
I nodded without a word. Sayulcheon fixed me with a hard stare, locking eyes with mine. It was oppressive, but I forced myself to meet her gaze head-on rather than yield. As I recalled, Sayulcheon liked people who were bold and unyielding — better to look a little arrogant than shrink away.
"Your spirit is passable."
"……Then—!"
"But I regret to say."
Regret. A word that usually meant refusal, or at least something negative. Yet Sayulcheon's expression was nothing like that of someone delivering a rejection. The corner of her mouth curled slightly as she spoke the word with a dry little laugh. I didn't even need to ask why — she told me at once.
"The Academy entrance ceremony ended over a month ago. The academic calendar is already well underway."
My body went rigid. The Academy entrance ceremony was already over? And if it had ended more than a month ago, that meant from the very moment I opened my eyes in the Destroyed Kingdom, enrollment at the Academy had already been a lost cause.
I wanted to curse the heavens. Twisting clichés was one thing — but this had completely abandoned the standard flow of an academy novel.
"……This is."
"What is it?"
But perhaps a chance still remained. Sayulcheon's expression hardened as she took an incoming call.
"Today was the first field exercise — and some utterly fearless fools have attacked the cadets."
One of the mandatory clichés of an academy novel. A villain faction's student raid event, arriving with impeccable timing.
"I cannot simply abandon you in the Destroyed Kingdom, so I will take you to Arca for now. Once I have resolved the Academy matter, I will come find you again. Wait quietly at the Security Bureau."
Sayulcheon scooped me up at once and surged forward, unfolding her signature movement technique without the slightest hesitation. Between Albedo and now this, my tally of being carried around like luggage was getting absurdly high — but inwardly I smiled. The perfect opportunity had just fallen into my lap.
Carrying me into Won-guk, Sayulcheon immediately passed through a warp point I had seen countless times in the game — a device called a Transfer Gate — and we arrived in one of Arca's plazas. The moment she started toward the Security Office, I caught her arm.
"You're short on time, aren't you?"
"……Yes."
"I'll be fine. Please go first to wherever the Academy cadets were attacked."
Sayulcheon's hesitation was brief. She pivoted from the path to the Security Bureau and raced straight toward the site of the raid — Arca's 3rd Research Institute. Having stared at the game map until I was sick of it, I knew exactly where everything was.
"You survived the Destroyed Kingdom intact. I will trust that you have some skill of your own."
Was that a warning that I might still be in danger? A muttered rationalization for bringing me to the scene? Or a quiet instruction to keep my head down somewhere safe until things were cleaned up?
Whichever it was, it didn't particularly matter. I answered with a faint smile.
"Don't worry about me."
Sorry, Sayulcheon — but I fully intended to resolve this 3rd Research Institute raid myself. She had said she would trust my skill. She had never told me to sit still and stay quiet.
I can't give up on Origin Academy.
For an applicant, enrollment isn't the only path. There is also transfer — a perfectly excellent option. In the game, no one had ever transferred into Origin Academy before…
Well. If there was no precedent, I would simply make one. I had alchemy, after all. If no one had ever transferred in successfully, then I would just become the first transfer student.