The Heroine Behind the Iron Bars
Two people stood beside a rather tall male student. Floating beside him was a girl bobbing gently in the air. She was perched on a robotic vacuum cleaner, flying around, and for some reason her dark brown hair hovered slightly higher than the man’s head. After the two possessed individuals finished their introductions, they decided to head back to the main gate together.
The gate was closed, but there was still time before the entrance ceremony. Some new students rested in quiet spots or wandered around the academy to look around, but most had gathered in front of the main gate. There were plenty of things to see there, and simply walking around would earn you snacks or souvenirs. Unless someone was extremely introverted, this was the place to kill time.
The two possessed ones also headed toward the cluster of booths, both to pass the time and to see if they could spot any recognizable faces.
“Wait, that person—”
There was an unexpected figure. It wasn’t because she was a character from the game or novel. She was simply so unusual that it caught them off guard. They had assumed an introvert would spend time in a quiet place, but someone extremely introverted apparently found even that difficult.
A beige-haired girl who looked timid at first glance was being cornered by military recruiters and bombarded with offers.
“…She looks so pitiful…”
The timid girl seemed completely panicked. She was being scouted—no, press-ganged—by a special forces unit. No physical violence was involved, but for someone extremely introverted, the situation itself probably felt like violence.
For reference, a translation of what they were saying to her would go something like this:
“…Unlike private companies, we prioritize citizen safety and understand honor…”
Enlist voluntarily right now!
The salary is a tiny bit lower than a guild’s, but our spirit is on par with the strongest units, so what does it matter? What does anything matter!
“Ahaha… I’m sorry, but… my acquaintance told me not to accept any offers…”
No! Stop!
“No no, I’m sure what that person meant was the other private company booths. We are a nationally certified institution. And among them, we are at the very top…”
You little— Listen here! This main body does not accept “no” as an answer!
“Hey Sky! Stop translating their weird nonsense next to me! It’s giving me chills!”
If they left her alone, the timid girl would end up enlisting right after graduation and ruining her life. It was time to intervene.
“Excuse me? You look quite troubled. Would you like some help?”
I cut into their conversation. Now that I was closer, I realized the girl was quite tall. She wasn’t as tall as the protagonist, but she had to be around 170 centimeters. Why did everyone I met seem taller than me…?
The atmosphere, which had been flowing straight toward signing, shattered with the intervention of a third party. Even though the recruiters had every reason to be annoyed, their expressions didn’t change at all. They really were professionals.
“Ahem… Student, are you perhaps also interested in our recruitment program?”
“While it may be difficult to enlist in special forces immediately, if you prove your abilities in the ability-user unit, you can be promoted to special forces later!”
“The friend I just made and I were both enlisted soldiers, you know.”
The three recruiters took turns speaking in rapid succession. How annoying!
“Enlisted… soldier…?”
Enlisting as a regular soldier? My evaluation had taken a serious hit… It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it was probably because I wasn’t wearing my class assignment badge. Looking now, the timid girl beside me had a golden dragon-head-shaped badge pinned to her chest.
“…If you register, you’ll receive tax reductions…”
This was the academy’s class assignment system. It ranked students from Dragon Head all the way to Wings, Claws, and Tail. Among them, Dragon Head was the elite class reserved for the most exceptional new students.
The standard of “exceptional” didn’t always mean combat ability. In fact, if a non-combatant made it into Dragon Head, it meant they were an even rarer talent.
“…Participation in overseas tours…”
The point was, Dragon Head was an unconditional jackpot. If they could recruit the timid girl wearing that badge, they would profit no matter how they used her. On the other hand, since I wasn’t wearing a badge, they probably thought I was somewhere around Dragon Tail. Of course, since I had still been accepted into Golden Dragon Academy, even the Tail class possessed considerable talent.
“…If you only serve two years at the Gaema Plateau…”
That was why they were trying to recruit me even as a regular soldier.
“…Priority clearance rights for C-rank Gates will be granted…”
Aaaargh! It was too loud! The three recruiters were executing a jet-stream attack with their words. There was no damage, but it was incredibly irritating.
Wondering if I should put up a shield, I looked for the protagonist and found her completely ignoring the barrage of explanations. She was tearing open the “Dad’s Hand Pies” displayed at the booth and devouring them one after another.
“…Starting salary begins at 54 million won, and increases with every promotion…”
The protagonist suddenly stopped her ravenous eating and turned her attention to the recruiters. This didn’t feel good…
“Starting salary… 54 million won…? I’ll enlist right now—!”
No! If it had been about the special forces it might have been different, but that was the salary explanation for regular ability-user soldiers. Were they really going to throw her potential into a low-grade trash can?!
“No! Siwoo, stop right there! That’s enough!”
I rushed over and clamped my hand over the mouth of destruction.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Huuuuh… There are… even more people now…”
“…Basic hunter equipment will be provided…”
“…The future of our children…”
“…Performance bonuses will also be distributed…”
This wasn’t working. If things continued like this, I was going to lose my mind. I really didn’t want to use that method, but…
I used psychokinesis to pull out my smartphone and quickly dialed a number.
Tu… Tu… Food expense payment… Tu…
Fortunately, the call connected quickly. How strange. For Nakseong to call first.
“Ah, yes. It’s nothing serious, but I’ve run into a bit of trouble.”
Trouble? Nakseong was in trouble? After explaining the situation in detail, I handed the smartphone to the female recruiter who seemed to be in charge.
“A phone call? Are you trying to get parental consent? We can proceed without—”
“Just take it.”
The person in charge took the phone with a doubtful expression. It took less than a few seconds for her face to turn deathly pale.
Hello? I’m sorry. No. No. I will correct it immediately. I will send them right away. No. I will educate them properly.
Even while on the phone, the recruiter bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle, showing an intense reaction. As soon as the call ended, she quickly returned the smartphone and released the three of them.
The moment she was freed, the timid girl vanished somewhere in the blink of an eye. Only the protagonist, whose mouth was still covered, and I remained.
Since the timid girl had been wearing a Dragon Head badge, we would probably meet her again later.
“Pwah! You! Why did you suddenly interfere?!”
“Let’s call it consideration for a newbie. By the way, Siwoo, why aren’t you wearing your academy badge?”
“Badge? I put it on when I left the house?”
She looked down at her own chest and let out a startled gasp.
“Wait, where did my badge go?!”
“You ran here so desperately that it must have fallen off somewhere. The badge itself doesn’t have much value anyway, so you can just get a new one.”
The protagonist drooped like a large dog that had been caught in the rain.
“Then why aren’t you wearing yours?”
I couldn’t tell her I had accidentally left it at the apartment.
“Isn’t this more fun? I wanted to experience what it feels like to be low-rank for once… or something like that?”
I laughed it off with an awkward “Oh ho ho…” and glossed over the question. Having said that much, going back to the apartment to get the badge would look pathetic, so I couldn’t do it now.
After that, we wandered around the various booths and looked around. Aside from the constant struggle of having to rein in the protagonist every time she got tempted by money, it was quite enjoyable.
Sometimes I wondered if I should just dump money into her account. The thought crossed my mind, but I absolutely couldn’t do that. Newbies had to earn things themselves. It wasn’t some old-man mindset of “I suffered so you should too.” Earning something yourself was simply more fun.
Besides, things given too easily lost their value. It was a valuable lesson I learned after force-feeding a newbie strategy guide I found on the internet, only for them to say the game wasn’t fun anymore and quit.
That said, refusing to give any guidance at all would also lead to ruin, so pointing out paths that should be avoided was probably fine. After all, unlike games where you could try again many times, this was a life you only got to live once.
While we were walking around the booths collecting snacks and souvenirs, a sudden cry rang out from outside the school gate.
“Huuuuaaaaang! Please open the gate! There’s still an elf who hasn’t gotten in yet! Uwaaaaaang!”
Most people glanced over once with a “What’s that?” before turning away. It looked like a hassle, so they didn’t want to get involved. A few scattered conversations from the murmuring crowd reached my ears.
“What? An elf in a school uniform? There’s an elf among the new students?”
“I don’t know a single word of Elvish. Shouldn’t we just avoid her?”
“No, she seems to speak Korean just fine… Still, you never know.”
Apparently there was a tardy elf outside. An elf?
“Sky, they say there’s an elf outside. Is it the kind of elf I’m thinking of?”
“We should go see for ourselves.”
We hurried to the main gate. There, an elf with huge, fluffy pink bread-like hair was grabbing the iron bars and shaking them violently. No matter how hard she shook, the bars didn’t budge. But between her long bangs, long ears were clearly visible, and even though her school uniform looked quite tight, something with an overwhelming presence on her chest was jiggling intensely.
“Whoa…”
“Ooooh…”
“Huuuuaaaaang…”
Just from the wailing I had been unsure, but seeing her in person made it certain.
“The heroine…!”
“It’s the female lead!”
The elf exchange student who came from beyond the Gate. The heroine of I Became the Savior of the Academy. From the protagonist’s perspective, the female lead—Piony—was standing right there beyond the iron bars of the main gate.