The Principal's Office
The sample collection was finished, but the dungeon cleansing was not.
Since the Dark Oubleks posed a massive hazard to any raid, every last one of them had to be hunted down and destroyed.
And so the disciplinary punishment carried on through the weekend.
Enter a dungeon, sweep a detector across each major stronghold, burn an escape scroll if nothing turned up, and on the rare occasion an Oublek did pop out, put it down... then repeat.
Tedious work, certainly, but it came with its own rewards.
Namely, the random boxes that had been distributed as my share.
Every last one was F-rank, so there was no need to borrow a lucky charm's hands, and even if a Stamp Coupon surfaced down the line it wouldn't apply to them anyway — so I cracked them open on the spot, one after another.
And fortunately, some fairly useful things came out.
Counting the ones left over from what Bong Jae-seok had given me, I was already up to four Random Rank-Ups.
Rank-related items were always better in abundance, so I resolved to store them away with care.
Meanwhile, Shin Byung-cheol had pulled solid wood chairs (F-rank) back to back until he finally, at long last, completed a solid wood set.
"Hey, can we give them a sit?"
"No. Get lost. All of you, get lost."
"I wanna sit too!"
There were little episodes like that along the way, but the discipline proceeded without a hitch.
By around Sunday morning, the dungeon list that had stretched on without end was down to just two entries.
Song Cheon-hye spoke up, her face an even mix of fatigue and pride.
"We're nearly finished. Next is—"
But right then, the remaining dungeon numbers wiped themselves away, and the list went completely blank.
Apparently another party had finished their sweep.
Han So-mi, thoroughly thrilled, bounced up and down on the spot.
"It's! Done!!"
"Y-yes, it is."
Song Cheon-hye faltered for only an instant before wrapping up the dungeon cleansing on a pleasant note.
I asked, "So we're free to go now?"
"Yes. Thank you for your hard work. Do continue to observe the academy rules."
"Aigoo, of course, of course."
"Right, then! Right then!"
Shin Byung-cheol and I nodded our heads again and again, though Song Cheon-hye's eyes said she believed not a word of it.
Still, perhaps deciding there was no need to sour the good mood, her expression softened almost at once.
Han So-mi, for her part, waved her hand in a bright, breezy farewell.
"Great work! Byeee!"
"Yeah, you did well too."
And just as I returned the wave and made to leave—
"Huh?"
"...?"
The two Disciplinary Committee members froze at the same moment and pulled up a window in midair, apparently checking a message.
Then, as one, their gazes swung around and locked onto me.
"Why are you both staring like that?"
"They said to bring you alo~ng!"
"Where to?"
"The Principal's office!"
So it's finally here.
It had been a few days since I handed over the samples, which meant they would have used the Wisdom Wall by now.
And the Wisdom Wall always presented the most efficient solution available.
Since my mere existence could cut the Witch of Decay's fighting strength in half, the odds of my name coming up were extremely high.
So I asked again.
"When do they want me?"
"They say right now, if possible."
"Then let's head over immediately."
Shin Byung-cheol, meanwhile, had gone pale as a sheet, apparently having judged the situation to have turned deadly serious.
"I-I don't have to go too, right?"
"Correct. You're dismissed."
"Okay! Great work, everyone! Have yourselves a wonderful weekend!"
And, lest anyone change their mind, he made himself scarce with remarkable speed.
Tch. Not a shred of loyalty in that one.
May your boxes spit out nothing but teacups from here on out.
Song Cheon-hye seemed to share the sentiment, her brow creasing slightly, but she quickly smoothed her expression and took the lead.
"Follow me."
We soon came to a stop before a room bearing a sign that read "Principal's Office."
Song Cheon-hye knocked, her face a touch tense—
Knock, knock, knock.
—and the door swung open at once, revealing Lee Sudok. Beside him stood Seo Cheong-yong, waving with the easy warmth of his usual smile.
They had probably sensed our approach quite some time ago.
Song Cheon-hye bowed with formal precision.
"I've brought him."
"Good work. You may head back now."
"Yes, sir."
Song Cheon-hye flicked a parting glance my way; I bowed to the teachers in turn and stepped inside the Principal's office.
The door closed at my back, and before long it burst open again as Lee Sudok strode out.
"And why exactly are you not leaving?"
"...My apologies."
Apparently someone had been pacing around nearby, wondering whether she might just possibly sneak a listen out of curiosity, and had been caught red-handed.
With Seo Cheong-yong and Lee Sudok as the opposition, even Dang Gyu-young would have been snagged. As if Song Cheon-hye's skills stood a chance.
Only then did I pull my eyes away from the door and take in the office around me.
Everything about the place, from its atmosphere to the very currents in the air, was solemnity itself. A soft carpet yielded underfoot, and every piece of furniture in sight might as well have had a label reading I cost a fortune pinned to it.
Frames hung along the walls at even intervals — portraits of the principals who had come before. A bookshelf in one corner was packed tight with tomes that looked to be high-grade grimoires, or perhaps martial manuals.
And front and center stood a desk bearing a nameplate that read Principal — behind which sat a man who looked utterly wrong for so dignified a setting.
Hair sticking out in every direction, a beard that had clearly lost its battle with the razor. He wore a suit of sorts, but perhaps finding it stifling, his tie hung loose and several buttons sat undone.
Even so, I had known from the start that this was the Principal, so I bowed without delay.
"Good day, sir."
"There he is. Kim Ho. Welcome."
The Principal answered in an unhurried tone — then scratched vigorously at his head, as though something about this bothered him.
"Sorry to ask this the moment we meet, but you don't mind if I talk casually, do you?"
"Not at all, sir."
"Whew, bless you. I'll never understand why formalities have to be so exhausting. Honestly, it takes my breath away."
Even as he said it, he sneaked a glance sideways to read the room — where a woman in an immaculate business suit stood.
Armed with roughly two and a half Song Cheon-hyes' worth of severity: the Vice Principal.
This one's no pushover either.
Never mind the personality — the raw power.
Going by eye, with a veteran's instincts, I'd put her right at the threshold of S-rank. She seemed stronger than Lee Sudok or Seo Cheong-yong, even.
"..."
The Vice Principal answered with nothing but a chilly look, and the Principal smoothly turned his gaze back to me.
"Any guess why I called you here?"
"I honestly couldn't say."
For now, I played the ignoramus. Because even if the end result — joining the subjugation force — was the same, there was a world of difference between me knowing and volunteering, and them explaining the situation and extending the offer.
The latter is worth far more.
And if a man who had once been the Hero himself had summoned me, the gains on the table would be considerable indeed.
The Principal asked, "You know about the Witch of Decay?"
"Yes, sir. I know of her."
This was the hottest topic among the students at the moment, and I'd crossed paths with Dark Oubleks any number of times during the discipline, so there was nothing to gain by denying it.
The Principal went on. "Sooner or later, we're going to war with that Witch of Decay — all-out. A subjugation force is being organized as we speak. I called you here because I'm told you could play a very central role in it."
"That's news to me. Might I ask who told you so?"
"..."
The Principal's words caught in his throat.
The Wisdom Wall was a secret among secrets, known to only the smallest circle of insiders. Not something he could bring himself to lay bare before a mere student.
Not that I didn't already know every bit of it.
At that point the Vice Principal, who had been observing from the side, opened her mouth for the first time.
"That portion cannot be disclosed. I'd ask for your understanding, Kim Ho."
"Of course. Understood."
What that exchange earned me: a small debt of the heart, and a small grip on the initiative.
The Principal tried again. "Well then — if anything comes to mind, out with it. What can you do?"
I let the silence stretch just long enough to be deliberate before answering.
"I do have a guess or two. Before that, though — may I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"You said a subjugation force is being organized. Does that mean I'd be joining it?"
"...That would be the arrangement."
I put on my best already reluctant face.
"I'd like to hear the details first."
"All right. I'll walk you through it."
Seo Cheong-yong took this one. The Witch of Decay, he explained, had burrowed into an A-rank dungeon — the Transference Labyrinth. And since the odds were very high that she had since fortified it into a fortress, a subjugation force was being assembled.
The Transference Labyrinth, hm.
Perhaps because the cast had changed from what I remembered, it had slipped just past my expectations. Even so, I could roughly see what she was playing at.
But the price-raising wasn't finished yet, so I dipped my head with an even more reluctant look.
"The Witch of Decay, in an A-rank dungeon... that's well beyond what I can handle. I'm sorry."
"...I suppose that's only fair. I understand."
The Principal said it as if he genuinely regretted it. Joining the subjugation force meant staking one's life; it was not something that could be forced on a student. Far less on a student who was only a first-year.
And yet the very next moment, meeting the Principal's gaze, I felt it in my bones.
He hasn't given up at all, has he.
Both eyes still brimmed with interest. He hadn't said so, but he must have had my background looked into. And whatever he'd dug up in the process must have only whetted that appetite further.
Sure enough, the corners of his mouth crept upward.
"Still... I can't help wanting to hear what it is you do have."
I could have wriggled out of it here too, but then they would plan the operation without me, plain and simple. This was the moment to leave the door open and prove my worth.
"I have a countermeasure for poison."
"She is a poison-type caster, that much is true. But run-of-the-mill countermeasures won't cut it."
"Mine is strong enough."
I decided to show rather than tell. It would all come to light the moment I joined the subjugation anyway; there was no sense wrapping it up any tighter.
Using Bestow.
Bestowing Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity upon the target.
"Ten Thou—!"
The Principal's face went rigid.
That a student possessed Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity — a state that even graduates and faculty had failed to attain — was staggering enough. But to think he could bestow it on another person as well.
He promptly shared the notification with the other teachers, and much the same shock played across their faces. Their attitudes, too, had swung a full 180 degrees. Until moments ago they had all but written off putting me in the subjugation force; now their eyes burned with a strange, fervent resolve, as though I absolutely had to come along.
"Won't you reconsider? That skill of yours would help enormously."
When the Principal pressed, I donned my reluctant face once more.
"As I said, it's beyond my ability. Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity doesn't make me invincible."
Seo Cheong-yong and Lee Sudok each weighed in.
"The teachers and the seniors will cover you so thoroughly that not one hair on your head gets bent."
"On that much, you have my word."
And then the Principal held out the carrot.
"Right — it has to be worth staking your life on, coming with us. If there's anything you want, name it."
"When the subjugation is over... I would like to ask you a small favor, Principal."
Nothing in this world beat a blank check. And if the man signing it was the Principal himself, so much the better.
"...!"
The Principal's eyes flashed. He had just realized what all my price-raising had been for.
Even so, he apparently judged the bestowal of Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity to be well worth it, and gave a slow nod.
"Well, all right then. Anything within my power. So — you're in?"
"Yes, sir. I'm in."
"Teacher Seo and Teacher Lee will be leading the subjugation force, so the three of you work out the details together."
The two teachers and Kim Ho departed, and only the Principal and the Vice Principal remained in the office.
The Principal stared at the closed door, expression grave, sunk in thought for a good long while.
Then he asked, as if in passing, "...That boy. He's the Sovereign, isn't he?"
"Yes. Beyond doubt."
"The Sovereign... with Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, and Bestow, on top of that..."
Where on earth did a creature like that crawl out from?
One weight had lifted from his shoulders where the Witch of Decay was concerned — and yet he couldn't shake the odd sensation of having called in a tiger to catch a fox.