Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: There Is No Teacher for Destiny (7)
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***
On the breakwater of Academy Island, beyond the reach of even the surveillance cameras.
Three men and women in pitch-black masks, blending into the night shadows, were holding a conversation.
“…Not yet?”
The first to speak was the tallest woman among them.
She kept fiddling with the whip at her waist, as if irritated by something, her sporadically leaking mana utterly murderous.
“Permission! I asked if it’s here yet!”
“…Yes, not yet.”
When the hulking man in a matching mask answered, the woman’s eyes twisted in fury.
“Damn old fool. This is why politicians are no good. Can’t move quick when it counts…”
She chewed on her mask as if swallowing her rage.
By the time even the moonlight overhead fled behind the clouds to escape her wrath, the military phone in the big man’s hand lit up.
“…Word from above. The operation succeeded without a hitch. The minister personally sweet-talked the nosy director…”
“Of course it had to succeed! Doesn’t that old geezer know how precious the potion he took was?”
The big man flinched and bowed his head reflexively.
“Trash… Infiltration is a matter of life and seconds…”
The whip woman spat the words again before turning her head.
“Any contact?”
This time, the smallest woman among the three fielded her question.
Like the big man, she held a military phone, her expression—visible beyond the mask—looking extremely sour.
“…Ah, no one’s picking up.”
“No one? Including the Black Sheep?”
“Yes, the Black Sheep too… no answer.”
The neck of the woman toying with her whip cracked audibly as she tilted her head.
“Ha… It’s only been a few months since they left the fold, and already they’re growing rebellious.”
“…W-well, maybe they have some circumstances?”
“Circumstances? What circumstances? You think there’s something more important than patriotism?”
When the woman snapped back sharply, the phone-holding woman bowed her head deeply.
“…I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn.”
“Watch your words and actions. We’re not here at the Academy for a vacation.”
“…Yes.”
With that, silence fell for a moment.
The whip woman was lost in thought, while the other two watched her nervously.
After a stretch slightly longer than an instant, the whip woman spoke again.
“…No choice. We move first.”
“But… if we’re spotted from inside…”
“Then don’t get spotted.”
“…What about the sheep?”
“If the sheep have grown complacent, it’s the shepherd’s duty to swing the stick. We’ll activate the restriction around the dorms.”
She declared it in a resolute voice. The other two silently bowed and followed behind her.
To them, orders were absolute.
Just like their patriotism for the homeland—no doubts or rebellion allowed.
“Move as fast as possible.”
The moment the whip woman stepped off the breakwater, the three dashed toward the Academy island’s interior almost in unison.
To anyone who knew, it was Flying Leg Art at a consummate mastery anyone could spot at a glance.
They ran for a good while without leaving footprints, evading cameras and detection spells.
Soon, the full view of the first-year girls’ dormitory entered their sight.
Identical to the photos, they instantly pinpointed the rooms where the sheep lived.
“…Prepare the restriction.”
“What about the target? The Red Sheep?”
“Focus on the Black Sheep, one of them. Once the big sister spills blood in the penalty game, the rest will crawl out on their own.”
“…Yes.”
As the three took positions around the dorm and prepared to activate the restriction from the shadows.
Flash!
A beam of light shot up from the dormitory rooftop.
***
‘That’s…’
The ‘priest’ disguised as a construction worker turned his head toward the distant Academy.
A single streak of golden mana surging into the dark night sky.
—Oh, fireworks? Who’s setting them off this late?
—Looks like the island with the students. Some magic experiment, maybe.
The workers who followed his gaze oohed and aahed at the light, but the priest was thinking something entirely different.
‘Lord, has the prophecy truly changed?’
As always, the Lord answered with silence.
***
The moment enormous mana poured into the jade seal.
Yeomyeong recalled the Dwarf King’s words.
[The jade seal can break any restriction or seal, so long as there’s enough mana.]
Should he have asked what ‘enough’ really meant back then?
Yeomyeong gritted his teeth, feeling the mana draining away.
The situation was far from normal.
If the mana he usually used for Wave Yang Art was like scooping water from a bucket, what was pouring out now was like a torrent from a hole-riddled jar.
It wasn’t much consolation, but his body—fortified by the World Tree Crystal—made for a pretty big jar.
Enough to withstand this drain for at least a few minutes.
On the flip side, a few minutes was the absolute limit.
‘…Why?’
Yeomyeong wasn’t well-versed in magic, but he knew breaking a mere restriction shouldn’t take this much mana.
Was it the magic tool? No—the golden jade seal in his hands was a treasure of the Dwarf King’s house.
If anything, the seal was probably letting him hold out more efficiently.
That left one possibility: the restrictions in the sisters’ minds weren’t restrictions at all.
‘…Seti.’
Beyond the golden mana haze and the seal’s magic enveloping them, Yeomyeong checked on Seti and her sisters.
All four sisters stared into the distance with unfocused eyes.
Not restrictions lifting… more like they were caught in an illusion spell.
‘…Should I stop here?’
His reason screamed to let go of the seal and halt the magic.
Sure, breaking the restrictions was good, but what was the point if he collapsed from exhaustion?
Worried about the shepherds coming to the Academy?
Seti and her sisters might suffer, but would they really kill them?
Logically, stopping the magic right now was the right call.
Purely logically.
But Yeomyeong ignored reason.
Just like when he’d vowed revenge at the cleaners’ graveyard.
Just like when Elder Jang had urged him to abandon revenge.
Just like when he’d charged dozens of shepherds in Manchuria.
He shoved reason aside and surrendered to fury.
The chance to flip off the dogshit Korean government was right there—he’d come too far to follow reason now.
‘…See it through.’
Instead, he poured even more mana into the seal.
Until the trickle from the jar’s hole became a flood, nonstop.
***
The Black Sheep blinked.
She couldn’t comprehend the scene before her.
Just moments ago, she’d been on the dormitory rooftop with Yeomyeong…
Now, she was inside a log cabin—farmhouse or villa, she couldn’t tell.
[You’re all misunderstanding something.]
The cabin was warm.
Unlike the cold, biting wind outside, a cozy fireplace crackled away.
[Letting sheep loose isn’t freedom. It’s abuse.]
And before that fireplace, the old man—or whatever wore the old man’s shape—tended the logs and kept talking to her.
[Sheep are happiest in the pasture. They give their wool to the master, birth lambs, and ultimately offer blood and flesh—giving meaning to their worthless lives.]
Incomprehensible words. The Black Sheep tilted her head.
[Don’t get it? Well, you’re no regressor or possessor.]
His tone dripped with mockery and scorn.
The Black Sheep started to snap back, then remembered sheep couldn’t talk and stood from her spot.
She turned and headed straight for the cabin door.
[Tsk tsk, you can’t leave.]
He was right. She couldn’t open the door.
She tried biting the handle, but it was far higher than she’d thought.
She leaped with all her might, but didn’t even graze it—tumbling awkwardly to the floor.
[Pointless. You’re a sheep. Live on the farm. Who knows? Obey well, and the shepherd might find you a stud with good seed.]
Good seed stud? For the first time, fury surged. The Black Sheep glared at the old man.
[The shepherds and farm owners think long-term. If your generation can’t produce properly, they’ll get good seed for the next.]
Bullshit.
[Think you can refuse? You’re a sheep. Live as one, die as one.]
Piss off.
[Come here. Don’t go out into the cold—warm yourself by the fire…]
You, the shepherds, the farm owners—all of you, piss off.
[Oh? Words didn’t work, huh. Have to punish you to get through that skull?]
With that, the old man rose from the fireplace. An entirely different aura exploded from him.
…Ah.
Beyond imagination, indescribable—and thus impossible to resist.
Facing it, her legs buckled mid-retreat. Her glaring eyes shut, her cursing tongue froze stiff.
[Die like this? Or live as a sheep?]
The old man, now right before her, asked. Trembling, the sheep tried to answer.
Say she’d be a good sheep, live out her days on the farm.
But she couldn’t.
The instant she tried to move her tongue, a boy’s face—one she knew well—flashed in her mind.
Dung beetle, my Yeomyeong would surely say…
…Fuck off.
Futile resistance. A sheep’s tongue couldn’t scratch the old man.
But defiance embracing death held meaning in itself. A declaration: I won’t obey you, no matter what.
[Fool.]
The old man reached out with a savage glare.
[So many fates prepared for you.]
The moment his rage-filled hand closed on the Black Sheep’s throat.
Boom!
The cabin shook.
[…What?]
The old man stared outside in shock. Before he could speak, the door burst open.
[No… how…]
Hearing his panicked voice, the Black Sheep looked up toward the door.
The chilly, windy outside was gone—replaced by a barren wasteland.
An ashy plain with nothing but a tiny dot.
Squinting, it wasn’t a dot but a humanoid shadow.
Wearing a shadowy dress hugging feminine curves like a noblewoman’s gown, approaching at a leisurely stroll.
[Who are you? Answer!]
The old man gripped the door, shouting at the shadow. Fear laced his voice.
[How is this possible? This is my mental world! My dream!]
The closer the shadow drew, the louder he got.
[Get lost! Scram!]
But when it reached his nose, the old man couldn’t speak. Crushed by something, he fled deep into the cabin.
The shadow didn’t pursue. It stopped before the Black Sheep instead.
『Hong Seti.』
The Black Sheep, Hong Seti, looked up at the shadow.
It was… leagues beyond the old man.
Just gazing at the rippling darkness made her eyes burn like they’d go blind.
『I’ve come to give you a chance.』
『Will you be the first? Or live here as a sheep?』
Seti couldn’t dare look at the shadow, staring at the floor as she asked.
“The first… first for what?”
『The first to offer your fate to my chosen one.』
She didn’t understand. So she dared ask again.
“…Chosen one?”
『Someone you know well.』
“Someone I know well…? No way?”
The shadow chuckled silently.
『Exactly that one.』
Ah. Seti trembled—not from fear, but something else.
“I, I…”
Seti glanced back at the cabin’s interior. The space that made her a sheep, forced her to live as one.
She didn’t want to live as a sheep anymore.
“…I’ll be the first.”
A declaration laced with resolve. The shadow laughed, placing a hand atop her head.
A hand warmer than the fireplace, more chilling than death, slowly stroked her hair.
『The first is one and only. Offer your fate gladly.』
The moment the shadow finished, a small orb appeared above Seti’s hand.
A brilliantly shining orb of light.
Unthinkingly, Seti offered it to the shadow, but it refused.
Instead, it leaned down and whispered in her ear.
『Give it directly to my chosen one, not me.』
“How—”
The question went unfinished.
The instant Seti looked straight at the shadow.
Her mind couldn’t withstand the pressure and began waking from the dream.
『When the time comes, call my name—not the false god’s.』
All senses faded. As her mind rose to reality, the shadow’s voice rang clearly in her ear.
『Mignium. That is the name you alone must serve.』
***
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