09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
The next day, after receiving the district transfer notice from the Steward sent by Ha Yeon-seo, Sihwan decided to visit the Slums since it happened to be a holiday.
He asked his wife Yu Ina to come along, but she refused, saying she had things to do.
Thus, the group consisted of a total of six: Bari, Eleonore, Luna, and Yoo Eun-hye along with one other bodyguard.
"...Why the hell did you drag me along, anyway?"
A sweet-as-honey holiday.
On a day like this, Eleonore pouted her lips, voicing her dissatisfaction at being dragged out no matter what.
"Elf girls are meant to be kept by your side, as a matter of course."
"...You're such a fucking scumbag. Can't even think of women as anything more than that."
Her steady grumbling had somehow become a side dish to everyday life.
"Anyway, take a good look. This is gonna be your lifelong workplace from now on."
"No, I said I'm not doing it!"
"I'll pay you a fat salary."
"No... ugh...."
That damn bodyguard gig.
She'd been refusing from the moment it was first brought up until now, but Sihwan was being utterly unreasonable.
Like he had zero intention of letting her go.
'Just you wait. The moment I graduate, I'm outta here...!'
Talking to Sihwan was pointless.
The only answer was to vanish.
With that thought, she shut her mouth completely.
"Alright, we've got a big group, so let's take the bus."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a bus smoothly pulled up in front of the group.
A large bus that could seat about 40 people.
On its side were steamy ad photos that Sihwan had personally plastered: Eleonore, Yu Ina, and Ha Yeon-seo.
"..."
Eleonore stared at it with rotten eyes.
It wasn't outrageously immodest attire by any means, but from the perspective of an Otherworlder, the decadence of those shortened uniforms was overwhelmingly sexual.
'Gotta rip all that shit off.'
Naturally, from her standpoint, it was a photo that seriously rubbed her the wrong way.
No matter how pretty she looked in it, didn't it make her seem like some girl rolling around carelessly with her body?
If that had actually been the case, she wouldn't feel so wronged, but over the 200-plus years she'd lived so far, Sihwan was the only man she'd ever been with—and that half-forced.
"Oh yeah, that outfit exists."
Sihwan, for his part, stared holes into that poster.
The reason? None other than its sheer immodesty!
His wife Yuna was dressed fairly modestly, but she was such a top-tier beauty that he never got tired of looking.
And the other two women? Their outfits were pure sex appeal themselves.
Shortened uniforms, no less. That razor-thin sexiness could make even a dead dick stand at attention.
"Luna."
"Yes, Master."
"Take a good look. From now on, you girls are wearing those clothes."
"...Yes."
Sihwan made the decision on the spot.
From here on, Luna and the other 10 female slaves would go around in those modified uniforms styled like maid outfits...
"I'll distribute the clothes to everyone today, so when we get home, gather all the girls in my room."
"Understood."
With that order given, they boarded the bus, starting with Bari, and the entire group piled in.
+++
"...This is it?"
"Yeah. Can't be helped. Try to understand."
"..."
Rihana stared blankly at her meal tray.
Hard bread and watery soup.
Plus a few pieces of greens.
And they expected her to last the whole day on this.
Did this even make sense?
"I gave you 10 gold just a week ago."
"You did. But look. We've got so many kids. That amount doesn't even scratch the surface."
"Don't the others work too? Even so, this is..."
"Now, now. Rihana, you're one of the kids bringing in money, so we give you that much. If it still feels short, how about asking that Academy of yours to cough up a bit more salary?"
"Once you start begging like that, you have to keep doing it."
"But what can we do? We're flat broke right now."
"..."
The village chief grimaced as she spoke.
Rihana turned away in despair, and behind her came the whining of more Beastkin.
Everyone felt the same.
The portions were woefully insufficient.
It had been a year since they'd ascended the Tower along with their poverty.
The Ho-in Tribe she was born into were among the stronger ones even among Beastkin, but overcoming the limitations of being 'Outer Races' wasn't easy.
Life grew harsher on the increasingly barren continent, and to top it off, they faced a united assault from five tribes including the Dog-kin Tribe and Cat-kin Tribe, pushing them to the brink of annihilation.
In a desperate last resort, they chose to climb the Tower.
They figured since the Tower was made of fertile land, they could support the whole tribe if they played their cards right.
But the Tower wasn't kind enough for even the rejects among the 'Outer Races'-only continent.
The laws of 'Survival of the Fittest' and 'might makes right' permeated everything, and above all, the 『Advanced Races』—virtually unseen on the continent—were fiercely competing to survive.
In fact, the moment they passed the gateway, they hit a major crisis.
Not only did they get scammed out of all their possessions, but they were ambushed by bandits in cahoots with the swindlers, resulting in over 20 Ho-in Tribe members killed or enslaved.
Somehow overcoming that brutal reality, they arrived at the city with the Academy, but with zero assets to rely on.
Moreover, only about 10 young Ho-in Tribe members remained who could fight or work.
The other 90-odd were all elderly and children.
The young ones worked hard.
They toiled day and night for the Ho-in Tribe scraping by in destitution in the Slums, pouring every bit of their income back into the tribe without reserve.
Rihana was no exception.
She'd worked at restaurants, done cleaning jobs, joined F-rank mercenary parties to hunt nearby monsters or explore dungeons on other floors—living quite diligently.
Amid all that, she decided to challenge the Academy.
She'd thought there was no hope left like this, so she resolved to become a 'Tower Warrior,' something everyone in the Tower coveted.
As it happened, Rihana wasn't just the strongest among the surviving Ho-in Tribe—she was a once-in-a-generation genius even among all Beastkin.
If she'd had just 10 more years, she might've unified all Beastkin instead of getting pushed back by the five tribes' gang-up and the Tower.
Anyway, even after becoming an Academy trainee, her pockets were still empty.
It'd only been a month since she entered the Academy, so she hadn't received her 30-gold monthly pay yet, and even if the other 10 Beastkin worked their asses off, their average income didn't even hit 10 gold a month.
The elderly did things like housekeeping for other homes or scavenging junk to sell at general stores, but even so, the total income for over 100 Ho-in Tribe members barely scraped under 150 gold a month.
No wonder they were this poor.
"Haah."
Leaning against a pillar of a nearly collapsed thatched house, she picked up the bread and dunked it deep into the soup.
"..."
It didn't soak in even a little.
Kaduk.
Udduk. Udukdduk.
Chewing it confirmed it: pure hardness.
She wasn't human—her Ho-in Tribe jaw strength was no joke—so eating it wasn't an issue, but the taste was goddamn awful.
Honestly, it was impressive she wasn't puking it up.
"...100 gold... right?"
Suddenly, Sihwan's offer from yesterday popped into her head.
She'd snapped at him for openly parading Beastkin slaves around, but he'd pulled some 'what're you gonna do about it' bullshit, then out of nowhere asked if she wanted to work for him for 100 gold a month.
Frankly, it was super tempting.
100 gold was nearly equivalent to the entire Ho-in Tribe's income.
But with her strong pride, she couldn't just accept right away.
She'd growled threats like 'watch your back at night,' so how could she flip and take a job from him!
Gurgle.
"..."
But thinking back now, it was insane to refuse.
100 gold a month was 10 times the average city income—not Slum level—and she turned it down?
Fuck pride and all that; gotta survive first.
"Argh... Why'd he have to bring a Beastkin slave of all things! Aaaah!!"
She clutched her head in pointless frustration.
"W-what's that?"
"The house is moving!"
"No way, a Magic Carriage??"
Right then, the surroundings erupted in commotion.
There was a bustle unlike the usual.
"What's going on?"
Wondering what it was, she headed toward the gathering crowd, where a massive boxy thing sat smack in the middle of the Slums' main street.
It definitely hadn't been there moments ago.
Wheels meant it moved.
'...No way this is....'
One person came to mind.
That annoying Ryu Si-hwan had ridden around in something like a wheeled Magic Carriage.
If this was one of those?
"Nah... no way...."
She muttered just as the door opened and that Ryu Si-hwan stepped out.
"..."
+++
"So this is the Slums."
"It's really rundown."
"Be careful, young master. We don't know what dangers might lurk."
"Psh, what's there to be careful about? We've got Ellie, Bari, you, and her here."
"Even so, you're Human, young master, so you need to stay cautious. Stick close to me as much as possible."
"Sigh. You, just go home."
"That's an order I can't accept."
Sihwan shook his head and stepped out through the opening door.
The scene that unfolded, along with the foul stench.
The horrific stink made him pinch his nose involuntarily, wrinkling his face.
"...People actually live here?"
Shit-water flowed like a river near the buildings, and the gawkers were all filthy, lice-ridden messes.
Shocked by the visuals, Sihwan's jaw dropped.
He'd never seen anything like this anywhere in the city.
It was a fairly developed area with decent water systems and easy waste disposal.
But this?
Hard to believe it was the same city.
"Life signs classified as 'people' in this district: total 1,932 detected. Of them, 1,233 females and 699 males."
Bari, who'd followed him out, reported in her emotionless tone.
Fairly wide area, but low density, so population wasn't huge.
Still an insane number. Just like Ha Yeon-seo said, round them all up and sell as slaves, and you'd rake in a fortune.
The real mystery was how they hadn't been enslaved yet.
"Huh?"
Scanning the surroundings, Sihwan spotted a familiar face.
The moment their eyes met, she scowled and turned away.
It was Rihana.
"Rihana? What're you doing here?"