09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
+++
Sihwan, who had returned to the mansion, enjoyed a simple snack while being attended by the maids before heading back outside.
His destination was Bari's secret spot attached to the Underground Base.
By now, the brainwashing on Jihye should've been perfectly complete.
"Just stay here."
"No, I can't."
"I'm not going anywhere dangerous."
"Even so, no."
Eleonore was easy to shake off.
She didn't have much interest in Sihwan to begin with, so when he told her not to come, she'd nod eagerly like it was a relief.
But Eun-hye was different.
Just like always, she kept repeating "No, I can't" and somehow stuck right by Sihwan's side.
Plus the two bodyguards she had with her.
For Sihwan, who had secretive business ahead, it was nothing short of a massive hassle.
'Man, this is so annoying.'
Of course, he knew that too.
She was following him purely out of goodwill and a sense of duty.
But uncomfortable was uncomfortable.
'Isn't there some way around this?'
The best option would be for the Yu Family to call off her bodyguard duties, but there wasn't the slightest sign of that happening anytime soon, and he had no real justification for it either.
"If you keep following me, I'm gonna grope your boobs."
"Do you think you could actually grope my boobs?"
"..."
He tried acting like a perv to chase her off, but it flopped.
Thinking about it, there was no way a mere human could touch the chest of someone as overwhelmingly strong as her.
"Come on, can't you just not follow me for once? I have rights to freedom too, you know."
"That's exactly why I'm following you—to guarantee that freedom."
"No, you're the one restricting it right now."
"You might feel that way, but I'm protecting you all the same."
It was a perfect chat loop.
The conversational wall that others felt with Sihwan, he was feeling with Eun-hye.
An ironclad sense of duty and an unyielding commitment that never backed down.
The other bodyguards took turns on vacation, but she followed Sihwan every single day without a single day off.
Every day was putting it mildly—she stuck to him 24/7 except when he was sleeping, leaving her with zero personal life.
And yet here she was, burning with duty like this, so if you really thought about it, she was someone he ought to be grateful for.
"Aren't you even a little pissed? You're Noblesse, from the aristocratic Yu Family no less, and you have to babysit some human punk—total raw deal, right? Why not focus on something more productive? No one would even know."
"I know that myself. And it's not upsetting at all. This is my mission, plain and simple."
"Whew..."
He let out a deep sigh and glanced at the other bodyguards.
Ever since getting on Rihana's bad side, his protection detail had switched to a three-person setup, so even excluding Eun-hye, there were two more glued to him.
How exhausting was this? If they were just underlings he could boss around freely, he could've slacked off in all sorts of ways and lived easy.
As it stood, Eun-hye and the bodyguards weren't the type to obey his orders.
"I'm just gonna walk around naked."
"Go ahead."
"...Even my panties."
"Go ahead."
"Come on."
Was she hopeless?
"If you really want to shake me off that badly, just show me a level of strength I can accept."
"Bari's super strong, though?"
"Not Bari-ssi—Sihwan-ssi needs to be strong."
"No, Bari being strong means I'm strong."
"That's just your opinion."
"It's true, though."
"No matter how strong Bari-ssi is, if she's not on-site, it means nothing. That incident before? It happened precisely because Bari-ssi wasn't there."
"..."
"She's not by your side right now, and she could be gone anytime. You need to be strong yourself for me to accept it."
"Fine, say I get strong. But no matter how strong I get, if my arm gets chopped off, it's game over, right? My combat power is all dumped into Bari—if she's away, or if I get my arm hacked off despite being strong on my own, it's the same difference. And if being strong myself means I can wander alone, then I should be able to do it now too. Because my full power, including Bari, doesn't lose to anyone."
"That's sophistry. If you're strong enough for me to accept, you wouldn't lose an arm—or your combat ability—to some random thug in the first place. And even if it happened, you could buy enough time until someone capable of rescuing you arrives. More importantly, judging an independent entity like Bari-ssi as part of your own power is a serious error and a highly dangerous mindset. Like I pointed out earlier, that's exactly what led to me being assigned to guard you in the first place. You can't convince me with that logic."
"...Come on, I'm human. How strong can a human get no matter how much they train? What the hell are you even expecting?"
"Being human doesn't change the requirements. Your enemies won't go easy on you for it. You needing to get strong yourself isn't just my or anyone around you's wish—it's the essential 'necessity' for surviving in the Tower. And all situations bend to 'necessity.' That's why you have to get strong, no matter what it takes. If you hate that, just keep me or Bari-ssi by your side forever. 24/7."
"You're really impossible to talk to."
"Hmm. I think that's my line."
Her short bob hair swayed, revealing big eyes within.
Clear, resolute eyes stared straight at him without end.
"...Do whatever you want."
In the end, Sihwan failed to shake her off.
He ended up dragging her all the way to the Underground Base entrance.
"It's that same place from before."
"Yeah. I told you it's safe. So you can head back now."
"No, I can't. Last time, I waited up top because Bari-ssi was here, but not this time."
"Ha..."
How to deal with that stubbornness.
"Come on in."
Sihwan decided to bring her inside the base.
Yuina and even Yeonseo already knew about it, and letting Eun-hye in on what this place was would make future ops smoother.
In exchange, he left the other bodyguards outside. No need to let more people know.
"You won't believe me anyway, so I'll show you. There's an Underground Base down below, and Bari's there. I'll even introduce you, so just follow me that far."
"If Bari-ssi really is there..."
"Sigh. Why would I lie? You know how heavy my words carry."
While she clicked her tongue, a ding sounded as they arrived.
Stepping through the opening doors, Bari stood there politely with her usual smile.
"Welcome home, Master."
"Yeah."
"You brought Eun-hye-ssi too."
"You get the gist. What's the situation."
"Is this...? A workshop?"
"Something like that."
Sihwan walked through the steaming-hot base into the Control Center—what you could truly call his home.
The Control Center, once the size of a small prefab house, had grown into a mid-sized mansion, all thanks to the base's development.
"See? Nothing dangerous. It's just a space for me and Bari anyway."
"I see."
She poked around the Control Center here and there, and later even used Nobling to inspect every corner of the base.
She'd said she waited up top last time because Bari was here, but now that she was down, she wasn't heading back up despite Bari being present—instead, she was checking every nook and cranny.
- 'That place' has been shielded from detection, so don't worry.
'Yeah. I trusted you.'
Thankfully, Bari had already analyzed Nobling and mass-produced countermeasures, so unless Eun-hye's Reading outpaced Bari's calculations with Nobling, she wouldn't find 'that place.'
"Nothing particularly dangerous here."
Her tone was like some inspector who'd shown up.
It felt a bit intrusive, but long-term, this was for the best, so he stayed quiet.
"Told you. It's just for me and Bari."
"It's like a secret base—does anyone else besides me know about this place?"
"No one but Yuina and Eleonore."
Yeonseo knew too, but he skipped mentioning her to avoid complications.
Luckily, she didn't hit him with something like, "You're using space under the Academy without telling the Chief Instructor?"
"I see. The young miss is your fiancée, so that's fine, but Eleonore-ssi is a bit concerning."
"Come on, what for? What's she gonna do?"
"Eleonore-ssi is stronger than you, Sihwan-ssi. And she probably harbors some not-so-great feelings toward you, naturally."
"Don't worry. After graduation, she'll be in an employment relationship with me."
"......Sihwan-ssi, your confidence is way over the top."
"It's fine. I've got the skills."
"Bari-ssi's skills, you mean."
She calmly dropped the fact bomb, then added, "Still, at this level, no need to worry too much."
"For now, wait inside there. I have research to do."
"Research?"
"You know I do business. Product development happens in this base. Can't show even you. So stay in there. Don't come out till I say."
"I see. So that's why you hated me coming along so much."
He fed her a decent white lie, and she nodded like she'd bought it.
Of course, the buildup made it work—if he'd just blurted "It's product development, so stay out," it wouldn't have landed with her at all.
"Got it. I'll wait up top then. Seems like I make you uncomfortable."
"Yeah. That'd be better. I'll even make you a pavilion up there. You can rest easy."
Sihwan glanced at Bari, who then led Eun-hye to the elevator.
She'd whip up a convincing pavilion the moment they got up top and come back.
As the elevator doors closed on Eun-hye and Bari, Sihwan headed straight to a corner of the base.
It looked like an ordinary wall at a glance.
But with Bari's will or Sihwan's DNA, you could slip through it smooth as nothing.
It seemed like some illusion, but it was a space only Bari permitted or DNA-matched entrants could enter—solid iron wall to anyone else.
"M-Master... is that you...?"
The secret base within the Underground Base.
There, Jin Ji-hye waited in shameless attire, face timid and shrinking.