Golden Viper and the Gray Molds (2)
"Mommy...!"
"What are you doing!?"
The two students, who had thrown their arms up in panic to shield their faces, soon stared at me with puzzled expressions. I smiled and turned the coffee cup upside down. Not a single drop spilled; the coffee remained perfectly contained inside the cup.
"What is that, Professor?"
"I placed a barrier over the rim of the cup," I said, setting it upright again. "You can extend a barrier not only over your body but over objects as well. You can shape it in various ways, too."
"If it's such an incredible technique, why is it an unpopular subject?" Yoo Hee-won asked, her pride apparently stung from having flinched at the thought of coffee splashing everywhere.
"I mentioned this during the lecture as well, but defensive techniques require a calm state of mind as a foundation. Maintaining that composure in the middle of combat is extremely difficult. And most importantly, defense-specialized heroes simply aren't entertaining. Myself included."
It was similar to boxing or martial arts. Spectators found it far more exciting to watch fighters trade blows and spill blood than to see someone dodge and block repeatedly before landing one or two attacks. To rise higher, a hero had to satisfy the public's appetite for spectacle. At my remark about being unentertaining, Yoo Hee-won openly scoffed, while Han Min-ha bit her lip hard to suppress a laugh.
"That's why I'm being cautious. Defensive techniques are certainly helpful, but I worry you might feel you're wasting time learning them. Well, we'll discuss that later. Today isn't the occasion for it."
Yoo Hee-won raised her hand slightly.
"Professor, I have a question."
"What is it, Miss Yoo Hee-won?"
"I'm sorry, but could you stop using that form of address? It would be easier for us to hear and more comfortable for you if you at least dropped the family name, don't you think? Right, Min-ha?"
Han Min-ha, suddenly singled out, flinched and nodded.
"Huh? Uh, yeah. Mm-hmm."
"Understood, Miss Hee-won. Go ahead."
Satisfied with the slightly more relaxed address, Yoo Hee-won smiled that cunning smile of hers and asked,
"From what I know, you retired from active duty, didn't you? There aren't many retired professors. Why did you retire?"
"The reason I retired..."
At the sudden question, I erected my Mental Barrier and steadied my thoughts. This was a troublesome question. The original novel never mentioned why Professor Kyo Suhyeon had retired. There might be some backstory, but at least in what I'd read, there was none. When I remained silent, Yoo Hee-won continued.
"So I looked into you a little. There was nothing about you at all. You'd think there'd be at least one common video, but there wasn't anything."
Was that so? No trace of Professor Kyo Suhyeon's past activities. Why was that? Could it be because this was set in the novel's past timeline? The author hadn't established any separate settings for it? Like how the edges of unimplemented maps in games were just empty gray space?
"What kind of work did you do during your active years?"
At Yoo Hee-won's persistent questioning, my mind raced. Then a good idea occurred to me.
"It's a secret."
"...What?"
"I can't tell you because it's classified."
In a world where heroes operated, there was bound to be at least one special organization that carried out missions in secrecy. I didn't know if such a thing actually existed, but somehow it felt plausible. And whether it did or not, how could anyone not believe a former hero when he said "It's a secret" in that ominous tone?
Fortunately, Yoo Hee-won grasped the meaning and nodded.
"I see. I asked a question that was difficult for you to answer."
"It's fine. You didn't know. But it will be troublesome if you keep prying from now on."
"Hmm. Understood."
It was a rather weak threat to make to the daughter of the Advisory Chairman of the Management Bureau, but it seemed I'd managed to dodge the awkward situation for now.
"Um, Professor."
At that moment, Han Min-ha slowly opened her mouth.
"I'm really sorry, but may I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Does it mean that heroes with no records were all active in that kind of work?"
The family relations section of Han Min-ha's personal file came to mind. Even though she was a hero descendant who had received extra points, that section had been blank. Could it be that Han Min-ha's parents also had no records at all? This, too, was probably because this was set further in the past than the original novel. But I couldn't explain it so straightforwardly.
"I can't say for certain, but... probably."
Since I didn't know for sure, I let my answer trail off vaguely. Han Min-ha seemed to interpret my response as being about maintaining secrecy and accepted it without complaint. I'd have to look into this separately when I had time later.
"So, I'm curious about both of your opinions. To be honest, there's nothing more I need to do for Miss Hee-won as your advisor. On the other hand, Miss Min-ha... well. So if there's something the two of you can do together, I think the advanced defense course would be good. What do you think?"
"I don't mind."
"It wouldn't hurt to learn anything, right?"
Fortunately, neither of them seemed to have any major objections to learning defensive techniques. This way, I was able to roughly outline how I would mentor the two of them. I took out the report cards I'd printed in advance and placed them on the round table. Upon confirming that they were report cards, Han Min-ha's face flushed even redder as she lowered her head.
"These are your report cards. Even without looking at them, I could tell, but I still wanted to make a clear diagnosis of your current situations. And..."
I looked between the dejected Han Min-ha and the triumphant Yoo Hee-won.
"Now that we're in the same boat, you should help each other. Don't you think so, Miss Hee-won?"
"You're not saying I have to drag her around with me, are you?"
"Well."
I gave an ambiguous answer and spread the report cards out so everyone could see them. Yoo Hee-won had ranked first in every subject, every class, and overall, with no grade below an A. Han Min-ha, on the other hand, was near the bottom in most subjects, with mostly C's and D's. Still, she wasn't dead last; there were a few people ranked below her in some subjects.
After looking at the report cards, Yoo Hee-won stared at Han Min-ha with an expression of utter incomprehension.
"Are you intellectually disabled or something?"
"Huh? No?"
"Then how is this possible...?"
It was an extremely rude remark, but it seemed born of genuine curiosity rather than malice.
"Wow... this is..."
Yoo Hee-won even pulled Han Min-ha's report card over to her side. Her face grew increasingly contorted until she finally sighed and shook her head.
"Hey, Han Min-ha. Wow... you really..."
"Sorry..."
Han Min-ha apologized to Yoo Hee-won, though I wasn't sure why she felt the need to apologize to a classmate for her poor grades.
"I didn't bring out the report cards so you could envy or look down on each other."
Smiling, I took the report cards from Yoo Hee-won's hands.
"I'm your advisor, but I'm still a professor, and you're students. So no matter how hard I try, I can't dig as deeply into your lives as your fellow classmates can. That's why..."
"So you're telling me to help Han Min-ha right now. That's it, isn't it? Right?"
Glancing at the increasingly shrinking Han Min-ha, Yoo Hee-won continued.
"I'm Professor's advisee, not Han Min-ha's advisor. Why should I have to do that? I didn't choose you as my advisor just to clean up after the last-place student."
"Then why did you pass over so many excellent professors and choose me as your advisor, Miss Hee-won?"
"Well, that's..."
"Were you planning to become a defense-specialized hero?"
With her excellent abilities, becoming a defense-specialized hero was absurd. Yoo Hee-won had simply wanted me as her advisor. That was all. If that was her reason, there was nothing more I could do for her—she was already a complete academy student. So I intended to have Yoo Hee-won participate to some extent in Han Min-ha's development. While I could help institutionally and administratively from a professor's position, I couldn't oversee every aspect of academy life. But would Yoo Hee-won actually help Han Min-ha? She would. If I properly stimulated the arrogant sense of superiority of someone who had everything.
"Advisors and their advisees form a group. We don't feel it much because our numbers are so small, but other professors have more than ten advisees each. And those advisees stick together and support each other until graduation. Even after graduation."
Yoo Hee-won defensively crossed her arms.
"Well... fine. I get that I'm overwhelmingly superior and that Han Min-ha has hit rock bottom and could never climb up on her own."
"That's right. I'm asking you to help Miss Min-ha—and me. For someone of your caliber, it shouldn't be that difficult. Isn't that so?"
"Hmm..."
Yoo Hee-won remained silent with her arms crossed. Well, this was enough for today. The fact that she hadn't refused to be in the same group as Han Min-ha was already a significant achievement.
"Good. Let's end the orientation here. We've introduced ourselves and set a direction for the future, so let's meet regularly and strengthen our productive relationship."
"Ha."
Yoo Hee-won snorted at my somewhat formal statement. Watching her like this, she was quite rude, but she seemed much better than I'd expected.
"Let's leave it at that for today. You have lectures coming up soon. Good work, everyone."
"When's the next meeting?"
"Well, I haven't set anything specific, but we should meet at least once a week, shouldn't we? I'll decide and let you know. Leave the cups. I'll clean them up."
Han Min-ha, who had been about to clear the empty cups, quickly withdrew her hands. Seeing this, Yoo Hee-won clicked her tongue in displeasure.
"Goodbye, Professor."
Han Min-ha bowed at the waist, while Yoo Hee-won made no gesture that could be considered a greeting.
"Take care, all of you. See you in class."
Yoo Hee-won walked ahead, and Han Min-ha followed behind her with quick steps, like a squire trailing a knight. They really were an ill-matched pair. But I had to make them get along somehow. Without Yoo Hee-won's help, Han Min-ha wouldn't be able to adapt to the academy. In a situation where she was already being subtly ostracized, having a wealthy, popular girl act friendly toward her would be the most immediate and effective remedy. That was the nature of kids that age. Fists were closer than the law, and they looked up to successful classmates more than professors.
"Hey, Han Min-ha."
Having left the research building, Yoo Hee-won stopped walking and turned around.