Chapter 26
By the time the morning classes had ended.
I was called to the main building by Vice Principal Park Cheolyeong, and I was only able to leave the vice principal's office after a consultation that lasted about ten minutes.
The reason for deciding on a temporary suspension.
The disciplinary action taken against me now.
And a few words of admonishment.
If there was one surprising thing, it was that Park Cheolyeong was calmer than necessary.
It was as if he did not even care whether I was expelled or not.
“An indescribable sense of incongruity…….”
What on earth could he be plotting?
He should have known what it meant for me, the one holding his and Yun Jeongseop’s weaknesses, to be kicked out of Hero Prep.
Even when I denied Choi Jaejin’s statement during the consultation, he did not have any particular reaction.
He just changed the subject, telling me to reveal the truth when the deliberation committee convened.
“In the end, refuting the victim Choi Jaejin’s testimony is the priority.”
With perfect logic and evidence, that is.
As I left the main building, lost in thought, Kim Muung’s group was loitering nearby.
Their purpose, of course…….
“Hey, Suspenders. You finally crawling out now?”
Was to threaten me, I suppose.
Hah…….
I should have used Stealth.
I let out a deep sigh and turned my back on the direction he was in, then started to move.
At that, the guys ran over unsightly and surrounded me.
“Are you ignoring us now?”
“Look at this bastard, his nerve pierces the sky.”
“Is he itching for a beating?”
I calmly observed Kim Muung's group.
Although they were in the same Investigation Division, their names were unfamiliar, so I wanted to make sure I remembered them this time.
“But this son of a bitch isn’t saying a single word to the end?”
“Hey, you got nothing to say to us?”
“Like you’re sorry, or to ask us to recant the testimony. Huh?”
Recant the testimony…….
In addition to Choi Jaejin’s testimony as the victim, Kim Muung, who stood before me, testified that he had witnessed me commit the assault.
Therefore, he was now using that to threaten me.
How pathetic.
I spoke to Kim Muung, who was grinning viciously.
“From what I hear, you were the only witness at the time of the incident, Kim Muung.”
“Ah, yeah, I was lucky. I was able to expose an unsavory incident within the school.”
“Then that means your little stooges here have nothing to do with the incident and just tagged along to run their mouths.”
My provocative words.
Instantly, the stooges around me began to chime in.
“This bastard, really!”
“Is he crazy to want to die!”
They looked ready to lynch me as a group at any moment.
However, contrary to their exaggerated actions, they were in reality just stealing glances at the main building's guards out of the corners of their eyes.
“Stop, everyone, calm down. If he were an ordinary guy, it wouldn’t have been this much trouble.”
“No, Muung, look at how this bastard is talking!”
“It’s fine. Even if we don’t deal with him ourselves, he's a bastard who’ll be gone on his own next week.”
Gone…….
I swallowed a scoff and opened my mouth.
“There’s no reason for disliking someone. I’m the same. But you… can you handle it?”
“What?”
“I’m saying, isn't the risk too great just to kick out a single social care beneficiary cadet? If your lie is exposed, you’ll be buried in the Awakened world, won't you? Not only that, but with the disgrace of being kicked out of Hero Prep, transferring to another academy will be completely impossible. Of course, you’ll probably live off your family business… but how long will that really last? Your classmates, who will all hold positions in this industry in the future, will remember in detail what you’ve done.”
“Th-this bastard……!”
“Right now, if your lie is proven, what choice will these guys who follow you around make?”
Kim Muung instinctively glanced around him.
As if by agreement, they all quickly parted their lips.
“Hmph, that’s just nonsense, isn't it? In the first place, a situation like that has no chance of happening. Right, guys?”
“Y-yeah! Of course! Is it even possible to overturn that bastard Choi Jaejin’s testimony?”
“That’s right! It’s the victim’s testimony. There’s no need to get caught up with a guy who just runs his mouth.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Quite the interesting reactions.
I curled one side of my lip as if to mock them.
If it were up to me, I would shove the video of the beating that day in their faces right now.
Doing so would cast doubt on the credibility of Kim Muung’s testimony.
Above all, I could also get Kim Muung and his stooges expelled for the same reason I was facing expulsion.
However, it would not directly help in clearing my own charges.
That was because the focus of this case was that the victim, Choi Jaejin, had directly pointed me out.
It was impossible that Choi Jaejin had been forced to point me out due to Kim Muung’s threats.
It was not like they were children.
In this case, one could only surmise that there was some kind of deal between the two.
For example, arranging a contract with a guild or something of the sort.
I did not know for sure, but for a social care beneficiary with no connections, such a network was an opportunity.
Of course, graduating from Hero Prep would be the best option, but there was a high probability that Choi Jaejin had judged it impossible for him to continue his studies normally.
“What an ideal friendship. I truly hope that friendship lasts until the very end.”
“No, this bastard rea—.”
Kim Muung abruptly stopped talking.
It was because a cadet was approaching the main building.
If my memory was correct, it was Yu Hyeonjeong, the president who led the Hero Prep student council and a 3rd-year in the Investigation Division.
Furthermore, she was the one who would preside over the upcoming deliberation committee.
She was someone that both I and Kim Muung had to make a good impression on, but in many ways, she was a character with such a sharp personality that it was difficult to foster any familiarity.
“Ah, of all the……!”
“You son of a bitch, …consider yourself lucky.”
Kim Muung's group, as if venting their anger, threw a word at me each before disappearing behind the main building.
Immediately after, Yu Hyeonjeong approached, looking at their retreating figures, and she asked a question as she read the embroidery on my outer garment.
“Is there some kind of problem, Ca…det Ji Seokhyeon?”
How should I answer?
That we were having an argument?
Or that I was being threatened?
Without thinking of a sentence, I reflexively shrugged my shoulders first.
“No, nothing.”
Appealing to the student council president who would preside over the deliberation was one option, but…….
“It’s nothing.”
In academy novels, it was usually better for one's well-being not to get involved with the student council.
***
The Combat Division's main building, the Hall of Protection.
A few minutes before the last lecture of the month-end evaluation was to begin.
Combat cadets were packed into the seats of the lecture hall.
“I know the results without even seeing them, you know? Ms. Yeri will easily take first place in the point ranking.”
“That’s right, I actually think Ms. Yeri is being underrated. Realistically, among the cadets taking Marksmanship, there’s no one with a higher rank than Ms. Yeri, right?”
The lecture hall did not have the solemn atmosphere of a place before an exam.
This was because the Combat Division, unlike the Support or Investigation Divisions, did not place much importance on written evaluations.
In terms of weight, it was about 8 to 2.
Cadets with relatively low practical scores were cramming from their manuals, but most were chattering about the practical evaluation that had taken place in the morning.
“Isn’t the problem with Hero Prep its stubbornness under the name of tradition? More than half of the Awakened use firearms, but they give out generous scores just because you can use a bit of magic or melee weapons.”
“If they just fixed that biased standard, she’d naturally be number one in the rankings. Really, there’s nothing Ms. Yeri can’t do, you know?”
“Right, if I were a male cadet, I would have followed her around all day. …Ah! Within proper boundaries, of course.”
Among them, the one having the hardest time was, of course, Cha Yeri.
The female cadets surrounding her were chattering away even now, just minutes before the exam, disrupting Cha Yeri's studies.
‘How annoying……. Who’s the one being followed around all day.’
Unlike them, who disparaged Lee Eunho and Gong Minwu, who always vied for 1st and 2nd place in the Combat Division, Cha Yeri personally felt the skill gap between herself and the two.
Therefore, she was in a position where she was focusing on the written evaluation to close that gap.
After all, there was no better start for a successor of Hyeonseong than the title of having been number one while attending Hero Prep.
‘Maybe they’ll come to their senses only when they can’t enroll in next semester’s classes because they have no points.’
Cha Yeri skillfully swallowed the various words she had bottled up inside.
Instead, she put on a natural expression of someone at a loss for what to do with the praise.
“Don’t be like that. I’m just trying a little harder. Let’s all do well on the last exam together…….”
It was then.
A familiar name was heard from the back seats.
“Was it Ji Hyeonseok, or Ji Seonhyeok……. That bastard who wears suspenders, I heard he got suspended this time. They said he beat up one social care beneficiary like a dog.”
Gong Minwu's right-hand man, Choi Minsang.
His frivolous voice rang out loudly in the lecture hall.
“But you know what’s funny? That bastard is also a social care beneficiary.”
“Keuk keuk, is it cannibalism?”
“I can tell what his level is. It would be great if they just abolished the social care beneficiary system.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Bastards who’ll just end up as lackeys for successful hunters and die don't know their place.”
The news that Investigation cadet Ji Seokhyeon was temporarily suspended.
Cha Yeri, who had maintained a consistent expression until now, subtly narrowed her brow.
‘That person is suspended?’
The attention of the lecture hall was now focused on Gong Minwu's group.
After all, the topic was Ji Seokhyeon, who, despite his terrible reputation, had shown an undeniable presence during his first month since enrollment.
“……Is that true?”
Gong Minwu, who had been quietly listening to Choi Minsang's words, asked in a heavy tone.
“Yeah, I knew it when he was acting up before. Honestly, aren't you glad, Minwu? He was the bastard who kept climbing all over you during the Weaponry Skills lectures.”
“Well……. It’s a little disappointing.”
“Disappointing…? Ah! It is disappointing. Who would have thought he’d be gone in just a month. Anyway, what’s with the school atmosphere because of one beggar bastard? And him wearing suspenders, is it some kind of ‘I go to a rich school’ thing? Ah, crap. So disgusting.”
A scathing criticism.
At the end of his words, another cadet's voice followed.
“Sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you stopped there.”
“What?”
The owner of the voice was Lee Eunho, who vied with Gong Minwu for 1st and 2nd place in the Combat Division.
He had already stood up from his seat and continued speaking in a low voice.
“The results from the deliberation haven't come out yet, so I'd like you to stop with the rash accusations.”
“What nonsense is that. The victim pointed him out directly, and you call it a rash accusation? Did you develop some sympathy for him after hanging out with him a bit?”
“It’s not sympathy. I’m just advising you that your statement is not right.”
“What? No, crap, a country bumpkin bastard from Gangwon-do doesn’t know his place, really……!”
Choi Minsang shot up from his seat.
At the same time, a few from Gong Minwu's group and the cadets who followed Lee Eunho faced off with a table between them.
Tension immediately seeped into the lecture hall.
The conflict between the two representative groups of the Combat Division.
Choi Minsang glanced at Gong Minwu for his reaction, then quickly added.
“If it weren't for the school principal's backing, what makes you any different from a social care beneficiary? You, a refugee who just leeches off government taxes.”
“That statement is also rash. I’d like you to apologize for it right now.”
“What if I won’t?”
“……You’ll come to regret it.”
“A-are you trying to start something!”
Although Choi Minsang blurted it out as if the one with the loudest voice wins, the momentum in the room had already shifted to Lee Eunho.
After all, among the 1st-year Combat Division cadets, no one thought Choi Minsang could win.
He looked back at Gong Minwu with a dumbfounded face.
However, the answer he expected did not come.
“I’ll apologize on his behalf. For the rash accusation, and for the comment about Gangwon-do. Choi Minsang, you were wrong.”
“M-Minwu?”
“The lecture will be starting soon, so I’d like everyone to take their seats.”
“…….”
Choi Minsang wore a look of despair.
Disregarding him, the surrounding cadets returned to their seats as if nothing had happened.
Cha Yeri, who had also turned around, turned her head back again.
‘Should I send him a message…….’
The news was so bothersome that she had even forgotten she had an exam coming up.
‘No, there’s no need to show unnecessary interest.’
If he ended up being disciplined because of this incident, that wouldn't be so bad in its own way.
He was, in many ways, an annoying person, both inside and outside of school.
While Cha Yeri was lost in such thoughts, the cadet next to her asked a question.
“Boys will be boys. Ah! But Ms. Yeri, weren’t you in the same club as that cadet? The name was… the Investigation Club, I think…….”
“Oh? That’s right. I think you were on the news together too.”
“Oh my, does being in a club together mean anything? I bet you didn’t know that problem child would join, Ms. Yeri, right?”
An unexpected question.
However, Cha Yeri was not flustered in the slightest and put on a feigned expression.
“I didn’t know he was that kind of person……. If it's someone who causes trouble on campus, I think action should be taken as soon as possible. It’s a matter of… lowering the standards, isn't it? Don’t you think?”