The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

Lee Yu-na stared silently at the ring on her right hand — on her middle finger, no less.

Yu Ji-hyeok had given it to her, and apparently this too had been forged from his scales.

She had more confidence in sensing and reading mana than anyone else in their group, so she'd had no trouble recognizing just how many spells and arrays had been etched into this single ring.

From the moment she'd received it, she'd assumed it was the work of someone exceptionally skilled — likely the same Smith of Yado who had crafted the weapon Ji-hyeok had given her.

So when she heard that Evangelline Loengreen, one of the Ten Powerhouses, had personally made it, she wasn't shocked so much as resigned. Of course she had.

'But seriously, this is too much… would it kill him to think about how the people watching feel?'

When he'd opened that bag in front of everyone and revealed it was packed full of rings.

When he'd just casually handed them out to everyone — she'd nearly had a heart attack.

Without meaning to, Lee Yu-na had glanced at Han Su-yeong and Jin Ye-seul to gauge their reactions.

Surprisingly, the two of them hadn't reacted much at all.

Or rather — for just an instant the moment they saw the rings, their expressions had turned… strange. Indescribable. What those two had been thinking in that moment, only they would ever know.

Either way, no disaster had broken out, contrary to her worries. The relief lasted about two seconds before it curdled into pure exasperation at Yu Ji-hyeok.

'What an absolute idiot… I knew it from the first time I met him. At the very least he could've handled it better — what was he thinking, handing rings to those two at the same time, in front of everyone? Seriously, what?'

Did he genuinely not understand what a ring meant?

Couldn't he have picked literally anything else?

Of all things, a ring — to two girls who were clearly carrying a torch for him — both of them, at the same time…

It was something Lee Yu-na could neither understand nor forgive.

"……."

What infuriated her most, what left her speechless, was that Choi Hyun-woo and Ivan Hunt had been watching her reaction too while they checked on Han Su-yeong and Jin Ye-seul.

…Why on earth?

Could it be…

'…N-no! It's just that I owe Ji-hyeok a huge debt, that's all. Anyone with a shred of decency would feel obligated to pay it back…!'

Even as she rationalized, fragments of memories kept surfacing in her mind.

The way he carried his troubles alone, never telling anyone.

The way he'd looked when the potion turned him back into a child — the bruises, the wariness, all the signs that made her wonder if he'd been mistreated.

And the look that slipped through every now and then… the raw ache he showed whenever his younger sister came up.

"…Hey, it's me, Yu-na!"

"Ah, yeah! What, what is it?"

Startled by the voice beside her, Lee Yu-na jerked her head up and nodded too quickly. Jin Ye-seul was watching her with a puzzled look.

"Why are you zoning out like that? You weren't answering me either."

The middle finger of Jin Ye-seul's right hand was wrapped in bandages.

When Lee Yu-na had asked about it, Jin Ye-seul said she couldn't bear the thought of the ring from Yu Ji-hyeok getting dirty, so she'd wrapped it up tight.

Glancing over, she saw that Han Su-yeong also wore her ring on the middle finger of her right hand.

At some point everyone had silently agreed — right hand, middle finger.

"I'm gonna step out and make a call."

"…To who?"

Han Su-yeong, who had been staring blankly into space, asked the question quietly.

Jin Ye-seul looked at her for a moment before answering.

"Not Ji-hyeok."

"Ah, okay…"

Her shoulders, which had tensed up at the question, slowly relaxed as she let out a quiet breath.

As she rose from her seat, Jin Ye-seul leaned in and whispered so only Lee Yu-na could hear.

"Keep an eye on her for me."

Lee Yu-na nodded slightly.

She'd been worried about Han Su-yeong too.

"Haaa…"

Ever since Choi Hyun-woo's message had come through, Han Su-yeong had been slumped like this — completely deflated.

And Lee Yu-na understood exactly what she was feeling.

Han Su-yeong and Choi Hyun-woo.

Those two were closer than most siblings — they'd practically grown up together, family in every way that mattered. Lee Yu-na knew that better than anyone.

― And I'm telling you this here and now. Landschi… he's definitely going to approach you. I can't say for sure who he'll go after, or how many of you. But he's coming for one of us. Maybe all of us.

Yu Ji-hyeok's words from when he'd handed out the rings rang clearly in her ears.

…He'd seen all of this coming from the start.

― He'll push you to betray. He'll try to drive wedges between us. …Unfortunately, every one of us has something you could call a weakness. And if he dangles that in front of you, honestly, anyone would waver.

― So I'm telling you here: if he comes to you, if he tries to talk you into betraying me — just go along with it. Pretend he's got you.

― …No, I'm not saying I don't trust you. You're right. But he'll find a crack in someone and pry it open until their head's spinning. We forget — those things have been alive for at least centuries. In experience alone, we're not even in the same league.

― Just remember this one thing.

― If something happens to you… if he takes someone you love hostage, or pulls some shit like that. I'll come for you. No matter what.

― You did the same for me.

― So I'll do anything for you, too.

― And don't ever take that ring off. There are arrays etched in to strengthen your mind and calm your emotions when they're shaken.

The last thing they'd settled on, then and there, was a signal — if any of them was really approached, they'd send it.

…And now, Choi Hyun-woo's signal had reached Han Su-yeong.

Which meant Landschi had made contact with him, and that Choi Hyun-woo — outwardly, at least — had accepted his offer.

But that wasn't the only reason Han Su-yeong was in agony.

Landschi going after Choi Hyun-woo first meant he'd seen the highest chance of success there, out of all of them.

It meant something Choi Hyun-woo had been carrying inside him had cracked open into a wide, visible weakness.

And what hurt Han Su-yeong most was that she hadn't known. Not until just now.

"…I can't."

Han Su-yeong shot up from her seat.

Startled, Lee Yu-na half-rose, fumbling, to follow her.

"W-what is it?"

"I'm going to see Hyun-woo."

One look at her eyes told Lee Yu-na that no one alive could stop her. The resolve there was absolute.

― Honor and principle.

He couldn't forget it, no matter how he tried.

The way Landschi had looked at him — as if at a clueless child — and the sound of that voice echoed inside Choi Hyun-woo's head.

― Yes, those are the things swordsmen — so-called warriors — naturally revere and worship. But what exactly are these things you call honor and principle? They're nothing more than concepts you humans invented, deified, and built into idols. From the start, you took what were simply the laws of nature and carved them up however you pleased, ruling that some things were virtues and others vices.

― Doesn't it strike you as absurd? That all of it is just an illusion you made up? Take a simple example. To you, courage is a virtue. But what even is courage? Is it brave to leap off a cliff? Or to charge an enemy you can't possibly beat? What actually counts as courage? Bravery means having no fear. So tell me — why do you treat fear as a vice? Every creature in nature, humans included, survived because they knew fear. If prey animals didn't know fear, they'd be wiped out in a heartbeat. Do you look at them and call them shameful?

― In the beginning, there were only nature's laws — human codes didn't exist. Codes are what humans, who had nothing else, invented to band together and stand against nature. The honor and principle you defend so righteously? They're your bear claws, your wolf fangs, your scorpion venom. Step back and look at them, and they're nothing but heat shimmer.

Choi Hyun-woo had snapped back at him, telling him to stop talking nonsense.

If they really looked that foolish to him — if their reverence really seemed like worshipping ghosts — what right did he have to say so? What right did someone who served a Seven Calamity named Milited and slaughtered his own kin have to lecture anyone about the laws of nature or honor and principle?

That had only made Landschi burst out laughing.

― Yes, yes. You're right. As you say, I have no such right. I bowed to fear, I took pride in serving it, I tore the hearts from my own kin with these hands to be of use to it. You're right — I'm nothing but a hypocrite spewing sophistry.

― But I just… I felt sorry for someone burning his life away under the weight of obligation. Codes exist so that people may live, surely? People don't live in order to uphold codes, do they?

― So go on. Just say it.

― What is it?

― What is it that's grinding you down like this?

― Because from where I'm standing…

Obligation.

The word made Choi Hyun-woo clench his teeth so hard he could hear them grind.

It was sharper than any blade, any edge — it carved straight into his heart.

Cruelly enough, it was the very thing that drove him, the engine that made him push and strive — and also the root of the guilt he'd been carrying all his life.

Was he truly worthy of inheriting the name and the legacy of Nam Hyun-hwa, his benefactor and master?

Could he really protect what she'd left him? To answer his own doubts with certainty, he had swung the sword since he was a child.

He'd known he had some talent for a long time.

That was exactly why he pushed himself harder, why he refused to grow lazy, why he drilled and disciplined himself relentlessly.

The harder things got, the more brutally he drove himself, training so hard that Nam Hyun-hwa herself had told him to ease up.

All of it for one reason — to protect his master's name, to become a disciple and successor worthy of her.

When he'd grown into himself, he'd followed Nam Hyun-hwa's instructions and left home for the academy. On the way, for the first time in his life, he met someone his own age who wasn't Han Su-yeong.

Yu Ji-hyeok.

That was him.

"……."

And with Yu Ji-hyeok, Choi Hyun-woo had felt things he'd never felt with Han Su-yeong — friendship, camaraderie, rivalry.

He'd never once regretted meeting him, never once regretted becoming his friend.

…That was true.

It had to be.

― You're jealous of him, aren't you?

And Landschi hadn't missed the very thing Choi Hyun-woo had been working so hard to ignore.

― If Nam Hyun-hwa had met Yu Ji-hyeok instead of you, she would have chosen him without question.

― Even Han Su-yeong — she only stays by your side because of all the years between you.

― The first boy your age you've ever met, and one with overwhelming strength.

― Yes… I understand. Humans, like all animals, when they meet something powerful enough that they can't possibly stand against it — they either fear it, or they come to hate it.

So which is it for you?

Choi Hyun-woo hadn't been able to say a word.

Landschi had murmured to him, as if it were a real shame.

― And from what I hear, he's been keeping a rather large secret from you and your… companions… ha, companions, you call them… well, from all of you?

― If a thing begins in lies, surely the ending ought to match.

― …I'm not telling you to cut off his head, or stab him through the heart.

― I'm just suggesting you think it over carefully. Whether you really need to keep faith with him. Whether you need to burn away your life and everything you are for a man whose pretty words deceived you, whose every word was a lie from the start.

― That's all I'm asking. Just give it some thought.

"……."

In that moment, all Choi Hyun-woo had been able to do was nod.

Just as Yu Ji-hyeok had warned him beforehand, the instant he accepted the offer, Landschi seemed satisfied, said he'd return later, and vanished.

"Stupid fucking moron…"

Still crouched on the ground, he muttered the curse to himself.

That he'd been talked down to by someone like that. That he'd been made to betray his friend, even if only in pretense.

And above all — that he hadn't been able to deny it on the spot. That was what was eating him alive.

If… if even the tiniest fraction of him really had carried something negative toward Yu Ji-hyeok. Wouldn't he have actually betrayed him then?

"…No. There's no way."

He shook his head, murmuring it quietly.

He told himself there was no chance, no possibility — and yet the fact that he could even entertain the thought, that the question had crossed his mind at all, made him sick. He couldn't stand it.

Choi Hyun-woo stayed crouched there for a long time.

It was right around the moment he finally admitted to himself that yes — he was jealous of Yu Ji-hyeok.

"…Hey, Choi Hyun-woo. What the hell are you doing down there?"

"Huh?"

At the voice, Choi Hyun-woo slowly raised his head.

Standing there, for once without his armor, was someone he hadn't expected.

"What, your appendix burst or something? Why are you all hunched over like that?"

It was none other than Ahn Do-hun.

"…Do-hun?¹"

"Don't call me by my name like that, it's creepy."

Ahn Do-hun made a face like he'd genuinely been grossed out.

He scratched his jaw and grumbled.

"I'm on my way to see my uncle — he's got guests in. Didn't expect to run into you of all people here. Weren't you supposed to be tied up with Yu Ji-hyeok?"

Choi Hyun-woo nodded quietly.

That was when Ahn Do-hun noticed the deep crescent marks Choi Hyun-woo's nails had cut into his palms.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"…Did something happen?"

At the words, Choi Hyun-woo stopped shaking his head and just looked at him in silence.

Right. Ahn Do-hun had been jealous of Yu Ji-hyeok once, too.

The realization caught up with him, and before Choi Hyun-woo knew it, he was starting to speak.

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