The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

"There, unnie"

Jin Ye-seul bent down toward Jin Ye-jeong, who was sitting on the bench, and smiled brightly as she reached out a hand.

She stroked her sister's hair with the careful touch of someone handling a precious doll, then asked:

"You remember everything I just told you, right? Run through it for me one more time."

"Don't go wandering off on my own. Stay close to Jelly's—"

Catching the way Jin Ye-seul's eyes turned cold the instant she let slip Evangelline's nickname out of habit, Jin Ye-jeong quickly corrected herself.

"…Don't leave Evangelline Loengreen's side. Check in with you every five minutes. And, um… don't follow anyone I don't recognize."

"Good girl, you remembered."

Jin Ye-seul nodded with satisfaction.

"…Okay."

Jin Ye-jeong nodded obediently in agreement.

No matter how many times she explained that only her physical body had been turned younger and her mind was entirely unchanged, Jin Ye-seul refused to so much as pretend to listen.

If anything, the subtle threat in her eyes — bring it up one more time and I'll be in a foul mood — had left her with no choice but to shut up.

At least it was a mercy she'd ended up looking like a middle-schooler.

Thinking that to herself, Jin Ye-jeong let out a small sigh.

If her body had ended up any younger than this… she shuddered slightly at the thought of how horrifying that would have been.

"Hmm… I really should get going now. As you know, things are about to get busy on my end."

"Okay."

Jin Ye-jeong, who understood how things were unfolding, calmly nodded.

Then she looked her sister straight in the eye and said:

"Be careful."

Jin Ye-seul blinked a couple of times, looking slightly surprised, then softened into a gentle smile with her eyes.

"I will. You be careful too."

"Honestly, I should be worrying about you, not the other way around."

As she said it, Jin Ye-jeong raised her hand and tapped the ring on her finger and the earring dangling from her earlobe.

"I've got the ring Yu Ji-hyeok gave me, and the earrings Jel— Evangelline gave me. And my mana's recovered to about seventy percent of what it was, even if it's not back to where it used to be. Maybe I can't win in a real fight, but I can at least buy time to run or wait for someone to come."

"Yeah, I figured. I can tell just looking at you."

Jin Ye-seul nodded and checked the time.

Then she pursed her lips and murmured:

"I really am out of time now. Anyway, I'm heading out. Evangelline Loengreen will be here any minute, so make sure you stick with her."

"Okay, thanks for worrying about me."

"Mm-hm… ah, right."

Jin Ye-seul nodded, then spoke as if she'd just remembered something.

"Ye-jun might end up coming here too."

"…What?"

For a second, Jin Ye-jeong thought she'd misheard.

"I didn't tell him to come, so don't get the wrong idea. From the way he's been acting lately, it's a real possibility, so I figured I should warn you."

"H-how… why would Ye-jun…."

"He probably wants out from under our mother's shadow too, just like I did."

Jin Ye-seul ran her fingers through Jin Ye-jeong's hair as her sister sat there, utterly flustered.

"…I haven't breathed a word about you being alive, just like you asked, so don't worry about that. Besides, even if Ye-jun shows up, would he even recognize you? I'm telling you in case, just in case, you panic when you see him."

Jin Ye-seul stared at Jin Ye-jeong with those distinctively wavering eyes of hers.

"Got it?"

"…."

"Oh, and make sure to watch the performance later, okay? You know, the one with that girl — Yoon Seul-hye or whatever her name is. Got it? You have to watch."

With that, Jin Ye-seul cupped Jin Ye-jeong's head and pressed two quick kisses in a row to her forehead and the crown of her head before straightening up. Then she casually scuffed her foot, tapping lightly on her own shadow.

This much, at least, would put her mind at ease.

Muttering that to herself, she turned on her heel and walked off.

She'd ended up spending more time with Jin Ye-jeong than she'd planned, which left her schedule a little tight.

As she walked briskly, a voice called out from behind her.

"Noona!"

There was only one person who'd call her that.

Just as she'd expected, Jin Ye-seul turned her head toward the voice.

"Ye-jun."

Genuinely regretting that she couldn't witness Jin Ye-jeong's reaction with her own eyes, she smiled at her brother.

"Um… oppa, I really was a nuisance, wasn't I?"

The voice was so deflated that Choi Hyun-woo turned his head to look beside him.

Lee Hye-rin's expression had crumpled into something thoroughly downcast, and she was staring at the ground.

"It wasn't like that, so don't worry about it."

"…Thanks for saying that. But I'm not so dumb that I can't tell."

Lee Hye-rin sniffled as she said it.

"I'm sorry for pushing my way in like that. I really didn't know it was such an important meeting…."

Young as she still was, she was the younger sister of Lee Myung-jun — one of the Ten Powerhouses.

Choi Hyun-woo and Lee Hye-rin would probably never know it, but in the original world, Lee Hye-rin would have made a name for herself as the second-generation guild master of Thunderbolt's Hammer.

Lee Myung-jun's death, which should have happened long before now, would have forced her to grow up fast in every way and made her so hard on criminals and enemies that her treatment of them bordered on cruel.

But all of that was a future that had never come to pass.

The girl beside Choi Hyun-woo now was just a young one fumbling beside the boy she had a crush on, racked with guilt and self-reproach for the fact that she'd clearly put him in an awkward spot.

The moment she'd arrived at the meeting, she'd realized it was something very important and that she was an uninvited guest. On top of that, she'd quickly figured out that Choi Hyun-woo, who'd shown up with her, must've been in a deeply uncomfortable position because of it — and her face couldn't have looked more miserable.

"I'm telling you, it's fine. I was only there to hand something off to Ji-hyeok anyway."

Choi Hyun-woo soothed her, making it clear he really meant it.

It wasn't a lie, at least. He hadn't been needed for anything beyond that — none of the actual planning or coordination required him.

"Still… the others must've been uncomfortable because of me…."

"They're not such mean kids, though."

When Choi Hyun-woo cracked a teasing smile and laughed, Lee Hye-rin's hands shot up in alarm.

"N-no! That's not what I meant…!"

She'd been flustered into trying to defend herself when she caught Choi Hyun-woo grinning at her, and her eyes narrowed slightly. She'd realized he was just teasing her. After a brief chuckle, Choi Hyun-woo asked in a softer voice:

"By the way, where are Mr. Lee Myung-jun and Ms. Horie? You said you didn't come alone earlier."

"Beats me where they are."

Lee Hye-rin turned her head aside as she answered.

"Anyway, I'm just in the way if I tag along with them. Honestly, if it weren't for Yuzuki, no one else would put up with a guy like my brother and his pain-in-the-ass personality. The last thing I want is to get in their way."

As she was speaking, her expression suddenly twisted in distaste.

Curious, Choi Hyun-woo turned to follow her gaze, and his eyebrows arched in surprise.

There, sitting on a bench and talking, was Ahn Do-hun — sporting square horn-rimmed glasses and a hat in what he apparently thought passed for a disguise — and Laura Hartmann, with her own baseball cap pulled low.

"That's what I'm saying, why the hell didn't they put him in at the bottom of the fifth?! Huh? You think so too, right, Do-hun? Sure, his batting average is high, but he's been totally flat lately — you've got to come out swinging right then! Dragging it out like that and giving up back-to-back doubles…!"

"Uh… yeah, I think so too."

In contrast to Laura, who was venting her opinion with passionate fervor, Ahn Do-hun was nodding with a sour look on his face. Even as he agreed, he kept sneaking glances at her face like he was trying to read her, though the fully worked-up Laura clearly hadn't noticed a thing.

"Tch… oh, it's Do-hun."

"Huh? Wait, you know Do-hun?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I do. Met him a few times because of my Uncle Ju-hyeok."

Choi Hyun-woo nodded at her explanation.

Now that he thought about it, both Ahn Do-hun and Lee Hye-rin were relatives of the Ten Powerhouses, and Lee Myung-jun and Ahn Ju-hyeok were close friends besides. It wasn't strange at all that two people of similar age would've crossed paths.

"Let's go somewhere else, Hyun-woo."

"Hm? Sure. If that's what you want, Hye-rin, let's go."

Lee Hye-rin suddenly grabbed Choi Hyun-woo's hand and tugged him along.

He let himself be pulled along the way she wanted, sneaking a glance at the time.

…About thirty minutes left, maybe.

The performance Yoon Seul-hye was running would start soon.

And that would be the signal.

"…."

Yu Ji-hyeok, Han Su-yeong, Alice Blesbuck, Kath Ryle, Jin Ye-jeong, and Evangelline Loengreen were probably doing their final check right about now.

On top of that, Lee Myung-jun, Ahn Ju-hyeok, Horie Yuzuki and the rest of the Ten Powerhouses would be working too.

Jin Ye-seul was probably swamped, and Ivan would be too.

Lee Ye-eun and Kang Yeon-kyung had said they had one last thing to do and left, calling Lee Yu-na along with them in the process.

…Not that he'd meant for it to turn out this way, but he was the only one with time to kill.

Choi Hyun-woo scratched his chin with his thumb, looking faintly troubled.

"Hey, Hye-rin."

"Yes, oppa?"

"If you're okay with it, want to walk around with me for a bit and check things out?"

"Y-yes…?"

Lee Hye-rin looked up at him with a dazed expression.

A little sheepishly, Choi Hyun-woo gave her a smiling glance with his eyes and said:

"Hmm, would that be too much trouble?"

"Yes, yes! I-I mean no! Not trouble at all, I'd love to! Let's go together, I've got tons of time, and uncle and Yuzuki are both busy right now…!"

At her enthusiastic reaction, Choi Hyun-woo let out another laugh in spite of himself.

"All right, then let's head over to the food stalls first. We can grab something quick to eat…."

He'd been speaking with a smile on his face when his words stopped cold and his expression hardened.

Following his gaze, Lee Hye-rin saw what he was staring at — a hulking man giving off a thoroughly ominous aura.

He smirked.

He glanced their way once, then tilted his head toward Choi Hyun-woo.

It was clearly an invitation to talk, and Choi Hyun-woo carefully patted Lee Hye-rin's shoulder.

"Sorry, Hye-rin. Could you give me a moment?"

"…You've got business with that man?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll go on ahead and wait for you. Hurry up and finish talking and come back."

As she said it, Lee Hye-rin whispered in a quiet voice:

"Just wait a little. I'll grab some of the others and bring them back."

With that, she ran off, and Landschi, who'd approached as he watched her retreating figure with an amused look, shrugged his shoulders.

"Seems she's gotten the wrong idea. We should both wrap this up before any real commotion breaks out. Better for both of us."

He said it while pointing toward a particular spot.

"How about somewhere with fewer people, while we're at it? Easier on the two of us."

Without waiting for Choi Hyun-woo's answer, he turned and started walking.

Choi Hyun-woo silently scanned his surroundings.

"So — is there anything you want, by the way? Things worked out smoothly thanks to you. It's only proper to repay a favor when you've been helped."

Landschi kept walking as he spoke.

Choi Hyun-woo followed behind without a word.

"Mm… and this is just a bit of personal advice, but you'd do well to get out of here as soon as possible. Something historic is about to happen, and it won't be the kind of thing you'd enjoy. Better to take someone precious to you along, while you're at it. Like… that Han Su-yeong, was it? The red-haired girl. Or that young one from a minute ago."

Most of the crowd seemed to have flowed toward the upcoming performance.

The number of presences he could sense around them was down to single digits now.

"What do you want? Well… if you'd like, I could craft you something with my ability. It can wrap a single human's mind around its finger in an instant."

"You'll give me whatever I want?"

At Choi Hyun-woo's question, Landschi nodded.

Choi Hyun-woo let out a small laugh.

"That's kind of you. Turns out there was something I wanted, actually."

"So, what is it you wis—!?"

The first thing he saw when he turned his head to look at Choi Hyun-woo's face was a dark blade slashing down at him.

"Your head."

Before his sentence could finish, the dark blade cleaved through Landschi's neck.

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