Correcting the Villainess of the Academy

After parting with Yeon Minha, I headed to Professor Kwon Chanyul’s office. Since it wasn’t the weekend, I needed permission from the supervising professor to go out beyond the Cradle.

“Here you go. No matter how late it gets, you must return to the main gate before midnight. Don’t forget, even if you’re a recommended student, there are no exceptions, right?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied.

He didn’t even look at the reason I wrote for my outing. With a bored expression, he quickly scribbled his signature in the blank space and shoved the paper back to me. His bearded face was still smeared with fatigue.

“I’m sorry to bother you. I have a meeting with a corporate representative today.”

“Oh, I see. I thought something was up. Since you’re a recommended student from the Heukryeon family, it must be S&C, right?”

“That’s right. You seem to know a lot…?”

“I know. During my student days, I had a sponsorship contract with S&C too. Thanks to that kid Jae-hyuk, I got good terms…”

Out of his half-asleep muttering, a peculiar name caught my ear for a moment.

“Are you talking about Dan… the person I know?”

“…Ah.”

As soon as he heard my question, the professor’s eyes sharpened again. A light sigh escaped his lips.

“…Jae-hyuk and I are classmates from the Cradle. Please don’t tell anyone else. I don’t want to get into trouble over fairness issues.”

I hadn’t expected that. Now that I think about it, they did seem to have a similar age appearance. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t help but wonder.

“What was he like as a student?”

“…He was impressive. In both good and bad ways…”

“What do you mean by…”

“Let’s stop there. You should ask him directly about that. I need to get some sleep. You should go handle your business.”

Bang!

I was booted out into the hallway with a spell. For a moment, I stood there, my feet unsure of where to go.

Soon, I headed downstairs, mulling over my chat with the professor. Most of the people I met in the Cradle regarded Dan as a total scumbag.

The descriptors attached to him were all derogatory terms like degenerate, punk, trash, and lecher.

However, some, like the principal or Professor Kwon from earlier, didn’t seem to harbor bad impressions of him. In fact, they seemed to either respect him or show a bit of pity.

I didn’t feel all that different from them. Sure, he had an old man’s personality and often grumbled, which could be a tad annoying, but that alone didn’t make someone evil. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have taken me in at all.

I hadn’t been very curious about Dan’s past at first, but now I couldn’t help but feel a little intrigued.

Click!

“Huh?”

While lost in thought descending the stairs, I suddenly heard the sound of a doorknob turning from the hallway beside me.

I reflexively turned my head, and there stood a familiar brown-haired female student, just closing the office door behind her.

“Yena?”

“Huh, Hyun Ah…?”

Upon hearing my name, Yena startled and turned her head. She looked as if she hadn’t expected to run into me here at all.

However, she didn’t look too well. Her round eyes were all bloodshot, filled with moisture. She looked like someone who had been crying all day.

“W-What are you doing here…?”

Flustered, she quickly turned her head away as I approached her.

“I was just getting permission to step out for a moment.”

“I-I see… Hee…”

I turned my gaze to check the door she had just exited. Above eye level, a nameplate reading “No Jong-ha, Magic Chemistry and Alchemical Studies” hung there.

Immediately, I envisioned a middle-aged professor flaunting his mustache and haughty demeanor. I had heard plenty about his notorious reputation.

He was known to subtly disadvantage students from the outskirts or those of humble backgrounds while being oddly kind to those from well-off families.

He was, without a doubt, the kind of person who straddled the line of discriminatory practices, making him all the worse.

I didn’t particularly like him either. I had been somewhat puzzled when I sensed he didn’t take a shine to me until later I discovered he was openly backed by the Paecheon family.

And if I was right, Yena wasn’t someone the professor would be inclined to favor.

“Why are your eyes like that? Did that professor scold you? If you’ve been unfairly treated, you can always tell the principal…”

The principal’s office was right at the top of the building. If I had faced any injustice, there shouldn’t be any need to hold back from reporting it.

“Uh, no. I just didn’t sleep well last night. Ugh, so embarrassing… Hee…”

But before I could make my way back up, Yena rushed to block me again.

She said her sleepy eyes were a result of late-night studying for Magic Chemistry and that she had come to ask a question about something she didn’t understand.

Indeed, she had in her arms a hefty tome on the topic. I ultimately turned away from the distressed expression on Yena’s face.

We descended the stairs to the lower level of the professor’s building together.

With Yena, who usually filled the air with chatter, now silent, the atmosphere felt quite awkward.

“…So it’s the second commission now. Are you preparing well…?”

Yena opened her mouth only after we exited the professor’s building.

“Pretty much. Where is your group going?”

“We’re assisting in patrol requests on the capital outskirts. I hear there’s a manpower shortage, and they’re desperate enough to borrow even a cat’s paw… Seems decent enough, I guess…”

Yena lightly nodded in agreement. Even I thought it seemed like a good request.

Yena typically had a timid personality, and judging by the last request, she seemed to fear dealing with monsters more than criminals or mutants…

“How about you…?”

“We have a transportation escort mission. We’re heading down to the southern agricultural zone…”

Thud!

Suddenly, a noise interrupted my words.

Turning to my side, I saw the thick textbook Yena had been holding tumbling down onto the dirt floor. Her face went pale as she gazed at me.

“Southern…?”

“…? Yeah, Southern. So it might take some time. We’re heading down this week, so at the earliest, we’ll be back next week…”

“N-No…!”

Yena suddenly shouted “BEEP!” in an alarmed tone. Her outburst caught me off guard.

“Yena?”

“No…! The South is dangerous… Cough! Cough!!”

She was cut off by a fit of coughing that shook her, as if she were about to expel her guts.

“Cough! Cough!! Heh…! Cough…! Ah…”

“Are you okay? You seem a bit off today. Let’s go to the clinic. I’ll take you there…”

“Heh… No, it’s just a little choke…”

“That’s more than just a little…”

“I’m really fine… but that Southern mission…”

After a few moments of struggling with her cough, Yena muttered in a daze. Then she looked at me with pleading eyes.

“…Hyun Ah, can’t you not go…? Or change the request to something else…?”

“This is much more important than the first request. How can we abandon it? And our mentor has probably already submitted the request form. Once it’s approved by the professor, you know we can’t change it.”

“N-No…”

“Why not?”

“Cough… I’m just worried… it’s too dangerous… it’s far… there are monsters… and they said the south is the rebel army’s base…”

It seemed Yena’s timid and overly worried nature was flaring up again. But it felt a bit excessive compared to normal today.

She had this somber air about her as if trying to dissuade someone from going to the battlefield. Coupled with Yena seeming off today, it put me in an odd mood.

“You know my skills. I can handle any run-of-the-mill monsters. Plus, the rebel army has reportedly been crushed in a purge, so they’ve lost most of their strength.”

“Still…”

“It’s fine, really.”

“Ugh…”

Yena now wore an almost tearful expression.

“…Then can you promise me one thing…?”

“What is it?”

“Promise you won’t overdo it, no matter what happens. Don’t take off on your own like during the practice…”

Her memory of that time I went off alone for practice seemed firmly imprinted. I recalled her sulking and worried demeanor back then.

But I could hardly make an assurance without a shadow of a doubt. Though I was confident in my safety, there’s always a chance, a minuscule risk. If I were to fall unlucky, breaking that promise would be inevitable.

“…I can’t guarantee that…”

“…”

Yena fell silent at my vague response. A lonely and resigned smile crept onto her face.

“…I figured you’d say something like that… Hyun, I think I should go now. I have the next lecture soon. Can we meet again later…?”

Yena nodded slightly. She glanced at the clock tower and waved her hand at me before turning to leave in the opposite direction. Her steps seemed heavy and droopy the whole way.

*

I arrived at the café about 15 minutes early, but there was already a woman waiting for me there.

She had neatly tied her long hair back. With her polished, elegant suit, she appeared to be someone in her mid-twenties, giving off the impression of someone working a good job.

As the jingle of the door opening rang out, her gaze turned towards me. She immediately stood up and bowed towards me, bending nearly at a 90-degree angle.

“Nice to meet you, young master. I’m Myo Sang Ah from the VIP department of S&C Defense. It’s an honor to finally meet you…”

“…”

Her smooth spiel suddenly halted with the sound of her biting her tongue. An awkward silence enveloped the immediate vicinity.

---