Academy Delinquent Episode 13
“Iljin, you’re amazing!”
“Yeah, I knew you were smart, but I didn’t know you were *that* smart……”
“It’s nothing special.”
After class, the Hwangbo twins fussed as they approached and put Baek Iljin on a pedestal. Even he, who had been listening silently, nodded as if he didn’t find it unpleasant.
“By the way, if Mana Breathing Technique is on the placement exam, isn’t that only advantageous for magic-track students?”
“Ugh, you dummy. You think the placement exam only has a magic test? And of course magic-track students have an advantage on the magic test.”
Hwangbo Sujung sighed and answered Hwangbo Cheolsu’s question.
“Then why do they even have the placement exam? To divide us according to aptitude?”
“Exactly. That’s why the professor told us the exam questions in advance and said to memorize them all.”
“That’s true. But if they make us memorize everything like this, will there be any way to differentiate?”
“Hmm…… Do you think martial arts-track students will bother memorizing the Mana Breathing Technique formulas? They’ll just extract the mana circuit usage and forget the rest completely.”
Baek Iljin, who had been listening to their conversation, asked Hwangbo Sujung.
“Class? How are the classes divided?”
“Uh, Magic Research Class, Martial Arts Research Class, Magic Engineering Class, Mechanism Class……. Hmm, I can’t remember the rest. Oh, right! Special Mission Class!”
“Special Mission Class?”
“It’s a class that only the top ten percent of students based on the average of all exams can enter.”
“Hmm, I see.”
All of this was the first time Baek Iljin, who had missed the entrance ceremony because he was late, had heard any of it. As he nodded, Hwangbo Cheolsu asked him.
“By the way, Iljin, what about your dormitory?”
“Dormitory?”
“Don’t tell me……. You didn’t get assigned a dorm?”
“I didn’t.”
“What? Let’s hurry to the Academic Affairs Office.”
Baek Iljin, who had already visited the Academic Affairs Office once, took the lead.
The interior of the Academic Affairs Office had a solemn atmosphere. The staff were all typing away without taking their eyes off their monitors.
“They all seem busy.”
“It’s the admissions season, so they must have a lot to do.”
“…….”
Someone who recognized them approached the hesitant group. It was the Academic Affairs staff member they had met in the morning, who recognized Baek Iljin.
“Huh? Baek Iljin, what brings you here?”
“I came to get assigned to a dormitory.”
“Yes, just a moment.”
The staff member glanced at Baek Iljin’s uniform and number for a moment, then spoke in a voice full of apology.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. Baek Iljin, you don’t qualify for dormitory admission.”
“Excuse me……? What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry, but according to regulations, the academy does not provide dormitories to students who did not rank within the top one hundred on the entrance exam.”
“But I’m a specially admitted student…….”
“Because there are so few special admission students, there are no separate regulations for them…….”
Hwangbo Cheolsu continued to press the staff member, but there was nothing they could do about the academy’s policy.
“This is a problem. What should we do?”
“I know…….”
“It’s fine. It’ll work out somehow.”
The staff member, who had been listening to their conversation, smiled and held out a piece of paper with a map drawn on it.
“Usually, academy students who cannot enter the dorms rent rooms around the academy. If you go here, you should be able to find a room.”
“Thank you.”
They had no choice but to turn around.
Just then, a delicious smell wafted from the campus cafeteria right next to the Academic Affairs Office. They hadn’t eaten anything all day, so as if bewitched, they turned their bodies toward the cafeteria.
“I’m hungry; want to talk over some cafeteria food for now?”
“I’d love to! I heard the academy cafeteria food is amazing.”
“……Sounds good.”
Just as Hwangbo Cheolsu had said, the quality of the food at the campus cafeteria was considerable.
Al dente aglio e olio pasta, neither fully cooked nor undercooked; steak made from veal; and fragrant coffee.
A menu too luxurious to be called cafeteria food. But it was a different story at an academy where the tuition per semester exceeded thirty million gol.
*Clack—*
Baek Iljin set down his plate.
“Crystal, what plate is that now?”
“Ah, the ninth plate.”
Baek Iljin sucked up a forkful of aglio e olio pasta as if he had been starving for days.
Perhaps it was fascinating that he showed no signs of slowing down and inhaled the food like a man possessed; the twins set down their own utensils and watched him.
“Iljin, isn’t your stomach full?”
“It’s just right.”
“R…… really? Haha.”
Hwangbo Cheolsu had lived his whole life believing he wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to appetite, but after seeing the spectacle before his eyes, he completely abandoned that thought.
After emptying two more plates, Baek Iljin finally sipped his coffee as if satisfied.
‘Hm?’
As Baek Iljin tilted his head thinking, *Coffee really is the best after a meal*, he saw students glaring at the Hwangbo twins from afar.
They were all martial arts-track students in black uniforms; among them was a monk with a freshly shaved head and a student wearing something on his head like a Taoist priest.
‘What are those guys?’
They hadn’t directly approached to cause any harm, but at a glance, their eyes were filled with hostility.
Baek Iljin found them strange.
‘The twins aren’t the type of kids to go around doing things that would earn them those kinds of looks.’
Setting down his coffee and looking toward the twins, he saw that Hwangbo Cheolsu was also glancing that way, seemingly bothered by their gazes.
“Charles, is something going on? They’re glaring at you.”
“Nothing’s going on, it’s just… how should I put it. Internal power struggles within the Martial Alliance? Something like that.”
“Power struggles?”
Hwangbo Cheolsu’s expression grew serious. After hesitating for a moment over whether to speak, he soon opened his mouth.
“Do you know why the Martial Alliance was created?”
He knew. It had been on the entrance exam, after all.
“I do. It was created when the Six Great Sects and Five Great Families joined forces to keep the demonic sects and dark mages in check.”
“Yes. But also no.”
What did he mean by yes but no? Wondering what that was supposed to mean, he raised his head and looked at Hwangbo Cheolsu.
“You know the major sects are fundamentally heavily religious, right? Taoism…… or Buddhism…….”
He nodded.
“But in the Kingdom of Rochette, religions other than the Church of Aion, which worships the Supreme God Aion, cannot possess independent territories. That’s why they created an organization called the Martial Alliance.”
In short, the Martial Alliance was nothing more than a stepping stone for the major sects to obtain independent territories.
“What about the Five Great Families?”
“The Five Great Families are different; they’re not religions. The Five Great Families already possessed territories even before the Martial Alliance was founded, under the pretext of being clans.”
Just as he said, unlike the major sects who shared a single territory under the name of the Martial Alliance, the Five Great Families each possessed independent territories.
“But what does that have to do with them looking at you with such hostile eyes?”
Hwangbo Cheolsu thumped his own head and continued his explanation.
“Ah, right, I was in the middle of explaining that. It’s because after the Five Great Families joined the Alliance, the major sects’ power within the Alliance weakened.”
“What do you mean?”
Baek Iljin, who had been pouring sugar into his coffee, raised his head and asked.
“Unlike the Five Great Families, who only need to look after their blood relatives, the Nine Great Sects had to take responsibility for the safety of countless Central Plains inhabitants. Why? Because no matter how much they’re called sects, their foundation is religious.”
“I see.”
The gist was this.
The sects could not lead ordinary people who had not learned martial arts to pioneer undeveloped lands. But from a religious standpoint, they could not abandon them, either.
At that time, the Five Great Families, who had the means, extended a hand first. The sects took it, and eventually, the Five Great Families entered the Martial Alliance.
The problem was that with the Five Great Families entering the Alliance, the balance between the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects collapsed.
Afterward, the prestige of the major sects within the Alliance weakened by the day, and finally the situation deteriorated until they were on the verge of turning against one another.
Having heard this much, a rough picture of the situation was drawn in his mind.
*‘A battle of pride, so to speak.’*
But the Nine Great Sects? He felt puzzled. Because the major sects of the Martial Alliance that Baek Iljin knew numbered six.
“Nine Great Sects? Not Six Great Sects?”
“Ah, that’s……”
Hwangbo Cheolsu, who had talked so much that his throat was dry, took a sip of his coffee before continuing.
“Actually, it was originally the Nine Great Sects. Shaolin, Kongtong, Qingcheng, Diancang, Taishan, Beggars’ Sect, Wudang, Emei, and Huashan.”
“And?”
“Among them, the Beggars’ Sect, Wudang, Emei, and Huashan perished while pioneering undeveloped lands.”
“Then wouldn’t the remaining five be the Five Great Sects?”
It was the first time hearing something that didn’t appear in history books. Baek Iljin set down the macaron he had been eating for dessert and listened intently.
“They’re not the Nine Great Sects, but among the powerful factions, there was a place called the ‘Two Frontier Palaces.’ Among them, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace perished, and the Ice Palace, left alone, entered the Alliance. That’s why they call it the Six Great Sects, including the Ice Palace.”
“The Ice Palace……”
“Though I’ve heard the Ice Palace is in danger of being expelled even from the Six Great Sects right now.”
At the mention of the Ice Palace, Seol Hayun, whom he had met recently and who wielded extreme cold, flashed through his mind.
“Expelled?”
“Yeah, I heard the Ice Palace’s situation isn’t very good right now. That’s why our clan sponsors them as well…….”
Just then, Hwangbo Sujung shook her head as if fed up and cut off Hwangbo Cheolsu.
“Enough of this boring talk already!”
Then she rummaged through her personal subspace and took something out.
“Iljin, take this!”
“……?”
It was ten thick-looking books and a neatly packaged tablet. A short handwritten note was also visible on the wrapping paper.
“Why are you giving me these……?”
“It’s an entrance gift!”
For some reason, Hwangbo Sujung’s face, as she held them out, looked as red as a ripe tomato.
‘Hmm……’
Baek Iljin, who had accepted the gifts in a daze, pondered for a moment.
It was only right to give something in return upon receiving a gift. After rummaging through his subspace for a while to find something suitable as a return gift, Baek Iljin took something out.
“A return gift.”
They were pearl earrings for women, engraved with various patterns in gold. They were not simple pearl earrings, but an artifact imbued with 5-star shield magic.
“Really? I didn’t give you that hoping for something like this in return…….”
Despite her words, she smiled brightly and had already put the pearl earrings on. The earrings, a combination of pure gold and pearls, suited her healthy-looking skin well.
“Wow, it’s so pretty. Thanks, I’ll put it to good use!”
Watching the heartwarming exchange of gifts, Hwangbo Cheolsu gulped and pushed his face forward with an expectant expression.
“Nothing for me?”
“Nothing.”
At those firm words, Hwangbo Cheolsu pouted his lips in mock offense.
“So mean……. Ack!”
Just then, someone shoved Hwangbo Cheolsu’s shoulder and appeared.
A girl with emerald eyes and hair of the same color. It was Elia, whom he had met in Blue Leaf Village.
Hwangbo Cheolsu, who had been suddenly pushed aside, glared at her, but Elia didn’t even spare him a glance and pointed her index finger at Baek Iljin before her.
“Hey!”
“What.”
“You! Did you come to the academy just to fool around with dating?”
“Fool around with dating? What are you talking about?”
Elia huffed as if something had upset her, and her pointed ears stood slightly upright.
“What you’re doing right now is fooling around with dating!”
“Speak quietly. This is a dining area.”
“What? Who’s the one fooling around with dating in a dining area?!”
At the sudden shouting, Baek Iljin closed his eyes for a moment and thought.
*‘Fooling around with dating……’*
He recalled a red book titled *[The Definitive Guide to Hot Romance]* that he had found by chance in Rare. Max had found it and burned it, but the contents remained in his head.
“I’ve never fooled around with dating. Romance is, fundamentally, when a man and woman share feelings of love and do XX and XX……”
“Stop, aack!”
Hwangbo Cheolsu lunged forward and barely managed to cover Baek Iljin’s mouth. But already, Elia and Hwangbo Sujung’s faces had turned red as beets.
“Isn’t this guy a total pervert?!”
“No.”
“Hmph!”
Seeing Baek Iljin remain nonchalant and shameless even after uttering such words, Elia’s irritation flared up even more.
“I hate everything, from one to ten!”
Baek Iljin giving a gift—earrings, at that!—to Hwangbo Sujung, and Hwangbo Sujung accepting it so readily.
Finally, even herself for caring about such things was displeasing.
Then Hwangbo Sujung, who was beside her, looked her up and down and said.
“Who are you? Popping out of nowhere like that.”
Elia also looked Hwangbo Sujung up and down without backing down.
“What are you looking at?”
“What?”
As Hwangbo Sujung let out a short cough as if dumbfounded, the unique Blue Leaf brooch caught her eye.
“Ha, are you an elf from Blue Leaf Village too?”
“So what?”
“What are you so unhappy about?”
“What business is it of yours!”
Hwangbo Sujung and Elia’s eyes met simultaneously. Sparks seemed to fly from each other’s gazes.
“Hwangbo Cheolsu. Do you know her?”
“Huh……?”
“I’m asking if you know her.”
Cold sweat beaded up on Hwangbo Cheolsu at Hwangbo Sujung’s sharp tone, and he quickly answered.
“Ah! I do. I think I saw her a few times in Blue Leaf Village…….”
Hearing that, Elia whipped her head around and glared at Hwangbo Cheolsu.
“Who are you to act like you know me?”
“Then I’ll pretend I don’t know you. Ha…… haha.”
The cold atmosphere the two generated even flustered Hwangbo Cheolsu. Watching the scene blankly, Baek Iljin mediated with Elia.
“Elia, stop it and go. If you have something to say, say it later.”
“You’re taking her side even after taking our village’s token?”
“What are you talking about? The letter of recommendation was written by my clan.”
“What?!”
Afraid it would devolve into an emotional fight if left alone, Baek Iljin intervened again.
“Sujung, you stop too. Elia, stop it.”
“Okay……”
“Hmph!”
As the atmosphere temporarily settled, Hwangbo Cheolsu put on an easygoing smile and extended his hand to Elia.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Charles.”
After briefly gauging Baek Iljin’s reaction, Elia muttered under her breath and shook his hand.
“Tacky name. I’m Elia.”
With that, Hwangbo Sujung also reluctantly extended her hand. She didn’t like that elf girl, but she didn’t want to act petty.
“I’m Hwangbo Sujung.”
“Hmph.”
Elia smacked the back of Hwangbo Sujung’s hand away with a loud slap and turned her head.
“I know your name, so a handshake isn’t necessary, right?”
“What? You’re really rude.”
“Hmph, don’t expect me to live up to your standards of courtesy.”
At the sight of the two bickering while grinding their teeth, Baek Iljin shook his head and sat back down to finish his coffee.