Academy Delinquent in Charge, Episode 16
Archmage Pietro Black.
The first 10-star mage in human history, hero of every Magic Tower—there were many words that described him. If the world learned that he was a dragon, everyone would keel over in shock.
‘But who is that successor?’
As Armut knew, eighteen years ago, when Pietro’s daughter Lisiarin died, all dragons except Pietro were rendered extinct.
‘Or was there a hatchling missed by Telos?’
Telos.
A secret society whose members shared a single purpose regardless of origin—the Righteous faction, the Evil faction, the Magic Tower, the Black Tower, and so on.
November 11, 1587.
The Telos council, gathered from every faction, designated the race of dragons a natural disaster and began their complete extermination.
Of course, Telos had suffered near-annihilation as well, with only a handful of executives surviving, but it was an unequivocal victory for Telos.
‘Though things would have been different if Pietro had joined in.’
Pietro, who had made some sort of pact with Telos, closed his eyes and stood by while his kin were slaughtered.
‘What in the world was that pact?’
Armut had been nothing but a low-ranking member of Telos at the time, so he never learned the contents of the pact with Pietro. But there was one thing he could surmise.
‘That Pietro and that student have some kind of connection.’
Armut’s slit eyes opened briefly. The blue pupils within sparkled as they caught the light. Narrowing them again, he broke into a sly grin.
Truthfully, information of this caliber was worth reporting to Telos, yet Armut had no intention of doing so.
‘Why? Because it’s fun!’
The moment Armut finished his thought and turned around, a cold sensation touched his neck. Before he knew it, a sharp blade was pressed against it.
Even with the keen edge touching his throat, Armut kept his smile as he greeted the sword’s owner.
“Huh? Dean Na? What brings you here?”
“Dean Armut, I believe I warned you against doing anything unnecessary.”
Na Hyeokjung, Dean of the Martial Arts Department, the Sword Emperor. His expression was tranquil, but his blade brimmed with a storm-like momentum.
“Hahaha, what did I do?”
“Then what was that energy just now?”
“That is….”
“Speak quickly. I’m not in the mood for games.”
Na Hyeokjung pressed the sword closer to Armut’s neck as he hesitated. Red drops of blood beaded and fell where the bluish steel touched.
“Se-cret.”
With those words and a wink, Armut vanished from the spot in an instant.
“Tch.”
Left alone, Na Hyeokjung flicked the blood from his blade with a shake of his right hand and departed.
* * *
The next morning, sunlight climbed through the window and woke Baek Iljin.
Frowning and pulling the blanket up over his face to fall back asleep, his mind snapped awake.
‘Class!’
He checked the clock—he wasn’t late yet. If he left now, he could avoid being tardy.
He immediately got up, used an artifact enchanted with a Clean spell to quickly freshen up, went into the dressing room, and reached for his uniform.
‘My uniform…?’
It was in tatters, unwearable. He suddenly remembered the day before. His uniform had been ripped to shreds when it was struck by that ashen current and sent flying.
‘But they said academy uniforms were artifacts enchanted with defense magic…’
It seemed that enchantment had been quite low-grade.
With no other choice, he threw on some casual clothes, and just as he was about to step outside, his tablet alarm rang.
Driiing— Driiing— Driiing—
[Class Notice: Basic Magic Studies, Room 204, 2nd Floor, Rochette Building]
[Professor: Karis]
He pressed the button to silence the alarm and recalled the smiling faces of Hwangbo Cheolsu and Hwangbo Sujeong. The Hwangbo twins had even set the alarm for him since he still struggled to use the tablet.
‘I’m always on the receiving end with those two.’
About two minutes after leaving his place, the path to school came into view. Before he knew it, academy students in uniform were swarming along it like ants.
“Iljin! Over here!”
“This way!”
Hwangbo Cheolsu looked at Baek Iljin’s clothes and gaped in surprise. Hwangbo Sujeong beside him reacted the same way.
“I-Iljin, where’s your uniform?!”
“Gone.”
“Gone? You were wearing it yesterday.”
“It got torn up.”
Baek Iljin shrugged as if it were nothing, and they let out awkward laughs.
“Hahaha… I see. If it’s torn, it can’t be helped.”
“Anyway, we’ll be late. Let’s go.”
The Hwangbo twins let it go, but the other students reacted differently.
“What’s with that guy?”
“Who?”
“Look there. He came without a uniform.”
Having been tardy on the first day and now not wearing a uniform on the second, the students around him whispered amongst themselves.
“What, it’s that guy who got in through the special written exam and was late yesterday.”
“That guy is seriously something. Late, and now not wearing the academy uniform?”
To those who had fought through fierce competition to enter the Magic Martial Arts Academy, the uniform was a badge of honor.
“They should expel guys like that. It’s a shame there’s no expulsion system.”
“Right?”
As they were busy whispering about Baek Iljin, they noticed another student approaching from the opposite direction wearing a strangely customized uniform and whispered again.
“But what’s with that guy? There’s a lunatic remodeling his uniform.”
“Sh… Shh. It’s the young master of the Namgung family.”
*Gasp.*
Namgung Jongsu’s uniform was different as well.
Pants tightened until no blood could pass through, an excessively oversized uniform shirt and jacket, flashy designer sneakers, and even sunglasses.
‘Does he think he owns the world because he’s from the Namgung family?’
‘Do the Five Great Families think everything belongs to them?’
Crushed by the weight of the Namgung name, they couldn’t openly point out his bizarre outfit, but inwardly they cursed him just as much as they had Baek Iljin.
Meanwhile, contrary to his flashy uniform, Namgung Jongsu’s face was extremely stiff. His insides twisted the moment he saw Baek Iljin.
The students exchanged whispers as they noticed his rigid expression.
‘Eek—he didn’t hear us, did he?’
‘Probably not. Let’s hurry past.’
But Namgung Jongsu couldn’t care less about the whispering male students. Every time the female students glanced toward Baek Iljin, his chest ached.
‘Wh-what’s with that guy? He didn’t even wear a uniform?’
After seeing Baek Iljin make a strong impression by being late on the very first day, Namgung Jongsu had resolved not to lose and boldly customized his own uniform. Yet here he was, outdone once again by a guy who simply hadn’t worn one.
‘He’s even more incredible than I thought. He’s stoking my competitive spirit!’
When not just his classmates but even senior female students began stealing glances at Baek Iljin, his twisted gut burned hot.
‘Those glances should have been for me!’
Seething, he quickened his pace and entered the lecture hall before Baek Iljin.
‘If I get inside first, the attention will focus on me.’
Sure enough, the students gaped at him in shock as he entered. A deep sense of satisfaction washed over him.
‘Yes! This is the reaction!’
But Namgung Jongsu’s satisfaction was short-lived.
Elia, the elf student with emerald hair, glanced at him and turned away with clear indifference, and Seol Hayun, seated in front of her, didn’t even look his way.
‘How pathetic.’
Just as he was enjoying the attention from his seat, the students’ murmuring filled his ears. He knew the reason without looking.
‘Baek Iljin…!’
It was only natural that attention would be stolen by the lunatic who came without a uniform, so he decided to be magnanimous.
‘Only for today.’
Tomorrow he would return in an even more impressive outfit and captivate everyone’s gaze.
The problem was that even Elia, the emerald-haired elf who had shown zero interest in him, and Seol Hayun, the little lady of the Ice Palace, were glancing over.
*Grit.*
In an instant, his insides filled with an ugly jealousy.
‘I could understand the elf, but Seol Hayun, you shouldn’t do this to me….’
How much money did the Namgung family provide to the Ice Palace? Under the pretext of reserving Ice Essence that didn’t even exist, they sent over five billion gold every year.
‘I should cut back on what we send to the Ice Palace from now on….’
*Jolt—*
Startled by his own vulgar thought, Namgung Jongsu shook his head vigorously.
‘But a gentleman like me can’t resort to dirty threats.’
Grabbing at others’ weaknesses to blackmail them was not his style. He wanted to compete using only his own charm.
‘The attention may be stolen for now.’
But someday, those girls’ gazes would be on him instead.
*Squeak—*
Then someone opened the front door of the lecture hall and entered. It was Karis, the professor in charge of Basic Magic Studies.
The sole survivor of the magic noble house Robnine, the Magic Swordsman Karis Robnine.
Karis’s large, distinctly double-lidded eyes and thick eyebrows like pine caterpillars seemed to speak of his passionate nature. He looked young, but his magic was outstanding enough to wield 6-star magic circles freely, and his martial arts had reached transcendent heights.
The chattering students quickly fell silent at the sight of him.
And more than anyone else, Hwangbo Cheolsu and Hwangbo Sujeong watched Professor Karis with sparkling eyes.
‘That’s the Magic Swordsman Karis!’
‘Mother’s younger brother….’
Receiving their gazes, Karis recognized them as well. But now was class time. The emotional reunion could wait until after the lesson.
*Ahem—*
Clearing his throat, Karis used a magic called [Psychokinesis] to move the mounted blackboard forward and wrote “Basic Magic Studies” beside it.
The students clapped in surprise at that natural display of magic.
“Wow—”
*Clap clap clap!*
The applause from over six hundred people at once was quite thunderous.
Karis waved as if savoring their praise. After briefly enjoying the cheers, he brought his index finger to his lips.
“Shh—”
The moment the students quieted down, Karis raised his thumb in greeting.
“Everyone. Hello!”
It was a passionate greeting that matched his appearance. Caught up in his showmanship, the students responded just as thunderously.
“Hello!”
Karis nodded, looking at the many new students before him. Even a hint of emotion was visible on his face.
‘That’s it, these are freshmen! Fourth-years are no fun—it’s not worth teaching them!’
In high spirits at teaching enthusiastic freshmen after so long, Karis’s voice rose even higher.
“Then shall we begin class?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm, before we proceed….”
Karis shifted his gaze to the attendance sheet. Not a single student was marked late.
‘Since it’s the first day, shall I call attendance for fun?’
Before calling names, he scanned the students.
‘All six hundred are precious disciples. I should memorize their faces as quickly as possible.’
Just as Karis smiled and prepared to call out names, a student caught his eye wearing the Martial Arts Track’s black uniform broadly remodeled like a coat, his hair slicked back with pomade and a cynical expression on his face.
‘Namgung Jongsu. Martial Arts Track, Number 2.’
Seeing Namgung Jongsu’s sloppily customized uniform, Karis felt a surge of anger rise within him. But unable to lash out on the first day, he suppressed it with superhuman patience.
‘Phew—I am no longer the hot-tempered Magic Swordsman Karis. Well held, Karis.’
As he resumed scanning the room, the guy sitting in the very back seized his attention once more.
‘But what is with that guy.’
Elbows on the desk, chin in hand, staring at the lectern with a blank expression. And he hadn’t even worn a uniform.
*BANG—*
This time, unable to restrain his anger, Karis swung a fist imbued with internal energy and smashed the blackboard into the back wall.
*Flinch—*
Startled, the students straightened their postures and stared at the enraged Karis with frightened rabbit eyes.
“There is someone disrupting this space.”
At that chilling voice, the students turned in unison and looked at the lone person in the very last row.
Baek Iljin turned around along with the rest, but all he saw behind him was the door.
‘What? There’s no one there.’
Karis looked at Baek Iljin staring behind him with a clueless expression and clutched his head in frustration. Finally exploding, he pointed at Baek Iljin and shouted.
“You! I’m talking about you!”