The Academy's Delinquent in Charge, Chapter 31
Kwaaang!
Stelon, who had slammed the unconscious Hwangbo twins and Namgung Jongsu—eyes rolled back—into the ground, asked Kaiman.
"Are those guys the elves?"
"Y-yes, Senior."
Every time Stelon's gaze fell upon him, Kaiman trembled like an aspen tree.
"You had anesthetic scrolls and still let these puny elves slip away?"
"I'm sorry!"
Kaiman, who had been searching for an excuse, pointed toward Namgung Jongsu and the Hwangbo twins, who lay there as if dead.
"Th-those bastards over there interfered…."
Kaiman wasn't the only one trembling. Elia, who had been recaptured, and Hairin, who had regained consciousness at some point, were both shaking all over as well.
"Elia, should we just run?"
"Look around, it's already too late. And how could we run while leaving them behind?"
Hairin looked at Namgung Jongsu and Hwangbo Cheolsu lying sprawled on the ground and nodded slightly with a stiff expression.
They couldn't abandon those who had run to save them and flee.
And just as Elia had said, they were already surrounded on all sides by figures in black robes.
'If only I had endured a little longer back then….'
If she had just resolved it with words at the time, would the situation be better than it was now?
'What should I do?'
Hairin let out a low sigh, her heart in turmoil with guilt that this had all happened because of her.
"Haah…."
Hairin, who had been mumbling, spoke to Elia, who was standing in front to protect her.
"I'm sorry, Elia."
"Why are you apologizing? Don't apologize. And since it's already happened, don't think about anything else."
"Elia, should I just say we'll cooperate even now?"
"Are you crazy? Do you think anything would change if we cooperate?"
"Then what should we do…."
Elia turned to the dejected Hairin and grinned. The corners of Elia's mouth, which had always been annoyingly upturned, had never felt as reassuring as they did today.
"What do you mean, what should we do? We fight, even if we die."
Srrrng. Srrrng.
"Is the conversation over?"
Stelon walked out, dragging his thick spear across the floor. With every step he took, a heavy momentum weighed down on them.
"Who on earth are you?"
"You don't need to know."
"Who are you to commit such acts?"
Stelon smiled nastily. Every time he smiled, the scar at the corner of his mouth twitched like a snake.
"You don't need to know."
"No, this is a serious violation of school rules. I'll report you to the Student Affairs Office."
"Go ahead, if you can."
As he spoke, Stelon continued approaching. The sound of the long spear dragging across the ground added to the terror.
"If you cooperate quietly even now, I won't hurt you. Come along quietly."
Though she should have been terrified by that fearsome sight, Elia instead snorted and spoke.
"Fuck off, you bast—"
Kwaaang!
"Kyaahhh!"
Before she could even finish, Elia was slammed into the outer wall of the alley with an enormous roar.
"I don't go easy on people just because they're young."
"Elia!"
Hairin rushed through the thick dust to help Elia, but Stelon, who had approached unnoticed, blocked her path by planting his spear shaft.
"Move!"
"I'll tell you one more time, as a special favor. Come along quietly."
"No. Get out of the way!"
"Tch. Are you stupid because you're young?"
Stelon clicked his tongue low at Hairin's firm refusal and raised his spear shaft to swing it. But the spear didn't move as he wished.
Because at some point, the summoned wolf-shaped spirit, Portia, had bitten down on his spear and was dangling from it.
"Elia!"
"How dare this bastard lay a hand on her?"
Portia had grown to twice her size since just before leaving the Blue Leaf Village. The reddish flames spewing from Portia's breath heated Stelon's spear red-hot.
Grrrrr.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course! Did you think I'd go down that easily? I'm Elia of the Blue Leaf Village!"
Though she spoke that way, anyone could see that Elia's current condition was critical.
Blood was gushing from her mouth, and her left eye socket, struck directly by the spear shaft, was deeply caved in, the pupil no longer visible.
Stelon, who had pulled the spear from Portia's mouth at some point, spun it around and swung it at Portia.
Kwaaang!
"What is this livestock? Is this a spirit too?"
"Livestock? Don't talk to Portia like that!"
Stelon gripped the shaft again and swung once more.
Kwaang! Kwaaang!
"I—!"
Kwaaang!
"I told you, if you just come along, I won't hurt you."
With each blow, Portia's form gradually shrank. The more that happened, the more Elia's mana circuits, which maintained Portia, heated up as if about to burst.
"A-ah, no! Elia…. Silos! Why can't I summon you!"
Hairin had also tried to summon Silos to help Elia, but perhaps due to the anesthetic scroll's effects, her dantian wouldn't move at all, and she couldn't send energy to her mana circuits.
"Krrgh…."
Eventually, before long, Portia's summoning was canceled. Stelon approached the fallen Elia, grabbed her by the hair, and threw her toward his subordinates.
"The merchandise is a bit damaged. Pour a potion on her or something."
"Yes sir!"
"Elia!"
Hairin, who had been wailing, wiped her tears and tried to run toward where Elia had been thrown, but Stelon blocked her path.
"I've caught that Elia or whatever…."
Stelon swept his glittering eyes up and down Hairin's body.
"You're next."
"Please, Silos!"
Perhaps thanks to Hairin's desperate cry, her dantian stirred.
Soon, the intermediate wind spirit Silos, in the form of a horse, was summoned before her.
"What is this now? This one looks like a horse?"
Although Silos had been summoned, since it was an alley, it was difficult to use wide-range wind attacks. If things went wrong, not only herself, Namgung Jongsu, and the Hwangbo twins, but even Elia would be caught in it.
'Whatever happens, saving Elia comes first.'
Having made her decision, Hairin shouted inwardly to Silos.
'Silos, save Elia!'
Hihihing!
Silos quickly somersaulted and vanished from sight, turning into wind. Then it moved toward Elia, who was being held by the Cheongmidae members.
Even though Silos had escaped, Stelon's relaxed expression didn't fade.
"Jais, I'm counting on you."
One of the Cheongmidae members who heard his words unfolded his arms and raised his hand toward the air.
"Tch."
Moments later, Silos appeared from his hand, caught by the neck.
"Stelon, what if you had let this get away? Did I really have to step in?"
"Jais, that's your role. How am I supposed to catch something that moves by turning into wind?"
The man called Jais took off his robe. He was a young man with gray hair and glasses, and his ears were also pointed and long. If there was one thing different from an ordinary elf, it was that his skin was red.
'A Red Elf…?'
Hairin glared at Jais with wide eyes. Receiving that gaze, Jais giggled and forcibly dismissed Silos's summoning.
Then, as he approached, he tilted his head, grabbed Hairin's chin, and lifted it.
"Hmm, an elf of this level is top-grade merchandise?"
"Really?"
"Kaiman, how many slave brands do we have left?"
"We have three left."
Kaiman quickly took something from his bosom and handed it to Jais. It was shaped like a branding iron attached to a long rod.
'S-slave brand….'
Hairin's race was elf.
No matter that elf slavery had been illegal for over 200 years, there was no way Hairin wouldn't know of the slave brand.
"Stelon, lift up her skirt."
"Alright."
Jais placed the branding iron, heated red by fire magic, above Hairin's leg.
"S-stop, please…."
Hairin's focus shook. Words wouldn't come out properly. Her heart pounded. She felt her mouth gradually going dry.
'What should I do? S-save me….'
Tears welled up in Hairin's golden-brown eyes. Stelon, seeing that, flicked his tongue and spoke.
"It's a waste to just send her off as a test subject."
Jais looked at Stelon and shook his head as if it couldn't be helped, raising both hands.
"Let's finish the slave contract first, then do as you please after that. But only one week."
"Sounds good—!"
At that moment.
Shaaack!
One of the Cheongmidae members flew in and crashed into Jais's back. The Cheongmidae member was unconscious, his cheek half torn.
"Wh-what!"
Jais, suddenly pushed from behind, fell flat on his face and dropped the slave brand iron.
"I-intruders!"
"What? Who would invade this place?"
At that moment, the Cheongmidae members began collapsing one by one. Jais furrowed his brows at the man walking out from among them.
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know."
Jais swallowed hard. Even as an elf, he couldn't feel the flow of mana.
In this case, there were only two possibilities.
'Either an incredible master, or a nobody.'
But anyone could see it was the former. However, the tactless Stelon was already walking out with his spear.
"Stelon, don't!!"
"What do you mean, don't…. kuk!"
Stelon's neck was caught as he charged in defenselessly. Stelon struggled, but his body wouldn't move, as if bound by a sturdy rope.
Hairin, whose vision was blurred by tears, couldn't focus well. But she could tell who he was from his silhouette alone.
"L-Lord Baeg Iljin…."
Hairin struggled to compose herself and get up. But for some reason, her legs wouldn't move.
Before she knew it, an earth spirit summoned by Jais had grabbed her ankles.
"Let Stelon go! Otherwise this girl is dead too!"
Baeg Iljin stared at Jais with indifferent eyes. Jais also met his gaze, trying to hide his trembling.
"…I understand."
Baeg Iljin threw Stelon into a corner. He had been thrown so hard that his arms and legs were bent at odd angles.
"Release Hairin."
"Alright, I should release her…."
Jais, the whites of his eyes fully showing, received the branding iron from the earth spirit.
"She's our slave."
And then he brought the branding iron to Hairin's neck. No, he tried to bring it to her.
Tuk.
Something fell to the floor.
"Huh…?"
It was gone.
No, it had been there but now it wasn't.
There had clearly been an arm that should have been holding the branding iron, but it was gone.
Jais's arm was rolling on the floor like a kite with its string cut. Jais collapsed on the spot and screamed.
"Uwaaaaaaaah!"
"Shut up."
"Kuk—"
Baeg Iljin walked over and kicked Jais's windpipe with his toe. Then he stared down at Jais.
"D-don't come…."
Baeg Iljin picked up Jais's fallen arm and pulled the branding iron from it. Then he handed the branding iron to Hairin.
"Lord Baeg Iljin…?"
Nod.
Hairin let out a deep breath and received the branding iron. Then with a hardened expression, she pressed it to Jais's shoulder.
"Kuaaaack!"
Hairin approached Stelon and repeated the same action. As the part touched by the branding iron cooled, the slave brand appeared.
Hairin took a deep breath and sent mana into the branding iron to activate the slave brand. Jais's eyes rolled back before soon taking on a green light.
"Hoo, what is your identity?"
"…Our identity is Te—"
Boom!
"Kyaah!"
Jais's head exploded as he tried to answer. Soon after, the others' heads exploded too.
"Wh-what is this…!"
* * *
Inside a room filled with the fragrance of luxurious hardwood.
An expensive cognac, made from eau-de-vie aged over 100 years and valued at 100 million gold per bottle, was on display.
However, the two men sitting at the table seemed to have little interest in the luxurious alcohol, as the cognac in their crystal glasses hadn't decreased for quite some time.
The man sitting in the seat of honor opened his mouth.
He appeared to be in his late fifties. His grayish white hair, stylish mustache, and luxurious attire added to his dignity.
"So, Cheongmidae has been annihilated?"
"I'm sorry, Master."
The man called Master raised one corner of his mouth.
"Those fellows' test specimens were quite useful, you know."
"Yes, I'm sorry. What should we do with the surviving academy personnel?"
"Dispose of them. Before Cardo Majin or Na Hyeokjung notices."
"Understood."
The man in the seat of honor took a cigar from his bosom and lit it. The soft leaf fragrance from the cigar mixed with the hardwood aroma and filled the room.
"Taesan, would you like one as well?"
"No."
Gwan Taesan, the Lord of the Demonic Alliance, raised his head and looked at Jihad, the current Master of Telos.
'I simply cannot tell what he is thinking.'
It would be better if he scolded him, but there was no sign of that. He was merely looking at him with a cryptic expression.
It had always been this way.
From twenty years ago until now. There was something in that unreadable expression that made the other party uneasy.
"Well, this is a shame."
"Yes…?"
"There aren't many who can wield power within Jangan City with immunity, you know."
Gwan Taesan tilted his head in puzzlement. What did it matter who had immunity when Armut was here?
"Could it be… has Armut betrayed us?"
"There's no way to know yet, not yet."
Jihad, who had been savoring the cigar with his eyes closed, opened them.
"Well, opportunities aren't limited to just this one."
"I will make sure of it next time."
"Yes, I do hope that item I gifted you won't have been a waste."
Gwan Taesan swallowed hard and felt the ring on his hand. A faint light was leaking from the dark-colored ring.
"Yes, I shall repay this grace with loyalty."
"Yes, how has Armut been doing lately?"
"He seems to be running around here and there, but as of yet…."
"You haven't grasped his movements?"
"I'm sorry."
Jihad let out a hearty chuckle.
"Why is that something for you to apologize for?"
"Yes?"
"Tch, no one expects a mongrel to fly."
"…I'm sorry."
After answering, Gwan Taesan lowered his head, his jaw trembling.
It was humiliating.
But he couldn't refute it.
9-Star Archmage, Armut the Omnipotent.
Since they had entered Telos at the same time, an insurmountable wall had existed between him and Armut.
"Still, if you become proficient with that ring…."
Jihad, who had been speaking, took a deep drag of his cigar.
"You will be able to surpass Armut."
'Yes. If only I have this…!'
The ring of the Heavenly Demon, former leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and called the strongest of his era.
Also called the Ring of Genesis, it was known as a sacred relic of the Heavenly Demon, together with the Heavenly Demon Sword.
He currently lacked the ability to freely wield the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, so he couldn't properly use it, but if he found the Heavenly Demon Sword and obtained the Heavenly Demon Techniques contained within it.
'I shall stand tall at the summit.'
Gwan Taesan's eyes gleamed as he bowed his head.
"I shall repay your expectations by all means, with a splendid showing."
"Yes, you may go now. I need some time to think alone."
"Understood, Master. Then I shall take my leave."
After the greeting, Jihad's mouth twisted strangely as he watched Gwan Taesan's retreating figure.
'He still doesn't know his place. That's why I can only use you as a hunting dog.'
The pungent aroma of cognac enveloped his tongue.