Academy Delinquent in Charge, Episode 42
Baek Iljin’s movements were indeed those of the Okcheonghyegeom, yet the feeling was entirely different. Judging by speed alone, it wouldn’t have been strange to call it a swift sword technique.
“You! What are you doing! Didn’t you hear a word of what I’ve been explaining?”
He had. But he couldn’t agree.
Not long ago, during a duel, Ye Jawon had also used a martial art containing the principles of Hubalseonji.
And the result?
He couldn’t even block a 1-star magic spell.
‘Whether it’s Hubalseonji or Jeongjungdong, if you get hit first, it’s meaningless.’
“This isn’t something to be so stubborn abou— …huh?”
It was strange. The Okcheonghyegeom was clearly a heavy sword technique—so what was this movement now?
Dazzling footwork and rapidly swaying sword strikes connected naturally, flowing like water.
Having unfolded even the final form, Baek Iljin sheathed his sword.
Cheonma Sword swallowed its admiration inwardly.
‘Hm… Did he adjust the speed of the sword technique to match his footwork?’
It was absurd.
Modifying a martial art in such a short time was something even the Great Ancestral Masters of each sect would find difficult.
Perhaps the heavy sword simply didn’t match his temperament, but swinging it quickly had achieved balance by pure chance—like a cow catching a mouse while walking backward.
In any case, if his basic footwork possessed a characteristic that pursued dazzling movements, there was no need to stubbornly insist on the heavy sword.
No, perhaps unfolding it this quickly was even better.
“You, your footwork belongs to the Beggars’ Sect, doesn’t it?”
‘You know?’
“Of course I know. Even if you altered the footwork to suit your physique, you cannot discard its original form.”
‘I see.’
Meanwhile, the students began to murmur about something.
When he turned his head to where they had gathered, he saw Namgung Jonsu scratching his head and smiling awkwardly.
“Sword Qi.”
On the sword held in Namgung Jonsu’s hand, a faint blue aura had formed.
“I-isn’t that Sword Qi?”
“Can’t even Ji Taegyeong use Sword Qi yet?”
The students weren’t the only ones surprised. Dang Jain, who had been teaching internal techniques, also called out to Namgung Jonsu with a startled expression.
“Student Namgung Jonsu, did you already know how to use Sword Qi?”
“No. I couldn’t do it before.”
“Then how……”
“Haha, a man’s blood and sweat are proven by results.”
Namgung Jonsu made a corner shape with his hand and propped his chin on it as he spoke. The students watching him made exasperated expressions and shook their heads.
‘Can a person really be so tactless?’
‘Is he crazy?’
Of course, there were also students showing positive reactions.
The male students—called Namsamo—who emitted a sour smell because they didn’t even wipe their flowing sweat, lifted Namgung Jonsu up and tossed him into the air.
“Namgung! Namgung! Namgung!”
“Jones! Jones! Jones!”
“I hate sweaty guys! Put him down! Hwangbo Cheolsu, why are you in there!”
Cheonma Sword, watching that scene blankly, asked quietly.
“Why are they doing that?”
‘I don’t know. They’ve been fooling around like that since some time ago.’
Losing interest, Baek Iljin gripped Cheonma Sword properly and began to unfold the Okcheonghyegeom again.
His movements were still unskilled, but his sword strikes were fast, flexible, and smooth. Even to Cheonma Sword’s eyes, aside from the proficiency that only time could grant, there was virtually nothing to point out.
“Perhaps because you’re the son of a monster, you too are a monster.”
‘Watch your mouth.’
Baek Iljin, now too lazy to even tell him to watch his mouth, warned him curtly. Cheonma Sword tried to speak again, but seeing him already immersed in training, it could only click its tongue.
‘Ill-mannered brat.’
When he had unfolded about half of the Okcheonghyegeom forms, the bell signaling the end of class rang. Dang Jain gathered the students.
“You must practice the martial arts you learned at least once a day even after returning home. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Then class ends here. Class president?”
“Attention. Salute.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Hwangbo Sujeong and Hwangbo Cheolsu said they had club business and left immediately. Seeing that, Baek Iljin tilted his head.
‘Was Charles interested in baking too?’
Returning home after class, Baek Iljin took out bread and milk from his subspace, still in his gym clothes. Even though he ate them every break, there was still a lot of bread left.
“Delicious. Who knew bread could be this tasty.”
It was incomparable to the chunks of stone Stone Golem Max had made for him, calling them bread. Of course, back then he had eaten those claiming they were delicious too.
Perhaps finding that sight displeasing, Cheonma Sword chided him.
“Change your clothes before eating. And how many loaves of bread are you eating a day?”
“I’m going out again.”
“What? Where?”
“Martial arts training.”
“Is it because of that practical assessment or whatever?”
Baek Iljin nodded. But it wasn’t solely because of the practical assessment score.
‘I’m still lacking.’
He had never had any interest in martial power, nor had he ever thought about getting stronger. But now it was different. He had a goal, and to achieve it, martial power was important too.
“A good mindset. If you’ve inherited even half of your father’s talent, growing stronger will be no trouble at all.”
* * *
The late spring night was still chilly. Moving his feet following the moonlight, he arrived at the training ground before long.
The center of the training ground’s door was thickly padded with old leather, seemingly to enhance the soundproofing effect.
“Is it usually this quiet?”
‘I don’t know.’
Since it was a training ground open at all times, he had expected many students, but it was more deserted than he’d thought.
No, it was hard to even call it deserted—there was only one person inside.
‘Seol Hayun?’
She was so immersed in her training that she hadn’t noticed him enter.
Seol Hayun, who had been holding her hands together in a martial stance, soon loosened them, shook them out, and stepped forward. Her beautiful silver hair fluttered softly one beat slower than her body, following her movements.
With each step and each technique, small, beautiful snowflakes formed and circled around her as if worshipping her.
“A child of the Ice Palace, I see.”
The more she unfolded her martial art, the more her eyes frosted over like transparent ice.
When she took a step, a hexagonal ice path formed centered on her foot. She stepped onto it as if gliding, twisted her waist, and spun in place. Soon, stopping her spin with a thud, she spread her arms outstretched in a straight line.
The snow-white jade sleeves spread to either side emitted glittering frost. Soon they gathered at a single point and condensed. Frost gathered to become ice, and ice became a mirror that reflected everything.
The ice mirrors revolved in the air following the command of the snow-white fluttering jade sleeves. The ice mirrors, scattering ice fragments as they spun, gradually grew in size. At the same time, her silver hair fluttering in the wind also rose sharply as if matching their harmony.
The moonlight, unable to penetrate the ice mirrors, split into several branches and illuminated her. Her splendid figure was like a fairy from an old tale.
‘Beautiful.’
Baek Iljin, watching that sight as if entranced, let out a small exclamation without even realizing it.
“Ah!”
“……?!”
Before the afterglow of his admiration could fade, Seol Hayun, having discovered him, suddenly stretched out her hand and hurled a chunk of ice at him.
“Watch out!”
She immediately glided across the ice sheet, approached right before him, and thrust out a hand covered in ice.
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
“Be careful! Look at her eyes—she’s not in her right mind!”
Baek Iljin raised his arm to knock her hand away. In an instant, a section of his gym clothes frosted over. Fortunately, it didn’t touch his skin, so he could tear it off.
‘Hm, what should I do?’
The easiest method would be to beat her up, but he thought of the bread he had received that morning and couldn’t resort to violence so rashly.
“Are you saying you would have beaten her up if she hadn’t given you bread?”
‘Probably.’
“Above!”
Kwaaang—one of the ice mirrors floating in the air plunged into him before he knew it. Unable to react to the unexpected attack, he was buried in a block of ice.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Instead of answering, Baek Iljin broke the ice and came out. But he didn’t look okay.
His lips had turned purple, and the back of his hands that had broken the ice were smeared with blood.
Cheonma Sword, about to offer a word of advice, murmured upon seeing Baek Iljin, who had already regained his color.
“What kind of regenerative ability is this……”
Baek Iljin wiped the blood on his gym clothes. The fist he wiped was pristine white without a single wound.
‘I should have broken it with internal energy.’
This time, two ice mirrors were fired side by side from the front. Baek Iljin, sending internal energy to his Yongcheonhyeol, leaped into the air. Then, lightly stepping on the flying masses of ice, he charged toward Seol Hayun.
“Now! Strike her acupoint!”
‘Acupoint?’
“I’m telling you to seal her acupoint!”
‘I don’t know how.’
Seol Hayun stretched her hand toward Baek Iljin, who had reached right in front of her.
Swish—
Even though he turned his head to dodge, a red line appeared on his face.
Baek Iljin caught her hand and twisted it. Then, using her energy in reverse, he pulled her body toward him.
“T-this is Ihwajeopmok?”
Her arms bound in an instant, she fell into Baek Iljin’s embrace. Using her footwork, she slightly created distance and pushed Baek Iljin’s chest with her remaining arm.
“Hold her tight!”
Baek Iljin grabbed her other attacking arm as well, adopting a posture as if embracing her from behind, and fell backward. He clamped his arms strongly to prevent the girl in his embrace from moving.
Seol Hayun, who had been rampaging even while falling, tired from her own frenzy, her movements slowing, and eventually lost consciousness.
‘How long will it take for her to come to?’
“It doesn’t seem to be qi deviation…… It seems to be a characteristic of her martial art, so we just need to wait a bit.”
After a few minutes had passed like that, the ice around them began to melt. When she opened her eyes, her eyes, which had become transparently frozen, had returned to their original color.
“B-Baek Iljin?”
“Have you come to your senses?”
She nodded.
“Don’t let go! She might have another fit.”
‘Understood.’
After holding her like that for a while, Seol Hayun spoke to him.
“……how long?”
“What?”
Unable to understand because she had mumbled, Baek Iljin asked again. Seol Hayun, her face flushed red, lowered her head and raised her voice.
“H-how long do we have to stay like this?”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Mm.”
Only then did Baek Iljin relax his arms. For some reason, however, Seol Hayun didn’t pull away immediately, but rather stayed in his embrace a little longer before finally leaving his arms.
Seol Hayun stole a glance at Baek Iljin. His gym clothes were torn to shreds, and near his left heart, palm-shaped ice had formed.
She couldn’t remember clearly because it had happened while she was out of her mind, but the circumstances made it obvious she had done it.
‘This time I have to apologize properly.’
Her previous apology had been far too rude in hindsight. She lowered her head and offered an apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Saying so, Baek Iljin grabbed her shoulder and helped her up.
The instant his hand touched her, her pulse quickened. At the same time, her face, which had been cold to the point of stinging, quickly grew hot.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Ah, youth. It is youth indeed.”
Baek Iljin opened his subspace and held out a glass bottle containing some liquid. It was a potion he had received from Hairin in Blue Leaf Village.
“It’s a potion. You gave me bread earlier, so there’s no need to thank me.”
“Thank you.”
After that, the two maintained silence for a long while. An awkward tension flowed inside the training ground.
‘I need to train, but somehow it feels awkward to do so.’
“You think that too?”
It was Baek Iljin who broke the silence first.
“Did you end up like that while training in martial arts?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Okay.”
Their conversation ended there. Seeing Seol Hayun continue to be embarrassed, Baek Iljin quietly stood up from his spot.
“Aren’t you going to train?”
‘I did practical training, so that’s enough.’
Seol Hayun, seeing Baek Iljin get up and dust off his knees, asked.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I’ll go first.”
“Take care.”
She, not looking away from his back until Baek Iljin left, let out a sigh after confirming he had gone out.
“Whew, I should go rest too.”
She felt she couldn’t possibly focus on training with this state of mind. Just as she tried to get up.
“Rest? If you rest now, what about us……?”
A ringing sounded in her ears.
“……?”
“Seol Hayun, this isn’t the time for you to be dating, is it?”
“Seol Hayun! Come to your senses!”
The delusion that began with the ringing brought on an illusion. Before she knew it, the members of the Ice Palace appeared before her eyes, pointing their fingers at her with cold, sunken expressions.
“The members of the Ice Palace are all looking only at you.”
“Hayun, you are the only one who can revive the Ice Palace.”
She covered her ears, scrunching up her face and trembling violently before crouching down on the spot. Burying her face between her knees, she shouted.
“Stop, please stop!!”
Her voice echoed in the empty training ground where no one was. But the more she did so, the stronger the hallucinations became.
“Hayun……”
“Seol Hayun!”
“Young Palace Mistress……”
“I said stop! I’m doing all I can too!”
“Seol Hayun!”
“The future of the Ice Palace……”
While she was crying out like that for a while, a warm sensation touched her ear.
Tuk—
Her world, which had been ringing noisily, fell silent in an instant. She hurriedly wiped away her tears and raised her head.
“B-Baek Iljin?”