“So, like, this is how you do it, right?”
“Don’t force us to do something only you can!”
“Yeah! We’re boycotting training!”
Early morning.
Just like usual, I was teaching Tana and Eve when they started complaining, as always.
This wasn’t the first time; actually, there was an incident where they held a sign saying “Daniel, no to outrage” during morning exercise.
“Those guys are just bored and want to boycott.”
Back then, when I tried to ease things, now they just throw tantrums at every chance, claiming they won’t train.
Seriously, I’m not doing this because I want to; I’m doing it for their own good!
“Look at that face! It’s like they think I’m doing this because they want it!”
“Don’t you remember when you skipped one day and then mumbled all day long about doing exercises? This is practically blackmail!”
“……”
Working out with others was surprisingly fun and helped me do exercises I couldn’t do alone, so…
“Alright, I get it! Let’s just finish this. Once we’re done, I’ll let you guys do something easy tomorrow.”
“Are you serious?”
Eve came closer, hopeful, but Tana grabbed Eve’s shoulder.
“Don’t fall for it! It’s a trap! Last week he said the same thing and we ended up jogging for five hellish hours!”
“Oh no! That was a nightmare, so I totally suppressed those memories!”
“……”
I had my excuses, though.
At the start, I just wanted them to warm up with some light walking, but somehow the atmosphere got to me, and I ended up running.
“Learn from her over there.”
I pointed subtly to Hayun, who was swinging a sword in the corner.
It’s been a week since we took down the gang known as Belon Corporation.
Maybe my fighting left an impression on Hayun because she asked if she could join my training, and I thought it was a good opportunity to learn her swordsmanship as my workout partner increased.
“Hayun used to be active!”
“You guys can be too starting now.”
“That’s not helping. It feels like I’m talking to my dad.”
“Old man!”
Tana, sighing while muttering that it was pointless, and Eve, who let out a ‘beep’ sound, both didn’t know what to say.
Yeah.
If my first love had succeeded, I’d probably have a younger daughter, so being called ‘dad’ and an old man fits.
The fact that my first love was Rin was a bit of a problem, though.
Pretending it didn’t affect me, I asked Hayun for help while wiping her sweat with a towel as she approached us.
“Hayun, help! This kid is a total exercise tank! He won’t stop!”
“How can a human match the standard of a magical beast? Common sense says so. This is outrageous!”
Ugh, it feels like the insults are getting out of hand.
Hayun glanced at me, shrugged, and replied.
“Still, if Daniel says to do it, you’ll surely grow. You guys have low practical scores in duels and stamina tests, so how about holding back a little for that?”
That’s right!
Oh, she’s adorable!
I clapped and nodded with a satisfied smile, and Tana and Eve pouted, looking at Hayun.
It’s said that the meddling sister-in-law is worse than a hitting mother-in-law.
They seemed just like that, but crafty Tana’s eyes sparkled as she smiled cunningly.
“By the way, I was thinking of adding some embroidery to the clothes I bought last time. How much would that cost? Oh, and I want to buy a scarf or handkerchief too.”
Little Eve, who immediately caught onto the plan, joined in.
“Me too! I want to put a tablecloth on the small table in my room. Can you come and take a look?”
“Let’s go quickly, customers.”
Hayun, now working as the academy’s hidden seamstress, dazzled with excitement.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going!”
I freaked out seeing the three suddenly head back to the dormitory, but Hayun shot me a glare saying not to interrupt, while the other two stuck their tongues out and smirked at me.
‘These guys are really using Hayun well.’
Hayun, with a stoic and cold expression. She usually carried that vibe, but she instantly transformed into a sweet customer service persona whenever clients showed up.
To survive, Hayun was evolving.
“Ugh, guess I’ll just have to do it alone.”
Left alone, doing my routine exercise in the quiet early morning, I heard a rustling sound.
Curious, I turned my head slightly to see people climbing over the high wall into the academy using a rope.
For a second, I wondered if it was Tudogs, but they were wearing uniforms and I recognized their faces.
‘May’s gang?’
I definitely remembered them, having flipped over their smoking habits just a few days ago.
But something was off.
Their expressions were dark, and many had injuries.
Had they gotten into a brawl or something? Yet, their leader, May, was missing.
‘…I should check later.’
May still hadn’t said a word to me.
Since she seemed to be avoiding me, I was giving her some time to sort out her troubled feelings, but…
‘I need to make sure nothing strange happens.’
I planned to visit her today to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
*
“What? She didn’t show up?”
In Class A, where May was.
I briefly stopped by during lunch but heard she hadn’t come to school today.
Rin, asking why I was looking for her, seemed intrigued, but I cleverly mumbled my way out of Class A.
“Strange?”
I could have marched over to May’s gang and asked them directly what happened, but there was an easier way.
The dean’s office on the fifth floor.
I burst in without knocking, and the dean, looking serious and sighing heavily, was surprised to see me.
“I feel like I’ve told you to knock at least ten times.”
“Does your privacy matter right now? Where did May go?”
I barely got things under control in the school, and now she’s just disappeared?
Because of May’s absence, I’d already seen the delinquents from other classes feeling frisky three times since arriving here.
Thanks to May’s physical enforcement, the academy had managed to maintain temporary peace, but it all came crashing back in just a day without her.
Especially the newly emerging delinquents from the fourth year, who were making a ruckus while bullying the younger kids.
I had kept May around just to avoid seeing such disgusting behaviors.
“…I don’t know either.”
“Excuse me?”
“I really don’t know.”
Unexpectedly, the dean sighed deeply again. Genuine worry for his cousin May was clear on his face.
Seeing me still clueless, he began to explain.
“Three days ago, thugs went to the hospital where Demalico was hospitalized. They said they would take revenge.”
“Excuse me? The hospital is right in the middle of the city?”
What is he talking about?
Were they trying to get caught red-handed?
“I mean, I thought I wiped them out completely. Did any remnants survive?”
I had wrecked the Belon Corporation entirely just a week ago, torturing their leader Zavalanco to get information about Tudogs.
Did I miss any leftovers? But the dean shook his head.
“The Belon Corporation and Zavalanco paid a fine and were released five days ago.”
“Excuse me?”
No way, those guys were selling drugs that completely destroy your life, and they just got a fine?
Even with my limited knowledge of the law, I knew that substances with such side effects couldn’t be sold so carelessly.
It was as if the dean understood my feelings and clenched his fists in frustration.
“Daniel, this is the reality of this city. Normally, they should be rotting in prison for years, but throw a few bills their way, and they’re back in the world.”
“……”
Having lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm, I had my blind spots.
There, you could easily dominate with strength and intimidate to establish a pecking order.
But of course, it wasn’t like that here.
“They can openly sell drugs again, and even if Demalico gets retaliated against, the guards won’t move.”
Suddenly, I recalled Sen’s strange expression as she looked at me.
When I mentioned capturing them and handing them over to the guards, she had casually provided information like it was no big deal.
She probably knew things would turn out this way.
“May.”
I called out her name almost like a mantra, feeling lost in a daze.
“What’s happened to May?”
Something had gone wrong.
*
“……”
Did the kids manage to escape?
What worried May Plov, even with her hands and feet tied, was that thought.
Thugs had attacked Demalico in his hospital room.
He was already in bad condition, and now, seeing Demalico, who was nearly dying, May clenched her fists.
Demalico’s parents were crying and wailing while holding onto their son’s hand. Even nobles like them, from a weak border territory, had nothing else they could provide for their son.
He was a foolish son.
A delinquent at school, he even reached for cigarettes he shouldn’t smoke.
Yet, he was still her friend.
And to May, he was a comrade.
Even though he was a delinquent and had a bad personality, he was a loyal friend who had been alongside her since the first year at the academy.
Since the guards weren’t doing anything even after telling them repeatedly, May thought she should protect him herself, and the other friends agreed.
They began to take revenge one by one against the thugs from the Belon Corporation.
But a long tail attracts stomping.
Eventually, the leader of the Belon Corporation, Zavalanco, stepped in personally, likely seeking revenge for the humiliation he faced at the hands of Daniel, a graduate of the academy.
Zavalanco was powerful.
He was far stronger than the other thugs, and believing that they would be caught, May sacrificed herself to let her friends escape.
‘They probably ran to the dean for help.’
Spot on.
As they returned to the academy early in the morning, they rushed to the dean’s office to report the situation, pleading tearfully for help to rescue May.
In front of their classmates, who normally act dignified and wouldn’t want to look foolish, it was a pitiful sight, but it also tugged at the heartstrings.
‘How long has it been?’
With her eyes covered, her sense of time was blurry, but there were moments she dozed off and woke up again.
She had no idea how long she had been asleep.
‘……’
What were the thugs planning to do with her?
In such a situation, she was repeatedly haunted by dreadful thoughts, but she forced her mind to turn to more positive thoughts.
Someone would come and rescue her.
How about someone like Ares?
Having harbored feelings toward the handsome Ares, she slowly closed her eyes, perhaps without even realizing it, as her imagination took hold.
Standing before her was the confident-looking boy with black hair, charging fearlessly at the thugs.
‘Black hair?’
Wait, wait, wait!
Ares has blonde hair!
A radiant golden blonde at that!
How does he even get such glossy and beautiful hair without maintenance? I want to ask!
Black hair is…
‘Daniel…’
The black-haired boy was Daniel McLean.
She couldn’t shake off her irritation regarding how her weaknesses were handed over to Daniel under the watchful eye of the dean, her family.
She knew she had crossed a line back then, and Daniel hadn’t faced her with full power, or else he would have been expelled.
He had no choice in the matter.
‘What a fool.’
In truth, she had realized it was her own anger directed at herself, rather than being mad at Daniel.
Why was she mad?
Because it dawned on her that she was so awful that Daniel had to resort to such measures.
“……”
Just a moment ago, she imagined a prince coming to save her, but sadly, princes save only princesses.
She wasn’t a princess.
As Sen had said, she was just a small-minded girl who led a gang of delinquents, indulging in the satisfaction of friendship.
“Daniel…”
She called out his name for no particular reason.
Feeling as if that powerful man who effortlessly accomplished amazing feats would somehow transform her too.
Yet unexpectedly, a response came back.
“Ugh, you know what’s the trait of delinquents who can’t study?”
“……!”
Daniel’s voice.
She instinctively shook her head left and right, but her eyes were covered, so she couldn’t see anything.
“D-Daniel?”
May gasped, startled, wondering if it was just her imagination, but Daniel’s voice continued to echo through the darkness.
“It’s just deep friendships that end up going to waste. So instead of destroying one life, they all end up ruining it together.”
“……”
Those words rubbed against her senses.
It was Daniel.
Without realizing it, May found herself tearing up, grateful that her eyes were covered at that moment.
“So, you’re out here risking your life to help a druggie friend while getting hit or caught. You and the others.”
Slowly, her previously bound hands and feet regained their freedom.
Her blindfold slipped away, and the sudden exposure to light and seeing Daniel’s smile brought her an unexpected sense of relief.
“Living so romantically at just 18 years old.”
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