Chapter 67: The saintess of the academy (2)

Two men in suits rushed out of the academy corridor.

Finally reaching the lobby, they hurriedly looked around.

“……”

“………”

But the empty space was already devoid of anyone.

The balding man yelled at the young man standing next to him.

“Good heavens. Teacher Rick, are you in your right mind?! How could you forget something so important?! There are mistakes, and then there’s this! You couldn’t even greet our esteemed guest properly?! Do you have any idea how many people’s necks are on the line for this?!”

The young man, called Teacher Rick, was sweating profusely and kept bowing his head.

“I-I’m so sorry! Academy Director! I pulled an all-nighter preparing for this test, so I wasn’t thinking straight, I’m truly sorry!!”

“Enough! Instead of making excuses, find out where the Young Lady is, quickly!!”

The two men, their faces pale, frantically searched the area around the lobby.

Then, the young man spotted a student standing blankly in a corner and exclaimed in surprise.

“Uh, could that be…?!”

The director, startled, also turned his head, only to get angry again.

“You idiot! That’s a male student! Get a grip, will you?!”

The director let out a deep sigh and gestured towards the elevator.

“For now, you go down to the first floor and check the visitor records. Let’s first confirm if she has even arrived here.”

“Yes, yessir!”

Watching the young man scurry towards the elevator, the Academy Director sighed once more.

“Phew….”

Then, he cautiously asked the boy who was still standing blankly in place.

=========

The girl who introduced herself as Aisha explained various things about the academy as we walked down the corridor.

“Over there is the data library, and this way is the simulation room!”

The locations of the academy facilities, operating hours, how to use them, and so on.

But what caught my eye more than her explanations was the girl herself.

Her voice grew faster and faster as she, with sparkling eyes, tried to tell me even one more thing she knew.

Her small figure darting back and forth in the corridor, explaining with hand gestures, was quite cute.

I almost let out something akin to an uncle’s smile and discreetly covered my mouth.

“Ugh, hmm….”

Come to think of it, everyone I had met in this city so far had been… strong people, in various senses.

Not their physical strength, but their personalities.

They were characters with firm self-assertions and exceptionally outstanding individualities.

Even Yoanna, who was on the younger side, sometimes exuded a chilling aura that made me flinch.

It was rare to see someone display such unadulterated innocence.

So, when I casually responded with “Yes, yes-” and played along well, she chattered even more excitedly, like an overjoyed puppy.

She really seemed like a cute younger sister.

As the girl continued her tour of the academy for a while, she started treating me more comfortably the more I engaged with her story, and then, hesitating slightly, she confessed.

“Ac-actually, I haven’t been at the academy for long either.”

“Huh? Really? You explain things so well for someone who just arrived?”

“Hehe, thank you. I studied the facilities a bit for today. Um, so… I think the teacher probably put us together like this so we new students could adjust together. So….”

The girl hesitated for a moment, then, looking anxious about being rejected but somehow mustering her courage, she carefully asked.

“Could you… perhaps be my friend?”

Her sparkling eyes, mixed with fresh anticipation and fear…. I nodded as if hypnotized.

A world-weary old man like me is fundamentally very weak to such purity.

And belatedly, I realized what I had done.

Honestly, considering my own mental age, accepting that innocent proposal felt like telling a lie, pricking my conscience… but I just couldn’t refuse.

Then, a bright joy spread across the girl’s face.

“Hehe… I made my first friend. I’m so happy. To be honest, I’ve been lonely ever since I enrolled here. I came in alone after taking the test, so I don’t know anyone… the teachers are all strict… my classmates are… But to think I’ve made a friend like this! Right, what’s your name, friend?”

“Evinia, just call me Eve.”

At my answer, the girl smiled brightly again and again, circling around me like a gentle puppy.

“Okay! I’m so glad you came, Eve. From now on, let’s have lunch together, go to the library… I’ll show you fun places too. There are so many things I wanted to do with a friend.”

Aisha began to chatter again, her voice even higher with excitement.

“I was so surprised when I first saw you. You’re so pretty, I didn’t even think you were a new student like me. Really-“

As the girl was speaking, a somewhat noisy presence approached from the other end of the corridor.

Our conversation unintentionally stopped.

“……!”

The people who appeared where I looked were a group of female students.

Uniforms tailored to fit their bodies perfectly, loud voices chattering without regard for their surroundings.

It was the archetypal atmosphere of a so-called popular clique.

The moment she spotted them, Aisha gasped, “Hup!”

Then she subtly grabbed my arm, and we stepped aside into a side path, lowering our gazes.

“…..?”

As I was slightly puzzled by her reaction, one of the girls in the group passed by us and made eye contact with me.

“Hm?”

She approached us and spoke.

“Oh my? You’re a new face. Are you a freshman?”

“Yes. I am.”

As the conversation began, I could feel Aisha, standing next to me, flinch.

However, the other girl ignored Aisha as if she weren’t there, looking only at me intently.

She scanned me with interested eyes for a moment, then smiled slightly and said.

“Is that so….? Hmm. Welcome to the academy. Let’s greet each other when we run into each other.”

“Yes, please take care of me.”

She lightly tapped my shoulder and left with her group.

Aisha remained pressed against a corner of the corridor, holding her breath, until they were gone.

I asked the girl.

“Aisha, why were you so scared? Are those people, perhaps, bad people?”

“No. Those people are…..”

“Those people….?”

At my repeated question, Aisha looked around and lowered her voice.

“They’re not bad people, but still…. you have to be careful.”

“Why? Because they’re our seniors?”

“Ah, they are seniors, but that’s not the only reason. Because those people…. are students who attend the academy through family connections. Children of employees currently working at Lumina Group, ‘purebloods,’ so to speak. They’re not scholarship students like us who came in by taking an external exam.”

The girl pointed in the direction the group of female students had left and added.

“And that girl just now, she’s supposedly the second daughter of a General Manager at Lumina Holdings, the Lumina Group’s headquarters. I heard she’s a real powerhouse in the year above us. If you say one wrong word to someone like that and get on their bad side, it’s dangerous.”

At those words, I gained some understanding of the internal structure of this academy.

A place where the status of the parents’ company directly translated to the children’s hierarchy.

There were similar cases in the world I originally lived in, but here it seemed much more taken for granted and blatant.

However, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

There was something a little strange about what Aisha had just said.

Just as I was about to ask her about it, the girl let out a deep sigh.

“Still, that’s a relief… It seemed like that older girl liked you, Eve. Well, it’s impossible to dislike such a pretty person at first sight, though….”

“…..”

I was momentarily stunned by her murmuring voice.

‘What kind of embarrassing thing is she saying so nonchalantly, right in front of me.’

But oblivious to my expression, Aisha whispered again, as if giving an incredibly secret warning.

“And Eve, the thing you need to be most careful about in this academy… is the special class.”

“Special class?”

“Yes, their numbers are very small, but most of them are children of executives. If you happen to encounter them, never, ever be rude. Understood? Absolutely never….!”

From that story, I was once again convinced that something was off.

Come to think of it, it was true.

The facilities Aisha had introduced were clean and luxurious, as befitting an academy established by a corporation, but they were also practical.

There was none of the ‘social club’ atmosphere I had imagined.

And Aisha’s extreme caution towards the daughter of a General Manager from Lumina Group’s headquarters, a position comparable to a department head…

‘This situation is definitely something….’

Just then, as if breaking my thoughts, an announcement bell rang in the corridor.

Ding dong daeng-!

Aisha, startled, said in a flustered voice.

“Ah, it’s already this late! We’ll be late for class! Eve, hurry and follow me!”

And just like that, while I was still processing, the girl grabbed my hand and led me into a classroom.

The interior was a bit peculiar for what I knew as a classroom.

Instead of desks, there were dozens of electronic chairs arranged, reclining like massage chairs.

Students were already seated in each spot.

As soon as we entered, their gazes all turned towards us.

“…..”

“……”

Gazes mixed with curiosity and interest in the unfamiliar person.

Aisha and I walked through those stares and sat down side-by-side in empty seats.

‘Somehow… I’m getting a lot of attention.’

Fortunately, or perhaps not, before any commotion could erupt, an adult who appeared to be a teacher entered the classroom right away.

He placed some materials on a computer-like terminal set up in the middle of the classroom and said in a businesslike voice.

“Alright, Year 1 Class C, we will now begin the 17th session. Everyone, please connect to the learning synchronizer and insert the class material data chip.”

As soon as the teacher’s voice finished, the mechanical chairs the students were sitting in vibrated.

Then, the armrest part opened, and a small chip rose up.

From the headrest, a terminal shaped like a charging cable popped out with a click.

“…….”

While I was inwardly flustered by these unfamiliar objects, Aisha in the next seat was already expertly pulling out the cable.

Then, suddenly noticing my predicament, she asked.

“Eve, if you don’t know how to use the learning device, shall I help you a little?”

“Ah, well….”

“First, insert this class material data chip into the calculation assistance implant in your head….. Huh? Oh, dear? The port…?”

It was at that moment, as Aisha craned her neck, examining various spots on the back of my neck with a puzzled expression.

The classroom door, where class preparations were in full swing, opened again.

“The student who just came in will be marked late….. Ac-Academy Director?!”

The teacher’s somewhat nonchalant voice instantly flipped.

As soon as he saw the face of the person entering, he was startled and stood up straight in a respectful posture.

“What brings you here….”

However, the balding middle-aged man didn’t even acknowledge the greeting and just hurriedly looked around the classroom.

Then, his eyes met mine, and he widened them, striding towards me.

And then, in a very cautious tone, he bowed his head to me and spoke.

“You were here, Young Lady. First, I must offer my deepest apologies. I am terribly sorry for not providing proper hospitality. Please, I beg your forgiveness.”

Looking closely, beads of sweat were forming on his balding head.

The man, who had bowed his head deeply, continued speaking without a moment’s pause to catch his breath.

“Ah, and I apologize for the late introduction. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Young Lady. I am Gideon Blackwood, undeservingly serving as the director of Lumina Academy. Would you please grant me the honor of properly introducing you to the Chairman’s academy, even now?”

When he finished speaking, a deathly silence filled the classroom.

“…..”

“……..”

In particular, Aisha, sitting right next to me, her complexion had turned deathly pale, like a corpse.

In that silence where everyone held their breath.

The sound of the girl’s hiccup, which she could no longer hold back, burst out exceptionally loudly.

“Hic-!”