episode_0283

As long as aether, aether engineering, aetherium, and the rare resources flowing from dungeons were closely intertwined with industry as a whole, educational institutions could not be free from the realities of the adult world.

The most cynical critics scoffed, calling awakened academies nothing more than places where young awakened individuals could strut before ordinary people and obtain qualifications to head to less dangerous battlefields.

However, it was unreasonable to dismiss awakened academies as mere diploma printing presses.

After all, these were like melting pots where the most belligerent and proactive members of humanity, or those who would soon transform into such, gathered.

Furthermore, in Trist, where awakened individuals held humanity’s wealth and power, the role of academies became even more intricate. Academies were social clubs for the elite and gateways to entering the new upper echelons.

Within them lay the labyrinth of politics, and even students could not escape this complex political maelstrom.

Starting with duels against fellow students, they had to confront their family’s burdens, learning the art of politics alongside their studies and figuring out how to personally resolve these issues.

On the stage of politics, a feast of blood always follows.

This was precisely why, at dawn the day after Aegis Academy’s midterm exams concluded, Irene Solstis was swinging her sword within a dimly lit dungeon.

Even after several purges, Helios’ internal politics remained quite brutal.

“The idea of ambushing the academy to target my neck was the worst possible choice.”

-Snap!

On the hill where gunshots echoed, as the fallen enemy writhed beneath her feet, the spearhead plunged into flesh.

Sword energy and magic power clashed, sending sparks flying, but the moment the barrier, unable to withstand the sword energy’s might, tore apart, a golden spear pierced through a chest.

“The Special Operations Department immediately detected suspicious movements. The academy and the board of directors quickly grasped the situation. The Principal-nim and the student council president were appalled, and the families and clans belonging to the academy’s board ordered me to thoroughly punish the ‘ruffians who trespassed with muddy shoes.’”

The enemy, who appeared to be the leader, crawled towards his sword, groaning, with a broken leg.

One of Helios’ executives, someone who had been expelled for a violent incident.

“You damn bitch…”

Irene kicked the sword away with her foot and replied coldly.

“You should have ambushed me when I came to the Central Region. It was clever to entice our rival clans, but that’s as far as it goes. You’ve essentially signed your own death warrants.”

Although it caused inconvenience for the academy, the hunt became much easier. Their location was pinpointed quickly.

Even without the ambush, no one would have listened to these defeated remnants in the first place.

In fact, it was even more so because they inconvenienced even unrelated third parties.

Another one of the incompetent, disgruntled factions within Helios, claiming to be the ‘Pro-Rigel faction’ and having lost their interests, disappeared.

They had gathered several miscellaneous clans and played tricks, baiting them with interests, but it was all in vain.

The combat power gap between elite hunters and cheap mercenaries was simply too vast.

“Manager Morgan, Area A-9 has been completely cleared. What’s the situation in A-14?”

The Special Operations Department member, who was leisurely sipping from a cup full of ice nearby—Radio Violet—hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“The sweep is progressing smoothly, but the resistance is formidable! This seems to be their main base—”

“We’ll move immediately… Let’s go.”

At Irene’s command, as she sprinted over the hill, the team members silently followed.

“Irene! Again, I’m telling you, this radio, this Special Operations Department guy, is really useful. Laser communication aside, it’s much better than expensive, magic-only telepathic communicators or quantum communication arrays.”

Radio Violet chattered on incessantly. Soon after, Manager Viktor’s voice boomed.

“Archeological Excavation Department, cut the chatter! Irene, Area A-5 is also cleared. There are only pathetic mercenary remnants here. I’ll join you soon!”

As soon as she agilely cleared the third hill, Irene encountered a shabby armed force encamped in a small forest.

Upon seeing her, Morgan wiped the sweat trickling down his tanned skin and shouted.

“They’re here, over there! It seems all the remnants of the Rigel faction that escaped before were hiding here.”

“Proceeding with immediate entry.”

With covering fire behind her, Irene led the charge with her team members. She lightly deflected small-caliber bullets and batted away arrows and bolts imbued with magic. A large-caliber bullet struck her chest once, but it crumpled and bounced off.

“They’re coming! They’re coming! Shoot!”

The man who appeared to be the enemy leader yelled until his throat was raw.

A pathetic piece of trash who claimed to be part of the Rigel faction. After being caught embezzling public funds, he fled and hid, only to then conspire an assassination.

Just before the assault, in the fleeting moment when the enemy’s eyes were clearly visible, a smile spread across the yelling man’s lips.

The moment she tried to grasp its meaning, the cleverly hidden camouflage on the flank was pulled away.

Just before it fired, Irene discerned its true nature.

A large-caliber field artillery piece from the Great War era.

“You fell for it! Irene! Die!”

As flames erupted from right in front of her and intensely bursting golden magic enveloped her body, Irene gripped her spear without hesitation and swung it.

With a metallic clang, she almost lost her grip on the spear from the violent impact, but the shell struck the shaft she swung, flew off, and exploded beyond the hill.

“…Huh? What?”

Facing the dumbfounded enemies, Irene thought nothing of it.

‘If I had taken that head-on, I would’ve had to submit an absence request.’

It might have been different in the past, but for her, who had grown enough to astonish even the scholarship examiner, clumsy artillery shells were not very threatening.

Once their last resort was neutralized, the bewildered enemies were quickly subdued by Helios’ strike team.

The last man from the Rigel faction, caught in Morgan’s powerful grip, thrashed wildly.

“Damn it! You people are insane! Rigel would have been better—”

The Helios team members standing nearby snorted with laughter.

From their perspective, having witnessed not only the resolution of financial deficits through various investments starting with Cascadia, but also money gushing forth from every project they recently touched, the man’s wails were nothing but an embezzler’s excuse.

“Oh, so the bastard who claims to be for Helios drags in other clans?”

“So how do you explain squandering our salaries?”

Taunts and a barrage of blows.

As the kicking continued, Morgan raised a hand to stop them.

“This loser has a lot to say… So, are you going to do it yourself?”

Morgan turned his head. Irene, approaching, nodded and raised her spear shaft. The man’s face twisted in terror.

“Aaaargh! Damn it! Open your eyes wide! See the truth! That girl you all love following! She’s the bitch who shoved her own father’s head into a robot to snatch the clan chairman’s position—”

A head rolled on the ground. A sneer formed on Morgan’s lips.

“The truth is, our clan is thriving. Don’t pay too much attention to what that bastard said afterwards.”

While the team members tidied up casually, as if they were on a picnic, Irene sighed.

Thanks to them revealing themselves like this, she could finally finish cleaning up the other trash that had been operating secretly within Helios.

Now she could fully concentrate on company matters.

‘I’m tired…’

Managing school life and company business simultaneously was certainly a challenging task, even for her, renowned as an honor student.

Most tasks were handled remotely, but for important matters, she still had to return to headquarters in person, still learning the ropes.

Even for her personal pride, she couldn’t give up on her studies.

The pinnacle of the top academic ranks would always be held by her lively friend who loved bombs, but to even maintain a spot just below that, she had to work diligently.

Still, Irene decided she needed to take it easy for a while.

First, she’d start with a sweet drink at the cafe.

“How was the exam? You seem to have been busy moving around lately.”

At noon at the academy, after finishing work, while Irene sipped her coffee, Violet confidently answered Daphne’s question among their gathered friends.

“Yep! I think I did well!”

Hearing her say she did well, it must undoubtedly be a perfect score.

A slight smile spread across Irene’s lips. Lucian would be furious again.

She had seen him train and study diligently, yet nothing was more unfortunate than the effort to overcome an insurmountable wall.

“Did well? You probably cheated again. Honestly, in my opinion, that’s not studying.”

“No, Kalia! You should call this big data learning!”

“Sigh…”

Yes, this lighthearted bickering atmosphere. Good.

For her, who stood halfway between school and clan, these brief moments of daily leisure were precious.

“Oh, right. Irene! Buy me something to celebrate the end of exams!”

“Violet! What are you suddenly talking about?”

Was it due to the scent of approaching spring in March, or the warmth of everyday life now far removed from the smell of blood?

Feeling much better, Irene generously decided to grant her friend’s request.

“Daphne, it’s fine. Violet has done so much for me. So, what do you want?”

“Just buy me a plane for the Special Operations Department! A fixed-wing aircraft! A jet fighter!”

A deep smile carved into Irene’s face.

Right, all profits have turned to black lately, so there’s nothing she can’t do.

“Is it for suicide attacks?”

For a moment, a reluctant expression flashed across Daphne and Kalia’s faces, but Violet glanced around before answering.

“Probably!”

Irene, still with a bright expression, laughed and replied.

“No.”

Violet’s face, which had been brimming with anticipation, instantly fell.

**

Fortunately, Irene didn’t object to her words on ethical grounds.

“It’s expensive.”

“Oh? Hey, it feels like another important reason is missing…”

“You all secretly admit it, don’t you? That suicide attacks are a rational choice for Violet. It’s best to let go of your aversion.”

Irene smiled gently and pulled a tablet from her pocket.

As the screen changed, a list of names with red checkmarks appeared.

“Uh, those are…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I haven’t sent them yet, but I’ll process them soon. Just wait a bit…. Here.”

What appeared on the tablet was a catalog, a never-before-seen website selling vehicles and planes like a used car company.

Number 3611’s eyes widened.

“Whoa… I’ve never seen anything like this before…”

“The conversation suddenly turned to work.”

“Wow, they sell all of this?”

As her friends stared with surprised eyes, the screen changed.

“It has to be. This is a platform only clans can access. Individuals wouldn’t be given an access code.”

She manipulated the screen to show the aircraft section.

“Planes are more expensive than vehicles. Even helicopters are considerable, but jet fighters? As you can see, the scale of the numbers is different.”

At the tip of her pointing white finger, credits easily surpassing at least nine to ten digits were listed.

“I don’t know what you plan to use it for, but I’m against using an expensive fighter jet as a consumable.”

“Hmph…”

“How about this instead?”

On the clan vehicle platform screen, countless types of fighter jets were listed.

A white finger tapped and clicked one, and a picture popped up.

There were some somewhat dull-looking propeller biplanes.

“I’ve had my eye on this for a while. It’s for you. What do you think?”

I was a little disappointed. A toy that looked like it belonged in the Great War era.

“It’s an old fighter jet!”

Irene looked at my face and calmly explained. It was somehow like an aunt looking at her niece.

“Instead, it can carry 500 kilograms of bombs and fly at a maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour. And since it’s more than half a century old, the price is very cheap.”

Looking at the price, it was incomparably cheaper than the jet fighters seen earlier. I thought that if it was for one-time use, something like this might actually be better.

Irene showed another plane. This time, a biplane.

“How about a transport plane? It can carry a maximum of 12 passengers, or 5 tons of cargo…”

I chanted the cargo capacity as if possessed.

“Five tons?”

Irene wore a slightly dazed expression before the corners of her mouth lifted.

“Yes, 5 tons of cargo.”

Kalia let out a sigh, her expression ambiguous as if unsure whether to laugh or not.

“…You’re fixated on something strange again. You’re not going to crash it into a building, are you?”

“No! I’m going to use it against bad magical beasts.”

“Then that’s good…”

Irene immediately concluded the sales contract on the spot.

“For now, I’ll order three fighter jets and two transport planes as a test.”

“Is that okay?”

Looking at it this way, money was leaking like water. I felt even more apologetic for asking so thoughtlessly.

“Since we have seized assets, reallocating some of the budget to the Special Operations Department won’t be a big problem. Coincidentally, a few of the investments the scholarship examiner told me about are doing well too.”

Daphne and I spoke without thinking.

“Seized assets? I feel like I just heard something scary.”

“Why the scholarship examiner?”

Irene paused for a moment, then looked at them with an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry, was I talking too much about business? Then…”

The topic of conversation quickly shifted. Exams, the academy, and what to do to relax.

From now on, I should only talk about academy matters at the academy…

One Violet muttered weakly. It didn’t feel like an academy when they only talked about serious things.

As she got up to leave, a text message arrived.

What is this?

The message was from Irene,

[I don’t know what you’ll use it for, but use it carefully.]

A second message arrived, and with it, a picture of the fusion ship they had captured.

[Rumors are spreading widely in the sea these days. Madam President of Dunhind Security Service.]

As soon as I saw the smartphone screen, I was startled and turned my head. Irene looked at me calmly.

“Violet, did you forget something?”

The text message vibrated again.

“Oh, it seems like a call came in. It’s not my business, so don’t worry about it.”

[Whatever you do at sea, I trust you, but don’t cause too much trouble. (´∪`)]

“Uh…”

Her friend suddenly became a little scary. To think they had become so famous.

Surely, the scholarship examiner wouldn’t know too, right?

**

While still in the excited mood after finishing the academy exams and idly chatting, a few days later, another “I” traveled for business.

As we exited the central high-speed rail station in the Western District, a cloudy sky greeted us. The March air was still chilly, but our bodies, accustomed to the warm interior of the high-speed train, felt the difference even more acutely.

As we headed to the location designated by the university, I took in the unfamiliar scenery.

“It’s our first time receiving a commission request from a university. And from a prestigious one like Eckhart, no less…”

Manager Leslie’s voice held a hint of tension.

The manager was right. Usually, places like universities commission renowned clans, they don’t comb through anonymous networks to find people like them.

Anyway, Eckhart University. This was the second time encountering it directly. Since it was a new term, not even in the settings, I repeated it several times to myself.

What could it be, I wondered, lost in thought, a mix of curiosity and slight apprehension.

Upon arriving at the designated location, a man who appeared to be the university’s representative was waiting for them.

A man in a suit, wearing sunglasses with a serious expression.

The moment I saw the familiar, plump-faced men standing beside him, I immediately intuited the nature of this request.

“They’re here, aren’t they? I was right, wasn’t I? Those are them! Dunhind Security Service!”

“A graduate student. From that pirate ship incident. Has another graduate student been kidnapped? Is that why you called us?”

As the voice changer whirred, the graduate student shook his head.

“No! We weren’t kidnapped, and you’ve probably seen these people before. The situation is…”

“Then who is it?”

Instead of the stuttering graduate student, the man in the suit replied by handing over some documents.

“This person, isn’t she that professor?”

In the photo was the white-haired female professor she had seen a few weeks ago.

“The students were right, that you have met her before. Bernike Brodman, a tenured professor at our university. Her specialty is cognitive neuroscience and aether brain science.”

“A pirate?”

At my blunt question, the man in the suit sighed deeply and adjusted his sunglasses.

“Worse than that. Though it’s just a conjecture.”

The man pulled up a map on his phone and pointed to the south, far from the Lustrum Archipelago.

An image appeared: a pirate base in the Green Zone’s waters.

“An anti-clan warlord. The professor is presumed to have been kidnapped and taken here.”

In one corner, the Federation’s symbol was visible.

“That’s the navy, isn’t it?”

“That’s right, they’re pirates but also part of the navy. There’s an important project. We need to get her out quickly.”

I frowned. For a request, the scale was too large.

This kind of job shouldn’t be handled cheaply.

“What’s the price?”

The man in the suit spoke confidently.

“The knowledge of our university.”

Dumbfounded, I was speechless. What did he just say he’d give?

“You seem surprised. Although your clan may not be well-known, we can provide you with sufficient…”

I retorted.

“Are you kidding me?”

The man took off his sunglasses, his expression bewildered.

“W-What are you talking about? Now…”

To suddenly talk about ‘knowledge,’ he must be a swindler.

“Shut up and give me money!”

These guys, they think they can mess with us and slash the price already. If they try any tricks, they’ll taste my blade.