I Became the Academy’s Female Delinquent Chapter 28. The Darkness of the City (1)

Somewhere in Glitnir, the massive city of Midgard.

In a deserted alleyway, a man in a grayish-white robe was anxiously stroking his beard.

“Hrókr, why hasn’t that guy returned yet?”

He had issued the disposal order with a signal the previous evening, but there was no news even as the day dawned.

“That idiot isn’t still playing with her, is he?”

If it was that troublesome lecher, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

If he was still missing because he was indulging his sadistic tendencies, captivated by Elsie’s beauty…

“I’ll dispose of you right away, Hrókr!”

Manipulating Elsie’s death was a race against time.

There was no reason to keep someone alive who would ruin this important task.

Due to the initial clumsy attempt at poisoning, there was a high probability that information had leaked about Elsie’s transfer to Midgard.

If that happened, even if the head of the family didn’t notice, the heir would sense something was amiss and start to move.

“If the heir gets involved, things will get complicated.”

Growing impatient, the man left the alleyway and disappeared.

***

“Look, an academy student.”

“Such a doll-like child~”

“Oh my, she’s wearing her uniform on a holiday? How diligent.”

As Elsie walked down the street, she trembled, overhearing the chatter of the passing middle-aged women.

She wanted to retort that it was only because her spare clothes were her uniform.

“I, I didn’t think I’d attract this much attention…”

“Well, there’s no other student dressed like you on a designated holiday.”

Elsie tugged at her blouse sleeve and lowered her head.

Thrud, dressed in casual clothes, chuckled and patted Elsie’s back.

“I told you that you’d need casual clothes, didn’t I? You naive simpleton.”

Elsie looked up at Thrud with slightly resentful eyes.

Thrud, wearing a zip-up hoodie with a rabbit drawing, looked uncharacteristically cheerful.

Elsie lowered her head again.

Despite Han Doyun’s cooperation and her own efforts, she couldn’t stop Thrud.

Anyway, it was true that she needed clothes to live.

That’s how Elsie had been reasoning with herself to get to this point.

‘That’s right, I can’t just keep running away. I have to face reality.’

…

And before long, Elsie realized the harshness of reality and knelt down.

“Ugh…”

How much time had passed?

Elsie was feeling so mentally exhausted that she felt it was better when Brísingamen was sucking up massive amounts of energy.

“Elsie, what are you doing? Come here so I can measure your size.”

“Ah, you already did that!”

“That was at a different store, wasn’t it? And this time it’s your foot size.”

She didn’t know the details of every nook and cranny of her body would be exposed, surrounded by women, was torture.

“You can’t just wear flats all the time, can you? You need a few pairs of shoes.”

“I know, but can’t we go a little slower…? Like, enjoy the scenery and take it easy…”

“There’s so much to buy! It feels like only two hours have passed, so bear with it a little longer.”

“T-Two hours? You mean there’s still more…?”

Elsie staggered and stood up.

Changing into so many clothes as if she were a dress-up doll, and it’s only been two hours?

At some point, she couldn’t even complain about the clothes she was wearing.

What she was wearing and what she was buying gradually became hazy.

Eventually, Elsie, unable to endure Thrud’s obsessive clothing assault, instinctively ran out of the store.

“I don’t want to anymore-!”

“Elsie! Stop right there! I’ll just buy shoes and let you rest!!”

The chase began, with Elsie sprinting down the street and Thrud chasing after her.

“Elsie-!! But everything we bought today is being delivered, so you don’t have to carry anything, which is great!”

“That’s not the point?! How many more hours are you planning to do this for!”

“Just two more hours! No, three hours?”

“I don’t want to-!!”

The attention of the crowd on the street began to focus on the chase between the two girls.

It was the moment when Elsie’s ability, with the best reaction speed in the Aesir Saga, was demonstrated.

In an instant, only an afterimage remained as Elsie disappeared into the alleyway.

It was an acceleration that she might have missed if she wasn’t careful.

Thrud quickly leaped onto the roof of the store building and chased after Elsie.

“Alleys are dangerous! Bad people will come out and grab you!”

“You’re the most dangerous one to me right now!”

Elsie was horrified at the sight of Thrud quickly dropping into the alleyway and catching up.

As it was a massive commercial district in a giant city, it was true that the alleyways were dangerous.

That’s why Thrud chased after Elsie even more desperately.

“I’m telling you, a bad man will grab you if you keep going like that-!”

*Crash!*

As Elsie dodged obstacles and ran away, Thrud plowed through them as she followed her.

“Eek-”

Feeling the aspect of the strong Valkyrie Thrud, Elsie ran, her face pale with the pressure of being chased.

Without knowing where she was heading.

***

Doyun felt a subtle sense of guilt and washed his face with his hands.

He couldn’t stop Thrud from taking Elsie shopping, so he had no choice but to return home.

The image of Elsie looking at him and screaming in despair.

His conscience pricked him for some reason, but he had a scheduled task, so there was no way around it.

“It’s better this way.”

It was a job he had received from the mercenary guild after a long time.

At some point, it had become a hobby he did for training, but this time, the timing was good.

‘I’ll shake off the distracting thoughts in my head with this!’

Due to the dizzying experiences he had recently, his head was full of lewd fantasies.

Even though he had devoted almost his entire life to just three swords, he was still a vigorous man in his prime.

Recently, the stimulation had been excessive in many ways.

‘To fall asleep in the same room with those girls in that state…’

It was a situation that anyone would misunderstand if he told them, so Doyun shook his head and tried to erase the memory.

But there was one person he couldn’t completely erase. Silver hair and blue eyes flickered in his mind.

“Damn it, if those two find out, they’ll try to kill me.”

He sighed, thinking of his close friends, the spearman Jaime and the hammer-wielding Pajolt, and summoned his sword.

“Balmung!”

*Whoosh!*

In the middle of the dark alleyway, an impressive treasure sword appeared.

The job he received from the mercenary guild.

It was to dismantle an organized gang of delinquents that had recently appeared in the commercial district and capture their leaders.

As it was a very large city, there were countless crimes hidden in the shadows of the city.

No matter how much a being who was once the god of law and order managed the city, it was impossible to eradicate it.

“It’s troublesome if they’re not nipped in the bud right away.”

The gathering place of the organization, as informed by the mercenary guild’s informant, was ahead.

Doyun, having steeled his resolve, moved.

This world is not safe.

Outside, there were the monsters constantly overflowing from the abyss of Ginnungagap.

Inside, there were conflicts between people and countless crimes. War and plunder.

Doyun slowly closed his eyes.

His father, who had gone to war to stop the overflowing monsters and never returned.

His mother, who had died protecting him from robbers.

The memories of his family, whom he had lost when he was too young, had faded with time.

But he had never forgotten them for a single moment.

The reason he first took up the sword was not simply because his father’s sword had been inherited arbitrarily.

It was a naive ambition from his childhood, hoping that no one else would suffer the same misfortune.

He knew that it was no longer a problem he could solve alone, but he still wanted to contribute to the peace of the city, even if only through this kind of work.

Doyun slowly opened his eyes and began his assault.

***

After continuing to run away, Elsie realized a fact she had overlooked.

“Hah, haah-! I, I’m lacking stamina…”

She was at a disadvantage in a prolonged battle.

No matter how much she enhanced her physical abilities by using her internal energy, Elsie’s basic stamina, having grown up as a noblewoman her whole life, wouldn’t get stronger.

On the other hand, Thrud didn’t even need to go as far as the Aesir Saga.

Considering the myths, her lineage alone was extraordinary as the daughter of Thor, the god of strength.

“T-That’s cheating!”

“Elsie-!”

Thrud was running, breaking through a pile of boxes.

She looked like she would break through the wall and run if there was a wall blocking her.

Elsie, horrified, turned the corner in a panic.

“Ouch!”

She was looking back at Thrud, so she didn’t see the person standing there as soon as she turned the corner.

Elsie, who had bumped into someone, was knocked back and fell.

Thud!

“What’s this?”

It seemed that Elsie’s slender physique had no physical impact at all.

A large man with a menacing expression, who had been standing at the corner, looked down at Elsie.

Elsie, who was patting her sore butt, looked up and apologized.

“I’m sorry…”

Whistles were heard from here and there at the sight of Elsie apologizing sheepishly.

“Elsie! I got you!”

“Eek-!”

In that gap, Thrud, who had run up, smiled brightly and hugged her, but Elsie struggled in horror, but it was no use.

“Okay! I won’t drag you around forcefully, so let’s take it easy… But who are these guys?”

Thrud tilted her head and looked around.

About six menacing men were giving her and Elsie unpleasant looks.

“Are they academy students? Not bad!”

“Gold coins are rolling in on their own.”

“…Academy students are in high demand.”

The situation was turning sour.

“Elsie, you keep running away, and now you’ve gotten caught by strange men.”

“Why, why? Are these guys robbers?”

Menacing figures in a dimly lit, deserted alleyway.

Upon closer inspection, gruesome knife scars were visible here and there.

Elsie’s eyes sparkled as she sensed the situation taking an interesting turn due to the unexpected issue.

“Looks like it. This is going to be a pain…”

“What are you two whispering about!”

Thrud and Elsie, who had been sitting down, flinched and looked up at the sudden shout.

The menacing men, assuming they were frightened, began to chuckle.

“Good. Let’s take these girls.”

“With two beauties like this, the boss will be pleased.”

“What did you just s- Ugh!”

As the men whispered amongst themselves, Thrud, enraged, was about to say something, but Elsie, who was in her arms, reached out and stopped her.

“What’s wrong?!”

“It looks like it’ll be fun, so let’s watch a little longer.”

“You’re not a child! What’s so fun about this…”

“These brats keep talking and causing a ruckus!”

As Elsie and Thrud whispered again, one of the men roughly grabbed Thrud’s wrist and pulled her up.

*Whack!*

“T-This girl is incredibly tall!”

Thrud’s cold gaze bore down on him.

The man, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine, unconsciously took a step back.

“Even better, she’s pretty, so there will be high demand from wealthy giants.”

*Grind-!*

Thrud was about to explode at the unbearable, insulting remark.

However, when Elsie grabbed her hand for the first time to stop her, she was startled and looked down at Elsie with wide eyes.

“Elsie…”

Elsie recoiled, disgusted by Thrud’s unsettling expression as she looked down at her with seemingly moved eyes.

‘Still, what these guys are saying doesn’t sound like ordinary thugs…’

Could this be the darkness of society that she was encountering for the first time in this world?

Elsie’s body began to tingle.

If the opponents were villains like these, she could rampage as much as she wanted.

And-

‘I won’t have to suffer from buying clothes…’

There was also a very trivial reason, just a teaspoonful.

And so, Elsie and Thrud’s figures disappeared into the darkness of the deep alleyway.