Ch.198Chapter 8. The Syndicate Is Everywhere (4)

May is Family Month.

Children’s Day, Parents’ Day, and Teachers’ Day are all important and special days that provide students with “days to rest.”

“Thank you! Teacher Sofa!”

“Thank you, Buddha! But why did you come on Sunday this time?”

“Honestly, both Parents’ Day and Teachers’ Day should be holidays. Agree?”

ㄴ”Why is only Children’s Day a public holiday! Parents and teachers deserve days off too!!”

ㄴ”Just say you want a day off!”

ㄴ”Aaagh I wish money would be deposited into my account regularly without having to work!!”

Anyway, May has more days off compared to other months.

Following traditional educational policies, the Academy has prepared various events for May.

The most representative example of such events would be the sports festival held in May.

What image comes to mind when thinking of a sports festival?

An event where parents spread mats in the back, laying out chicken and pizza they brought to eat?

An event where children compete to see who runs the fastest and get stamps on the backs of their hands?

An event where recreation specialists from somewhere bombard the blue team and white team with cheer points using retreat camp meta?

While that might be the case for regular schools, Sejong Academy’s sports festival has a distinctly different feel.

“Huh? Sports festival? Isn’t that just ability users establishing a pecking order?”

“Instead of dividing into blue and white teams, isn’t it just a competition where I win?”

“Sports festival? What sports festival? It’s just Sejong’s martial arts tournament.”

That’s right.

“Who holds a sports festival with ability users? The real deal is ability users fighting each other.”

“Well, the higher-ups called it a sports festival. What else would you call it? Would calling it a ‘hierarchy battle’ count as ‘education’?”

“Right? Hmm, Sejong Island is a place of education! We can’t officially rank students from first to last. Officially. Hehe.”

“But I’m going to be first in the sports festival.”

“Sure, you can be first in B-class. I’ll fight the A-class and join the A-class power pool~”

Though it’s called a sports festival, it’s essentially a hierarchy battle to determine who’s strongest based on the abilities honed during March and April.

Who is the strongest in C-class?

Who among the B-class can challenge and defeat someone from A-class?

E-class competes against E-class to establish rankings, and the upper E-class group competes against the lower D-class group, with winners being promoted to D-class.

Thus, it’s an important competition where, depending on circumstances, someone from E-class could rapidly rise to be evaluated as C-class through dramatic growth.

Everyone had been waiting for May, when all students could officially raise their comprehensive combat power evaluation.

“This year’s sports festival has been postponed.”

“What… did you say…”

The sports festival was originally scheduled for May 4th.

Since May 5th, Children’s Day, is a public holiday, the sports festival was usually held on May 4th so students could give their all and then rest well on May 5th.

“Well, postponement is normal.”

“After the chaos Dueoksini caused, how could they hold a sports festival? The principal would be criticized and dismissed immediately.”

“The Sephiroth Knights or whatever are returning Zenros after kidnapping him on May 3rd, so having a sports festival the next day would be inappropriate.”

However, due to the Dueoksini incident and the Sephiroth Knights releasing Zenros and the hero agents on May 3rd, the sports festival was postponed.

May 14th.

“That’s reasonable.”

“They can’t cancel the sports festival. I’ve been preparing since last winter to ‘prove’ myself.”

With the event postponed by about ten days, Academy students were accelerating their preparations for the sports festival to change the atmosphere across the Academy and Sejong Island.

To prove their abilities.

To prove they are the true heroes of this era, at a time when both strong combat power and strong will have become necessary after the Dueoksini incident.

“I’ll be the issue-maker of this sports festival!!”

To prove they are the protagonists, everyone is accelerating their ability research and training.

Then a rumor began to circulate, catching everyone’s attention.

“I heard two S-class from Japan will be staying on Sejong Island for a month?”

Japan’s S-class.

Hayabusa and Nadeshiko.

“That overlaps with the sports festival period? Maybe?”

“They might come as guests, right? Like, sitting next to the principal, watching and asking, ‘Who is that person?'”

“You’re really getting ahead of yourself.”

The appearance of these two beautiful girls who make hearts flutter has ignited passion in many men’s hearts.

“Still!”

“If I marry Nadeshiko, I’ll live in Japan!”

“They say being with an S-class is good for your body, but there’s no appropriate way to say it. Hehehe.”

“Even abalone and clams would be irresistible if they were S-class. They’d be so chewy~”

If things go well.

An international hero marriage might be possible!

“But aren’t relations with Japan a bit strained right now?”

“Yeah. Things are really tense because Susanoo caused trouble.”

“Ah, about that.”

Just then.

[I, I…!! Uwaaaaaaah!]

[I finally, finally became a hero! My friend ended up like that, and I couldn’t do anything…!]

[How hard I’ve worked to change this world, huaaaaaaah!!]

[I’m sorryyyyyy!!]

Since the person responsible for the incident apologized so dramatically that everyone couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly, people just chuckled.

“Somehow getting angry about this seems petty now.”

“There were no casualties, and everyone returned safely in the end.”

“Now that we’ve seen Susanoo get punished once, I don’t really care anymore~”

An incident that could have caused tensions between Korea and Japan was somewhat resolved by the perpetrator wailing at a press conference.

“Bah, Susanoo isn’t important! What matters is ‘patriotism’ with 17-year-old high school girl Hayabusa and Japan’s most beautiful woman Nadeshiko!”

“How is it patriotism with Japanese people?”

“Then ‘world peace’!!”

Now, all that remains is to win the favor of the two S-class beauties.

“Aaaah! I want to have a romantic getaway with S-class beauties on Ulleungdo!!”

“Don’t say it out loud, you idiot!”

“…Could you phrase that more delicately?”

“Aaaah! I want to contribute to world peace together with two S-class beauties!!”

“Well done.”

And so, the men of Sejong Island are developing their abilities at full power to appeal with their “kimchi premium.”

“Let’s go for the meat in the soup!!”

“What is this madman saying?”

Desperately hoping.

For a chance at a relationship with an S-class beauty.

Naturally.

Students began to hope for such opportunities to be created.

“What is the student council doing?”

Everyone began pressuring the student council, which should represent all students’ desires.

“If you don’t invite Hayabusa and Nadeshiko as guests to the sports festival, we won’t let it slide!”

Along with frenzied threats.

* * *

“Everyone seems obsessed with women.”

“…Didn’t you come to borrow books?”

“Today I came to hide for a bit.”

Working as a librarian, I couldn’t help but be surprised when Yoon Yi-seon suddenly barged behind the checkout desk.

“Why are you hiding there?”

“Because there’s nowhere else to hide.”

Yoon Yi-seon is currently hiding under my desk.

“Nobody comes here anyway.”

“That’s harsh. People do come to borrow books.”

“How many per hour?”

“…One or two do come.”

“That’s fine then. Signal me when someone comes. I’ll keep quiet.”

She squeezed herself between my legs and hid, not even making eye contact.

“Where’s your Taeguk Watch?”

“In my room.”

“Is a student allowed to go around without their Taeguk Watch?”

“Before being a student, before being the student council president, even I want time to myself sometimes.”

Yoon Yi-seon started muttering and generating some magical energy under me.

“Everyone I meet keeps asking about Hayabusa and Nadeshiko being special guests at the sports festival, and the boys are threatening to impeach me as student council president if I don’t invite them. It’s so annoying.”

“They’re all crossing the line. Ah, someone’s coming.”

I tapped my foot lightly and adjusted my posture.

“I’d like to check this out, please.”

“All done.”

“Oh, and I have a question.”

A bespectacled male student looked me up and down briefly, hesitated for a moment, then clenched his fist and asked:

“Where do you get your hair styled?”

“I do it myself at home.”

“What products do you use?”

“Just a hairdryer…”

“…I see. Thank you.”

The male student left with the book, looking somewhat dejected.

Looking at the titles of the books he checked out, they were all about health, physique, and body management.

There’s a saying that “a healthy mind dwells in a healthy body.”

But considering the fundamental reason why that student borrowed those books, I can’t help but think it’s somewhat impure.

“What books did he borrow?”

“Secrets of Body Management. How to Build Muscle. Things like that.”

“All to impress Hayabusa and Nadeshiko, right?”

“Probably.”

With S-class visitors coming, men have started paying more attention to their appearance.

They were taking care of themselves before, but now they’re even more focused on self-management, trying to appeal as males.

“If they catch the eye of either one, they might leave this country for the neighboring one.”

“Wouldn’t they be criticized for leaving the country over something like that?”

“If a foreign S-class wants to marry them and take them away, any criticism would just be out of jealousy, right? Adults would actually be happy. Spreading our Korean seed widely abroad.”

“…There really are people who would be happy about that, so I can’t easily comment.”

A Korean C-class impregnated a foreign S-class?

Nationalist TV would immediately be flooded with the issue, and the whole world would be turned upside down.

“Teacher?”

“What.”

“Um, do you have something in your pocket?”

“No.”

“……”

Yoon Yi-seon was silent for a moment.

“Teacher.”

After a brief pause, Yoon Yi-seon asked:

“Do you think Goblin will come to this sports festival?”

Looking up at me from under the desk.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well.”

Yoon Yi-seon continued with a very complicated expression:

“…Both Hayabusa and Nadeshiko said they would come to watch the sports festival if Goblin appears.”