Ch.48Episode 9. Parent-Teacher Conference (End)

Finally, I was able to regain my freedom after counseling sessions that lasted until late afternoon.

Damn it. My Saturday…!

“Then I’ll be going now. Please take good care of Yeon.”

“Don’t worry.”

As I shook hands with Jung Woohyun to see him off, Kang Sujin quietly approached me.

“Mr. Yujin.”

“Yes?”

“How about becoming a hero after graduating our Yeon? I think the Hero Association would want that too.”

“Well, I don’t have any plans for that yet.”

I was thinking of stepping down from my instructor position after graduating the special class students, but I had no intention of becoming a hero.

However, separately from that, I planned to wipe out Akcheon before graduating from the academy.

After all, there’s a possibility I might still have contact with the special class kids after they graduate and become heroes.

Once everything was over, I thought I’d live a truly unemployed life, occasionally checking in to see if they were doing well in their hero careers.

“Hmm~ Is that so.”

“Yes.”

She clicked her tongue in apparent disappointment.

“Still, you’re going to get quite busy now, Mr. Yujin.”

“I’m already busy. After all, I’m doing the work that should be divided between a teacher and an instructor all by myself.”

It’s manageable because there are only five students, but if there were around thirty like in a regular class, I would have been worked to death.

“Ah, that’s not what I meant.”

Kang Sujin waved her hands and shook her head.

“You defeated an S-rank in an unofficial setting today, didn’t you? Geomhwa is among the top three S-rank figures. Since you completely overwhelmed him, all sorts of rumors will spread. Other students might ask to learn from you. Some might even try to enter the special class.”

“…Ah, that sounds rather troublesome.”

It’s natural for academy students to want to be taught by someone strong, since they come to develop their abilities and become stronger.

However, I had absolutely no intention of accepting them.

Not only am I uninterested in what anyone besides the special class kids might do, but I couldn’t even give them proper advice to begin with.

The only reason I could give effective advice to the special class was because I had read the novel. How could I possibly care for those who don’t even qualify as extras?

“Calling students who want to learn from you troublesome? That’s a problematic statement for an instructor.”

“Not really. They’re irrelevant kids anyway.”

“Oh… Well, that’s true, but…”

She seemed taken aback by my cold tone. I guess she didn’t expect an academy educator to think this way.

But don’t regular teachers also not care about classes that aren’t their responsibility?

“…Mr. Yujin, is there a reason why you think so highly of the special class?”

“Just because. These kids keep catching my eye.”

I placed my hand on Jung Yeon’s head and roughly tousled her hair. She smiled brightly, accepting my touch. When I removed my hand, her white hair was sticking up in all directions.

She looked up at me with a blush on her cheeks. I noticed a strange affection in her eyes but pretended not to see it.

“Hmm~ Interesting. You’re only twenty-five, not much older than Yeon. Perhaps you’re dat—”

“Alright, that’s enough. You’re making Instructor Yujin uncomfortable.”

Jung Woohyun cut off Kang Sujin’s meddling at just the right moment.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

I expressed my gratitude to him with a smile and a slight bow. At times like this, it’s best to send them off quickly.

“Take care. Mom, Dad.”

Jung Yeon said, waving her hand rapidly. Jung Woohyun patted her shoulder and said:

“You take care too, Yeon. Don’t give your instructor any trouble.”

“I don’t! I get so much praise from Instructor Yujin, don’t I?!”

“That’s true. Having you around has been a relief.”

“See? Hehehehehe…”

What’s with that laugh?

The wide grin and that peculiar laughing sound felt disconnected from her usual elegant demeanor.

“Ah! In a few days, we might see newspaper articles about a new S-rank appearing.”

Kang Sujin said to me before turning to leave.

“…That’s one newspaper I’d rather not see.”

“Well, we’ll be going now.”

Kang Sujin hit my arm hard and then coolly turned away. I frowned and rubbed the spot where she hit me.

Honestly, it hurt a bit.

* @ *

Knock knock. Knock. Knock.

Ding!

After knocking on the door in a pattern resembling Morse code, Wolgwang opened it and entered, causing a refreshing bell sound to ring.

“Welcome.”

A female bartender greeted him while wiping glasses.

The space was illuminated by colorful neon signs and orange ceiling lights.

Though the space itself was quite dark, there was no problem distinguishing objects.

Wolgwang, who had entered the bar, didn’t even acknowledge the greeting bartender. He simply rolled his eyes around, looking for the person he came to meet.

Wolgwang walked over to a woman with ash-gray hair who was tilting her glass.

“Cloud.”

He called her name as he sat down beside her.

“Oh, Wolgwang~? You’re here?”

Wolgwang frowned at Cloud, who was emanating the smell of alcohol. She seemed to have been drinking for quite some time, unable to control her tipsy mood.

“Want to go straight to the bedroom? I’m good at it. I’ll send you to Hong Kong. Hong Kong.”

“No thanks.”

Wolgwang sighed as he lightly pushed away her advances.

“Besides, why did you choose a place like this? The place I designated was—”

“Because alcohol makes people honest? Want a drink?”

“That’s called being drunk and disorderly.”

“Heheh. Your loss~! When you drink, you can forget reality a little.”

He was about to say “Escaping reality doesn’t help at all” but stopped himself. Knowing about Cloud’s difficult childhood, he decided not to argue this time.

“When are the other executives coming?”

The appointed time had already passed.

“Hmm~ They should be here soon? Ah~ But… I want to be alone with Jeongsu like this.”

Cloud swirled her glass with a face flushed from alcohol. The ice in the glass clinked as it hit the sides.

“Don’t use my real name. And don’t drink too much. It will interfere with the executive meeting.”

“What~? Are you worried about me?”

“No. I just don’t want to waste time.”

“Tch. It would be so nice if you just said you were worried. That’s why you don’t have any female friends.”

“I’ll handle that myself. I’m not interested in women anyway. If I ever get sexual urges, I just satisfy them and move on.”

“Oh~ Bad boy?”

She poked his cheek repeatedly while subtly getting closer. Wolgwang swatted her hand away.

“Stop it.”

“…But I think the same way. It doesn’t make sense for us to build a good family at this point. It’s not like our past will disappear.”

Cloud took a sip of whiskey with a bitter smile.

“Ah~ The alcohol is making me pathetic again.”

As she snapped her fingers, strength returned to her eyes and her flushed face turned pale white.

It was one of Cloud’s skills, “Mental Immunity.”

“If you regret it, you can quit.”

“Are you thinking of letting people go?”

“No.”

“See~?”

Just as their conversation paused, the entrance opened again.

“You’re already here?”

“Starlight.”

A man with rainbow-colored hair entered through the door.

His hair color didn’t match his neat formal attire.

“It’s been a while, Wolgwang. Have you been well?”

“…I’ve been—”

“No, no. You couldn’t have been well. I heard all the men you infiltrated into the academy got caught by heroes after you made them do stupid things?”

Starlight covered his mouth with a snort, pretending to hold back laughter. Wolgwang stood up from his seat.

“You must have a death wish, Starlight.”

“Can you kill me?”

“The night is my time.”

“But there’s no moonlight here.”

The two glared at each other with murderous intent. As they seemed about to fight, Cloud intervened.

“Fighting as soon as you meet~? Make up. This isn’t the time for us to fight each other, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. Cloud is right. Let’s make peace.”

A large bald man who had been listening from outside the door entered and spoke. Standing close to 2 meters tall, his mere presence was quite intimidating.

“Oh, Flo is here too. Hi~ baldy!”

“Don’t call me baldy.”

“Then, shiny head.”

“You bitch. Still the same with your jokes.”

“Hehe. That’s because I’m the mood maker!”

Cloud proudly placed her hands on her hips. Flo looked at her with distaste and shook his head.

“…I hate noise. Could everyone shut up?”

Next, a girl with light blue braided hair entered, pushing up her glasses. Wearing a pitch-black school uniform, she dusted off her pleated skirt.

“Paris, hello!”

“You’re noisy too. Shut up before I use my ability.”

“Such a tsundere!”

“…”

She felt displeased by Cloud’s playful tone but ignored it.

She thought it would only hurt her own mouth to speak to someone who wouldn’t listen despite being told multiple times.

“Hey hey~ Is it okay for a kid to be here? Did we pick the wrong place?”

“I don’t think this is a suitable place for an old man either, is it?”

“I’m only in my late twenties!”

“I understand you’re having a fit because you feel called out, but please don’t shout. It makes my ears ring and makes me want to rip out your tongue.”

It was an intimidating presence that could never be felt from a normal high school student. Flo fell silent as he met her cold gaze.

Though she appeared as quiet as any high school student on the outside, the aura she emitted was as intense as any of the other executives.

As the atmosphere quickly cooled, the door suddenly burst open.

BANG!

The door slammed against the wall.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. There was this really hot chick, so I got a bit late.”

A man with orange hair said, fixing his hair at the back. He entered wearing shabby athletic clothes and slippers that scraped against the floor.

“Welcome, Soleta.”

“Oh! Cloud, hello. You look pretty today. How about it, wanna go a round with me?”

When he naturally proposed sex, everyone looked at him with contempt. Thinking of him as an idiot was just the cherry on top.

“Hmm~ I don’t want to catch an STD.”

“Come on~ We’re the same, aren’t we?”

“Unlike you, I take care of my hygiene.”

“Heheh. You’re just bulgogi anyway.”

“Ah… That’s a taboo word~”

Cloud smiled as she brushed back her hair.

“What does it matter? Everyone knows you’re black as—”

BANG!

Cloud disappeared in a puff of white smoke and reappeared behind Soleta, grabbing his neck and slamming him to the floor.

A small crater formed where his forehead hit.

“Our Soleta doesn’t know how to watch his mouth. Do you want to die?”

The smile that had been on her face was gone, replaced by a cold, serious expression.

“…W-wow! You’re fast. Okay. I’ll be careful next time.”

“If this wasn’t an executive meeting, I would have killed you. Be careful.”

“Well, I don’t plan on dying easily. I don’t fight with women on principle.”

*Besides, women crying beneath me are more enjoyable.*

Cloud looked down at Soleta with displeasure before slowly releasing her grip.

“And I’m not bulgogi.”

“Oh, really? I’d like to see that sometime.”

He laughed frivolously as he composed himself.

“…That’s enough idle chat. It’s a waste of time.”

Wolgwang intervened in the pointless conversation.

“Now that everyone seems to be here, let’s start the executive meeting.”

At his words, the expressions of all five executives changed simultaneously.

Wolgwang, who had been enjoying the desolate silence, opened his mouth.