Chapter 101.1

Chapter 101 – Rule 31: The Leader Restores Order in Academy City (3)

Oh Baek-seo sat in her chair, staring at Moon Chae-won, who was confined behind a partition wall. Chae-won’s playful expression from a moment ago had turned cold.

Chae-won soon raised the corners of her mouth and engaged in a battle of nerves.

“Where’s the Disciplinary Committee Leader? Why is an unwelcome face here instead?”

“Hello. Disappointed to see me?” Baek-seo responded calmly.

“The interrogation wasn’t finished yesterday, was it? I waited a long time because you guys didn’t show up for a while… Did something urgent come up for your leader?”

“He got caught by the Glutton yesterday. She used her ultimate magic technique on our leader.”

“What…?”

Chae-won, who had been leaning against her chair, suddenly straightened her back, showing surprise.

Baek-seo carefully observed Chae-won’s fleeting micro-expression, guessing that she had no idea about the Glutton’s plan.

“Why would she…? Then what about the leader? Is he dead?”

“He’s alive.”

“How?”

“He won.”

Chae-won stared blankly at Baek-seo for a moment.

“Wow….”

Eventually, she let out an exclamation.

Chae-won knew just how dangerous Glutton Hong Kyu’s Heavenly Ritual Echoes were. It was a technique the Head Principal had saved as a trump card for confronting Goliath, leaving no room for doubt.

“How did he…? Did he awaken dramatically at the last moment like in a drama? Oh, right… If it’s him, it might be possible.”

A sigh of resignation escaped Chae-won’s lips.

“What was I even fighting against…?”

When she fought Woo-jin, the intensity he displayed was enough to make even Chae-won hesitate. That sight still lingered vividly in her mind, occasionally sending chills down her spine.

“Moon Chae-won.”

“What? What now? Are you here to question me if I knew the Head Principal would use Glutton’s ultimate magic technique on your leader? I swear, I didn’t know anything about it….”

“No, not that. Tell me.”

Baek-seo spoke.

“Everything about the Head Principal.”

“…Huh?”

Chae-won frowned and tilted her head.

“You already know about that, don’t you…? Ah.”

From the other side of the glass wall, where nothing could be seen, she sensed the presence of students.

Information about the Head Principal was a serious matter. Baek-seo had probably brought people she could trust and dismissed the previous squad members who had been monitoring Chae-won.

It seemed Baek-seo intended to reveal the details through Chae-won’s words, as she knew far more about the Head Principal than Baek-seo, who had escaped from his grasp.

Chae-won let out a derisive laugh.

“Sure, I’ll tell you. But there’s one condition.”

Chae-won gestured toward the voice transmission device, which allowed conversations in the visiting room to be heard in another room.

Baek-seo turned it off.

“Go ahead.”

“How did you manage to escape from the Head Principal?”

Chae-won leaned forward, genuinely intrigued as she asked.

“If you tell me that, I’ll cooperate. I’ve been dying of curiosity—how did you manage to gain even that bit of imperfect freedom against the Head Principal…?”

Baek-seo had a past of carrying out assassination missions under the Head Principal’s command, but now, for some reason, she had escaped and was living a normal life.

Chae-won was dying to know what had happened to make Baek-seo like this.

“It was nothing much.”

Baek-seo shrugged her shoulders.

“I knew her weakness.”

“Weakness? Did you blackmail her?”

“Yes.”

Was there really a weakness in the Head Principal that could be exploited by blackmail?

Even if there was, was Baek-seo ever in a position to threaten her?

“What kind of joke is this… How could you, of all people, threaten the Head Principal…?”

Chae-won laughed in disbelief, but Baek-seo wasn’t joking.

“…Seriously?”

When Chae-won asked again, Baek-seo nodded.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Wait. If you knew her weakness, couldn’t you have used it to overthrow the Head Principal? Didn’t you absolutely hate her?”

“I didn’t want to touch that weakness.”

“Hmm….”

Chae-won chuckled softly.

“So, that weakness is a ‘person,’ huh? Someone ‘precious’ to the Head Principal, right? You’re living quite morally now, considering your past.”

“Think what you want.”

“You’re not going to tell me who it is, are you?”

“Nope.”

“You’re stingy. Come on, tell me.”

“Kid.”

Baek-seo smiled, sending a shiver down Chae-won’s spine.

“I don’t have the luxury to entertain your little games right now.”

Baek-seo was trying hard to maintain her poker face.

Considering the current situation.

Woo-jin had become a walking disaster, defeated the Glutton, and destroyed the Zero Zone before surrendering himself to the police academy.

It was impossible to predict what chaos might unfold next. Even Baek-seo found it hard to stay composed.

Chae-won unconsciously swallowed dryly.

“…Now it’s your turn.”

When Baek-seo turned the voice transmission device back on, Chae-won cleared her throat and adjusted her voice.

“Alright, alright, that answers what I was curious about! I’ll spill everything. What exactly do you want to know?”

“Everything you know.”

“That’s vague… Well, we’ve got time, so it doesn’t matter. By the way, did you check what’s in my hideout?”

“Not yet. I went looking for the leader in the middle of it. I thought something might have happened because I couldn’t reach him.”

“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to seeing your reaction after you saw it.”

“…What’s in there?”

Chae-won tilted her head and stared at Baek-seo’s eyes before answering.

“A ‘mountain.’”

“A mountain? Underground?”

A mountain in an underground hideout?

Baek-seo couldn’t immediately understand what she meant.