Preparing to Go to School

Gaeam Hunter Training High School.

Located in the 14th District, this high school was for students who were born with innately powerful abilities or had gene mana stones implanted at an early age.

Of course, Gaeam High School wasn’t the only hunter training high school, but most people considered Gaeam High School to be the best when it came to hunter training.

It was natural for Gaeam High School to be considered the best hunter training school, as out of only six S-rank hunters, two were graduates of Gaeam High School, and it had also produced numerous A-rank hunters and a plethora of B-rank hunters.

However, regardless of being the best hunter training school, the way Gaeam High School operated was no different from other ordinary high schools.

Just like any other high school, on this weekend at Gaeam High School, teachers and students were quietly going about their own business.

And among the teachers who came to school to handle work even on this weekend, a new topic of conversation suddenly arose.

Tap tap tap—

The sound of typing on laptops and pressing hologram keyboards intermittently echoed in the teachers’ office.

Other than that, the sound of turning papers and footsteps filled the empty spaces.

As it was a weekend shift with not much work, about ten teachers were working like that in the not-so-noisy teachers’ office of Gaeam High School.

But how long had they been working in these quiet work sounds?

Suddenly, one teacher’s voice broke the silence and was heard in the teachers’ office.

“Ah, Teacher Lim. Isn’t a transfer student coming to Teacher Lim’s class tomorrow?”

A topic that had briefly been a subject of conversation among teachers when the news first spread, but had recently been forgotten and cooled down.

However, as it was now the day before, one teacher opened their mouth as the memory resurfaced.

“Ah, that’s right! It’s already tomorrow?”

“When I first heard about a transfer student to Gaeam High, I was quite surprised, but I had completely forgotten about it. Teacher Lim, do you know anything about that transfer student?”

“We didn’t get any information…”

And as that one word lit the spark, other teachers who had been working also raised their heads and asked questions to the homeroom teacher of the class the transfer student would be going to, called Teacher Lim.

The teachers’ office that had been so quiet until just now suddenly became noisy once a topic of conversation arose.

And amidst this loud commotion, the man called Teacher Lim answered the questions thrown at him with an awkward smile.

“Ahaha… I’m sorry, I haven’t heard much either… I did receive one document about that student from the principal, but most of it was blank, so it wasn’t very meaningful.”

As Teacher Lim showed a document from his desk and answered like that, the other teachers crowded around that document.

Flutter—

Then the teachers who received the document began to read it and each burst out with questions.

“What is this? There’s really nothing written here?”

“The name is Neon… and the photo… Oh my, she’s extremely pretty! But is this student a foreigner?”

“It doesn’t seem like she’s an innate ability user, but the gene mana stone section is also blank? This is full of secrets.”

The document received from Teacher Lim was, as he said, mostly filled with blanks.

The only things filled in on the document were the ID photo in the picture section, the name Neon, gender, age, and date of birth.

The rest, from basic information like family relations or gene mana stone information, previous schools attended, and personality, to important details, were all blank.

The only thing that could be known was that she was an extremely pretty child with unusual hair and bright red eyes.

But to the question of whether she was a foreigner, Teacher Lim shook his head and denied it.

“No, I was told she’s not a foreigner. She’s supposedly Korean, but maybe she’s mixed-race? I didn’t hear much from the principal either…”

“Geez… what is that old man of a principal hiding? Is this child the daughter of some high and mighty person?”

“Nah, that can’t be. Rather, the higher the status, the more detailed such information is written out, telling them not to make mistakes.”

When children of some company or of truly noble status enter the school, their information is written out in great detail except for a few important parts.

Park Na-juri, the daughter of the Gold Flow Team leader in Teacher Lim’s class, was a prime example.

However, the principal thoroughly hides the information of this transfer student who doesn’t seem to be of high status.

Given that, the prediction that momentarily crossed the minds of all the teachers was not a pleasant one.

“…Is she a child with a shady background?”

Words uttered by someone.

And although they didn’t explicitly answer, most of the teachers inwardly nodded in agreement with those words.

Hiding personal information to this extent certainly suggested a high possibility of a child with a shady background.

However, Teacher Lim waved his hand, saying that couldn’t be the case.

“That can’t be. First of all, Gaeam High School isn’t a place where a child with a shady background could easily enter, is it? And how righteous our principal is, how could he possibly do that?”

“Well… that’s true.”

“That’s right… considering the principal’s personality, that’s unlikely.”

“Maybe we’re worrying for nothing. Still, such an empty document is a bit concerning…”

The conversation that started with one teacher’s mention ended on a slightly uneasy note, albeit minor.

But only Teacher Lim, who would be in charge of the transfer student named Neon, smiled brightly and said to the teachers gathered in front of him:

“Anyway, I intend to teach diligently no matter what kind of child she is. Rather, if she’s not well-behaved, it’s the teacher’s role to correct that.”

Seeing Teacher Lim’s smile that was so bright it was almost dazzling, the other teachers made uncomfortable faces.

However, regardless of what faces they made, Teacher Lim looked at Neon’s face in the returned document and made a deep resolution.

To remain a good teacher for this child as well.

And so, on a weekend when one teacher made his resolution.

The teachers’ office of Gaeam High School began to roll on again.

---

The aircraft carrier slowly begins to land at the airport.

And as the airport gradually comes closer, familiar faces start to appear already.

Whoosh—

Then, as we descend to the ground from the fully landed aircraft carrier, Yeon-ah, who had come out to greet us in advance with her attendants, welcomed me with a smile.

“Welcome back, Ancestor. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yeah, Yeon-ah. It’s only been a few hours, but it feels like it’s been quite a while?”

“Yes, I’m truly glad to see you…!”

Yeon-ah welcomed me so enthusiastically that if she had a tail, it would probably have been wagging wildly.

Grateful and cute, but a bit burdensome, I slightly averted my eyes from her face, and then tilted my head at the empty space beside her that caught my eye.

“What? Neon didn’t come out? I thought that kid would follow you out, Yeon-ah.”

“Ah, Neon did come along. It’s just that she said she was too embarrassed to show herself suddenly, so she’s hiding…”

“…Embarrassed?”

As I put a question in my gaze, wondering what that meant, Yeon-ah looked around as if searching for Neon.

But before Yeon-ah could call out to find Neon, something with white hair came out timidly from behind the attendants and approached me and Yeon-ah.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Neon walked up, lightly clearing her throat, and stood right in front of me.

And I slightly widened my eyes at Neon’s appearance, which was drastically different from usual.

“Oh, that outfit…”

Not the functional clothes she always wore, but a neat school uniform with sharp creases.

Neon always wore loose clothes with pants, but seeing her in a school uniform skirt and blouse was novel in many ways, so I couldn’t help but be surprised.

At the same time, I could understand Yeon-ah’s words about hiding in embarrassment, seeing Neon’s face as red as her eyes.

“Ahem! How is it? It suits me quite well, doesn’t it?”

“It does. Tomorrow was your first day of school, right? It suits you well.”

However, Neon hid her embarrassment again with another fake cough and showed off her appearance.

And I honestly admired and complimented Neon like that.

“Hmph…”

Then Neon let out a deflating laugh and made a smug expression as if she knew I would say that.

I swallowed a chuckle at her face with the corners of her mouth relaxed, as if she really wanted to show off her appearance.

『A pretty girl being so shy like this. How truly adorable…!』

‘You just stay quiet.’

Then I quietly silenced Hwa-gon, who seemed to be drooling at the sight of Neon, and rummaged through the inner pocket of my jacket.

Should I say the timing was good? If tomorrow was Neon’s first day of school, I could commemorate that with this as well.

Originally, I had brought it simply as a gift, but it was truly fortunate that the timing overlapped like this.

Thinking that, I took out the club with only a handle and the short flute that I had brought from the warehouse from my inner pocket.

Clank—

“What are those, Ancestor?”

“A stick and a handle? What are those?”

And as I took out the two items, Yeon-ah and Neon each tilted their heads.

Before answering, I handed the short flute to Yeon-ah and the club with only a handle to Neon.

“Here you go. You both have gene mana stones, but you don’t really have weapons, right? So I brought one each while I was at the goblin warehouse.”

The short flute was a weapon that amplified Yeon-ah’s ability to handle all four elements.

And the club with only a handle was a versatile weapon that would form a body according to Neon’s imagination.

I had brought the highest grade items from among the weapons inside the warehouse, so if the two with matching strength used them, they should be able to shine sufficiently.

“Plus, they’re both small, so they’ll be convenient to carry with you. Use them as you like.”

“Thank you so much, Ancestor. I will cherish and use it as preciously as my own life…!”

“…Thank you. I’ll use it carefully.”

Yeon-ah, who seemed quite moved by the gift, blurted out burdensome words without hesitation while her eyes shone, and Neon received the weapon with a faint smile.

Seeing the two like that, I also smiled, feeling a sense of fulfillment.

It was meaningful to have taken the time to bring out weapons from the warehouse, since the two who received the gifts were so pleased.

So I smiled with a tingling heart, but only for a moment.

“…Ah, right.”

Remembering something belatedly, I clapped my hands and turned to look at the aircraft carrier.

More precisely, I turned my head towards the cargo hold of the aircraft carrier and then called out to the jangseungs that would be inside.

“All of you, come out now!”

Without needing to give any complex orders, my single word to come out reaches the aircraft carrier.

And at my call, the cargo hold opened with a thud, and the jangseungs began to pour out from there.

Thud thud thud thud—!!!

The jangseungs, still emitting an overwhelming aura despite their reduced size, ran towards me.

The 47 jangseungs ran straight up to me and immediately knelt on the ground, shouting in unison.

<<<Loyalty!!!>>>

The resounding voices of the jangseungs.

And at that overwhelming sight, Yeon-ah and Neon, who had been immersed in emotion until just now, asked me without anyone taking the lead:

“Ancestor…? What on earth are those…?”

“What are those wooden things?”

Yeon-ah and Neon demanded an explanation from me with dumbfounded expressions.

Glancing slightly, I saw that some of the attendants behind Yeon-ah had fallen to the ground in shock.

And at their expressions that were pleasing to see in many ways, I burst out laughing and explained to the two full of questions.

“Ahaha!! They were originally guarding the goblin village in Mount Seorak, but I brought them like this to use as security for the tower.”

I added that there’s no need to worry much since they’re actually docile fellows.

The two looked up at the jangseungs with eyes that said they couldn’t trust that.

However, I casually patted their shoulders and looked around at the jangseungs with them.

“Haah… this is going to be troublesome.”

First of all, we’ll have to transport all these guys just to get back to the tower…

At the thought of the bothersome task, a rough sigh escaped from my mouth.