episode_0275

The new semester at Cradle began with new buds sprouting on the branches. The entire academy was filled with excitement and high hopes for the future.

“Damn, I can’t possibly do this.”

The headmaster grumbles and walks out into the hallway after finishing his supplementary lessons. He is almost the only one who cannot enjoy that kind of atmosphere.

“What good is memorizing something like a set of rules? It’s useless anyway… ”

He roughly tore off his tie as if expressing his frustration. The manager was like a caged animal, unable to adapt to the standard cradle life.

Suddenly, someone appears in front of him and blocks his path.

“I, I… ”

“… ?”

The captain frowned after seeing the opponent. The person who opened his mouth hesitantly was a female student.

His speech was timid, reflecting his personality. His face was hidden by his long bangs, so his appearance was not visible.

All that can be seen is the sharp jawline contrasting with the violent curves of the upper body.

I checked her name tag right away just in case. All I could see was a familiar three-letter name.

-Yoon Chae-won.

“… ”

I was blank for a moment. The Chaewon noona I know has short hair and a hearty personality who curses at the manager and the other person. Is that the person…?

The passage of time is such a scary thing. Eighteen years have turned such a timid girl into such a bold warrior.

“Ah, hello… I, I… well… hehe.”

My older sister bit her tongue as she felt the captain’s sharp gaze. She shivered for a moment, then shouted loudly as if she was gathering courage.

“This is Yun Chae-won, who was admitted this time with a letter of recommendation from Heukryeon…!”

When I first entered the school, I remembered the adjective that had followed me like a shadow. I was the first student to be admitted to the school after 18 years.

I was secretly curious about who my previous recommended student was. Now I finally have the answer to that question.

“… ”

“Special, my specialty is high-speed magic calculations… and my future career path is toward the circulatory system… ”

The captain didn’t show much reaction to her introduction. Rather, his characteristically irritated glare only grew more fierce.

My sister’s voice was also gradually becoming more moist. Now she was almost mumbling.

“That, that is… I want to greet the successor of the Black Lotus who has received my favor… ”

“… ”

“Jang, I will study with the determination to cut my bones so that I can be of help to Heukryeon in the future… ”

“Hey, don’t you even read the rules?”

And then the captain blurted it out as if he couldn’t listen any longer. And the person who just grumbled about the rule book is saying this?

“Yes, yes… ?”

There was a clear hint of panic in my sister’s voice. The captain continued speaking harshly, as if he didn’t care.

“Don’t you know that if you get caught using formal language with someone in the same grade, you’ll be sent to solitary confinement? It’s written big on the door. It’s about breaking down classism or something.”

“I, I… no, I… ”

“Or is that it? Are you feeding it to me on purpose? Are you going to report it to the student council like this?”

“Ah, no…! No, no…!”

Sister Chaewon shook her head in surprise. It was like looking at a snowball shrinking in the sunlight.

The captain looked even colder at his older sister who had almost lowered herself to the ground.

“Tsk, that’s enough, so get out.”

He closed his mouth for a moment, then waved his hand as if he was annoyed.

“And from now on, don’t pretend to know. I don’t want to get involved in family issues. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Uh, uh… ”

The moisture in his voice was growing thicker. Perhaps tears were already gathering under his eyes.

“And what the hell is with those bangs? I’m so frustrated. At least you should show your eyes.”

“… ”

“I really… I’m not some monkey master… ”

“Sigh, sob… ”

And the captain was about to pass her by, grumbling. Finally, along with the sound of sobbing, tears began to fall and soak the floor.

“I, I… No, I just… said hello… ”

The sobbing became even more intense. This must have been a situation that even the captain had not anticipated. I could see a momentary look of regret flash across his eyes.

He scratched his head, his expression half embarrassed and half annoyed.

“Hey, so… ”

But just as the captain was about to speak to his older sister again, a halo of light suddenly appeared in the hallway, as if a magic formula was being activated.

Then, a rapid-fire, suppressive, non-lethal particle missile was fired at him.

-Bang!!

“Gyah… !”

Sister Chaewon, who had collapsed, screamed. Along with the explosion, smoke rose up in the hallway, obscuring the view.

The cold, hardened face of the captain is revealed through the smoke that has gradually thinned. Not a single tear to his clothes, let alone a scratch. The particle missiles have only left a few cracks in the poor wall.

“What kind of dog is that… ”

“Your personality is as rumored.”

Someone appeared and cut off the commander’s words as he growled fiercely. The voice was a mixture of half disgust and half hostility.

Soon, a tall female student appeared from beyond, accompanied by the sound of clattering footsteps.

“Is that Black Lotus scoundrel holding a rag in his mouth?”

Her right arm was adorned with a blue armband symbolizing the leadership. Her silky hair was long and neatly styled, as it was then.

Unlike before, this time I was able to figure out the identity of the female student who had appeared without much difficulty.

“Leader, this is Ryu Se-hwa.”

Sehwa glared at the captain and muttered coldly. The captain, seeing her attitude, continued speaking as if responding.

“Ha, you’re the leader, so how can you just cast magic on anyone? ”

“Sorry, but you are nobody. This is a proper arrest procedure. And the leader has the authority to use restraining magic at will, depending on the target’s level of danger. ”

“Arrest? What did I do wrong?”

The captain’s eyebrows rose as if he was incredulous. Sehwa responded with a cold smile without even blinking.

“It’s no use denying it. The student council has already received a report that you forced yourself on her. ”

“What?”

“In addition, I have additionally obtained testimony that you committed sexual misconduct prohibited by school rules with other female students. That is why I was planning to summon you to the leadership department to find out the truth… ”

Sister Sehwa glanced behind the captain. Sister Chaewon was still sitting there, trembling and unable to raise her head. Traces of fallen tears were clearly visible on the floor below.

Sehwa’s eyes, which had been filled with contempt and disgust as she confirmed his identity, were filled with contempt and disgust.

“Those tears themselves are evidence. That kid was your family’s recommended student. Did he use his position to harass the recommended student? He probably thought he couldn’t rebel because he had a position anyway. He’s a piece of trash that I can’t get along with… ”

“Hey, what are you talking about? It’s obvious to anyone that you’re scared because you shot the missile. And the tears… Ha.”

The captain scratched his hair as if he was frustrated.

“I won’t follow you. If you keep tugging, just drag me with force.”

He was about to say something, but he soon gave up and glared at Sehwa noona.

“I’ve never forced myself on you. Same goes for other people. You clung to me because you liked me, so I did what you wanted. Why are you making a fuss with me?”

Sehwa twisted the corners of her mouth as if she thought it was nonsense.

“If it’s nonsense like that, it’s a disease. What kind of woman would trust and give herself to a scoundrel like you? You have to tell a little lie for them to listen… ”

“Ah, this is why I hate inexperienced people. As if the world would collapse because of one nap… ”

“What, what!!”

Sehwa’s expression wavered at the words that the captain let out with a sigh. The captain, not missing the moment, continued speaking mockingly.

“What are you going to do, giving yourself away for just one night? I can tell by the way you’re so stuck. Didn’t you learn that at the preparatory exchange meeting?”

“This, profit… !”

“Well, what good would it do to learn it? I think all the men who came would run away. Is Professor Haewolhwa your role model in life or something? Huh? If that’s the case, then I admit it.”

“You, you… !”

Sehwa, with her face flushed red, glared at the manager and muttered. Of course, it was not embarrassment or bashfulness, but shame. She was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes.

My older sister, with her head bowed, trembled for a long time. You could feel the real anger in her clenched fists.

“… That statement just now made it more certain.”

My older sister, who had barely regained her composure, glared at the captain who was smiling wickedly.

“You are a student who should not be in the cradle. What good is it if you come from a prestigious family? You are rotten to the core.”

“… ”

Then he declared as he thrust the subduing blade he had on his waist toward the captain.

“Follow me, Sa Jae-hyuk. I’ll fix that broken mind today.”

“Sigh… ”

The captain let out a weary sigh and wiped his face with both hands. Then he looked at Sehwa with slightly tired eyes and mumbled.

“That’s why a woman who is completely blocked up is so disgusting.”

***

And the headmaster was sentenced to solitary confinement by the disciplinary committee. He was found not guilty of molesting the female student, but other charges were problematic.

His crime was that he disobeyed the instructions of the leader and instead committed unauthorized assault, thereby undermining the authority of the leader.

“… ”

He stepped outside for the first time in three days and stared blankly down at his arm. It was covered in a heavy restraint that reduced the particle’s functionality by half.

-Even if you had followed the lead of the leader, you would have been given ample opportunity to explain yourself. This restraint is the price for ignoring such basic rules.

-If you look at the scandal with the female students, it can be seen as your fault for not conducting yourself properly. Be more careful in the future.

And as a result of the leader’s work, a new rule was established in the cradle. It was a rule that strictly prohibited sexual relations between the opposite sex more than before.

This was the result of Haewolhwa running wild and turning the disciplinary committee upside down. It was a strong claim from a war hero who had been recruited with difficulty, so it would have been difficult for the other members to raise objections.

– Make sure you don’t take it off your body for a week. If you get caught, your punishment period will be tripled.

Considering the harsh training schedule of the cradle, it could be seen as a somewhat harsh but reasonable punishment. After all, it would be difficult to keep up with the training schedule compared to before with the reduced magical ability.

-By the way, this is a punishment that the Black Lotus lord also agreed to. So, please refrain from complaining unnecessarily.

“Sigh… ”

The headmaster let out a stuffy sigh. He felt the students’ gazes around him as he walked down the hallway. The murmurs of voices with nowhere to go passed his ears on the wind.

-Hey, that guy? He got into a fight with the new leader.

-The female student I was dealing with was seriously injured. He said he beat her with his bare hands…

– Trying to help a female student who was being harassed…

-A loser, a lecher…

“Anyway, noisy things.”

The captain, who had been letting the evaluations of himself go in one ear and out the other, snorted. It was just as he was passing the square in the hallway.

-Pfft!

In an instant, the sky turned upside down with a strong pain in his chest. The captain, who had hit something hard, rolled to the ground.

“What the heck… ”

The captain, who had been holding his chest, made a face. This was something that happened when his body was unable to adapt to his reduced bodily functions and his senses were blurred.

Thick books were strewn about him in a mess. As the captain shook his head to regain his senses, he suddenly heard someone’s voice.

“Sorry, sorry…! I borrowed too many books…!”

The captain immediately turned his head fiercely. As if he was determined to see the face of the person who had done this to him.

But he soon stopped moving blankly. What he saw in his wicked eyes was a female student sitting there, making a fuss.

Her eyes were as blue as the deep sea. Her hair was as clear as the snow that had just fallen in midwinter.

Before I knew it, the surrounding space was filled with the scent she was emitting. I could feel her too. A refreshing yet warm particle scent. A clarity that seemed to heal my soul and spirit just by breathing in.

“Mi, I’m sorry…! Are you hurt anywhere…?”

“… ”

There was no answer from the captain. His blank eyes were still staring straight at the female student. As if he had been momentarily possessed by something.

“Oh, what should I do… I think I got hit in the head… ”

And the female student who saw his reaction became even more excited.

“Hey! Hey! Are you okay… huh?”

The female student who was trying to shake him by grabbing his shoulders made a bewildered expression for a moment. This was because the headmaster suddenly got close and grabbed her chin with his hand.

“Sleep, wait a minute… !”

“… ”

The female student who was using her dragon screamed. There was still no answer from the headmaster who had a blank look on his face. Instead, he brought his nose close to hers.

“Hey, let go of this…! Hey! Is anyone there? This is driving me crazy, seriously… ”

“… ”

“Wait… Restraints? No way… ”

“The scent… the scent… ”

The captain muttered in a blank voice. Before they knew it, the two had gotten close enough that their lips were almost touching.

-Tsk!

And then there was a sharp sound cutting through the air. The captain let out a dumb voice.

“… Huh?”

On his cheek was a bright red mark in the shape of a thin finger. Only then did his dull eyes regain their focus.

“You piece of trash.”

The captain, who was holding the ball, stared blankly ahead. The female student who had been offering him an apology without knowing what to do was now glaring at him with a contemptuous expression.

“Disgusting. I hate people like you the most. You’re a piece of trash who only knows how to rely on the power of your family and bully and persecute those weaker than you.”

And with that fresh appearance, a series of unimaginable curses were hurled at the captain.

Even in such a situation, the captain couldn’t take his eyes off the female student. And her appearance was quite familiar to me.

I naturally checked the female student’s name tag.

-Seol Yu-jeong.

***

Time passes once more. The captain sits leaning back on the chair at the edge of the classroom. Despite his comfortable posture, his eyes are filled with worries and concerns.

And then suddenly a shadow appears in front of that captain.

He was a polite and handsome looking male student. The headmaster frowned and became irritated when he saw him.

“Hey, you piece of shit. Stop following me around. Are we just going to exchange greetings?”

“What do you want? With friends.”

Baek Yu-jun, who had casually overheard the principal’s words, took his seat. Even though the greeting he gave on the day of the entrance ceremony had been completely ignored, he approached the principal in a friendly manner whenever he had the chance.

Paechun and Heukryeon had not been on good terms since this time. In that sense, the leader’s reaction this time was actually normal.

“Shall I guess what you’re thinking?”

“What’s with the guessing game… Don’t disturb my nap and just turn off… ”

“I wish I had a younger sibling. Am I right?”

“What?”

The captain’s eyes widened. It seemed like he had gotten the right answer.