episode_0277

The passage of time accelerates. The captain was troubled the whole time. Because of Baek Yu-jun’s suggestion that seemed to see through his inner thoughts and because of a female student who had pressed her cheek against his.

And meetings always came without warning.

“Umm… ”

A forest with an alien-like environment. A sky basin. A place that is still used as the first training site for new students.

The female student, Seol Yu-jeong, who had collapsed in the middle of it all, opened her eyes wide. And she immediately covered her mouth and muffled her voice. The insect-like demon was staring at her right in front of her with its beak split into four.

“There’s no need to be so scared. He’s already dead.”

A voice was heard from behind the female student who was desperately writing down her magic formula. She quickly turned around and opened her eyes wide.

“You, you… ”

The familiar voice belonged to the captain. He was standing in the moonlight, his head covered in fluorescent blood. There were at least a dozen corpses of demons lying around him.

Seol Yu-jeong, who had grasped the situation, looked around. As the leader had said, the insect-like demon was motionless and only dripping green blood.

She asked the captain cautiously, without taking her eyes off him warily.

“… You saved me?”

“I didn’t save you. I just took care of it because there was a commotion on the way.”

The captain grumbled in a bad voice.

“What happened besides that? The crew members?”

And Seol Yu-jeong’s face darkened. She muttered in a bitter voice.

“… He left me. After that, he fought the demons alone and passed out from exhaustion. I thought he was dead without a fight… ”

“Tsk, I see.”

The captain frowned as if he had guessed something.

“They seem like lesser guys. I don’t think they’ll win with their skills… ”

She was always at the top of her class in her first year. Despite not being from a prestigious family, she was born with outstanding magical talents that allowed her to manifest the scent of a particle. With her beautiful appearance, she attracted the attention of the male students along with Sehwa and Jin.

And the achievements of someone without a background were always followed by jealousy. Two of Seol Yu-jeong’s assistants, who had been waiting for an opportunity to act as friends, plotted to kill her as soon as the training began.

“I thought you were my friend… ”

“They must have thought of you as a competitor, not a friend. You reaped what you sowed. Anyway, you’re so stupid… ”

“Eh, Echu!”

The captain was about to say something rude that he didn’t mean, but a loud coughing sound out of nowhere blocked his mouth.

An awkward silence soon flows between the two. The girl with an embarrassed expression is shivering slightly. Her body temperature has dropped to a dangerous level after being left alone in the forest at night for too long.

“… Follow me.”

After a long period of internal conflict, the captain let out a deep sigh and spoke.

***

-Tap, tap…

The two sat around a campfire in front of a natural cave. Seol Yu-jeong sat with her knees pulled together in front of the fire, lost in thought.

She didn’t forget to occasionally cast a questioning glance at the captain. Eventually, the captain couldn’t stand it anymore and snapped.

“Why are you looking at me like that? If you have something to say, say it.”

“… It’s nothing.”

“Huh?”

Seol Yu-jeong turned around, leaving the captain behind, who raised his eyebrows in disbelief. There was still a look of suspicion on his face, but it wasn’t distrust of the captain.

She muttered in a small voice that the captain couldn’t hear.

“It seems a bit different from the rumors… What the heck… ”

After groaning and struggling for a while, she finally turned her head as if she had made up her mind. Then, she asked the captain in a voice that sounded somewhat playful.

“Hey, you know. Can I ask you one thing?”

“… What is it?”

“Why did you do that to me last time? You suddenly put your lips on mine… ”

“Coolook, coolook!!”

The captain, who had been drinking water, coughed repeatedly as if he had caught a cold. After finally calming down, he looked at the female student and shouted.

“This guy is killing a living person. When did I ever do something like that?”

“Don’t you remember? You suddenly did that in the hallway. You suddenly grabbed my chin and… ”

“That, that’s not putting your lips together… ”

“… No?”

The female student’s persistent questioning continued. The headmaster, who had been mumbling without answering, finally gave up and spoke in a crawling voice.

“I just smelled it because it smelled so good.”

“Hmm… ”

“Mi, I’m sorry. Is that okay? People can make mistakes… ”

The captain spoke without even looking at him. He himself had nothing to say. He didn’t even know why he had done that.

“… You call that an apology? Anyway… ”

The female student who saw his behavior asked back in disbelief. Then she sighed and opened her mouth again.

“Okay. That aside… Can I ask you one more thing?”

“… What is it now?”

“You weren’t doing anything weird while I was passed out, were you?”

“Would you do something like that? I don’t have a hobby of touching a sleeping woman.”

This time, the answer came out immediately. The captain shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking in a voice that sounded somewhat pretentious.

“Well, I’ve seen a lot of women who fell asleep because they were tired.”

“Huh? That’s really low-quality. That’s why kids call me a pervert.”

Seol Yu-jeong, who understood the meaning of the words, raised her gaze sharply for a moment. However, the hostility and wariness in her gaze had long since melted away.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t even thank you properly.”

Soon, Seol Yu-jeong chuckled in a voice that was clearly relaxed. Then she bowed her head to the captain and said.

“Thank you. I survived thanks to you. If it weren’t for you, I would have been food for the demons by now.”

“What’s the point of thanking someone for something like that… ”

The captain avoided her gaze as if embarrassed. The night was deepening along with the blazing bonfire.

***

The internship at Cheongong Basin is over. The leader and Seol Yu-jeong received the highest scores, and the two students who put her in danger were expelled immediately after the internship ended.

Also, to prevent the same thing from happening again, a new rule was created where upperclassmen would set up a camp nearby and monitor and evaluate lowerclassmen with crows while the first practical training was in progress. Just like the current form.

And the captain returned to his free daily life. He lay on the hill, chewing on dog grass while watching the clouds drift across the clear sky.

Suddenly, a slender shadow of someone appears above him.

“What are you doing? Alone and feeling depressed.”

“You?”

The captain opened his eyes wide as he confirmed the identity of the stranger. Seol Yu-jeong, with her long hair hanging down, was looking down at him.

“I’ve been looking for a long time. I asked around, but no one knew… ”

“… ”

The headmaster, who had been blankly staring at the female student, turned his body away from her. Then, without even looking at the female student, he waved his hand in a low voice.

“Go. Don’t block the sunlight.”

“… You don’t like it?”

Then, a thud was heard from the captain’s side. The schoolgirl was lying down a little way away, staring at him.

“I’ll be here too. It’s better than I thought. The grass is soft and the sun is warm.”

“… Don’t you know about my rumors? Go quickly. If we stay together, it’ll be useless… ”

The captain, who had suddenly raised his upper body, spoke in astonishment. Seol Yu-jeong simply moved her lips as if it was nothing.

“Are you worried about me right now? That black lotus scoundrel?”

“What are you worried about? I’m just saying this because I’m afraid something annoying might happen.”

“Well, I don’t really care about that. I’m going to count more anyway.”

“Huh?”

“I’m kidding.”

The captain’s voice became sharp as if his pride had been scratched. Seol Yu-jeong burst into laughter at his reaction. Then she fixed her gaze on him again and spoke.

“I decided not to believe rumors. It’s better to find out for myself.”

“… ”

The speechless captain stared blankly ahead. The female student, still smiling brightly, reached out her hand to him.

“I’m late with my self-introduction. Nice to meet you. My name is Seol Yu-jeong.”

In a split second, dozens of worries and anguish flashed through the captain’s eyes as he looked at the outstretched hand. There was no way to know what he was worrying about.

All that’s certain is that he’ll definitely grab those thin, slender fingers.

“… I know.”

The headmaster who finally received the handshake quietly muttered. Half a year after entering school, he met someone he thought he would never meet in his life. Two people at that.

***

This time, time passed at a faster rate. It was so fast that I couldn’t even see the scenery around me.

Even in the midst of all this, the captain was steadily changing. He stopped engaging in bad behavior with his followers and devoted himself to his studies, and his ranking continued to rise rapidly.

There were two factors that supported his development. One was the ideological influence of Baek Yu-jun. The other was the assistance of Seol Yu-jeong, who guided him even in the harsh conditions that were almost like re-socialization.

And a positive change in someone usually has a similar effect on those around them.

“Okay, follow along. ‘Get out, you punk.’”

“Turn off, turn off… etc… Ugh, I can’t do this… ”

“Oh my… ”

The captain pounded his chest as if he was frustrated. The female student standing in front of him with a sad face was Chaewon.

The older sister accepted his apology and advice, cut off her bushy bangs to reveal her eyes, and soon she became one of the most popular girls in the class.

Of course, things weren’t always good.

“Hey! That’s why the guys keep pestering you! If you don’t like something, say it properly!”

The principal shouted at the female student in front of him.

The male students who saw her blossoming appearance late in life couldn’t come to their senses. She also had a timid personality, so she couldn’t properly refuse, and often ended up in awkward situations.

And the captain, who couldn’t stand to see that sight with his eyes open, started teaching his older sister how to swear. Hmm, no matter how much she was corrected, that snub nose seems to be an unavoidable fate.

“Again.”

“Turn it off, turn it off… ”

“The tempo is too slow. Again.”

“Get out… Get, get… ”

“What’s that pronunciation? Are you trying to make me laugh and run away? Again.”

“Wow, woof… ”

The captain’s harsh attitude almost brought the older sister to the brink of tears. Judging by the redness in her earlobes, it seemed like her patience was reaching its limit.

“Hurry up. I don’t have time.”

“Turn off, turn off… ”

“Again.”

“Get out… You, idiot… ”

“Don’t change it on your own. You have to express your opinion clearly. The fool is too weak. Again.”

“Turn it off, turn it off… ”

“Oh my, when are you going to finish like that? Again.”

“Take it… !”

“You’re not doing this on purpose, are you? If you keep doing that… ”

“Get out! You ‘sick’ idiot!!”

Finally, my older sister shouted for the mountain to leave. Soon, silence fell around them.

“… ”

“Uh, uh… ?”

The captain, who had just been scolded, blinked and stared at Chaewon. She had her eyes wide open with her mouth covered. As if she had realized belatedly what she had said.

“Phuh, puhaha!”

The captain, who had been shrugging his shoulders, finally burst into laughter.

“See! I told you to do it! ”

“Aww… I can’t believe I’m saying such embarrassing things… ”

Unlike the shy female student, the headmaster’s mouth was filled with a satisfied smile. He spoke while patting his older sister on the shoulder.

“Hiyat… ”

“You? You’re talented. Just keep doing that! Then no one will bother you?”

“Jeong, you did really well… ?”

The female student who flinched and trembled whenever he touched her looked up at him and asked. The headmaster nodded happily as if to ask why she would say something like that.

“That’s right! Should I teach you some other curse words while I’m at it? What do you think?”

“That, that kind of… ”

The schoolgirl kept glancing at him with her head bowed, with a faint smile on her lips.

It was the day I found out why Sister Chaewon started speaking so harshly.