episode_0123

‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

The returner’s eerie gaze glanced at the boy in front of him.

‘We had to consider the possibility that Joker himself could come to the Academy under the name Evans. No, it’s still too early to tell, but… .’

The sunlight that filtered through the window made the returner’s brilliant blonde hair shine.

‘Even though it’s a little different from what I used to know… Joker is a master of disguise. It’s not a problem for him to change his appearance. Rather, what you should pay attention to is that unique, sly smile.’

Nervous sweat ran down her spine.

‘Gingaminga, but the probability that it is Joker is about 70%. I never thought I would greet you like this. You have to manage your facial expressions well. I’m turning away from the Joker anyway, but my facial expressions and emotions can be revealed through my gaze.’

Sitting upright, the returnee swallowed his saliva.

‘But why is Joker here… ? Is it because of Maria? If that’s really the case, we can say things are going smoothly. Because it means that Maria is getting along well with Joker. Maria of the day is not a returner, but… Oh right.’

As the thought reached that point, the returner’s pupils began to tremble.

‘Damn it, Maria is not a regressor now. He’s still mentally immature. If you drink the wrong water from the devil called Joker, you could cross a river that you cannot turn back from! That’s the only thing that needs to be prevented… ! However, Maria clearly said that Joker is repenting… !’

The returner’s heart was beating loudly.

‘If I come between the two… Don’t you think Joker might find me annoying or suspicious? Then, in the worst case scenario, I could be killed by Joker, or put into the investigation category… Shit. Is it best for now to just watch and not say anything, even if he does something stupid? If it’s the Joker, then what does the Joker keep doing to Maria?’

Tuk-tuk-tuk- The boy’s hand touches the white-haired girl’s back. The girl bursts into laughter. Next to him, Suin the dog is sleeping on the desk, purring.

At first glance, it is a peaceful sight. In reality, they were enjoying the refreshing peace. However, the heart of the returner watching from the side was anxious.

‘This dog he brought with him… There’s nothing in particular to catch. We have to watch a little more and slowly find out what it is. Teacher Beatrice, Teacher John, and the teacher with narrowed eyes… Sigh, but I’m sure he noticed my sweat, right?’

When people become anxious and tense, they experience abdominal pain. This is because digestion is not good.

Now the regressor was like that.

‘My stomach, my stomach hurts…’ Ugh… .’

*****

Mornings at Eden Academy focus on theory and writing. One, I have no intention of taking classes or anything like that.

Am I better at math than the teacher who taught me it? If you ask me, it’s not true. However, teachers teach classes at a level appropriate for first-year academy students.

And even though I’m worse at math than the teacher, I can solve at least a freshman’s level of math by lying down and eating gum. Other subjects are no different.

Then, what is a kid who doesn’t even attend class doing sitting in the classroom?

Sigh-.

“Aha, what did you write?”

“Maria guess that. You can tell if you focus on the feel of your back.”

“I have to focus on class… .”

“It’s sophistry to say that you can’t pay attention to the sense of touch just because you’re concentrating in class. Because you’ve put yourself in a limit. Imagine practicing double casting.”

“Oh… This was part of the training. Mr. Evans seems like a deep thinker.”

No, I’m just bored and there’s Maria in front of me so I’m just joking around.

Every time I poke Maria’s soft back with my finger, she responds by laughing. What is surprising is that they are still concentrating in class.

“Woong… Wow… .”

Aru seemed to be unable to get used to sitting at a desk in the classroom for the first time in his life, and kept tossing and turning, expressing his boredom.

You might wonder why a guy who endured 18 years of loneliness alone in a pitch-black cave would do something like this, but by then, Aru had already blown away all tolerance for ‘boredom’. You can think of it as a kind of trauma.

“Aru, are you bored?”

“Woong… .”

“You can sleep if you’re sleepy. Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“No… I will sleep… .”

After cooing like that, Aru folded his arms neatly on the desk and buried his head in them. For some reason, the sleeping position that came to mind was that students from any country have similar sleeping positions.

Whirik – Pow!

“Kkegaeng!?”

“Students there! Don’t fall asleep!”

But Aru’s sound sleep did not last long. This is because the chalk flew like a flash and hit Aru on the forehead. To me, it looked slow, like falling snowflakes.

Aru raised his upper body, drooling on the textbook he had taken out for show. The teacher who threw the chalk shouted angrily.

“How to sleep from the first day of class! Aren’t you the rumored student? Since you showed exceptional performance in the sparring evaluation, the teachers have high expectations for you!”

It was a female teacher who wore glasses with round glasses and thin frames. My subject is mathematics. By the way, blowing the chalk from that position and hitting it exactly on Aru’s forehead made me think that it wasn’t nonsense to say that the teachers at Eden Academy were skilled in literature and martial arts.

Except for Nioh, who is a physical education teacher.

“Grrr… Woof woof! Evans said you can sleep!”

“Evans? what is that? Is this the student’s religion? If you have to sleep at this time due to religious tenets, we will especially accept it!”

“Religion? god? no! Evans doesn’t… It’s a person!”

“No human being can tolerate this, even if they are the student’s parents! At least in this class, students should follow what I say as the teacher first!”

Wow, that teacher is really strong. When Aru gets so hot, most people can’t even look at him face to face, but he doesn’t show any signs of bowing down.

Of course, right now I am holding Aru’s tail under the chair and trying to restrain myself.

“Grrr… ! bad! Bad!”

“Aru, just take this opportunity to meditate. Don’t fight for no reason. In any case, in the case of teacher vs. student, unless the parent is the emperor, the student loses.”

“Woong… They said I could sleep… .”

“What should I do when that teacher is so strict? Wait for next class. A loose teacher’s class will come someday.”

However, contrary to my expectations, as is the best academy in the empire, no teacher allowed Aru to take a nap.

“Mooo… .”

In the end, Aru spent so much time feeling like his body was going to come out until lunch time.

“Ugh… Maria, I’m going to go to the health room for a moment… .”

“Yes? Warrior, are you in any pain? I will heal you with divine power, so please tell me where it hurts.”

“No… I just feel a little upset… I’ll take some digestive medicine… .”

“Ah, I see… All right. Or would you like me to help you?”

“You don’t have to… .”

Divine power is the power of healing. It is most suitable for healing cut and broken wounds, but its role as a digestive aid is to facilitate metabolism.

It seemed as if his body had not properly accepted breakfast, and the hero, feeling sick, went to the infirmary as soon as lunch time with unsteady steps. I grabbed Maria’s wrist and led her, who was left alone.

“Maria, let’s go have lunch.”

“Oh, yes. Would you like to go with us, Aru?”

“Woof? go? Where?”

Aru, who had been dozing off all class and getting scolded and hit with chalk, gets up and asks. The tip of her mouth was filled with droplets of saliva.

“Wherever I go, I have to go eat. Don’t you eat?”

“No! no! I’m hungry!”

“Okay, okay, that means let’s go to the cafeteria. Wow, it looks like you are raising a baby. Why is he so intelligent? Is it natural because dogs and people are in a relationship?”

“Puuu, Aru and Mr. Evans are really close friends. Share jokes without hesitation.”

Maria smiled slightly, probably because it felt friendly to see Aru and I talking.

“Isn’t this a joke? This guy is stupid.”

“Woof? Kkkk! I’m not stupid!”

“Really? Hey, what is 9 times 9?”

“… bruise? therefore… If there are nine 9s… Because there are 9 and nine… .”

Aru shook his head and started counting with his fingers. How can one arrive at the result of 81 with only ten fingers?

“18?”

I managed to calculate more than ten numbers using finger counting, but that was it. I snorted and looked back at Maria.

Maria, who thought what I said to Aru was a joke, laughed awkwardly.

“Ah… Haha, mo, you might not know. The multiplication table is not the law of all things.”

There was a shock that could not be hidden in her round white eyes.

“But no matter how you do it, how can you use the multiplication table? What kind of environment did you grow up in? .”

For Maria, who grew up in a church where intelligence is a virtue, the wild Aru, who had no problem knowing the multiplication table, seems to be a refreshing shock. Maria’s surprised expression, which she couldn’t hide even though she tried to hide it because she knew it was rude, was quite funny.

Actually, Aru himself doesn’t seem to have any thoughts.

“Ahahaha! Since 18, 18! Indeed, he is a student who proudly took all of his notes and was assigned to Class A based on practical skills alone!”

“Woof! Me, I’m amazing! Everyone says I’m amazing!”

“Yes! How about a stone head! All you have to do is fight well!”

I put my hand on Aru’s furry head and stroked it as if sweeping dust with a broom. Stupid Aru didn’t know anything and just laughed.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know anything about you two.”

While we were walking to the cafeteria, Maria asked a question.

“If it’s not rude, may I ask where you two are from?”

“… .”

When did you ask? You’re finally asking that question.

The answer is determined from the beginning. All you have to do is answer according to your status provided by Beatrice.

“Are you rude? Then it’s okay if you don’t tell me.”

Maria misunderstood and asked because I paused for a moment. I took a pause on purpose. I cleared my voice and opened my mouth.

“It’s not like that. However, I was a little worried about whether Maria would treat me as a friend even after hearing about my origins… I’m not from a very honorable place, right?”

“Yes? Oh no! You don’t have to worry about that at all! How can you judge a person based solely on their origins? I will never ignore you, Mr. Evans, so please feel free to speak to me.”

With that affirmation, our relationship will become even closer.

“Okay, I have to reveal it someday anyway… Then I will trust Maria and tell her. Actually, I’m not from the empire.”

“Isn’t that the case in most cases? This is Eden Academy, a place where students from any country can enroll without discrimination. I am also a person of Seongguk.”

“That’s correct. Where I come from… It’s a place called Dark Country. Have you heard of it?”

“… !”

A criminal state, a cancer state. A drug cartel organization is running the country behind the scenes, and the power of the government, public power, police, and prosecutors is being dragged around by the money of gangsters, gangs, gangsters, and fraudsters. Still, it is large in size, making it one of the seven kingdoms.

Drugs and marijuana abound throughout the country, and underground fight clubs lurk everywhere. There are very few citizens who have not committed a crime at least once, and of course public security and diplomatic relations are at a low level.

However, the country of cancer does not fall. why? When other countries don’t want to get their hands dirty, they use undercover criminals and cartels. If there is light in the world, there is also shadow. Darkness is that shadow.

That’s why the name of the country is “the country of darkness.”

“Ah… Well, I see… . Oh my god, you came from that dark country… .”

Maria has a dark expression.

“I told you as much as I could, so why did you react like that? Have you ever heard from the elders of the church that people from the Dark Kingdom should not be approached?”

“Hmm, how did you know?”

Oh, was it really like that? Then it won’t work. I deliberately set my enemy in a dark, unorganized country so that my real identity could not be found, so should I just say it was actually a joke and change my enemy?

“Is Maria scared of me too? Because I’m from a cancer country?”

“Huh… ! Oh no! Although I felt such shame for a moment, it is not right to disparage people based solely on their origins! It’s because I’m still lacking in discipline, so I’ll reflect on it!”

“It’s okay, everyone says that. When they don’t know my origins, they treat me with a smile, but when they find out that I am a cancer citizen, they look at me with the eyes of a criminal. Why is trash like that walking around the streets? People with cancer are not necessarily criminals.”

“Does that mean that Mr. Evans has never committed a sin? Even though you have been living in a dark country?”

“… To be honest, I am also human, so I have committed theft, pickpocketing, and robbery a few times. I had to make a living. It’s such a shitty neighborhood. But I swear I’ve never committed a violent crime. I am currently reflecting deeply. That’s why I joined the academy.”

“Such a story… ! Don’t worry, I’m here to help! Under the name of a saint!”

Maria holds my hand with an eager expression. Soft fingers wrap around my hands.

Oh, what should I do? It feels like arsenic is about to pop out. You shouldn’t laugh at times like this. I skillfully adjusted my expression and muttered with a self-deprecating expression on my face.

“However, I heard that the elders in the church told me not to have anyone from the dark country around. Is it okay to disobey their words?”

“In any case, generalizations are incorrect. I’ve only seen Mr. Evans for a day, but he was the kindest person I’ve ever seen! When I first came to Eden Academy, I was at a loss, but he guided me and became my first close friend! I will believe in Mr. Evans, whom I have seen and felt for myself, rather than the old priests who do not know Mr. Evans… !”

“Maria… !”

Hey, look at what you’re saying. It’s so pretty it’s killing me.

If I were an ordinary student, I would be so moved right now that I couldn’t even speak.

Unfortunately, right now I can only feel proud of our Maria, but acting out emotions is not that difficult for me.

He covered his mouth with both hands and burst into tears as if he was so moved.

“Hehe, look. After all, Mr. Evans is a good person.”

Maria smiled brightly at me. Maria will probably never know that my tears are crocodile tears because I am so happy about this hoax. I’ll have to talk to Maria later when I meet her.