I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

Chapter 287: Departure Of The Patriotism Train (3)

Baek Seol-hee’s clone woke up.

After a brief conversation, it disappeared immediately.

“… That was startling. Did that really just happen?”

“For someone who was startled, you seemed pretty calm.”

“Well, that’s because you were nervous, which made me act composed.”

I was just calm, but Yumir was tense all over, like a woman caught in an affair.

“No matter how strong you are as the Platinum Sun, it must be nerve-wracking to get caught fooling around with a taken man, huh? Even when learning Gwang Ik Gong’s combat techniques, you weren’t this nervous.”

“That’s because it didn’t matter if I failed then, but now, I could hurt Seol-hee unnie’s feelings. I don’t like hurting other people’s hearts. By the way, you don’t think she overheard us talking about Taejo, do you?”

“Probably not.”

Meanwhile Yumir and I were having a conversation and stopped midway, which seemed to make Baek Seol-hee uncomfortable.

“She seemed like she had something to complain about but got angrier because you were there. Also, stopping the conversation suddenly probably didn’t help.”

“Still, when the teacher suggested patriotism, she immediately calmed down.”

Indeed.

No matter how angry Baek Seol-hee got, she could now quell her anger with just one dose of patriotism.

Patriotism was the answer, and patriotism could subdue any anger.

Although whether that patriotism was genuine was something we couldn’t openly question.

“You’ve completely tamed her with patriotism.”

“…That’s the charm of a beauty scheme.”

Most of Baek Seol-hee’s problems could be solved with patriotism.

She was supposed to stay in Jeju Island for about a month, like a summer camp, but I managed to quell her complaints by agreeing to go there myself.

And after a moment of solemn patriotism, her anger would vanish, and she would greet the next morning energetically.

“By the way, a seasonal class? And an elite special training? Being asked to participate as a training instructor makes it hard to refuse.”

“Unnie, really. She could just say no.”

“She can’t help it.”

The logic of the world and the flow of light novels are like that.

“Umida can’t be helped.”

Umida.

It’s Japanese.

“In modern light novels, a summer sea event is a must-have.”

It was also part of the original story.

In fact, a summer camp in a light novel about academy characters was essential.

Specifically, a ‘swimsuit service scene’ could not be left out.

If a serious story with deaths unfolded in the main story?

Then the protagonist and heroines momentarily forgot the fights and go to the pool for some fun.

Was there no big episode?

Then a new main episode was bound to happen at the sea.

Needed conflict between the protagonist and the heroine?

For that, there was always a scene where the protagonist and heroine walked alone on the beach at night, talking.

This plot was mainly used in light novels with illustrations, animations, and comics, but this patriotic light novel followed the same trend.

Even with absurd reasons, the world made sure to have a summer camp.

Whether it’s a trip to Jeju Island or a cruise, the world created episodes to show heroines in swimsuits.

It’s reality, but as it’s within the novel world, this rule couldn’t be avoided.

“Teacher, isn’t the Academy Director a bit strange?”

“He is.”

“Isn’t it to the point of execution?”

“It sounds really awkward when you say that.”

“But he’s messing with Seol-hee unnie’s mental state. For a ridiculous reason like a summer term. Maybe not kill him, but at least knock him out….”

Crunch.

Yumir moved her hand as if she was tearing something apart.

“And rip it out. Or burn it.”

“…It might be better to just kill him.”

“Shall I go do it?”

“Leave it. The Director has been doing weird things for ages. He commits strange acts under the name of patriotism education, so there’s no need to worry too much. And… we need him. To lure out the demon of Pandemonium.”

“Oh, using the Director as bait?”

“Yes.”

Yumir immediately understood my words.

“There are people trying to use the director. We’re narrowing down the candidates. They haven’t taken the bait yet, but agents from Sejong Island’s Secret Society, including Brewer, are gathering information. If a demon like Laplace approaches the director….”

Slash.

I sliced the middle of my smartphone with my finger.

“Just chop it off.”

“Got it. The director is a scarecrow. For now, we’ll leave the director alone. Then….”

Yumir subtly stood up.

“To care for Seol-hee unnie’s mental state, shall we do something special?”

Maybe because we had sorted out our conversation, or perhaps due to the intuition that Baek Seol-hee would soon appear.

“Teacher, let’s sacrifice ourselves for Seol-hee unnie today.”

“Sacrifice?”

“Gladly offer yourself. To Seol-hee unnie.”

Yumir excitedly manipulated mana and started creating some items.

“You know, Gwang Ik Gong would be really sad if he saw that.”

“It’s not a Gwang Ik Gong technique, though? It’s just an application of magic power.”

“You’re just using the technique to form golden wings and creating a different shape.”

“Hehe.”

The color of the magic power was golden.

The shapes were things I couldn’t even bring myself to describe.

“With this, Seol-hee unnie can blow away all the stress she got from the Director in one go.”

Swish.

“Everything, for the sake of patriotism.”

“…….”

Yumir waved the magical item she had created at me.

The conversation ended.

Baek Seol-hee immediately returned to her room and threw herself on the bed for a moment.

“With the Academy Director treating people like that, no wonder everyone wants to leave this country.”

Baek Seol-hee covered her face with her hands.

She wanted to erase the Director’s face, which kept flickering before her eyes.

“Who would want to take classes forcibly set up during vacation?”

Although she had only been working as a professor for about three months, Baek Seol-hee had once been a student.

And as a student, naturally, she wanted to enjoy her vacation.

However, now she was in a position to take away the students’ free vacations.

“Using the students’ desperation to force them into training….”

Baek Seol-hee glanced over the printout she was holding.

The list of students who would participate in the training camp was already densely organized, with none of the A-class students missing, despite her being named a recommender.

“They say they’ll give benefits to the participants, but who wouldn’t participate when they say you’ll be disadvantaged if you don’t?”

Using someone’s family situation as leverage.

Using scholarships as leverage for others.

And for some, using the experience of sparring with S-class ability users as leverage.

“…If you open a camp with a recommendation letter for the national competition academy undergraduates, who wouldn’t want to join? Seriously.”

And for others, the opportunity to challenge something more honorable than anything else.

The chance to compete on a world stage, representing the country with the flag on their chest.

“…Even if they lose 0-6 against an S-class in the preliminaries, it all becomes valuable experience.”

If the national competition’s preliminary rounds were composed of 64 participants, with 50 being S-class?

Then the remaining 14 wouldn’t get a bye; instead, they’d fill those 14 spots with A-class participants.

Even an A+ class would get a chance to fight an S-class in the group stages.

In that opportunity, an A+ class could awaken to S-class.

Who knows?

Maybe they’d become like Yoon Iseon or Firefox.

“Ah, this is frustrating.”

Baek Seol-hee pounded the paper material with her fist.

“I just want to start vacation right away and play until the end of the year.”

“Unnie, by ‘play,’ you mean patriotism, right?”

Yumir, who came out of an opened space, entered Baek Seol-hee’s room with light steps.

“Hey. Do you think all I do is patriotism?”

“Isn’t it?”

“I’m going to watch movies patriotically. Like you were doing earlier.”

“I wasn’t watching movies patriotically, though.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“Ability consulting.”

“…Constructive.”

Baek Seol-hee took off her Taeguk Watch and held Yumir’s hand.

“I should go. Ji-hwan won’t come here, right?”

“No. Today, we’ll do it in the teacher’s room. As for the Taeguk Watch….”

“I’m leaving a clone, so you don’t have to stay here.”

“Wow, awesome.”

In Baek Seol-hee’s room, a clone dressed in a suit was sitting upright on a chair.

“When the emergency alert goes off from the Taeguk Watch, that reacts?”

“Yes. Let’s go. Can you do more?”

“I can, but I prepared a surprise gift for you, unnie.”

“…Surprise?”

“Yes. Let’s go over together first?”

Under Yumir’s guidance, Baek Seol-hee carefully extended her hand through the golden dimensional gate.

Swoosh.

The first thing she saw upon crossing the space was a dark room.

The familiar silhouette indicated it was Do Ji-hwan’s room, and soon, breathing sounds began to be heard.

Ssh, ssh.

“…Wow.”

Baek Seol-hee swallowed.

On the bed.

Do Ji-hwan, lying on the bed in just a shirt and pants, had golden glowing handcuffs on both hands.

“To think of making handcuffs with magic power. You really….”

“Unnie.”

Buzz.

“I’m going to take a picture.”

“…….”

With those words, Baek Seol-hee let go of the last thread of her rationality.

Meanwhile, somewhere on Earth.

“…….”

A black-haired woman stared at the video that had arrived on her smartphone with an expressionless face.

“Hmm.”

Her golden eyes glinted as she analyzed the video with the precision of an intelligence analyst.

“…Even these two might not be enough….”

In the video:

As the white-haired woman collapsed, the Goblin rushed towards the camera.

The camera fell to the floor, and the blonde woman was quickly devoured by the Goblin.

“We need more. More. Alive women, S-class women….”

Crunch.

“If not, we’ll die….”