Chapter 100

Chapter 100

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 100After returning to my room and changing clothes, I spent some time checking whether there was anything wrong with DisPater.

“...

Is a slight scratch all?”

Despite taking an attack powerful enough to instantly tear apart the Academy uniform, which had basic defensive magic applied to it, DisPater had endured perfectly fine as though it were nothing.

Since it had an automatic repair function, scratches of this level would be fixed quickly.

Even though it was only Unique rank, it had this level of performance. Just how absurdly powerful would it become once a core was added and it was properly completed?

Thinking that, I took out the Dungeon Core I had carefully stored inside the Cube.[Name: Dungeon Core][Rank: Epic(EPIC)[Type: Material][Description: A crystal formed from the concentrated mana of an artificial dungeon. The mana accumulated and compressed over several decades provides enough output to sustain a single dungeon.

It was, in effect, something that could be considered an arc reactor in this world.

“They said it definitely needed a narrative.”

The Academy terrorist attack was ultimately one of the main scenarios of the Academy route.

Then, if it was a Dungeon Core connected to this incident, wouldn't it be more than enough to serve as that core?

“Well, I won't know until I take it there myself.”

I put the Dungeon Core back into the Cube and was about to sit on the bed when I noticed that the outside of the estate, which had been quiet until now, had become noisy.

“What happened?”

When I opened the window and checked, I could tell that the organization members who had gone out with Father had returned.

Which meant Father had returned as well.

When I headed toward the entrance of the estate, I saw Father coming in just as expected.

“Welcome back. Father.”

“...

Yes.”

Why was it?

Father's expression looked darker than usual.

There was a small patch of soot on his face.

I carefully asked, just in case.

“...

Was it a trap?”

“Yes. There were certainly traces that they had been there, but by the time we arrived, there were only bombs left.”...

Then the soot on Father's face was probably Bloody Clown's doing.

“It felt far too suspicious to call it their hideout, so I went in alone. If I had entered together with the other members, there could have been a serious accident.”

“Were you injured anywhere?”

“Hm? Are you perhaps worried about this father? Ha! Do you really think something like that could injure me? It didn't even itch, so don't worry too much.”...

True.

He was someone who could take an anti-tank shell head-on without a single injury and crush it with his bare hands, so what was there to worry about?

No matter what Bloody Clown did, there was no way he could harm Father.

“But if the place Father went to was a trap, doesn't that mean there was a problem with the informant?”

“...

I thought the same, but it seems they really were there.”

Father said that and took out his phone, then showed me a photograph.

A blackened wall.

On it was a drawing of a black rat pointing a finger and laughing.

“...

Plague Rat.”

“Yes. Plague's symbol. Meaning the information itself wasn't wrong. It's unfortunate today turned out like this, but what can we do? We should be grateful no one was hurt.”

Father's eyes as he said that were unmistakably those of someone seeking revenge.

“Don't worry. I will catch him.”

There was a faint killing intent in his gaze, as though he intended to chase him anywhere and kill him.

Even though I wasn't the target of that gaze, it was enough to make me tense for a moment.

But soon Father lightly tapped my shoulder and gave a small smile as though trying to change the atmosphere.

“Come to think of it, the Academy is still holding the freshman welcome party tomorrow, isn't it?”

Had Father received separate notice as well?

From the Academy's perspective, he was practically a parent, so perhaps it was only natural that he knew.

“Yes. If they postponed the schedule, public opinion might form that they were frightened by the Villain Alliance.”

And so, this very evening, the Academy had released an official position stating that the Villain Alliance's terrorist attack had been completely stopped by the students, and that in the end, the Villain Alliance was nothing more than a small gathering of villains.

“I see? Then the oath this time will be given by the child of the Azure Sky Clan who ranked first. What a shame.”

“...

Ah. About that. Father.”

“Hm?”

“That oath. I'll be giving it.”

“Wh-what?”

Father's eyes widened as though this was completely unexpected.

“You mean you'll give the Seoul Hero Academy oath, the oath that only the most outstanding hero cadet in the entire country can give?”

“...

Yes.”

“N-no. I knew you were talented, but... how? Did that child perhaps die during the terrorist attack?”

No, considering that the Consiglière must have told him after everything ended that he'd met Choi Yeon and the Sword Saint together, the fact he was still saying this showed just how shocked he was.

“Of course not. Choi Yeon simply stepped down from the role on the spot, so I ended up taking her place.”

Even after I told him the truth, Father's eyes showed no sign of shrinking.

No, rather, his exhausted-looking face was gradually brightening.

“Ha! Haha! Hahahaha! Parnello. Did you hear that? My son is going to give the oath at Seoul Hero Academy.”

“Congratulations, Don, Young Master.”

“This is no time to stand around. Tell Dominic at once to write the finest declaration for Eugene to use.”

“Yes. I'll relay it immediately──.”

“W-wait!”

Flustered by Father's reaction far beyond anything I'd imagined, I immediately grabbed Parnello's hand as he turned to move.

“It's fine! The Academy said they'd provide the declaration!”

“...

Is that so?”

“Yes. So it really is fine.”

A declaration written by Calione's Consiglière.

I had no idea what kind of contents would come out of that, but I had the feeling I might end up reading something strange if things went wrong.

Besides, if I stayed here any longer, there was no telling what other suggestions Father might make.

“I also need to prepare for tomorrow, so I'll go rest now. Father, you should rest well too.”

“Ah, yes. Well, you've been educated in public speaking since you were young, so I'm sure you'll do well.”...

I learned public speaking too?

I gained a new piece of knowledge about Eugene Han Calione.

“I've kept you too long. Go upstairs and rest.”

After greeting Father like that and returning to my room, I looked at the declaration I'd received from the Academy several days ago.

“...

So I have to read this in front of the entire school?”

Of course, it wasn't as though I'd never read a declaration at the Academy before.

When playing the Academy route, I usually aimed for first or second place for the sake of easier gameplay, and in the process, I always went through the event where I had to read the speech.

But there was a huge difference between seeing it in a game and having to actually read it myself.

“I guess I have no choice but to face it.”

Since I had to recite the declaration anyway, I might as well work on an achievement while I was at it.

As I kept reading through the declaration with that thought.[Young Master? This is Alessia. Are you asleep?]

Alessia's voice came from outside.

Alessia came to see me at this hour?

“The door's open, so come in.”

Wondering what was going on, I said that, and Alessia carefully entered while holding something and bowed her head.

“I apologize for visiting you so late. The item I ordered just arrived, so I came despite the discourtesy.”

“Something you ordered?”

At my question, Alessia showed me what she was holding.

“An Academy uniform. According to your aide, all of your uniform was torn today, so I hurriedly obtained one. You cannot exactly give the oath in casual clothes in front of the entire student body, can you?”

Seeing Alessia speak with a mischievous smile, I couldn't help but chuckle.

“True. That almost would've been a disaster.”

I took the uniform from her and checked it.

It was the same size as the one I'd originally had.

Perhaps she'd had it washed separately after buying it, because a pleasant scent came from the uniform.

“Thank you. Alessia.”

“I merely did what I was supposed to do. Cough, cough!”

“Did you catch a cold?”

“...

Phew, I don't think so. It's probably because I followed the Don and breathed in some dust... if I drink some warm water before sleeping, I should be fine.”

Right, there had been an explosion.

“Were you hurt anywhere?”

“To receive concern from the Young Master. It's been a while. Yes, fortunately, no one was injured, including me. After all, none other than the Don

was at the front.”

Father had definitely said no one was hurt either.

She didn't have any visible injuries, so it really did seem to be nothing more than dust.

“If that's all, then that's fine...”

“Is that the speech you'll be reading tomorrow, Young Master?”

Still smiling, she seemed to notice the monitor that was still on and walked over to it with interest.

There was no particular reason she couldn't read it, so I stayed quiet while Alessia gave her evaluation of the declaration.

“Hm... how should I put it... it seems cliché.”

“Right?”

Just as she said, it was a declaration that had been used continuously from the past until now, so I had also been thinking it felt cliché.

“Wouldn't it be possible for you to write the declaration yourself, Young Master?”

“If I really wanted to, it probably wouldn't be forbidden, but I doubt the Academy would like it very much. After all, I'd be doing it entirely on my own authority.”

More importantly... I'd barely been maintaining my sanity by telling myself I was only reading what the Academy told me to.

And now I was supposed to change it into something original?

My face might explode and kill me.

“If that's what you say, Young Master, then I suppose it can't be helped. In that case, I'll take my leave.”

“All right. Take care of yourself.”

After sending Alessia away like that, I sat back down at the desk and stared at the declaration in front of me again before letting out a sigh.

“...

I don't know.”

______________

The entrance to the Academy was even noisier than usual.

“External guests, please verify your identities here!”

“We will be checking student IDs! Students, before entering through the school gate, please present your student ID here!”

Security had been tightened even further because of yesterday's terrorist attack.

For students, it seemed to end with comparing their student IDs against Academy records, but anyone could tell at a glance that screening for external visitors was extremely strict.

“This is far enough. I'll go in alone from the gate.”

“Will you be all right?”

Sitting in the car Han Seo-jun drove as usual, I realized it was taking longer than expected and gathered my things.

“It'll be better than just sitting here. It seems difficult for outsiders to enter anyway, so I'll contact you first when I'm leaving.”

“I'm fine. I'll remain near the Academy, so please contact me.”

“...

Do as you please.”

After getting out of the car, I took out the student ID I normally kept in my wallet and approached the school gate.

It was more troublesome than usual, but if it was for security, there was nothing to be done.

Just as I was about to show my student ID to an Academy staff member who had noticed me──“You're Han Eugene, the student giving the oath at today's freshman welcome party, correct? You may go straight inside.”

“...

Ah, yes.”

I ended up getting a free pass without even showing my student ID.

What was that...?

Still, figuring that something good was still good, I headed toward the classroom.

There was still quite a bit of time before the freshman welcome party began, and the Academy's instructions were for us to wait in our classrooms until then.

“You've arrived! Freshman representative! Boss of Familia! Han! Eu! Gene!”

The moment I entered the classroom, Jin-woo greeted me by making an enormous fuss, shouting at the top of his lungs and overreacting.

Seeing Young-je holding his forehead in the back and Se-ah sighing, I could roughly guess what kind of situation this was.

“Jin-woo.”

“Hm? Why? Were you moved?”

“Stop overreacting.”

“Hmph...”

I seriously don't know anymore.

I should just prepare the declaration.