Chapter 137

Chapter 137

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 137“You were ordered to kill a dragon... you do know that's not exactly an easy story to believe, right?”

I gave a faint laugh and shrugged at her extremely serious expression.

“Considering the information the Don

gave me and my identity, don't you ultimately have to believe me? In the first place, there shouldn't be anyone else who knows about the promise between you and the Don.”

At my words, she tightly shut her mouth.

Naturally enough, the Father she knew was absolutely not the kind of person who would go around telling just anyone about something like this.

Not believing what I said now would be no different from calling Vito Calione, the man who made that promise with her, a liar.

“Fine... let's assume you're telling the truth. Then how exactly do you plan to kill Fafnir? Even if you're a Calione Hitman, you can't kill that thing just by having Ascalon.”

Her words were only natural.

If merely possessing the sword were enough to kill it, there was no way it would've been left alone until now.

However.

“I obviously know that. That's why I intend to modify Ascalon a little.”

“...

Modify it a little?”

“The Lava Cave. I intend to get help from the people there.”

“──Denied.”

The bishop answered firmly.

“Don't talk nonsense. You're going to persuade those people? Do you even know what kind of people they are?”

“I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't mention them if I didn't know. Isn't it where the best blacksmiths in the Republic of Korea have gathered?”

Blacksmiths who used the Lava Cave, where lava constantly flowed, as their base and forged the materials and goods found on Jeju Island into equipment.

Their goods were known to sell for enormous prices on the black market, so there was no reason to doubt their skill.

But if there was a problem.

“If that were all, everyone would've gone to them asking for weapons. But those bastards are lunatics. If you don't meet their standards, they steal your weapon and melt it down! There's a reason even Raiders, Scavengers, and villains don't go anywhere near that place!”

They weren't ordinary blacksmiths.

If there were people even the lunatics filling Jeju Island avoided, that only meant they were even crazier.

Those with true madness, not fake madness.

Every one of them was skilled enough to freely manipulate aura, and they used it to gather materials, hammer solid castings, and melt them down.

They were practically human weapons.

That was the Lava Cave Clan.

“The only reason those bastards don't mess with us right now is because I don't leave the territory of our diocese. The moment I leave, they're the kind of people who'd even rip the cathedral bell off. And you're saying you'll ask people like that for help?”

Her eyes turned cold as she spoke.

“In the end, your entire plan is nothing more than something you've devised in your head, with no way to prove any of it. You really might be someone capable of killing Fafnir... but the responsibility and mission placed on me can't be changed by words like that.”

“Is that so.”

As expected, I figured words alone wouldn't be enough.

The covenant and oath binding her were far stronger than one could imagine.

“So all I need to do is prove it, right?”

“What?”

“I'll return by evening. If I manage to prove it, I'd like you to trust me and entrust Ascalon to me.”

“What are you...”

“Ah, and I'll borrow a motorcycle too. As you know, the motorcycle I stole was completely smashed apart by someone.”

Leaving her standing there blankly, as though unable to follow what I was saying, I walked toward the cathedral.

Then the door slowly opened.

Sister Maria poked her head out with worried eyes.

“Did your conversation with the bishop go well...?”

“Ah, Sister Maria.”

Perhaps because she'd witnessed what had happened earlier herself, she looked extremely worried.

“I'm relieved that all your limbs still seem intact. You didn't get hit or anything, did you?”

“Surely not. Of course not.”

My body had nearly been compressed, though...

“The bishop really is a good person, but sometimes when something involving us happens, she loses her head for a moment. Please don't hate the bishop because of what happened this time.”

“You don't need to worry. We've already finished talking.”

Perhaps relieved by my answer, Sister Maria smiled brightly and clasped both hands together.

“Ah, is that so? That's a relief! But where are you going now? It looks like you're going somewhere other than here.”

“Ah, yes. There's somewhere I need to stop by for a moment.”

“Somewhere to stop by? Outside the cathedral is dangerous...”

It was the kind of concern only someone who knew the dangers of Jeju Island extremely well could have.

But I was someone she didn't need to worry about.

So I smiled and said.

“It's fine. The people where I'm going are kind people.”

Extremely so.

______________

──Kwarung!──Kwang!──Boom!

After arriving at one of the places on Jeju Island known as the Lava Cave, I got off the motorcycle and looked toward the entrance.

A massive cavern where lava that looked lethal to the touch churned.

Even now, sounds like continuous thunder were echoing from inside.

I'd wondered if the timing might be bad and they'd all be gone on a ‘circuit’ looking for materials, forcing me to try somewhere else.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

“Then shall we go?”

As I slowly entered the cave, the thunderous sounds grew steadily closer.

A sign that I was approaching my destination.

And then, from a certain point onward.

Clang──.

The sound stopped as if it had been a lie.

The cavern fell completely silent, as though all the noises until moments ago had merely been auditory hallucinations.

The only sound was the bubbling of gas from the lava flowing down the walls.

Without stopping despite the sudden change in atmosphere, I continued walking forward until a wide cavern finally appeared.

There.

“If you're lost, get the hell out. We're busy.”

Dozens of burly men radiating hostility glared at me with their fists clenched.

Mysterious men stripped to the waist, showing off bulging muscles like bodybuilders.

Sweat dripped from their entire bodies, and every single one of them had aura wrapped around their hands.

Seeing their appearance confirmed I'd come to the right place, and I smiled faintly.

“Is this the Blue Yaksha Workshop?”

The men fell silent once again.

The first among them to speak was a man with a dark stubble-covered chin.

“Judging by the fact that you know that name, you don't seem to have come to the wrong place. What exactly were you thinking, coming to us?”...

Talking down to me from the first meeting?

“If someone unknown comes to a workshop, that makes them a guest, doesn't it?”

I answered informally in return and stood directly in front of him.

As he silently stared at me, his gaze soon fixed on one spot.

His eyes shifted slightly below my face.

“W-wait. That button work... is that Maestro's work?”

“What? Maestro?”

“That bastard came wearing something made by Maestro?”

Apparently ‘DisPater’ alone had properly caught their attention, because one by one they began gathering around me.

Before I knew it, my surroundings were filled with muscle.

The number... around twenty?

Aside from a few, it seemed almost everyone was here.

Even if their goals were different, an item made by someone who had reached the pinnacle of craftsmanship would naturally draw attention just by existing.

Of course, for these bastards...

“If we used that to make an item, what the hell would come out...”

“Boss. If we strip that off him and process it ourselves, couldn't we really break through the wall?”

“Kehehe. That's killer. An item with a form like that.”

Their direction was a little different.

They were already treating ‘DisPater’ as their own material even though I hadn't said a single word.

They were exactly as I remembered.

People who had encountered a wall in martial arts they couldn't overcome through their own strength and sought the answer in items.

These were the ‘Blue Yaksha Workshop.’

Despite how they looked, they were a faction that pursued martial arts

with absolute seriousness.

“Hey. Take off all the clothes you're wearing and put down everything you're carrying, and we won't kill you. That's a pretty profitable offer for you too, isn't it?”

Apparently already full of thoughts of taking my belongings, the bastard smiled and cracked his joints.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the one who came here to make an offer.”

“What?”

And another characteristic of theirs was...

“I came here under Master Kwak Chun-sik's orders.”

They were people who had learned the Aura Style.

I put my hand into the Cube and unfolded Kwak Chun-sik's letter of recommendation toward them.

“I am Eugene Han Calione, the legitimate successor of the Aura Style and the direct disciple

of Master Kwak Chun-sik. My proposal is extremely simple.”

──Kneel, you bastards.

How dare brats several generations below me try to act like we're equals?

You wanna die?

______________

In the Aura Style, seniority was absolutely immutable, practically a covenant that had to be obeyed.

It was an unwritten law that applied even to disciples who no longer attended the martial arts hall.

And that was why I could comfortably reveal my face and name while speaking with these guys.

If they betrayed me, it wouldn't be me but the other disciples who came to punish them.

And they'd beat them into powder until they couldn't use their muscles or bones anymore.

Which meant I could do things like this too.

“The water's lukewarm.”

“S-sorry! Since the surrounding temperature is so high, the water quickly──”

“The water's luuuuukewaaaarm!!”

“S-sorry! You crazy bastards! Bring out the ten-thousand-year snow flower we're keeping as material!”

“B-but Boss! We were going to use that later to make armor──”

“Grand-Senior

said he wants cool water!!”

Yes.

This is what a proper society looks like.

Maybe Kwak Chun-sik became such an old-fashioned tyrant because he'd lived his entire life thinking an environment like this was normal?

Look at this.

It's so comfortable.

“Hey. You, the guy they called boss. Your name was... Yoon Gwang-su?”

“Yes. Please feel free to call me Gwang-su, Senior Uncle.”

“Right, Gwang-su. I'm just asking in case, but you're not thinking something like, ‘If we bury him here, no one will know,’ are you?”

At my joking question, the bastard jumped in place.

“N-no! What are you saying?! How could I dare have such a horrific thought toward Senior Uncle!”

“No, no. I was just worried. I personally told Master I was coming to meet you guys and even got the address from him, so I was asking just in case he might worry if I suddenly stopped contacting him.”

“...

Pardon?”

“Why. Is that hard to understand?”

Should I explain it more simply?

“Twice a day. If I don't contact him, Master plans to come beat the shit out of you himself. So our Gwang-su should take very good care of me so I don't get hurt anywhere, right?”

“O-of course. Naturally.”

The bastard barely managed a smile while sweating nervously at my threat-filled joke.

What I'd asked Kwak Chun-sik for wasn't anything special.

I had simply asked him to write the letter of recommendation using ink infused with his aura.

The moment they saw the aura-infused ink, they'd realize this wasn't something that could be forged.

“S-so, Senior Uncle. You said there was something you'd like to commission us for.”

“A commission? Ah, right. There was. One or two things.”

“T-two things? Yes. Please tell us.”

Gwang-su, distinguished by his dark stubble, rubbed his palms together as he asked me.

There weren't many things I wanted from them.

The first was.

“I want to make something with you.”

“...

Something?”

“Yeah, something. There's no one around here who can do it except you guys. I absolutely need you and your apprentices.”

To receive manpower from them.

“If it's making something, that's what we usually do, so it shouldn't be much of a problem... what is the other request?”

“Ahh, the other one. Rather than a commission, it's closer to a favor... yeah. Actually, that one should be easier.”

“A favor? Please tell me. If it's something I can do, I'll help with anything.”

“Really?”

Then there's no need for me to hold back anymore.

“Give me your secret technique.”

“Pardon? What do you──”“Give it.”

Ah, I'm asking for a new technique.