Chapter 155

Chapter 155

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 155For Stage 1 of taking control of the Academy, I first needed to infiltrate a member of the Family into the Academy.

When else would I ever get the chance to infiltrate a Family member into the Academy if not through an opportunity like this?

“First, I need someone in the Family who's relatively free...”

Hmm... let's go through the faces that come to mind.

“Wait, is there even anyone?”

No matter how much I thought about it, there wasn't.

Even if things looked peaceful right now, the organization was currently at war with the Villain Alliance.

In fact, after the Villain Alliance's terrorist attack before, everyone's workload had become even heavier.

“No point worrying about it. I should at least ask...”

-Crash!

At that moment, the sound of something breaking came from outside.

-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

-Don't touch it with your bare hands! What if you get hurt?

Familiar voices came through the door.

When I carefully looked outside, I saw a white-haired girl at a loss as she stared at the broken pottery, while Alessia swept up the shards with a broom.

“...

Maybe I just don't have any talent as a servant.”

“You're an intelligence agent, not a servant in the first place, aren't you? You don't need to be so discouraged.”

“Yees...”

The girl wore a dejected expression while Alessia comforted her.

Then suddenly.

“Hm?”

Our eyes met.

“Ah, found one.”

“Eek? Y-Young Master?”

Perhaps because I'd suddenly opened the door and come out, Ratte jumped in surprise when she saw me.

“Ratte. You don't have anything to do right now, do you?”

“Pardon? Um, I, well, I need to clean this up right now...

Huh?”

Alessia lightly nudged Ratte's flailing back with her shoulder.

“Ratte. The Young Master is calling for you. Are you planning not to go?”

“Ah, n-no, that's not it!”

“Then what are you doing? Say, ‘Yes, Young Master,’ and go.”

“A-ah. Yes! Young Master!”

At Alessia's words, she suddenly psyched herself up and clenched both fists.

“I need your help with some Family business. Can you help me?”

“Family... business?”

The moment the word Family came up, Ratte's expression relaxed, then instantly turned serious.

“If it's for the Family, I'll do anything. What would you like me to help with?!”

Despite appearances, perhaps she really was an agent who had infiltrated even the Villain Alliance for the Family.

Satisfied with her reliable answer, I smiled and placed my hands on both her shoulders.

“Ratte, I need you to be a café owner.”

“Yes! A café owner... pardon?”

“I'm telling you to run a café.”

You said you'd do anything for the Family, right?

Let's do it.

Café owner.

______________

-Vrrrr─ Vrrrr─-Rrrrk rrrrk rrrrkConstruction sounds rang out from the morning commute.

Perhaps the students passing by found it fascinating to see a building going up on what had previously been an empty lot at the Academy, because they kept glancing at the construction site and smiling.

Their expressions seemed full of anticipation.

And that was only natural, because a building shaped like a café, something that had never existed near the Academy before, was being constructed.

“Huh? Boss! What are you doing there?”

Apparently on his way to school, Jin-woo spotted me standing in front of the construction site and came over while waving.

“Nothing. I was just watching the construction site.”

“Construction? Why is there suddenly construction? Do you know what they're building?”

“A café.”

“A café?”

Apparently finding the word café completely unexpected, he frowned.

“Why would the Academy need a café? If they're going to build something, they should make a PC café or something. What's with this old-fashioned teahouse bo...”

“It's my café.”

“Still, I think a café where you can properly relax is definitely better. Hmm, judging from the exterior, I can already tell it's going to become a hot spot.”

“...”

All they'd built so far was enough framework to tell it was going to be a café, and the exterior was still nothing but rebar and concrete, yet Jin-woo was already predicting it would become a hot spot.

The sight of him nodding solemnly without changing his shameless expression at all was truly spectacular.

“But isn't it weird enough that a café is being built inside the Academy, and now you're saying the café belongs to Boss?”

Apparently only now thinking that far, he tilted his head again.

“Hanwol Group obtained the Academy's business rights this time. Since I'm attending the Academy, I ended up being put in charge.”

“...

A café inside the Academy. Boss really is incredible.”

Then he looked at me again with his usual sparkling eyes.

“It probably won't be finished until this afternoon, so let's go.”

“It'll be done that fast?”

“Don't you remember what happened with the club room before?”

This time as well, the ‘Muve’ Family had come to help with construction.

The boss of the Muve Family had insisted that everything belonging to me had to be the best and pushed this through as a way of congratulating me for becoming the top-ranked student...

Well, what did it matter?

Their skills were reliable, so it couldn't have worked out better for me.

When Jin-woo and I went up to the classroom and opened the door, Se-ah and Young-je, who had been talking, looked at us.

“Ah. You're here.”

“Good morning.”

The kids greeted us just like any other morning.

The moment I sat down, they gathered around me as though they'd been waiting.

“Mr. Eugene. Did you see that thing outside?”

“Outside?”

“You know! The new building they're putting up! Apparently it's a café. A café! A café at the Academy, where there isn't even a convenience store so everyone normally has to buy things outside or get them from their clubs! Isn't that amazing?”

Ah, so that's what she meant.

Just as I was about to explain it to them too.

“That belongs to Boss.”

Jin-woo spoke first, as though telling them to be surprised just like he had been.

Then he smugly watched for their reactions.

But.

“Ah, really? That makes sense.”

“If it's the president, well, that's definitely possible.”

They accepted it far more easily than expected.

At that, Jin-woo blinked and stared at the two of them.

“Wait, you're not surprised? That café outside. It belongs to Boss.”

“Well, it is Mr. Eugene, isn't it? I don't think it's especially surprising.”

“If it's the president, nothing he does would really seem strange.”

“Right?”

The two reacted as though it were obvious, and Jin-woo stared at them in confusion before his face fell.

“...

Am I the weird one?”

“Mr. Jin-woo was always weird.”

“You were always weird, though?”

“Waaah...”

Yeah, these are our kids.

As expected, Jin-woo tastes best when he's getting picked on.

A little later, when morning homeroom approached, Ji Su-hyeon entered the classroom as usual carrying the attendance book.

Unlike the exhausted appearance she'd shown recently, she looked unusually cheerful.

Even her skin, which had looked dry and worn out, seemed plump and healthy, so apparently something had happened.

“Instructor. You look like you're in a good mood today?”

And now came Jin-woo's question time, which had basically become routine.

Normally she would've immediately told him to shut up, but for some reason she simply nodded and answered.

“Our class got pretty good grades this time, so the Academy gave me a special bonus. I knew I could trust all of you, didn't I?”

Ah... financial healing.

If it was financial healing, that definitely explained why she looked so good.

She'd already be proud and happy just because all her students ranked near the top, and now the Academy had even given her a cash bonus.

How could she possibly feel better than this?

“Today, we'll spend the day reviewing yesterday's sparring matches. Think of it as a midterm mistake notebook.”

The students groaned and sighed at Ji Su-hyeon's words.

And.

“Yup~ Dean's orders~ You have to do it even if you hate it~”

As though enjoying their reactions, Ji Su-hyeon smiled, put the CD she'd brought along with the attendance book into the player beside the podium, and projected a holographic screen into the air.

“All right, let's start with the people from our class who were eliminated first.”

And so began the midterm review.

At first, the kids reacted as though they didn't want to do it, but once class actually started, they began paying attention, and before long, the atmosphere in the classroom became calm and serious.

“Jin-woo Vivald. Your first problem was trying to fight Marie Nate head-on. You're supposed to be an assassin, and you threw yourself into an army? Were you trying that hard to ruin your exam? If it weren't for the points you earned early on, you'd have ranked near the bottom.”

“...

Yes.”

Like that, she began pointing out each person's problems one by one while explaining even their detailed movements and responses.

“Kim Young-je. Here, rather than buffing your own body to dodge, you should've created magic around yourself so they couldn't approach recklessly. No one can accurately calculate how much mana you have anyway. You should've at least bluffed and bought time.”

“...

I'm sorry.”

“Still, I think you got a sufficiently good result. You worked hard.”

“Yes.”

After going through everyone one by one, finally it was my turn.

“Han Eugene.”

“Yes.”

“...

You just do whatever you want. I don't really see anything to point out in this fight. No, if I had to mention one thing, it felt like you were toying with Jung Eui-hoon, but that's just because you have a bad personality, so I'll let it slide?”

“Yes.”

She read my psychology from back then with frightening accuracy.

Still, hearing that she had nothing in particular to criticize made me feel as though she'd acknowledged my skills.

“Then I guess that's it?”

Seeing that lunchtime was approaching, Ji Su-hyeon turned off the screen and looked at us.

“That's it for class today. Everyone worked hard on the midterms. If you're doing club activities, go do that. If you're going home, go home.”

“““Yes!”””

Thanks to the post-exam buff, class ended even earlier than usual.

At the same time, I stood up and was about to leave.

“Boss. Are we doing club activities today too?”

At that moment, Jin-woo, who was preparing to go home, asked me first.

“No. I'll probably be going to the café today. I just got word that construction is finished.”

“Huh, already?”

“Really? Can we go now? Let's go together!”

“I'm curious too. Can I come?”

Maybe it was the excitement of visiting the newly opened café at the Academy?

Se-ah clasped both hands together and bounced in place as she asked, while Jin-woo and Young-je looked genuinely curious.

I'd planned to show the café to them anyway, so there was no problem.

I nodded and started walking first.

“Let's go together. It's the first day, but they should at least be able to make simple coffee.”

We needed to have an opening day sooner or later.

And so, led by Se-ah, who couldn't hide her excited expression, we all left the classroom together.

“There! That's it, right?”

The newly built café was located about a five-minute walk from the main building.

The building had a total of four floors, with the first and second floors used as the café and the third and fourth floors left as separate spaces for later use.

“Wow... it's really pretty.”

Se-ah's mouth fell open when she saw the exterior.

An open terrace and terrace seating. A wooden door painted mint green. And modern, clean brick walls.

It had an appearance that truly brought a European café to mind.

Judging from the finer details, it seemed the tastes of Reg Muve, the boss of the Muve Family, had been incorporated.‘Did he base it on the scenery of his hometown? He's got good taste.’If even my eyes, despite knowing almost nothing about art, found it sufficiently luxurious and beautiful, then he'd clearly put real care into it.

More than anything, what I liked most was the sign bearing the café's name.‘Cielo notturno’Literally translated, it meant ‘Night Sky,’ a fitting name that symbolized my two identities.

“Huh? Is the person inside the manager?”

At that moment, Jin-woo carefully stared at the woman inside the café and began blushing.

Looks like his tendency to fall in love at first sight activated again.

“Let's go in.”

When we opened the mint-painted wooden door and stepped inside, the fragrant scent of wood and roasted coffee beans wrapped around our noses.

“Welcome!”

And there was a white-haired woman bowing to greet us.

White hair neatly tied on both sides, wearing a cleanly designed black blouse and skirt.

“Welcome to Café Cielo notturno

!”

My secret weapon prepared against the Academy, and my trusted subordinate.

Ratte.