Chapter 47

Chapter 47

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 47Kwon Su-hyeop's expression was rotting away in real time even now.

Yeah, of course it should.

Do you know how much effort I put in just to see that expression?

“I don't think we've met before. What brings you here?”

When I asked him with an expression as though I knew nothing, Kwon Su-hyeop ground his teeth with a crunch.

“...

You planted a spy, so you should have a rough idea, shouldn't you?”

Apparently, after seeing Young-je inside, he had instantly grasped the current situation.

So his head worked fairly well, at least? No, if he still couldn't figure it out after seeing that, he really wouldn't deserve to be a representative.

“Then there's no need to use polite speech, right? You clearly didn't come here with good intentions anyway.”

The moment I abruptly changed my attitude and said that, he looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“Ha, I thought you'd at least show some respect to a senior.”

“If you'd come with goodwill, I would've respected you. But you came here with hostility, not goodwill, didn't you?”

After saying that to him, I entered the club room together with Lee Haru.

“What, didn't you come to say hello? Come inside and have a look around.”

Because I hadn't even shown them half of what I wanted to show them yet.

“Oh? President of Familia, you're here? You're earlier than I expected.”

Lee Se-ri walked out from the kitchen on one side of the club room with flour on her clothes. Then she flinched for a moment upon seeing the members of the ‘Ranger Club’ by the entrance, but soon composed herself and smiled again.

“R-right! You said guests were coming today! We've prepared enough for the guests too, so please come inside!”

Kwon Su-hyeop made a strange expression after hearing Lee Se-ri's words.

I kindly asked him about that amusing face.

“Why, are you surprised that the president of the Recipe Development Club is here? Or are you surprised that our club room has a kitchen? Or maybe... Don't tell me you're surprised that President Lee Se-ri is trying to look perfectly fine even after seeing you.”

But Kwon Su-hyeop kept his mouth firmly shut and didn't answer.

“Well, you don't have to answer. Are you all just going to stand there? Why don't the other seniors come inside too? We've prepared plenty of refreshments.”

Only after hearing my words did the members of the ‘Ranger Club’ slowly enter.

Since I had known in advance that they would come, we had placed plenty of folding tables and chairs in the largest hall of the club room.

Here, they would feel puzzled. Even after all of them sat down, there were still plenty of seats left.

“By the way, we have other guests coming today besides you, so don't feel uncomfortable and make yourselves at home.”

I wasn't asking for much.

I simply wanted to make them see and realize things for themselves before crushing them.

To put it simply, it was just some basic psychological harassment.

And the beginning of that was.

“Eugene, the people from the International Trade Club are here~”

Together with Se-ah, every member who had been at the International Trade Club entered the club room.

There were already twice as many of them as the Ranger Club members who had come here. At that, Kwon Su-hyeop's expression darkened.

“What the hell are all these people...”

“I thought you came after hearing the news, but I guess not? Today is our club's inauguration ceremony

, you see.”

“...

Inauguration ceremony?”

“Yeah. I invited every club under our protection.”

While I was explaining our relationship with the ‘International Trade Club’ to him, I saw Jin-woo's blond head in the distance.

“Boss, I brought the people from the Board Game Club too.”

At the appearance of yet another club, the faces of not only Kwon Su-hyeop but the other ‘Ranger Club’ members gradually began collapsing.

There were already dozens of people gathered in our club room.

They seemed to have come here intending to intimidate us, but it looked like they were the ones being intimidated instead.

“They haven't even all arrived yet, and you're already like this?”

“...

Shut up.”

And the finishing touch for them was──

“I'm here~ Like I said before, it's fine if I borrow the training room, right?”

“...

Do whatever you want.”

Ji Su-hyeon's appearance.

The moment the instructor famous throughout the Academy as someone you should absolutely never mess with appeared, every single member of the ‘Ranger Club’ became flustered.

At the sight of them murmuring so pathetically, Ji Su-hyeon swept her gaze across them once, then snorted and headed straight toward the training area where the equipment was.

There wasn't any particularly great meaning behind Ji Su-hyeon being here.

She was simply a kind of stopper.

Someone to keep the kids, whose tempers had already risen to the limit, from crossing the line recklessly.

Well... even if I hadn't said anything, the moment she learned I'd filled the club room with ultra-luxurious equipment, she'd already declared that she was coming over.

She wasn't the kind of person I could stop from coming anyway, but she arrived at exactly the right time.

Now that Ji Su-hyeon was here too, I could move on to the next step without stopping.

And at that moment, Jin-woo, who had been watching everything beside me, finally failed to hold back his laughter and burst out.

“Boss, look at their faces. They came in acting like hot shit, and now they're the ones getting screwed, right? Can't even close their mouths, right? They're actually jealous too, aren't they?”

Perhaps unable to endure Jin-woo's laughter echoing through the quiet club room, Kwon Su-hyeop finally reddened and shot up from his seat.

“...

I'm leaving first.”

And Jin-woo stepped in front of Kwon Su-hyeop and glared at him.

“Lee Se-ri noona's food isn't even out yet. You guys like Lee Se-ri noona's food, don't you?”

“...

I can eat it another day, so it doesn't matter.”

“Huh? Who said we'd let you eat it later? Dream on.”

After saying that, Jin-woo slowly leaned his head forward and spoke into his ear.

“Today's meal will be the last food you people ever get to eat, so you'd better sit down and eat quietly.”

He usually ran away, but as expected, Jin-woo had an unusual talent when it came to provocation.

Just look at Kwon Su-hyeop trembling over there.

Not only were there members of other clubs nearby, but there was also an instructor and the top-ranked first-year student in the training area, so he couldn't act recklessly and had no choice but to endure it.

Why?

Because every other club member gathered here belonged to a non-combat club just like the ‘Recipe Development Club.’ And every one of them had nearly suffered at the hands of combat-focused clubs before.

If those guys did anything stupid in this situation, they might end up making enemies not only of the Bronze Clubs, but of every non-combat club spread throughout the entire Academy.

And my job was to erase that patience.

“Ah, there's something I haven't told you yet. The Inomiya Group, the family of International Trade Club President Lee Haru, has decided to purchase the patent rights to the ‘Golden Walnut Pie’ recipe....

What a shame, huh? In the end, you really did become the dog chasing the chicken.”

Crunch.

The sound of teeth grinding grew even louder.

“...

Why would a group as large as Inomiya buy their recipe? There's no way they would've known about something like that unless you whispered something into their ears.”

But I didn't stop provoking him. I smiled and told him.

“Like you said, I gave them a little push. Why, does that piss you off? Do you think it's unfair that we suddenly showed up in the middle and took it away from you? Then the answer is simple.”

As I said that, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“──Let's go to war. Declare an all-out war on us. You're the president of a Bronze Club, so you know what that means, don't you?”

An all-out war.

A rule where, with both clubs' consent, they wagered every rating point they had accumulated and all of their club assets, and only one of the two clubs could survive.

“If you declare an all-out war, we won't avoid it. We'll fight back with everything we have. Understand? If you're confident enough to stake everything you have and win, then declare all-out war.”

We.

“‘Familia’ welcomes your challenge.”

I smiled and held out my hand to him, but he didn't take it. Instead, he glared at me and spoke.

“Your club hasn't existed for long, so the protection period should end around next week when free sparring opens up.”

The protection period. An Academy rule that prevented newly established clubs from being recklessly challenged to spars involving club rating points.

Well, it didn't mean much to us.

“The moment the protection period ends, I'll declare all-out war on you. And I'll take everything. Everything you bastards have. So... wash your necks and wait.”

After saying that, Kwon Su-hyeop slapped my shoulder and walked out.

“Wow... That bastard. He seriously slapped your shoulder on the way out just to protect his last shred of pride? Boss. Did you see that?”

Apparently annoyed by the fact that Kwon Su-hyeop had hit my shoulder before leaving, Jin-woo muttered while glaring at them beyond the doors of Room Z.

“I saw it clearly. I would've preferred if they gave up after this... but judging from how he looked at the end, that doesn't seem likely. It looks like we'll end up having to fight a war after all.”

At that, Young-je nodded as though agreeing.

“When I was over there, the lower-ranked members told me about him. They said President Kwon Su-hyeop is stubborn as hell and has the kind of personality where he absolutely has to get whatever he wants.”

In other words, he would never give up.

“If that's the case, there's nothing we can do. We'll have to deal with them our way. Before that, first...”

As I said that, I looked toward the members of the ‘International Trade Club’ and the ‘Board Game Club’ who had come to visit our club today.

“We should have a drink for the guests who came to visit our ‘Familia.’ The mood got a little sour because of the uninvited guests just now... would something sweet help?”

At the same time, the members of the ‘Recipe Development Club’ came out of the kitchen carrying trays piled high with snacks.

“The food is all ready!”

“Please enjoy!”

“Thank you all so much!”

As the savory aromas quickly spread, people began turning their gazes toward the food one after another.

A party held for what was to come.

For Familia.

“Boss. All these people came here trusting only us. Do you think we'll be able to get strong enough by then to suppress those guys?”

Jin-woo's question was reasonable. An all-out war meant that just the four of us would have to face every member of the Ranger Club.

To ease Jin-woo's worries, I quietly gave him some advice.

“No matter how they're only a Bronze Club, they're still a combat club with second- and third-years in it. Maybe I could handle them, but it'll definitely be difficult for you guys. To be honest, I think it'll be hard. For the current you, that is. But──”

I had absolutely no intention of teaching these kids gently. Since they'd decided to follow me, we had to become the best in the Academy.

“Next week might be different. Because I'm going to do everything I can to make you grow.”

And as if responding to my answer, the presidents of the other clubs also began speaking one by one.

“From now on, our Recipe Development Club will help as much as we can!”

“If there's anything the Board Game Club can help with, we'll help too.”

“I'll simply follow the President of Familia.”

With so many people saying they would help us as part of ‘Familia's’ family, there was no reason to be afraid.

Just as they helped me, I would simply live while helping them in return.

“You'd better not eat too much. You might throw up when we spar later.”

I chuckled and lightly warned the members who were just about to enjoy the food, and their faces immediately fell.

“...

Boss.”

“Eugene, that's too much.”

“President, can't you go easy on us just for today...”

For the record, I was completely serious.