Chapter 81

Chapter 81

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 81Ray Pendragon.

He could truly be called someone who had written a legend in Seoul Hero Academy, just like his name.

Born into a great British noble family, he was a student who had come to study at Seoul Hero Academy, which possessed the finest curriculum like no other. The moment he entered as a first-year, he grasped the Academy's system, achieved the feat of founding a club as a freshman, rose to Diamond Club in his second year, and then seized control of the student council with unstoppable momentum.

He was truly someone who could be called the protagonist of a web novel.

“All of us in the Seoul Hero Academy student council welcome you! The blue-haired one is first place. Is the black-haired one second place?”

Ray Pendragon looked back and forth between us, said that, then smiled.

“Now, why don't you sit down first? The reason I called you here isn't to scold you or anything, so you don't need to keep standing.”

At his words, I looked at the table before me.

Aside from the head seat where Ray Pendragon sat, only seats suitable for people lower in rank than him remained...

Interesting.

At his words, Choi Yeon first took the nearest empty seat, and I pulled out a chair──“...

Oho?”

then placed it directly opposite the president and sat there.

He raised the corner of his mouth as though finding the sight amusing.

Yuli, standing beside Pendragon, looked startled, but I knew better than anyone that he wasn't the kind of man who would get angry over something this trivial.

“If we're going to talk anyway, wouldn't it be better to face each other? Student Council President.”

“Sure. This way I won't have to turn my head either. Sit comfortably!”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Only after I said that and took my seat did the student council members sit in their respective places.

Among them was Seo Yeon-su, whom I'd encountered while preparing for the all-out war.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the first to speak was Yuli, seated beside the student council president.

“Choi Yeon.”

“Yes.”

“It says here that you recently placed second in the Class Ranking Match and played the biggest role in bringing Class C to second place overall?”

“Yes.”

“Your entrance score was first place. During the entrance exam, you drew your sword against Instructor Ji Su-hyeon and aimed for her neck...? Is that true?”

At Yuli's words, the student council members began murmuring.

Among them, Pendragon continued smiling as though he still found it amusing.

“That is correct.”

“May I ask why you acted that way?”

“...

She told me to do what I was most confident in, so I merely swung the sword I was most confident with.”

Yuli made a face as though she couldn't understand Choi Yeon's calm answer. Soon, her gaze turned toward me.

“Han Eugene. You placed first in the recent Class Ranking Match. It says here that you played the biggest role in making Class A number one. Wow, junior. You were quite an impressive person?”

Saying that, Yuli glanced at me.

As my reaction, I merely gave a slight shrug.

“Let's see... right, according to the records, it's also the highest score in Academy history. May I ask what happened?”

“No.”

“Ooh, as expected... huh?”

Yuli's eyes widened as though she thought she'd misheard.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I said no.”

Why would I tell her?

It's not like I'd gain anything even if I did.

I simply decided not to answer.

“R-really? If you don't want to answer, well... I can't force you. Then let's look at the entrance exam... h-huh? You sniped Instructor Ji Su-hyeon in the head at point-blank range with a sniper rifle? Wait, who messed with the entrance exam records...”

“Ah, that one's true.”

“Right? It's a joke... you said it's true?”...

So human eyes really could get that wide.

Still, facts were facts, so I couldn't exactly lie.

When I nodded, Ray Pendragon, sitting beside the flustered Yuli, burst out with a loud “Puhah!”

“Sniping an instructor...! Khk...! Khahahahaha!! Ah, I can't hold it in! Seriously!”

Seeing the student council president clutch his stomach, lower his head onto the table, and laugh, Yuli wore the expression of someone who had given up on everything.

“Right, the top-ranked and second-ranked students of every year have always been weirdos... I guess that makes sense. Then from here on is the main point...”

“Yuli, wait. I'll say this.”

So it was finally coming.

“How about the two of you join the student council?”

The reason Ray Pendragon had called us here.

Recruitment into the student council.

The current student council would enter society after next semester. They were trying to create successors after finishing their two-year term.

I'd already heard about it beforehand, so I wasn't particularly surprised.

I simply thought, Ah, it's finally here.

Perhaps because neither of us had answered yet, Pendragon continued speaking.

“If you become part of the student council, you'll receive benefits you can't even imagine. Basically, you'll become fairly free from school regulations, gain the right to manage student council funds, and most importantly, the way society outside looks at you will change. What do you think? Tempting, isn't it?”

Pendragon made the proposal with a confident expression.

Well, he wasn't wrong.

On the Academy route, running things around the student council was extremely appealing.

As often happened in works like this, the student council held considerable power, enough to interfere with the school's systems, if only slightly.

Even in reality, there was an urban legend that if you couldn't buy a car while serving on the student council, you were an idiot, so with this kind of authority, even more than that would probably be possible.

If I'd possessed an ordinary character and received this offer, I would've accepted immediately...

But right now, I was the heir to the Calione Family.

For someone with my background, the student council route had more losses than gains.‘Whether it's money or power... either one.’Money? With all the work the student council has, I'm supposed to gather the pocket change that comes from handling it?

How much allowance do I have right now?

That's like Bill Gates bending down to pick up a dropped dollar.

Power? Maybe in the light, but in the underworld, Calione held absolute authority.

There was no need to create contacts in politics or the hunter industry when it was faster to simply use the routes Calione had already established.

Most importantly.‘I already know your methods inside and out.’I'm not going to play along.

I lightly shook my head.

“I'll decline.”

“Hm? Why? Isn't there no reason to refuse? You'd be joining the student council, after all.”

Pendragon looked at me with an expression of incomprehension as he asked.

“I'm rather introverted... and I find standing in the center of a shining stage uncomfortable.”

I smiled as I answered.

Pendragon looked as though he didn't understand my response.

“Then... Choi Yeon. Aren't you interested in the student council?”

“Not really.”

She too merely shook her head and declined.

“Hahahahaha! I didn't expect both of you to refuse. You're much more modest than I thought?”...

He's taking this as modesty?

“You don't have to refuse that hard. Everyone in this room is trustworthy, so you can just speak honestly.”

This feels like...

“You want to join the student council, don't you?”

He's forcing us to do it?

Even in the original story, the event for joining the student council could only be participated in if you became first or second in your year... but under no circumstances did it ever create an atmosphere this forceful.

There had to be some reason hidden behind this.

“Even if we joined, wouldn't you also invite the top-ranked and second-ranked second-years into the student council?”

“Hm? Of course?”

“Then in the end, we'd be placed beneath our seniors. You may already know from the rumors... but I don't particularly like being under someone else.”

Surely he wouldn't keep recommending it after I'd said this much.

Just as I thought that.

“President, didn't I tell you? Kids these days don't listen when you speak nicely.”

A man slammed the table and stood up.

The position written on the nameplate before him was [Treasurer].

“If the seniors are telling you this much, shouldn't you brats just read the room and accept it?”

Spouting a stereotypically thuggish line, he stood and glared at me and Choi Yeon.

“If you were just average, I wouldn't care. But one of you is the Sword Saint's granddaughter, and the other is setting the highest records in Academy history, which is why we're going this far. And yet...”

Creak.

The sound came from his fist.

His fist trembled as though he might swing it at any moment.

“You're talking as though the Academy student council is nothing special.”

With a cold expression, he slowly approached me and looked down.

“...

You think the student council is a joke? You damn brat.”

As I met his gaze, a cold current began circulating through the student council room.

In the end, unable to endure the atmosphere, I──“Pfft!”

Oops.

I laughed.

“...

What's so funny?”

“No, how could I not laugh? In the end, what you're saying is that we're so outstanding you absolutely want to recruit us, but you're saying it in such a threatening way that the whole situation was too funny. I laughed without realizing it.”

“...

What?”

Ignoring his words, I stood and smiled as I looked around at the student council officers.

“In any case, no matter how you try to persuade me, I have no interest in the student council. Ah! Of course, I don't want to become enemies with the student council either, so I hope you don't misunderstand. And... as the president said earlier, I hope you clearly understand that I wasn't called here to be scolded.”

Saying that, I glanced down at the man standing in front of me.

“I'm not someone who gets criticized for being rude compared to someone else... so show some manners, would you? Senior.”

“You bastard...”

Creak.

I could hear him putting strength into his fist.

Even so, this entire situation was a kind of official event that had already been reported to the faculty office.

If he hit me here, the ones disadvantaged would be him and the student council.

“Treasurer, stop. You're embarrassing yourself against first-years, aren't you?”

“But President──”

“──I said stop.”

The president, who had been smiling the entire time until now, suddenly became expressionless.

At the same time, the air around us began growing heavy.

It felt as though only this place had its gravity increased.

The treasurer, whose veins had been bulging only moments ago, turned pale.

Soon, he let out a breath, looked at me once more, then returned to the seat where he'd originally been sitting.

Only after seeing that did Pendragon begin smiling again.

“Hmm, I feel bad that the atmosphere got so heated. We didn't call you here intending for things to go like this. I hope this incident doesn't worsen our relationship... what do you two think?”

So because the original plan had fallen apart, he was switching to maintaining a friendly relationship rather than making enemies of us.

That much was fine.

“Let's have a meal sometime. I also hope we can get along.”

“...

As long as you don't bother me, I don't care either.”

After hearing my and Choi Yeon's answers, Pendragon nodded and stood.

“Good. Today's meeting was really enjoyable. I hope we can meet with smiles again next time. Ah, Vice President. Could I ask you to see them out?”

“Yes. I'll do that. Juniors. Shall we go?”

Yuli stood and walked ahead first.

We quietly followed her outside, and Yuli slammed the door shut with a bang─ before turning to look at the two of us.

“...

Juniors.”

Her expression, which had been smiling until just moments ago, turned cold.

“Do you realize you almost ruined not only your Academy lives but your lives outside as well?”

“Us?”

At my question, Yuli sighed.

“Don't you know the student council president belongs to the Pendragon family? You almost made the Pendragon family your enemy! Are either of you even from families capable of opposing them?”

The Pendragon family.

A prestigious British family appearing in the game, said to be descendants of King Arthur from the Arthurian legends.

Right.

The reason the student council route was so popular among veteran players on the Academy route was precisely because of backing like this.

Because you could wield considerable power within the Academy.

Of course, if you refused, the backlash afterward was substantial, so posts from newbies who had rejected the student council's offer often appeared on the community.

Things like their family being ruined because they refused the student council, or other students avoiding them.

Well, that was why most of the replies were things like, Hmm~ I smell a newbie~ or Yes, you're the idiot for refusing...──But I'm not an ordinary character.

“We can.”

“...

We can.”

“Hm? Y-you can?”

There's no problem at all.

I'm Calione. Even if I hide my identity, Hanwol Group is behind me.

And behind Choi Yeon is the Sword Saint.

Who could possibly suppress us with family background?

“Thank you very much for today. If we get the chance, let's meet again sometime.”

“...

See you next time.”

“Huh? Uh, okay.”

Leaving the dazed Yuli behind, the two of us headed back toward our class.

Then I suddenly realized there was still time left before first period ended and smiled at the good idea that came to mind.

“Choi Yeon.”

“...?”

“Come somewhere with me.”

“Hm? W-where?”

“To eat something good.”

The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I got, so I should steal that president bastard's fortuitous encounter and eat it myself.