Chapter 82

Chapter 82

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 82The place we were heading to now was somewhere I'd been saving until I got a little closer to Choi Yeon, a place I could say was impossible to even attempt without her.

“...

A garden?”

“Isn't this your first time here?”

“Yeah. I've never seen this place before.”

Titania Garden, located inside the Academy.

After Ray Pendragon became student council president, it was created as a welfare facility for students, an artificial forest made by gathering numerous spirit masters, mages, and Awakened.

Its size alone was about that of an average university campus, and it was also famous as the most popular dating course among Academy couples.

“Why did we come here, though? Don't tell me...”

What weird thing is she thinking this time──“Sparring?”

Right, Choi Yeon was this kind of character.

Does she really think about nothing but sparring?

I sighed and pointed at the map near the entrance.

“We're going there.”

“...

Lake Vivian?”

“That's right. That's where we're headed.”

More precisely, you could call it an elixir storage facility.

This forest created by Ray Pendragon was a public place made using collected student fees under the pretext of creating a relaxation area for students.

A place all students could freely use and rest in.

However, a player who entered the Academy would one day receive a mysterious note, and if they followed its traces through a chain quest, they would learn the truth about the student council and Ray Pendragon...!

There was a quest like that, and this was one of the places that served as the climax of the scenario even on the student council route.

And I intended to ignore all of that and simply snatch the reward.

Using Choi Yeon.

“Choi Yeon. I'm asking just in case, but you can use Water-Cutting, right?”

“Water-Cutting? I can use it, but...?”

“That's a relief. Then follow me.”

As I entered the forest with Choi Yeon, the clear air and fragrant scent rising from the flowers planted nearby tickled my nose.

Butterflies and bees flew around us, and even fairies could occasionally be seen.

Choi Yeon seemed fascinated by the scenery, spinning around and busily looking everywhere.

“It doesn't feel like Korea.”

“I suppose not. This is a kind of mana spot Pendragon artificially created to reenact a myth.”

“...

A mana spot?”

“That's right, a mana spot.”

And beneath this place was also the dungeon located below our club room.

“When students use their abilities inside the Academy, instead of letting the mana disperse, it's gathered here. More precisely, it all gathers in the lake at the center of the forest.”

And that mana is affected by this myth-inspired forest and reborn as an elixir.

That elixir is called ‘Vivian's Spring Water.’

An elixir that greatly increases mana or aura, and because it raises the current stat together with its maximum value, its worth was practically impossible to put a price on.

Of course, that made sense, considering it was created by gathering mana produced in a place filled not with ordinary heroes, but with the world's greatest talents at Seoul Hero Academy.

“Is it similar to our ancestral mountain?”

Choi Yeon muttered that while listening to my explanation.

By ancestral mountain, she seemed to mean ‘that place’ owned by Choi Yeon's family, the Azure Sky Clan, and used as a training ground.

Well, it worked on a similar principle, so she was right.

Still, I should pretend not to know.

“Ancestral mountain? Do you mean the mountain owned by your Azure Sky Clan?”

“Yeah. I heard mana gathers there too, so everyone in the Azure Sky Clan trains there.”

Hm? Wait.

“...

Are you allowed to tell outsiders that?”

“Ah. Right.”

As far as I knew, the fact that the mountain owned by Choi Yeon's family gathered mana was a family secret.

Yet the girl in front of me had just blurted it out as though it were nothing.

“Forget it. What I just said. Grandpa will scold me if he finds out.”...

He won't scold you, he'll come shut my mouth because he wants to kill the witness!

For now, I sighed and nodded.

“I'll pretend I didn't hear anything.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She hasn't been telling other people about it too, has she...

Surely even Choi Yeon wouldn't do that.

She was merely a slightly absentminded character.

She wasn't stupid.

“...

Butterfly. Pretty.”

Choi Yeon smiled while following a butterfly fluttering around nearby...

She really isn't stupid, right?

Still, judging by how she caught that blue fairy butterfly, which was notoriously difficult to catch, bare-handed, her skill was as sharp as ever.

“Let that go. It's registered as school property, so you'll get penalty points.”

“Ah.”

At my words, Choi Yeon reluctantly released the butterfly she'd gone through the trouble of catching.

Then she waved at the butterfly as it flew away.

At this rate, first period would end before we even saw the destination, so I grabbed Choi Yeon by the sleeve.

“Huh?”

“Follow me. You can sightsee while walking.”

“Ah, okay.”

Thanks to that damn Pendragon making the place unnecessarily huge, even if we walked diligently, it would still take about ten minutes to reach the destination.

We'd be in the forest the whole time anyway, so it shouldn't interfere much with her sightseeing.

But...

“I've never seen that flower before.”

“The butterfly is sparkling...?”

“Is that a snake? Grandpa would probably like it if I brought it home.”

“There's a stream too.”

“Looks like those people skipped class to come here too.”

Choi Yeon, whom I was practically dragging along, wouldn't stop talking.

Was she originally this talkative?

No.

I could say with certainty that Choi Yeon was absolutely not an NPC with many lines.

“Do you usually talk this much when other people are around?”

“Hm...? No. I don't think so.”

“For someone who says that, you're talking quite a lot right now.”

At my words, Choi Yeon tilted her head as though thinking, Is that true?

“Hmm... maybe I'm a little excited because there are so many things I've never seen before.”

“So many things you've never seen?”

“Yeah. Normally, I only swung a sword at the clan. When I come somewhere new like this, I think I get excited without realizing it.”

At that moment, I remembered that among the methods of raising Choi Yeon's affection in the game, the most effective were traveling and sparring.

Sparring made sense, but I'd always wondered why traveling raised her affection so quickly.

So... there was a background reason like this.

It was something you couldn't know from a game with fixed routes.

So.

“...We have plenty of time before first period ends. Take your time looking around.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

I slowed my pace just a little.

_____________

Not long afterward, the sound of flowing water gradually began to reach us.

The enormous blue lake located in the center of the forest, ‘Vivian.’

This was the place where Pendragon had carefully hidden the elixir.

“Choi Yeon. Do you know much about the legend of King Arthur?”

“...

A little. I learned about it from my family. Is that connected to this place?”

“Of course it is. According to the legend, King Arthur received Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, and there's a theory that the Lady of the Lake was named Vivian. And the name of this lake is also...”

“...

Vivian, right?”

“Exactly. And from now on, we're going inside Vivian.”

Saying that, I approached the lake and glanced at the sign that read [No Swimming]

.

On the surface, it looked like an ordinary sign.

But.

“Was it around here?”

The method of disabling the security totem disguised as a warning sign wasn't particularly difficult.

“Heave-ho.”

I lifted the sign out of the ground and carefully set it aside.

“...

Are you allowed to pull that out?”

“It's something like a security device. I just turned it off temporarily.”

“A security device?”

It was a simple security device that sent a signal to the caster the moment someone entered the water.

But because it was a totem installed on Academy grounds, they couldn't build an overly complicated spell into it, so it could be disabled this easily.

Of course, that was only possible if you knew that this insignificant-looking sign was actually a totem.

“Use Water-Cutting toward the center of the lake over there. By the way, do you have a sword?”

Choi Yeon shook her head at my question.

“No. I can do it with a knife-hand too. Want me to try?”

If it were ordinary water, I would've told her to go ahead.

But this place was a kind of vault containing an elixir.

A knife-hand might not be enough.

“Then wait a moment.”

I'm sure I put one around here...

Ah, found it.

“How about this?”

What I pulled from the Cube was an ugly-looking machete, one I'd taken from the Triads I'd encountered at Incheon Port in the past.

It looked loose and crude, but despite appearances, it was a Rare-rank item enchanted with ‘Durability Enhancement.’

I'd stored it separately thinking I might use it someday, and fortunately, now I had a use for it.

“...

How strongly should I use Water-Cutting?”

“With full power.”

“Then I think it'll only withstand one strike. Is it okay if it breaks?”The machete had ‘Durability Enhancement,’ and she thought it would break from a single swing?

“Um... I'd appreciate it if you used Water-Cutting without damaging the surroundings as much as possible.”

“If that's all, you don't need to worry. Water-Cutting is a quiet technique.”

Saying that, Choi Yeon gripped the machete I'd handed her and took a middle stance.

At the same time, aura began surging around her.

Then she swung the blade simply from top to bottom.

Tap.

The tip of the machete lightly touched the surface of the water.

At the same time.──────!

The water split dramatically to both sides, revealing a hidden staircase.

This was the reason I'd come here with Choi Yeon.

Vivian loves talented swordsmen.

That was why only swordsmen who had reached a certain level could reach the space known as ‘Inside Vivian.’

Among the students currently at the Academy, Ray Pendragon and Choi Yeon were probably the only ones capable of opening this place.

There was no way I, who mainly used guns and fists, could've reached it alone.

To think I could come here this quickly, I couldn't help feeling excited.

At that moment, Choi Yeon walked over with a gloomy expression and handed me something.

“I tried, but it broke. Sorry.”

She lowered her head and handed me the machete, of which only the handle remained.

But compared to the key that opened Lake Vivian, a scrap of iron like this didn't matter at all.

“No, I really picked it up off the ground, so you don't need to feel sorry. I'm grateful enough that you opened this place for me.”

“...

Really?”

After saying that, she suddenly puffed out her chest.

“Then be grateful.”...

What even is this girl?

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Okay.”

Leaving the pleased Choi Yeon behind, I walked down the stairs.

Walls of water stood on both sides.

Inside them, I could clearly see the decorative fish that had been released into the lake swimming around.

Walking underwater like this makes me feel like Moses.

“Pretty.”

Perhaps fascinated that the water split by her technique had hardened in place, Choi Yeon followed behind me, poking the wall of water with her finger.

Leaving her behind, I stood before a pure white temple that looked as though it had been made from marble, then pushed open the white door with my hand and stepped inside.

A heavy sound rang out as the interior of the temple slowly revealed itself.

“...

Seeing it in person makes it even more absurd. I guess you really have to be the Academy student council president to secretly build a facility like this inside the Academy?”

As the door opened, pure white light poured into the temple as though sunlight were shining down.

Runes and spell formations densely covered not only the ceiling, but the walls and floor as well.

Their faint glow seemed to decorate the empty temple with a sacred atmosphere.

And in the middle of that temple stood a single small spring, glowing all by itself...

“──Found it.”