Underground facilities of the Hwangmyeong Mansion.
It was as great as it was when I visited it back during the 12-point alliance talks.
Furniture engraved with golden magic and otherworld ores remained.
What changed from last time is that only two of the 12 families are active at this time.
Those are the Tiger Clan, nickname [Tiger-nim], and the Horse Clan, nickname [Sensitive Black Horse].
[Sensitive Black Horse] “I gave you my device code, I can’t believe you’re contacting me through magic. I guess the device code is meaningless.”
A caption floated on the magic circle and accompanied the voice of Heukma.
Hwang Jiho, with his shining golden hair and eyes, responded with an arrogant voice.
[Tiger-nim] “An important matter needs to be discussed accordingly.”
Hwang Jiho’s voice enhanced by his magic reminded me that he is the head of the Tiger Clan.
Although, I didn’t feel much dignity from him from this side since he was still wearing his school uniform, as if to stick to his concept of being a high school student.
[Sensitive Black Horse] “Is that so? What are we to discuss?”
[Tiger-nim] “I will accept your proposal.”
Hwang Jiho brought up the main point right away, and the energy wave erupted like a fog from where Heukma was.
She seemed satisfied with Hwang Jiho’s words as a gentle energy wave fluttered.
[Tiger-nim] “Then I will tell you the details.”
After a short conversation, Hwang Jiho and Heukma discussed the following;
[The Tiger Clan and the Horse Clan pledge to cooperate in the subjugation of the Demon Race who invades their territory.]
When the two clan heads finished their pledge, magic fluctuated inside the magic circle.
Heukma and Hwang Jiho’s mana were united into one before separating and returning.
Fwaaa!
Hwang Jiho’s left hand was sucked into the magic that appeared in front of him after their pledge.
After their pledge, the two chiefs continued their conversation in a more gentle voice.
The two resolved to dispatch troops to each other’s territories.
[Sensitive Black Horse] “I’ll send a white horse from our side. What kind of tiger are you going to send? I like the Red Tiger.
[Tiger-nim] “Red Tiger is busy. I will send a different one.”
[Sensitive Black Horse] What a shame. I like that Red Tiger speaks nicely though.”
The topic soon changed to the “Eye”.
The eye that’s believed to have been transferred by the Avaritia’s priest.
Heukma asked about the priest’s appearance and his energy wave.
[Sensitive Black Horse] Perhaps his eye is in the hand of Indivius’ priest already. Those two speak frequently.
The word “Indivius’ priest” caught my attention.
Isn’t Indivius the demon who intervened in Joo Soohyuk and Bang Yoonseob’s story?
The reason why the priest took interest in Joo Soohyuk is the freeze-type otherworld under Seokcheon Lake that he cleared.
In this world though, I was the one who cleared that otherworld as I wore my crow mask.
And now, the Demon Race saw me use the Spiritual Word with the crow mask recently.
‘The Indivius’ priest will take interest in me now, not Joo Soohyuk.’
I may have to go through what title hero Joo Soohyuk went through.
I recalled that during the Christmas event, a vicious trap took Joo Soohyuk’s friend and destroyed his mental state.
‘This is indeed a crisis, but I can see this as an opportunity as well.
Now that I know what Indivius’ priest might aim for in the future, I could devise counter plans easier.
My mind was filled with thoughts until I left the mansion and went back to my dorm room.
* * *
Sunday morning.
The heat left by the sports exchange match hasn’t died down yet, but the atmosphere has changed significantly again.
This is because the election campaign period was about to start.
Posters of those running as candidates were posted in all corners of the school.
Perhaps because the midterm exams was just around the corner, students with devastated faces looked at the holograms and posters of candidates while reviewing their notes.
Our class was no exception.
I decided to head to school today with my classmates, and the topic of the student elections eventually came up even though we were busy preparing for the midterm exams.
“I think an election and the midterm exams overlapped last time too.”
“I remember. It was the parliamentary elections last time, right?”
Unlike the student representative candidate posters that were posted in several areas of the school, the Jiikhoe candidate posters were only posted around the residential and dorm areas.
As we passed through the residential area and headed to the freshmen building, Gye Idam’s posters were seen.
She’s the sole candidate for the Jiikhoe chairperson.
“She’s the only candidate but she still has her posters up.”
While Maeng Hyodon memorized some mathematical formulas, he briefly took his eyes off his notes to look at Gye Idam’s posters.
He used to be indifferent to his surroundings, but as his stay at the dorms became longer, he seemed to have begun to memorize the Jiikhoe officers’ names and faces.
“We still need to vote for sole candidates. There’s still an option to abstain. At least 1/3 of the population needs to vote, and she needs at least majority of the votes to win.”
“What the… So complicated.”
Maeng Hyodon rolled his eyes at my answer.
I could hear him quietly mutter “A third of the population but half the votes? Then how many votes does she need?”
‘Wouldn’t it be better to just drop his math class now? He has a lot of other strengths even if he’s not good at math.’
Saeum of April gave Maeng Hyodon a sugar-coated butter stick as he struggled to understand his notes.
Saeum stopped by MITRON early in the morning to buy snacks for us.
His diligence and kindness are admirable.
“…Hyodon, eat this! Hang in there. Guys, have some of this too.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“I’ll eat it well.”
“Thank you!”
Saeum handed me and Mok Wooram the same butter sticks.
“I don’t think it’s likely to happen, but what if she doesn’t win?”
“For Jiikhoe, the current chairman will appoint a temporary leader to lead the organization, and there will be a second election.”
“I hope that Gye Idam sunbaenim will be elected. She kindly understood my situation and referred me to the most urgent part-time jobs among work scholarships. I will definitely vote for her.”
Urgent jobs usually mean a lot of work though.
As Maeng Hyodon and Kwon Lena did in the past, the most common job of working scholarship part-timers was to serve in restaurants, but they were sometimes mobilized for tasks that required physical strength and energy skills.
I heard the best work for students is at the parcel delivery system of Eungwang High.
They need to sort parcels and deliveries that arrive at the school, and since it’s a big school, the number of courier orders is considerable.
The intensity of his work is tough, but Mok Wooram didn’t show any complaints.
He must’ve improved his physical strength through his work anyway.
“Wooram, have some of this too.”
“You’re giving me another?! Thank you!”
The kind Saeum gave another butter stick to Mok Wooram and the latter accepted it with big emotions.
It was a peaceful walk to the school except for the sight of students almost dying as they prepare for the midterm exams.
* * *
At Gwangil Elementary School cafeteria, lunchtime.
Children holding trays were lined up in front of the cafeteria.
Everyone was in groups of three or five and under the guidance of a teacher, but there was one student who wasn’t a part of any group.
Some kids felt sorry for him because he didn’t have anyone to eat with, but the Yellow Tiger’s young alter ego was simply unhappy with the school’s cafeteria food.
‘I just need to put up with this until today. I was going to keep an eye on him today but he didn’t come to work.’
Yellow Tiger’s elementary school homeroom teacher finally cave into the psychological pressure and was absent without permission today.
Although he had mobilized subordinates from the Tiger Clan, it was crucial for him to personally mess with the teacher.
Having a student virtually step on a teacher’s finger would surely drive him to the brink.
‘I didn’t put this on him. He did this on himself.’
The teacher suffered the same thing that he did to students before.
The kids secretly printed and posted comments from the teacher’s SNS accounts, specifically the ones about his dark past.
The teacher’s reputation was ruined and no one wanted to interact with him anymore.
The kids taped it on the teacher’s back, and he only realized it when he got home and changed his clothes.
Surprisingly, many of the kids didn’t think it was a bad thing, and they didn’t realize that they caused the teacher to be absent from work without permission.
That’s because it was something that the teacher usually does to students anyway.
‘It won’t be too odd if he disappears gradually. I need to hand him over to Hyangrok. I need to assign strict teachers to this class so that students can relearn good values…’
Yellow Tiger packed his bag to leave early without permission.
At that time, someone who was staring at him from the back door approached him.
‘He’s not a part of this class. Who is he?’
Looking at the child’s expression, he doesn’t seem to be hostile, and he doesn’t seem to be trying to pull a prank on Yellow Tiger.
A gentle-faced child hesitated before he spoke.
“Do you… want to eat lunch with me? Little tonkatsu is served as a side dish today. They’re still serving it at the cafeteria. Let’s eat together!”
The child’s speech became faster and faster.
The awkwardness in the way he spoke told Yellow Tiger that the child must’ve practiced his words before saying them out loud.
Yellow Tiger closely observed the child with a gentle impression.
His hair was jagged as if cut by a novice barber, and his clothes were old and did not fit him at all.
Still, his nails and clothes were all clean, and his eyes shone with brightness.
‘He’s not from a wealthy family, but he has the straightest and most upright eyes I have ever seen in here. If he were assigned to this class, he would’ve been targeted by the homeroom teacher.’
Yellow Tiger intended to ignore the child at first, but he decided to answer him since he liked the kid’s energy.
“Are you worried that I am alone? You don’t have to worry about me. I have transferred schools so this will be my last day.”
The child looked shocked.
He seemed surprised by Yellow Tiger’s way of speech that sounded like an old man, which didn’t fit his young appearance at all.
Aside from that, the child seemed genuinely upset, as if he didn’t want the Yellow Tiger to transfer.
“I should’ve approached you faster… I wanted to get close to you…”
Yellow Tiger was reminded of Eun Jaeho, the youngest descendant of the Tiger Clan who is the same age as the human being before him.
The other two descendants are preparing for Eungwang High’s entrance exam, and the youngest usually makes that face when the older descendants can’t play and hang out with him.
Yellow Tiger’s fickle heart couldn’t stand it and he spoke to the child again.
“You want to get close to me? What part of me made you want to befriend me?”
The child hesitated and couldn’t answer immediately.
Yellow Tiger was sure that it was his physical appearance that made the child want to befriend him, but the child’s answer caught him off guard.
“…’Cos you’re kind of like a tiger?”
Yellow Tiger reacted to the word ‘tiger’.
He didn’t really bother to hide that he’s from the Tiger Clan, but he doesn’t remember outright displaying his tiger-esque characteristics at this school.
After trying to recall his actions, Yellow Tiger spoke again.
“Which part of me is like a tiger?”
“Just… Sometimes I see you as a tiger.”
The child doesn’t seem to be lying.
The young Yellow Tiger’s eyes sparkled.
