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Some time ago, in the Snow and Air Hotel.
Yeom Junyeol had an appointment there to discuss his future activities in the entertainment industry.
Although Yeom Junyeol’s intent to refrain from participating in the entertainment industry until his term as the student representative finishes disappointed the people he was meeting with, the appointment ended well.
Well, there was a Red Lion Team member beside Yeom Junyeol shooting daggers with his eyes, so the appointment couldn't have ended differently.
As he was about to get up from his seat, an errand boy held out a note to Yeom Junyeol.
‘I feel a royal lineage’s presence. I think they left their energy here on purpose.’
The Red Lion team member in charge of Yeom Junyeol’s security picked up the note.
Only after the team member confirmed that the note was safe did Yeom Junyeol check the contents.
[Hello, dragon descendant! I am the Snake Clan’s leader. Can we meet? I’ll treat you to some coffee.]
The content was questionable, but if it was really the head of the Snake Clan, he couldn’t just ignore it.
Yeom Junyeol responded, saying that it would be okay if the Red Lion team member were with him.
“Thanks for your time. It’s our first time meeting.”
The head of the Snake Clan laughed, not hiding her vertically opened pupils.
She was a woman much shorter than Yeom Junyeol, but the latter and his guard had to hide their nervousness from the woman’s aura.
‘As expected, a clan head is on a different level…!’
Her pupils and energy waves unknowingly reminded Yeom Junyeol of Cheongryong.
The head of the Snake Clan looked up at Yeom Junyeol with a smile before spitting out her next words.
“Wanna receive an order?”
She gave no preface nor an explanation, but the Snake Clan head seemed to like Yeom Junyeol.
Although Yeom Junyeol was nervous, his response flowed like water since he was no stranger to being offered to be given orders.
“Thank you for your proposal. However, I decided that until I become an adult, I won’t be getting an order from anyone except the Dragon King.”
Yeom Junyeol’s only order from the Dragon King —the fire that comes from me will not burn you.
It was a set rule to not have Yeom Junyeol receive an order just from anyone.
“What a shame. I hope there was someone else who have my order in Eungwang High.
For Yeom Junyeol, those words were unexpected.
He usually gets offers for being a star player and a descendant of the Dragon Clan, but the head of the Snake Clan only seemed interested in him because he was a student at Eungwang High.
Though it is true that Eungwang High is Korea’s most prestigious high school.
Yeom Junyeol decided to ask about something that the clan head said.
“Is there a player from Eungwang High that has your order?”
“Yeah. One stupid fool.”
Yeom Junyeol thought he misheard when the Snake Clan head said the words “stupid fool.”
But from the expression of the Red Lion team member beside him, he seemed to have heard it correctly.
The clan head repeated the words, with more strength into it this time.
“Let’s set aside that stupid fool for now. I want to hear something about Eungwang High.”
***
We headed back to Eungwang High after our meal.
Yeom Junyeol and I rode the air limousine, and I was dropped off in front of the main gate.
I said I could find my own way back, but Yeom Junyeol insisted, saying that he should take me home since he invited me out.
In the end, I admired my good and sincere student’s heart and we calmly headed back to the school.
“See you tomorrow, Euishin-ah. Get back safe.”
He and I are from different grades and classes in this large school, so I didn’t understand why he said he’d see me tomorrow.
Although Yeom Junyeol and I sometimes run into each other on campus.
Dingdong.
Not long after Yeom Junyeol and I parted ways, I receive a message on my device.
It was from Yeom Junyeol.
Perhaps he was wary that someone would overhear, he opted to send me his regards as my student through a device message.
I wrote a reply back after arriving at my dorm room, but it was only after sending the message did I belatedly remember what I didn’t have the chance to mention to him today.
‘I was going to tell him not to come to the Dragon Palace at the time of the Dragon King’s Shaman scenario… I missed the timing because of the Snake Clan story.”
I still have time until February next year, so perhaps I could take it slow.
I should tell Yeom Junyeol the next time I see him.
I sat in one corner of my spacious dormitory room and reflected on what Yeom Junyeol told me.
The two presents he gave me, his wandering teacher… were all relevant, but what worried me the most was the Snake Clan.
‘A Red Lion team member was with Yeom Junyeol at that time. It’s impossible that both of them are mistaken.’
Then did the head of the Snake Clan really come to talk to Yeom Junyeol about Eungwang High?
Yeom Junyeol and I took quite some time talking about the Snake Clan head, but based on his narrative alone, it was difficult to sense if the clan head had malicious intent.
— That person described the student as a “stupid fool”, but she seemed worried about him. I think she’s concerned since the student has her order.
— Did you hear what kind of order it was?
— I didn’t know what it was about. I don’t think it’s a strong one.
Orders let superior beings and royal lineages plant and imprint their ‘existence’ with mutual consent.
The stronger the order, the more evident the imprinted existence is, and the greater scope of the two parties sharing their minds.
The head of the Snake Clan must’ve given a weak order to that ‘stupid fool’ Eungwang High student.
— She must’ve contacted the student since she was worried, but I heard the student told her to ‘get lost’.
The person that the Snake Clan head gave an order.
A stupid fool Eungwang High student.
An impudent figure who would tell a clan head to “get lost.”
It’s embarrassing to consider those as clues, but someone immediately popped up in my mind.
‘There’s only one guy I can think of.’
Eungwang High has approximately 1,500 students attending.
Of the many students, only one Eungwang High student that fits the description of the Snake Clan head came to mind.
There was also a time when I confirmed that the student had an order through my special menu window.
[Order] Some snake’s encouragement, “Your foolishness is your charm”
The one who gave Bang Yoonseob an order was the head of the Snake Clan…?
There’s no confirmation, but it was likely.
‘Even if it’s not the Snake Clan head who gave Bang Yoonseob an order, it doesn’t change that he’s connected with them.’
Since the Snake Clan is one of the suspects of being the Long Tail, I couldn’t sweep this under the rug.
On top of that, what Ryujang, the patissier from MITRON, said a while ago was stuck in my mind.
— Since he stopped buying cookies, his errands for student Jo Euishin have increased significantly. He doesn’t come here with the girl anymore, and he got angry when I mentioned the cookies. Isn’t there a correlation between the two?
— It’s easy to be targeted when one’s mind is not stable.
Those words were deeply on my mind, along with the Eye from Avaritia’s priest.
And Bang Yoonseon, someone who’s filled with gaps and loopholes in his mind and heart, was most concerning.
Dingdong.
While I was deep in thought, a message arrived.
Coincidentally, Bang Yoonseob was mentioned in the message.
[Mok Wooram] Hello, vice president. I am sending a message to report on Bang Yoonseob’s smoking detection.
[Mok Wooram] At the time of discovery, student Bang Yoonseob was not smoking, but I remember that you said to contact you even if he was just holding a cigarette so I sent a message.
[Mok Wooram] (Photo)
The photo sent by Mok Wooram showed a crouching Bang Yoonseob with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.
Bang Yoonseob was staring into the air, his face dark and blank, clueless that a picture of him was being taken.
Normally, I would’ve seen it as a stupid expression, but perhaps Ryujang’s words got to me.
I saw in Bang Yoonseob’s face a peaking sadness due to heartbreak.
‘…I should keep an eye on Bang Yoonseob for now.’
Although I had lots to do, I couldn’t ignore the fact that Bang Yoonseob is connected to the Snake Clan.
It will be worth the time.
After I sent Mok Wooram a bread gift certificate, bakery address, and menu, I turned off my inbox.
‘I’ll keep an eye on Bang Yoonseob starting tomorrow, and if there’s a problem, I should talk to Tak Geosan first…’
As usual, I fell into a dreamless sleep while organizing my plans.
And then, the next morning.
In the dormitory cafeteria, I ran into Maeng Hyodon and Saeum of April so we had breakfast together.
Our surroundings were noisy, so even though it’s been a while since we ate with each other, we couldn’t talk well.
“The heck, why is everyone so loud.”
“Maybe it’s because of the incident posted on the bulletin board!”
When Maeng Hyodon, who was on his second helping of galbi and mackerel gangjeong, said so, Saeum of April opened the Eungwang High bulletin board to show to us.
Various topics were posted, but one was particularly noticeable.
‘An attack on the freshmen teacher’s office?’
The title felt like it was related to Class Zero.
Saeum of April explained further.
“It looks like some students broke into the freshmen teachers’ faculty office after school yesterday!”
“Students are allowed to enter there anyway. Why’d they have to break in?”
“They sneaked in and took all the attendance books.”
“…What?”
Maeng Hyodon’s hand holding his spoon stopped mid-air, his expression looking dumb-founded.
After school yesterday, two unidentified people believed to be students, broke into the teachers’ office and took all the attendance record log books.
Attendance management was also done through devices, but there seem to have been attendance log books made available for teachers who prefer analog methods.
The two students allegedly targeted the attendance books.
“Our homeroom teacher didn’t miss it for sure.”
“Professor Ham wasn’t there. I heard there were only three teachers in the office at that time… I don’t know them well either.”
The infiltrators ran away with the attendance books, leaving the teachers unable to respond on time.
The teachers belatedly tried to track down the mysterious infiltrators.
The first students to be suspected were those from Year Two and Three Class Zero.
There was no particular reason for them to steal the attendance records of freshmen, but the teachers reasoned that no one could even understand those Class Zero students’ minds.
“But all the Year Two and Three Class Zero students had alibis. So they also checked Year One, Class Zero… except for those who aren’t attending school, everyone was clear.”
Looking at the time of the incident, it seemed to be around the time when Yeom Junyeol and I met up at the front gate.
My location would’ve been confirmed with a simple check of the CCTVs at the front gate, so I would’ve been immediately taken off the suspect list.
“So who did it? If it’s not someone from Class Zero?”
“No, they’re saying the culprits are Class Zero!”
Saeum of April’s words seemed to contradict, but from what he was saying, two candidates immediately came into mind.
Maeng Hyodon’s stone head didn’t understand, obviously so from the frown on his face.
“If it’s not Year Two or Three… and it’s not our class…”
“The culprit must be one of our classmates who aren’t going to school yet.”
The culprit is definitely Class Zero.
Specifically, the freshmen who are still refusing to attend school.
Maeng Hyodon belatedly said “Ah”, finally understanding the situation.
“Yes! Euishin is right! Oh, a picture just popped up. …The culprit is wearing some strange clothes.”
The photo shown by Saeum of April was someone I knew.
His face was covered, but the silhouette and clothes were obviously him.
‘…Those attention-seekers!’
The culprits who stole the attendance records; the attention-seekers Phantom Thief Neon and Goo Seulbi.
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