Chapter 166
“I’m back.”
The sun was already setting when I returned home from the Aura Assembly.
Thanks to the elixir, my body feels like a newborn, however I couldn’t help but feel mentally exhausted.
I had too much going on all day so I stumbled into the mansion and was greeted, as usual, by the staff.
“Welcome. Master.”
“Welcome, Master!”
Several users, including Alessia, who happened to be gathered on the first floor, bowed and greeted me.
I replied with a light ‘hello’ and slowly walked past.
The users giggled and laughed as usual, but then Alessia tilted her head as if something was wrong and asked me with wide eyes.
“Master, are you taller?”
“……Hmm?”
I didn’t expect it to come so soon, so I just stood there shaking my head, and she sighed.
“I’ve heard that kids grow up fast these days, but I still didn’t expect you to be this big in a day. Did you take some sort of elixir somewhere?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
She guessed this based on my height alone?
How on earth did she know I had taken the elixir?
“Because it’s not that unusual for you.”
“…..Isn’t it?”
After hearing that answer, it made sense.
I’ve certainly been picking up a lot of strange things here and there lately.
“In that case, I’ll have to make some major repairs to the clothing you have, and I’ll come by later to pick up the ones in your room.
As she said, my clothes have become a bit shorter as I’ve grown taller. I can’t wear them as they are, so they’ll have to alter them.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is there any reason for you to be sorry? Your growth is the joy of the family, so you shouldn’t worry too much.”
Alessia replied with a smile and left the room.
I let out a small sigh as I watched her go.
I, too, had been puzzled when I first realized how tall I was. It’s rare, but not unheard of, for someone to grow taller after taking an elixir.
In fact, it was one of those “bone transformation” stories from martial arts novels.
Therefore, I asked the old man, “Isn’t it possible that I transformed?” ……but the old man immediately slapped me on the forehead as if to tell me not to talk nonsense.
‘You think bone transformation can happen so easily,’ he said, ‘but since your muscles are aligned and you seem to be taller, it shouldn’t be a problem.’
In other words, he made me do a lot of posture correction.
I don’t know what the big deal is about posture correction, but I guess it’s a good thing.
When I got back to my room, I changed into my favorite DisPater.
“Hmm……this one still works.
I was a little worried before putting it on, but it was the work of a maestro.
It fits perfectly even though I’ve gotten bigger. I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything to wear right away.
Then…….
Now it was mafia time.
* * *
“Consigliere. This is Eugene.”
-Yes. Come in.
Recently, Consigliere training has been on how to get things done in the organization.
Knowing what to prioritize and what to reject.
In a way, it was the most basic, and most important, key to running an organization.
” Consigliere, we’ve got paperwork from Move Family requesting an increase in the cost of lax.”
“Say no. I always buy the expensive brand name lax anyway. There are tons of cheap lax at the grocery store…….”
Of course, most of them were still like this.
“By the way, Eugene, I heard your father’s return might be delayed.”
While I’m quietly checking my papers Consigliere spoke up about my father.
“Did something happen to my father in Russia?”
It’s not like he could have gotten into trouble in Russia, but he’s going to be late coming home?
As if sensing my expression, Consigliere waved his hand impatiently.
“It’s nothing, but apparently something happened in Europe, too. Well, he said he’s bringing gifts from Europe, so it should be fine. Here. Look.”
With that, he pulls up a photo on his tablet.
On the screen was a picture of father atop a bear the size of a house. He’s holding a vodka and smiling broadly.
“I’m glad to see he’s enjoying himself…….”
“Yeah, that’s what work does to me. After…….”
──Quick.
The two glass balls he was rolling in his hand instantly turned to powder.
“……Yikes.”
But as if he was used to it, he wrapped them in paper and tossed them in the trash, then dusted off his hands and grabbed a fresh batch of glass beads.
Beyond the trash can, I could see the strands of hair that had been consumed as a sacrifice to stress.
……aah.
“Let’s get back to work.”
“……Yes.”
I decided it was a good thing I could help him with his work.
* * *
“What’s wrong with your face again?”
The next day, when I arrived at the academy as usual, I was greeted by Jin-woo, who had one eye covered.
“That’s because ──”
“You got beat up.”
Se-ah in the front seat grumbled like it was nothing.
As she spoke, I quickly realized why he was beaten.
“You must have said something weird about being a dragon owner or something.”
“Oh, Mr. Eugene heard it too, so why didn’t you hit him?”
“I was just about to hit him, but I had to leave for the mentoring session.”
“Oh, so that’s why you weren’t here yesterday?”
Se-ah nodded as if she understood, but Jin-woo just frowned as if he didn’t understand and rubbed one eye intently with an egg.
Come to think of it, I’m curious.
“So, how did you get that dragon weapon?”
What did Antonio say to Jin-woo when he gave him the weapon?
“Ah. So the boss was actually curious about it, too, huh. Hmph.”
For a moment, I thought about doing the same to his other eye, but I decided to hold off, as my interest was the priority.
I could always slap him.
“You know how you’re sitting in your dad’s study at night, dozing off, and all of a sudden you feel something, and you open your eyes and there’s your dad looking down at you with a knife?”
Huh?
“At first I’m just grunting to myself because I can’t move and I can’t make a sound, and then all of a sudden he throws the knife at my head, and it sticks right next to my ear, and I almost piss myself right there, and then he walks out and he’s like, “Oh, my God.””
──He picked it up.
“At first I thought I was dreaming, but when I saw that I was breaking out in a cold sweat and the dagger lying next to me, I knew I wasn’t dreaming, and when I finally moved my body to pick it up, there was an appraisal on the hilt, and that’s when I realized it was a dragon weapon~”
……He really did mean it when he said he would give it to him.
I guess he didn’t give it to him in the way I thought he would, but if he likes it that much, it must be a moderate success, right?
“So? Did your dad say anything afterward?”
“Not much, I just thought he must have gotten lucky on the way home.”
……He’s got such a pure brain.
The combination of Antonio’s inability to express his emotions and Jin-woo’s inability to think must have created an incredible synergy.
I wonder if I said something wrong.
──Bang!
Just then, the front door of the classroom opened, and Young-jae walked in with a bunch of handouts.
Is that a brochure?
“Huh? You’re all here. That’s good. Can the people in the front pass these to the back?”
Young-jae handed the brochures to the people in front of him, one for each row.
As the pamphlets arrived in front of me, one by one, I began to get an idea of what was about to happen.
[For Academy Service Period (Gaegwacheonsun) Class A]
“Oh, I forgot there was such a thing.”
It’s an event that happens almost regularly after the midterm exams, and it’s a program where students from the academy go out and lead elementary and junior high school students.
In short, we were told to correct delinquents.
A duty as a would-be hero?
“The instructor told me that we have to fulfill our volunteer hours soon, so you had to prepare ourselves. In it, there’s a list of kids to mentor, with different levels of difficulty based on things like their behavior.”
When I flipped through the booklet, I found the information of the children registered as mentees, their usual behavior, difficulty level, and score.
[Name: Kim Young-woong]
[School: Pine Needle Middle School]
[Age: 14]
[Particulars: 2 cases of assault in school, 1 case of extortion]
[Difficulty: C]
“She also said that there will be a reward for the person who mentors the most perfectly this time, so you might want to take a look and decide in advance.”
After hearing Young-jae’s words, the children began to open the booklets and check the children they had chosen.
Judging by the title of the brochure, our class had the privilege of getting first place in the class ranking contest, so we had a chance to pick the kids first.
“Wow. From extortion to assault and to blackmail. What is it with these kids these days? I’m scared for my life.”
Jin-woo Bevalt, who had extorted money from other school villains in the past, flipped through the brochure with a shudder, as if he had forgotten his own past.
“Come to think of it, weren’t you a part of the program in elementary and middle school?”
Young-jae asked, returning to his seat, obviously energized by the sight.
“Huh? I was, right? It must have been in the second grade. There was a pretty sister who belonged to some guild…….”
Jin-woo smiles as if he’s remembering something from that time.
“Then why haven’t you woken up yet?”
At this point, Se-ah unleashes a factual barrage, and Jin-woo shakes his head in disbelief.
“Because after that, I only picked on other bullies, she was the turning point in my life.”
……So that’s why he only beat up bullies.
I thought, “Wow, that mentor must be amazing.”
“Jin-woo, what was your difficulty level back then?”
“Me? I think I heard it was an A.”
“A?”
I listen to him and look at the other A students.
Assault, arson, aggravated assault, indecent assault, and indecency in a communication medium……I could see that they all had quite a few offenses.
How much of an asshole had he been in the past?
“I’m going to discipline the A student, too! What about the others?”
“I don’t know……I’ll have to do some more research.”
“I think I’ll aim for an A, too, because it’s definitely a higher grade, and I think I’ll get it somehow.”
The kids are busy deciding which mentees they want to work with, but suddenly Jin-woo’s gaze lands on me.
“What about the boss? Have you thought about who you want to be?”
Well, it’s decided.
“Me? If you ask me if I’ve picked, I did…….”
“Who is it? Who is it?”
Se-ah asked curiously when I told her I picked a student.
It wasn’t a big deal, so I immediately pointed to the pictures of the kids on the front of the booklet.
“This one.”
There, embedded in the center of the booklet, was a picture of a very grumpy-looking child with a bad expression on his face.
[Circle of Violence (Difficulty: S)]
[Name: Han Ji-yeon]
[School: Jiggle Middle School]
[Age: 15]
[Particulars: 15 cases of special assault, 32 cases of extortion, 18 cases of assault, 2 cases of arson, 14 cases of intimidation, and fraud…….]
[Individual Difficulty: A]
*Seems to have close ties to outside organizations. Be careful when mentoring him.
[Name: Ki Min-ho]
[School: Jiggle Middle School]
[Age: 15]
[Particulars : 23 cases of special assault, 12 cases of extortion, 38 cases of assault, 14 cases of intimidation, and 8 cases of fraud]
[Individual Difficulty: A]
*Seems to have close ties to outside organizations. Be careful when mentoring.
[Name: Kim Hyun-soo]
[School: Jiggle Middle School]
[Age: 15]
[Particulars: 2 cases of special assault, 8 cases of extortion, 54 cases of assault, 31 cases of intimidation, and 2 cases of attempted murder]
[Individual Difficulty: A]
*Seems to have close ties to outside organizations. Be careful who you mentor.
You will be good from this day forward.
