“Hmm… Where should I start explaining?”
Lev Dunkinson only began his story after he had chosen a secluded place and set up a barrier to block any sound.
“First of all, as I said before, I came to see you because of something related to the Association.”
“Is it something important?”
“Well… you could say that. I don’t know why they asked me to tell you this, though.”
He took a sip of his hot coffee and moistened his mouth.
“First of all, this Orhe Academy is an independent educational institution on the surface, but if you dig deeper, it’s not really like that. Of course, it has a lot of ties and interests with many places. Especially… with the Association, it’s bound to be closely intertwined.”
As he said that, he muttered in a gloomy voice.
“And you know that your clan is also involved, right? Like the case of Shin Woo-seok, who came in as an external consultant a few days ago. And also the Ten Strongest, or other guilds…”
“So you’re saying that you’re in a very awkward situation right now?”
At my words, Lev Dunkinson snapped his fingers.
“That’s right.”
It was something that anyone could figure out with a little thought.
Lately, the confrontation between the Ten Strongest, the World Tree’s clan, and the Association had become so blatant and fierce that even ordinary people could notice.
But everything was reversed yesterday.
For a while, the public opinion seemed to be unfavorable to us, but then the reality of the Training and the Association was exposed, and at the same time, the truths that we had been leaking little by little, such as the Minerva raid, were re-examined.
Anyone who wasn’t a fool would realize that we had a hand in it.
And of course, Lev Dunkinson was not a fool.
“Ah, and… I have to tell you this before I go on.”
He hesitated for a rare moment and sighed softly as he looked at Choi Hyun-woo, who was sitting next to me as if to protect me.
“You’ll keep it a secret, right?”
Choi Hyun-woo nodded his head without answering.
That seemed to be enough for Dunkinson, who quietly opened his mouth.
“Actually… the chairman of this Orhe Academy is my grandfather.”
As he said that, he gestured with his hand as if to avoid any misunderstanding.
“That doesn’t mean that I did anything wrong or received any benefits. You have to believe me.”
“Yes. I believe you.”
Lev Dunkinson was a person who had the ability to get what he wanted and more without relying on such a background.
He nodded his head slightly as if he was surprised by my answer.
“Anyway, thanks to that, I know how the academy works to some extent. Actually, the reason why I came to see you today was also because of my grandfather’s words.”
“The chairman?”
“Yeah.”
He muttered as if he had a headache.
“As you said, we’re in a very difficult situation. Because we’re openly confronting the Association, the people above us must be going crazy. And the Association has been putting pressure on us to join their side lately, which is too much…”
“Senior, I hate to say this, but…”
“Huh?”
“I can’t do anything for you. I’m not that powerful.”
At that, he quickly waved his hand.
“No, no. That’s not it. I said it wrong. I didn’t come to ask you for anything or anything like that.”
“Then…”
“You’re still a student, right?”
He sniffed his nose.
“And this is an academy that teaches students like that. Why would I ask you to do something like that?”
As he said that, he took something out of his pocket and handed it to me.
“I came to give you this.”
“What is this?”
“A kind of privilege.”
He slid the document to me and said.
“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but it was lucky that you were badly injured. It made it much easier to write this.”
He chuckled and smiled as I glanced at what he had handed me and quietly expressed my impression.
“…It says that I can legally skip classes.”
“What? How great is that? Why are you talking like it’s some kind of truancy?”
Lev Dunkinson muttered with an incredulous expression.
“This is a declaration that the Orhe Academy will protect and defend you as a priority if anyone puts any pressure on you.”
He explained with a sparkle in his eyes.
“Also, you can refuse any classes or schedules if you think they are necessary according to your judgment. This place is designated as a lawless zone, so even if the police or the prosecution come, they can’t touch you.”
He nodded quietly as he finished.
“…Now that I think about it, it’s no different from the best truancy. It’s a thing that can handle attendance and grades without any problems. If I had it, I would have stayed in the dormitory and slept until graduation.”
“But why would you…”
“Because they were obviously targeting you. And in a way that makes me sick.”
He scratched his head roughly as if he had a headache.
“It’s my grandfather’s words. He said he doesn’t mind them fighting among themselves, but he can’t tolerate them messing with the students. So he wrote this before it was too late. I grew up under him, so I thought the same way.”
Lev Dunkinson looked at me with his usual languid eyes.
“They shoved a member of the Training into this place with a bang, and judging by what they did in the meantime, they’ll try something again soon. We’re bound to be tied to the Association, so if they pressure us and bring up the idea of a joint activity, we’ll have no choice.”
“Oh, so…”
“Yeah, with this, you’ll have some time to deal with whatever they do. You have the best excuse that you’re not feeling well, and you’re also a member of the World Tree’s clan.”
“…Thank you.”
I bowed my head and thanked him for his kindness.
Then he was silent for a moment and opened his mouth quietly.
“It’s the place that my grandfather raised and my father sacrificed his life to protect. I don’t want those bastards to drag it into a political battlefield.”
“But isn’t this clearly an abuse of power?”
“Right. I’ll probably get in big trouble for this later. But I don’t care.”
He said it as if it was nothing, but I had a vague feeling that it wasn’t the only thing.
But I pretended not to notice and just nodded silently.
He knew that I noticed, and he also knew that I noticed that he knew, but we didn’t say anything.
“So, just in case, if I become unemployed because of this and get on the bad side of the Association, can you help me out later? You said you would take me in if something happened, right?”
He laughed lightly and jokingly, and got up from his seat as if he had nothing more to see.
“Well, I’ll see you later. Study hard.”
He walked away slowly and waved his hand weakly at us.
I silently watched him as he suddenly sighed and said.
“My head hurts, this is adults’ stuff.”
“I know, right? This is not my specialty, this headache-inducing thing.”
At that, he suddenly burst into laughter.
“Ji-hyuk, isn’t your specialty women relations?
“…”
He looked at me incredulously, as if asking what was wrong. He lifted his phone and showed me a smug expression.
“I just got a text from Su-yeong.”
“Oh, really? What did Su-yeong say?”
“She said her class just ended and she’s coming with Ye-seul. Yuna said she has something to do and will be a bit late.”
He said that and then, as always, he crunched on the ice.
Not long after his words, Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-seul arrived, but there was someone unexpected with them.
“Yeong-kyung sunbae?”
“Hi, Ryung.”
The person who came with them was none other than Kang Yeong-kyung.
“Wow, Ji-hyuk, you look much better? Last time I saw you, you were like a corpse… Ugh, my mouth is out of control, out of control.”
She smiled widely and greeted me warmly, but then she slapped her mouth repeatedly.
“We met earlier. Ji-hyuk was looking for you.”
There was only one reason why Kang Yeong-kyung would look for me.
She nodded her head and handed me the paper bag she was holding.
“Here, this.”
“What is this?”
“Check it out yourself. It’s from Ye-eun.”
I opened the envelope she handed me and checked what was inside.
I took out the item that was in there.
“A blanket?”
It was a high-quality blanket, I could tell by just touching it.
“There’s also a scarf. You know how the weather gets cold suddenly around this time. It must be a way of telling you to be careful not to catch a cold.”
Kang Yeong-kyung nodded as she said that.
“Don’t you want to check it properly? She asked me so many times to do this… Ye-eun is really childish, you know? She said to pretend that I sent it, not her. Who would believe that?”
As I touched the scarf, I felt something inside it, listening to Kang Yeong-kyung’s grumbling.
“…”
So this was the real purpose.
I naturally put the blanket back in the envelope and tidied it up.
“I’m sorry for making you come all the way here, sunbae. And thank you very much. I’ll contact you later and thank Dang-ju as well.”
“Hey, don’t be sorry for this. I’m really glad that you look much better, Ji-hyuk.”
“Thanks to your concern.”
“Hmm… well.”
She pouted and stuck out her lips.
“It seems like other people were more concerned than me.”
She said that and looked at Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-seul alternately with a smiling face.
“Well… there’s that too.”
And she glanced at a certain place and muttered quietly.
“I feel like I did something stupid.”
***
“Sorry, can you bear with me a little? I’ll let you out soon in a wider place.”
Yuna was holding a small aquarium and a bag full of various items.
Inside the aquarium, the fish that Yoo Ji-hyuk raised were swimming around.
They were the things that he left behind naturally when he left in a hurry for Minerva’s subjugation.
And when the subjugation was over, he was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and in the process, he took care of the important things, but the things he couldn’t take care of arrived only now.
“…”
And among them was the blanket that she impulsively bought on her way back.
She knew well from her painful memories that the weather would get chilly for a few days around this time.
Yoo Ji-hyuk had been recovering at an amazing speed lately, but he still needed to rest as a patient.
The cold wind would not be good for him, who was a patient.
“But why did I buy this?”
She couldn’t understand it even if she thought about it.
She could have just taken a blanket as it was, why did she spend money to buy a new one?
It was nothing but a plain ready-made product, not a luxury item or a magic item.
No, for the clan of the World Tree… and for him, who was a member of the main family, it would be nothing but cheap.
She bought it with a big heart, but.
“…If he doesn’t like it, I’ll use it, whatever.”
She muttered like that and arrived at the place that Choi Hyun-woo told her in a short time.
And as soon as she saw Yoo Ji-hyuk holding a blanket, she hid her body without knowing it.
It was an impulsive action, to the point that she couldn’t even understand herself.
She hid her presence with magic very naturally and smoothly, and then she whispered quietly.
“…Why?”
Why did she hide?
And before that, that was…
What he was holding was definitely, a blanket…
“…”
She looked down at the blanket she brought with her.
It was the prettiest and warmest one that she carefully chose and brought, but when she looked at it again, it looked pitiful compared to what he was holding.
“…”
She just looked at the blanket silently.
And then she quietly moved it to the bag where her belongings were.
***
“You look better than I thought.”
Leee Myung-joon, who was waiting for someone, said that as soon as he saw the person who arrived.
“Yeah? That’s good.”
And Alice Blessbuck, the red-haired woman who arrived late, smiled playfully.
Lee Myung-joon could easily read the fatigue, fear, and anxiety that she couldn’t erase from her face.
“Let’s go to our guild first. And then rest there for a few days…”
“No.”
Alice Blessbuck shook her head.
“There are people I have to meet first.”
Alice Blessbuck smiled weakly.
“Lyle, and Ji-hyuk. I have to meet these two.”
She blinked her eyes with difficulty.
“I have to tell them everything.”
She closed her eyes as she let out a heavy breath.
“Before it’s too late, everything.”
