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Instructor Kim Gang-seok hesitated and eventually spouted useless words.

“I was a B-Class Hero affiliated with the Korean Hero Association and worked in the field for eight years. If you don’t believe me, who can you trust? Do you trust the police? Can you trust the prosecutors?”

I was worried that if I stepped forward and presented irrefutable evidence, I might be embarrassingly pushed back…

Fortunately, Kim Gang-seok had no evidence, and he even gave me a reason to counter him.

Gang-seok is a good guy!

“I don’t trust people, I trust evidence. If we follow Instructor Kim Gang-seok’s logic, if I say here that Instructor Kim Gang-seok is lying and then ask for evidence, would you believe me if I said, ‘Believe me because I’m the sibling of an S-Class Hero with over 10 years of experience’?”

When Jeong Ha-yul’s name was brought up, I could see his pupils shaking.

He couldn’t even answer and just rolled his eyes, making his large frame look almost cute.

Of course, it wasn’t actually cute.

“Th-that’s different! It’s not me!”

“Whether it’s you or not, what does it matter? If we go to the Association right now, I’ll have more say than Instructor Kim Gang-seok.”

“…Th-that’s just abuse of power!”

Yes, abuse of power.

I really like abuse of power.

And it seems like you like it too.

But when it happens to you, it’s not so great, huh?

“Yes, that’s abuse of power, and it’s no different from what you just did, Instructor.”

The sudden argument between me and Instructor Kim Gang-seok left the students, instructors, and even the dorm supervisors speechless, their mouths agape.

In the midst of this, only the female dorm supervisor for the first-year students stepped forward, perhaps because she was involved.

“Gyeoul, you don’t need to go that far…”

“Supervisor, are you a pushover? If you stay quiet now, you’ll be labeled as an academy terrorist. Isn’t that unfair?”

The supervisor’s pupils also started to shake.

Is everyone in this world learning how to shake their pupils?

Just a few conversations with me, and everyone’s pupils start shaking.

“Well, that’s true, but if we investigate properly…”

“Who’s going to compensate for the time spent on that investigation? What about the salary in the meantime? And if the evidence ends with just one magic stone, what do you think the investigation result will be?”

“That’s…”

In the end, the supervisor couldn’t answer my question.

Just stay quiet, I’m trying to save you.

The other instructors, who had been watching with their mouths open, started to step forward one by one.

“Gyeoul has a point. Just because someone has a high rank doesn’t mean we can blindly trust them. Position and experience don’t define a person.”

Finally, an instructor who spoke the truth emerged.

“And actually, if we’re talking about experience as a Hero, I believe the supervisor retired after five years… That’s not an insufficient amount of experience.”

Regardless of experience, what’s important is that they worked for the people, but five years is enough experience, right?

“During the investigation, more evidence might come to light. Let’s preserve the scene and discuss it once the situation is resolved.”

“Alright, since it’s impossible for either Instructor Kim Gang-seok or the supervisor to carry out another terrorist attack immediately.”

The incident where the supervisor was suspected seemed to be resolved more easily than expected.

The supervisor is still a suspect, but since I also put Instructor Kim Gang-seok on the suspect list, they won’t be lonely.

Just as I was about to wrap up the incident and set up something like a police line around the magic stone…

Instructor Kim Gang-seok tried to move, taking advantage of the instructors’ scattered attention.

His target seemed to be the supervisor.

Is he planning to kill her and then clean up?

At this point, there are only two suspects, and one is trying to kill the other?

Does he really think he can clean up after doing something like that?

Typical of a fool who worships Satan…

Of course, Kim Gang-seok might not be the culprit.

But isn’t he doing this because he’s a crazy guy who believes in Satan?

He even made eye contact with me…

Does he ignore me because he knows I’m C-Class?

Or is it because I’m injured?

Anyway… thanks for stepping up.

I didn’t want to see the supervisor suffer.

Of course, it’s not because I might not get my outing and overnight stay privileges.

Really.

“Supervisor! Be careful!”

After warning the supervisor that Kim Gang-seok was targeting her, I picked up the nearest sword lying around.

Thanks to repeated training with Jeong Ha-yul, I’ve developed a habit of always knowing where weapons are, so I didn’t waste time looking for a sword.

Swoosh!

I plunged three sword blades between Instructor Kim Gang-seok and the supervisor.

Thanks to the time I bought, the supervisor took a defensive stance, and other instructors subdued Kim Gang-seok.

I thought Kim Gang-seok might have a hidden trick, but he was caught too easily.

“…Your actions now are no different from confessing to your crime, right?”

“It’s not me! I just couldn’t stand that supervisor lying…”

Even he seemed to find his excuse ridiculous, as his words trailed off.

“Psychometry isn’t exclusive to Instructor Kim Gang-seok in Korea. Once we preserve the magic stone and have others verify it, the truth will come out. Initially, we planned to subdue the supervisor and go through that process, but… for now, it seems we only need to subdue Instructor Kim Gang-seok.”

Then it happened.

Creak—

A noise came from the thick shelter door.

The tense instructors gripped their weapons and took their stances.

The chattering students all closed their mouths and focused their gaze.

Soon, sunlight began to seep through the door crack, and standing in front of it was President Kim Bong-du.

“…Is everyone safe?”

“Yes, President. Has the situation outside been resolved?”

“It’s resolved, but… I was fooled. I rushed here upon hearing the shelter was in danger and couldn’t secure the terrorist.”

“Danger… well, there was a commotion inside with skeletons appearing. But it’s all resolved now. The suspect is also subdued.”

“Good work. Let’s clean up and have the instructors regroup.”

As the President stepped inside, his eyes met mine.

“Jeong Gyeoul, what’s with that injury?”

“I got stabbed by a skeleton…”

The President’s pupils started to shake.

Kim Bong-du, you too?

Do I need to learn how to shake my pupils too?

At this point, it feels like pupil shaking is a basic ability for Awakened Ones.

“Where’s the potion?”

“The potions stored inside the shelter were all destroyed by the skeletons. Instructor Lee Ye-eun went to the infirmary to get more. She should be back soon.”

“Then let’s wait here for a bit. Once the injury is treated, we’ll move.”

“Yes, President.”

Until another Super Ability Category Awakened One could be called for psychometry, the President decided to keep the magic stone himself.

The President, using magic power to float the magic stone, approached me.

Sitting next to me was more burdensome than the President floating the magic stone with magic power.

‘…Is telekinesis even useful?’

If everyone can float objects with magic power, what’s the point of a telekinetic!

Once again, I felt the uselessness of my ability and frowned.

By the way…

Why does he keep glancing at me?

Due to the rapidly unfolding situation, I didn’t even think to put on my suit, so I must look a mess.

With a large hole in my side and tears everywhere, my underclothes are probably visible.

Kim Shin’s father, huh…

Is Kim Bong-du a voyeur too?

If it were high schooler Kim Shin, maybe.

But if it’s you, that’s a serious crime!

***

Kim Bong-du ran to the shelter at the fastest speed possible.

‘No one should have been hurt…’

The academy’s reputation didn’t matter.

A few news articles wouldn’t shut down the Hero Academy.

The Hero Academy is the top educational institution in the country.

A terrorist attack inside might shake its reputation, but it’s within a manageable range.

He just hoped the students and instructors were safe.

Soon, he arrived at the shelter.

‘The door being closed suggests it wasn’t an external attack.’

A sense of unease crept in that the Apostle’s words might be true.

He entered the password on the keypad and opened the shelter door.

Considering the possibility of an internal traitor, he tensed up, drawing a moderate amount of magic power.

As the door opened…

Kim Bong-du saw Instructor Kim Gang-seok subdued.

“…Is everyone safe?”

“Yes, President. Has the situation outside been resolved?”

The instructor’s voice didn’t carry gloom, self-reproach, or guilt.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no casualties.

To understand the situation better, he listened to the instructors’ reports and moved inside…

There, he saw Jeong Gyeoul with a hole in her side.

‘…Of all people!’

As an educator, it was a mindset he shouldn’t have.

But for a moment, Kim Bong-du wished it had been another student instead of Jeong Gyeoul.

“Jeong Gyeoul, what’s with that injury?”

“I got stabbed by a skeleton…”

Jeong Gyeoul is C-Class.

She’s lower-ranked than Kim Gang-seok and still a student.

Naturally, her magic control would be more clumsy than Kim Gang-seok’s, so Kim Gang-seok could have sent magic power into her body, wreaking havoc.

Fortunately, being stabbed by a skeleton might have saved her…

‘Could her internal magic power have gone out of control?’

The flow of magic power around Jeong Gyeoul was strange.

Without permission, he couldn’t send magic power into her to check her circuits.

The residual magic power flowing from her was comparable to an A-Class.

Jeong Gyeoul, who took classes at the Clock Tower, wouldn’t lose control of her internal magic power and let it leak.

The only thing that came to Kim Bong-du’s mind was a magic power overload.

If her magic power overloaded, the situation would be worse than expected.

Out of ten Awakened Ones who experience an overload, about four can no longer be called Awakened Ones.

If such a situation befell Jeong Gyeoul, the Demon King’s sibling, the world’s youngest Awakened One, the Clock Tower’s mascot, Park Seol-hwa’s cherished doll…

‘A crisis incomparable to this terrorist attack will come to the academy.’

Jeong Ha-yul, Park Seol-hwa, and the Clock Tower’s Mages might attack the academy.

No institution would help the Hero Academy that carelessly lost the world’s youngest Awakened One.

Without support, if those three acted simultaneously, the academy would be dismantled in less than thirty minutes.

He quickly retrieved the magic stone and approached Jeong Gyeoul.

As Kim Bong-du approached, Jeong Gyeoul frowned, and the ambient magic power moved more violently.

Seeing this, cold sweat dripped down Kim Bong-du’s back.

‘It doesn’t seem like an overload, but the magic flow is unusual.’

Sitting next to her, he glanced at her, checking the amount of magic power flowing.

“Hey, mister.”

“…Call me President.”

“Yes, President, but…”

“What is it? Is something uncomfortable?”

“Yes… why do you keep glancing at me?”

“What?”

The President laughed awkwardly, but Jeong Gyeoul squinted her eyes, starting to distrust him.

To make matters worse, female students who heard Jeong Gyeoul started gathering around.

‘This isn’t a joke, is it?’

Jeong Ha-yul, Park Seol-hwa, and the Clock Tower weren’t the problem.

If Jeong Gyeoul’s misunderstanding isn’t cleared, he might be socially buried immediately.

This isn’t something that can be resolved with just a few hits from Jeong Ha-yul and Park Seol-hwa.

 

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