The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All - Chapter 183:

“You can order whatever you want to eat.”

Laura Hartmann, the Paladin, led us into a restaurant.

She casually joined us at the same table, nodding and smiling as she studied the menu.

Her silver hair bounced beautifully as she spoke and moved.

I was momentarily distracted by it, but I looked into her eyes.

Peering at her light jade-colored eyes was like looking into a gemstone, but their unwavering determination belonged to a hero who was said to be unbreakable.

“Paladin Laura Hartmann…Are you really one of the Ten Strongest….?”

“Ah, yes. I’m called that, though I don’t deserve it.”

She smiled wryly and took a swig of water.

“How I dress and speak is a little strange, right? I don’t always wear armor, and the stiffness of my speech is reserved for colleagues, subordinates, and public occasions… You might’ve thought I was very stiff…”

She smirked and muttered.

“I don’t see how anyone could wear armor daily; it would kill them. On top of that, it’s so hot; even half a day in it is enough to make you sweaty, let alone tired. I wish I could use a fan, but it does nothing.”

She spoke in a relaxed voice as if she were singing a song.

I glanced around and saw that the others were listening as well.

“…….”

One of the Ten Strongest.

Paladin, Laura Hartmann.

A genuinely noble knight who, according to the story, single-handedly stops a dragon’s charge and is always the last to leave the battlefield to protect her comrades.

On top of that, she also volunteers her time and frequently donates to those less fortunate.

As such, her admirers reverently referred to her as the Paladin.

She was also one of the Ten who died to Minerva.

Holding out to secure the retreat of her companions was her final act.

“…Uh, well, here’s our order, then.”

She handed the menu with a smile to the waitress, who came over to take the order, then looked at me.

“Do you think I could have a word with you alone?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Well, it’s about the story I told you earlier involving that brat, Lee Myung-Joon.”

“Then I think the others here should hear it too.”

Han Soo-Young, Choi Hyun-Woo, and Jin Ye-Seul looked at me, quite surprised.

“I’ll take responsibility for them.”

“…I still don’t think they should”

“Soo-Young, I have a favor to ask.”

“Oh, sure.”

Han Soo-Young immediately made it so no one else could overhear our conversation or see the shape of our mouths.

I shifted into a more comfortable position and looked at her.

“In the past, when the Seven Evils emerged from the territory of the World Tree, I survived the battle against Svengali because of these three. They’re not unrelated.”

At the mention of Svengali, Laura’s eyes widened.

“Additionally, Jin Ye-Seul was instrumental in taking out Big Watch and Ji-Mac because she dug up the information that led us to his base. Han Soo-Young and Choi Hyun-Woo… have helped a lot as well. It should be fine for them to hear it.”

“You know this isn’t something we can take lightly.”

“Do you want me to put my neck on the line?”

At my words, Laura let out a small sigh.

“…We aren’t going anywhere like this. You win this time.”

True to her word, she continued speaking.

“First, I didn’t mean to insult you or your colleagues. Trust is a good thing; it’s just… no, that wasn’t the point.”

She muttered, her voice slightly sullen.

“Okay, let’s talk about it; we’re almost ready to intercept Minerva.”

At that, I paused to catch my breath.

“You didn’t come all the way here to tell me that, did you?”

“Of course not. That’s just my opinion.”

She gave me a small smile.

“Let’s start with a quick explanation. We checked the seals and found that it could hold for at least half a year, but after that, it wouldn’t be surprising if it collapsed at any time, so we decided to tamper with it to break the seal deliberately.”

“Wait. Are you going to break the seal now? The seal of the Seven Evil Sects?”

Han Soo-Young asked, and Laura nodded.

“…It’s safe to say that the time remaining was only a meaningless reprieve in the first place. The seal was a device to make Minerva sleep until her strength was restored, so we decided to attack before she is at full strength.”

She took a sip of water.

“The preparations are almost complete. The Ten Strongest will assemble in two days, each leading their hand-picked elite to participate in this attack. We will evacuate all citizens within a radius centered on Five Streets. We will also evacuate the students of the Academy.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“An evacuation order will be issued, probably sometime tomorrow, telling everyone that we’ve detected the aura of a giant gate emitting distortion waves and that they should evacuate in case they get caught in it while we deal with it.”

“And when are you going to break the seal?”

“After we evacuate everyone…so around a full moon away.”

Svengali whispered.

[She’s lying; it’s at least a few days ahead].

“…From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the number of people involved in the battle is quite small.”

“That’s right.”

“May I ask why?”

“The risk of this operation has been determined to be ‘unmeasurable.’ That means we can’t define the risk. It means we can’t guarantee our survival, and we don’t know the enemy’s strength. It’s a sobering thought, really.”

Laura nodded quietly.

“Plus, we can’t ask the Association for help.”

“Can’t ask for help?”

“The Association is just a formality now. All the people with the passion and zeal of the past are long gone, defeated in the struggle, and those who remain are nothing more than remnants hungry for power and money.”

She muttered wistfully.

“The Ten Strongest, including me, have stepped out of the Association’s shadow, growing our own powers and continuing our activities worldwide. We became heroes to protect people, not to get on TV and model for magazines and make money.”

“…….”

“They’d look down their noses at the Ten Strongest, so that’s why they made something new… Six Elite of the Association or something like that.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of them.”

Choi Hyun-Woo nodded and added.

“A group of heroes the Association is promoting as a counterweight to the Ten Strongest. I see them everywhere, and their publicity is crazy.”

“I don’t mean to disparage them, but if all six came at me, they wouldn’t hurt me.”

Laura asserted quietly.

[…She means it.]

“…The six elite of the Association can’t even touch me. They’re no help in the first place, and they weren’t going to in the first place. Not to mention that our last interaction created a large rift between us.”

She was undoubtedly correct.

The Association had long lost its noble intent and meaning when it was first created.

I remembered that even in the original, they had been meddlesome, maneuvering, and even stealing credit from the player.

“Well, that’s water under the bridge, so let’s get to the point.”

Laura looked at me.

“I’d like to leave you out of this, Mr. Lee Ji-Hyuk.”

At her words, I locked eyes with her wordlessly for a moment.

“…May I know why?”

“First of all, let me start by saying that we’re grateful to you because while you try to hide it, we aren’t blind.”

She bowed her head to me and continued.

“Because of you, we’ve been able to pull off a lot of things, or at least prevent things that would have been big disasters, Most notably finding the traitor in the Guild Invitational and stopping the raid….” (TN: I can’t find the event. If it’s wrong, please correct me.)

She paused for a moment.

I could vaguely guess that one of those traitors was someone close to her.

“Anyway, that’s why I’m asking you to stay out of this slaughter as much as possible.”

“Why, because I’m a child?”

“Of course not.”

Laura shook her head.

“I hope you can take care of the future.”

“The future?”

“Yes.”

That was the last thing I expected to hear.

“Minerva was sealed relatively recently, so the descriptions and accounts of her strength are the most reliable. They describe her as… unleashing enough firepower to wipe several cities off the map without trouble.”

Her power was evident.

“Of course, we won’t let our guard down and are preparing everything we can. We are dedicating our lives to preparing for the Seven Evils. It’s just…”

She murmured, her voice trembling.

“We have to think of failure as well.”

Her words reminded me that half the people who had gathered to stop Minerva in the original story had died.

Minerva’s liberation was the catalyst that sent the world into chaos.

“If we die, we need someone to take over. We have already chosen who could be our heirs: Myung-Joon, Evangeline, and myself.”

She looked at me with light jade-colored eyes.

They were the color of determination.

“I’m sure you understand what I mean.”

With that, she rose from her seat.

“…I’m afraid I’ve been imposing for too long, so I’m going to leave you all to enjoy your meal.”

With those words, she walked out with quiet steps.

I watched Laura leave and only turned my head after she was out of sight.

Han Soo-Young, Choi Hyun-Woo, and Jin Ye-Seul.

The three of them were staring at me.

“What are you going to do?”

Choi Hyun-Woo asked, and I let out a small breath.

“You heard her.”

I muttered as I watched the dishes we’d ordered come out one after another and be placed on the table.

“One full moon.”

Everyone smiled.

[You’re lying.]

No, I wouldn’t try to carry it all by myself now.

“Ye-Seul.”

“Yes.”

“Earlier, she said it was a full moon. Was that true?”

“She’s lying.”

I nodded at her assertion.

“Then at least ten days or something in between. Realistically, evacuating and locking down the area will take a week.”

The three of them nodded in agreement.

Then I noticed something strange.

All three of them were looking at me without touching their food.

I raised my chopsticks, wondering what was going on, and the other three slowly lifted theirs as well.

Holy shit.

I swallowed a sigh and started eating.

Looking at their faces as they ate like chicks, I felt an unexplainable emotion.

And the next day.

As Laura Hartmann had said, there was a mass evacuation.

***

– Yeah, I’m going to go too.

I nodded at her words and asked.

“The date is three days later or two weeks later, is that right?”

– Exactly.

Lee Ye-Eun casually lied.

I nodded in understanding.

[There aren’t many people who could kill you, but everyone is desperate to protect you].

[What a pity.]

I let the snickering, tongue-in-cheek voice of Svengali slip out of my ear.

I didn’t think she’d want me to participate in the fight.

I said to her as I organized my things.

“So you’re the only one participating?”

– I’ll take some trustworthy people from the clan, maybe twenty.

“What about Shin Woo-Seok-ssi?”

– Isn’t he busy holding your hand?

As I expected, he’s been entrusted with my escort and surveillance.

I nodded and opened my mouth in a deliberately nonchalant manner.

“That’s not necessary. I have someone to escort me now.”

– …Oh, right.

I smiled as I felt Lee Ye-Eun’s voice become even colder.

– …The first person you hired was a girl, your classmate, and… she ate everything I gave you.

“Yes. Her name’s Yu-Na. She’s trustworthy and capable, the top of the class.”

– Well…I’m not so sure about her.

Lee Ye-eun muttered quietly.

– First of all, no matter how capable she is, she’s just a young girl with no experience and no career. To have a girl from your class as the first candidate to be hired… I hate to say it, but it won’t look good in the eyes of others.

I responded with a deliberate hint of sarcasm.

“…Wait, are you saying that my eyes are wrong? And what does it matter what others think of me? More importantly, what does it matter that she’s a girl from my class? Are you saying that I hired her with strange intentions?”

– O-oh, no, Ji-Hyuk, that’s not what I meant…

“Then why is your closest aide Shin Woo-Seok-ssi.”

– T-that’s a different story! Several people besides him are always around! I-I’m sorry, l didn’t mean to yell at you, Ji-Hyuk…!

“Forget it.”

I replied bluntly, and Le Ye-Eun replied with a trembling voice.

– Ji-Hyuk…?

“…I still have things to do, so I’ll take this opportunity to wander around for a while.”

– Hey, Ji-Hyuk…? I was just getting a little heated for a moment… It sounds like you’re saying you won’t visit the clan during the week off…

“That’s right, I won’t be going inside the clan’s territory this time.”

– Ji-Hyuk…

Lee Ye-Eun called out to me with fear creeping into her voice.

– I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Ji-Hyuk, do what you want, but please, come to the clan’s territory and show your face…

“…….”

– You know I didn’t mean it like that… I’m starting to feel the tears down my face…

“…Fine.”

I replied, sighing in defeat.

“I’m kind of busy packing right now… I’ll call you back later.”

– I’ll be waiting!

After smiling and laughing, Lee Ye-Eun regained her strength and cheerfully replied.

After hanging up the phone, I looked around to check the luggage I had already packed.

A few simple items of clothing.

A small traveling tank with a fish. The gift from Han Soo-Young and Choi Hyun-Woo.

Laune.

The things I use every day.

My nutritional supplements.

“Okay….”

I hated lying to Lee Ye-Eun, but I had no intention of returning to the territory of the World Tree Clan.

If I went in there, I would never get out until Minerva’s case was over.

I’d be surrounded by people from the clan, probably under her orders, keeping me under surveillance and almost imprisoned.

As if reading my thoughts, Svengali murmured.

[So you did that on purpose, to give yourself an excuse not to go back?]

“Well, yes. It’s childish, but it works.”

As Laura said, the Academy also sent a letter saying they would be temporarily closed.

Unsurprisingly, there was no backlash among the students at the Academy.

They were well aware of the dangers of the ‘distortion gate.’

On the other hand, it wasn’t hard to find news programs on television that heavily covered the situation, including the protests by the merchants of the Five Streets.

“…I have a place to go first.”

I muttered quietly as I watched an ad featuring a female hero who was part of a nurturing family.

It was almost time for me to move out, so I’d better get going and find a place to stay.

There was a knock on the door.

I opened the door to find Choi Hyun-Woo standing there.

“What’s going on?”

I asked in surprise, and he spoke quietly.

“Ji-Hyuk.”

“Come inside for now.”

“I want you to do something with me.”

“What?”

In his hand was a sword wrapped in a black sheath.

“I’ve helped you so much.”

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered, his voice sounding forceful for the first time.

“So, I want you to duel me now.”