The Support Ate it All - Chapter 172: The Black Market (2)

Following Oh Se-hoon’s request, the graduate rose from her seat without hesitation.

She too had once been a member of the disciplinary committee and knew that in situations like this, time was of the essence.

She asked while tying her long hair into a ponytail.

“Blocked by a formation?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Let’s go. Seung-jae, open the door.”

“Yes, senior-nim.”

Kwak Seung-jae had already been chanting a spell.

Their next destination was already decided anyway.

When he reopened the previously closed wooden door, the scenery beyond had changed.

The ponytail woman showered him with praise.

“This is so convenient. Seung-jae, won’t you work with us after graduation?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Kwak Seung-jae had already received countless offers due to his unique magic.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination beyond the door. It was in front of an empty building on the edge of the downtown area.

Several members of the disciplinary committee surrounded the area. They were controlling access for general students and blocking escape routes for those inside the building.

The graduate with a ponytail looked at the building and asked,

“Is this the place? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. And what we understand about the formation—”

“Oh, never mind that.”

She waved off the explanation from a committee member on the scene and walked toward the building entrance.

She intended to experience it firsthand rather than just hear about it.

At first, nothing seemed amiss.

But as she neared the entrance, she suddenly spun 180 degrees and walked back to the committee member.

She had unknowingly moved as the formation guided her.

The graduate looked around as if she had just come to her senses.

“It’s a confusion formation. No wonder you couldn’t break through it.”

“I apologize.”

The third-year student who had attempted to dismantle the formation bowed his head.

The woman with the ponytail asked,

“There aren’t any civilians inside, are there?”

“From what we understand, there aren’t. But why do you ask…?”

“Move back further.”

“……?”

The members of the disciplinary committee looked puzzled about why they were being told to move back, but since it was an order from a senior who had already graduated, they complied without a word.

The ponytail woman then approached not the entrance of the building but the outer wall.

She lightly placed her slender hand on the wall.

“No need to play along with these thieves.”

Her hand began to emit a blue light, and from that point, a large ripple spread out which caused the wall to vibrate strongly.

Cracks rapidly spread across the wall and quickly encompassed the entire building.

Rumble…

The area began to shake violently as if an earthquake had struck the place.

The students who were occupying the Exchange B building were startled.

“Wh-What’s going on?”

“Why is it collapsing?”

“Get out, quickly!”

A dozen or so students broke the exchange window and jumped out.

They were immediately caught and subdued by the disciplinary committee’s encirclement, but it was the right choice.

Being caught by the disciplinary committee was better than being buried under the building’s rubble.

Rumble—!

Soon the building collapsed completely and sank into the ground. The area was covered in thick dust.

“……!”

“……!”

The watching disciplinary committee members were aghast.

They had asked for help because they couldn’t break through the formation, but the other party actually ended up destroying the building where the formation was set up.

They looked at Oh Se-hoon with eyes full of doubt while wondering, “Is this really okay?” but he still maintained a gentle smile.

This meant that even the graduate’s sudden actions were within his expectations.

In fact, he had half intended this when asking for help.

The president of the disciplinary committee wouldn’t have had the authority to take such drastic measures.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

A disciplinary committee member slammed a resisting student to the ground.

When they brought the device close, the crystal ball glowed red.

This indicated possession of a prohibited item.

The same was true for the other subdued individuals.

The woman with the ponytail glanced at them and gave instructions.

“Take them away and start the interrogation. If there are any who are trapped inside and still holding out, get them out. This is Dragon Slayer Academy, after all, they shouldn’t be dead.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and.”

Just when she was about to return to the disciplinary committee office, something seemed to occur to her. She turned around and pointed at the collapsed building debris.

“Charge that to my account.”

Rumble—

Thick dust billowed up from the direction of the Exchange B building.

Dang Gyu-young who was watching the scene clicked her tongue.

“Wow… those brutes. They completely flipped the table.”

When they located the location of the exchange, she expected a gradual breach of the barrier and the maze formation, but as if to mock her expectations, the other party actually demolished the building in one fell swoop.

“A graduate must have stepped in.”

“Probably? Oh Se-hoon or Kwak Seung-jae wouldn’t be capable of that.”

Not only was it firepower that the second or third-year disciplinary committee couldn’t muster, but from their standpoint, there were many factors to consider before touching a building in the downtown area.

Hence, the speculation that a graduate stepped in seemed reasonable.

“Still, this might be the last time.”

“Maybe?”

No matter how reckless that graduate is, they can’t just go around demolishing buildings willy-nilly.

Exchange B was an empty building, but most of the other exchanges, like Exchange E where we traded skill books, rented out spaces that were in operation.

If there was even the slightest possibility of civilians remaining inside, the disciplinary committee couldn’t touch it.

Therefore, the rest would have to break through the formation step by step, just like Dang Gyu-young intended.

Even though they had taken a hit, the thieves’ club was still in the lead.

So, what we had to do didn’t change much.

“We just have to keep interfering.”

Shooo—Bang!

We set off another signal flare for the disciplinary committee.

Since the signal flares were mainly used in emergencies, the other side had no choice but to come and check.

Especially to catch and punish those who dared to steal from the disciplinary committee.

As expected, several presences began to quickly close in and tighten the encirclement.

“They’re running again. Catch them.”

“Mhmm.”

I leaped towards the building on the opposite side while holding hands with Dang Gyu-young.

It was quite a distance to simply jump across but,

Bang!

By combining [Levitate Zone] and [Wind Force], we leaped once again into the air.

After landing on the next building, we jumped to another one.

Dang Gyu-young’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“The more we do this, the more fun it gets.”

“A lot of people enjoy it.”

I had thrown Seo Ye-in several times during the Crystal strategy battle, and Cha Hyeon-joo loved it when I launched her far in the duel battle.

Wind Force might be the most hated skill for some, but for others, it’s a lot of fun.

After a few more rooftop jumps, we easily evaded the disciplinary committee’s pursuit.

While taking a short break, Dang Gyu-young who was looking below grabbed my hand and pointed to a spot.

“Hey, look at that.”

A student was quickly moving through the alley between the buildings.

Judging by how he kept looking back, he seemed to be hiding something.

And that something was most likely a prohibited item.

“That’s our customer.”

“But it looks like he’s been caught.”

At that moment, two members of the disciplinary committee appeared and blocked our customer’s way.

One was a third-year student, and the other was a first-year.

Both faces looked familiar. The third-year student was the senior with the hell axe who guarded the temporary storage room, and the first-year was Geum Jo-han, the son of the Golden Lotus Master.

Geum Jo-han approached the customer and showed him his terminal.

“We’ll conduct a brief inspection.”

“D-Do we really need an inspection?”

The customer nervously darted his eyes around, but a heavy voice came from behind him.

“It would be wise to cooperate.”

The senior with the hell axe stood with his arms crossed and exuded a threatening aura.

The customer grew intimidated by this and couldn’t move a single muscle.

Just as Geum Jo-han was about to scan him with the terminal,

Booom!

“Ah!”

Compressed air exploded and it sent Geum Jo-han flying sideways into a wall.

Before the other senior could react, several discreetly launched butterflies restrained him.

“You’re Dang Gyu-young?!”

There were very few shadow mages in the Dragon Slayer Academy, and among them, Dang Gyu-young was the only one who used [Shadow Butterfly Flight] as her main skill.

Of course, Dang Gyu-young had no reason to answer that question.

“Hup!”

The senior with the hell axe immediately released the shadows and drew his axe from his back.

Geum Jo-han who had his face pressed against the wall and a nosebleed trickling down quickly regained his posture stance and drew his sword.

“…”

However, we had already left the scene by then.

We only made sure our customer safely escaped.

Dang Gyu-young stuck out her tongue in the direction of the senior with the hell axe.

“Do you think I’m crazy enough to fight you? I’d lose anyway.”

The main goal for Dang Gyu-young and the thieves’ club at this black market was to minimize the seizure rate of prohibited items.

This was to restore their reputation which had plummeted due to last year’s black market failure.

And our role as the reserve force was to disrupt the disciplinary committee’s inspections and searches.

We had to disrupt them. The way we did it before, by suddenly catching them off guard and running away, was enough.

Dang Gyu-young took out another signal flare meant for the disciplinary committee.

“Should I fire another one soon?”

However, I didn’t respond immediately and swallowed my breath.

“…Something feels off.”

“What does?”

“I feel like a wooden door would pop up if we use the flare this time.”

Even though we had fired several signal flares, the members of the disciplinary committee kept missing us, so it was time for Kwak Seung-jae to step in instead of the disciplinary committee members.

Dang Gyu-young thought about this for a moment and she seemed to reach the same conclusion.

“That makes sense. Let’s use it just this one last time.”

“Let’s do that.”

Her Mana was infused into the signal flare.

A bright beam of light shot up into the sky.

Shooo—Bang!

And ominous premonitions never fail.

The moment I used Wind Force so that we could move to the next building,

Rumble,

As if anticipating our move, a wooden door suddenly rose and blocked our path.

Dang Gyu-young and I looked at each other.

“They really came.”

“I told you something felt off.”

Kwak Seung-jae immediately stepped through the door.

Two other third-year disciplinary committee members followed him. They positioned themselves on either side of him.

“Senior-nim, it’s not okay to do such bad things. That flare is only allowed to be used by disciplinary committee members.”

“Huh? What flare?”

Dang Gyu-young feigned ignorance. She was pretending not to know anything.

In fact, we were just nearby; there is no evidence that we fired the flare.

Not yet, at least.

This time, Kwak Seung-jae stared at me.

“Kim Ho, didn’t I tell you to do everything within the bounds of the school rules?”

“You did. I’m just out here for a walk with my senior.”

I didn’t break any rules.

I also pretended not to know anything.

Of course, both Dang Gyu-young and I were telling lies that would soon be exposed.

“Please come with us to the disciplinary committee’s office.”

If they investigate, everything will come out.

For example, I still have a flare in my inventory.

And it was obvious what would happen if we refused to comply.

The two third-year disciplinary committee members had their weapons drawn, ready to strike at any moment.

Dang Gyu-young and I exchanged glances.

We might be able to get out of this.

And just as the battle was about to begin,

Whirr—!

Suddenly, a fishing line-like thread flew from somewhere and wrapped around the bodies of Kwak Seung-jae and the two third-year disciplinary committee members.