95) Chapter 15. ……It Was Warm (8)
“Underground.”
I muttered without meaning to.
Everyone nearby turned sharply toward my voice.
“H‑huh.”
Suddenly receiving so many eyes on me, I flinched and shrank my shoulders.
“Underground?”
The principal was the first to speak.
“Ah—yes, um.”
Her voice was gentle, but her gaze was strangely sharp. Not accusatory, but piercing.
In academy stories, the principal is almost always strong. Retired, but still powerful enough to face strong enemies.
Well, you’d need that kind of strength to control a school full of teenage superhumans.
“I‑if—if, I mean.”
I continued awkwardly.
Maybe it was just her natural expression, but what if that sharp gaze turned toward me?
If I seemed to know too much… what if they thought I was connected to the villain?
It was a ridiculous fear.
Soi and Chae‑yi were always with me, and whenever possible, Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun stayed close too.
There was no opportunity for anything suspicious.
But still—some kids acted like I must be a witch because I was the witch’s daughter.
What if, even by the slightest chance, adults looked at me that way too?
“I just thought… if something was there, maybe it was underground.”
As soon as I said it, embarrassment washed over me.
Wasn’t that too obvious? If something grabbed an ankle, of course it could be underground.
But the teachers exchanged glances and blinked.
“Is there a reason you think that?”
“H‑huh?”
“There are plenty of ways to grab someone’s ankle that don’t involve being underground.”
Instructor Justina looked at me steadily.
“Abilities often exceed imagination. Someone could camouflage themselves to match the environment, or make something rise from the ground. Or…”
Telekinesis, for example.
Especially since the witch Seo Arin and I both used “invisible hands,” someone might easily think, “It felt like a hand grabbed me.”
“So if you have a reason for saying that, could you tell us? We’ll take it into account.”
“T‑that’s…”
Was I too careless? Would saying this make me look even more suspicious?
After all, moving freely underground in a mountain made of rock and tree roots sounded absurd. All abilities were absurd, but between “invisible telekinetic hand” and “swimming through solid earth,” telekinesis was far more believable.
The only reason I knew was because I’d read the novel.
I glanced nervously toward my friends. For a moment, my eyes even stopped on Jinwoo.
In the original story, Jinwoo was the one who discovered it. After getting tangled up with Hyeonji and the other heroine candidates, she finally found the holes in the ground. Though several people got hurt in the process.
But the Jinwoo standing here now was just trembling in fear.
“I—I saw it.”
I blurted out.
“You saw… the villain?”
Soi and Chae‑yi looked shocked. Hyeonji tilted her head.
“N‑not directly, but… one of the escaped villains. I heard there’s one who moves underground…”
A lie.
I never looked it up. Even searching anything related to the witch made cold sweat run down my back. I had no reason to face that nightmare willingly.
So I didn’t know if such a villain actually existed among the escapees. In the original story, there was no mass escape incident at all.
“A‑and…!”
The teachers exchanged looks again, so I hurried to continue.
“T‑the witch… she wouldn’t just grab someone and leave…”
My hands trembled. My shoulders tensed. My breathing grew uneven.
Right. If the witch were here, she wouldn’t waste time. She would have found my location first. She would have come straight for me.
And she was surprisingly cautious. If she were truly reckless, she wouldn’t have sent birds that day—she would have come herself.
“…….”
Silence fell.
The principal’s expression shifted. The sharpness softened, replaced by something heavier.
Did she sense something in what I said?
Before I could figure out what she was feeling, she nodded.
“I see. We should take that into consideration.”
I let out a small breath.
“Then let’s end the training here. It’s dangerous to have students scattered across the mountain. Contact the supervising teachers and have everyone gather at the designated locations. Those near the summit should wait safely at the facility. And tell everyone to watch their footing carefully.”
She didn’t take my words as absolute truth, but she took them seriously.
Then she turned to Instructor Justina.
Justina nodded and looked at us.
“You kids follow me. I’ll take you somewhere close and safe.”
I managed to nod.
My body still trembled. It wasn’t something I could stop.
Soi squeezed my hand tightly. The warmth seeped into me, but it didn’t stop the shaking.
I was still terrified of villains.
No matter how strong I became, no matter how well I learned to use my ability, I would probably always be afraid.
Would there ever be a day when I could face that fear properly?
Judging by who I was now… it didn’t seem likely.
*
As we walked—
“Kyaa!?”
Another scream.
This time farther away.
“Ugh!?”
A boy’s voice.
“Run!”
An adult’s voice.
“Don’t even think about stepping in.”
Instructor Justina said as I flinched at every sound.
“M‑me?”
“I have a feeling you might.”
She continued walking calmly.
“What happens here is the responsibility of adults like us, not you kids. Naturally, we’re the ones who should handle it.”
“…….”
“Well, honestly, you’re probably the one person who won’t find that convincing.”
“N‑no, I understand.”
“Good. That’s a relief.”
She stopped abruptly.
“And… hmm. You’ve got good instincts, don’t you?”
“Huh?”
Instead of answering, she pulled a small rod from her belt.
With a flick, it extended with a sharp sound.
It looked similar to a telescoping baton, but much longer. I had no idea how it worked—
Before I could finish the thought, she raised it to head height and slammed it into the ground.
“Ghk!?”
A sound came from beneath us.
The earth bulged upward. Dirt, roots, and stones shifted, and a human‑shaped lump rose briefly before collapsing back into soil.
“Tch.”
Justina clicked her tongue at the shape sinking back down.
“So it really was underground. That’s a far more impressive ability than I expected.”
“Ah—yes.”
Right. You could call it a mole‑like ability.
But more precisely, it was the ability to become part of the earth.
I still didn’t know exactly how it worked. Whether it was telekinesis limited to soil, or the body merging with the ground. But the novel described it as a person’s true body swimming through the earth like a dolphin.
Turning solid ground into loose soil as they moved.
“The grabbing was just to scare them.”
Justina said.
“The real goal is something else. Isn’t that right?”
“…….”
I swallowed hard.
“Strange. I thought I knew the list of escaped convicts pretty well.”
She lifted the baton again—
Thud!
This time, blood spurted between the soil.
The ground shook violently, like a small earthquake.
“I’ve never heard of someone with this level of ability escaping.”
“…….”
“Oh—sorry. I don’t mean I suspect you. Well, I guess I am suspicious, but not in a bad way. I’m just curious.”
She shrugged lightly.
“Well, at least we know the target is us now. And the ground will probably collapse soon. You know, soil can flow like a liquid.”
She exhaled softly.
“It’s not a mole. It’s more like a worm. That villain you mentioned.”