91) Chapter 15. ……It Was Warm (4)

In a normal school life, you would obviously spend almost the entire year taking classes only inside the classroom, but this place was never meant to be an ordinary high school.

It’s the Academy—the kind that appears all the time as a setting in web novels.

A place where you never know what might happen, and therefore a place perfect for creating all sorts of episodes.

If the kids only stayed in school and safely attended classes, no incidents would happen, and if they didn’t live in dorms, the number of incidents occurring on campus would be far too few.

Because I’ve been getting along well with everyone and having fun, I keep forgetting, but the truth is that my body is basically like a burning fuse waiting to ignite.

“Alright, you heard that, right?”

The instructor spoke from the front.

It wasn’t Instructor Justina.

The Academy doesn’t only have sparring as its sole class involving superpowers.

“Even if it’s a mountain nearby, it’s actually quite far in terms of distance. And it’s nighttime. So you need to stay sharp.”

At those words, the students let out deep sighs.

Well, of course.

There are plenty of adults who enjoy hiking, but as far as I know, there aren’t many teenagers who already enjoy hiking at this age.

Why do people start liking hiking as they get older?

Do they start longing for nature after being worn down by noisy city life?

Even though I worked in society for quite a long time in my previous life, I still hated mountains. If I was going somewhere, I preferred places with proper roads where you could drive all the way to the end.

“Are we really climbing all the way up there?”

“Of course you’re really going. You think you’re going fake hiking?”

That was exactly the kind of answer an adult would give.

“But once you get up there, the facilities are pretty decent. It’s not like we’re going to make you pitch tents and camp out just because it’s nighttime. That’s something you do in higher grades.”

“We go camping in higher grades?”

“Why? Camping’s nice.”

The kids’ faces clearly said they did not agree.

Because they knew they weren’t going to a proper campsite.

“If you want to be a hero later, you don’t have a choice. If a villain hides in the mountains, you have to catch them. You can’t just leave them alone. You never know where they’ll run, and if you leave them thinking they escaped, people will get hurt later.”

“……”

There were some dissatisfied reactions, but what could they do?

It wasn’t exactly wrong.

Let’s say someone had an ability to hide themselves. Not perfect invisibility, but something like a chameleon or an octopus, changing their body’s colors to match the surroundings.

If the surroundings were clean and simple, hiding would be obvious. Humans can detect three‑dimensional shapes, and if something sticks out in a single‑colored environment, no matter how well it mimics the color and texture, it will still be visible.

But if the environment is complex and there are things to partially hide behind, the story changes. They could blend in perfectly and become extremely hard to find.

There are ways to detect people—thermal imaging, various sensors—but there could also be abilities that don’t show up on thermal imaging.

The deeper into the mountains someone hides, the more you have to set up camp and search for a long time.

“…Ah.”

And suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

I couldn’t write it in my notebook because I was afraid Auntie Yujin, Uncle Dohyun, or Soi might see it, but I regularly reminded myself of certain memories so I wouldn’t forget them.

Especially memories involving people getting hurt or dying.

To be honest, I don’t remember it clearly anymore, but wasn’t there an episode in the mountains?

This time too, it was a villain who held resentment toward heroes.

When I read the novel before, I wondered why there were so many villains wandering around freely even after being defeated by heroes.

Now I realized—it was because the villains who escaped back then were still out there.

“…Hm?”

But if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean the witch was also wandering around in the original story?

Then why didn’t she appear in front of Seo Rua? If the author had created such a setting, they would’ve definitely used it.

Maybe she didn’t appear in the main story, and only existed as a forced element created to push Seo Rua into corruption as the plot progressed.

She was the cause of Seo Rua’s downfall, but had no reason to appear in the main story.

Or… did I twist the story enough that the witch’s existence changed somehow?

The only differences between the original and now are that Uncle Dohyun is alive and Auntie Yujin isn’t as terrifying.

…Either way, I can’t just leave this alone.

“Rua.”

“Hehek!?”

I flinched violently at the sudden tap on my back.

Feeling the eyes around me turn toward me, my face grew a little warm.

“Don’t worry too much.”

Soi, the culprit who tapped my back, said with a smile.

“We’re in the same group anyway. I’ll protect you.”

“Uh…”

“You think I’m in a different group?”

Chae-yi glared at Soi as she spoke.

“……”

And Hyeonji stood slightly apart, as if she didn’t want to get dragged into their argument.

“……”

And Jinwoo stood even farther away, unable to approach because she was too scared.

There was no way our group was assigned like this by coincidence. The instructor must have been told something.

Probably through the principal.

…Didn’t he say I could come to him if I had any trouble?

It wasn’t trouble yet, but… maybe something that could become trouble was enough reason?

*

“You’re going to the principal? Why? Did something happen?”

“Did someone bother you when we weren’t looking?”

“N‑No…”

When I said I was going to the principal’s office, Soi and Chae-yi asked with worried expressions, so I quickly shook my head.

Besides, is there ever a time when I’m not with one of them?

If Soi isn’t there, Chae-yi is. If Chae-yi isn’t there, Soi is. And these days, even if both aren’t there, Hyeonji probably would be.

And the atmosphere among the other students has softened a lot, so there’s no one who would bother me on purpose.

“But the principal? Do you… have some other worry?”

I didn’t know how to answer Soi’s question.

Yes. I did have another worry.

A worry about something that hasn’t happened yet, but might happen.

“Um…”

As I hesitated, Hyeonji let out a small sigh.

Soi and Chae-yi, and even Jinwoo—who had followed us for some reason—all turned their eyes toward Hyeonji.

“Aren’t you two being a little overprotective?”

“Overprotective?”

“Rua has her own life too.”

“……”

At Hyeonji’s words, Soi and Chae-yi exchanged glances.

Then they lowered their eyes, as if something pricked their conscience.

No, it’s not that bad…

“She might have something she wants to discuss privately with a teacher, and sometimes she might want time alone. If you stick to her that much, she won’t be able to talk to teachers about things she doesn’t want to tell others.”

“Without us?”

“Only to the teacher?”

There’s something like that?

Soi and Chae-yi’s eyes turned to me at the same time.

“……”

Honestly, I felt a little guilty.

At this point, we were practically one body—
Well, no, maybe that’s not the best way to put it…

Anyway, we’d been together so long that if one of them wasn’t beside me, I felt uneasy.
So not telling them something felt wrong.

I even considered telling just the two of them.

But even though they had amazing abilities, they were still students.
Soi couldn’t control her power like Auntie Yujin, and Chae-yi could only cancel abilities for now.

More importantly, they were both too precious to me, and I didn’t want to see either of them get hurt.

If I said I was in danger, both of them would rush in without caring about their own safety.

“Um… yeah.”

So in the end, I nodded without explaining anything.

When I answered like that, I thought Soi and Chae-yi might be disappointed or sad, but—

They just blinked a few times and nodded obediently.

Then they both looked like they were thinking deeply about something.

“Then go on.”

Hyeonji said.

“Uh, yeah.”

Feeling a little dazed, I walked carefully to the principal’s office, took a deep breath, and knocked.

“Come in.”

Hearing the voice from inside, I opened the door and stepped in.

“Oh.”

Instructor Justina was sprawled confidently on the sofa, raising one hand in greeting.

And the principal was looking at her with a slightly furrowed brow.

“Rua.”

“Ah, yes, um, I have something I wanted to talk about.”

“Alright, you came to the right place. Sit.”

When the principal stood up from her seat and approached, Instructor Justina also sat up.

Her hair was sticking out wildly under her veil.

Maybe the two of them were close.

“Want some snacks?”

Instructor Justina offered the guest snacks from the principal’s office as if she were the one providing them.

“Ah, yes, um, thank you.”

“Good, good.”

“…Have you been doing well lately?”

The principal glanced at Instructor Justina, then smiled at me as he asked.

“Ah, yes, I’ve been doing well. Thank you.”

I answered honestly.

It felt good that saying this counted as “honest.”

“Alright. Can I ask what you wanted to talk about?”

“Ah, yes, um…”

I hesitated for a moment.

I couldn’t say I knew about a villain directly, so I wondered if I could phrase it indirectly, or at least make it sound like a student’s excessive worry.

“…Um, there’s something I’m worried about.”

“Worried?”

“Um, um, um…”

Forcing my stiff mouth to move, I finally managed to speak, almost blurting it out.

“It’s about Seo Arin…”

Both Instructor Justina, who had been smiling lazily, and the principal, who had been listening with a gentle smile, froze instantly.

They exchanged a brief glance, then looked at me.

“We’re listening.”

“Ah, yes.”

I nodded and moved my lips again.

“I was wondering… when we go on our field training… what if she shows up…?”

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Pub: 22 Apr 2026 09:53 UTC

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