Conquering the Academy with Just a Sashimi Knife (Novel) - Chapter 110 - New Beginning (1)

Chapter 110 – New Beginning (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“…Would this be enough?”

I stared fixedly at the wide-open suitcase.

Clothes, daily necessities, bundles of Daiso sashimi knives. Looking at the luggage packed in tight somehow made me excited.

For the first time across both my past and present lived, I was going abroad on a trip.

Come to think of it, I had gone to Scopuli Island for the midterms, and to Avalon Island as part of the deserted island survival training, but……

They were memories too vague to really call travel. Both times had been unpleasant experiences where I almost died.

So in the truest sense, this was my `first` trip abroad.

‘Somehow, I’m a little nervous.’

After roughly finishing my check, I sat down on the bed.

And I recalled what the Sword Emperor had said when he came to see me separately yesterday.

-If you had no plans during the vacation, would you not come with me to House Nibelung.

The Sword Emperor had added several supplementary points to that statement when he made the proposal. It had been a fairly long conversation, but it could be reduced to two points.

The first was that, since I had resolved myself as a future Seven Star, he would personally guide my full-scale training and cultivation.

The Sword Emperor had been busy. He had been giving countless interviews over his retirement from the Seven Star Heroes, and he was also in and out of the Hero Association regularly. Those were the reasons he had been absent from the academy lately.

Even so, in the end, it seemed matters had been more or less wrapped up. His return to the academy was proof enough of that.

Thus, the first main point was that he would use the vacation period to properly hand things over(?) and instruct me in what had been piling up wave after wave.

The second reason was more complicated and more realistic.

Elder Cladi had just died. And at my hands, at that.

More precisely, he had died at the hands of Altair and Nox, but I was someone deeply entangled in that whole affair.

If that fact reached the ears of the hostile faction, they would make up their minded and aim for me first. Because in their eyes, I was the easiest target.

They would not be stupid enough to provoke the Sword Emperor, the strongest of humanity, or Headmaster Media.

Nor could they afford to pick a fight with Auditore, the house of order.

Thus, there was a high chance the enemy’s unpleasant attention would be focused on me from here on.

‘The head of Auditore said he would keep any leaks to a minimum, but……’

If there had been no witnesses at all, that would have been one thing, but several of Cladi’s guards whose crimes were lighter had survived.

Of course, Auditore would have firmly sealed their mouths, but as the saying went, birds hear the words spoken by day and mice hear the words spoken by night.

It would only be a matter of time before the hostile Elder Council or the nobles found out.

And if that happened, matters would become troublesome. From then on, it probably would not be physical pressure like ordering an assassination, but some other way of squeezing me.

If they sent a hired killer like that Undertaker fellow again, that would almost be preferable. I could just cut down each one who came.

‘As expected, using my body is a lot easier for me than using my head.’

Anyway, because of all the factors above, I needed to stay somewhere beyond the reach of their claws. The academy looked the safest at first glance, but it was still within the Elder Council’s sphere of influence.

That was why the Sword Emperor had gently made that proposal to me. To stay together with him.

At first, it had been absurd. But the further my thoughts went, the less I could see any better option than that offer.

‘House Nibelung.’

The family seat of Aron Nibelung, the First Sword Saint, and a lineage with a long history spanning seven hundred years.

I had never seen it even in the game, but that whole territory was treated like a kind of small nation in itself.

Which was to say, within the bounds of House Nibelung, the very existence of the Sword Emperor, the head of the house, was effectively the law.

And with the Sword Emperor, bearing the title of strongest of humanity, planted there like a mountain, no one but a complete madman could practically interfere from outside.

Only someone on the level of another Seven Star, like the Spear Saint or the Absolute Bow, could barely be granted permission to enter.

Even then, if any outsider came to House Nibelung, it would likely only be those two. But Saki Kojima, the Absolute Bow, was busy as the Prime Minister of Japan, and the Spear Saint in France was on bad terms with the Sword Emperor.

‘Surely I won’t end up seeing either of those two.’

After staring at the ceiling for a moment, I soon laid my back into the bedding.

“This room will be empty for a long time for the first time.”

Just three months ago this room had felt awkward, but now it was my only home. And I would be away from it for a whole month.

On top of that, I would not be seeing the members of the travel club I had grown attached to for a while either. I considered telling them, but then shook my head.

The Sword Emperor had gone out of his way to keep my whereabouts unclear. No matter how much I trusted them as close friends, the more ears that heard, the more worrying it became.

‘And Chloe’s family home was also in Europe……’

The image of her running toward me with her red hair flying flashed through my mind. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

‘I need to keep a little distance from her.’

After lying there absentmindedly with my head propped up for several minutes, a sudden question occurred to me.

“How big would the Sword Emperor’s private jet be?”

Of course he would have a private jet, so what I was curious about was the scale of it. Among noble houses, Nibelung belonged to the very highest tier.

As a commoner like me, I could not even begin to imagine the extent of their wealth. If compared to Earth, would it be roughly on the level of oil tycoons’ assets?

From what I had heard, Auditore’s private jet could carry around eighteen people, so…… Nibelung’s would probably be a large aircraft.

“…My first flight in life being on a private jet……”

My excitement kept quietly growing. At this rate, I wondered if my standards would rise for no reason.

Lowering the corners of my mouth that had been lifting, I abruptly got off the bed. I sat in front of the bag again to check whether there were any items I had forgotten.

Departure was in two days. There was not that much time.

“…Hm.”

As I looked down at the tightly packed luggage, something felt off. It seemed like I had packed everything.

“Ah, right. I should bring some cup ramen too.”

I had nearly forgotten something more important to a Korean than a passport. I immediately grabbed my wallet and headed for the campus mart.

* * *

Two days passed, and at last it was the day of departure.

After checking my luggage one last time, I stood in front of the door.

The moment I gripped the doorknob, I turned my head halfway and swept my eyes over the room.

“……”

The narrow room was steeped in loneliness. A strange emotion swirled beneath my throat. With a faint smile, I stepped out of the room.

‘The Sword Emperor told me to come to Incheon Airport first.’

The night before last, I had a brief phone call with the Sword Emperor about the schedule. He said he himself would arrive at the airport the day before and go through the departure procedures.

Things were unsettled because of Cladi’s death. If the Elder Council pressured the administration, it might not go as far as refusing departure, but there could still be delays.

The Sword Emperor had probably left early in order to prevent exactly that scenario.

Because I moved my legs briskly, I reached the academy bus terminal in no time.

Since most of the cadets had all left either the day before yesterday, when the closing ceremony was held, or yesterday, the terminal was quiet.

About ten people sat here and there in the waiting area, waiting for the bus.

As soon as I entered the terminal, a wave of gazes gathered on me. Two girls among them widened their eyes and whispered to the people next to them.

“That black-haired guy, it’s him, isn’t it. The cadet who broke Iron Leg.”

“Ah, that Sashimi Sword Saint? I heard he’s got a demonic personality and cuts people with a filleting knife……”

If they had been muttering quietly, that would have been one thing, but they were loud enough that every word stabbed cleanly into my ears.

“Hey, that’s not even all. A junior I know is in the same class as him, and apparently he confesses to a different girl every week……. And if they don’t accept the confession, he pulls a knife on them first……. He confessed to my junior too, and when she turned him down, she said she really thought she was going to die.”

No, fuck.

I had no idea how rumors about me were spreading, but my image had become that of a complete lunatic.

If someone rejects my confession, I pull a knife first? If that were true, would I still be at the academy? I’d be rotting in prison.

Thanks to Chloe and Rachel, I already tried to keep my distance from women as much as possible. It was unfair enough to make indignation well up.

“Wow, he’s totally insane……. But his face is actually not bad, is it? And his hair color is kind of unusual, so it’s sort of ‘hip.’ And he’s pretty famous for being really strong too, right? My type lately has been strong bad men, so maybe he’d actually be worth dating once?”

“Hey! Are you crazy?! What if you get stabbed!? That’s not a bad man, that’s just a bastard! And first of all, his background is on a different level from ours. No matter how strong he is, do you think your family would permit that kind of relationship?”

“Is that so… But I think he’s looking at us?”

“Eek! Hey, hey, look down, look down. If we’re not careful, he might confess to us.”

“Eek!”

Perhaps sensing my gaze, the two female students flinched in alarm and sucked in their breath. Their faces went pale blue, and their pupils shook like an earthquake.

It seemed that to them, I was a more terrifying existence than demonkind. Honestly, I felt like throwing a word at them.

Who would be pleased to have ridiculous fabrications turned into other people’s gossip? Especially when they were treating me like some complete playboy bastard.

I was not generous enough to feel insulted and just let it slide. Rather, I was the type whose body moved faster than his head.

So, just as they said, I even briefly considered pushing my sashimi knife forward and verifying the facts for them.

“Haa……”

I let out a sigh packed with all sorts of complicated emotions.

I had only recently realized that my personality had changed, so what was I supposed to do if I was already acting like this?

Setting aside the fact that I couldn’t live by just taking things lying down, even if I taught those girls a lesson, all it would do was add worse rumors on top.

If I so much as said a word to them, the rumor would probably be further distorted from `the lunatic who confesses to girls every week` into `the beast who confesses every single day.`

To be honest, I still didn’t really understand why I had become the lunatic who went around confessing. But it seemed my public image had already been sufficiently damaged.

Here, there was no need to add more misunderstandings for nothing, so I should just pass through quietly.

More than anything, today was supposed to be a good day. I decided to soften my emotions a little and think only positive thoughts as much as possible.

When I sighed and kept deliberately silent, the two female cadets looked at each other and then nodded.

As if the wandering rumors were true, certainty appeared on their faces.

At times like this, ignoring them was the answer. I turned my attention away from the two and took out my earphones.

At that moment.

“Excuse me.”

A cold voice calling out to the chattering girls.

The two female students slowly turned their eyes toward the source of the voice.

“…!”

At the same time, both their eyes widened to the point of splitting. At the appearance of one girl they had not expected, the two abruptly stopped the wagging of their tongues.

Not only them, but all gazes focused on that girl at once, and feelings of shock immediately spread.

The one who had just pushed through the revolving door and entered was.

A beautiful girl whose looked seemed as though no amount of praise could ever be enough.

‘Abel……?’

Narrowing her brows sharply, she walked closer to the two of them.

Abel crossed her arms and looked at them coldly. As if they had become mute in an instant, the two girls merely moved their lips.

As though, in the face of overwhelmingly superior genes, they did not dare open their mouths.

The silence seeped into the walls. Abel’s gaze swept over the two girls’ name tags. White tags, marking them as second-years.

Furrowing her brows even more, Abel opened her mouth.

“You’re upperclassmen, and yet you’re going around badmouthing a junior. Isn’t that far too shameless? Leaving aside the “facts of the matter,” it would still be extremely rude even if the person in question weren’t here, and yet he can hear every word right over there. Even if you can’t be an example, you shouldn’t be showing something so embarrassing.”

“……”

The two clamped their mouths shut. Under the continued rain of factual blows, they lost the chance to offer any protest.

“And just use common sense. If he pulled a knife on girls for rejecting his confessions, would he still be attending the academy? He’d be in prison. You two knew they were fabricated rumors too, and yet you were snickering about it right in front of the person involved. Isn’t that right?”

At Abel’s pressing words, the two girls merely lowered their heads like criminals.

Their expressions were poor enough that it was obvious they were not entirely convinced. But who were they dealing with?

Abel von Nibelung. This was a world where a status hierarchy undeniably existed.

It would be difficult for them to claim a voice against a child of House Nibelung, one of the greatest noble families. Even if that child happened to be a junior one year below them.

‘Of course, it’s not like Abel was aiming for that……’

On top of that, Abel was a peerless beauty on the level of a final boss of the setting. Those girls had every reason to feel deeply humiliated, both in terms of status and as members of the same sex.

‘…But seeing her like this, she really does feel like Abel.’

The Abel I had seen in the game maintained a cold attitude.

Even toward Leon, the handsome man who attracted women like a magnet, she was always sharp-edged.

And not only toward Leon, but toward everyone, she had a prickly personality, so the players’ opinion of her had been fairly good.

Apparently the stronger a person’s disposition, the more their delicate side stood out. That was a field I didn’t really understand.

As for Abel’s cold personality, hints about it had been steadily dropped from the beginning of the story.

It probably had something to do with her past, and as far as I knew, those hints were collected later in the second half.

Therefore, I knew nothing about that part. I had quit the game around the middle-to-late stretch.

Since she had been the reason I played `Miracle’s Blessing M` in the first place, I had wanted to know about her past, so that part remained a lingering regret.

Still, as someone who had fallen into this world, it was probably better for me to remain ignorant. Abel was Leon’s main heroine.

Before long, tears welled at the corners of the two upperclassmen’s eyes who had been chewing me up as gossip. They had been taking those stinging words for several minutes, so it was only natural.

It was the moment I realized anew that words could hurt more than a blade.

“Good grief.”

After thoroughly setting the two straight, Abel soon shook her head with a light sigh.

Her eyes looked like she had suddenly come to her senses. Well, even a few words from her had made the upperclassmen start openly sniffling.

And it seemed she felt very uncomfortable with all the gazes focused on her.

Abel was a character with an appearance that drew attention and a personality that disliked receiving attention.

She cast off all those focused stared and stepped forward. A huge rolling suitcase followed in her right hand.

Then Abel came closer to me.

“……”

“……”

After staring at me, she sat down in the seat next to me as though it were nothing. Naturally, I too had to receive the attention that had gathered on her.

The combination of me, the one rumored to shove a sashimi knife at girls who rejected my confessions, and Abel, the greatest beauty in the world setting.

What sort of things would people imagine on seeing that?

It was certain that unpleasant rumors would continue to pile up.

Suddenly, without taking her gaze off the front, Abel opened her mouth.

“You brought everything without forgetting anything, right? Grandfather told me to come to the airport with you. Since this is Wonju, it should take about three hours by bus to Incheon Airport.”

When I made a flustered expression, Abel crossed her arms and looked only at me with her eyes.

“What, why are you making a face like you just saw a ghost?”

“……”

A fact I had forgotten amid these chaotic days came back to me.

The Abel who had been the reason I spent money during my brief month or so as a player, and.

“You’re going to be staying at our house during vacation, aren’t you.”