Conquering the Academy with Just a Sashimi Knife (Novel) - Chapter 121 - Eve of the Storm

Chapter 121 – Eve of the Storm

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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We soon arrived at Geneva Station.

“Oh….”

It was a spectacle where statues and a clock tower, brimming with a modern European atmosphere, blended together in harmony. Even the fountain in front of the main gate was anything but ordinary.

The moment I stepped inside, my eyes widened once again.

Even though this was the modern twenty-first century, the antique interior was enough to make me mistake the era.

“Come on, hurry!”

Abel beckoned to me as I looked around and took in the sights.

Abel had her face wrapped up tight under layers of adornment today as well. Tapping her wristwatch, she said:

“If it were up to me, I’d let you look around more. But we don’t have much time before the train leaves. Let’s go first.”

I nodded and followed after Abel.

Walking in front, Shail skillfully read the signs and found the platform. A senior was a senior for a reason; her experience was genuinely useful.

Thanks to Shail’s lead, our group boarded the train without being late.

The moment I got on, my gaze reflexively lifted.

【VVIP Suite】

The class of the compartment was completely different from the budget flight from before.

A simple snack bar and drinking corner, privacy guaranteed in each section. Even the sofas, beds, and TV were all top quality.

The rear carriage of the train was reserved for nobles. I had expected it to some extent, but the luxury still left me speechless.

At the same time, a sense of disillusionment with this absurd society welled up inside me.

Rank and class, settings I had passed over carelessly in the game, did not feel pleasant at all when I faced them in reality. If anything, I felt resentment rise instead.

‘…Well, I can’t exactly complain when I’m benefiting from it right now.’

【Room 3】

An interior filled with crimson and gold.

I turned my gaze toward the window side. The rail lines arranged across the gravel field and the open scenery beyond came into view at once.

Once inside the room, I took the seat by the window.

Across from me, Abel and Shail sat side by side on the sofa.

“It will take about six hours until we arrive, so if the two of you sleep, I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

Shail said that, and Abel lightly covered her mouth.

Her eyelashes were already covering half her pupils.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Shail. I didn’t get much sleep, so I am sleepy.”

Soon, blinking drowsily, Abel gently leaned against Shail.

Shail smiled wordlessly and lent Abel her shoulder.

…A moment later, Abel’s eyes quietly closed.

She fell asleep just like that with her arms folded.

Well, after swinging a sword all night, it would have been stranger if she were not tired.

Abel’s moonlit training had only ended once dawn rose.

I knew because I had woken up on and off at the sound of blades cutting the air.

“……”

Resting my arm on the window frame, I stared quietly at Abel. She was sleeping soundly like a chick.

When I shifted my gaze slightly, my eyes met Shail’s. A clear, faint curve formed on her lips.

“Would you like to switch seats?”

“……”

I sharply twisted my head back toward the window. Shail laughed out loud.

Placing her hands together on her lap, Shail admired the passing scenery in a demure posture as well.

Screeeech.

It was then that the sound of the train engine suddenly rang out.

Clatter. The wheels and rails slowly locked together.

Smoke rose from the train’s chimney, signaling departure.

* * *

Around four hours after the train had begun running.

I got up from my seat. Since I had been on an empty stomach since dawn, I was extremely hungry.

I was thinking of going to the snack bar to buy something simple. Nibelung was covering our expenses in full, so there was no burden about purchasing anything.

I said to Shail:

“I’m going to the snack bar for a bit.”

Shail, who had been quietly looking out the window, turned her gaze to me.

Her expression blurred for a moment, then she finally spoke in a small voice.

“Well, I won’t stop you from going… but I can’t really recommend it easily.”

“…?”

At Shail’s words, I tilted my head.

Letting out a deep sigh, she said:

“Since this is the VIP carriage, all of the passengers are nobles. Well, as Lord Geom-ma knows, their dispositions are really…”

“Trash.”

At my mutter, Shail’s eyes snapped wide open.

Right after that, Shail’s gaze reflexively turned toward Abel. Fortunately, Abel was fast asleep.

“Ahem.”

Shail covered her mouth with her fist and cleared her throat. Composing her expression, she continued:

“Anyway, for those reasons, I personally can’t recommend it. Or how about waking Lady Abel and going together?”

“It’s fine.”

I shook my head.

As the only one who knew why Abel lacked sleep, I did not want to disturb that flowerlike slumber.

Even a sleeping dog would bite if you wake it up. So if I were to suddenly wake Abel, who stayed in a constant state of combat readiness?

The moment those eyelashes opened, a blade would come flying at me at once.

‘It’d be ridiculous to start being scared of noble bastards now.’

To begin with, nobles who ran their mouths over status were the ones who were screwed in the head.

If there’s shit on the road, there’s no reason for me to avoid it.

Either the shit moves out of the way on its own, or I clear it out and pass through. With the temperament I had from working in a kitchen, the cutting edge of cleanliness, I couldn’t stand dirty things.

That said, there were limits to trying to educate people with a stabbing right away. People were not fish, after all.

‘Though that doesn’t really fit, considering how many I’ve sliced through already.’

Scratching the back of my neck, I grabbed the doorknob.

Creak.

As I pushed the door open, I asked Shail:

“Well, should I bring you something to drink or anything?”

* * *

“…Phew.”

After staring blankly out the window, Shail pressed her temple.

Kang Geom-ma had headed for the snack bar despite her attempt to stop him. Shail was worried about him.

Naturally, it was not concern for his personal safety. If anything, she felt it was the other side she ought to worry about.

‘No one should mess with Lord Geom-ma…’

He was a small hippopotamus. Usually polite, but if provoked, he was a beast with a ferocious heart that bared savage fangs.

Now the whole world knew how those who provoked him ended up.

‘The Twins of Tyranny, the prodigy of Auditore, Iron Leg….’

Every last one of them were formidable names. Exceptional talents who had once been called geniuses.

Yet in the end, they had all been carved to pieces by Kang Geom-ma’s sashimi knife.

‘A genius on an entirely different track…’

But even putting all of that aside, how could he be so unreserved in front of nobles?

It was a drastic way of moving that lay outside Shail’s common sense.

Of course, Shail also felt refreshed by that side of him, but the gap between understanding it and reality was far too large.

Kang Geom-ma was a boy who had only a faint sense of class-based deference. As if he were someone who had suddenly fallen into this world one day.

A cadet who gave catharsis to the poor rather than to nobles. By now, Lord Geom-ma had become a star overnight.

His reputation was rising day by day. On top of that, there was his distinctive identity of black hair and black eyes.

On portals and elsewhere, idioms like “Genius Killer,” “Heaven Beyond Heaven,” and “Sashimi Faster Than Words” had been tacked onto Kang Geom-ma.

There was even a trend in some circles where people called themselves the “Sashimi Brigade.”

There was a reason reporters kept such a close watch on Kang Geom-ma’s every move.

Rumors were especially widespread that American agencies were coveting Kang Geom-ma.

‘Anyone with common sense wouldn’t pick a fight with someone like that, but…’

Most nobles were people rotten through to the core. Since Shail had also been a special-admissions student, she knew that all too well.

Their elitism sometimes departed from common sense. For example, they would flaunt a pathetic sense of pride to confirm their own standing.

A foolish class that deliberately wanted to put its hand into a tiger’s jaws.

Those sorts were nobles. And Lord Geom-ma had walked into that backward nest of monkeys on his own two feet.

If things went wrong, it could spill over into violence….

Shail brooded over it. She could either simply stay here and pray that nothing happened, or she could go after Lord Geom-ma.

If she chose the latter, the lady resting on her shoulder would naturally wake up. And Lord Geom-ma had intentionally gone alone while taking that point into consideration.

The scales in her head wavered from side to side. After a short moment of thought, Shail raised her head. Resolve hardened in her eyes.

‘It’s late, but I still had to go.’

In this party, Shail’s role was that of guide.

Clear the dungeon safely, then return. That was her duty.

Praying that this worry would prove needless, Shail gently placed a hand on Abel’s shoulder.

She felt a faint sense of guilt. But the feeling of crisis drowned that emotion out. Just as she was about to wake the young lady:

Bang.

The door to Room 3 opened. For an instant, Shail’s gaze went blank.

“…?”

Kang Geom-ma walked in while chewing jerky.

He was carrying all kinds of provisions under one arm, things like snacks and gum. His expression was endlessly calm.

Rattle.

Kang Geom-ma dumped the load onto the sofa.

Shail felt the worries she had spent the past several minutes on burst like foam. Feeling relief and confusion at the same time, she asked:

“…Nothing happened?”

Kang Geom-ma scratched his eyebrow with his thumb.

“It wasn’t much, compared to what I expected.”

“……”

At Shail’s blank expression, Kang Geom-ma added:

“There were a few guys glaring pretty fiercely, but when I glared back once, they looked away.”

As he said that, Kang Geom-ma handed her a snack.

“I got this as a freebie from one of the staff. They said it was the most expensive one, so you should have it, Miss Shail.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Shail accepted it before she quite realized it. In that instant, a bluish gleam caught on her retinas.

Inside Kang Geom-ma’s coat pocket, a sashimi knife gleamed with its sharpened edge exposed.

“…Ah.”

Shail let out a faint murmur. She understood why the nobles had all shut their mouths.

Inside her mind, Shail revised her impression of Kang Geom-ma.

A beast’s heart? No. He was…

‘A mad demon.’

…refined madness.

The genuine kind of madman who was not even aware of it himself.

* * *

After running for six hours, the train reached its destination.

“Haaam.”

Abel must have slept well, because she stretched with a refreshed look.

Lyon, the second city of France.

A very different atmosphere from Geneva seeped through every street.

We got into a limousine taxi that had been waiting for us.

‘They said Shail handled all the reservations for this trip… this reeks of money.’

A servant who was the complete opposite of her frugal employer. As far as I was concerned, I was lucky.

The driver smoothly took to the road.

It was safe driving that obeyed the rules. However, Shail, who sat in the passenger seat, fidgeted her fingers.

This speed probably did not suit her tastes at all.

She was someone who normally pushed two hundred, after all.

…Though honestly, maybe because I had gotten used to that breakneck pace, this felt sluggish to me too.

‘I’m starting to lose it myself.’

Before long, the limousine came to a stop in front of our lodgings.

The driver politely opened the car door.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your work.”

I bowed my head awkwardly.

The moment I got out of the car, a building that seemed to show what extravagance really was stood before my eyes.

Our group rolled our suitcases across a bright red carpet.

‘So this is money.’

…Once those trivial procedures were over, I stood in front of the door to the room assigned to me.

【Room 502】

Creeeak.

“…This is insane.”

My own voice echoed inside the hotel room.

The area was vast. Compared to this, my dorm room was little better than a chicken coop.

I swallowed once.

The excitement swelled at the thought of spending a night alone in a room like this.

I buried my face in the bedsheets. A faint fragrance lingered, the sort that made me want to ask what fabric softener they used.

I rolled over and looked up at the ceiling.

“……”

Today had been a full day of money oozing from every corner.

If I ever rose to the position of one of the Seven Stars, perhaps this sort of financial power would naturally follow.

But.

The more I thought about it, the more faintly unpleasant it felt.

This too was ultimately a byproduct of the class system. If I adapted to it, would I end up changing like those nobles?

I stayed awake, sunk in thought for quite a while.

Then I abruptly got off the bed.

“…That will never happen.”

This comfortable life was not what I wanted.

What I wanted was to survive for certain in the hellscape of the human-demon war that would break out in three years.

When war stood before you, would extravagant jewels truly show their worth? They would be treated as nothing more than stones rolling on the ground. A well-forged piece of steel would be far more valuable instead.

I knew, however vaguely, that dark future. This hollow gold was useless to me, whether now or later.

And I had also grown sick of the way the nobles ruled.

Whether king or noble, if they wanted to enjoy privileges, shouldn’t they carry out the corresponding duties?

Yet the ones in the ruling class were those who sneered at, scorned, and disregarded others just because they were lucky enough to have been born to the right parents.

The thought of becoming like them made my stomach churn.

‘Seen that way, the human-demon war three years from now could serve as a kind of purge too.’

If I remembered right, the Second Human-Demon War would break out no matter what.

After all, the core thread of Miracle’s Blessing M was the way the protagonist Leon steadily prepared for it.

But at the twisted end of this narrative, I also had to prepare.

Besides, the [Blessing of the Sword God] provided me with fragments of information.

At the end of that trail, there had to be something. No, there had to be a reason I had come here.

Etching that resolve into my heart, I looked out the window.

The sky was being dyed yellow by the sunset.

Pink clouds drifted lazily, like the calm before a storm.

I stared blankly for a while, then muttered:

“It really is the eve of the storm.”

After all, tomorrow I would be seeing with my own eyes the magical beast this place called a natural disaster.