Conquering the Academy with Just a Sashimi Knife (Novel) - Chapter 90 - Playing Catch the Thief (3)

Chapter 90 – Playing Catch the Thief (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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A chilly air hung through the classroom occupied by only Saki Ryozo and San Hana.

“Tell me, senpai. Why is your name on the staff list?”

“……”

At Saki’s razor-sharp interrogation, San Hana merely tilted her head slightly. Her response was so composed it was as if she genuinely had no idea what Saki was talking about. Saki twisted her lips.

‘Something about her was strange from the start.’

Saki Ryozo recalled her first impression of San Hana. A second-year student with an ordinary impression and an ordinary atmosphere, without even the tiniest standout point. That textbook normality felt like the sort you would forget the moment you turned around.

Her personality wasn’t abrasive, and neither were her words or actions frivolous. On top of that, no matter what subject came up, San Hana never added her own opinion.

Saki found that excessive normality itself unnatural. Saki’s instincts did not easily let even the smallest thing slip past.

Once she carved a target into her mind, she couldn’t settle down until she had observed and analyzed it to the end. It was both an unconscious impulse and a lingering remnant born from surviving in the frigid House of the Absolute Bow.

Saki opened her eyes wide and stared at San Hana. An indistinct impression, as though she had wrapped herself in fog. Looking at her now, Saki even found her distasteful.

San Hana merely stared straight back at Saki through the gleam of her lenses, still keeping her mouth shut. At that shameless attitude, Saki let out a dry laugh and asked.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

As she said that, Saki tapped one sheet of paper with her fingernail. San Hana shifted her gaze toward Saki’s fingertips. Three characters written precisely on the staff roster.

⌜San Hana⌟

The sunset light, darkened by the edge of dusk, seeped into the classroom walls.

“Or is it that you just don’t want to answer?”

“……”

“San. Ha. Na. Senpai. Or should I address you by the title written on the paperwork instead?”

Saki pronounced San Hana’s name one syllable at a time. Then she spoke again.

“Professor San Hana.”

“Puhaha.”

A dry laugh slipped out from between San Hana’s lips. At that mocking sound, cold enough to chill the spine, Saki took several steps back. A sharp hostility ignited in Saki’s eyes.

“…What are you?”

The tightly wound tension made the atmosphere dangerous. San Hana, who had been smiling for quite some time, finally opened her mouth.

“Mm, Saki. I mean… I understand you got worked up because of the meeting earlier, but aren’t you a little too tense?”

“…What?”

“Even so, mistaking someone else with the same name doesn’t seem like you.”

As she said that, San Hana lowered her gaze to the paperwork Saki had been pointing at. A faint curve still rested around her lips. Saki, flustered, quickly scanned the documents again.

Saki’s pupils shook violently. The name written on the paper was definitely San Hana. But.

‘…It’s different.’

The small notation written in the corner of the file about that person’s whereabouts and movements was clearly different from San Hana’s.

On top of that, it clearly said that during the festival period, the professor with the same name had been away on a business trip in another region.

‘…I overlooked that?’

And yet, she couldn’t simply blame herself. The writing had been as tiny as the `I agree to the terms and conditions` box during sign-up. If anything, it was amazing that San Hana had noticed it after just one glance.

‘Was the information tampered with?’

The movements and information of the staff were automatically entered into the network through the Academy’s subspace system, so outside interference was nearly impossible.

Even Saki herself could only view the information. She could not directly affect the system. Access to the subspace system was the Academy Head’s exclusive authority.

In that case, had the current Academy Head, Media, been involved? Saki ran the possibility through her mind, but it was an extremely slim one. Cold sweat rolled down her back as she tried to gather her thoughts.

‘That makes no sense…’

She had prided herself on being meticulous to a fault, and yet she had overlooked something this trivial. No matter how many times she retraced it, she couldn’t believe the misjudgment.

Saki failed to hide her confusion. Seeing that, San Hana, who had been staring at her, spoke gently.

“It’s all right. No matter how capable you are, even you make mistakes sometimes. You’re not a machine, are you?”

San Hana’s tone was soft, as if soothing a child. Biting down on lips trembling from embarrassment, Saki stared ahead.

The infinitely benevolent smile on San Hana’s lips. There was only a one-year age gap between them, and yet the smile carried the sense of a vast weight of years. Saki felt the wariness that had been flaring inside her begin to collapse.

“I don’t know about your home country, Japan, Saki, but at least in Korea, there are a lot of people with the same name. It’s only three syllables, after all.”

“…Ah, yes. No, right.”

“Most likely, because it was right after that villain countermeasure meeting, you were wound up too tightly. When you’re dealing with serious matters, misunderstandings like this happen all the time. The Academy supposedly has enemies lurking inside it, doesn’t it? If anything, I think it’s only right to be as sharply on guard as you are.”

“……”

“Anyway, since it looks like the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I’ll get going now.”

Unsorted thoughts and a chilly feeling still circled in Saki’s chest. Even so, she nodded in a guilty manner. Their positions had been completely reversed.

For Saki, bowing her head to anyone was an unfamiliar sensation. It felt like bitterness spread across her tongue and bitter smoke filled her chest.

Saki suppressed the urge to continue the interrogation. If she kept pressing now, all that would increase was her humiliation.

‘Damn it…’

San Hana smiled in that strange way again and turned her feet toward the door. A brief awkward silence.

Just as she reached the doorway, San Hana suddenly turned only half her head and spoke.

“Saki.”

“…Hm?”

“If I may offer one piece of advice as your elder in life.”

San Hana placed a meaningful smile on her lips. The thick lenses of her glasses flashed once, and then she spoke softly.

“A dense boy like Geom-ma won’t understand unless you express your feelings directly.”

“W-what!?”

Saki’s face instantly flushed red. Her lips trembled so hard that her words stumbled.

“Personally, I’m rooting for you the most, Saki! Anyway, I’m really going now! Do well on the exam!”

“W-wait…!”

San Hana waved her hand in farewell and left the classroom. And Saki merely stared blankly in that direction. The dim evening cast shadows across her face.

* * *

The first light of dawn began to break slowly over the horizon. I sat perched on the railing, watching the sight. Ordinarily I would’ve been sound asleep at this hour, but today my eyes had snapped open on their own.

My eyes were hollow, and my body and mind were steeped in fatigue. But honestly, today of all days, it was hard to keep my composure. And the reason for that was.

“Haah, I don’t care about the finals themselves, but of all people, the team leader.”

Rachel.

Out of all the countless cadets, I had been assigned to the same team as the one person I least wanted to get entangled with. I already had more than enough on my plate, and now an unexpected pile of stress had come along for the ride.

The reason I avoided her was absurdly simple. We just weren’t compatible. I had felt it clearly while taking the midterms with her before.

She had the kind of personality I never wanted to deal with again. To put it even more clearly, the obvious way she kept throwing herself at me was a burden. A huge one.

How she had gotten my number, I didn’t know, but whenever she got the chance, she sent ridiculous texts asking if I wanted to come watch Letflix in her room or stay for ramen. At some point my number had apparently become public knowledge.

Naturally, I blocked every reply. And even then, texts would come again from a different number. And every single time, she proudly stated her real name.

When I asked Weapon, he told me Rachel opened a new number every time I blocked her. Along with a whole new phone.

According to Rachel, there was no man alive who wouldn’t fall if you struck ten times.

Weapon had patted me on the shoulder and tried to comfort me. There had been a deep pity settled across his face. He had even added that there was nothing he could do for me and gave me a thumbs-up as he wished me well in the afterlife.

As someone who used to be a player, I could roughly guess the intention behind Rachel’s advances.

What she wanted from me wasn’t an emotional bond, but simply a strong bloodline. The loosened collar, the coy behavior, all of it was only for the sake of securing stronger seed.

And somehow, I seemed to have become Rachel’s target. Out of all the cadets, she was one of the few who had personally witnessed the spar with Nox, the mermaid subjugation, and even my victory over Mao Lang.

From the point of view of a member of the House of the Shooting Star, who yearned for superior stock, I would naturally look like excellent prey.

‘Originally, Leon was supposed to be that target.’

The image of heart-shaped pupils flashed through my mind, and a shiver ran through my whole body. If I let my guard down, I’d get dragged off to the House of the Shooting Star and come out an empty husk. I once more steeled my resolve to keep my posture tight.

For the record, despite the outward impression that she looked like she had a ton of dating experience, Rachel was actually a lifelong solo.

I guessed the game company had been trying to add a twist to her character, but…

“A forever-alone…”

Scratching my head, I sank my back into the bed again.

Perhaps because I had woken up too suddenly, a rebound drowsiness came over me belatedly. It was only natural, since I had woken up at least three hours earlier than usual.

Just as I was about to let my growingly heavy eyelids close without resisting.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, hey!

Day after day, rollin’ in the deep!

Suddenly, the bugle-like wake-up blast of those brave idol noona voices rang out. My eyes flew open at the abrupt ringtone. My irritated gaze immediately turned toward the wall clock.

The current time was five o’clock.

Since it was summer, dawn did break early, but it was still the middle of the early morning.

Even roosters would think it too early to clear their throats.

“…Who is calling at this hour?”

I irritably groped around by my pillow and grabbed my phone. The artificial light from the screen stabbed my eyes once, brightly and harshly.

[Saki Ryozo]

[ADC]

[019-XXXX-XXXX]

Narrowing my eyes, I checked the caller. It was Ryozo. She sent meaningless texts from time to time, but this was the first time she had ever actually called me.

‘But she’s awake at this hour?’

The question lasted only a moment. Since she slept all day long, she probably just didn’t sleep at night. I had overheard her talking with Weapon about it before.

I stared blankly down at the phone. I debated for quite a while over whether to answer, but in the end I picked up.

This was a call coming after the conclusion of the villain-hunting meeting. The most likely explanation was that she had found something strange while looking through the materials and had called in a hurry.

I was tired, but she must have missed a night’s sleep too. Since I was the president, it wasn’t as if I could start whining first.

“Yeah, what’s up at this hour?”

–What, you weren’t asleep?

To hear that line from the person who had called someone at this hour…

I almost let out a disbelieving laugh. I gathered up the emotions that rose inside me and answered calmly.

“I woke up earlier than I expected. What about you?”

–Me? I didn’t really sleep at night anyway.

“More importantly, why are you suddenly calling at this hour? Did you find something strange while looking through the materials?”

–……

The moment I asked that, a short silence fell.

–…Did you think I only contact you when I had business with you?

And then that huffy little answer came from the other side of the phone.

Now that I thought about it, she had a point. With how careful Ryozo was, anything important would usually be explained in person. The texts she sent were usually just playful banter.

‘Then why did she call at this hour?’

When I didn’t respond, Ryozo hesitated for a moment before blurting it out.

–…I just called to tell you to do well on the exam.

“…Ah.”

I found myself newly surprised by how much her attitude had changed.

Could that rational and coolheaded Ryozo really say something this warm?

Judging from the way she usually acted, it didn’t seem likely. She probably had something else on her mind too, but it was hard for me to read what Ryozo was really thinking.

Still, well, it was a word of encouragement, so I should take it in a good way.

–Ah, anyway… I was hanging up.

“Wait.”

–Uh, uh, why?

“You do well too.”

–……

Once again, the silence of the early dawn. Even when I looked at the screen thinking the call had ended, it was still connected. As I waited awkwardly for a reply, a tiny voice finally came through.

–Yeah, thanks.

The moment the words ended, the call cut off sharply.

I scratched around my jaw and tossed the phone onto the desk.

I had thought about trying to sleep a little more, but the once faint sun now looked ready to climb high. The morning of the final exam had dawned.