During the infiltration of the temporary storage facility, Song Cheon-hye and Han So-mi saw through the [Totem of Disguise] and realized that the true identity of Inferno Fist was me.
The situation had been so urgent that they had to let it pass without pressing the issue further, but it wasn’t something that could simply be brushed aside.
So I had expected that it would have to be addressed at least once, and now the time had finally come.
After sending the others inside first, we walked over to a corner of the base.
Song Cheon-hye stared at me for a moment before lowering her gaze.
“…Please show me your hand.”
“Here.”
When I readily held out my hand, she examined it from every angle, then added a comment as if something had occurred to her.
“For the record, I’m not groping it. I’m just checking again.”
“I know.”
“…You really seem fine, even when you use Inferno Fist.”
“I’m fine.”
Soon Song Cheon-hye’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why don’t you get permission?”
“Because it’s a hassle.”
To receive permission to use a prohibited item or skill, you have to go through an extremely long and complicated procedure.
Maybe it would be worth it if Inferno Fist were that important, but haven’t I been doing perfectly well with other things so far?
Of course, Song Cheon-hye clearly didn’t find that convincing at all.
“It feels like you’re hiding something else.”
“To be honest, I am.”
“…What is it?”
A big part of it was that the process of getting permission would also require me to reveal [Elemental Resistance].
But I couldn’t reveal that much, so my answer was:
“Not telling.”
“You always say you won’t tell.”
“Ask something else.”
Song Cheon-hye seemed to grumble inwardly but quickly gave up.
From experience, she had learned that when I responded like this, I really wouldn’t tell her.
Soon she slightly changed the question and asked,
“You learned it at the beginning of the first semester, right?”
“That’s right.”
I learned Inferno Fist during the first temporary storage incident.
There was a skill book there, so I quickly learned it.
Then I blasted Kwak Seung-jae away with it and calmly slipped out of the encirclement.
“So you’ve been using it ever since.”
“That’s right.”
“And you’ll keep using it from now on?”
“Most likely.”
Someday its usefulness might expire and be replaced with another skill, but at least until then.
Song Cheon-hye frowned slightly.
“So you’re openly saying you’ll keep violating school regulations.”
“Sorry to say, but yes.”
“Do you at least feel sorry?”
“Of course I do.”
What crime did the disciplinary committee commit? They’re just faithfully doing their job.
The ones in the wrong are the troublemakers (myself included).
Song Cheon-hye kept questioning me.
“You know that, and you still have to do it? Why?”
“I have to. World peace is at stake.”
“…??”
A bunch of question marks practically appeared above Song Cheon-hye’s head.
“What are you suddenly talking about? What does that have to do with breaking school rules?”
“It does have something to do with it.”
My expression remained serious the entire time.
I glanced up at the sky and asked,
“You’ve been hearing the news from outside, right?”
“…Yes, I have.”
“Most of it is bad news. No one knows when something might happen. Just look at our school…how many times have the Blood Cult and witches attacked this year alone?”
“……!”
During midterms, the Blood Fury Syringe incident happened, the Witch of Corruption took control of the dungeon building using Oobleck, Blood Cult elders infiltrated the tournament, and there was even the subjugation of the Witch of Exhaustion.
And there’s no guarantee that something similar won’t happen again.
“You can’t grow while following every rule perfectly. There’s neither the time nor the luxury for that.”
“…I understand that, at least.”
Song Cheon-hye slowly nodded.
She stayed like that for a moment, thinking, then spoke as if she had made up her mind.
“But if we make exceptions every time something like that happens, what’s the point of having rules at all? You might think I’m rigid and narrow-minded, but rules should be followed.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“So… if you try to break the school rules again, I’ll stop you.”
Whether it’s storming the temporary storage facility or sneaking down to the underground floor.
If she catches me in the act, forcing her way in would be difficult, but she could still give penalty points or disciplinary punishment afterward.
I admired the determination and asked,
“That’s a good ambition… but can you actually do it?”
“Why do you think I can’t?”
“Well… because…”
“Because what?”
“Because you’re…”
“I think I already know what you’re going to say. And that’s not true!”
Song Cheon-hye looked extremely wronged.
Everywhere else she’s considered an elite among elites, yet only with me does she get treated like this.
Soon she declared,
“Just wait and see what happens next year.”
“You mean breaking school rules? Or that?”
“Both!”
***
I had a dream.
The first things I saw were a fluffy gray cat and a scruffy red-furred puppy.
Before, the two used to bicker or watch each other cautiously, but now they seemed used to each other and were resting together peacefully.
Then, from somewhere, a hedgehog appeared.
Its quills were light brown, and it looked strangely similar to someone.
As it slowly approached, the puppy that had been sleeping soundly suddenly jumped up, as if sensing something.
It bared its teeth with hostility.
“Grrr…”
The hedgehog curled into a round ball like a chestnut burr.
After staying like that for a while, it uncurled and started creeping closer again.
Immediately the puppy began growling again, and seeing that, I stepped in to mediate.
“Let’s stop fighting.”
“Whiper…”
As soon as I covered its eyes, the little guy quickly calmed down and lay back down in its original spot.
Watching us, the hedgehog glanced back and forth with an unreadable look in its eyes, then continued creeping closer.
And it settled down at a spot where it was almost, but not quite, touching us, before curling up its body.
Seems like that’s comfortable for it.
So I left it as it was and looked at the puppy and the cat when, at some point my shoulder began to sting.
The hedgehog had raised its quills and was poking me.
As if asking why I was ignoring it.
“What, what’s your deal.”
But the little guy just curled up into a ball again.
Thinking that even its personality resembled someone quite a lot, I opened my eyes only to realize it was already morning.
The cat and the puppy were nowhere to be seen, but the situation was even worse.
Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa were using my body as a pillow, all cozy together.
With my freedom of movement taken away, I said,
“Shouldn’t we start getting up about now?”
“That will not be allowed…….”
Unexpectedly, it was Hong Yeon-hwa who answered.
She burrowed even closer and muttered,
“This queen…… will not…… permit it……!”
“Why are you a queen again today? Last time you were like national authority level.”
“How insolent……! To dare…… question me…….”
Well, if it’s come to this, there’s nothing for it.
I’ll just have to play along with the situation.
I inhaled sharply and bowed my head.
“This humble servant has committed a grave offense. Please grant me death!”
“I shall…… spare you…… this once. Kim Ho is… hehe.”
“Your grace is boundless!”
“Heehee, I bestow…… a reward…… upon you……!”
First she gets angry, then she spares me, and now she’s even giving rewards.
Just what on earth is happening in her dream?
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long.
Hong Yeon-hwa who had been giving orders to her subjects (mostly Kim Ho) in her queenly tone suddenly blinked her eyes open.
She stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then realized reality and let out a quiet sigh.
“Ah…….”
She looked so disappointed that I decided to play the subject a little longer.
Leaning close to Hong Yeon-hwa’s ear, I dragged out my voice.
“Your— Maje—sty—! Have you awakened—!”
“Kyaaah!!”
“Please— grant— your humble servant— a reward—!”
“No! No! No!”
Overwhelmed with embarrassment, Hong Yeon-hwa flailed like a freshly caught fish.
Thanks to that, even Seo Ye-in who had been sleeping soundly woke up as well.
“……What.”
“So what happened was—”
“Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!”
Hong Yeon-hwa waved her hands with a bright red face.
While the commotion was going on, Song Cheon-hye peeked her head into the room.
“Did something happen?”
“It’s nothing.”
Hong Yeon-hwa answered instantly, regaining her composure.
At the same time, she sent me a desperate look that clearly said, “Please don’t tell her……”
Well, she probably wanted to avoid having her embarrassing moment exposed to someone who was practically a rival.
I hadn’t planned on spreading it around anyway, so I lightly jerked my chin in acknowledgment, and Hong Yeon-hwa visibly looked relieved.
Seeing this, Song Cheon-hye seemed to sense something suspicious, but something else appeared to matter more.
Looking back and forth between the three of us, she said,
“So you three really did sleep together.”
“It’s comfortable.”
Hong Yeon-hwa answered calmly.
Then she immediately launched a counterattack.
“You tried it yesterday too. You seemed to like it.”
The hidden addition, “You were practically trying to claim the spot for yourself, so I had to drag you away later” seemed to get across without needing to be said.
Judging by the twitch in Song Cheon-hye’s face.
“I try to behave with basic common sense as much as possible.”
“Is it really that far outside common sense? I think it’s fine, as long as you’re close enough.”
Meaning that she wasn’t close enough with me.
Song Cheon-hye slowly narrowed her eyes.
“We’re closer than you think. And we’ll become even closer.”
The tension between them seemed to be escalating more and more, so I decided to cut it off here.
“Let’s go eat breakfast. We need to get moving early today.”
“Okay……”
Hong Yeon-hwa tidied up as if the argument had never happened, suddenly gentle again, and we headed to the dining hall together.
The sword couple nearby greeted us.
“Hi hi! Good morning!”
They looked even more energetic than yesterday, probably because they had rested well in a good place.
After singing praises about getting a new place, it seems they finally got what they wanted.
After finishing breakfast, I gathered the people who would be moving together in one place.
Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi, Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa, and also Park Na-ri and Bukgong Han-seol.
Next, I checked the item cards.
There were no major changes to the general cards.
[Return] x19
[Observe] x7
[Reconnaissance] x6
[Discharge] x16
[Protection] x13
At the card shop, I drew a few more [Protection] cards during the night and right after breakfast.
The same went for [Duplicate].
[Transfer] x1
[Freeze] x2
[Concealment] x2
[Duplicate] x7
Since we had already finished discussing how to distribute them, I decided to use all the [Duplicate] cards first.
Flaaash!
The seven cards shone brightly as they transformed into different ones.
One [Transfer], and the rest all [Freeze].
From those, I handed two of them, along with all the [Discharge] cards, to Song Cheon-hye.
“You manage these.”
“Understood.”
If even Bukgong Han-seol went with us, the main base’s defense would become even weaker, so if we were attacked, the only option would be to defend it with cards.
As for [Return], [Observe], and [Reconnaissance], we kept only the amount we needed and left the rest with them.
But we took all the [Protection] cards.
After all, since they’d be the ones defending the base, it wouldn’t matter even if they were hit with [Discharge], and the other side wouldn’t use it anyway.
All things considered, the cards we were taking with us were as follows.
[Return] x8
[Observe] x1
[Transfer] x2
[Freeze] x6
[Concealment] x2
[Protection] x13
Why were there eight [Return] cards when it’s a seven-person party?
There’s a reason for that.
The same goes for increasing [Transfer] to two.
Anyway, with that, our preparations were complete.
I looked over the party members one by one and spoke.
“Let’s finish this quickly. Before another group makes their move.”
Then we started heading down the hill, gradually picking up speed. 🚶♂️
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