Chapter 50

Jacqueline felt as if she had splashed cold water on her face. Her mind snapped into clarity.

The warm atmosphere of spring she had felt just moments ago had completely vanished.

Among the countless people passing through the central crossroads, she was the only one showing any interest in the protesting man and his sign. Everyone else walked briskly past her, in front and behind, as if the man didn’t even exist.

It made Jacqueline wonder if she was seeing a ghost invisible to others.

But in broad daylight? A ghost?

“Excuse me.”

When Jacqueline spoke to him, the man holding the sign turned his head.

His expression was a strange mix of emotions. The joy of someone glad to be spoken to and the weary apathy of someone who didn’t want to say anything at all.

Either way, he clearly needed help. And Jacqueline couldn’t just ignore that.

“What’s going on?”

Just as the man began to open his mouth to answer, someone shoved Jacqueline roughly aside and stepped between her and the protester.

It was a well-built upperclassman who looked like a student from the Knight Department.

He spoke to the protesting man.

“Ugh, you’re doing this again? Didn’t I tell you yesterday to stop protesting here?”

“Sean, did that guy send you?”

“I don’t care who sent me. Look, you’re not even a student here anymore. Don’t you know it’s illegal to be on campus without permission?”

“You… and those kids behind you… all knew my sister. I need your help. If you have a moment, can we just talk at a café—”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You think I’m joking?”

Thud! Crash!

The man called Sean had struck the protester’s sign.

Made from flimsy plywood, the sign shattered pathetically and flew apart.

The protesting man let out a stifled sigh.

“Sean…”

“How many times do I have to say it? She got hit because she had it coming. You know what she was like, always mouthing off at guys.”

“So that makes it okay for her so-called boyfriend to beat her to a pulp? Do you even know what kind of condition Jane’s in right now? Her nose is crushed, her body’s covered in bruises, and she still hasn’t regained consciousness. I’m her brother…how am I supposed to look at that and just sit back…?”

“Oh, come on! If she knew the guy had a temper, she should’ve dumped him ages ago! She dated him because she wanted to, so why is she acting like a victim now?”

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Sean.”

“And who do you think you are, lecturing me?”

Thud.

Finally losing his temper, Sean shoved the man hard.

Compared to the large, burly Sean, the protester was a mild-looking, bookish man. He toppled over helplessly.

Sean barked orders at the group gathered behind him.

“What are you standing around for? If we don’t deal with this guy today, we’re all screwed. Break both his legs so he never sets foot on campus again.”

The group behind Sean hesitated, clearly uneasy.

“Are we really doing this? There are a lot of people watching…”

“You coward. What scares you more. The bystanders, or the student council president?”

“Well, yeah, but… damn it, man. I don’t want to do this either.”

“Then you should’ve told him to leave when he had the chance. Tch!”

Even someone as oblivious as Jacqueline could see what was happening.

This was about to turn into an assault.

She couldn’t stay silent any longer. Jacqueline stepped in.

“Excuse me! Just a moment. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but no matter the reason, using violence is just…”

“Who the hell are you? Mind your own business and get lost!”

Sean’s fierce glare scared Jacqueline.

But then something flashed through her mind—

The image of Shannon standing tall against their upperclassmen during the freshman hazing ritual.

Jacqueline had admired, even respected, Shannon’s refusal to back down in the face of injustice.

Can I be like Shannon too?

Jacqueline summoned her courage.

She planted her feet firmly apart, took a deep breath, and stared boldly at the aggressors as she gave her warning.

“If you don’t back off by the count of three, then…”

“Then what?”

“You’ll be in big trouble. Three!”

The upperclassmen scoffed at her in disbelief, but Jacqueline continued counting.

“Two!”

“You really wanna do this?”

“One!”

…

Silence fell.

And when Jacqueline spoke again:

“Two… three…”

The numbers started going up again.

One of the upperclassmen asked,

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I thought if I did this, you’d back off in fear…”

At the very least, Jacqueline had successfully stunned them into momentary confusion.

***

“What kind of idiot are you?”

The men, briefly thrown off by Jacqueline’s bluff, now wore menacing expressions.

As they advanced toward her with threatening steps, Jacqueline hesitated.

She had never intended to actually use magic.

Using magic against another person was a violation of Academy rules. But even if it hadn’t been, Jacqueline still wouldn’t have wanted to hurt anyone.

But fists are a different story.

If you pick your shots smartly, you don’t even leave marks.

And besides, it’s not magic, so it doesn’t count as a rule violation.

In that sense, the Academy was basically a hunting ground tilted in favor of Knight Department students. And sure, there were five of them, but when a fight comes to you, turning it down just isn’t in her nature.

How long has it been since I last used these fists?

Was it four years ago, when I set the legendary 17-to-1 record against those village bullies?

Looks like a storm of fists is coming tonight.

Her nerves were so tense that her thoughts had begun spiraling in a completely absurd direction—

When someone gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Jacqueline, are you okay?”

It was a familiar face.

“Christopher?”

A classmate with a kind and handsome face whom she often ran into during early morning workouts.

Christopher, the class president of the Knight Department Year 1, Class A.

He stepped forward in front of Jacqueline and asked,

“What’s going on?”

“Mm… if you’d been just a little later, you might’ve witnessed the birth of a legendary fistfight that the Academy would never forget.”

“…What?”

Jacqueline barely managed to snap out of it and replied,

“No, wait. Poor choice of words. It’s a long story.”

“Can you make it short?”

“I tried to help someone who was being bullied, and this is what happened.”

“Ah, I see.”

Christopher was a bright student. Bright enough to lead his peers as class president and with just a quick glance around, he seemed to grasp the situation.

He turned to the older students and asked in a respectful, yet unfawning tone,

“What brings you here, seniors? The one standing here is a friend of mine. Has there been some sort of problem?”

“Seniors? Who’s this now? Do we know him?”

“That kid. He’s the first-year Class A president.”

“The one Instructor Max is always doting on? Hah. Look at him; still knows how to respect his superiors.”

Sean, the ringleader of the group who had been harassing the protester, looked at the younger student and spoke in a deliberately restrained tone.

“Yeah, we were just carrying out some official duties, you see? But your friend got in the way and made things a bit complicated.”

“Official… duties?”

Christopher glanced toward the man lying on the ground, picking up pieces of a broken sign, just out of the upperclassmen’s immediate attention, and asked.

Jacqueline jumped in, protesting.

“That’s a lie! You were ganging up on him and about to beat him up! How is that an official duty?”

“Hah. Listen to the little brat.”

Sean raised his fist as if to hit Jacqueline, but when Christopher stepped in front of her, he spat out a curse instead.

He wanted nothing more than to beat them both senseless, but Christopher posed a problem.

The hierarchy at the Knight Department was just as rigid as the military’s, but that didn’t mean upperclassmen could lash out whenever and wherever they pleased.

Strict discipline had to be maintained for a reason.

So even as Sean glared with barely restrained fury, he spoke to Christopher with surprising self-control.

“Hey, you know Senior Bernard, right?”

“Yes. The student council president from the fourth year…”

“Yeah. This was an order from the student council president. So you could call it official business. Which is why I’d really appreciate it if, out of respect for that cute little face of yours, you’d take your friend and get lost. You understand what I’m saying?”

Christopher glanced once at Sean who was practically growling like he might bite, then looked back at Jacqueline who was grinding her teeth behind him.

After a moment, he drew in a deep breath and, as if coming to a decision, spoke.

His face wasn’t brimming with confidence.

“Seniors, even if this was on the Headmaster’s orders, I don’t think this is something that should be happening in a public space.”

Wham!

In the next instant, Christopher doubled over—

Sean had kicked him hard in the stomach.

“You disrespectful little punk. Don’t you know how to treat your seniors?”

And the violence didn’t stop there.

Now that Christopher had given him a pretext, Sean went at him with glee, slapping him across the face so hard the crack echoed.

Christopher staggered.

“What? ‘This shouldn’t be happening’? You giving orders to your seniors now? You got a death wish or what?”

Sean, as if trying to demonstrate his wide range of assault techniques, began switching between punches and kicks, forcing Christopher down to his knees.

And still, Christopher didn’t make a sound. Not even a groan of pain.

So Jacqueline screamed in his place.

“Stop it!”

Of course, Sean ignored her completely.

Christopher hadn’t fallen yet. That was what mattered.

“Oh? Still standing, huh?”

Sean frowned and tilted his head, then shot a glance at Jacqueline standing behind Christopher.

And when he did, a smug little laugh escaped him, as if he’d just figured something out.

“Trying to show off in front of a girl, huh? What a joke. You seriously need to be taught a lesson. You think you’re better than your seniors?”

There were moments when a person’s intent to harm becomes clearly visible. And this was one of them.

Sean clenched his fist properly this time and pulled his arm back.

Christopher squeezed his eyes shut, and Jacqueline, perhaps reacting on instinct more than thought, lunged forward and rammed her shoulder into Sean in an attempt to stop him.

But just before impact, the one person who had remained silent until now finally spoke.

“That’s enough, Sean.”

It was the man who had nearly been beaten up first during the protest.

He spoke in a calm, quiet tone.

“It was my fault. I’ll just leave for today. So don’t take it out on those kids.”

Sean’s eyes flared with rage—

But his fist stopped mid-air.

Then, with an angry spit onto the ground, he brushed his palms off against his pants.

“You’ve really got some nerve. I’m letting this go because of you, got it? On one condition. Don’t ever show your face around the Academy again. Understood?”

“……”

The man said nothing in response to Sean’s condition, which only made Sean growl.

“Tch. Stubborn bastard. Fine, let’s do it this way. If I see your face again, that boy’s school life ends right then and there. Got it? I’m out of here.”

With that, Sean turned and led his gang away.

Until they had completely disappeared, neither Jacqueline, Christopher, nor the protester said a single word.

When the silence finally broke, it was Christopher who spoke first—

Or rather, let out a groan of pain.

Jacqueline rushed to his side and helped support him.

“Christopher, are you okay?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing! Are you really going to act tough while groaning like that? We need to get you to the infirmary right now—”

“I’m fine. It’s not like any bones are broken. The cut inside my mouth will heal on its own. More importantly… I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

Christopher let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Jacqueline gave him a sorrowful look.

“Don’t say that. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

After all, the Knight Department was known for being closed-off and exclusive.

Christopher’s courage to stand up to a senior for Jacqueline’s sake had been extraordinary.

But at the same time, Jacqueline was filled with guilt and sadness.

Christopher had been hurt because of her.

When she saw a group bullying someone, she wanted to stand up like Shannon always did—

She thought she could.

But she had been wrong. And the price of that mistake had been heavy.

Trembling with helplessness, shame, and anger, Jacqueline turned her gaze to the man who had watched them from the side like an outsider.

He was the one Sean and his gang had wanted to drive away.

Jacqueline asked him,

“What exactly happened between you and those people? Please, tell me.”

The man opened his mouth as if to answer…but then closed it again, as if giving up on speaking at all.

After a moment, he muttered in a resigned voice,

“Even if I told you, it wouldn’t do you any good.”

“But still—!”

Jacqueline shouted, her voice catching in her throat.

“But you could at least say it!”