Chapter 1184 – 1184. Hero Military Academy (7)
(Well… I’m in front of the dormitory right now. Can I see you?)
I was taken aback by the unexpected answer and stuck my head out the window.
Then I lowered my head and checked the entrance of the building.
Let me lower my head and look…
(Ah, instructor.)
Seo Ji-eun, dressed elegantly, looked in my direction and started waving her hand.
I suddenly waved her hand and checked Seo Ji-eun’s surroundings.
As expected, Seo Ji-eun was not alone.
There are five bodyguards around Seo Ji-eun…
‘You came together?’
Lee So-hyun, the secretary of the library, was also there, and she was also looking up at me.
However, unlike Seo Ji-eun, who was smiling brightly at me, she was glaring at me with a disapproving expression…
‘Why is he so angry again?’ .’
I could sense that Lee So-hyun was feeling uncomfortable through her facial expression and listened to her voice into her smartwatch.
“I’ll be down soon, so wait.”
(Yes, instructor. Come down slowly.)
After hearing Seo Ji-eun’s thoughtful response, I quickly cleaned up her room and came out of the dormitory building.
As soon as I left the dormitory entrance, Seo Ji-eun came up to me, and she bowed her head and apologized.
“I’m sorry for suddenly calling you while I’m on vacation.”
“No, she doesn’t have to apologize for that. And she always told me to contact her if she needed anything.”
“Still, I thought it would be annoying…”
“No, it doesn’t bother me at all. If you have a problem, even early in the morning is fine, so call me.”
“Ah… Thank you so much!”
I looked at Seo Ji-eun’s bright smile and checked the faces of the people waiting behind her.
The five bodyguards were wearing black suits and sunglasses and standing with stern expressions.
But at the center of those bodyguards…
‘… It’s not an illusion.’
Lee So-hyun was glaring at me with a dissatisfied expression.
No… Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say anger rather than dissatisfaction?
‘Are you really saying that just because I haven’t contacted you in a while?’
As I was watching Lee So-hyun, Seo Ji-eun, who was in front of her, took a step closer to me and opened her mouth.
“That… Instructor…”
“Uh? Uh… ? Why?”
“If you haven’t eaten… Even if we had dinner together…”
As I looked around while listening to Seo Ji-eun, the sun was setting before I knew it, coloring the surroundings in scarlet.
And at the same time, I thought as I looked at Lee So-hyun’s face, stained with scarlet anger.
‘I have to ask why you’re making that face.’
I nodded, thinking so.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Ah! Well, then let’s put the car on standby right now…”
“Huh? Why the car? The cafeteria is over there.”
I pointed to a building in the distance with a puzzled expression.
“Anyway, there’s no need to drive that distance. “You can’t even bring a car into the consulate in the first place.”
“Ah… Yes, that’s right.”
“Come on, let’s go.”
“… Yes.’
So I headed to the cafeteria with Seo Ji-eun, Lee So-hyun, and five rugged bodyguards.
.
.
Perhaps because it was vacation, the cafeteria was extremely quiet.
It was so empty that two or three people could sit at one long table.
Even among that small number of people, there was not a single instructor or cadet.
Everyone who ate here was an employee of the consulate.
Cleaners, security guards, repairmen, etc…
However, in the cafeteria where there was not a single instructor or cadet…
“Oh, there are no special problems?”
“That… Yes. I just wanted to say hello to the instructor while I was visiting the school…”
Seo Ji-eun and I were able to be the only instructors and cadets.
I ate facing Seo Ji-eun, and the bodyguards ate at a certain distance.
Note that…
‘My temple is going to be pierced…’ .’
Lee So-hyun was also sitting with the bodyguards and glaring at me.
‘I’ll have to ask separately after eating.’
I put her curiosity to the side for a moment and looked away from Sohyun Lee.
And I continued talking with Seo Ji-eun.
“But I got lucky. “I was out for a while and came back to school a little while ago.”
“Ah… Ah! Ooh, lucky me. Haha…”
“… ?”
Seo Ji-eun was fidgeting as if there was a thorn stuck in her neck.
Looking at Seo Ji-eun, there was something stranger about her.
“Cadet Seo Ji-eun. “What’s going on at school at this hour?”
Seo Ji-eun said she definitely contacted me while she was visiting the school.
The first people that came to mind were Seong Su-ah and the principal.
And the reason I met the two people was most likely due to academic issues.
In that case, I, as her assistant instructor, should not take Seo Ji-eun’s visit lightly.
When I asked that, Seo Ji-eun…
“Oh, that’s… It’s no big deal! Chi, I came to meet a friend…”
“… ?”
Without realizing it, I looked at Seo Ji-eun with a puzzled expression.
‘Did he have friends?’
I didn’t really doubt Seo Ji-eun’s personality.
Seo Ji-eun had no choice but to take a leave of absence from her freshman year because of her mana runaway.
And her mana surge has calmed down recently.
Because she had been off school for over two years, she couldn’t make friends even if she wanted to.
As her assistant instructor, I am well aware of that fact…
But for a moment, one person came to mind.
‘Ah, you said you knew Song Ara, right?’
Before, Seo Ji-eun asked me how Song A-ra was doing.
She had never seen the two face each other in person, so she thought they were just rivals, but…
‘I guess we were closer than I thought.’
Seeing that she came to school in person, it seemed like she was a close friend to the point where we could even call her a friend.
“Are you by any chance saying Ara?”
“Ah yes! Yes, that’s right. Arabic… Meeting Ara…”
Did I mention your name for no reason?
She seemed embarrassed because she felt like she was being asked a question.
I continued the conversation with Seo Ji-eun, relieved that she had a friend to open up to.
“Yeah, it would be nice to meet her friend. But don’t stay up too late. Have you seen the news these days?”
“Ah… Mine?”
Thanks to her constant appearances on TV these days, it’s impossible not to know even if you don’t want to know her.
I nodded and answered.
“Yes, I heard they started appearing in the city center recently. So, don’t wander around too much during the night.”
I said it because I was worried, but I said it in a way that anyone could see as nagging.
Even when I said it, it felt like nagging.
But fortunately, Seo Ji-eun heard my nagging…
“Thank you for your concern. “I will keep the instructor’s words in mind.”
Instead, he smiled and understood the worry contained in my nagging.
I ended the meal with a conversation with Seo Ji-eun.
‘Now, before I go, let’s call Sohyun Lee…’
Naturally, I thought Seo Ji-eun would leave and tried to call Lee So-hyun separately, but…
“Instructor, if you don’t mind… “Can you please take a look at my magic?”
“Now?”
I answered the question with a question and looked up at the sky.
The sun had long since disappeared, and the moon and stars were encroaching on the sky.
“I think it’s too late today…”
The reason I was quiet was because of my position.
I wanted to send Seo Ji-eun home quickly for her own safety, but it wasn’t easy from the assistant instructor’s perspective.
When a cadet who is about to graduate comes and asks for help, how many assistant instructors can turn him away?
‘… There must be one.’
No, to be honest, most assistant instructors just ignore it.
A person who is hit by the instructor and is not respected by the cadets.
At first, like a new employee, he does his best to assist the instructor and teach the cadets…
‘Well, it can’t be helped since it’s the limit of a salaried worker.’
At some point, you lose that enthusiasm.
But that’s just another assistant instructor’s position, and I…
“Okay, I’ll take a look at how we met. But not for too long. It’s not because I’m annoying, it’s because, as I said before, it’s dangerous these days.”
“Ah! Sure! Ruler… Just looking at it for a moment is enough.”
Seo Ji-eun smiled brightly, as if she was truly happy about my permission.
Looking at Seo Ji-eun’s smile, I thought it was a good thing I gave permission…
‘Oh no, the ground is going to disappear.’
She smiled helplessly as she looked at Lee So-hyun sighing loudly from a distance.
I wanted to call Lee So-hyun right now and talk to her separately, but…
“Well, then quickly go to the sparring room…”
“Oh, yes.”
Seo Ji-eun grabbed my arm and dragged me, so she had no choice but to put it off until later.
.
.
The consulate’s sparring room is largely divided into two types.
A sparring room for instructors, a sparring room for cadets.
The sparring room for instructors boasts an overwhelming size compared to the sparring room for cadets, but is not used as often as expected.
This was because the instructors were official heroes and did not insist on doing troublesome training while serving as instructors.
If there is anything that has been written recently…
‘Oh Hyeon-min used it very well when shaking off the corn.’
Probably no one else has used it since then.
Seo Ji-eun and I headed to the instructor’s sparring room, which was drilled through the floor since it was so underused.
“Instructor, I’m sorry for making things complicated…”
Originally, I would have used the cadet sparring room, but…
“No, it’s okay. There’s nothing I can do because it’s the only suitable place.”
It was decided to use the instructor’s sparring room, which does not have surveillance equipment, in order to use deconstruction techniques in case of emergency.
Actually, you can secretly train in an empty room…
‘If you train in a place like that, there will be strange misunderstandings.’
It was an inevitable choice to separate Lee So-hyun and her bodyguard.
Even if there is no surveillance equipment in the instructor sparring room, if you have common sense, you will think that you will not do anything strange.
Of course, Lee So-hyun and Seo Ji-eun argued for a while when Seo Ji-eun said she wanted to train alone with me.
I recalled the image of Seo Ji-eun arguing with Lee So-hyun.
‘I thought she would nod unconditionally if it was something Lee So-hyun said… ‘It’s unexpected.’
Seo Ji-eun exchanged loud voices with Lee So-hyun, almost to the point of arguing, because she was somehow trying to protect my secret (dissolution).
And the result was the current situation.
“That… Instructor Seong Su-ho. “I’m sorry for showing you a rude attitude earlier.”
“It’s vulgar… Don’t worry, I didn’t think so. Well, we’ve arrived.”
As an assistant instructor, I could not use the sparring room for instructors at will, so I had to get permission.
And because it took a lot of time in the process…
“Don’t worry about coming home late. If things don’t work out, I’ll sleep in the dormitory.”
Seo Ji-eun’s ears had missed her timing.
Of course, since she has a bodyguard, it won’t be a big deal if she comes home late.
But Seo Ji-eun…
“It started like this… “I want to be properly trained by the instructor.”
She did not want to cut short the training she had barely begun after going through complicated procedures.
And Seo Ji-eun’s passion…
“Okay, I’ll take a good look at what you’re doing today.”
It was completely passed down to me as well.
Seo Ji-eun seemed like she wanted to push through her training as she hadn’t had proper classes in nearly two years.
“Okay then, let’s get started. First, let’s start with Dalian.”
“Yes!”
I was satisfied with Seo Ji-eun’s attitude and began to watch her magic.
As Seo Ji-eun unfolds her shadow magic, the shadows around her move like living creatures…
Shoot!
It started flying towards me.
And the great thing is…
‘Hey… Can it be separated?’
The shadow that was once divided into many in an instant.
Of course, there were problems arising from separation.
Seo Ji-eun’s shadow, which was pitch black, split into several and became lighter, and as it became lighter…
‘It’s actually not that good when dealing with a single enemy.’
I could tell she was weakened.
The biggest problem above all else is…
“Whoa… Ha…”
It was true that Seo Ji-eun’s mana was consumed in an instant.
Of course, it was just because she was suddenly drained, it wasn’t because she suffered from mana exhaustion.
For example, even if you are an athlete with good physical strength, it is similar to running out of breath when you run a 100-meter sprint.
‘For now, let’s just look and not say anything.’
I decided that it would not be too late to point things out after the sparring was over.
I thought so and avoided Seo Ji-eun’s onslaught.
As a result of sparring for over 20 minutes…
“Sigh… Ugh…”
Seo Ji-eun’s shadows, which had been attacking me fiercely, merged and returned to their original positions without causing any damage to me.
“Concentrate on your breathing and listen to me.”
“Sigh… Yes…”
I approached Seo Ji-eun, who was breathing heavily, and began to give her various advices.
Her advice itself was nothing short of ordinary.
All I could do was pass on the combat knowledge I had and teach them how to use shadow magic effectively.
But despite such ordinary advice…
“Ha… Phew… Advice… Thank you so much.”
Even though her advice was light, Seo Ji-eun listened with a serious expression as if she was being taught her secrets.
‘… It’s very burdensome.’
Seo Ji-eun’s expression was so serious that I felt guilty for giving her advice.
While giving her advice…
“Oh! “Did it really exist?”
“?”
A woman’s voice rang out as if it were filling this spacious training room.
At the source of that voice…
“And! Jieun! It’s been a really long time!”
The cadet I was teaching, Song Ara, an honors student in the technology department, was waving her hand at us.
