Academy's Genius Extra Chapter 24

The news reported on the Hope and Grace Church incident for several days.

About fifty years ago from now.

The Heavenly Church declared a Black Crusade against the world.

Countless heroes lost their lives in that crusade.

In return, the Heavenly Church suffered a blow close to total annihilation and had to shut down its operations.

From that point on.

The Heavenly Church went into hiding in the shadows. It quietly focused on building its strength.

Right up until today.

<17-year-old heroes repel the Heavenly Church>

<Corporation ‘Archive’ promises material support for tracking the Heavenly Church….>

The Heavenly Church steps into the light.

The exploits of the Superhuman Academy.

From the media’s perspective, it was an unexpected festival, so everyone pushed it hard.

And so.

The three of us who had been on site were summoned to the dean’s office. Before entering the dean’s office, I gave a warning.

“Hey. If you meet Colonel Lee Baek, you guys run first. Got it?”

“Why Colonel Lee Baek? I think he is the true model of a hero in this era….”

“Just run first. Unless you want to be forcibly recruited into special ops.”

I opened the door to the dean’s office and went in. A familiar face who was already there greeted me.

“Welcome.”

Professor Wrangler smiled brightly.

This is….

It feels like a pretty predictable development….

***

One professor from the Swordsmanship Legacy Department.

One professor from the Healing Department.

Zero professors from the Necromancy Department.

Invited professor Wrangler and the dean as well.

This was the meeting to decide how to credit the cadets who had distinguished themselves this time. Yet somehow, an excessive number of people had gathered.

They even just had us stand there while the professors whispered among themselves. And the direction of the discussion was going somewhere quite strange.

“Professors! This is unfair!”

Unable to hold it in, Yoo Eunha shouted out. I, standing next to her, was startled.

“Hey, Yoo Eunha. My eardrums almost burst….”

“I object as well.”

Han Taepyeong’s voice was sharp too. The atmosphere was tense, but Wrangler did not seem bothered.

“Then what about you, that Necromancy student? What do you think?”

“Me, all of a sudden?”

“It’s not all of a sudden. If you really think about it, the subject of this discussion is you.”

“Well, I guess that’s true….”

The professors’ conversation went like this.

They defined the solvers of this incident as Han Taepyeong and Yoo Eunha. To honor their wisdom and valor, a commendation ceremony should be held.

If so, then between the and the <Healing Department> and the <Swordsmanship Legacy Department>, which contributed more?

As if it were only natural.

The Necromancy Department was completely excluded from the proceedings. I glanced at the dean.

Slurp.

He was quietly just sipping his tea.

Observing.

Looks like I have no allies. A department without professors really is a punching bag, huh?

But honestly, I do not even need allies like that.

“Yes. I do not need any award. I will just do as instructed….”

“Seungtae!”

“Kim Pirate!”

When those muscle-brained guys on both sides yelled at once, my focus wavered.

“Agh…! What is with the lion’s roar from both sides!”

“Kim Pirate! You, you, what are you doing?”

“Dean! Are you just going to stand by and watch?”

Heh heh heh….

At Han Taepyeong’s request, the dean stepped in to mediate, his shiny crown gleaming.

“Cadet Seungtae…. There is no need to feel intimidated just because you are in front of professors. No need to be overly modest. Think carefully. This is not something to just let slide. What the faculty is doing right now…. is trying to dig up your achievements.”

When the dean plainly laid out the situation, the expressions of the three professors twisted.

“Yes, well. I know.”

“You know?”

“Instead, as much as you push me down, please lift them up.”

Bang!

Han Taepyeong stomped his foot.

“Kim Seungtae. Eunha and I are not children. You do not need to look after us.”

“You are children.”

“No, we are not.”

“Yes, you are. Han Taepyeong. Do you know my admission ranking?”

Han Taepyeong shook his head.

“It was 1111th.”

A brief silence.

“Even if the two of you combined and multiplied by 100, you would only be about the same as me….”

“What does that have to do with anything! Seungtae, you fulfilled your duty as a cadet at the scene….”

“No, to outsiders, it has a lot to do with it.”

Where do I even begin explaining this. This is why kids are seriously the worst!

[Lucy also really hates kids!]

[Lucy does not accept childish whining!]

Yeah…. She would not accept it….

Because you are the child who is whining.

Ahem.

Wrangler cleared his throat. Looks like he was going to explain things himself.

“Student Han Taepyeong. Do you know who the greatest enemy of the Superhuman Academy is? It is not demons. Not monsters. Not outlaws either. The true enemy of the Superhuman Academy is…. well-intentioned competitors.”

“My wisdom is lacking, so it is hard for me to grasp the deeper meaning.”

“Our Superhuman Academy does well. That is the problem. The academy has done well over the years, and it did well this time too. It will probably continue to do well. And those competitors have slandered the academy for ages. After all, they cannot compete in terms of results.”

“Are you saying other training institutions will take issue with Seungtae?”

As expected, Han Taepyeong was quick to understand.

The Superhuman Academy receives various privileges. Its annual budget exceeds the yearly finances of most countries.

Because it receives that much support.

Other training institutions criticize this point.

“That is right. Exactly. They will spin it as giving awards all the way down to rank 1111. They will say the Superhuman Academy is manipulating cadet careers again…. That it is a corrupt institution that only looks after its own interests…. That it is obsessed only with visible achievements….”

Wrangler shrugged. He looked at Han Taepyeong as if asking what he was going to do about it.

It is unpleasant, but true.

“So this is for the sake of the academy as a whole….”

“Damn it! Who cares about that!”

Bang!

Yoo Eunha, who had been listening, flung the dean’s office door open as if she were going to break it and stormed out. Han Taepyeong followed after her.

“If those are such old-fashioned reasons, then I will not listen any further either. I am sorry.”

Bang!

He slammed the door shut as if it might break. With the successive impacts, the door cracked and a hinge fell off.

“Eek….”

The dean put down his tea and made a distressed face.

“Heh heh. They are young, so they are full of fiery spirit.”

With things like this.

The professors smiled while avoiding eye contact. If the parties involved removed themselves on their own, things became much easier. The discussion could continue.

Lastly, me.

The three professors looked at me as if to say, why are you not leaving?

[Lucy is in big trouble! We missed the timing to leave…!]

[Lucy, what should we do? This ruins the style! For an evil spirit, style is everything!]

Just stay still….

It is not that we missed the timing. There is just something left to do.

“Cadet Kim Seungtae, do you have something to say?”

“No.”

“Then please leave. Thanks to the cadet’s cooperation, things proceeded smoothly. I ask out of concern, but you will not change your mind later, will you?”

“Do not worry. I will not go back on it.”

I then joined the seat where the three professors were gathered. While the professors looked confused.

“What are you doing now?”

“Up until just now, I cooperated as the incident party and rank 1111 cadet Kim Seungtae.”

I sat down casually, without ceremony.

No one gave permission.

But I can do that.

“From this moment on, I represent the Necromancy Department.”

“What? Hey, Cadet Kim Seungtae….”

“Not Cadet Kim Seungtae, but Representative Kim Seungtae of the Necromancy Department.”

“Pfft!”

The dean burst out laughing.

But the other professors could not.

“From now on, as the representative of the Necromancy Department, I will join this credit-grabbing fight. I should add my spoon to the table.”

First.

Wrangler, with a face devoid of humor, pointed at the exit.

“Are you joking? Get out right now….”

“Professor Wrangler. Even if the Necromancy Department has a total of one member, it is still a proper department.”

“A hollow shell with one member and no professor?”

“Of course. But invited professor Wrangler ‘sir’…. you do not even have such an empty shell, do you?”

“What? Hey, Kim Seungtae. This world….”

“This world is upside down! Good grief! I am a department representative, you know? Watch your words.”

I struck first.

Wrangler is competent, but there is one thing he lacks.

Legitimacy.

Wrangler is not a superhuman, and therefore not a graduate of the Superhuman Academy. He was merely invited from outside as a capable scholar.

So in a structure like this.

When it comes to justification and standing, he becomes endlessly weak. His face turned red as Wrangler asked for support.

“Dean! Are you really going to just watch this as it is?”

At Wrangler’s complaint, the dean quietly looked at me.

“Hmm…. Did you bring it?”

I had been waiting for those words.

I took it out and placed it on the table.

The key to the Necromancy Workshop, gleaming with a golden light.

The dean shrugged.

“Wrangler. At this point, even I cannot stop it. It is a school regulation that has existed since I was a mere novice. On the day of his admission, Cadet Kim Seungtae was entrusted with full authority over the Necromancy Department along with that key.”

Wrangler’s face twisted.

No matter how brilliant his career was, tradition could not be blocked with that alone.

I fiddled with the calendar.

“This date is the award ceremony, right? Then in exchange for Cadet Kim Seungtae not attending….”

“Stop.”

“Cadet Kim Seungtae is more slow-witted than I thought?”

Once Wrangler was pushed aside.

This time, the department professors jumped in.

They at least had tradition. Their position was a bit different from Wrangler’s.

Still, both of them were merely associate professors who had not even become full professors.

“Oh? Associate professors of the Swordsmanship Legacy Department and the Healing Department. Will you keep this up?”

“No matter what you say, it is useless. You have no bargaining chips. How about we just give you some extra points in a few subjects and you leave right now?”

“If you do that~~~ then on the day of the ceremony, something ‘important’ might suddenly come up for Han Taepyeong and Yoo Eunha?”

“…Are you threatening us now?”

“A threat? Not at all…! I am just showing you my bargaining chips. And I would like to say that you never know how things turn out. On that day, suddenly! Maybe both of them need to change their engine oil?”

Ahem.

The dean nodded.

“If it is engine oil, then it cannot be helped.”

That is right.

Changing engine oil is a very serious matter.

It absolutely cannot be skipped.

Even if there is no car.

In the dean’s office, which had fallen into a deadly silence as if engine oil had been poured over it.

Only the sound of the dean sipping his tea continued.

Slurp, slurp.

“Shall we continue the discussion then. In exchange for <Cadet Kim Seungtae’s absence>, the Necromancy Department requests the following. Looking at the item withdrawal records, it seems the Swordsmanship Legacy Department swiped… no. Borrowed quite a few items….”

***

The discussion was wrapped up at a reasonable point.

At my threat, the professors left while saying, “We will talk to upper management for now.”

I had given them options with room for compromise, so a reasonable response would come back.

Otherwise, they would be off changing engine oil.

[Lucy’s neck feels stiff!]

[Lucy wants to change the oil in the gun barrel too!]

But then.

Ever since leaving the dean’s office, Wrangler kept following me.

“Professor Wrangler?”

“Student Kim Seungtae. Let me ask you just one thing. Why did you never come to my lab?”

“Professor Wrangler. You do not hold a grudge against me, do you? Like obstructing my future until I enter your lab…!”

Wrangler is a bad guy.

No matter how great his career is, he is genuinely a bad guy.

That is why I tried not to draw attention.

If you reject his scouting offer, he harasses you relentlessly.

“No. Do not even dream of it. Why would I be desperate enough to cling to a disobedient cadet like you?”

“Oh, whew. That is a relief to hear….”

“That is not the reason. You received a rapid-fire projectile from Professor Crow, did you not?”

“Wow, that gives me chills. Where did you hear that?”

“How dare you try to mock me…!”

This again….

What is he talking about?

“Mocking you? Is going in and out of Professor Crow’s lab considered an act of betrayal?”

“What you think is irrelevant. I am the one who judges.”

“Yes. Understood. I, Kim Seungtae, also support Professor Wrangler’s judgment. Best of luck. I will be going now.”

“How impudent! You, knowing that I am competing with that fellow on the same project…! You reject my scouting offer and then stick around Professor Crow?”

“Well, I did not exactly stick around.”

“Choose your side carefully! Professor Crow is already a setting sun, not even a moon anymore! If you fall out of my favor, you will suffer like today from now on as well!”

“Well, it was not particularly painful….”

Whoosh.

Professor Wrangler left the spot.

I quietly watched his retreating figure.

Wrangler is a bad guy.

But he is not crazy.

Then why is he acting like that.

Why is he behaving like a madman.

Wait…. Hold on.

Who did they say was in charge of this award ceremony again?

The answer came to me.

“Aha. Our Professor Wrangler….”

Looks like he is burning inside.

He is worried that I might bring golden connections to Professor Crow.

“Well, for now, my absence is already decided.”

I made a contract with both departments.

That part has to be accepted clearly.

On top of that, if Yoo Eunha and Han Taepyeong receive public attention and support even for my share, it is an absolute gain.

You could call it concentrated experience allocation.

“I should stop by the church first.”

On the day of the church incident.

Because Colonel Lee Baek suddenly stormed in, I was unable to secure the treasure.

The treasure the Snake-Tail Nun was trying to take.

The treasure sleeping in the Bible Museum.

I need to retrieve the <Plastic King David>.

“It is my first time seeing that treasure too, so my heart is racing…!”

To bring it back, I would need someone strong.

Without hesitation, I sent a message to Yoo Eunha.

***

A lavishly decorated CEO room.

“Yes, Dean. Then I will see you on that day.”

The man said that and hung up the phone.

Then he picked up the internal receiver.

“Director Jo. I have been put in charge of the award ceremony for resolving the Hope and Grace Church incident. Yes, yes. Please clear that entire time slot. There is no need to prepare anything separately. They say the academy will lead the overall speech as well.”

Beep beep!

At that moment, his phone rang.

The man glanced sideways to check the caller.

<Caller: VIP>

“…I am getting a call from someone important. I will call you back later. Yes.”

The man answered the VIP’s call.

“Ryeong, what is it? Something to say?”

The VIP poured out what she wanted to say.

The story unfolded without much order.

‘So you know! The priest was not actually a priest!’

Feeling the commotion through the phone, a smile formed on the man’s lips.

A smart daughter.

To every parent, their child looks like a genius, but this child was truly a universally acknowledged genius.

Logical.

Skillful.

Wise.

Still, from the man’s perspective, he wished his daughter would act a bit more in line with her age.

‘So what do you think I said? Of course I said I would not do it!’

Just like now.

He wished she would chatter like kids her age.

“Oh my goodness Ryeong almost got into big trouble!!! No Dad is not just giving a half-hearted response~”

The daughter recounted her adventure story for what must have been the dozens of time, and the man listened attentively for the dozens of time.

“Hohogok~ So what did little brother do then?”

A smile formed on the man’s lips.

Award ceremonies are always unbearably boring, but this time, he was looking forward to it just a little.