Chapter 152

As soon as I returned to the Academy and went to find the kids, what reached my ears wasn’t only the sweet news that we had won the [Showcase].

First, there was the news that Silence had been seriously injured.

The moment I heard that, I went with the other Special Class kids to the hospital where he had been moved, and I was able to hear a detailed explanation from the doctor.

“His life was barely saved.”

“How long will treatment take?”

“We were told the patient was a junk chip addict. As a side effect, his hormone receptors were pretty badly damaged. Because the drugs we can use are limited, he won’t be able to move for about a week. Still, fortunately we started treatment quickly so there’s no immediate danger to his life. He should be able to function normally in about two weeks.”

“…I see.”

When the doctor finished, I looked at Iri Elisbell and Raina Alton beside me. They couldn’t take their eyes off Silence lying in the ICU beyond the glass.

“Senpai…”

Iri was at least composed, but Raina looked like she might burst into tears any moment.

For some reason Raina seemed to feel a heavy responsibility for Silence’s injury. It wasn’t like he’d been hurt because of her.

Even Iri wasn’t completely unscathed.

The place Donovan von Delay had hit her had broken a bone and she had it in a cast. Well, with this world’s level of technology it would be off in about three days.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine soon.”

“Y-yes…”

I didn’t feel great either.

No — honestly, I was worse than that, but I didn’t show it. I couldn’t afford to show pain in front of these kids.

As much as I wanted to get revenge on whoever left Silence like that, the culprit — Donovan von Delay — had died during the [Showcase]. And what blame could you lay on a combat weapon that had been forcibly ‘over-adapted’ and could no longer tell right from wrong?

The bad ones were the adults.

‘Vladimir…’

I murmured that name and clicked my tongue. I knew he was somewhat of a lunatic even in the original, but I hadn’t expected him to make his student into an over-adapted just to get revenge through the [Showcase].

I would have to go and confront him.

I had to check the scenario-clear rewards, meet the other transmigrators, and deal with many things right away, but I didn’t think I’d feel settled until I had punched that guy in the face.

It was then.

“Are you planning to go to Militech?”

Iri suddenly asked, as if she’d read my mind. I’d thought I hadn’t shown any sign, but she’d been getting sharper lately.

“…Yes.”

“Can I come with you?”

“What’s your reason?”

“…I think I’ll feel better if I see that bastard’s face myself.”

Iri’s expression was unusually serious.

It didn’t look like she wanted to follow me out of mere curiosity. It felt more like the face of someone who had steeled herself. Maybe this [Showcase] had affected her more deeply than I’d imagined.

“Fine. But promise me you won’t do anything without my permission.”

“Of course.”

There was no longer that reckless, childish kid who used to run wild without fear. It made me a little sad that she’d grown up so fast in just half a year. Even if I took her along, she wouldn’t cause trouble.

“…Alright.”

I decided to take Iri with me.

If I was honest, going after Vladimir at this timing wasn’t the smartest move.

What could I do by showing up at a place already in an uproar over the [Showcase] results?

Offer words of consolation? Or perform a massive tea-bagging? The latter would probably be effective… huh? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

After all, the Motherboard had tricked him into starting the quarrel first.

I didn’t need to consider their mood or circumstances. I was going to give Vladimir a hit, and that was that.

With that in mind I went to Militech’s foundation office where Vladimir would be. Not the office inside the Academy, but the separate one in Sector A.

Unlike me, Vladimir rarely visited the Academy.

Since I hadn’t made an appointment, we naturally headed to the first-floor reception desk. My face had gotten around enough that the staff recognized me right away.

“Ah, Aaron Stingray…sir.”

“You know my face.”

The Militech Foundation staff tried to be courteous even at the sudden arrival of a leader from a hostile faction. Except for one attendant behind the desk who fainted out of shock the moment I stepped in, they did their best.

“Uh, what brings you here?”

“I came to see Vladimir.”

“And the person with you?”

“He’s my student.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Then the staff member made a phone call somewhere.

He was clearly saying to his superiors that a VIP had arrived and asking what to do, but his face looked like he wanted to call 119 and beg to be rescued.

When the call ended, the man wiped cold sweat from his face and told me apologetically.

“I’m sorry. Director Kharitonov is currently away…”

“I know he’s here.”

You couldn’t fool me when the scanner picked up vital signs. Vladimir was a Level 5 Mystic Module owner. He wouldn’t hide that kind of reaction easily.

“Tell him if he doesn’t come out I’ll barge in.”

“Eek…”

The clerk went even paler and hurriedly made another call. Iri, who had been standing quietly beside me, glanced at me with a strange look, but I ignored it.

“We apologize for the wait. Please use the VIP elevator and go to the top floor.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Following the desk attendant’s instructions, we received a visitor authentication code and headed to the innermost corridor.

As we arrived, the VIP elevator doors opened, and it automatically recognized us and rode straight to the director’s office without any input.

The door opened, we passed the secretaries’ area, and went straight into the director’s office. When I forced the door wide, a familiar ferret-faced man greeted me.

No — “greeted” was too generous. His expression was almost rotten.

“…Why are you here?”

Punch him, I wanted to reply. But Vladimir looked in bad shape.

The office looked like a monster had rampaged through it; everything was broken. Vladimir himself looked pale and unfocused, like someone who’d been drinking.

No surprise — he reeked of alcohol.

Glancing around, I saw a shattered bottle in a corner with brown liquid seeping out.

“Why the hell did you come here, you bastard!”

“Calm down.”

“Do I look calm!? Damn it, this is all your fault… Wait, that damned brat came too. Are you two conspiring to mock me together?”

“Words won’t work.”

“What! If words don’t work, what are you going to do!”

“……”

“W-what is it! Why are you staring like that? Hey, don’t come closer! Don’t move from there!”

“Get a hold of yourself.”

Clap!

I smacked Vladimir across the cheek.

He let out a squeal like a pig being slaughtered, flew roughly three meters, and crashed to the floor.

Even then, he slid another two meters and slammed his head into a broken sofa.

Uh… did I hit too hard?

“……”

“……”

Just a moment ago, Vladimir had been shouting loudly, yet now silence fell all of a sudden. It was so quiet it felt suffocating.

Iri glanced back and forth between Vladimir and me with a bewildered expression.

“Ah, I think you might have killed him.”

“……No, I didn’t.”

He was still breathing, so he should be fine.

…Probably.

About ten minutes later.

“Uwaaaaaah~!”

In front of me, a man nearing thirty was crying pitifully.

It was truly a disgraceful sight, but because of the handprint visible on his face, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

The moment he opened his eyes, he burst into tears, and I wondered if my hit had damaged his brain somehow. But no, that wasn’t the case—it seemed the whiskey he drank before I arrived had suddenly hit him all at once.

“Uwaaaah! Stingray… uwaaaah…! The board… uwaaaah…!”

“……”

What the hell was he even saying?

His tongue was twisted, and more than half his words were drowned out by sobs, making him incomprehensible.

I raised my fist slightly, wondering if another hit might knock him back to normal, but Iri hurriedly grabbed my arm, alarmed.

“…What is it?”

“Y-you’re not thinking of hitting him again, are you!?”

“If it’s broken, you fix it by hitting it.”

“You’re the one who broke him in the first place! Look at his face right now! It’s swollen like a balloon! That man might look like a wreck now, but he’s still someone important, isn’t he!?”

Well, he was.

Strictly speaking, his position was the same rank as mine.

But still…

“Does status matter? On the day you first met me—”

“Eek! Waaaah! Please don’t bring that up!”

Iri’s face flushed red as she panicked.

“A-anyway! You can’t just keep punching someone like that. Besides, if you hit him again, you really might kill him. Please, just calm down for a bit and leave it to me.”

“……”

I tilted my head.

Was Iri always like this?

It was clear she’d had some change of heart during the [Showcase]. But now wasn’t the time to ask, and since she wasn’t wrong, I lowered my hand without resistance.

Meanwhile, Iri knelt beside Vladimir, who was bawling on the floor, and began comforting him.

Despite wearing a cast herself, she somehow managed to prop him up and sit him on the sofa.

Sitting next to him, she listened to his incoherent ramblings with the occasional “I see,” as if it were serious talk.

‘What the hell is this mess?’

I sat opposite them, watching a twenty-year-old girl console a nearly thirty-year-old man.

Surprisingly, it seemed to work—Vladimir began regaining his composure quickly.

But only for a moment.

Smack!

Iri, smiling softly just seconds ago, suddenly struck the back of Vladimir’s head.

A vein bulged on her forehead, and Vladimir passed out instantly.

“What happened?”

“H-he said something about me being from Fallen….”

That deserved a hit.

He had touched Iri’s reverse scale.

Foolish Vladimir.

Still…

“Didn’t you just tell me not to hit him?”

“I-I hit him gently.”

That was her excuse?

I clearly saw how much force she put into it.

“…So, what did he say?”

“His tongue was so twisted I couldn’t catch much. But I think he’s been dismissed from the Chairman position. Probably because of the outcome of this [Showcase].”

“Not surprising. And what else?”

“He seemed to have a massive grudge against Chairman Aaron since school days. Did you do something to him?”

“Not that I know of.”

I honestly didn’t.

The one who bullied him back in school wasn’t me. Still, thinking about it now, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Vladimir.

‘Come to think of it, this guy really is amazing in his own right.’

A high-level Adaptee with a Lv.5 Arcane Module—something not just anyone could possess—and the only son of a corporation rivaling the Stingray Group.

But because of the existence of Aaron Stingray, he had lived his whole life without ever being able to lift his head.

Truly pitiful.

Poor Vladimir.

“Well then….”

I had originally come to chew him out, but seeing him like this completely killed my mood for it.

“Let’s head back.”

“Right. I wanted to ask him something too, but in this state, it’s useless….”

Just as we were about to stand up—

From the sofa, where he had been lying motionless, Vladimir suddenly shot upright. He stared at me with serious eyes and spoke in a heavy voice.

“I have something important to tell you, Aaron Stingray—ububup!”

But before he could finish, he vomited everything he had drunk.

Iri and I dodged the splattering liquid with reflexes worthy of astonishment. And at that exact moment—

“Forgive my sudden visit. I came because I had something to discuss—”

Clack.

The door opened, and a familiar face entered.

It was Grigori Silvereyes, the middle-aged Transmigrator with heterochromatic eyes.

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