novelraw Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Chapter 38
A night where darkness had thickly settled.
Jin Crow, seated in the instructor’s office of the Central Special Service Academy, sat at the desk of an office that could be called neat if one were generous, or barren if one were not, silently reviewing files.
The hand flipping through the screen was sluggish.
However, separate from that, his head was spinning endlessly with complex thoughts.
“Midterm exams.”
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t thought about it.
Still, having gone through so many things, it was also true that he had forgotten.
If Ideale hadn’t told him, it might have become a little awkward.
Tap, tap-.
He drummed his fingers against the desk.
Each time he did, the injuries that hadn’t fully healed yet throbbed painfully, but paradoxically, it was quite effective at driving away stray thoughts.
‘Since it’s a linked lecture, I have to prepare exams for both theory and combat. I can’t leave it to Sub-Instructor Ginatio.’
For the other lectures, he could refer to the exams that had been conducted so far, but not for his lecture.
The first exam since it had been newly established.
That meant two things.
It was an opportunity to grasp the cadets’ approximate level, and at the same time, it would become an index by which the higher-ups would evaluate the instructor and the lecture’s capabilities.
……That was the biggest reason he couldn’t leave it to Sub-Instructor Ginatio.
‘He’s a complete outsider when it comes to Creatures.’
He said he had studied hard in his own way, but the limits were clear.
From the outset, given the timing, wasn’t it questionable that a lecture on Creatures had been newly established at this point in time?
‘Originally, the lecture would be established much later. By then, research on Creatures would have progressed far more.’
However, the future had changed.
The present reality was such that when he himself was absent for just one week, he had to assign self-study because the related curriculum was that lacking.
In other words, it meant that from the lecture itself to this exam, hardships were clearly waiting in multiple ways.
“Hoo.”
He took out a cigarette that he had casually tossed onto the desk in his office, put it in his mouth, and lit it.
Chiiik, suhp-.
The heavy smoke pressed down on his lungs.
After that, inside the office lit only by dim lighting, he began exhaling smoke as he organized the related materials.
Beside him were numerous papers on Creatures that hadn’t been described in detail in the original work.
‘This one is too riddled with baseless speculation, ……Creatures are biological weapons created by the Empire? They even took the trouble to write such bullshit.’
Knowing that research was still very much in progress, it was no small hassle to extract only the facts that had been verified in the original work as much as possible.
‘Professor Risu-jong.’
Among them, the name that stood out the most was, as expected, ‘Risu-jong’.
He wanted to make contact immediately, but it still wasn’t the time.
To begin with, there wasn’t much to gain right now, and since the man didn’t particularly like soldiers, approaching him rashly might result in who knew what kind of treatment.
‘For now, I’ll base the theory as much as possible on Professor Risu-jong’s papers, but I’ll have to add some variation.’
Fortunately, the theory portion was able to find its direction fairly quickly.
However, the real problem was the combat side.
“Hmm.”
The future of this world was still proceeding largely as he knew it, but variables were cropping up here and there.
In other words, it wouldn’t be strange if the full-scale invasion of Creatures or the Fourth Galactic War with the Empire arrived faster than expected.
Because of that, in his heart of hearts, he wanted to toss the cadets a mass-produced specimen or two and tell them to go hunt it down for the sake of their rapid growth, but it was beyond his ability to persuade the Ministry of Defense of the Human Composite State, which had so far only lost a mere two planets and one colony.
‘Then what’s left is simulation.’
How had it been done in the original work?
Since it had been something that passed by only briefly, it didn’t come to mind right away.
He narrowed his brows and mulled it over for a moment, then recalled it and let out a low sigh.
“Ah.”
In the simulation room, they had counted how many mass-produced units were taken down, if he remembered correctly. He recalled that the top ranks had been the Knights of the Stars.
He considered proceeding that way as well, but soon shook his head.
That would make obtaining the Pawn’s corpse meaningless.
When his thoughts reached that point, Jin Crow, unusually enough, curled the corners of his lips upward in a grin and thought,
“Gotta raise them strong.”
Only those who could take down a Pawn could truly be called cadets of the Central Special Service Academy, wasn’t that so?
That said, running them only through simulations wasn’t very good for developing the cadets’ sense of real combat.
No matter how much support the Central Special Service Academy’s simulations received and how high their quality was, simulations inevitably had their limits.
Just then, a good idea came to mind.
‘In their second year, they have to go out for frontline inspections anyway, so this is absolutely not excessive.’
Nodding in satisfaction, he once again inserted into the curriculum the frontline inspection plan that Ideale and Ginatio had personally drawn up before.
“Why isn’t it the central training ground for once?”
“Seriously.”
The place where Jin Crow gathered the cadets for the next lecture immediately after his return was not the central training ground he usually favored, but a massive warehouse located in an outer sector.
Up until now, combat classes had fundamentally been held at the training ground or the sparring hall, and even for field classes, there had been a separate outdoor training area, so the cadets each walked into the warehouse with faces full of questions.
“……Holy shit.”
“Insane.”
However, the questions lingering on the cadets’ faces soon turned into uniform shock.
“Ah, you’re all here.”
Even at Jin Crow’s now-familiar, cold-tinged voice, the cadets did not look at him.
No, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say they couldn’t look at him.
It was only natural.
Jin Crow stood there, his expression not just blank but downright icy, staring at them.
Yet compared to the overwhelming lifeform that had stolen the cadets’ gazes, he—and even Sub-Instructor Ginatio standing behind him with a somewhat uneasy expression—barely registered in their vision.
‘Pawn.’
Baek Hwi-young, standing at the rear of the cadets, forcibly swallowed that single word that had almost slipped out through his lips.
If he had come with special-issue armament, he might have been gripping the shaft tightly as he stared at the thing.
‘It’s just a corpse, that’s all.’
Was it because this was the first time since his regression that he was facing a real Creature?
Or was it because memories surfaced of the merciless hostility toward humans he had seen countless times beyond those black pupils where the gleam had gone out?
There was no way to know.
However, one thing was certain.
‘Again…….’
An even stronger sense of suspicion lingered in Baek Hwi-young’s ashen-gray pupils.
Meanwhile, Miel, who had been standing beside him, was about to say something but then ended up sticking her lips out in a pout.
‘What’s wrong with me these days?’
Although she outwardly looked sulky, what lay inside was worry over Baek Hwi-young’s changed demeanor.
‘Does he have a lot on his mind? But why?’
To her, it was nothing but a series of things she simply couldn’t understand.
They were childhood friends who had been together for nearly over ten years since the day her father had taken Baek Hwi-young in when they were young, yet this side of him felt nothing but unfamiliar.
His mature nature had always been part of his charm, but lately, it was as if that aspect had grown even more pronounced.
‘Is it because of Instructor Jin Crow…….’
It was subtly convincing.
After all, he had been having strangely frequent friction lately with such a frightening instructor—wouldn’t that naturally make things uncomfortable?
Whether he knew or didn’t know that Miel, standing beside him, was harboring such a misunderstanding, Baek Hwi-young’s gaze still remained fixed on the Pawn specimen erected at the center of the warehouse.
“Everyone, quiet.”
At that moment, Jin Crow’s low yet sharp voice cut through the murmuring cadets.
“This is a guy called ‘Pawn,’ classified as lower-tier among mass-produced Creatures.”
Although it was a monster they had already seen several times through simulations, facing it in reality carried a pressure far greater than expected.
“As I explained during theory class, what are commonly referred to as mass-produced units—divided into lower, middle, and upper tiers—each have fundamental differences separate from combat power. I’ll give 3 merit points to the cadet who explains that.”
The eyes of the cadets, desperate for merit points after the demerits he had handed out as soon as he returned a few days ago, sparkled.
However, the cadets who had naturally been about to raise their hands had no choice but to freeze mid-motion at Jin Crow’s next words.
“However, since this is content that was already lectured on beforehand, if you’re wrong, I’ll give you 3 demerit points as-is.”
At that moment, the cadets saw it clearly.
The sight of the corners of his lips curling up slightly.
‘……His personality’s gotten worse.’
‘For sure.’
That wasn’t speculation—it was certainty.
Perhaps because he had put both merit points and demerit points on the line, even cadets who had been fairly confident about raising their hands hesitated unconsciously.
They just had to get the answer right, but having already received 5 demerit points previously for merely being noisy, they hesitated for no reason.
And then, right at that moment.
“Cadet! Dokgo Ra—! Aaak!”
Eyes sparkling, a hand shot straight up.
“More! I know more stuff!”
The way she even bit her tongue from speaking so hastily was rather amusing.
Because of that, Jin Crow briefly considered ignoring her, but upon realizing she was the only one with her hand raised, he nodded with eyes tinged with unease.
‘If she has too many demerits, I can just forcibly give her merit points to shave them off.’
She was, in her own way, one of the Knights of the Stars.
No matter how much of a troublemaker cadet she was, to save this world—and furthermore, to save himself—he had to make her graduate somehow.
“Alright. Go ahead.”
“Yes! Right away……!”
He was curious, in his own way.
Just how crazy would the nonsense be this time?
Until not long ago, that would have been a thought only Famille would have had while standing beside her, but by now, not only the cadets but even Sub-Instructor Ginatio shared the same thought.
And then, the words that came out of Dokgo Ran’s opened mouth shattered everyone’s expectations with an unexpected answer.
“Right! Unlike ordinary mass-produced units, they have distinguishing characteristics that allow them to be identified!”
“Hmm.”
Jin Crow’s low murmur might have seemed like displeasure at a glance, but in truth, it was the opposite.
It was an answer that had unexpectedly struck quite close to the core.
Because of that, he half-unconsciously fixed his gaze on Famille standing beside Dokgo Ran.
However, judging by the way Famille was looking back with a gaze that said something like, ‘This gorilla has that kind of intelligence?’, it seemed she hadn’t told her.
“Then what are those characteristics?”
It seemed he had underestimated her too much based solely on Dokgo Ran’s conduct.
He asked again, this time with a measure of expectation.
However, the answer that came back was, as expected.
“Uh, what was it again?”
She rolled her eyes, making the previously inspired expression seem meaningless.
At the sight, he almost let out a sigh, but instead shifted his thinking in a positive direction.
Right, at least she got this much right.
If there are no expectations, there’s no disappointment.
“……One merit point.”
“Wow!”
Apparently even that pleased her, as Dokgo Ran grinned widely, sharp fangs exposed, and jumped while raising her bronze-tanned arms high with both hands.
“Heh-heh.”
Then, the way she looked at Famille as if saying I won was quite the spectacle.
Of course, Famille was about to say something but soon shook her head as if it wasn’t worth it.
Just as he was feeling exasperated by that sight, a man’s voice—one not entirely unfamiliar—brushed past Jin Crow’s ear.
“Cadet. Beatus.”
Jin Crow turned his head and looked at the cadet who had asked the question.
On the surface, he was merely a male cadet with a taciturn impression.
He was such a quiet, exemplary student that Jin Crow hadn’t paid him much attention, but his name wasn’t one to be taken lightly.
“Yes.”
It was none other than him.
“You may answer.”
The Foolish General, Baek Hwi-young.
The Virtuous General, Miel Amber.
The Keen General, Hino Kanae.
The Fierce General, Dokgo Ran.
The Wise General, Famille Demezear.
Alongside them, he was Beatus—the final Sage General who completed the Knights of the Stars.