novelraw Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153: Villain (1)
“Cadet Ryu Jinwoo, and your uncle as well—your leave has been approved! We have sent you a brief set of guidelines related to your leave, so please make sure to review them. Here is your confirmation slip.”
The administrative office staff member handed over the leave confirmation with a polite smile.
While processing the paperwork, she kept sneaking glances at Jack.
“By the way, your uncle really resembles Cadet Ryu Jinwoo. He looks so young. At first, I thought he was your older brother.”
“Haha, my older brother and I look quite alike, and this kid takes after him perfectly. We hear that a lot.”
Jack smoothly played along.
Of course, he was currently disguised under a fake identity and a fake face—someone named “Ryu Jeongyeol.”
At the very least, he had memorized his cover story flawlessly.
“He begged me nonstop yesterday. Said he had a rough day and really wanted to rest today. Said he missed his uncle… Thanks to that, I ended up taking a half-day off work for the first time in a while.”
Miss him, my ass.
There was no way I would ever say something like that.
Anyone watching him would think he was a genuine doting uncle.
And honestly, that was a good thing. I meant that sincerely.
If Jack’s identity were exposed, it would not benefit me either.
It was far better for him to act convincingly like a real uncle and avoid suspicion altogether.
“Oh my, what a wonderful family. You must be so proud after Cadet Ryu Jinwoo’s recent achievements.”
As the staff member praised him warmly, Jack let out a sigh and put on a deliberately worried expression.
“I am always worried. It is good that he is doing well, but it is dangerous work. He is still so young.”
Look at him.
Saying things he did not mean at all.
[Jack]
[Annoyance, Irritation, Displeasure]
The Eye of Deception was honest.
This bastard was simply annoyed.
And yet, he spoke so smoothly it was almost impressive.
“Still, it is amazing. To think my nephew has grown enough to protect civilians alongside heroes already.”
A deeply moved expression, a voice tinged with emotion.
The staff members’ gazes gathered on us, as if admiring a heartwarming family scene.
Part of me wondered if this was unnecessary attention, but another part calculated that this level of acting was acceptable.
A proud uncle boasting about his grown nephew—quite an effective display.
“Well, family always feels that way. Still, please let Cadet Ryu Jinwoo do whatever he wants today.”
With a touched expression, the staff member delivered the final instructions.
“Cadet Ryu Jinwoo, your curfew is 22:00. If an overnight stay becomes necessary, please obtain permission from your supervising instructor and submit the relevant paperwork afterward.”
“Thank you. We appreciate your efforts.”
Jack bowed politely, maintaining his manners to the very end.
I followed suit, and just as we were about to leave the administrative office amid the warm atmosphere—
“Wait a moment!”
The same staff member hurriedly called out to Jack.
We both stopped and exchanged a brief glance.
What now?
Had we been exposed? Was the acting too much?
“Will you be attending the guardian conference as well? It is held every two months. You were absent last time.”
The moment she said that, Jack’s expression relaxed.
The guardian conference.
Since my parents were gone, Ryu Jinwoo’s legal guardian on paper was my uncle.
“A conference?”
“Yes. Cadet Ryu Jinwoo has been drawing a lot of attention lately. Guardian attendance is important. We would really appreciate it if you could come.”
Jack glanced at me, then put on a friendly smile again—effortlessly.
“I will see if I can fit it into my schedule.”
I could not read exactly what he was plotting, but—
[Jack]
[Status: Guarded, Interest, Calculation]
His emotional state shifted in an instant.
It looked like I could practically hear a calculator clicking behind that expression.
‘You are not actually planning to come again, are you?’
Seriously?
Was he out of his mind?
A villain repeatedly entering a hero academy under a fake identity—if he got caught, I would be the one completely screwed.
“Yes! Please make sure to come!”
“Haha, I will do my best.”
Ignoring my inner panic entirely, Jack exchanged smiles and final greetings with the staff member.
We left the administrative office and exited the campus grounds.
The moment we got into the black sedan parked outside and the door closed—
“Tsk. What kind of bullshit is this?”
Jack roughly loosened his tie.
He grabbed a handful of xylitol gum from a box next to the driver’s seat, dumped it into his mouth, and began chewing.
Crunch, crunch. Stretch—snap.
The kind uncle from moments ago was gone, leaving only an irritable villain behind.
“That is exactly what I want to say. What the hell was that? Why did you suddenly request leave for me? And you said you would attend the conference too? Are you insane?”
Why was he using my leave request without my consent?
Leave was limited, something I had been saving for when I truly needed it.
And the conference? Was he seriously planning to show up again?
When I snapped at him, Jack chewed his gum and shot me a sideways glare.
“What was I supposed to do when you never contacted us? You little shit, where did you dump the receiver?”
“……”
Only then did I remember the receiver stuffed deep inside the drawer of my dorm room.
The closed-circuit receiver I had received the day I met Jack and visited Beetle Comics.
I had checked it once or twice, but since it was a Bremen-only device and I did not even know how to use it, I had just left it alone.
“I did not expect much from you to begin with, but radio silence is a pain in the ass on our end too.”
“I do not know what kind of contact you even need. What, you want me to say, ‘I got good results in training, praise me’ or something?”
“Tsk. If you have nothing else to say, then say that. Whatever. Next time, you submit the leave request yourself. It is weird if the ‘uncle’ keeps requesting leave every time.”
Which meant there would be a next time I would need to go out for Bremen-related business.
I swallowed a sigh I could not afford to voice aloud.
“So what is it, then? You did not come all this way just to complain about lack of contact.”
If he had shown up in person, there had to be a reason.
We were out of the academy now, away from prying eyes. It was time to get to the point.
“Tsk, seeing that smug attitude on a brat’s face is damn irritating.”
“…Just get to the point.”
I was acting like Balzac would, in my own way.
As I waited quietly, Jack tapped the steering wheel while stopped at a traffic light.
Tap—tap—tap—
The rhythm gradually grew harsher.
“You might not know this,”
Jack began, curling one corner of his mouth upward.
“But ever since you left your position, things have gotten… short-handed.”
The “you” he was referring to was obviously Balzac.
He still believed I was that lunatic villain who had once been his colleague.
“Thanks to that, I am busy as hell. It does not suit my life motto. Do a little shady work, make a lot of money, and enjoy life to the fullest. That is the life I aim for.”
Jack clicked his tongue in annoyance and suddenly launched into a monologue about his ideal lifestyle.
As if anyone would not want that.
If it were possible, everyone would live that way.
I cut in bluntly.
“So what do you want me to do?”
Whether Jack was busy or not was none of my concern.
I was already overwhelmed juggling academy life and dealing with nonstop incidents.
“Impatient little shit. Open that and take out what is inside.”
Jack jerked his chin toward the glove compartment.
Click—
Inside was a thick document envelope.
“Read it.”
He tossed the words at me casually.
Typical villain—his attitude was consistently atrocious.
‘…I will let it slide for now.’
I swallowed my irritation.
He was part of Bremen.
A mercenary group that accepted any job as long as the profit was right, without regard for good or evil.
They even took requests from alliances of freaks without hesitation.
Each member was powerful. Picking a fight now would only hurt me.
Besides, he still considered me a comrade, so there was no reason to provoke him.
Fine. I would read it.
I opened the envelope and pulled out the documents.
The moment I looked at the first page, my brow furrowed.
‘…What is this?’
Blurry photos taken as if from covert surveillance, and densely written ledger entries.
Raw information, like something freshly purchased from an information broker.
[Seongdong District, Seongsu-dong, Lot XX. ‘Lovely Pet’ Pet Shop. Shadow ledger and biological cargo transport confirmed.]
In short, it described a place disguised as an ordinary pet shop that was continuously siphoning off unidentified “biological cargo.”
The case file itself was interesting enough to read—but why was he showing this to me?
“I am going to need an explanation.”
Jack answered curtly.
“Did you read it at all? Tsk. It is simple. You see the shop name, right?”
I did. Lovely Pet.
The address was in Seongsu-dong, a fairly busy area.
“…A pet shop?”
“Yeah. On the surface, it is a normal store selling pets or phantasmal beasts.”
“And?”
“But what they handle in the basement is not normal.”
Jack rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while steering with the other.
“Larry screwed up. Tsk. That stupid bastard.”
Larry—one of Bremen’s members.
I remembered him as a breeder highly skilled at raising demonic beasts and biological weapons.
The beasts released during the Mystery Hall incident had also been raised by him.
Jack clicked his tongue disdainfully as he mentioned the name.
“That guy is a genius at raising beasts, but he cannot even check his ledgers properly and got robbed blind.”
“He did not check the ledgers?”
“Yeah. The beasts Larry raises have mostly been supplied to the Alliance lately, right? But some transport assholes had the nerve to skim them off in the middle. Thanks to that, the quality of the beasts delivered to the Alliance went to shit.”
The situation became clear.
Goods Bremen was supposed to raise and deliver had been embezzled by middlemen.
“So what are they doing with the stolen beasts?”
“You will know when you see it. It is obvious.”
Jack’s eyes turned cold.
“What matters is that they are seriously damaging Bremen’s credibility in the industry. Tsk. Product management is basic. And now I have to clean up after that idiot Larry.”
Negligence was Larry’s fault, but betrayal was unforgivable.
And touching Bremen’s merchandise was a provocation against the entire team.
Jack sped along the road and concluded:
“I see.”
I responded simply, thoughts racing.
So what was he expecting from me?
This still did not explain why I had to be on leave.
Then Jack spoke casually.
“So we decided to wipe them out.”
“…What?”
“We are going to wipe them out. Before they pull any more bullshit.”
“Oh. I see.”
As I replied calmly, a bad feeling suddenly crept up my spine.
“…When are you planning to do that?”
Bad premonitions were rarely wrong.
“When? Tsk. We are going there right now.”
“…What?”
Vroooom—!
Jack pressed down on the accelerator, and the car surged forward violently.
The force pinned me back into the seat, my eyes widening.
‘Damn it.’
I had forgotten.
What kind of people Bremen really were.