Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 44
“Send him to Team 10.”
Scarlet fixed Hanswell with a sharp glare as she spoke.
“You said you’d taken on instructional duties. It’s good for him to go to Team 10, and good for us too. The Security Force commander said so himself, didn’t he?”
Confronted with this sound logic, Hanswell let out a low sigh.
Scarlet pressed on.
“It’s a direct order from the Security Force commander. Team 42 is already under scrutiny—if we defy the commander’s orders on top of that, it’ll be quite a spectacle, won’t it?”
At that moment, Milo shot to his feet.
“Spectacle or not! Grave gets scouted by other teams every time we go on support missions because he does such good work! And instead of appreciating that, you want to drive him out? That’s ridiculous!”
Milo, red-faced with indignation, looked toward Hanswell as if seeking his endorsement.
All eyes naturally shifted to Hanswell.
Hanswell surveyed his team members carefully.
From the mood, Milo was clearly on Grave’s side. As was he.
Volcan, the moderate, would maintain neutrality as always—
‘A tie, then.’
Having done his calculation, Hanswell opened his mouth.
“First, let’s check what the team members think. If you believe Grave should go to Team 10, raise your hand.”
Hanswell looked around at his team as he spoke.
His plan was to create a rough stalemate and buy some time.
As expected, Scarlet’s hand shot up immediately. Rudrick, who would normally have followed suit at once, hesitated for a moment. When Scarlet glanced at him, he finally raised his hand.
Volcan did not raise his hand.
To Hanswell’s knowledge, Volcan was a moderate. He always maintained neutrality.
Normally, Volcan would raise his hand to both sides—
This time, he’d sided with the newcomer.
“…Volcan?”
Scarlet’s confusion showed as she turned to look at him. Then Volcan met her gaze directly and spoke.
“I think it would be wise to end this petty territorial squabbling here. He’s exactly the kind of talent Team 42 needs. His abilities are quite exceptional.”
“What?”
“I’m opposed to Grave going to Team 10.”
Shocked that Volcan had taken Grave’s side, Scarlet’s face crumpled in frustration.
Then—
“I must respectfully disagree as well.”
Grave said it with brazen composure.
Scarlet’s eyes grew fierce.
“Your opinion doesn’t matter.”
“Then whose opinion counts? It looks like I won the vote anyway.”
Scarlet curled one corner of her mouth into a smirk.
“Obviously, the team leader’s.”
At the mention of the team leader, Hanswell couldn’t help but groan aloud.
She was right. No matter how much the team members argued, a single command from the team leader would settle it.
Evelyn was the one who’d created this culture of rejecting newcomers in Team 42. If this matter reached her, she’d order Grave out immediately.
Hanswell steeled himself—he had to prevent this from reaching Evelyn.
But surprisingly, Grave nodded first.
“Very well. Let’s ask her at once.”
Grave stood and knocked on Evelyn’s door.
Knock, knock!
“Stop sleeping and wake up.”
“…I’m awake.”
From inside came Evelyn’s voice, rough as grinding gears.
“You’re awake, I see. Well then, let’s ask.”
“Idiot.”
Scarlet smirked and quickly slipped inside. Hanswell hurried after her.
Evelyn sat with her face contorted, pressing hard at her temples.
Evelyn suffering from a hangover—it was a sight he’d never seen before.
“Drink.”
“Ah, here.”
Scarlet handed over a bottle with practiced ease. Evelyn grabbed it and drank straight from the bottle. Having drained the entire bottle in one go, Evelyn smiled with satisfaction.
“Now I feel alive again. Thanks.”
“Not at all.”
Scarlet smiled demurely and opened her mouth with a subtle gesture.
“The Security Force commander ordered the newcomer sent to Team 10. We should send him, right?”
Scarlet asked in a voice brimming with certainty.
“Hmm…”
Evelyn, instead of answering, lifted her head and looked toward Grave standing in the corner.
“Should I tell the Security Force commander we’re sending him to Team 10?”
Scarlet asked again, her voice bright with anticipation. She seemed certain Evelyn would nod.
“No.”
“So we should send him…? Pardon?”
“I’m not giving him up.”
“Why, why not?!”
Shocked, Scarlet asked sharply.
Then Evelyn spoke in her characteristic flat tone.
“He’s my boyfriend.”
An announcement that Grave was her boyfriend—
Hanswell was certain he would never witness anything more absurd than this for the rest of his life.
Of course, that certainty shattered the very next moment.
“I must decline.”
Grave refused flatly.
His expression twisted as if deeply offended.
“…?”
Evelyn blinked.
* * *
Apart from Volcan, everyone in Team 42 was a villain who appeared in the mid to late game.
This was why Logan’s republican-hunting quest was such a honey quest.
However, there was one thing to watch out for when doing the republican quest.
You couldn’t get deeply entangled with the Republic. Logan was a severe paranoiac about the Republic.
If you got wrongly entangled with the Republic, Logan would mark you as a republican himself.
And being marked as a republican by Logan was dangerous enough to rival being blacklisted by the Republic. Besides, I’d already lied to Logan, telling him I was Security Force.
In this situation, if rumors spread that I was the boyfriend of Evelyn, whom Logan considers a republican?
‘Absolutely not.’
Of course, even apart from Logan, I couldn’t be Evelyn’s boyfriend.
That’s why I refused so firmly.
“…What about… the wager?”
“What I wagered in the bet was a friend. Just a friend. Not a romantic relationship.”
Evelyn slowly blinked again. She seemed quite taken aback.
The other team members had similar expressions.
Rudrick, who usually maintained his composure while smoking, didn’t even notice his cigarette had burned out and was sucking on his fingers instead.
Volcan habitually smoothed his shiny bald head.
Scarlet glared at me as though I’d murdered her parents, while Hanswell kept his eyes tightly shut.
Only Milo seemed unaffected. He shook his head with a look of ‘well, that figures.’
“Why?”
Evelyn asked, clearly not understanding.
‘Because you’re a Republic executive.’
I swallowed the words that had risen to my throat and answered instead.
“I have a girlfriend. Ah, but even if I didn’t have one, I would have refused.”
It was a clean rejection that left no room for negotiation.
Then Evelyn’s confused eyes grew sharp again.
They began to burn even more fiercely than before. Most uncomfortably so.
“Fine! I accept the challenge!”
Evelyn laughed boldly and shouted.
…Challenge?
My brow furrowed at the odd word.
“For now, let’s start as friends.”
“Not ‘for now’—”
“And!”
Cutting off my words, Evelyn pointed a finger at me.
“I’m going to make you my boyfriend.”
Evelyn’s eyes as she looked at me burned like kindling doused in oil.
The flow of events was not favorable.
“I must decline.”
I spoke firmly once more.
Then Evelyn laughed refreshingly.
“I refuse your refusal.”
This wasn’t a conversation.
‘I should have killed her back then.’
I genuinely regretted it.
* * *
Except for Volcan, all the team members in Team 42 were villains who appeared in the mid to late game.
Since Hanswell was there—the headmaster’s rage button—I’d planned to gradually reform Team 42.
That’s why Evelyn was supposed to be last on my list.
But that was supposed to be the case—
‘Boyfriend. What nonsense.’
I pressed hard at my temples and muttered to myself.
“The team leader never takes back what she says once. Especially when a bet’s involved—never, ever, ever.”
Milo repeated ‘never’ with a serious face. As my scowl deepened, he added nervously.
“Why not just date her? The team leader’s personality is a bit… well, but she’s beautiful, isn’t she? She’s tall too. Though she’s not blonde, of course.”
“I have a girlfriend.”
“…Really?”
“What’s with that look?”
“How could someone like you have a girlfriend…”
“What?”
“Ha ha, nothing. So where is this girlfriend of yours?”
“I don’t know.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I said I don’t know. If I did—”
I would have killed her long ago.
I swallowed the rest of my words deliberately.
Milo’s eyes narrowed. It was openly suspicious.
“If you don’t know where she is, then just date the team leader, why not?”
“Impossible. My heart belongs to her.”
“Blegh—”
Milo made a face and gagged.
I was being sincere. My heart bears the witch’s mark.
“Then what do we do? The team leader never gives up.”
Never gives up—
I murmured Milo’s words back to him.
‘Is Evelyn really just misunderstanding?’
In the Republic, a friend means something deeper than a brother.
A friend is someone you’d give your life for without hesitation.
I clearly wagered ‘friend’ in the bet. It was possible she was pushing the ‘boyfriend’ angle to smooth it over.
If it was boyfriend instead of friend, she could drop me with some convenient excuse at the right moment.
Knock, knock! Just then, someone knocked on the door so roughly it was questionable whether it was even a knock. They didn’t even wait for an answer before the door opened.
It was Evelyn, carrying something charred black.
“Here, meat I grilled myself. If you don’t eat it, we’re dating.”
Evelyn held out something expressionlessly. It was meat, burned pitch-black.
Not eating it means dating? Usually it’s the opposite, isn’t it?
But looking at the charred meat, it made sense. How badly did you have to cook to burn it like that?
It was absurd, but I quickly put the meat in my mouth.
On the front lines, I’d eaten roasted demons. Charred meat was a delicacy to me.
I chewed and swallowed the meat thoroughly.
“It’s delicious.”
“Good. If you date me, you can eat this every morning. How’s that sound? Tempted?”
“I don’t eat breakfast.”
“Oh, you’re like me then. I prefer sleeping in rather than eating breakfast.”
“Personally, I’m of the school that you sleep when you’re dead.”
“Opposites are more attractive, they say.”
Despite her expressionless face, Evelyn continued to cling to me.
A truly persistent woman.
I ignored her and walked outside, where the team members were waiting.
The atmosphere among them was sharper than usual. Scarlet especially looked like she might stab me right then and there.
Then Evelyn placed a hand on my shoulder. A sweet smell of alcohol wafted over.
“My boyfriend—”
“Not my boyfriend.”
“Then my boyfriend-in-waiting. My boyfriend-in-waiting here worked so hard—everyone else is exempt from duty today. Take it easy. Do only the lightest assignments. Because he’s my boyfriend-in-waiting.”
At Evelyn’s declaration, everyone’s face twisted.
Scarlet glared at me as if I’d murdered her parents, while Hanswell pressed hard at his temples. Milo looked like he might vomit at any moment.
“What do you think? If you date me, I can give you these kinds of benefits.”
Evelyn looked at me and winked with one eye. Yet her face remained expressionless, making it a purely mechanical gesture.
She seemed to be making a play, but she was going about it all wrong.
I had mountains of work to do, and she was offering to exempt me from duty? My brow furrowed deeply.
“That’s fine. I prefer duty.”
“…You prefer duty?”
“Yes, I’d like to do more. If possible, I’d like to do night shifts as well.”
Genuine sincerity colored my voice naturally.
Evelyn’s face, which had remained expressionless until now, crumpled for the first time.
Clap, clap.
Hanswell, overcome with relief, applauded enthusiastically.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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