Fated to Die in an Academy Novel – Chapter 143

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Despite various incidents, weekends didn’t last long, and eventually, the weekdays arrived.

That meant it was time to go back to the academy.

And my hope that ‘Since I have to go to the academy, they’ll probably go easy on me today’ was thoroughly shattered.

This was the third day of training.

Just as I was about to get used to Professor Cathy’s movements, she became even more precise and sharp, as if she were shifting gears.

Weren’t you just getting close to S-rank? Like this, aren’t you already an S-rank?

I bet you wouldn’t even lose to the Fighting Demon.

The professor said that she was surprised at how much stronger I was becoming every day.

But Professor, it’s not that I’m getting stronger. I’m just regaining my senses.

There was no way the process of bridging the gap between mind and body could be the same as a hero who had already reached a certain level of strength.

“Good work today, Cadet Kang So-hyun. And Cadet Kang Han-hee.”

Ah, besides being surprised, she wasn’t in a very good mood.

It was early in the morning, and I was planning to sneak out, but Ha-ni, who noticed me with her ghost-like senses, followed me here.

“It was nothing. I was happy to learn a thing or two from you two, Professor, Inspector.”

Today, I sparred with the professor and Ha-ni with my sister. My sister said that Ha-ni already had the skills of a high-ranking B-rank hero.

And it was only the first semester of our first year.

“…You can come by often in the future.”

“I’d be grateful. I’m not really the type to refuse, so I’ll do that.”

The two of them smiled.

Well, they say smiling brings good fortune, right? It seemed like a good thing.

…Is anyone there? Please, save me. I can’t breathe here.

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After enjoying the rather blissful agony of training, I went to the academy and found the classroom strangely noisy.

“What’s going on?”

“I wonder? Are they having another birthday party for Cheon Yoo-hak?”

Ha-ni, who naturally followed me even though we weren’t in the same class, chuckled and made a joke that would make Cheon Yoo-hak bite his tongue.

“…Seriously, don’t say such horrifying things. I still dream about it.”

Oh, he actually heard it. He also didn’t bite his tongue.

Cheon Yoo-hak, who approached us at the right time, shook his head as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s nothing. Everyone’s just whispering because there’s a new person in the class.”

“…A new person? Do you mean an intruder?”

“No, they said that she’s one of the new cleaners the academy had hired. She’s in charge of our classroom.”

“Yoo-hak, what kind of crazy talk is that? Why would they assign a cleaner to a single class, even if it’s the academy?”

“And the fact that she’s a beautiful woman with a rather unique uniform is also a factor.”

…What kind of nonsense was this? Did he go crazy from the birthday party?

I went through the crowd without much thought, and the classroom, which felt strangely cleaner than usual, greeted me.

It even smelled a bit like flowers.

I naturally found my seat, and Ga-eul, with a despairing expression, wasn’t on my desk like usual, but was pacing in front of it instead.

What was wrong with her?

And then I looked away from my desk. I had to.

Unless I was mistaken, my desk was so shiny, it was reflecting things like a mirror.

Well, even if I accepted the sparkling desk, I couldn’t accept the ridiculously extravagant flower decorations on it.

And only my desk was like this.

Seriously, what was this? Was this some new kind of bullying? No, logically, this shouldn’t be happening.

So, I looked at my desk again while hoping that I was mistaken.

Oh, not only had the flower decorations increased in that short time, but a beautiful red-haired maid was standing in front of the desk while looking at me.

Ms. Rose, what are you doing here…?

I was planning to see her soon, but seeing her here, I was so flustered that I couldn’t react.

She approached me.

Huh? Were you going to do that? No, right? You weren’t going to suddenly say, “Master~?” and make things awkward, right?

Fortunately, she passed by me, who was trembling, bowed her head, and greeted not just me, but all of us.

“My name is Rose, and I’ll be the environmental sanitation worker in charge of this class starting today. I’ve finished the morning cleaning, so I’ll be going now. I’ll be on standby nearby, so please call me immediately if the classroom gets dirty.”

Thank god.

No, actually, it wasn’t a relief. It was a relief compared to the alternative, but my desk was already a mess.

The class became noisy with the topic of a beautiful woman cleaning up the classroom and leaving.

And naturally, the question of why only my desk was like this came up, but I desperately decided to ignore it.

“…Can I sit here?”

“Why are you always after my desk instead of your chair? Huh? Ga-eul.”

“…But it’s like my identity now.”

I wanted to say no, but honestly, she was right, so I couldn’t refute it.

Ga-eul without her butt? Could you even call that Ga-eul?

Ga-eul and her butt were practically the same concept, so if you had to say ‘butt’ in a foreign country and didn’t know the language, they might understand if you said ‘Ga-eul Kim.’

…I was so sad about having to sit at this ridiculous desk that I briefly escaped reality.

Let’s at least get rid of the flashy decorations.

“…It’s like you get caught up in some kind of incident every day.”

“I know. I guess what Han-hee said was right.”

Ha-ni, who had approached me, muttered in disbelief, and Lilac smiled wryly and said something strange.

“What did he say about me?”

“Ah, hey, Lilac, you’re really going too far. I expected this from Cheon Yoo-hak, not you.”

…What did she say? Why were you guys talking about something I didn’t know?

“He said you were like a princess.”

Yoo-na, who had approached me with Lilac, answered my question.

…What? A princess?

“I only heard about it when you collapsed, so I don’t know the details.”

I looked at Ha-ni while wondering what she was talking about, and she pretended not to notice. Then, unable to withstand my gaze, she surrendered.

She said I was like a princess in a game because I was often caught up in incidents and captured by powerful people.

Hey, Ha-ni, a princess? Seriously? No one would agree with you on that one.

-You do look like one. A princess.

-Saint’s Will strongly agrees.

…No one.

“You do look like one.”

“Honestly, I laughed a little when I heard it, So-hyun.”

“Everyone, how dare you?! Can’t you see that the princess is embarrassed?!”

Ah, was it my turn to be teased today? I didn’t know that. But were you guys this confident? I would get my revenge tenfold when it was your turn.

Anyway, my academy life, which restarted with such a big surprise, was quite eventful today as well.

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Do you know what it feels like to put your hand in the drawer of a sparkling desk and find a bottle with a note that says, ‘Water filled with my sticky, sweet love♥’?

If I didn’t know who the culprit was, I would have been creeped out, but fortunately, I was sure who it was from, so I wasn’t that worried.

Of course, I was too scared to drink it.

So, it was Schrödinger’s honey water. Since I hadn’t drunk it yet, there was a chance that it was just honey water.

“No, but seriously, how did she suddenly get a job at the academy?”

“I won a small bet with Father. I was undeservedly appointed as your escort starting today.”

I see. Father pulled some strings. But if she was a cleaner, and not an inspector, then maybe not?

Anyway…

“Ah, I see. But some people might have a heart attack if someone suddenly appears and answers their monologue, so could you please not do that?”

“Oh my, you’re so cute. You have a weak heart. If you want some honey water that’s good for your health, I can always…”

“I don’t know why you’re reaching into your skirt, but could you please stop?”

“Hehe, I would be happy if you thought of this as a servant’s expression of affection for her long-lost master.”

…She was strangely more expressive than the last time I saw her.

“You came here, so you must have done what I had asked, right?”

“Hmm, before I answer, I would appreciate it if you would speak to me comfortably. I’m sad that I seem to haven’t earned your trust yet.”

“No…”

“If I carve a mark of obedience on my body, will you speak comfortably to me?”

“That…”

“For your information, the mark of obedience I intend to carve on my body is commonly known as a womb tattoo…”

“Okay.”

“You’re so kind. I’m satisfied, Master.”

…Really? I’m glad you’re satisfied. I just wanted to get to the point.

“Then let’s stop joking. I have mastered both the alchemy and swordsmanship you mentioned, and as a result, I was able to defeat all the superhuman soldiers organized by Mr. Kang Hyun-woo for me.”

Oh, I was wondering how to verify her skills, but that was good enough.

If she could defeat the ones who even Lilac in the early original story struggled against in one-on-one combat, she was probably ready for the real thing with a little more training.

“They were quite a tricky bunch to deal with all at once.”

…I didn’t expect this.

I was a bit worried since her potential was only described as high in the settings, and she never appeared in the original story, but it seemed like it was a needless worry.

She could probably get an A-rank as a hero.

Well, this was a pleasant surprise.

I was planning to ask her to lend me some of her power soon, and it was better for her to be strong than to be weak.

“I’m basically a cleaner, but I’m also your escort, so please feel free to call me whenever you need me.”

“You say that as if you’ll appear anywhere if I call you.”

“…Formal language?”

…Huh, why did that sound like “Hey, want a taste of my womb tattoo?” Was I mistaken?

“You say that as if you’ll appear anywhere.”

“Yes, of course. Besides what you had asked for, I have also mastered the entire ‘Things a Maid Can Naturally Do’ series I saw on the internet.”

What was that?

“I look forward to working with you, Master.”

Her smiling face was strangely scary, so I couldn’t investigate further.

For the sake of my mental health, let’s just think of it as something like tea ceremony.

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-That’s a dangerous sword style.

“I know, right?”

If my morning training with Professor Cathy was about comparing my current and past body states and synchronizing my senses, in the evening, I asked Sun Wukong to check my techniques.

-It’s closer to a heretical path than a righteous one, and closer to a demonic path than a heretical one.

Sun Wukong’s assessment of the sword dance I performed in the empty park was quite harsh.

-It’s not unusable, but there are too many dangerous movements, and it relies too much on a gamble-like mind game. It’s perfect for getting yourself killed.

Ah, I had already told Sun Wukong as much as I could.

Well, most of it was filtered out, but he somehow understood that I was in a state of ‘had regressed but lost my memories.’

“Actually, I had my reasons, so I didn’t really care about my body when I fought with a sword back then.”

I was brainwashed, and she would have healed me with her Authority as long as I didn’t die.

-Are you hurt? What do we do? Come here. I’ll make it better.

…No, she would caress my wounds with a flushed face, as if she was happy when I got hurt.

Let’s stop thinking about it. I had a feeling that I shouldn’t remember any more than that.

After I regained my memories, I occasionally remembered things I had forgotten, and among them, there were many things I didn’t want to remember in detail.

Was Seo-ha’s taste more… peculiar than I thought…?

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but Sun Wukong’s voice brought me back to my senses.

-Hmm, I can help you with some basic corrections, but honestly, it would be better to ask someone with a deep understanding of the sword. I was planning to teach you how to wield a staff and martial arts.

For a moment, I thought about switching my main weapon.

Thanks to Professor Cathy, I had a good grasp of the basics of martial arts, and the offer to learn staff techniques from Sun Wukong was certainly attractive.

But I felt a strange reluctance to let go of the sword.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to learn swordsmanship now.

If someone asked me what the specific advantages of the sword were, I could immediately name two.

One was that I could tease my swordsmanship master at the academy, and the other was that I could prepare for the trial that would probably come during the summer vacation.

At least Ha-ni’s father wouldn’t try to kill me if I had a decent sword style…

…Was this an advantage?

“Anyway, someone with a deep understanding of the sword…”

Come to think of it, I couldn’t think of anyone like that who was easy to meet besides Ha-ni.

And Ha-ni wasn’t at the level where she could give others enlightenment.

I tried swinging my sword again, just in case, but I could only think of ways to swing it more viciously, not more gently.

…Should I swallow my pride and go see my master? She would tease me relentlessly though.

She wasn’t a bad person, but it was a bit awkward for me to go see her right now.

I tried to make some corrections based on what Sun Wukong told me while relying on his memories of fighting swordsmen, but the sword only became slightly softer, and there was no significant improvement in my swordsmanship.

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There was a shadow watching So-hyun.

She didn’t intend to peek.

As a swordswoman herself, she knew how rude it was to watch another’s training.

But she couldn’t look away, captivated by his sword after witnessing his training for the first time.

He seemed unaware of her, focused on his sword as he was, so she should apologize or run away, but she couldn’t shake her desire to watch more.

A sweet and subtle fragrance wafted with every swing of his sword.

It was proof that he had reached a considerable level.

Such a person was wielding an incomplete sword.

It lacked elegance and was fierce, but it was a very practical sword style.

Perhaps he was creating his own sword style.

Perhaps that brutal sword was the clue to the growth she was looking for.

“Amazing…”

His sword was improving with every swing.

The rough sword path was becoming cleaner, little by little.

A talent that grew with every swing.

A genius, comparable to herself, was there.

The moment he swung his sword, black flower petals scattered.

To reach the stage of blooming with such a sword style.

She desperately wanted to talk to him.

She had to.

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T/N – Well, So-hyun, looks like you don’t have to look too far. The one you needed came to you on their own. Who wants to bet that this is his swordsmanship master?

Also, Rose is still as hilarious as ever. Man, she hits those sexual harassment jokes just right. 😂

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.