NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28.2
T/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday!
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Wednesday and Thursday were so-so.
In the ‘History of Empire’ class, yawns were evoked naturally as the calm voice echoed throughout the room like a lullaby.
The first lecture on Wednesday- ‘Beginner Acceleration Studies 1’- was boring because it was common knowledge that everyone knew, while for ‘Mana Management 1’ I had an interview on Tuesday, so there was no lecture for it this week anymore.
‘Sex Education’ was mainly a group activity, so it wasn’t as fun as I expected yet.
The first week at the academy felt like when reading the prologue of a .
Classes were expected to start properly from next week.
The proposal from the ‘Mana Management 1’ professor to become a research assistant was still under review.
I asked Soniel to collect and organize information on the professor, the research institute, and his research topic.
As expected, Jihye and Hyerin were given the same request.
As long as we did not find any problems, we would likely participate in the study.
Nothing special happened after school.
I trained my body for about 2 hours, spent time in the library, played with Jihye, and slept with Ireina.
I hadn’t learned anything yet, so it was impossible to review the taught content, and I was not a fan of the idea of pre-learning the content.
While spending time not much different from my everyday life back in the imperial palace, I finally made it to Friday.
Today was special.
This was because it was the day of my first class for two interesting subjects and the start of the ‘club promotion period’.
The professor of my morning lecture ‘Physical Training 1’ looked like a muscular fitness trainer.
There was virtually no difference from what I imagined one would look like from Earth.
“Let’s not even mention knights who fight with their bodies! Stamina is very important even for mages who devote themselves to long hours of study and research!”
During the first hour of the two-hour class, various exercises and stretching methods were introduced, and then during the remaining hour, our cardiorespiratory endurance was developed by having us run for a long time.
It was an effective and useful division in the syllabus in my opinion.
It looked like I would get a lot out of this course.
The lunch I ate right after the workout was really satisfying.
After the meal, Ji-hye and I set off to have our lecture on ‘Killing Practice’.
Like one would imagine a dark subject to be, the classroom was located outside of the academy, so we had to ride a carriage there.
There I found an unexpected person.
“Hello, Minho.”
“Hello~”
“Jihoo and Jihye, hi.”
I never would have expected him to take this class.
I signed up for this course because I felt the need to drop my earthly values after finding myself hesitant to gouge out the eyes of Kyle during my duel.
And the reason for Jihye was five parts because she just followed me and enrolled, and five parts to stimulate her attributes.
I was really curious about something.
I wondered why Minho had applied for ‘killing practice’, but I was a bit hesitant about asking such questions.
But he seemed to have read the curiosity in my face.
“...I’m not looking forward to this course honestly.”
“Is that so?”
“I thought a lot of things while watching your duel. I’m going to have to accept that this isn’t Earth.”
A bitter smile marred his face.
We chatted about this and that until the professor arrived- about classes, clubs, and the likes.
He said he wanted to join the student council rather than a club.
However, he said that he was currently thinking about it because he could only apply from the second year onwards.
The scale of this class was bigger than ‘sex education’.
Also, most of the students in the class appeared to be my high school classmates.
Eventually, when it was time for class, the front door slid open and four people entered the room.
The first person was a calm looking man in a suit.
His stocky physique, which could not be hidden even by the black suit, displayed that he was a knight.
He looked eerie wearing those pair of black gloves.
The second was a lady who gave off an atmosphere that was the exact opposite of the knight.
With her chubby figure, she looked around the classroom with a kind smile on her face.
The third was an academy security guard.
Dressed in uniform, he pulled along a cart and entered the classroom.
A small iron bar was placed on top of the cart.
Inside, a fourth person was sitting in a chair, restrained from moving his body.
“Ugh!!”
He was a naked young man with his eyes covered with a white cloth and his mouth tied.
None of the students knew his identity, but we could guess his role.
The atmosphere in the classroom became more rigid and subdued.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Iron Jepped, the professor in charge of the ‘Murder Practice’ course.”
There was no trace of emotion in the professor’s cold eyes.
He was like a psychopath with no empathy.
“This class is literally a practice for killing, in order to get rid of fools who are hesitant to attack the enemy on the battlefield. You will have the opportunity to carry out the execution of a select group of heinous criminals. The grade in this class is simple. It is ‘pass or fail’, and if you kill a total of 4 people during the semester, you will pass.”
Inside the room, only Professor Iron’s words, the grunts of the criminal, and the nervous fidgeting of the students could be heard.
“I will not force you to kill. Participation in this class will always be voluntary. You may drop out of this class at any time, and if you need psychological counseling, you can ask the counsellor here.”
The lady standing next to him quietly bowed her head in greeting.
Her two eyes were filled with feelings of pity.
“Today is the first class, so I’ll give you a demonstration myself. Those who are not mentally prepared can leave immediately.”
The professor silently looked around the classroom with that declaration.
Me, Ji-hye, and Min-ho remained calm, and no one left even if they were nervous.
“Good.”
“Ugh! Ugh!!”
At his glance, the guard opened the bars and lifted a chair and placed it at the centre of the podium.
At the same time, the resistance of the criminal intensified, but to no avail.
The guard took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and read the text aloud.
“Death row inmate number 00254, Jeffman! This man abused his position as the son of the village head and raped a 15 and 27 year old woman in Reef Village for 3 months! The murder of a 31 year old married woman was also out of malicious intent! The death penalty had been ordained for him! Bendolph Hymans, lord of Riera.”
“Thank you.”
The professor motioned the counselor and the guard to move back and then drew a dagger from his bosom.
Reflecting in the light that lit up the classroom, the dagger glowed a brilliant silver.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Are there any students who want to leave right now?”
He waited a moment while running his finger across the blade of the dagger, but no one moved except the rapist.
“These students aren’t bad.”
With a high evaluation, his sharp blade quickly dug deep into the criminal’s left chest.
It was exactly where the heart was.
With a desperate scream, the body fell limply in the chair.
It was an instant kill.
In the corner, the counsellor lowered her head and shook her head.
Blood gushed out like spring water from where the knife had been stabbed.
I suddenly remembered the chocolate fountains I had seen in passing on YouTube when I was on Earth.
Minho widened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the corpse with the attitude that he would watch the criminal’s death until the very end.
I could see a few students around me who covered their faces with their hands and bowed their heads.
Jihye grabbed onto my arm tightly.
It seemed she recalled the time she had killed her classmate on Earth.
I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
Maybe it was because the seats and the podium were quite far apart, it felt like I was just watching a gory movie.
It didn’t feel real just yet.
But watching and doing it myself would be on another level.
“This is the first step. Killing a criminal who is tied up and blindfolded. If you complete up to step 4, you will pass this class.”
Professor Iron said while washing his bloodstained clothes with magic and wiping the dagger with a handkerchief.
There was no significant change in his expression.
Looking at that seasoned and calm attitude, I thought that I would like to become like the professor.
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