A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

Somehow, I ended up making a new friend. That friend is none other than Luna.

After I checked the status window, she complained of pain in her eyes and eventually had to be hospitalized.

She caused a commotion, saying it felt like her eyes were being stabbed with needles, so the hospital couldn’t just dismiss it.

But the problem is that they can’t even properly identify the cause. She took painkillers, but she said it still hurt immensely.

While I could figure things out by eating all sorts of bizarre foods, including bugs, Luna was struck by sudden, intense pain.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.”

“What is?”

It was while I was eating porridge for recovery. Kara, who was feeding me, spoke.

Her gaze was directed toward the bed next to mine, in other words, toward Luna.

“Here. Say ah~.”

“Ah~.”

Luna had her eyes completely wrapped in bandages, like some kind of monk.

Ellie was feeding her, too. It was truly a rare sight.

“How is it that as soon as Sivar recovers, Luna gets sick? Did you two secretly eat something weird without us knowing?”

“No. I ate alone.”

“Hmm. Then, what about when you dealt with the demon?”

“That time, I was alone too.”

“Strange.”

Kara spoke as if she couldn’t believe it and scraped the porridge with her spoon.

She seemed to have roughly figured out that there was something between Luna and me.

Otherwise, this kind of development wouldn’t make sense. It’s too unnatural to dismiss as mere coincidence.

‘I’m just as curious.’

Even if I don’t know, why did Luna say her eyes hurt?

The timing is too coincidental—almost suspiciously so. Especially since Luna originally had special abilities related to her eyes.

At the very least, she has the ability to appraise objects. I figured that out through consistent observation.

But I don’t know if she has a status window like mine. I’ve never asked her about it.

‘I should start asking bit by bit.’

Right now, my rehabilitation is the priority. Thanks to steadily eating on an empty stomach, my regeneration has sped up compared to before.

The problem is controlling my strength. Whenever I touch something, I end up breaking it like some King of Destruction, which is more than a little troublesome.

It feels like I’ve grown too rapidly. In the forest, I grew gradually, but the pace now is extreme.

‘And the disappearance of the window showing my physical abilities is another thing.’

There’s only one reason why all this happened. It was when I put the artificial eye in my mouth last time.

If not for that, such absurd events wouldn’t keep happening one after another.

I don’t remember it well, but I know the artificial eye serves as some sort of key.

So, just by me briefly putting it in my mouth and Luna consistently possessing it, things started happening.

‘What, is it some kind of tool to unlock the Demon King’s seal? Is that it?’

For now, it seems like I need to keep carrying the artificial eye. I’m sure it’ll come in handy later.

After finishing my porridge, I got out of bed for rehabilitation. Walking was no longer an issue.

My strength control was also improving. At first, I was shaky, but as time passed, I quickly got used to it.

Crack!

“Ah.”

“Again?”

Of course, even with just a little force, the door panel came off. This is something I’ll have to adapt to gradually.

Anyway, the fact that I need to do rehabilitation exercises throughout the break hasn’t changed. It’s a bit of a shame to miss training, but there’s no choice.

Honestly, I’d like to wrap up the discharge procedures and train with Rod. But the doctor glared at me, so that was a no-go.

Even Rod warned me not to do anything until I was fully recovered. I appreciate the concern, but it’s a bit frustrating.

‘I absolutely have to spar before school starts.’

Otherwise, I won’t be able to control my strength after school begins. Right now, my power is overwhelmingly unbalanced from a student’s perspective.

Before my strength increased, I fought the King of Destruction, and after going berserk, I nearly killed him.

So now, my power is at least as strong as back then, if not stronger. The only person who can spar with me is Rod.

‘If it’s a battle of techniques, it might be different, but… now even those techniques carry too much power.’

Cutting trees with a sword is meaningless now. Techniques only improve through sparring.

That’s why I consistently trained martial arts with Kara until now. Without an opponent, my techniques didn’t improve.

So as soon as rehabilitation ends, I plan to ask Rod for help. I’ll ask him to help me control my strength properly before school starts.

If he refuses? Then the students and instructors will have to suffer. I might even have to threaten him by saying more accidents will happen.

‘But honestly, I feel like I really might cause accidents…’

Even when I was controlling my strength well, I still caused accidents. Now that I can’t control it?

It wouldn’t be surprising if someone got seriously hurt. The fact that there haven’t been any fatalities so far is practically a miracle.

From Rod’s perspective, this is a headache-inducing issue—enough to make him collapse from stress. He’ll want to avoid any casualties at all costs.

“Mr. Sivar! I heard you collapsed from an illness—are you alright?!”

It was during one of my daily rehabilitation sessions. An entirely unexpected visitor came to see me.

A beautiful woman with long, purple hair and sharp, piercing eyes that left a strong impression.

“Grace?”

“You’re not in pain anywhere, are you? Right?”

Grace, who had supposedly returned to her family home, came to the hospital. She must have rushed here, as her hair was slightly disheveled.

As soon as she saw me, she naturally began inspecting my face, her hands rough enough to squash my cheeks and push out my lips.

After checking my condition for a while, Grace seemed relieved to realize I was fine and let out a sigh of relief.

Judging by her reaction, she must have been genuinely worried. Well, considering I coughed up blood, it’s understandable.

“Phew… It seems like you’re alright. I was so shocked when I heard you were coughing up blood.”

“I’m fine now.”

“I see. But Ms. Luna…”

Grace trailed off as she looked at Luna. Luna was resting with her eyes wrapped in bandages.

A peculiar situation, to say the least. Grace alternated her gaze between the two of us before cautiously speaking.

“You two didn’t eat anything strange together, did you? Like mushrooms, for example.”

“… …”

How is it that everyone’s thoughts go in the same direction? It seems like people have a strange perception of Luna and me.

The funny thing is that even Luna is being treated as my equal in this regard.

While it makes sense for me, given all the random things I eat, why is Luna lumped in with me? I felt a bit sorry for her.

“By the way, what have you all been doing during the break? For me, I just dealt with boring and tiresome matters at home.”

“For us, it’s the same as always. The only interesting thing was probably Sivar running away.”

“What? Mr. Sivar ran away?”

“Yeah. You know Unity Village nearby? He went there to hang out.”

Kara said that while looking at me, her expression asking if it was okay to mention the demon-related story.

Since it didn’t really matter, I nodded to indicate it was fine. There was nothing problematic about it.

“A demon… That’s surprising. I haven’t heard much about demons appearing lately.”

“The problem isn’t demons; it’s people.”

“That’s accurate.”

Moving forward, both people and demons will be issues. The timing of the demons resuming activity was incredibly fitting.

It feels like someone lit a fuse during a period of global unrest, causing an explosion. The United Academy is at the center of it.

“Oh, right. Mr. Sivar?”

“Yeah?”

“Just to ask in advance, you’ll be my bodyguard knight from now on, right?”

Grace asked me, her purple eyes filled with anticipation.

Hearing her question, I blinked a couple of times before falling into thought. Honestly, I hadn’t fulfilled the role of a proper bodyguard knight last time.

She had given me a lot of freedom, so it felt more like we were just hanging out together. Still, I think it was fairly effective.

“Do as you like.”

“Great. This time, let’s draft a proper contract. I brought it with me, just in case.”

Rustle—

Grace’s preparedness was impeccable. She pulled out two sheets of paper that appeared to be contracts.

One was for me, and the other was likely Grace’s copy.

Perhaps because of the unusual nature of the contract, Kara expressed her doubts while Grace was preparing.

“A contract? Do we really need to go as far as making one? Can’t we just do it the same way as last time?”

“No, we can’t. Contracts are the proper way to handle things like bodyguard arrangements. Trust is the most important thing, isn’t it?”

“Hmm… Is that so? In our country, we don’t usually make contracts. Maybe for an escort, but not for this.”

Kara seemed to brush it off as just a cultural difference between countries. However, she did criticize the idea of presenting a contract to a patient.

In response, Grace nonchalantly said it wasn’t necessary to sign it immediately and that they could simply look at it as a reference copy.

‘But has she been carrying this contract around the whole time?’

This point was a bit puzzling, but for now, I decided to review the contract.

I glanced at Grace, who was smiling expectantly, and then picked up the paper.

The contract itself was entirely focused on matters related to the bodyguard arrangement. The compensation offered was quite generous.

Honestly, I didn’t need the money, but someone once said that money isn’t just a medium of exchange—it’s also a symbol of trust.

Whether I invested it in stocks or in Elina Jane, it wouldn’t really matter.

“…Huh?”

But then I noticed something strange. My eyes widened as I read one of the clauses.

After reading the clause, I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy, and I sneaked a glance at Grace.

Grace was smiling brightly, as if she were in a great mood. Her sharp eyes had softened completely.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Let me see it for a moment. I’ll check it myself.”

Kara, sensing something was off, reached out her hand. She was gesturing for the contract.

“No, Kara. This is a contract between Mr. Sivar and me. The moment a third party gets involved, the contract becomes invalid.”

Grace stopped her. Unlike her earlier cheerful demeanor, she now had a sharp edge to her tone.

Kara furrowed her brows, seemingly sensing something as well. She eventually asked in a confused voice,

“Is that one of your country’s laws or something?”

“Partially, but it’s the same in other countries too. Contracts related to security and bodyguard services must remain confidential. Isn’t it similar for escorts?”

“Hmm… There are similar clauses, but this still feels a bit odd…”

There was nothing factually incorrect about what Grace said. Security and confidentiality are indeed the top priorities in bodyguard arrangements.

Therefore, the moment a third party becomes aware of the contract’s contents, it loses its significance. Kara, knowing this, hesitated.

The Tatar people value contracts deeply. Given their harsh environment, trust is equivalent to survival.

“…But is this even feasible? Isn’t it impossible?”

However, this clause was likely to be rejected by the Academy. It was a rather sensitive issue.

Grace seemed to have anticipated this, as she nodded and didn’t deny it. Then, she confidently said,

“You don’t have to worry. I can handle this part just fine.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

Ellie, who had been quietly listening, suddenly interjected. Perhaps it was because it was Ellie and not Kara.

“Dormitory co-living.”

“Huh?”

“Dormitory co… what?”

“M-Mr. Sivar?”

I inadvertently responded without thinking.

Hearing this, both Ellie and Kara looked flustered, while Grace appeared beyond flustered—she was utterly bewildered.

Realizing I had misspoken, I covered my mouth with one hand. But it was already too late.

“Dormitory co-living? You really know how to drop a bombshell, don’t you?”

“Grace, no matter how much you like Sivar, this is too much. How is this any different from a marriage application?”

“It’s completely different! This is about bodyguard duties, bodyguard duties! This is how it’s supposed to be done!”

“Let’s ask someone else. Wasn’t it Elvin? We can ask him about this.”

Thanks to my one careless remark, the hospital turned into a chaotic mess. I found myself stuck in the middle of an argument.

Although they lowered their voices, knowing this was a hospital room, the conflict didn’t subside. Grace’s determination was especially intense.

“Let me reiterate: this isn’t about greed. It’s for emotional stability. You all understand that, don’t you?”

“W-Well…”

“Hmm…”

Moreover, Grace had a valid reason. The trauma she might have to carry for the rest of her life.

As a fellow woman, it was easy to empathize with Grace’s feelings.

In fact, she had shown signs of anxiety whenever I wasn’t around.

“Phew… Fine. Let’s think this over slowly. The Academy will have to consider it anyway.”

“Thank you. Then, about the signature…”

“Sign it later. Do it once you’re certain. Got it?”

“Tch. Fine.”

Somehow, I managed to avoid what felt like a scam disguised as a contract.

Judging by how Grace stepped back without much resistance, she seemed to realize she had been pushing too hard.

“Wow…”

Amid the already noisy situation, Luna’s exclamation reached my ears.

Turning my head at the sound, I saw Luna looking directly at Kara. She had even removed her bandages.

Judging by the way she moved, the pain seemed to have mostly subsided. But more than the bandages, her words caught my attention.

“Strength of 125? I only have 72…”

It seemed Luna’s eyes had started to see something new.