I Become a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 126

Choi Yeon's body, seemingly not expecting me to swing the shotgun, soars into the air after allowing the attack.

But she quickly turns her body, stepping on the ceiling with her feet, then bends her knees to minimize the impact before charging at me.

"What kind of cat are you?"

Such movements in the air are beyond my imagination.

It was a feat possible because she is incredibly light and possesses outstanding flexibility.

Aiming the shotgun at her in preparation for the counterattack that would follow.

-Stop.

As Ji Soohyun's voice comes from the speaker, the sensation of the spell that was cast on the sparring ground's field disappears, sweeping over my body.

Why did Ji Soohyun stop the sparring? It was not hard to guess the reason.

"Ah."

Choi Yeon sighs while looking at her sword, the blade of which has vanished.

Not only did she block Billy the Kid's Shotgun at close range, but her sword also shattered into pieces after making several reckless movements to create variables.

"Hey, is it okay that your sword broke? It looked like a pretty good one."

"...Yeah. My grandfather used it before, but maybe it's weak because it's old."

No, it didn't seem to break simply because it was old.

As I suspected, the fact that not even a single piece of the broken sword remained suggested that the defensive spell cast on the sword itself couldn't withstand and broke.

"Won't you get scolded if it was your grandfather's?"

"Yeah... maybe a bit of nagging?"

So she does get scolded.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to stop here. We can't keep grappling and sparring, right?"

"...But we haven't decided the winner yet."

We haven't decided? If a swordsman's sword breaks, they lose. Don't you think?

At that moment, the door to the sparring ground opens and Ji Soohyun enters.

"Look at the state of the sparring ground. How is this a freshman's battlefield? It looks like a war broke out."

The inside of the sparring room, with Choi Yeon's sword marks and my bullet marks, is pockmarked and broken in places.

It would all be restored to its original state with one press of a button, but the scene was certainly quite fierce.

"According to the rules, Choi Yeon's defeat is confirmed since her weapon broke first. How about it? If you're not satisfied with the result, you can bring another sword and continue."

I noticed popcorn dust stuck around her mouth.

It seems she enjoyed our sparring quite a bit. But Choi Yeon shook her head and said,

"No. I don't think I can decide the real outcome with a hastily obtained sword."

"Really? I kind of think the same. Who would have thought such power would come out of that old gun?"

After saying that, Ji Soohyun looked at the 'Billy the Kid's Shotgun' still in my hand and shuddered.

"It's really a crude weapon, just like it looks. Bullets that completely shave off defenses... Now, everyone out. We need to start the restoration work."

Following her instructions, Choi Yeon and I left the sparring ground, and Seah, who was smiling, handed a tablet PC to Choi Yeon.

"Here, please sign here and put your signature here."

"...Huh?"

Choi Yeon looked puzzled at the tablet suddenly thrust into her hands.

Seah smiled at her and said,

"It's the Familia club application form. You heard the instructor, right? According to the rules, it's a loss. So you're joining, right?"

At this, Jinwoo muttered in disbelief,

"Why does it seem like you're the happiest about this? Were you always close with Choi Yeon?"

"Of course, I was the only girl in a club full of guys. Isn't it better than being with a blockhead like you, Jinwoo?"

"What? Block, block──"

"──Here, Ms. Choi Yeon, please sign here too. Great~ Let's get along well from now on!"

Ignoring the unnecessary noise and just saying what she needed to, Seah's actions caused Jinwoo to let out a scream, and Youngje tried to shut him up amidst the chaos.

"Yoojin."

Choi Yeon, who had finished signing, approached me and called my name.

"Next time, when the sword I made with the materials you gave me is complete, let's fight again."

...So she hadn't given up after all.

"Well, I might do it depending on the situation. But, will that be enough?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Once you join the club, you'll be able to spar whenever you want."

"...Ah!"

Choi Yeon looked genuinely shocked, as if she hadn't thought of that.

"Then it has to be. Absolutely."

"Sure, sure."

There's no harm in sparring occasionally.

With Choi Yeon joining our club, her growth would directly contribute to strengthening 'Familia's' power.

"Of course, it might be difficult if you're busy."

"Ah..."

"I'm kidding."

Anyway, with our workload expected to increase soon, we'll have to focus on work rather than sparring for a while.

"Welcome to our club, Choi Yeon."

I'll take good care of you── no, I'll nurture you well.

* * *

In the end, by getting Choi Yeon to join the club, we successfully filled the maximum number of five members in the Bronze Club.

[Name: 'Familia' (Calione)]

[Rank: Bronze]

[Family Members: 5 / 5 (Rank upgrade required!)]

[Subordinate Organizations: 5]

[Environment: Very Good]

[Club members are very satisfied!]

The subordinate organizations are steadily increasing, and the family member limit is already full.

The only thing left now is to upgrade to the Silver Club.

Considering the performance points accumulated so far, upgrading to the Silver Club is almost guaranteed, but I've used my connections with Yuri to ask for a heads-up in case anything unexpected happens, ensuring all possible preparations have been made.

All that's left is to hunt down all the jackals that try to target us.

"President. President?"

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you hear? First period is practical physical education, so we need to go outside."

"Oh, yeah."

Now, should I focus on school life as well?

The first period today was filled with practical physical education.

It's a class established to measure physical strength and physical abilities or to improve athletic skills, and it's a class in which all first-year students participate.

After changing into the academy's gym clothes and heading outside, I could see students from other classes in their gym outfits.

"Is it because of the morning physical education? The kids' expressions don't look good."

"The midterms are coming up soon. The instructors probably want to assess the students' abilities before the exams."

And in the academy, these data are actually used to assign appropriate opponents to each student and determine score allocations, so it was actually a more important event than one might think.

I casually strolled across the playground.

Walking under a canopy different from other areas, I could see our class doing warm-up exercises.

'Is Choi Kanghyun not here today either?'

He's late again...

It's been three weeks since he was taken to Busan by 'Young Hoem.'

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if he died during training.

Though the opposite is also possible.

"No, do more squats!"

"My muscles are tearing! Tearing! Argh! Aaaaaargh!!"

In a corner, Jinwoo was still doing weird things, and Seah was nagging him while looking at him pitifully.

It seemed the other students were also paired up, helping each other with stretching.

In the meantime.

"Ugh...! Ugggh...!"

There was one student who was loosening up their body using only their own abilities without anyone's help.

Mari, sitting on the ground, was stretching her legs and arms forward, and the golem was firmly pressing on her back.

I gently approached and pressed on her back.

"W-wait, I didn't tell you to press so hard... H-hiik?! Y-Yoojin?"

"Why are you stretching alone?"

"W-well, it's more comfortable this way... Ouch...! It hurts! It hurts!"

"Oh, sorry."

I thought I was pressing lightly, but it seemed quite painful for Mari.

As I took my hand off her back, Mari groaned and got up.

"Honestly, I'm a 'Puppet Master' who fights with summoned creatures, so I don't understand why I need to do physical fitness tests."

"A Puppet Master who can move around and dodge is stronger than one who can't do anything, right?"

"T-that's prejudice! If you're protected by puppets, there's no need to run around!"

"Is that really so?"

Indeed, it was true. In fact, after graduating from the academy, she became a 'Puppet Master' known as the 'Immobile Army.'

But if her physical abilities had been better, she might have been called the 'Swift Army' instead of the 'Immobile Army.'

"Even if you can use abilities during the fitness test, you never know what situation might arise in actual combat. It's better to develop basic physical abilities."

"...If Yoojin says so, I'll try my best."

Of course, since she's in our class, I plan to keep an eye on her, so I'm not too worried.

I've had some experience raising a few Puppet Masters myself.

Above all, she needed to get stronger for the 'Second Class Ranking Tournament' that will take place in the second semester.

Even now, while the other class is stretching under the scorching sun, our class is doing it under a shade.

Such small differences help fuel the enthusiasm of the students in the other class.

-Focus.

At that moment, a voice came from the speaker attached to the podium on the playground.

-All freshmen who have finished their warm-up exercises, please gather in front of the podium. Begin.

"Begin!"

The owner of the voice was Bear Grizzly, the instructor who had conducted the survival class not long ago.

The students began to gather one by one in front of the podium.

Finally, seeing all the first-years standing in front of the podium, he nodded and picked up the microphone again.

-As announced in advance, we will conduct the physical fitness test today. The measurements will be in four categories: Power, Energy (Mana and Aura), Speed, and Defense. Students, please find the instructors in charge of each category to get measured. Begin!

"Begin!"

In the community, it was called the hellish PESD test.

These tests, which measure the limits of a character, truly squeeze them to the extreme and demand immense mental strength from the players, hence the nickname.

Of course, now that we're doing it for real and not in a game, it's all about my physical strength rather than mental strength.

Recalling that the most efficient order for PESD was Aura, Defense, Power, and Speed, I headed straight to the E-measurement area for measuring Mana and Aura.

There was already a long line, with Aura and Mana shimmering at the front.

But then.

"Is this trash what you call an Aura? Tsk tsk."

"The control of Mana is decent, but the output is lacking. Next!"

"Huh? Get lost!"

For some reason, I could hear a familiar voice coming from the testing area.

Among the people I know, the only one who speaks like this is...

"...Elder?"

Why is the Elder here?