Chapter 148 : Chapter 148

Chapter 148. Why are there delinquents at the Academy? (4)

Patrick Schneider.

Is he a dog? Or not?

This was a difficult problem with much room for debate.

So, skipping that part, Professor Jordin, with veins popping on his neck, dropped the biggest bombshell.

“There are even rumors that Sir Schneider is the backer of Red, the Thieves' Guild that has taken over the back alleys of White Town. An Academy student has gotten involved in back alley disputes!”

At this bombshell statement, Professor Leyte sighed and said.

“Ah, so that finally got out.”

“…You knew about it?”

“Ahem, no, I didn't. What would I know?”

Professor Leyte hastily corrected himself.

And with an awkward expression, he said…

“Of course, Sir Schneider’s character is a bit violent, but…”

“A bit?”

“He is very violent.”

“……”

Professor Leyte put on a serious face and spoke in a powerful voice.

“But think about it. Hasn’t Sir Schneider raised the honor of the Academy more than anyone else and made many contributions?”

“Hmm…”

“That is…”

“It is true.”

The other professors nodded as if they couldn’t deny it.

During this time, Patrick had often mentored others.

Although the mentoring process was beyond arduous, to the point of being nauseating, the effect was certain.

A representative case was Matthew.

Matthew, who had entered as an underachiever in his first year, was now at the 4-star level.

For the professors who had taught Matthew in his first year, it was an astonishing event.

He had nurtured Matthew, who had not a speck of talent, into a top-tier talent among the fourth-years.

And though not to the extent of Matthew, other students also received a lot of help from Patrick’s guidance.

The current level of the Academy students was on a different dimension compared to before Patrick’s admission.

And it wasn’t just the students.

Patrick’s guidance also included the professors.

It was the teaching of a strong practitioner who had proven a 7-star level.

The professors also accepted Patrick’s teachings and saw the effects firsthand.

Professor Leyte looked around and spoke.

“Is there anyone among us who has not received help through Patrick’s advice or sparring? If there is, speak up.”

“……”

“……”

No one stepped forward.

In that atmosphere, Professor Jordin let out a sigh and said.

“Head Professor. I am not saying I don’t acknowledge Sir Schneider’s achievements.”

“In that case…”

“However!”

Professor Jordin strongly cut off Professor Leyte’s words and spoke what he had to say in a clear and distinct voice.

“No matter how excellent a student is, the distinction between merits and demerits must be handled clearly. Is that not right?”

“Uuuuhm…”

“Please consider the position of the freshmen who were beaten by Patrick and quit.”

“From what I heard of their actions, they deserved to be beaten.”

“He also habitually beats other juniors.”

“Thanks to that, many of them have become quite strong.”

“Head Professor!”

“Ah, alright. I get it.”

In the end, Professor Leyte surrendered.

It seemed it would be difficult to let it pass without disciplinary action this time.

Professor Leyte, pressing a hand to his forehead as if his head were throbbing, spoke.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“This time, we must give him a punishment.”

“What kind of punishment?”

“At the very least, we should put him in confinement to make him reflect.”

“You want to issue a confinement order?”

“Yes.”

Professor Jordin nodded vigorously as if it were obvious.

Professor Leyte spoke calmly to this young professor burning with passion.

“Will he listen?”

“……”

“……”

A look of pathos appeared on all the professors’ faces.

It was only three words, but those three words made them feel the stark wall of reality.

Bluntly speaking, what would they do if Patrick didn’t listen?

He was a person who habitually left campus without permission as if it were a daily meal.

The Academy had no way to handle it.

Just then, Professor Baroq raised his hand and spoke.

“I don’t know a way to punish Sir Schneider, but I do have a way to achieve peace in the Academy for now.”

“What is it?”

“That would be…”

Professor Baroq was the professor who cherished Patrick the most after Professor Leyte.

The method he proposed was a kind of compromise that would restore order to the Academy without excessively punishing Patrick.

After hearing the full explanation, Professor Leyte slapped his knee in admiration.

“Ooh, indeed!”

“It’s realistic. It’s the most feasible alternative proposed so far.”

“I agree. Let’s proceed with it immediately.”

The other professors enthusiastically agreed with the solution Professor Baroq had proposed.

* * *

“Young Master. Young Master.”

“Uuugh…. What?”

Patrick opened his eyes at April’s voice.

Judging by the bottles rolling around and the leftover snacks, the drinking from yesterday had led to a hangover today, the typical appearance of a drunkard.

April spoke as if she were used to such a Patrick.

“Professor Leyte is looking for you.”

“Tell him I’ll go tomorrow.”

“He says it’s important, so you must come.”

“Uuuungh.”

Patrick got up with a disheveled look.

If Professor Leyte said he must come, it was better to go.

After all, he was a key figure who supported his comfortable Academy life.

“Alright. I’ll get ready now.”

Patrick let out a long yawn and then used his internal energy to completely blow away the alcohol in his body.

Chiiiiik.

The alcohol vapor completely dissipated through the pores of his entire body.

And after he entered the shower in his dorm room, washed up, and came out…

“I have prepared your uniform.”

“Oh, thanks.”

While Patrick was washing up, April had neatly cleaned the room, which was littered with bottles and leftover snacks from yesterday, and had prepared the uniform for Patrick to wear.

It was truly perfect work as a butler.

Once he put on the perfectly ironed uniform without a single wrinkle, Patrick surprisingly looked like a diligent fourth-year Knight Faculty student dedicated to his Academy life.

“Shall we go then?”

Patrick, looking neat and tidy, visited Professor Leyte’s office, opened the door, and spoke politely.

“Patrick Schneider, fourth year. I came because I heard you were looking for me.”

“Hmm, have a seat.”

“Thank you.”

As Patrick sat down, Professor Leyte spoke with a smiling face from across him.

“Do you know why I called you?”

“I apologize. I could not bear to see the freshmen disrupting the morals of the Academy, so I admonished them.”

“……”

More than you?

He couldn't bring himself to say those words.

Professor Leyte maintained his smiling face and said.

“That’s not why I called you.”

“In that case, is it a problem that I had no choice but to step in to maintain order in the night streets of White Town?”

“You did get caught for that.”

“Damn it.”

In the past few years, the back alleys of White Town had been completely taken over by Red’s Thieves' Guild, which was based in the East.

In the process, there were those who resisted considerably, but whenever that happened, a pair of a man and a woman with their faces covered by masks would appear and smash the opposing organization.

“But that’s not why I called you either.”

“Then why did you call me? There’s no problem, is there?”

“……”

Patrick’s attitude turned blunt.

And Professor Leyte sighed and thought.

‘In this bastard’s head, how is the word ‘problem’ defined?’

The incidents mentioned before were things for which a normal student would not just be expelled but brought to trial…

‘Endure it. Endure it and proceed as planned.’

Professor Leyte smiled and said.

“It’s nothing else, but you are now a fourth-year, are you not?”

“That’s right.”

“As you know, the fourth and fifth-years of the Academy go out into the world for a journey that doubles as training.”

“Ah, really?”

Patrick said, as if he didn't know such a fact.

Professor Leyte smiled as gently as possible at Patrick and said.

“Don’t you think it’s time for you to leave the narrow confines of the Academy and experience the wider world?”

“I don’t.”

“……”

If only you weren’t better at fighting than me…

Every single word Patrick said nonchalantly grated on one’s nerves.

But Professor Leyte had also gained experience dealing with Patrick over the past three years.

“Actually, going on a knight’s training journey from the fourth year is a student’s natural duty. If you don’t complete it properly, you cannot graduate.”

“Really.”

“Yes. So if you wish to graduate…”

“It’s fine. I don’t have to graduate.”

“……”

“I’ll just be a student for life. Or something.”

For a moment, Professor Leyte felt a shiver run down his entire body.

Patrick Schneider burying his bones in the Academy for life?

If that news got out, the entire faculty and student body of the Academy might stage a mass desertion.

‘Forget everyone else, I’d want to run away myself.’

In the end, he put on a serious face and said to Patrick.

“Go. I’m telling you to go. Why are you saying you won’t go? I said it’s a duty, didn’t I?”

“No, as far as I know, Senior Isabella didn’t go either, did she?”

“The Princess…”

Isabella Black Atronia.

She had not gone on her knight’s training journey.

Moreover, she should have graduated last year, but she had postponed her graduation by a year and remained at the Academy.

Because…

‘If even the Princess is gone, who will control this thing?’

The only person who could control Patrick Schneider, even a little, was his fiancée and the princess of this country, Isabella.

That was why when she was about to leave for her knight’s training, Professor Leyte had earnestly requested and kept her here.

“This works out perfectly. Take the Princess with you this time. She also needs to go on a knight’s training journey to graduate from the Academy.”

“Uuuhm…. I don’t feel like it.”

“What will it take for you to go?”

At Professor Leyte’s words, Patrick’s eyes sparkled.

“Well, if I have to say, if I were to be provided with an abundance of an item that can be used efficiently anywhere to navigate the harsh world, I might consider it.”

An item that can be used efficiently anywhere in the world.

So, that’s usually…

“…Money?”

“Checks, gold, jewels, etc. I’ll take them all.”

What a shameless bastard.

Professor Leyte deliberated.

Normally, the Academy does provide a small travel allowance when a student leaves for their knight’s training.

So Patrick’s demand itself was not unjust.

However…

‘Will this guy be satisfied with a small amount?’

There was no way.

As far as Professor Leyte knew, being patronized with a small amount of money was the nineteenth thing this devil hated.

He let out a sigh that was half resignation and said.

“How much would you need?”

“Well, since I’m leaving anyway, I’m thinking of touring foreign countries as well…”

Patrick wrote an amount on a piece of paper on the table and handed it over.

“How about this much?”

And after confirming the amount, Professor Leyte looked at Patrick, then back at the amount, then at Patrick again, and then confirmed the amount once more.

And then…

“You damn robberrrr!”

It was the shout of Professor Leyte, who cherished Patrick the most in the Academy.

* * *

“You’re leaving on a knight’s training journey?”

“Yeah. It turned out that way.”

Matthew, upon hearing Patrick’s words, wore a dazed expression for a moment.

And then…

‘What is this? Am I happy right now? Or am I sad?’

There are times when humans cannot define their own emotions.

Like Matthew right now.

Matthew.

The second-best student of the fourth year at the Academy’s Knight Faculty.

After being saved by Patrick in his first year and becoming his friend, his life had undergone a great upheaval.

He, who had no particular talent, had now achieved the 4-star realm.

For Matthew, who knew he had no talent, it was an astonishing development.

And he knew.

That he had become this way all because of his friend Patrick’s teachings.

So he should be grateful.

He should, but…

‘Should I really be?’

Living as Patrick Schneider’s friend was so arduous it made his teeth grind.

Whenever Patrick caused trouble, professors, classmates, juniors, seniors, etc., all came to him and said.

[He’s your friend, right? Do something about it!]

That was the phrase Matthew had heard the most during his Academy life.

The numerous hardships and adversities he had experienced while cleaning up after Patrick had made Matthew mentally strong, but if he were asked to do it again, he would absolutely refuse.

The emotion Matthew was feeling right now could be expressed in one word…

“This must be what it feels like to be both relieved and sad.”

“Huh?”

“The emotion I’m feeling right now.”

“……”

Matthew let out a smirk.

And he spoke to his friend.

“Anyway, do well and come back.”

Matthew was about to have a cool farewell with his benefactor, friend, and also enemy, Patrick, by patting his shoulder, but…

“What nonsense are you talking about, man.”

His coolness was shattered to pieces by the next words from Patrick.

“You’re coming with me.”

“……”

Life doesn’t always go as planned.

Upon hearing Patrick’s words, Matthew’s complexion turned pale.

“Me? With you? On a knight’s training journey? Together? Why? For what reason?”

“How should I know? The professor told me to go with you.”

“The profess… bastard… sor said that?”

“Yup.”

“Wait a minute, just wait a minute.”

Matthew ran off just like that.

“Professor Leyteeeeeee!”

Matthew, filled with anger, headed to Professor Leyte’s office.

He was planning to burst open the door, question the professor like a machine gun, cry and complain, and beg and threaten to get the decision canceled, in short, do everything he could.

But what he saw there was…

“You’re here too?”

“Princess.”

It was Isabella, who had arrived before him.

And she was already confronting Professor Leyte.

“Don’t tell me the Princess too.”

“……”

Seeing her nod silently, Matthew’s gaze fell upon Professor Leyte.

At that, the professor said…

“No, honestly, does it make sense to just let him go? He’s planning to go to foreign countries, and if we just let him go, is there any guarantee that an international incident won’t occur?”

“……”

“……”

Uh, that did make sense.

Even Isabella and Matthew thought that releasing Patrick into a foreign country without authorization was an act that could be defined as a military action tantamount to a declaration of war.

Professor Leyte puffed out his chest confidently and said to the two of them.

“We have to have at least a minimum safety device, don’t we? Am I right? Or am I wrong?”

“Why do we have to do it?”

“If not the Princess and you, then who?”

“How about you go yourself, professor? Two 7-star swordsmen having a cozy trip together…”

“Do you not want to graduate?”

“Awoooo! Reallllyyy!”

Before grades, a student was a miserably powerless existence.

And so, Patrick Schneider’s knight’s training journey was decided.

It was also decided that his companions would be his classmate Matthew and the fifth-year Isabella.

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