Academy’s Dark Perspective - Chapter 341



Only Krnovel

Academy Dark Curtain Viewpoint Episode 341

“Are you kidding me right now!?”

“Are you kidding me? What are you talking about?”

To the person who was raising his voice and turning red in the face, Kalia answered indifferently, sipping her coffee.

Perhaps his indifferent attitude made the other person even more angry, as the man became even more aggressive.

“We definitely paid the price! We listened to all your ridiculous demands and gave you everything you asked for! But this is different from what we promised!?”

“What exactly was the promise?”

“If you keep coming out like this, it’ll be troublesome! If it’s according to the contract, instead of paying the price, you deploy the ‘Aaron Stingray’ that your Stingray company owns to prevent the monster wave in advance… … .”

“No, sir. You are mistaken.”

“What, what did you say!?”

“Maria, the contract.”

“yes.”

Maria carefully placed the paper contract on the table where the two were sitting, and Kalia pointed to some of its contents with a pen.

“Article 5: Provision of strategic defense services.”

1. Definition and Scope of Service: “Stingray” (hereinafter referred to as “Service Provider”) provides strategic defense services to protect the city against all monster waves that occur during the term of this Agreement. The Service Provider is prepared to mobilize all of its resources and expertise to defend the city against monster waves, which means the possible use of all strategic assets owned by the Service Provider, including “Aaron Stingray.”

2. Utilization of Strategic Assets: If necessary to defend the city, the Service Provider may utilize its strategic assets, especially those with superior abilities such as “Aaron Stingray,” equipment, game-changing modules, etc. Under this Agreement, the utilization of “strategic assets” is determined at the Service Provider’s discretion.

3. Interpretation of Obligations: The Service Provider will use its best efforts to defend the City in accordance with this Agreement, and in the process, may consider utilizing all possible strategic assets, including the “Aaron Stingray.” The ultimate goal of providing the Service is to effectively protect the City from monster waves, and the selection and use of specific assets for this purpose shall be determined by the Service Provider’s professional judgment.

“Have you read the contract properly? It doesn’t say anywhere that we ‘must’ deploy ‘Aaron Stingray’. All we have to do is effectively block or preemptively block the ‘Monster Wave’.”

“… … !”

The other man’s face turned pale at Kalia’s words. In the contract, ‘do your best’ was no different from saying that you don’t have to do anything.

How dare you make such a basic, elementary mistake in such an important contract.

It was probably because the legal team was completely wiped out during the last dragon invasion. Because of the manpower shortage, they hastily hired new law school graduates to write the contracts, but they ended up making this fatal mistake.

“Damn it… … If these bastards from the legal team go back, we’ll all have to deal with them… …!”

The man was gritting his teeth, but he still had room to fight back.

“… … Article 12. Termination of contract and compensation for damages.”

“… … .”

“According to this, if we are dissatisfied with the security services you provide, we can terminate the contract and claim damages. Is that wrong?”

“… … Of course.”

Kalia answered, trying hard to keep a poker face.

“But before that, if you tell us specifically what you are dissatisfied with, we will do our best to provide a service that reflects your concerns.”

“I don’t want to beat around the bush, so stop talking. Just deploy the ‘Aaron Stingray’ and finish them all off. I can’t understand why they keep such a large force under wraps!”

“Hidden it? That’s not possible. It’s just that the power that my brother possesses is too strong, so I’m being careful when using it-.”

“I have already discovered that you are employing academy students and mercenaries. I know that they are the most useful force in this city, but we cannot delay any longer.”

“… … .”

“Finish this within a week. Before the [Mysteries] come to this city again. I mean, wipe out all the monsters that are swarming around the city right now.”

“Of course.”

“Tsk.”

The man clicked his tongue at Kalia’s answer and stood up.

“I told you. One week. If the monsters put even one claw mark on the city walls, you will be considered to have ‘failed.’”

And then the man leaves the president’s office.

Boom! The door slammed shut roughly.

The heat that had been building up due to the two people began to cool down quickly due to the air conditioning, and Kalia leaned back on the sofa as if she was tired.

“Haaaaaah… … .”

“miss…….”

“Don’t say it. I know.”

Callie replied in an irritated voice.

Up until now, I’ve been holding on somehow by making excuses, but I’m starting to reach my limit.

Today alone, we received complaints from two places, including the previous party, and a meeting was scheduled for the afternoon regarding a related matter.

“… … We need to do something about it soon.”

Fortunately, we’ve been able to make it this far thanks to the special class students’ unexpectedly great performance.

Blackmailing by selling Aaron’s name will no longer work. The quick-witted ones among the corporate bastards will start to have doubts about Aaron’s condition.

“So, what’s your brother’s condition?”

“… … .”

In response to Kalia’s question, Maria simply shook her head. Her expression was extremely dark.

Kalia, who was quietly looking at Maria’s face, muttered as if she had made up her mind about something.

“Yeah… … I see… … I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

“Ah, Miss… …!?”

“You know I didn’t do it because I wanted to. You have to change your mind and admit it. The man named Aaron Stingray died fighting a dragon, and now all that’s left is a shell.”

“That can’t be, my lady. With what kind of mindset has the young master been fighting until now… …!”

“Give those kids a deadline too.”

Maria pleaded, but Callia answered with a voice that was almost stern.

“It’s been a week.”

If we can’t completely end this crisis within a week, we’re going to have to make a regrettable choice.

* * *

“I got an email from President Kalia… … .”

“[What are you saying?]”

“If we don’t completely resolve the signs of the monster wave within the next 160 hours… … there’s nothing we can do… … .”

“[It’s been a week! That damn woman! She’s going to kill her brother with her own hands!]”

“No, that won’t be the case.”

Airi shook her head and calmly replied to Silence, who was exploding with anger.

“If he had planned to do that from the beginning, he would have done it a long time ago. He could have just implanted a behavior control chip in the chairman’s head without caring about what we did.”

“[That, that’s true, but… … .]”

“I guess they’ve reached their limit too.”

But Silence grumbled as if he couldn’t believe Airi’s words.

“[The limit is the same here. Fuck, do you think we haven’t been able to return for days? The Academy is supposed to be back up and running and the semester has started, but we’re on break and fighting monsters all day long!]”

“Young Master… … I think I should wash up soon… … I smell like a rag… … .”

“[Don’t worry, junior. Actually, it’s been happening since last week. I just didn’t say anything.]”

“omg…….”

“I need to get some maintenance done, even if I don’t need a shower. My minigun overheated and the barrel got bent, so since yesterday, my bullets have been forming in the wrong places… … .”

“[Well, I’m starting to feel like my optical equipment isn’t working for me. I can’t feel my arm… … .]”

Members start groaning one by one.

It made sense, since we had been fighting for over two weeks without any rest.

They continued to fight while receiving supplies and maintenance via drones sent from the city, but just like Kalia, they reached their limit. It goes without saying that the fighting maniac Hobeop wanted to rest.

“[Captain. What are you going to do?]”

“… … We have to go back. We can’t fight any longer. We need to do maintenance in person, not remotely.”

“[Okay. Thanks for saying that.]”

Since it was Airi who fought desperately ahead of everyone else, everyone secretly hoped that she would say that. It seemed like that would relieve some of their guilt.

* * *

Eventually, they returned from the scene and went back to the city for a while.

Miyu, who had been waiting in the workshop, welcomed them and went straight into the maintenance work. However, she seemed to be as tired as the combat members, as dark circles were deep under her eyes.

The studio was littered with unsorted trash, and the proportion of caffeinated beverages was extremely high. It was obvious that he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in quite some time.

“… … You say… … maintenance… is needed?”

“……okay.”

“Okay, lie down on the port… … .”

Everyone was so exhausted that the usual cheerful and playful atmosphere was nowhere to be found.

The combat members walked over like zombies, lay down on the maintenance port, and fell asleep, and Miyu, with the help of the androids, started to perform maintenance on them while they were asleep.

Airi tried hard to stay awake because she felt sorry for him, but as soon as she laid down on the port, she fell asleep without realizing it.

And when I opened my eyes again.

From one corner of the dark workshop, someone could be heard sobbing quietly.

“Sob… … Ugh… … !”

It was obvious whose cries it was.

Airi carefully got up and walked towards the sound, and sure enough, Miyu was there, curled up on her knees, sobbing.

“… … Miyu.”

“Ah, Airi… … !”

Miyu was so shocked that she wiped her tears with her sleeve. No one bothered to ask her, “Why are you crying?”

Because the answer was obvious.

I’m so tired.

I was so tired and exhausted that I felt like I could collapse at any moment, but if I gave up, it was obvious that the worst would happen, so I couldn’t do anything and just burst into tears.

Towards such Miyu, Airi asked cautiously.

“I’m sorry. Are you having a hard time…?”

“… … .”

Miyu shook her head.

Then he sniffled, sniffed, and answered.

“I… … I can see… … how hard you’ve been fighting outside… … Your joints are all worn out, and your weapons look like they’ve been used for years. There are also traces of monster attacks all over your body… … .”

“… … .”

“So I can’t say I’m tired. I can’t ask you guys to work harder… … I’m doing what I love… … and more than anything, if I rest now… … Mr. Aaron… … Mr. Aaron… … !”

Miyu starts crying again.

Airi wrapped her arms around him and hugged her quietly.

Miyu quietly shed tears in her arms, wetting her chest, and at some point she stopped crying.

“Mi, Miyu… … ?”

Airi called out to Miyu in surprise, but fortunately she seemed to be asleep due to fatigue.

How much work has this tiny body been doing, to the point where you collapse from crying so hard?

Airi quietly carried her to the bedroom outside the workshop, then returned to her original position. The members were asleep in the port while being serviced, and it seemed like it would be some time before the work was finished.

“152 hours to go… … .”

If you break it down, it’s about 6 days and a few hours.

You have to completely clean up all the monsters that are gathering in various places outside the city and trying to form a monster wave.

“Can I… … ?”

The answer to that question was no.

At this rate, even if I were to die and wake up, I wouldn’t be able to make it to the time limit. I’d already been fighting for nearly 16 hours a day, just moving to different areas.

The original plan of attack has long since collapsed, and now all we can say is that the members are rolling around with evil and brute force. However, despite all that effort, the results are not different.

After 152 hours, Aaron undergoes a behavioral chip implant and becomes a fully cyborg.

Kalia will have no qualms about turning him into a war puppet in order to regain power in this city.

Of course, that’s not a bad thing for everyone. At least the people living in this city would rather sacrifice one Aaron to completely eliminate the threat than continue to live in uncertain danger.

but…….

‘If that happens, the chairman will never come back.’

Of course, there is still no guarantee that he can return to his original state. To be blunt, the real Aaron could have died long ago.

Still, Iri couldn’t give up.

The other members were the same, but she especially couldn’t do it. It wasn’t just because she liked him, but because she had a gut feeling that she shouldn’t do it.

‘The chairman is alive.’

Even he himself couldn’t tell whether it was a sharp intuition or mere stubbornness. But he was certain that he would regret sending Aaron away like this forever.

‘But what should I do? What else can I do here…?’

I couldn’t force the members any further. They were already fighting at their limit. If I ignored that and pushed them further, it could have resulted in an even more dire outcome.

‘Is there really no way…?’

While I was worrying about that.

Suddenly, I found a strange object in the corner of Miyu’s work desk. It was a module case that I had never seen before.

‘This?’

Who on earth is this module for?

When I opened the case, the modules were revealed inside. They had considerable output at first glance, and next to them was a data chip.

Airi inserted it into her socket to check its contents, and realized that it was in fact a module that Miyu had created for them using materials shared from Stingray.

“Miyu, why… … .”

Why did they hide these things and not give them to us? The reason could be found in the report.

“High replacement rate… … High power… … Risk… … .”

As it was a module with such powerful power, the risk was also considerable.

It was an item that was somewhat dangerous for the members who were already continuing the battle by force to equip and use it.

Perhaps Miyu hid these modules because she didn’t want to burden the members who were already close to their limits.

“… … .”

Iri watched the modules for a while, then made up her mind.

There was no other choice.

* * *

next day.

The special class members woke up to a loud noise. The cause of the noise was none other than Miyu.

“[Hey, junior. What’s wrong? What’s wrong?]”

“Everyone! Haven’t you seen Iri!?”

“[What!?]”

After a while.

They realized that Airi had left for the battlefield alone early.