I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 46

Before long, the end of the midterms approached.

The atmosphere among the cadets shifted from tension and burden to varying degrees of relief, irritation, or resignation.

“What’s everyone planning to do during the break?”

Of course, it was a sentiment that could only be expressed if there was something to worry about.

Dokkoran, already brimming with excitement, asked with sparkling eyes, while Hino Kanae and Famiyu Dimezeiar, seated at the snack bar enjoying tea and coffee, exchanged silent glances.

‘Is it always this carefree?’

‘It’s probably easier to ignore it. That’s just her nature.’

In the end, the choice they made was silence.

However, they hadn’t made that choice without any preparation against Dokkoran, who might flip the table at any moment.

“Well, I don’t have anything in particular in mind.”

“Really? Miel, what about you?”

“Uh, I don’t have anything in particular either…”

Seated at the table were not just Kanae and Famiu.

Beatus, cleaning his firearm while responding appropriately to Dokoran’s words. And there was Baek Hwi-young, sitting with an expressionless face as if lost in thought, alongside Miel Anber, who sipped cocoa beside him.

“…….”

Of course, at the edge of their vision, a group of cadets serving the Hino family stood with glinting eyes, seemingly ready to escort Hino Kanae, but to those already accustomed to such peculiar sights, it stirred no particular emotion.

“Yawn. Ah, I really don’t want to go back to the family home~.”

Dokoran stretched wide, his sharp fangs glinting as he yawned, wiping away the slight tears that had gathered in his eyes as he muttered.

It was then.

The watch beeped, signaling the results of the evaluation.

“Hmm?”

“Not bad.”

The reactions of the cadets were all similar.

There was no surprise.

Team 2 had endured against the training dummy for exactly 10 minutes and 23 seconds.

While it wasn’t particularly satisfying for Jin Crow, considering the other cadets had held out between 5 to 7 minutes, not far from Professor Lilian’s expectations, it still made one think, ‘Are they truly the Riders of the Stars?’

Of course, that didn’t mean all members of Team 2 received high scores.

“Ugh! Damn theory!”

Dokoran, as if he had never been in a good mood, narrowed his brows and gripped the table tightly, as if about to flip it over.

Perhaps because of that.

Famiu skillfully pressed down on him with gravity, preventing him from flipping the table, and said to the huffing Dokoran, “At least it’s not an F, right?”

“Well, that’s true….”

Thanks to the combined evaluation of practical and theoretical scores, Dokoran lamented the fact that his practical score had been halved, but Famiu swallowed the thought that without this evaluation standard, he would have failed in theory.

In times like this, changing the subject was the best course of action.

“More importantly, Miel, congratulations.”

“Uh? Ah. Um.”

It was an evaluation that ranked the cadets by their scores.

And the one who took first place overall was none other than Miel Anber.

“Thank you. Hehe.”

As the squirrel-like girl flashed a shy smile, the irritation that had briefly lingered vanished.

Pamiyu often found herself nodding inwardly, reminded that the other cadets bore little grudge against Miel Ambert for claiming the top spot.

“Well, it’s the support class after all.”

To be precise, it was not a major category like the martial or the ability classes, but rather a branch of the ability class.

Their powers were “healing” or “regeneration.”

To add, they were essentially walking medics.

Because of this, the tasks assigned to support cadets during combat lectures were simple.

—Wait until someone gets hurt, then heal them.

Just by doing that, support cadets earned high marks.

It was a fact that throughout history, no support cadet had ever failed or been expelled, so what more could be said?

Of course, there were those cadets who harbored unspoken grievances. Yet, none were foolish enough to openly display their discontent.

“Only natural.”

Even if one were superhuman, could they truly be invincible?

No, it was more accurate to say that special duty officers were often burdened with injuries.

Especially those with triple gears or more; their plight was particularly severe.

“A limited, yet powerful human resource.”

From the military’s perspective, it would be a loss not to utilize them.

Naturally, they were deployed on missions far more perilous than ordinary soldiers, and losing an arm was merely part of the daily grind.

What was even more terrifying was that for special duty officers, the definition of a fatal injury was somewhat different.

Even if limbs were torn and organs ruptured, as long as they could rotate their gears, they were monsters still clinging to life.

Of course, special duty officers were invaluable resources, so it was not the case that they would be left untreated simply because of a lack of familiarity.

“The problem lies in the pain.”

However, the longer they delayed treatment, the greater the burden—be it mental or physical—became.

After all, they were human.

For this reason, unless one had a particularly vile personality or was the sworn enemy who had killed their parents, most cadets wished to maintain amicable relations with the support class.

No matter how objectively a military organization was meant to operate, paradoxically, the organization furthest from being objective and fair was the military itself.

And that was true for Pamiyu as well.

“Miel.”

“Hmm?”

“Stay away from that gorilla. If you get hurt, at least let it be a painful treatment.”

“Yawn. Okay?”

Pamiyu’s unique blue eyes sparkled as if she had just given the most necessary advice.

At that moment, Miel Ambert, who had heard whispers of the deeds committed by Dokoran, slowly nodded in response to her words.

“…Yes!”

It was no wonder that Baek Hui-young felt a strange thrill at the sight.

‘Jin Crow…’

What filled his ashen pupils were the figures of his peers, who would one day be called the Heralds of the Stars, yet Jin Crow overlapped in his vision.

It was only natural.

Had he ever truly tried to gather these students in one place before?

There had been times when he forced himself to act the fool, dragging them together against his own nature. But even then, the fastest he managed was just before they entered their second year.

“By the way, you know Instructor Yang Jinrae? He said something the other day…”

“Oh my, is that true?”

But Instructor Jin Crow was different.

He had merely bound a group together, yet they had formed a cohesive unit so effortlessly.

‘To dismiss it as coincidence would be foolish.’

Doubt began to sprout within his resolve to observe.

No, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a question tangled with suspicion.

‘What could it be, what is it?’

A flicker of hope and anxiety rose in his heart, whispering, “What if?”

If it were up to him, he would storm into his quarters right now, grab him by the collar, and demand answers.

-What is it that you desire? What do you know, and what are you plotting?

He would likely look down at him with those piercing, chilling black eyes and fall into silence.

He had always been a coward.

A man who meticulously concealed his past, or rather, one who had to conceal it.

That was why even Baek Hui-young, despite discovering a single thread tangled among countless others, had not doubted or denied it so vehemently.

‘But I cannot let this be.’

Even if he set aside his personal feelings toward Jin Crow, he had already become too significant a variable.

How many turning points had he altered already?

The sly, roguish scion from the Empire, Chans Mabre, had yet to make any noticeable moves, while the Red Hand had lost its powerhouse, Liberto, and the relationships with Captain Obia of the Gendarmerie and Principal Ideale had clearly shifted.

Of course, his actions might currently yield benefits. But.

‘It is necessary to probe his psyche.’

If there is one thing I realized from the last regression, it is that a good change in the present does not promise a good outcome in the future.

In the end, if it’s an incomprehensible variable, it’s better to…

Creeeak-.

He halted his thoughts there, capturing the familiar yet youthful faces of his friends turning toward him, and spoke.

“I’ll be stepping out to the instructor’s office for a moment. You go ahead.”

With that, he turned and headed straight toward the direction of the instructor’s office.

For a moment, as he watched him leave, Dokgo-ran scratched his head and muttered.

“…He always makes it sound like a farewell when he says he’s going to see the instructor.”

For some reason, it was due to the solemn expression he wore.

*

“Phew.”

Jin Crow opened the window of the instructor’s office, now familiar and gradually permeated by the smell of smoke, and took a drag from a black cigarette.

Sizzle, hiss-.

As always, he lit the end of the cigarette and inhaled deeply.

Soon, the murky white smoke mingled with the breeze beyond the window, disappearing without a trace.

“I’m dying here.”

The words that slipped through his cracked lips were laced with an undeniable weariness.

For the cadets, once the exam was over, it was truly the end, but not for the instructors.

Especially for Jin Crow, it was worse.

Setting aside the continuous refinement of the new course curriculum, he had a mountain of tasks to tackle, including exchanging opinions with Professor Lilian about the training dummies.

Thanks to that, he was working late, rubbing his sore eyelids and the back of his neck.

It was then.

With a creak, the door to the instructor’s office swung open, and without needing to turn his head, he heard a familiar voice.

“Dinner is served, Instructor.”

The voice was half-drenched in the desire for sleep.

Because of that, Jin Crow let out a chuckle and turned to look down at the sandwich and strong black coffee brought in by Assistant Instructor Ginatios.

“I didn’t order anything.”

“…It felt a bit rude to just bring my own. If you’re not going to eat, then leave it be.”

Even the usually polite Assistant Instructor Ginatios responded with a slightly defiant tone after several consecutive late nights.

A person of superhuman endurance.

It would have been less so if it were a battlefield, but spending days buried under paperwork with a superior who seemed ready to choke just from looking at it might even make Gandhi lose his temper once.

“No. I was just feeling a bit peckish. I’ll eat well.”

“…Yes. Sure.”

Jin Crow had no particular desire to keep staring at the face of the subordinate, Ginatio, for no reason at all.

He wasn’t a psychopath, after all; why would he?

With a sullen expression, he nodded at the disheartened Ginatio, who was grimacing, then crushed the half-burned cigarette into the portable ashtray before sitting on the sofa and picking up a sandwich.

“…I want to be discharged.”

Having already taken a bite of his sandwich, Ginatio muttered this with his lifeless brown eyes flashing, but Jin Crow paid it no mind and took a bite of the sandwich he had bought.

No, he intended to take a bite.

Creeeak-.

At that moment, if a familiar face hadn’t walked in through the opening door.

“Hmm?”

Ginatino, caught off guard by the sudden opening of the door, didn’t even think to wipe the sauce from his mouth as he turned his head, while Jin Crow discreetly set down the sandwich he was about to bite into and instead took a sip of coffee.

The bitter yet warm liquid slid down his throat, awakening his dizzy mind.

“Subordinate, go downstairs for a moment and smoke a cigarette.”

“…Uh. Yes, sure.”

At the sight of his unsettling words, Ginatio rolled his eyes before rising from his seat and passing by the cadet who had just entered.

Of course, he didn’t forget to close the door.

With Ginatio gone, it was only natural that two men remained in Jin Crow’s office.

Swoosh-.

Jin Crow swallowed another mouthful of black coffee, then turned to the cadet who had been staring at him since he walked in.

“So, what’s the matter?”

No, he asked while looking at Baek Hwi-young.

“Do you know Rodrin Ambert?”

In response to the question, Jin Crow paused for a moment before replying.

“Who is that?”

The reason was simple.

…He truly didn’t know who it was.