I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 63

Breaking through the oncoming creatures was not particularly difficult.

It wasn’t because there were few of them or that they were weak.

It was merely a matter of tossing the corpses of the dead Red Hand soldiers, letting them gnaw and tear at the flesh while one slipped away.

“…….”

The woman with purple hair took a swig of her drink as she walked ahead, and the injured men and women followed her in silence.

Their appearance resembled that of defeated soldiers.

In truth, it was not an incorrect observation.

They were all former members of the Lemal Planet Defense Force, a bunch of fools who had staged a coup only to be betrayed by the Red Hand.

“……Will it be alright?”

“…….”

“What about the kids, Rani and Kanae…?”

Beatus, who had already received a hint from Baek Hwi-young, muttered with uncertainty, unsure if following them was the right choice. But at the very back, Famiu and Miel were far more concerned about the captured Dokgo Rani and Hino Kanae than the identities of those before them.

Especially Famiu, despite her grumbling, bit her lip in a dark expression, as if she still considered them friends.

It was only natural.

Hadn’t Baek Hwi-young said it outright?

The Red Hand.

They didn’t know much about them, but it would be foolish to think they had taken Rani and Kanae for a pleasant visit.

How long had they walked like this?

The remnants of the defense force leading the way, with the cadets trailing behind.

This strange procession came to an end at a two-story concrete building, cleverly concealed by towering trees in the dense forest.

“This is a temporary shelter. Come inside.”

Satra. Her words were, of course, directed not at her comrades in the same plight but at the following cadets.

Naturally, their gazes turned to Baek Hwi-young.

They were not fools.

If they had taken in the sight of Baek Hwi-young during the battle moments ago, it would be stranger not to suspect he held something within him.

Of course, Baek Hwi-young was also gauging their changed expressions and the words he had just spoken.

“……Let’s go in.”

Yet, having experienced the passage of time, he knew.

If one showed a different side to others, it was wiser to remain silent.

They would piece it together among themselves, trying to fathom a past that made the most sense.

After all, aren’t humans creatures of imagination?

“Yeah.”

“…If that is the case.”

From the moment she had chosen to follow them, there was no other path left to tread.

Knowing that even the once-kind resort was in league with them, where else could they possibly go?

As she stepped into the building behind Satra, her pace quickened. She grabbed a water bottle and popped a painkiller into her mouth, swallowing it down.

Gulp.

With a slight calm settling over her, she finally sat down and met the gaze of the man with ash-gray hair, Baek Hwi-young, who was staring at her intently.

“It seems you have a rough idea of who we are.”

“The one who staged a coup with the Red Hand, Captain Satra. Am I correct?”

“…Well, it would be stranger if you didn’t know.”

With a smirk laced with scorn, she removed the hat and mask she had been wearing, revealing a rather shocking visage. One of her eyes was replaced with a prosthetic, a faint glow emanating from it, and a long scar ran across the bridge of her nose.

But that was not all.

The faint mechanical whirring from her shoulder made it clear why she had taken the painkiller.

Of course, she seemed quite accustomed to such stares, casually taking a drag from her cigarette and muttering self-deprecatingly.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Satra, the one who, in a foolish choice to collaborate with the Red Hand for the sake of the planet, has led many to their deaths.”

“Wait, but isn’t Satra… dead?”

Pamiu, finally snapping back to reality, murmured in disbelief, but all he received in return was a shrug from Satra.

“Not dead, as you can see, in this sorry state.”

It was certainly not a pleasant sight.

As the atmosphere began to ease somewhat, Baek Hwi-young glanced around before pulling out a folded metal chair and setting it before her.

Then, nonchalantly, he took out a cigarette given to him by Beatus, placing it between his lips as he spoke.

“Beatus, a light, please.”

“Oh, right.”

Beatus lit the end of his cigarette, and as he did, Satra raised an eyebrow, a smirk creeping onto her face.

“…Yes, I’m sure you have many questions. I’m more than willing to answer them. But first, let me ask just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“The cadets of the Special Officer Academy. Is that correct?”

Her words were clearly a question, yet they carried an air of certainty.

Baek Hwi-young nodded, and she, as if she had expected this, tipped the remaining liquor from her hip flask into her mouth, her face slightly flushed as she raised her chin ever so slightly.

Noticing that it was acceptable to pose a question, Baek Hwi-young took a deep drag from her half-burned cigarette and opened her mouth.

“What are you doing here? And why did you help us?”

“How much do you know about me?”

“…I know that you attempted a coup and failed.”

“Why did you instigate the coup?”

She murmured as if recalling her own missteps.

“The Synthesized Nation intended to abandon the planet Lemal, and at that moment, the Red Hand reached out to me with an offer. They claimed there was an ally within the 17th Fleet, and if I assisted in occupying the Atla Colony, they would support the relocation of our planet’s refugees and, after the imminent revolution, reclaim the planet Lemal for us.”

“Ha.”

Revolution, revolution.

Upon hearing that word, Baek Hwi-young scoffed in disbelief, and Satra felt the same.

“I knew it lacked realism. No matter how much they expanded their power, I thought it was absurd to confront the Synthesized Nation head-on. But when I spoke with Legchaf, I realized.”

Before the instructors from the Special Officer Academy even arrived, she had barely escaped from Lemal and reached the Atla Colony, armed with a plan to reclaim the planet. She sought out Major Legchaf, commander of the 17th Fleet, but the response she received was, in essence, a refusal.

“Let’s wait and see, Captain Satra. The sacrifice your father made was truly heroic. It would be a disgrace to let that sacrifice go to waste.”

He moved his thick, fleshy jaw, grotesquely invoking her father’s name.

The way he leered at her was an added insult.

The moment she stirred up trouble, she had rushed to physically reinforce his head with iron—a healthy revenge, a blend of necessity and personal vendetta, split evenly.

“…Hearing that they intended to take all but the leadership of the 17th Fleet as prisoners and negotiate with the Synthesized Nation through humanitarian procedures, I found myself nodding along as if entranced.”

Yet, in the end, this was the result.

With a bitter expression, she spoke, and Beatus and Miel, who had been silently listening, looked at her with sympathy. But just then.

“So, I was asking what this situation is.”

Her voice, which had remained quiet until now, held no trace of pity.

Instead, a strange chill flowed through, as if to say to stop the emotional theatrics, and Baek Hwi-young nodded at her words.

“…Right,”

Satra smiled bitterly, as if regretting something, but resolved to share what they had asked for.

After all, these were the things she had intended to reveal from the start.

Why hesitate?

As she contemplated this, she delicately pinched a cigarette between her trembling fingers, lit it, and mentioned the conclusion they were most curious about.

“The Free Planet Alliance aims to manipulate the creatures to ignite a war between the Empire and the Synthesized Nation, while the Red Hand seeks to exploit the chaos to instigate a coup.”

What she had hoped would remain a mere possibility now loomed as a grim reality.

She closed her eyes tightly at her words.

Then, she swallowed the nearly burnt end of her cigarette deeply, lost in thought.

‘Should I just kill them all?’

It was a rather serious contemplation.

…Turning a few planets to ash was something she had done more than once.

“So, what happens to those who are taken?”

It was Beatus’s single remark that shattered his chilling thoughts.

Satrak fell silent for a moment, as if pondering, before finally responding.

“I believe they are taken to a factory known as the Gathering Yard, packaged neatly, and sold to the Red Hand.”

“Then the answer is decided.”

There was no need to hear more.

Baek Hwi-young rose from his seat, discarding the cigarette that had reached its end onto the floor, crushing it beneath his foot as he spoke.

“Where is that factory?”

*

“Then, we can just kill them until they die.”

No one dared to laugh at Jin Crow’s words.

Of course, aside from Tita Zenolua, no one truly knew Jin Crow well.

But the instincts of those who had survived in the shadows over the years spoke volumes.

That man was not merely spouting nonsense or bravado.

How could Tita Zenolua not sense what his subordinates felt?

“……”

In the silence, her worries deepened.

How long had the stillness persisted?

Jin Crow couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Was that too impulsive?’ Yet, it was not a statement he had made without thought.

‘Sterro Mer.’

As far as he knew, that one would never be an ally, no matter how much he toyed with Baek Hwi-young until the end of the game.

So, what had become of him in the end?

He couldn’t quite remember, but it was certain that it hadn’t ended well.

‘And now he intends to play with creatures as well.’

Of course, the manipulation of creatures was something that still occurred throughout the galaxy, but now that it was in plain sight, it could not simply be overlooked.

What the hell is the reason for this damn suffering?

It is to fend off the creatures that will soon come crashing in.

But if all around are nothing but trolls, then shouldn’t we strike down what we can and start the fight?

“…Yeah, that would be the most ideal.”

Could it be that Jin Crow’s thoughts resonated with her?

At last, from the lips of Tita Zenolua, who had been silently mulling over her thoughts, a quiet acknowledgment slipped out. She began to tap the armrest of her chair, lost in contemplation, before finally lifting her watch to call someone.

Tru-ru-ru.

The classic ringing echoed through the basement.

And soon, the voice on the other end was one she knew all too well.

〔Oh, how surprising to receive a call on my personal line. Did you take a liking to my last proposal?〕

A lively, youthful tone.

“Geum Gang-hyeok, I’m adding one more condition.”

〔Yes, go ahead. Haha.〕

Jin Crow’s eyebrows twitched at that familiar voice, but Tita Zenolua was too busy puffing on her cigarette to notice.

However, the single phrase that slipped from her lips left the other party no choice but to be taken aback.

“Sterro Mer. I will take his head as well.”

〔…Excuse me? Have you lost your mind?〕

And upon hearing that voice, Jin Crow finally felt certain.

“They said Min-su, but it seems there’s not a soul to trust in this world.”

The half-elf who had been revealed as Min-su.

That very creature was none other than Geum Gang-hyeok, the second son of the Geumyoung Group.