“Well, I wouldn’t mind going to a nearby place like Japan, but to be honest, it’s a bit of a hassle to go all the way there. . . . . .”
I agreed with her, nodding my head slightly.
In any case, the main character, Yoo Ha-on, is going. That meant that there was a high probability that this was a new story added exclusively for the Hell difficulty.
「𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙤𝙤.」
It’s already Hell difficulty. I can’t even begin to guess what kind of incidents I’ll encounter there.
If anything happened to Yoo Ha-on and her group there, it would be an irreversible loss.
“But why? Are you going?”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“You can use the interpreting technique, right?”
“Yeah.”
To be honest, my mind was already mostly made up. In order to respond to any variables, I needed to be at the center of the event myself.
“Hey, instead of going to such a place, why don’t we just train here with me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. And there are kids from Class A now, too.”
“. . .I’ll be bored if you’re not here.”
I couldn’t hear her clearly because she was mumbling. When I turned my head to show that I wanted her to repeat herself, Cheong Juhwa pouted slightly and took out another talisman to throw at the target.
“Fine. Go if you want to. Whatever.”
“. . . . . .”
“Bring me some souvenirs when you come back.”
In the end, I checked the notice and submitted an application form to the academy administration.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝕒𝘸𝙚𝘣s𝐭𝔬𝚛𝕚𝘦𝐬.𝕔𝐨𝔪
Perhaps because my performance in the promotion exam was taken into consideration, my application was accepted without any problems.
And so, I was currently at the airport with the group of people who were going to the Royal Academy of Spain, following the teachers’ instructions.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩.」
There were about twenty people in total. Most of them were second-years, and there were fewer first-years and third-years.
“Kang Yoon. Hi~”
I had expected it to some extent, but there were quite a few familiar faces.
Starting with Sophia, who had just greeted me, there were Jung Han-sol, Adrian, Hwang Ji-hak, Lee Ji-chul, and a few from the first year.
Those I was acquainted with greeted me, including Arietta from the graduating class.
“. . .Why are you here, senior?”
Considering Arietta’s traits that I’ve seen so far, I thought she wouldn’t come to such a bothersome event, but this was quite unexpected.
“Grandma told me that good things will come to me if I stick close to junior.”
I seemed to understand the general situation. It was obvious that she wanted her to stay close to me, who had a huge destiny line, so that she could be influenced by it as much as possible.
「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙮.」
It was a bit annoying since she would probably cling to me throughout the trip, but I couldn’t help it if that was the reason.
Since I had made a promise, I intended to cooperate as much as possible within my limits.
With that in mind, I suddenly had a question and asked Arietta.
“Do you have any friends that you usually hang out with, senior?”
“I have you, junior.”
“Besides me.”
At that question, Arietta made a slightly awkward expression.
“My classmates find me a bit difficult. And the friend I used to be close with has already graduated and is now working.”
“. . . . . .”
Well, most of the students in the graduating class who have already decided on their career paths leave the academy before the end of the school year.
Also, for those who didn’t usually interact with her, Arietta, who was at the top of her class, must have been quite a difficult person to approach, so it wasn’t strange for her to be always alone.
“Then, let’s stick together unless there’s something special.”
“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing.”
“. . .But if you bother me too much, I’ll just leave you alone and go by myself.”
And so, we boarded the plane and flew for a long time to Madrid, the capital of Spain.
A welcoming party from the Royal Academy was already waiting for us at the airport. They took us to our destination on a bus that they had prepared in advance.
As I closed my eyes for a moment, I overheard the conversation between one of the supervising teachers and a guide, so I listened in.
“Haha, I heard that the royal family had a hand in this decision, whether intentionally or not.”
“Yes. The higher-ups have high expectations for the meeting with you all. In particular, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a great interest in oriental magic.”
“That’s an honor. I hope we can both get what we want.”
It seemed that Adrian’s words were true.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚.」
Unlike reality, in the world of the exorcism series, the authority of the royal family is special.
Since they had been fighting against yokai for the survival of humanity since long ago, there were many cases where those with strong powers and abilities were chosen as kings. In modern times, most of their descendants inherited the powers of their ancestors.
「𝙄𝙣 𝙆𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙨, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮.」
I don’t know for sure since it’s a different series, but I remember that the Spanish royal family had some special abilities passed down in their lineage.
As I was thinking about the royal family, Jung Han-sol, who was sitting in the back seat, spoke to me with a meaningful smile.
“You said you weren’t interested last time. Is it because of the princess this time too?”
“It’s not like that. It’s just that it’s a school trip, so it’ll be hard to even talk to her.”
“That’s true, but what’s the fun if you don’t have any expectations? At least you’ll get to see her face up close.”
Jung Han-sol leaned back in his chair with a cheerful smile and started playing with his smartphone. I chuckled to myself and fell into thought again.
「𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.」
At most, it could be an incident involving the students of the Royal Academy, a powerful yokai appearing, or someone attacking the venue.
It started out as a joke, but there’s a possibility that the royal family might actually be involved in this story.
Since there was a chance, I naturally had to keep that in mind as well.
「𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.」
This isn’t Cheonghwa Academy in Korea. When unexpected situations arise, there aren’t many people who will care about our safety.
When the time comes, I’ll have to protect myself.
「𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝. . . . . .」
On top of that, my immediate task is to safely return the main character, Yoo Ha-on, and her group to the academy.
With that goal in mind, we finally arrived at the Royal Academy of Spain where the event was taking place.
