Chapter 179
I tilted my head slightly and gazed at Boyan’s school. The six-story main building stretched out long on both sides. In front of it lay a sports field, and on either side, annex buildings stood in formation, each serving so minor function.
‘There’s a sense of uniformity and consistency here.’
That was why I had paused to look. It wasn’t just the school—this entire area was filled with Bellato-style architecture. There was none of Border City’s characteristic chaos.
Everywhere my eyes landed, Bellato buildings, heavy on red-brown and ivory hues, lined the streets. It felt stable and warm.
‘That’s why it feels unfamiliar.’
In a world where everyone is one-eyed, the two-eyed are the abnormal ones. In a disorderly city, a district with uniformity and stability felt out of place.
It was as if this entire area was silently declaring that non-Bellatons were unwelco.
‘I guess most cities in Bellato Federation territory have a similar atmosphere.’
I walked toward the school’s main gate.
Two guards were stationed at the entrance, but perhaps because it was a school, they didn’t give off an intimidating air. Instead of full-body combat gear, they wore lightweight chest protectors for mobility, and their only visible weapons were discreetly holstered pistols.
“This is New Cambridge Comprehensive Sch—”
“I’m here in response to a guardian call. The student’s na is Boyan, probably the only Crawler in this school.”
I cut in quickly. If I had been even a second slower, the guard would have gone on about the school’s proud history, trying to assert authority over .
“A guardian...?”
Even so, I still had to deal with their attitude. The guard scanned up and down, assessing my appearance and deanor.
Even without Akies Victima’s intuition, anyone could tell what he was thinking. ‘Soone like you?’
“You know, if you press a thumb hard against a person’s eyeball, it doesn’t pop as easily as you’d think. It’s tougher than it looks.”
“W-what?”
The guard flinched. Rather than getting angry, he seed frightened. My way of speaking must have caught him off guard.
“...That was just a greeting of sorts. No malice intended. I grew up in a rough neighborhood.”
The guards whispered among themselves before speaking into their comms. A mont later, they opened the gate.
“Go to the third building on the left, room 2 for counseling.”
“Much obliged.”
I gave the two guards a small nod and walked in.
I consciously suppressed my aggression. Get a grip, Luka. The only ones who could handle my aggressive speech were either special groups like the Imperial Guard or people who knew well. Bellatons and Coritans, in particular, tended to be more delicate than imperial citizens.
I dredged up the last remnants of my buried social skills.
Out on the field, students were in the middle of a physical education class. Most of them were human. The few alien species present were the green-skinned Begabunders and the blue-skinned Tarfa—both known for being amicable toward humans and valuing technology and knowledge.
‘Jafa really sent Boyan to a troubleso school.’
There was no doubt that it was a prestigious school. But for a Crawler like Boyan, it was an exclusionary environnt.
‘We reject those who are different.’
That was the fundantal nature of most species. Even within the sa species, those who were different were oppressed—just like Boyan had been among Crawlers.
As I walked, the glances of passing staff and students briefly flickered toward before quickly dispersing. That was simply because I was human. If a fully grown Crawler like Regor had co as Boyan’s guardian instead, every student on the field would have been staring.
Following the guard’s directions, I entered the counseling room in the annex. The doors slid open automatically before I even reached them, making things convenient.
“Ah......”
The mont I stepped inside, all eyes turned to with expressions of bewildernt. They were clearly wondering if I was really the guardian.
‘Hmph.’
The counseling room was more spacious and crowded than I had expected. There were ten people present—Boyan, two students, so faculty mbers, three people who seed to be the other student’s guardians, and three bodyguards accompanying them.
Among the bodyguards, two were human, and the last was an Equessian. My gaze briefly swept over them, and theirs did the sa to . We were sizing each other up, assessing each other’s capabilities.
“I’m Boyan’s guardian. Not a parent, obviously. Just look at our faces.”
I sat down next to Boyan as I spoke. It was ant as a joke, but no one laughed. Either their sense of humor was even drier than that of imperial citizens, or this just wasn’t the ti for jokes.
A brief round of introductions followed. After learning everyone’s identities, I looked at Boyan, who remained silent, and spoke.
“Boyan, keeping your head down just makes you look guiltier. Did you commit so grave sin? If not, lift your head and face this properly.”
“I-I...”
Boyan’s voice trembled.
‘I think I get the gist of the situation now.’
I didn’t need to hear the teacher’s explanation to figure out what had happened. Bloodstains marked Boyan’s hands and sleeves—faint remnants that hadn’t been completely washed away in a hurry.
‘Three guardians, but only two students.’
None of the guardians appeared to be a married couple. One of them, however, looked particularly furious, as if they had a lot to say.
‘Boyan must have sent one of the students to the hospital.’
The remaining two students wore terrified expressions. Their clothes were dirty and torn, as if they had been thrown around by Boyan.
‘Boyan is a Crawler. He must have an innate, wild aggression in him. After enduring constant bullying, his rationality and patience finally snapped.’
This was an incident of violence. These students had been tornting Boyan all this ti, and he had finally lashed out.
“Mr. Luka, to explain the situation...”
The teacher spoke up, confirming my suspicions.
“...The student who isn’t present suffered a broken arm and has been hospitalized.”
The teacher emphasized the gravity of the matter. I rubbed my neck and chuckled.
“Kids fighting—broken arms and legs are nothing out of the ordinary. All my limbs are cybernetic, you know. Played a little too rough when I was a kid...”
Damn it. That slipped out out of habit. It probably sounded like I was mocking them. Well, I was mocking them. I quickly added,
“...I’ll take full responsibility. We’ll cover the dical expenses.”
I dipped my head slightly. That was about as much sincerity as I could muster.
Click!
A sharp, aggressive sound of heels echoed as the blond guardian—who had been seething with anger—stepped forward, pointing a finger at . If we had been in a dark alley, that finger would have been broken by now.
“dical expenses? Are you joking? Do I look like I need your money? And you, teacher—do you know why I pay an exorbitant amount to send my child to this school? It’s to make sure they never have to encounter dangerous species like Crawlers! A Crawler as a student? Expulsion is the only option!”
The blond man was more aggressive than the other guardians. His hair reminded of Ilay, though this guy was uglier and fatter. If I stabbed him in the gut, I bet fat would ooze out instead of blood.
“Expulsion is the only option, huh? Boyan, should we just drop out then? No real reason to stay in this school, is there?”
I spoke nonchalantly, nudging Boyan’s shoulder with my elbow. My casual reaction caught the guardians and the teacher off guard. They looked more shocked than anything.
“L-Luka, expulsion...?”
“It’s not like you chose this school yourself. Jafa just decided on it for you.”
Boyan hesitated, glancing between and the others. I waited, silently urging him to speak his mind.
“...I chose this school.”
I raised one eyebrow slightly and crossed my arms.
“Oh? Well, that changes things. Expulsion is off the table.”
I didn’t know why Boyan had chosen this school, but he must have had his own reasons. He must have believed this was the best option for him.
The teacher glanced between and the blond guardian before finally speaking.
“Mr. Luka, this situation is more complicated than you think. The school is trying to resolve this matter internally through its own regulations. If we can’t reach a settlent here, the police might have to get involved.”
The teacher was subtly pushing for expulsion again.
“Boyan’s sponsor is the Jafa Corporation’s scholarship foundation. And you’re saying you’d rather call the police and escalate this into a legal dispute?”
I spoke while taphorically draping a snake over my shoulders. Jafa had my back. Though, I had to admit, I was starting to sound a bit petty.
At the ntion of Jafa, the teacher’s expression grew uneasy. The two other guardians, excluding the blond one, also looked a bit reluctant. Jafa’s na clearly carried weight in Border City.
“Hah! Do you really think Jafa Corporation would stir up a public scandal and start a legal dispute over one student? I don’t know who you are, but their foundation supports over a hundred students.”
The blond guardian scoffed. He wasn’t intimidated by Jafa’s na, which ant he had so influence of his own.
Bzzzt.
I quickly ran a retinal display search on the blond man. If he was soone well-known, I’d find sothing.
‘Ergen Walter.’
A businessman who owned a dia company—one notorious for yellow journalism.
Jafa wouldn’t want to deal with soone like him. Still, if Jafa stepped in, negotiations could be worked out sohow. They wanted to stay on my good side, after all.
‘But I couldn’t let Jafa handle every minor issue for .’
This was a personal matter as well. My debt to Jafa was slowly piling up, and at this rate, I’d owe them a free rescue if they ever got into trouble.
‘Regardless of the circumstances, a student had been injured because of Boyan’s violence. On top of that, Boyan was a Crawler, and the other side had dia influence.’
If a compromise wasn’t reached here, the outco was obvious. Headlines would flood in about how a Crawler, sponsored by Jafa Corporation, had broken the arm of an innocent student.
‘This situation is disadvantageous in many ways.’
After a brief mont of thought, I stood up and patted Boyan’s shoulder.
“We’ll step out for a bit to talk. That’s fine, right?”
“Ah, there’s an empty counseling room next door.”
The teacher got up and guided Boyan and to another counseling room.
Thud!
Once inside, it was just the two of us. Boyan kept his head down, seemingly unable to et my gaze.
“If you haven’t committed a cri worthy of death, lift your head. I go around killing people and still live my life shalessly, looking up at the sky. You didn’t even kill anyone.”
I said as I sat down on the sofa.
“I should have endured it. I knew that, but in the end, I resorted to violence, just like any other Crawler. In the end, I’m no different...”
Boyan’s large hands trembled. They weren’t the hands of soone suited for academics. If he punched soone with those, it would probably make a satisfying sound.
“Even if you weren’t a Crawler, plenty of people in your situation would have solved it with violence. ? If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t have just sent one to the hospital. That bastard would already be dead by my hand, and the other two would be crippled for life. But am I a Crawler? No. I grew up breaking my peers’ noses over a single piece of bread.”
I wasn’t trying to console him—I was just stating facts. Boyan listened to my words and let out a short, bitter laugh.
“But the fact is, I was in the wrong. Not because I wronged those kids, but because I wronged myself. I knew I had to endure it, I promised myself I would, but I broke that promise. I knew that if a violent incident occurred, things would turn against , yet I still acted on impulse.”
I liked what he just said. If soone felt guilty just because they beat up the kids who tornted them, that wasn’t kindness—that was a disease, the kind that made people pretend to be good. So might disagree with , but I didn’t care.
“So why did you choose this school? There are plenty of others. You could have picked one with looser rules and more non-human students.”
Boyan hesitated at my question. Slowly, he lifted his head and, for the first ti today, looked directly in the eyes.
“...Because this seed like the hardest place to be. I made a mistake, but I don’t want to run away from it.”
Boyan had deliberately chosen the difficult path, avoiding the easy way out. He knew exactly what kind of thorny road lay ahead for him.
I tapped my thumbs together, interlocking my fingers as I sank into thought. Akies Victima quickly formulated a plan.
“Alright, Boyan. Brace yourself.”
“...What?”
I stood up. Then, my fist ca crashing down on Boyan’s face, hamring him straight downward. Just enough to crack the bone slightly—nothing fatal.
Bang!
Boyan crumpled, his head smacking against the floor with a loud slap. He couldn’t even manage a groan.
Thud!
My kick struck him square in the ribs. He was sent flying into the wall, smashing through the furniture as he collapsed against it.
A few ribs probably broke, and internal bleeding would make the pain unbearable—but if he took after his father, he’d survive sohow.
...From this mont on, I was going to beat Boyan within an inch of his life. So brutally that the other side wouldn’t even dare to utter a word in protest.
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