The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character Chapter 42 42: Escape

That evening, the mont I stepped back into my dorm room after that not-so-pleasant eting with my so-called father, I was bombarded by questions from Leona Harper.

"Hey, are you so kind of young master?"

"Uh… no?"

"Is your family rich?"

"I think so?"

"What's your family background?"

Now, hold on a minute. What kind of interrogation was that last one supposed to be?

…And since when did she start acting so friendly? Wasn't this the sa girl who threatened to kill in my sleep if I snored too loudly?

"It's not like that," she said, noticing the look on my face. "Don't make it weird. I just think we might have more in common than I thought."

Huh. Well… she wasn't wrong exactly.

As I've ntioned before, in this world, black hair was rarer than blond, or any other color for that matter.

Thanks to the mutations triggered by the dungeon break decades ago, newborns started appearing with increasingly bizarre hair colors. The classic black? It started fading out of the gene pool.

And yet, here we were— and Leona Harper—both with black hair.

That alone was unusual. But there was more.

She wasn't just anyone. She was the young lady of a noble house. Not that she'd outright tell that if I asked.

She didn't have to. I already knew, thanks to the original plotline.

A faint, surprisingly pleasant smile tugged at her usually icy expression.

"As expected… I think we'll get along just fine."

And then, unexpectedly, the cross dressing girl offered her hand.

A handshake.

I hesitated for a second. She was wearing gloves, which wasn't unusual. She hated being touched, after all. In the end, I took her hand.

Her grip was firm—too firm for soone supposedly "just being friendly." It felt more like sealing a pact with a war general than shaking hands with a classmate.

Still, I didn't pull away.

For a mont, we just stood there, our hands clasped in that awkward, silent agreent. Her eyes locked with mine—sharp, discerning, yet not hostile.

"…You're not as spineless as you look," she muttered.

"Thanks," I deadpanned. "That ans a lot."

She scoffed, releasing my hand. "Don't ntion it."

Leona Harper.

She'd been hostile since the first day of orientation. Her cold aura practically scread stay away. And yet, here she was now, making nice—or sothing close to it.

Was it because she saw stepping out of that limousine earlier?

Because she realized I wasn't just so random student?

Or was it because I reminded her of herself?

…Actually, scratch that. I already knew the answer.

Leona was a prideful noble. But underneath all that frost, she valued kinship—especially with those who shared her burdens.

And being a black-haired weirdo in this world definitely counted as a burden.

Well… at least it didn't seem like she was planning to stab in my sleep. That was progress.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Later that night.

Lying on my bed, phone in hand, I scrolled aimlessly—until I stumbled across so very unpleasant news.

"…I knew sothing was off about that main quest."

I an, sure, this world had all sorts of intense plotlines, but even here, complicated family drama didn't usually qualify as a main quest.

And now, I had confirmation.

[BREAKING NEWS!!!

—Terrorist Kai Foster has escaped from prison and is currently at large.

—Where was security during the escape? The Hero Association is under fire for its failure to respond in ti.

—Public outrage grows as the Hero Association takes a massive credibility hit.]

The entire internet was flooded with updates on Kai Foster.

So this was it.

The family drama and the main quest just happened to overlap. The real main event? Kai Foster's escape.

"Shiiiit…"

I'd unintentionally reford one villain—my dad, apparently—and in return, the villain I thought was done for had made a dramatic coback.

It was annoying, sure. But manageable.

Kai Foster wasn't stupid enough to charge straight into the academy after a prison break. Not without his magic tools.

Without them, he was basically a slightly stronger-than-average thug.

Yeah, stronger than . I could admit that.

But not strong enough to take on Leo Taylor, let alone the professors. So how would he even get close to this place?

Still, I wasn't taking any chances.

He would co. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow—but eventually. And I planned to be ready when he did.

Ti to pick a target.

Kai Foster's partner.

The bastard who helped orchestrate the terrorist attack during the opening ceremony—who was still lurking sowhere inside Velcrest Academy, hiding his identity like a rat in the walls.

Because of him, so many people had died.

Because of him, I had almost—

No. He didn't deserve to live.

I'm going to find him.

And I'm going to erase him.

But first—

"To do that, I've got to train."

There were still two weeks left before the sester officially began.

Plenty of ti.

And now that I had finally defeated my arch-nesis—those cursed 15-kilogram dumbbells—I could finally move on to the next stage.

Strength. Speed. Endurance.

I'm not going in unprepared.

I took a deep breath, feeling the familiar soreness in my muscles, but this ti it felt… good. Like progress.

This body will be a weapon.

No fear. No hesitation.

This ti, I'm the one hunting from the shadows.part

***

The next day hit like a truck.

Not because I was sore—though, yeah, my arms were screaming from yesterday's dumbbell victory—but because my brain wouldn't shut up.

Kai Foster's escape was all over my feed, and every notification felt like a jab reminding I couldn't just sit around.

I needed to move, to 'do' sothing.

So, I did what any semi-rational person would do: I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn and headed to the training grounds.

Leona was still asleep when I slipped out, her face half-buried in her pillow, looking way less intimidating than usual. I didn't wake her.

She'd probably murder for interrupting her beauty sleep, and I wasn't in the mood to test her. Besides, I needed so ti to think. Alone.

The training grounds were quiet this early, just a few overachievers jogging laps or practicing forms in the sparring rings.

The air was crisp, the kind that stings your lungs in a good way. I started with a run, keeping my pace steady, letting my mind wander as my feet pounded the track.

My body which was very pathetic wouldn't able to run like this which I was able to do now.

Of course it's ans that I have made progress.

Which was good thing in it's own way.

After continuosly running for around 20 minutes,I stopped and took few minutes of rest.

My body was screaming in protest and unfortunately I had to listen my body this ti.

After resting for while I moved again.

This ti towards gym.

To face new enemy.

20 Kgs dumbbells.