Chapter 36
Time passed quickly.
Before I knew it, it was the end of March — about one month since I had transmigrated into this place.
And after about a month, the Disciplinary Committee had far less to do.
There were a lot of problems at the start of the term, but as time went on there really weren’t many things the Disciplinary Committee had to intervene in.
‘The problem was that one of those things was going to happen today, though.’
The accident that always happened in the game.
The main episode meant to raise a player’s renown at the Academy — that was scheduled to happen tonight.
How did I know…?
Auuuuuuuu—!
In the early hours today, a deep howl echoed through the Academy, and when I woke hearing that cry I knew immediately.
‘It was today.’
I knew that this howl was a portent of the incident that would happen today.
Kruwarwar—!
Aaaaaah—!
Other creatures’ cries followed.
The accident that would happen today — in the game it was the main episode titled “Academy Monster Escape Incident.”
An event that would make a mess of the Academy was scheduled for tonight.
“Haaah.”
It was 5 a.m.
I woke to the monsters’ howls and sat up from bed with a sigh.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
“Calm down, Siri. It’s nothing important.”
“Woof? Woof!”
“Yeah, that’s right. Stay still. It’s not something you need to worry about.”
Right, this was not something for Siri, who had only just started to grow, to worry about.
It was something for me to worry about.
“It had come.”
This would be the first main episode I faced since I had fallen into this world.
If I could, I would have liked to quietly hide somewhere until it was all over, but given my position, that was impossible.
I was in the Disciplinary Committee.
I had to be responsible for the students’ safety.
‘If I ran away from here, Lisa would be thrilled to think less of me.’
In the worst case, my carefully built image could be shattered, they might expel me from the Disciplinary Committee and block my path to becoming a knight, saying someone like me could never be one.
Of course, Lisa wasn’t the type to go that far, but I couldn’t deny the possibility.
But on the other hand, if I performed suitably at the scene, Lisa would help my future career a lot.
‘This was exactly why I chose the Disciplinary Committee route.’
Like I said, the Disciplinary Committee route was one of the fastest, simplest paths to becoming a knight.
Because it was enough to be in Lisa’s good graces.
By performing Disciplinary Committee duties with Lisa, resolving incidents around the Academy together, I could naturally accumulate her favor.
And after graduation, with Lisa’s recommendation letter, most jobs would become possible.
‘That’s why players who weren’t thinking about anything else and only cared about life after graduation often chose the Disciplinary Committee route in the game.’
As a side note, more people didn’t choose the Disciplinary Committee route than you might expect.
This game was popular because of the interactions and adventures between characters at the Academy.
But the Disciplinary Committee route sold the Academy’s memories and bought a comfortable life after graduation.
To be precise, the Disciplinary Committee route was a boring route where you only did repetitive, uninteresting tasks at the Academy.
It was a route chosen only by players who wanted to quickly and comfortably move on to the next content.
‘I hadn’t chosen it enthusiastically either, but I had no choice now.’
Originally, my goal wasn’t to enjoy student life at this Academy but to rise quickly, rebuild my family, and uncover my family’s secrets.
If this had been a game I’d have enjoyed the Academy’s various routes slowly and romantically, but I didn’t have that luxury now.
I had to move forward considering only efficiency.
‘The problem was that the Disciplinary Committee route only worked if Lisa noticed me.’
In other words, no matter how hard I worked, if I failed to do anything that caught Lisa’s eye, it meant nothing.
But that problem wasn’t something I worried about much.
‘If I kept the students safe today, that would be enough to play my part.’
If I remembered correctly, the accident that would happen today would injure dozens of students and might even kill a few.
It was vitally important that I prevented as much of that as possible and protected the students.
Protecting others was my specialty.
‘I could handle protecting the students no matter what. Then the remaining problem… yeah, it’d be stopping Lisa from going berserk.’
There was nothing I could do to stop the monsters from going wild today, but I could prevent the future in which Lisa herself went out of control.
And I had to prevent that.
If I failed, I would have to face Lisa in a boss fight — and that was a very difficult fight even in the game.
In reality, it would be the sort of thing where I might have to stake my life.
At the very least, I hoped that wouldn’t happen.
“Good. The situation’s more or less sorted out now.”
I glanced at the clock hanging inside the dorm room.
A little past five.
I was already wide awake, and it felt awkward to lie back down.
So after thinking for a while about what to do…
“Well, I should at least go and check once.”
“You’re from the Disciplinary Committee?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Ah, so you’re that kid. The new member — white hair, and the one dating Lisa.”
“That last part isn’t true…”
“Got it. I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice, then.”
“No, that’s not… never mind.”
I decided to let it go.
If I got hung up on every little thing like this, it’d only make things annoying for me.
“Anyway… you’re Mr. Catafrak, right? The one in charge of this stable.”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
The middle-aged male teacher, his face showing the beginnings of wrinkles, nodded.
“Bark Catafrak. You’ll meet me again in your second year when you take the ‘Understanding Monsters’ class.”
“I’ve heard about you, sir. You’re up quite early today.”
“You’re one to talk, aren’t you?”
“I heard the monsters howling.”
I looked at the enormous stable nearby.
Inside that huge stable behind the Academy were countless monsters — all raised for educational purposes.
“I needed to check if it was something related to student safety.”
“You really work hard, huh. Coming all the way here so early in the morning.”
“Same goes for you, doesn’t it, sir?”
“Yeah. I heard the monsters suddenly going wild at dawn and came running. Thanks to that, I’m dead tired.”
Bark yawned widely, his eyes bloodshot.
“But after checking, it turned out not to be a big issue. Come with me for a moment?”
“Ah, yes. Let’s go.”
I followed Bark into the stable.
It was a massive building, and the interior was quite well made — clean, with spacious cages for the monsters.
It didn’t look much different from what I’d seen in the game.
But as soon as I stepped inside, I felt something strange — and quickly realized what it was.
‘It’s way too quiet.’
Inside the metal cages were dozens of monsters, yet not a single one made a sound.
They weren’t even asleep.
All of them were awake and perfectly still — as silent as death.
“Come over here.”
I followed Bark toward a secluded corner of the stable.
Inside a cage there stood a werewolf nearly three meters tall.
“According to the surveillance crystal spheres, this werewolf tried to escape at dawn. He actually succeeded in getting out of the cage.”
“But seeing him here now means he was caught again.”
“This stable isn’t an easy place to break out of. Even if you escape, it’s full of anti-escape magic and traps. This werewolf got caught in one of them.”
Bark pointed to the werewolf’s ankle.
It was wrapped in bandages.
“When I arrived, he was caught in the trap, hit by a sleep spell, and collapsed.”
“The monsters’ howling this morning was because of this, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. This werewolf is like the alpha of the stable. Ah, right, you’re a first-year, so you haven’t taken my class. An alpha is—”
“I’ve heard the term before. Like a leader, right?”
I slowly recalled the game’s storyline.
In the background of this incident, this werewolf — the alpha — played a major role.
“That’s right. Normally, monsters stick to their own kind, but sometimes when different species mix, an alpha who leads the group is born. In this stable, that alpha is this werewolf.”
“The monsters must have cried because their alpha got hurt trying to escape.”
“Exactly. Monsters have more complex emotions than people think. And an alpha is born only when the group’s monsters respect and acknowledge them. Since the most respected alpha was injured, it makes sense the others were wailing at dawn.”
“Now that I think about it, it’s really quiet right now… there won’t be another big incident, will there?”
At my question, Bark glanced around at the monsters, then nodded.
“Good question. Hmm, there’s a chance something like that could happen again. The monsters who saw the alpha’s escape might act up. I should check on their condition again later today.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
After replying, I quickly organized my thoughts.
‘It’s exactly the same as the story I know. Nothing’s different.’
That meant that tonight, all the monsters in this stable would escape at once.
And there was no way to stop it beforehand.
‘I remember trying all sorts of things just to see if I could prevent this incident entirely.’
I’d repaired the cages before it happened, even tore down and upgraded the stable’s defense system — but the escape still happened in the end.
Of course, that was a game, so it couldn’t be helped by design.
Still, my instincts told me — no matter what I did now, the monsters in this stable would escape tonight.
Coming here wouldn’t change the future, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes first.
‘It’s really huge.’
I glanced at the werewolf lying on the ground.
Tonight, I’d most likely be blocking that werewolf’s strike head-on.
‘I’ll need to buy some blood by lunchtime.’
I couldn’t stop the monsters’ escape, but I could stop Lisa from turning into a boss afterward.
I wanted to minimize my suffering as much as possible — so I was going to stop her rampage.
‘Might as well take this chance to raise Lisa’s favorability as much as I can.’
I could already see the trouble ahead, but I was willing to endure it — for the sake of my comfortable future.