I Become a Mafia in the Academy [Novel] Chapter 24

“The academy’s food is always this good? I think I ate enough to burst!”

On the way out of the cafeteria after lunch, Kim Se-ah cheerfully rubbed her stomach with a satisfied smile.

“You’re going to be eating this stuff every day anyway. Why were you acting like your life depended on it?”

Jinwoo chuckled as he teased her. Se-ah shot him a glare.

“And what about you? You said it’d be a waste if you didn’t get your money’s worth on dessert, so all you ate was cake!”

“It was the best thing there! What was I supposed to do?”

The two immediately started bickering.

After spending the entire day following me around and going through one thing after another together, it seemed they’d grown close surprisingly fast. That was a relief.

“Boss, just like you asked, I uploaded ‘the Fund Investment Club”s ledgers to the academy community. People are already talking about suing them… some are even saying they’re going to kill them. The forums are going crazy.””

Yeong-je chuckled as he reported on the task I’d assigned him before the match.

“When I asked some students from the other classes during lunch, I heard every freshman who planned to join them canceled their applications. You can probably imagine what the atmosphere over there is like.”

“Of course.”

I didn’t need him to explain.

At this rate, not only would ‘the Fund Investment Club’ be forced to pay massive compensation, but from now on they’d also carry the stigma of being a club that embezzled investors’ money.

Unable to bear the backlash, the club members would begin quitting one by one. Until, in the end, the club president was left to shoulder all the responsibility alone.

In other words, ‘The Fund Investment Club’ was effectively finished.

“I honestly didn’t think it was possible to blow up a Gold Club in a single day. But where did you even get those financial records?”

It was a perfectly reasonable question.

After all, the biggest factor in today’s events had been those incriminating ledgers.

“Connections.”

“…Connections?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t that difficult.”

Dirty money always finds its way into the underworld eventually.

And when it does passing through the Callione Family is practically unavoidable.

“By the way, Glasses. Why did you suddenly start calling me ‘Boss’?”

“…It’s Yeong-je. Anyway, that’s what you were curious about?”

At my question, he answered as though it were obvious.

“Because I knew it’d happen.”

“…Hm?”

“After hearing your plan, I was certain the club would be established. And if that was going to happen, you’d become the club president. So I figured I might as well start calling you ‘Boss’ now.”

“…I see.”

So, He’d trusted me completely. Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth curled upward.

“Well… ‘Boss’ doesn’t sound half bad.”

Turning around, I started walking away.

“Boss. The classroom’s that way.”

“I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

“Somewhere else… Ah.”

Realizing I was heading toward the Club Building, Yeong-je nodded in understanding.

“You’re always busy, Boss.”

“I’d better get used to it.”

Leaving the three of them behind, I made my way to the fourth floor, where ‘the International Trade Club’ was located.

This time, no one stopped me. Instead, the staff members outside the club office bowed politely.

“Is your president inside?”

One of them answered immediately.

“Yes. The president is having lunch inside. She instructed us beforehand to let you in immediately if you came, Mr. Han Yujin. You may enter whenever you’re ready.”

Looks like she’d expected me to stop by during lunch.

Following the club member inside, I entered the president’s office. There sat Lee Haru, eating a sandwich while diligently reviewing and signing stacks of paperwork at her desk.

“You seem busy.”

As I closed the door behind me and approached, she quietly finished chewing her bite before speaking.

“Yes. We received word before lunch that many of the clubs affiliated with ‘the Fund Investment Club’ have already begun severing their contracts. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to greet you properly. I’ll finish as quickly as I can.”

“Take your time.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

She gave me a small bow before returning to her work, taking another bite of her sandwich while carefully reading through the documents.

Her eyes never wavered from the paperwork. Meanwhile, her cheeks puffed adorably as she continued chewing.

I found myself absentmindedly watching her work. Not long afterward, she swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and stood up.

“Whew… My apologies for making you wait.”

“Hm? You finished sooner than I expected.”

“Thanks to your patience.”

She thanked me once more before taking the seat across from mine with perfect etiquette.

As I sat there with one leg crossed over the other, Lee Haru unfolded a document she’d been holding and began her report.

“The documents we submitted against ‘the Fund Investment Club’ are currently under review by the Student Council. It appears other clubs have also set their sights on the weakened ‘Fund Investment Club’. However, since we officially submitted our request for a Club War first, there’s no chance another club will take them from us.”

“So this effectively marks their downfall.”

“Precisely. If everything proceeds according to plan, the Club War will be announced before the end of the day. At that point, ‘the Fund Investment Club’ will concede defeat and be absorbed into our organization.”

So, it’s already over.

“You worked hard.”

“I don’t deserve your praise. I merely added my spoon to the table you had already prepared, Young Master.”

Still as humble as ever, Haru lowered her head deeply.

An awkward silence settled between them.

“Then… what do you think about the offer I made you?”

That was the real reason he’d come today. He brought it up carefully.

Haru finally lifted her gaze from the documents.

“Are you referring to the confession you made earlier today?”
“…You’re seriously still going with that joke?”
“The others in the club recently told me I should joke around more.”

Even so…

Jokes like that were absolutely lethal to me.

Thank goodness… I had the [Hitman] Trait.

“You should try joking occasionally as well, Young Master. Studies suggest that an emotionless leader struggles to earn the trust of their subordinates.”

There was actually research on that…?

“Who exactly studies something like that?”

“The Seoul Hero Academy Psychology Club.”

“…Then it’s probably worth taking seriously.”

If that study came from the club full of those lunatics, then it had to be true.

Maybe I should take it to heart.

“So… why do you keep changing the subject instead of answering my question?”

Lee Haru froze the moment she heard my question.

Her pupils suddenly began to tremble, and the paper in her hand was already rustling from the slight shaking.

“W-Well…”

“Hm?”

Her voice was so quiet that I couldn’t make it out.

Realizing I hadn’t heard her, she lowered her head even further.

A moment later, she spoke again—this time just loud enough for me to hear.

“Isn’t it… a little embarrassing? Asking me to answer after telling me to become your person…”

“…What?”

I flinched at her completely unexpected response. Then her shoulders began to shake.

When she finally looked up, her eyes had narrowed as she covered her mouth, clearly trying to suppress a laugh.

“That was a joke as well.”

“…Keep that up and you’re really going to give me a heart attack.”

“I’m relieved this one seems to have landed, at least.”

It was strange seeing her smile so often. Had she ever shown this many different expressions in the game?

As far as I remembered, she’d always been the type to greet customers with the same calm, expressionless face.

“Young Master?”

Looking at her now, who would ever believe she was the same Lee Haru?

The thought brought an involuntary smile to my face. The moment she noticed, however, she quickly turned her head away.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“…So you know how to joke around too, Young Master.”

“A joke?”

“…It’s nothing.”

What’s gotten into her all of a sudden?

Did I do something wrong? As I wondered whether I’d made some kind of mistake and tried to figure out how to respondㅡ

“Then allow me to answer the question you asked earlier, Young Master.”

Perhaps because we had returned to the main topic,
Lee Haru’s expression turned businesslike once more. Rising from her seat, she lowered herself onto one knee before me.

“I am Lee Haru of the Inomiya Group. In the past, and even now, my loyalty has always belonged to the Callione Family.”

She paused before continuing.

“But from this moment onward, I wish to devote that loyalty solely to the Callione Family’s eldest son and only heir standing before me, Young Master Yujin Han Callione. Please… allow me to serve you.”

It was a formal declaration of becoming Family.

No words were necessary in response to her pledge. All I had to do was silently extend my hand.

As my hand came within reach, Lee Haru gently pressed her lips against ‘the Heir’s Ring’ my father had given me.

“Lee Haru. Your enemies shall be mine. Anyone who seeks to harm you will be erased by my hand.”

And in return for standing by my side, the price I asked of her was hardly a price at all.

“All I ask is that you build a new friendship with me. What do you think? That’s a pretty generous deal, isn’t it?”

Once I had finished speaking, she slowly raised her head and looked me in the eye.

“You truly have gotten a little better at joking, Young Master.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Just as you wished, Young Master, both I and ‘the International Trade Club’ will stand with you.”

I turned my outstretched hand over, offering my palm. She naturally took it and rose to her feet.

Then she glanced at the clock.

“We still have a little time before the next class. Would you care for some tea?”

“Tea…”

There was still plenty of time before our general education class began.

Just as I was finally beginning to relax and was about to chat with Lee Haru, an envelope-shaped icon suddenly appeared in the corner of my vision and started blinking.

“Young Master?”

“One moment.”

The instant I imagined opening the floating envelope, a message appeared before my eyes.

[Instructor Ji Su-hyeon: The club review is over. Get to the faculty office immediately.]

How long had it even been since she said she was heading to the student council? How was the review finished already?

The thought crossed my mind, but Ji Su-hyeon wasn’t the type to joke about something like this.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain check on that tea. Something urgent has come up.”

“Something… urgent?”

For a brief moment, I thought I saw her eyes tremble.

“In that case, we’ll have to save it for another time. ‘The International Trade Club’ will always welcome your visit, Young Master.”

As I stood, Lee Haru gave me a respectful bow. Leaving her behind, I hurried toward the Academy’s main building, where the faculty offices were located.

“Just what did the student council do to finish the review this quickly?”

Somehow… I had a bad feeling about this.