From Villainess to Virtue: The Academy’s Redemption Story

-Thud, thud, thud!

In the early evening darkness, at Sa Jaehyuk's office within the northeastern frontline base.

-Something knocked against the window, causing Sa Jaehyuk, who was organizing documents at his desk, to turn his head.

Soon, something flew into the office through a small entrance next to the window. It was a familiar crow with white feathers on its head.

-Caw!

The crow, as if pleased to see him, gave a short cry and then offered a note tied to its leg. It continued to gaze at Sa Jaehyuk as if expecting something.

Seeing its look, Sa Jaehyuk took out a small box and threw a couple of dried larvae towards it. Satisfied, the crow grabbed the larvae in its beak and flew out through the entrance.

Sa Jaehyuk paused his work, went to sit on the sofa, and began to review the bundle of notes.

-No updates on the boy.

"Tsck."

Sa Jaehyuk clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. Once again, the information was far from what he had hoped for.

Although he hadn't mentioned it to Lee Hyun, Sa Jaehyuk had been conducting investigations related to him in various ways.

Fortunately, Lee Hyun's identity had been fully verified.

His testimony matched existing records, and thanks to occasional errands to nearby areas, there were residents who remembered him.

They could not hide their sorrow upon learning that the always cheerful boy had died in an unjust attack.

Furthermore, Sa Jaehyuk had conducted a physical examination on him under the pretext of a health check. It was a very detailed type of examination, focusing especially on the brain.

However, even after several examinations, no decisive evidence was found to prove he was a witch.

Instead, it confirmed that he was, as he had said, a complete non-responder to magic.

Yet, the fact that Lee Hyun now clearly possessed witch's powers and even manifested some of the witches' traits still troubled Sa Jaehyuk.

Investigations into the attack on his village deepened the mystery without revealing anything concrete.

According to records, soldiers from a nearby city, alerted by the alarm, had exterminated demon remnants and found Lee Hyun, the sole survivor, transporting him to a hospital.

However, the scene Sa Jaehyuk personally investigated differed from the records. He confirmed residual particles left at the scene.

Despite some time having passed since the incident, the remnants left in natural materials were durable enough to give an idea of what had happened.

If the garrison had exterminated the demons, various types of remnants should have been present.

The garrison consisted entirely of mages, and unless intent on suicide, they wouldn't have fought the demons barehanded.

Yet, Sa Jaehyuk could only find remnants from a single person.

The remnants formed a fan shape from the point where Lee Hyun was found, astonishingly vast in scale.

It was improbable that among the city's garrison, a single mage capable of such large-scale magic existed. Sa Jaehyuk even verified the roster himself.

After concluding his investigation, there was only one possible conclusion: there was a third party at the scene.

But the investigation stalled there.

As previously confirmed, the military records had already been tampered with.

The doctor from the hospital where Lee Hyyn had stayed vanished without a trace, leaving no way to find him.

The powerful magic remnants unmistakably present at the scene.

The military records that did not match at all.

The disappearance of relevant personnel.

The background efforts to kill Lee Hyun by hiring the Night Brigade.

Even with the help of the Information Bureau, these series of events did not connect as they should.

It may seem like paranoia, but now even the demon remnants' attack on the village seemed suspicious.

Sa Jaehyuk speculated whether his powers were the reason for the attack, but currently, the likelihood seemed very low.

Those who had directly dealt with witches fifteen years ago had long passed away. Only he and his team remained.

Sa Jaehyuk still remembered the terrifying and bizarre powers shown by the witches back then.

It was his intuition upon seeing Lee Hyun that led him to notice, where others, like Yejin, would have assumed a malfunction in their equipment.

Somewhere in the Republic's secret vaults, records of witches must exist, but linking those texts with Lee Hyun to conjure the image of a witch was nearly impossible.

Moreover, he had been officially diagnosed as a non-responder.

"…Ugh."

-Swish…

Lost in thought, Sa Jaehyuk grimaced as a sudden, sharp sensation hit his heart. Outside the window, the rain drizzled down.

Sa Jaehyuk realized that another season had come full circle.

"Is it already March…"

He murmured, lighting a medicated cigarette.

He remembered a recent message from his old master.

She was currently serving as the principal of Cradle, the Republic's top magic academy.

Spring was also the season when Cradle began its new school term.

Indeed, educating young mages to mature into full-fledged mages was supposed to be Cradle's founding purpose… wasn't it?

"Ridiculous."

Sa Jaehyuk twisted his lips in derision. He did not deny Cradle's quality of education, but it felt more like a miniaturized political arena than a place of learning.

According to his master, last year was the climax. The cause was the enrollment of two noble young ladies from rival families.

Paechun Baek and Jeokhwa Yeon.

With the heiresses of two feuding families attending at the same time, competition was inevitable.

Both had impeccable skills, and their personalities were diametrically opposed, making the academy nearly a battleground.

Apparently… there were more incidents last year alone than in the past five years combined at Cradle.

Most incidents were caused by overheated competition among followers, but the direct cause lay with the parties involved.

"…"

Sa Jaehyuk naturally thought of Lee Hyun.

Perhaps it was because he was of age to receive education.

"He's already eighteen…"

Sa Jaehyuk revisited those moments in his mind.

There was certainly a bit of pity.

But the main reason for taking him in was the danger he posed.

A being with the powers of a witch couldn't be left at large freely.

If there was any suspicious sign, Sa Jaehyuk had planned to deal with it himself before it posed a threat to others.

However, after living together for two years.

Although the source of the powers was still unknown, one thing was clear.

Lee Hyun posed no hostility or danger towards humanity.

"…"

Sa Jaehyuk thought.

If Lee Hyun was just a poor boy who had incidentally acquired witch's powers, he could no longer stay with them.

He deserved to be in his rightful place, learning the culture and knowledge of a mage, mingling with peers.

Although mages and battlefields are inseparable, everything should proceed in their natural order. Even if his identity was somehow a flawed witch, it would be better.

And there was no better place to learn those things than Cradle.

Even the political games among students could be precisely what he needed now.

The entrance exams for this class might be over, but there was still time for recommended admissions.

The timing was perfect. The operations to stabilize the northeast had officially concluded a few days ago, and Sa Jaehyuk was already thinking of moving to investigate another case.

Lee Hyun's safety wasn't a big issue anymore. Whoever had targeted him then wouldn't recognize him now.

Moreover, Lee Hyun was living under a completely new identity Sa Jaehyuk had created for him.

The ones they found that day had been burnt alive, leaving no trace.

They had managed to exterminate the criminals, but, regrettably, could not prevent the poor boy's death.

At least, that's how the report was submitted, and now the truth was known only to himself and his team.

"…"

Reaching this thought, Sa Jaehyuk continued to read through the notes.

The notes listed bizarre and unexplained rumors from across the country.

For example, a talking frog appearing, an entire residence's population vanishing overnight, or high-ranking magical beasts wandering out of their territories in a frenzy.

When Lee Hyun first appeared, it seemed like a sign, and coming to the northeast was also part of investigating such signs.

Based on past experiences, the weird and surreal events happening at the borders and beyond were precursors to witches.

But so far, no decisive evidence had been found. Most were just rumors or misunderstandings of natural phenomena.

Just when he thought this batch contained nothing but wild goose chases, a line at the bottom of the notes caught his eye.

-Several sightings of resurrected corpses at the C23-A development site on the eastern border of Saju.

"…Ghouls appearing, and it's not even the rainy season?"

Sa Jaehyuk narrowed his eyes and muttered. Were there cases of ghouls appearing in spring? It had been over ten years since he last opened an introductory book on magical beasts. Frustratingly, memories that should surface remained submerged.

Misreports related to corpses were actually quite common. Mistaking signs of magical beasts disturbing graves for something else or mistaking human-shaped magical creatures like pengbats for something else was not rare.

This could be another such case, but a nagging feeling kept pulling at Sa Jaehyuk.

"…Hmm."

Although he pondered for a moment, the decision was soon clear. When in doubt, it's always best to check for oneself.

However, this time, it would be just them.

Lee Hyun had a different task awaiting him.

-Tap, tap, tap.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Sa Jaehyuk tapped the desk three times with his hand.

Shortly after, something flew in again through the earlier entrance.

It was Sa Jaehyuk's crow, its body white and eyes red.

"Go and gather the kids. Sehwa, Jin, Chaewon, and Hyun too."

-Caw!

The crow seemed to answer with a caw before flying out through the window again.

Silence returned to the office, accompanied only by the soft sound of rain outside.

Sa Jaehyuk opened the silver locket around his neck and looked at the photo inside.

A female student with clear, blue eyes smiled back at him.

"…I should let them go. Both you and the kids…"

He murmured while looking at the photo.

This trip to the east was to be his last journey.

"Hey, Hyun's here?"

"Hello~"

"Hyun, come here! I made something delicious!"

The noise from outside the office door broke the silence.

The drunken team members turned their heads and recognized him.

"…I'm here."

A shadow appeared at the door, wearing a mask that covered the top half of his face, giving him an eerily grotesque appearance.

But no one pointed out the strangeness. They all welcomed him with familiar faces.

"Being the youngest and always the last. Why are you so late?"

Sa Jaehyuk scolded Lee Hyun in a displeased voice.

"…I was patrolling beyond the border. So…"

Lee Hyun replied tersely. Sa Jaehyuk's face soured further.

"I told you not to do unnecessary things. Why do things I didn't ask for? Just rest quietly after your duties."

"…Still…"

"Hey, man! And take that off when we're together! You think I made that for you to wear all the time!"

"Yeah! I want to see Hyun's face for once~"

"Right! We're going to forget what our handsome Hyun looks like~"

"…"

Although the team members would usually defend Lee Hyun, this time they unusually sided with Sa Jaehyuk.

Like Lee Hyun said, the mask was actually a piece of equipment Sa Jaehyuk had made himself.

While it served a minor role in protection, its primary purpose was a measure Sa Jaehyuk took after learning about Lee Hyun's trauma.

Lee Hyun couldn't even look at mirrors, windows, or reflections in puddles. If a woman's hand touched him accidentally, he would shiver uncontrollably.

Fortunately, with the mask, he could carry on with his daily life without much trouble.

Over the past two years, living together allowed him to build a somewhat trusting relationship with Sa Jaehyuk and the team members.

However, the cause of his trauma remained unknown. Lee Hyun shared everything but sealed his lips about that part.

And Sa Jaehyuk, respecting it as a personal matter, didn't probe further.

"So, why did you call us? It doesn't seem like we're just here for a drink."

Yoon Chaewon changed the subject after the atmosphere had somewhat settled. Thinking it was time to bring up the main topic, Sa Jaehyuk finally spoke.

"I've called all the members to announce something. Since the northeastern stabilization operation has officially ended, we'll be moving to another location."

"What? That's nothing special. For something like that…"

"However, only we will be moving. Lee Hyun. You have a new task ahead."

"A new task…?"

Lee Hyun looked puzzled at Sa Jaehyuk's words. Sa Jaehyuk continued calmly.

"Don't worry too much. It's not particularly difficult."

"Exactly what is it…?"

The team members also awaited Sa Jaehyuk's explanation. After a pause, he continued.

"Lee Hyun. You will be heading to the Cradle."