I Became a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 277

With Sasha behind him, Jin-woo points his dagger at the two of them.

"Use common sense, isn't it obvious that she's more suspicious than us?"

"Are you a spy?"

"……No."

"She's not, assholes!"

"Neither are we!"

"Yeah, I don't believe it – one of you is a spy!"

At this point, Kwak Jung-woo looks in my direction.

"Master, does that make any sense? They're holding on like that when it's already obvious!"

Ho-ho, since he can't talk to Jin-woo, he’s going to ask me for help?

"Proof?"

"Proof, no matter how you look at it, that woman who appeared out of nowhere is a mole."

This bastard is appealing to emotions again?

"Then prove it, Corleone family is a strong family. The strongest one is the right one."

"What kind of nonsense is that──?"

"Because you're Master Corleone, you know the truth. Did you hear, the one who loses is the spy?"

He licked his tongue on the dagger that was now in his hand and smiled unpleasantly.

I didn't understand why he'd go to such lengths, but the effect was obvious, and Kwak Jung-woo and Sang-ho were horrified and pointed their daggers at Jin-woo.

"……I'll help you too."

It was a close call.

In response, Sasha, who was behind Jin-woo, also pulled out a dagger and showed her willingness to join the fight.

So, all four of them are using daggers?

Well, it wasn't that strange.

After all, daggers were basically carried by all Awakened who engaged in melee combat, so it was a modern necessity.

"No, the lady's not in it."

"……?"

"I'm more comfortable fighting alone."

Pushing Sasha back, Jin-woo untied his own tie, fumbled with it, and placed it over Sasha's hand.

"I'll be right back with the little mole."

Kwak Jung-woo was laughing.

"Are you saying that you're going to take on us alone? Even if it looks like this, we're from the orphanage──"

"Orphanage or not, I'm not in the same class as you."

In an instant, Jin-woo is in front of them and thrusts his dagger at them.

Kwak Jung-woo jumps back, panicking at the sudden ambush.

"Sang-ho!"

Sang-ho, who was next to him, tries to pounce on Jin-woo.

"Stay back if you don't want to get caught."

A gust of wind from Jin-woo shakes him, and he takes advantage of it to kick his legs upward.

With a loud bang, Sang-ho falls to the ground in a heap.

“Sang-ho!”

Kwak Jung-woo yells, lunging at Jin-woo.

But,

"Speaking of mole bastards, are you worried about your friend?"

Jin-Woo blocked his path and reversed the dagger in his hand.

"Come on, let's see what you can do with a dagger."

"Ugh!"

Kwak Jung-woo confronts Jin-woo with an angry expression and a knife in his hand.

For a moment, a subtle air current flows between them, and they stare at each other as if time has stopped, unmoving.

"Huh!"

It was Jin-woo who made the first move.

He makes a strange noise, as if trying to scare his opponent.

At the same time, another gust of wind rushed in, shaking Kwak's body.

Taking advantage of this, Jin-woo rushed at him.

His head falls back to avoid the arm that swings at his face but Jin-woo's blade doesn't let up, slashing at his face.

He narrowly avoids it, then strikes at his arm, sending the dagger upward.

Jin-woo’s abdomen was open so Kwak Jung-woo tried to plunge his blade into it.

"Will that power do it?"

A strong condensed wind pushed back his knife.

"Damn it, what kind of wind……!"

The guy couldn't even launch a proper attack against Jin-woo's bloodline ability.

It was a natural result.

‘How strong I've raised Jin-woo.'

It's easy to mistake him for a fool, but……even though he looks like this, he was quite active in the Dragon King Raid.

Not only did he spar with the club members, but he also rolled so hard for the Academy Competition that he could not lose against opponents of this level.

Considering Jin-woo's current level, it's no surprise.

However, Kwak Jung Woo wasn't about to be defeated so easily, as he took a step back and suddenly ducked.

At the same time, he disappeared before our eyes.

Apparently, he had used his ability ‘Invisibility'.

"Hah. I didn't know you had such an ability."

Smiling curiously, Jin-woo taps his shoulder with his knife and looks around.

You never know when or where an attack will come.

The attacker must have been panicking, but his expression was relaxed.

And then,

"Here?"

Pow!

Jin-woo's light slash in the air sent the dagger soaring into the air, before falling to the ground.

Naturally, it belonged to Kwak Jung-woo.

"How the hell did you……!"

"Talent."

……I think I can figure out how he was able to locate him.

The wind was blowing faintly despite the enclosed space so Jin-woo must have used the airflow to locate him.

"So, you've lost, how do you want to settle this, do you want to go and kneel in front of the master yourself, or do you want me to cut your leg ligaments?"

He stared blankly at his palms, as if he couldn't believe his defeat.

Then he turned his head toward me and shouted in frustration.

"Master, please think again! How can you choose a spy based on such nonsense?"

I laughed, already knowing the culprit.

"Why, you lost, so you must be the mole."

"Master!"

"Kwak Jung-woo."

His real name came out of my mouth.

At the same time, his eyes widened to tears.

"That, that name is……how on earth did you…….?"

"Is it a name I shouldn't know?"

Jin-woo smiled broadly, as if he was convinced by that reaction.

"That's the mole, right? That's the mole, right? For some reason, he's always driving the same person! It's like when we played mafia games, he was the one who did it!"

……Was that an actual emotional guess?

Well, he wasn't wrong.

It was a little too much, even for me.

At that moment, Sang-ho raises his head and looks at Kwak Jung-woo.

"Yoon-ho, Kwak Jung-woo, what do you mean, you're Yoon-ho, you're the same Yoon-ho I grew up with!"

"……damn."

Jung-woo looks at him with a shocked face, wondering if he really didn't know.

Kwak Jung-woo holds out both hands to calm him down.

"Sang-ho, don't believe him. It's me, Yoon-ho. I'm your friend Yoon-ho. Okay?"

With that, he slowly approaches Sang-ho.

And then,

"Sorry."

Once he was fully in front of him, he snatched the knife away from him and held it to his throat, shouting.

"Don't move! If you come any closer, I'll cut him right down!"

"Sa, is it Sang-ho……?"

"This……guy from the Ministry of National Intelligence is making things dirty."

I can't believe this is just a hostage situation.

"Disappointing."

You just broke the ice, didn't you?

"Mickey."

"Yes, Master?"

"Take care of it."

"Yes, sir."

Less than a second after the command, a rat falls from the roof and lands directly on his head.

And then,

"Swoosh-!"

He sticks his foot out and delivers a small kick to the guy's face but the gesture, enhanced by Latte power, was devastating enough to strike even an Awakened.

His neck snapped back at a right angle in an instant.

"Kk, I……damn……."

Of course, there was a limit to his weight class, so he could not completely subdue him, but as soon as he fell to the floor, he grabbed his knife and used his abilities to hide himself.

As I gently use my aura, I can feel its shape and movement little by little.

Yes, he was coming at me now, knife in hand.

Aha, what is he going to do with me?

"This is ridiculous."

Yeah, they all have a perfect plan……until they're about to be killed.

Without a second thought, I pull my pistol out of my holster and point it in his direction and pull the trigger.

──.

The bullet fires without a sound.

His powers seem to have been disarmed, and he collapses to the ground in a heap, clutching at his legs.

"Mickey, put him away."

"Yes, sir."

He disappeared in a swarm of rats, like garbage in a tidal wave.

I stared numbly at the scene, then turned my gaze to Jin-woo.

"……Jin-woo Bevalt."

"Eh? Ah, yes. Master."

"How did you know that Sasha wasn't a mole?"

He falls silent for a moment at my question.

Latte, who was standing behind me, is the first to speak.

“Jin-woo Bevalt, isn’t the master asking you a question?”

He shudders at the cold voice, and finally opens his mouth.

"I don't……know this from a hunch, but from knowing Corleone well."

A conclusion based on knowing Corleone well?

"Interesting. Tell me more."

I set my jaw and look at him.

"……Sasha's background was too disparate."

"What do you mean?"

"From a young age, the heir to the Bevalt family learns about the enemies they will fight later in life. Among them, of course, is the department in charge of the underbelly of South Korea, the ‘National Intelligence Service'."

It's probably not surprising.

Corleone had a large empire deep in the shadows of South Korea, and friction with the NIS was a common occurrence.

That's why they're so eager to plant spies on our side.

"I understand that their methods of recruiting agents are very tricky. That's to be expected from an organization that handles the secrets of South Korea."

──But.

"That foreigner, who can barely speak Korean, is an agent of the ‘National Intelligence Service' working for the Korean government? That doesn't make sense, doesn't it? The ‘National Intelligence Service' would never, ever, use foreigners or people who have been in a foreign country for a long time as agents."

Everything Jin-woo said was true.

The minimum requirement to play as an actual NIS agent was that the character be a native Korean raised by "Korean" parents.

"So, that's what you found out?"

"Yeah. Other than that, there's the fact that he's been openly trying to turn Sasha into a mole, and that he's been trying to gaslight me by emphasizing his bond with that guy who came with him, Sang-ho. And on top of all that, the fact that she's calling her a mole instead of just casually dropping to his knees in front of a beautiful woman……well, that makes him an asshole."

"Ha!"

The guy who thought he was being so eloquent, ended up reverting back to his original lame argument.

I nodded and stood up.

"That's Antonio's son, he's got a sharp edge."

"What? Do I resemble my father?"

Jin-woo didn't know if he was, but the two of them certainly looked alike.

"Sang-ho, is your neck okay?"

"……Yes? Oh, I'm fine."

He just nodded with a dazed expression, as if he was shocked that someone he considered a dear friend would try to take him hostage.

It was clear that he was beyond training.

“… … Good job. There probably won't be enough time to hand him over to the family and take care of everything afterwards. That's it for today's training. Mickey."

"Yes, sir. Master."

"Let's take him and head straight to the mansion."

"On my way."

"Very well, dismissed."

I said it casually, but this was actually a pretty big deal.

We had solid evidence that the NSA had planted a mole in Corleone, and a longtime one at that.

That's a lot to check.

"By the way, if he's a mole, he should have poison in his molars. Did you check?"

"Ah~ That's right, of course I removed it. I'm part of an intelligence organization after all."

As we exited the warehouse, I could see that Latte's cold demeanor had softened a bit.

"I'm glad to hear it. Well, let's see what our spy has to say, shall we?"