Chapter 8: Disciplinary Committee(4).

“Now, we will announce the disciplinary decision.”

A man in his mid-forties, an instructor with a fierce demeanor, spoke without rising, his eyes glinting sharply as if piercing through sunglasses.

He must have a nasty temper. I swallowed hard instinctively.

Noticing this, Lager subtly reached for my hand under the table.

Smack.

With a quick flick, I swatted his hand away.

‘What’s with you?’

For some reason, I instinctively glanced at Dakota.

Our eyes met.

Her already cold gaze narrowed, fixating on my hand.

She saw everything.

Why did he have to do something weird and make this awkward?

As I clicked my tongue in frustration, the instructor continued.

“We’ve decided to consider, as the leadership team argued, that both are freshmen unfamiliar with the rules.”
“Thank you,” Dakota responded.

“And Miss Ale Chloe… while not entirely convincing, we’ll also take into account that you were trapped in your dorm due to a broken door lock and had no one else to call but Lager Godin.”

I’d lowered the punishment by playing the fool.

Smirking inwardly and clenching my fist under the table, I felt a small victory.

“But.”

I snapped my head up.

The instructor’s eyes still gleamed behind his sunglasses.

“Regardless of the circumstances, the fact remains that academy property was damaged, and unauthorized entry into a space strictly reserved for female cadets caused unexpected psychological distress to rational cadets.”

In short, they’d be lenient but wouldn’t overlook the violations.

Would the punishment be a fine?

Or something harsher?

Could it really be a severe, dangerous penalty?

As the instructor hesitated, these thoughts raced through my mind, making my palms sweat.

“The decided punishment for both is…”

Why drag this out? This isn’t some award show. My nerves were fraying.

Just as my anxiety was turning to irritation, he concluded.

“Four full weekend patrols. That’s all.”

The moment the words landed, Lager bowed his head, barely hiding his relief.

At the same time, Dakota’s face crumpled.

“Any objections?”
“Nope,” Lager replied instantly.

Caught off guard, I nodded too.

“Yeah, uh, me neither…”
“Then this concludes the disciplinary committee.”

The instructors rose, chatting about hunger or lingering hangovers, and filed out of the room.

The tense atmosphere gradually eased.

It seemed we’d dodged the worst, and I was about to relax when Dakota brushed past me, her icy eyes fixed ahead, muttering low.

“Liar.”

What did she just say…?

I turned to ask, but she didn’t look back, striding away.

Her heels clicked sharply down the hall, sounding oddly agitated.

Lager, just as confused, mirrored my puzzled expression.

“What’s her deal all of a sudden?”
“…No idea.”

What had upset her so much?

Unable to pinpoint it, we decided to grab lunch. Wondering about today’s menu lifted my mood slightly.

As we walked to the elevator, I asked Lager.

“By the way, what’s ‘full weekend patrol’? You seemed to know.”
“Duh, I wrote most of the academy’s disciplinary rules.”

He puffed out his chest proudly, looking insufferable. If he’d put even 1% of his setting obsession into writing skill, he could’ve made web novel history. His talent just doesn’t match his ambition.

Enough with the bragging.

“So, what is it?”
“Exactly what it sounds like! Patrolling on weekends.”
“Patrolling where?”

As I tilted my head, the elevator doors opened.

Lager stepped in, pressed the button, and answered excitedly.

“Where else? All over the city!”
“…All day? With you?”
“Obviously. Who else?”
“Four times?”
“You sound thrilled.”

I won’t deny it’s a drag, but that’s a later problem.

The elevator doors closed, and I leaned against the wall, sighing lightly.

“To Dakota, this’ll look exactly like a date.”

That’s his problem. A slight headache made me press my temple.

I didn’t mean for this, but after saying I don’t care and want them to get together, I’ve landed in this mess.

—Liar.

There was a reason for her growl.

But strictly speaking, it’s a misunderstanding. Maybe Dakota was upset because I didn’t object to the punishment.

I only just learned what “full weekend patrol” means, and even if I’d known, objecting would’ve been ridiculous.

It feels more like she’s being unreasonable than a misunderstanding, but I didn’t want to antagonize her.

Maybe I could invite her along this weekend.

Lager, trying to avoid the main heroine, wouldn’t like that.

“Ha…”

I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I’d need to talk to Dakota again later.

That night, after showering, I wrapped my hair in a towel and pulled pajamas from the bottom drawer of the single wardrobe.

This body came with inconveniences, but the tail was the worst. Because of it, I could only wear skirts for the uniform, and pajamas were half-off, wearable only in the dorm.

A random appendage limiting my clothing options—what a cursed tail.

Once my hair dried, I grabbed the tablet from the drawer and lay on the bed.

I’d developed a habit of lying face-down to avoid crushing my tail, which hurt like hell otherwise.

Hugging a pillow, I set the tablet in front of me, tapped the pencil, and opened a drawing app.

“Whoa.”

These were in the drawer since my first day here. Rina’s words—

—Ale, where’s your tablet?

—prompted me to search the room, and I found it. The pencil showed little use; it must’ve been recently bought.

‘The tail’s not my only perk.’

I glanced at the tail swaying above my head and muttered inwardly.

—Hey, how are you gonna fight without a tablet!

What did Rina mean? How do you fight with a tablet? Like a sturdy brick? But the pencil suggests otherwise.

“Dunno, no clue.”

Grumbling, I opened the drawing app and started sketching.

My childhood dream was to be a novelist, but lacking writing talent, I gave up. Instead, I realized I had a knack for art and decided to tell stories through drawing.

Around then, Lager—well, Jisoo—got into novels.

—I’ll write fun stories, so will you draw them?
—Sure. But are you good at writing?
—I’m gonna start now!

…I should’ve stopped him.

How many years has he been writing without talent?

Lost in thought, I began coloring yesterday’s sketches.

They were driven by desire—not dark, but practical needs.

I was drawing pants with a hole for the tail.

Specifically, pants designed so they wouldn’t awkwardly hang off my hips.

Too lazy to pick a color, I chose pink to match my pajamas. I didn’t love pink, but it was Chloe’s taste before I took over, so I respected it.

“Done.”

My art skills held up in this world. Smiling with satisfaction, I rolled over and set the pencil down.

Then.

[Would you like to materialize?]

A strange window popped up on the tablet.

Materialize… what? If it’s asking what to materialize, it’s obviously the pajamas on the screen.

…If it works.

I swallowed hard and tapped the accept button.

Another prompt appeared.

[Once drawing is complete, drag with the pencil to materialize outside the tablet.]

“Oh.”

Intriguing.

Excited, I followed the instructions, dragging the pencil across the pajamas and out of the tablet.

With a flutter*, the unfamiliar pajamas appeared.

Seeing the exact hole I designed for the tail, I gasped.

“Wow!”

I was overwhelmed—I could finally wear pants properly.

“…Wait a sec.”

There weren’t any pants in the wardrobe. Ale Chloe must’ve accepted a pants-less life. The uniform was just standard issue.

But not me.

I grabbed a pair of jeans from the wardrobe, hung them up, and started drawing on the tablet.

That night, I stayed up late, materializing five pairs of pants.

Very satisfying.