Chapter 17
— — —
Unfortunately, the students of the Heavenly Martial Academy had no right to refuse.
Since the martial instructor insisted on going to the Long Spear Pavilion, we had no choice but to follow.
"What is this? What’s in here?"
The children from our dormitory murmured in confusion.
I had vaguely mentioned to Maeng Ryeong-ji and So-woon that spears had popped out, but most of them had no idea what kind of place the Long Spear Pavilion was.
"Even Myeong-seong barely made it out alive..."
"Min, will So-jeong and I be okay without you?"
Unlike them, the students from the Heavenly Mandate Pavilion and the Earthly Righteous Pavilion were visibly shaken, likely having heard rumors from Namgung Min and Myeong-seong.
"Hmm, if I recall correctly..."
I wanted to warn our dormitory kids even now, but Zhuge In had forbidden any leaks, and honestly, I couldn't remember the patterns at all.
"...I can't really remember either. Everyone, do your best."
"Ha, I suppose there's no choice."
Still, those who had consumed the antidote weren't too afraid.
They figured that since I had cleared the place without even using internal energy, it would be fine.
"Stick close to me! I won't let a single student from the Human Foundation Pavilion get hurt!"
The problem was that the rest of the kids were terrified.
Maeng Ryeong-ji took the lead, projecting confidence.
"Finding clues one by one from the start is the most fun, but... since time is tight, I'll tell you where to go. Everyone, look for the study."
Unlike the entrance ceremony, where we had to open every door ourselves, Zhuge In openly revealed the destination.
It seemed he intended to lead the students to the space connected to the study, where opening a special door would trigger hundreds of spears to fly out at once.
"I shall grant a Small Heaven Pellet to the student who finds the study first!"
Zhuge In even dangled a prize.
It probably wasn't just because of the Small Heaven Pellet, but Eun-hyun leaped into the Long Spear Pavilion first.
Following him, three or four others bravely entered the pavilion.
"Ryeong-ji, just follow them. The traps in the hallway don't trigger twice once they've been activated."
He told me not to leak information, but this much should be fine, right?
"I appreciate the thought, but I cannot do that. We shall stand at the very front!"
Had she already forgotten that she promised to protect the other kids?
Maeng Ryeong-ji promptly entered the Long Spear Pavilion to chase after Eun-hyun.
I was quite flustered at first, but since they had gone in as a group and more than half of them possessed internal energy, I figured it wouldn't be too dangerous.
"But Master, we found the study without even using internal energy; it is a pity we aren't given a chance to receive the Small Heaven Pellet."
I pouted beside Zhuge In, who was watching the children enter with great interest.
It was a shame that Namgung Min, Myeong-seong, and I, who had already passed through the Long Spear Pavilion, couldn't participate.
I had already been told that the Small Heaven Pellet wouldn't mean much to me, but it was still a medicinal treasure.
It is human nature to want to claim any prize that is offered.
"Hmm, that is true."
Zhuge In acknowledged my protest.
"Then, would you three like to look for something other than the study? Actually, I hid a plaque of merit in the Long Spear Pavilion classroom."
He proposed a different prize.
"Lady Seol, is that really necessary..."
Perhaps he didn't want to enter the Long Spear Pavilion again, as Myeong-seong’s face turned slightly pale.
In truth, it wasn't a very welcome proposal for me either.
"By any chance, is this it?"
I had already guessed what Zhuge In was talking about.
"Oh... how did you find this? It was supposed to be behind the study, requiring one to clear a much higher difficulty level."
"...Was there a difference in difficulty? I just ran to the end hoping there might be an antidote at the end of the hallway, and then I searched for the study from the back."
Strangely, Zhuge In reacted with shock at my words.
"Student Seol Sool-ryeo...? There should have been a trap where the floor collapses just by opening the door in the back, shouldn't there?"
"I just hung onto the door and vaulted over it?"
Zhuge In’s mouth hung open, and he let out an exclamation.
"...You are well-versed in mechanism formations?"
How did it end up like that?
The North Sea Ice Palace was a sect very far removed from mechanism formations, so I had absolutely no related knowledge.
Had I seen a trap where the floor collapses in a dungeon from a fantasy novel I read in my past life?
"To think you even previewed the next stage. You didn't have to go to the end, but were you curious? That kind of inquisitive spirit is essential when studying mechanisms!"
Because I missed the timing to say it wasn't so, Zhuge In rambled on, thinking I was a prodigy in engineering.
"I found the study."
Just as I was about to make an excuse, Eun-hyun’s voice echoed from inside the Long Spear Pavilion.
The difference between having internal energy and not having it was significant.
With many students actively opening doors, the study was discovered before long.
'Wait, it was about halfway through?'
There was no need to go to the end, yet I had unnecessarily opened up a bunch of high-difficulty rooms.
"There are no dangerous traps inside the study. Let us all go in together."
Zhuge In confirmed that Eun-hyun had found the study first and handed him the Small Heaven Pellet.
"There is a sliding bookshelf. Shall we try to find it?"
And, perhaps because he wanted to explain it so badly, he recited the very next step.
As dozens of students crowded around the bookshelf, a door naturally appeared in no time.
"Oh? Do we just need to insert the spears from outside?"
When one child came up with the same thought as me,
"Correct!"
Zhuge In answered, looking delighted.
A few students ran to the hallway, brought the spears, and fitted them into the holes.
Exactly up to that point, it was the same as what I had done.
"You opened it well. However, it is dangerous to enter immediately. When you look up to insert the spears, do you see the writing on the ceiling?"
...There was something like that?
The position where the spears were inserted was higher than my height, but I had just assumed it was a mechanism designed for adults and hadn't noticed any writing at all.
— — —
[Do not advance recklessly.]
— — —
There was indeed writing there.
'Ah, so that’s why the spears flew out immediately when I entered without seeing that?!'
If he was going to write something like that, he should have written it in large, red letters.
What was the point of just carving it slightly?
"You must examine the writing at the same height in the study to find the book that can neutralize the spears inside this door."
But the warning wasn't the end of it.
The instruction to find a book was a clue I had never heard of.
"Shall we go find it?"
The children all flocked to the study.
Only I, Myeong-seong, and Namgung Min were left dumbfounded after hearing Zhuge In’s explanation.
"Th... then, were we supposed to find the appropriate book, learn the spear techniques, and neutralize the spears inside?"
Myeong-seong asked Zhuge In.
"Wasn't the method to neutralize them with a sword also written down?"
"Regardless, neutralizing..."
"The neutralization method naturally exists. It’s an educational mechanism, not a lethal one, isn't it? Did you really think I would ask you to pass through there with your bare bodies without internal energy?"
Zhuge In answered him with a smile.
"I, I see. Since Lady Seol went in alone, I didn't..."
I had thought he would have prepared a method that a child who had just passed the age of fifteen could think of.
But to think it was written out so openly.
"The fourth tail of the Black Tortoise... The Black Tortoise is the guardian deity of the north, so wouldn't it be the fourth book from the bottom of the northern bookshelf?"
"Not the fourth book from the bottom?"
Indeed, the students deduced it quickly while reading the text and brought out the book they expected to be the answer to learn the neutralization techniques.
"Once you neutralize the spears in the first ten rows, the subsequent spears pop out much more slowly."
...Instead of having them all pop out at once.
One by one, row by row.
As they neutralized the mechanisms, the students slowly moved forward.
"Wow, this is really fun!"
"Next is my turn."
"How did he make this? The spears keep getting replenished, don't they?"
Enjoying the reactions of the fascinated children, Zhuge In said with a face more moved than anyone else's.
"You all understand the charm of mechanism formations now, don't you?"
Was I the only one who jumped in with my bare body among spears flying at high speed without even knowing there was a neutralization method?
At the shocking truth,
"Unbelievable."
I muttered with a frozen expression.
"Th... then, even though the martial instructor said that 'all paths lead to the same end' is a false statement, didn't you find your own 'end' (宗), Lady Seol?"
Myeong-seong approached me, seeing me stunned.
Right... that’s it.
If your swordsmanship is strong enough, you can just break everything, and if your speed is agile enough, you can just dodge them before they fly at you...
"I will end today's lecture here. Please think seriously about the elective course!"
Zhuge In gave a faint smile toward the students and once again recommended the mechanism formation lecture.
He was indeed a good teacher.
By giving all the clues and removing the dangerous elements, the children seemed to genuinely enjoy it, unlike during the theoretical lecture.
"General Principles of Martial Arts, it seems like a good class. Shall we take the mechanism formation class too...?"
So-woon said.
I just laughed hollowly and glared at this wretched Long Spear Pavilion.
"Do as you please. I’m not taking it."
"Uh, yes."
"Sool-ryeo. Regardless, you were the one who found the study first. In the end, we were faster than that pretty boy."
Maeng Ryeong-ji burned with a competitive spirit, regretting that she was a step behind Eun-hyun.
This was also proof that she had thoroughly enjoyed the latter half of the class.
"Ah, of course. I’m number one... Let’s go eat."
I hadn't even used martial arts in the Long Spear Pavilion today.
There hadn't been anything difficult, yet I felt exhausted for some reason.
"That must be the cafeteria!"
Walking along, following the other children without much thought, we arrived at a pavilion with a signboard that read 'Hall of Delicacies' (珍味堂).
Since there was no afternoon class today anyway, I decided to go to the training ground after lunch.
The cafeteria building was also magnificent, if not quite as much as the dormitory.
Perhaps because she wanted to be the first to enter the cafeteria even if she had lost the order to Eun-hyun at the study, Maeng Ryeong-ji promptly grabbed the door handle.
"Hmm? Aren't you new students?"
However, we could not enter the cafeteria.
Because a man with a massive physique blocked Maeng Ryeong-ji.
Was he the cook? His energy didn't seem like that of a commoner.
"Uh..."
"Nice to meet you?"
The children tried to greet him, but the cook did not relax his expression.
"Are the new cadets already sniffing around the Delicacy Hall?"
"Is there a separate cafeteria for new cadets?"
What is this? Is this a dining hall only for the martial instructors?
There was no other place on the map that looked like a cafeteria.
As everyone blinked in confusion, not understanding what he meant, the man let out a deep sigh.
"Good grief. What do you mean, a cafeteria for new cadets?"
"Then..."
The man reached out.
Toward the place his index finger pointed, there was a pile of the same substitute food we had seen in the cafeteria this morning.
"You lot are supposed to be eating Grain-Abstaining Pellets!"
Surviving as the Heiress with a Limited Time Left in the Arctic Ice Palace (Serialized)
Author │ Musk Deer
Publisher │ J-Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
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ⓒMusk Deer 2026
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