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Chapter 150

“Ugh, what a useless kid.”

“That’s a rather inappropriate remark to say to someone who’s injured, I’d say it’s the third worst.”

The first would be something like “Why didn’t you just die?” and the second would be “That guy should have lived instead of you.” I’ve ranked the most offensive comments I’ve heard in order, but I should note that opinions may differ from person to person.

“Ugh, what a foolish boy. Ugh!”

Of course, Yuri paid no mind to such words. It wasn’t her intention to reprimand Yeon-woo in the first place. Yeon-woo understood that, so he didn’t take it to heart, but when Claire smacked him on the back for spilling the pot, he couldn’t help but shrink back.

“Ow! Ow! Don’t hit me, ah!!”

“You went out all cocky and came back with your left arm wrecked! How can I not say something!?”

Yuri let out an exasperated sigh. She meant it out of concern, but Yeon-woo really had no retort. If anyone was to blame, it was himself.

“Ah, I’m really sorry. So, how were you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Fortunately, there were no civilian casualties around. We went right after and it’s not like we couldn’t find them.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Good? You think that’s a fitting response in that state!!?”

“No, I genuinely feel okay. It wasn’t as painful as I expected. The school nurse checked me out this morning and said my recovery is surprisingly fast. If I’m lucky, I might be healed by the day after tomorrow?”

“What!? So the injury wasn’t severe after all?”

“No? It was a comminuted fracture?”

Some of the bones were crushed into powder, and the school nurse had quite the struggle while performing the surgery.

“Why on earth did I take on such a student…?”

“Too late to back out now?”

At Yeon-woo’s cute pleading, Yuri could feel the fire erupting from her palm. Was this how it felt to take a direct hit from Alisa’s fire magic on the back of the head…?

*

Dang Sa-ryeon was sitting at a café on the roadside. Though the combination of her green uniform and a pretty coffee cup felt awkward, her stunning beauty made such minor issues practically vanish.

“Not at all.”

Dang Sa-ryeon leaned over the table, her green hair cascading like a waterfall, and slammed both fists down on the table where her coffee cup rested.

“You haven’t shown up at all…!!”

“Oh dear.”

A woman sipping a strawberry smoothie piled high with whipped cream covered her mouth in laughter at the sight of Sa-ryeon. The floral embroidery on her black uniform was quite prominent.

“What’s so funny? It’s ridiculous!!”

“Nah, hehehe. I’m sorry. This is the first time I’ve seen Sa-ryeon like this in front of me.”

“I’m not being unraveled!!”

Seeing Sa-ryeon unable to control her frustration slamming the table again made the woman giggle. They seemed of similar age, but the woman’s personality and particularly her air gave an adult impression.

However, Sa-ryeon knew all too well that, despite the outward appearance, the adult-like girl before her, Yang Mi-ryeo, could not possibly be mistaken for a proper lady.

This fact could easily be inferred from her being the second daughter of the prestigious Yang family and yet attending the Freedom Academy besides.

No matter how much the head of the Yang family opposed Chang-soo attending the Hunters’ academy, he couldn’t withstand her stubbornness. ‘It sounds fun’ was a silly reason, but eventually, Yang Mi-ryeo, who insisted on entering what was even called the ‘Cowboy Academy’, was said to have excellent grades there…

Dang Sa-ryeon shivered at a creeping sensation. It was nice to reunite after so long and chat, but at some point, the conversation had slipped towards that topic.

“Wait a second. No way, Mi-ryeo?”

“Huh? What do you mean no way?”

“You aren’t thinking about asking about Yeon-woo, are you? You better say no.”

“Oh my, what are you talking about, Sa-ryeon?”

Seeing Yang Mi-ryeo look genuinely surprised as if hearing something absurd, Dang Sa-ryeon let out a sigh of relief. However, the next words were completely contrary to what she had imagined.

“After hearing such exciting stories, how could I not be curious?”

Saying this, Yang Mi-ryeo smiled cheerfully. The reason for Dang Sa-ryeon’s pale face wasn’t so much worry about Mi-ryeo stealing Yeon-woo from her…

but more along the lines of ‘I’ve done something I shouldn’t have to Yeon-woo…!!’

*

“Is that all? Just luck? You useless kid!!”

Suddenly, a student from Wisdom Academy bolted away in a hurry. Yeon-woo merely stared blankly at the scene. Frankly, he had nothing to say. He hadn’t started any trouble, nor had that student done anything particularly wrong.

“…Did you do something wrong?”

“I think it might be because of the entrance ceremony….”

“Well, that could make sense.”

Wisdom Academy was particularly known for its fierce pride. Kim Yoo-min, who was nearby, seemed to agree as he nodded.

There was no real reason for Yeon-woo to be with Kim Yoo-min. It was the second day of the competition, and although his arm was injured, he didn’t want to just stay cooped up at home, so he took the kids for a walk and happened to run into Kim Yoo-min, who had no scheduled plans.

“So, did you have a good break? Did you have a good chat with the professors?”

“I barely got to. My brother was super busy the whole break.”

“That’s just who he is.”

He had hoped to solve things during the break, but if it didn’t happen, then there was no helping it. One wouldn’t know people’s psychology until faced with a situation like that.

‘It really fits the situation, doesn’t it…’

In the end, the easiest scenario for crossing that line of killing someone is when one is faced with the threat to their own life. It might apply to monsters when it comes to not killing them, but many people fail to apply that reasoning to humans, and once they realize there isn’t much difference in essence, they’re more likely to act.

‘If only it weren’t for the Gloomy Monster, it might have been worth a shot.’

Having taken a hit already, it definitely wasn’t something he could recommend to others. Comminuted fractures may sound fancy, but Yeon-woo had nearly passed out from the pain multiple times. Even with the mana blocking the pain. For someone with less experience, like Kim Yoo-min, it wasn’t strange if he immediately fell into shock.

“Ugh, what a mess. It’s our break, and we can’t even go outside….”

“I didn’t hear much, but they say a strange guy is lurking around? Is it safe here?”

“Doesn’t seem likely they’d come into the academy grounds, right? There are three-star names here.”

“That’s true.”

Thinking this, Kim Yoo-min let his gaze wander. Though it was hard to grasp exactly, he sensed a soft warmth spread like summer sunshine.

Kim Hyun-soo was taking care of the visible tasks related to the competition, while Yuri was handling overall academy affairs; however, Hyuk Mu-ryeon, perhaps due to his lack of delicacy in character, didn’t take on any significant workload besides teaching the kids.

Thus, it was inevitable for Hyuk Mu-ryeon to take charge of Yeon-woo’s protection. It wouldn’t be weird for him to show discomfort, but he accepted it cheerfully.

“Honestly, I think it would be all right to go outside like this.”

“Still, we say that because your arm is still intact. They’re saying that for a reason.”

Well, that is probably for the best. Normally, one could evade, but with an arm restrained, one’s center of gravity would be thrown off, making evasion tough. With the situation where just one hit could kill him, there was no reason to impose any penalties.

“You’ve been worrying about that side since earlier; you don’t care about the competition one bit, huh?”

“The kids will do fine on their own, won’t they? Just because I’m not around doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly become useless. Are they going to force me to compete with this arm hurt?”

“That’s a shame. It would’ve been more fun with you in the match on the third day.”

“I was looking forward to running in the relay, so it’s a bit disappointing. Speaking of which, how about we go catch a glimpse of the matches?”

“Sure. Let’s go cheer on the kids and maybe grab some snacks too.”

Facing the Gloomy Monster or resolving Kim Yoo-min’s worries was truly out of reach. Even for Yeon-woo, who had returned from ten years in the past, human emotions were tricky to handle, and he hesitated.

*

“…So annoying.”

Even from a distance, the intense pressure was palpable. If it were just one, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to just charge in and take it out, but the fact they didn’t exit from the city’s only ‘safe zone’ while dragging such a group along was truly something else.

Having one around was troublesome enough—three was another story. It felt like they were operating with Yeon-woo as the common thread. They must be aware of his presence too, yet for whatever reasons, they seemed unable to pursue.

How to kill that thing? After a moment’s thought, Christopher bit his finger and started to draw on the ground with the blood flowing out. A spell connecting blood and blood began to unfold. It was the communication spell of the Demon King’s Church.

“…Help me, Oblivion.”

– I never thought I would hear such a request from you. What a turn of events.

In any case, if they chose to hold their defensive position, then all that was left for him was to find a way to draw them out. The cult members tended to dislike relying on the powers of other orders, but Christopher was different.

“…I can’t help it; I just want to kill quickly….”

– I wonder if we can communicate or not. So what now? Where should I go?

“Lead them in unison with my proud army.”

– Understood.

The spell was cut off. Christopher glanced at the remnants of the spell for a moment before lightly kicking the ground. The roof of the abandoned building trembled and crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“…Guess I should rest a bit until then.”

Oblivion’s forces would arrive. While he may not be the high priest, he was a man with plenty of likelihood to become one. With someone like that, it would be more than enough to ignite the tension in this loose atmosphere.

Necromancy and summoning ultimately required quality corpses for magic. This held true for the followers of Toyo as well. The stronger the bones you held, the stronger they became.

The reason Christopher joined forces in ‘material collecting’ with necromancers was for moments like this. By creating so many debts, he had put them in a situation where cooperation was inescapable.

“Let’s have a bit of fun. War.”

Once more, countless lives would shed the complexities of human relationships and feel the lifting of the burden of being precious beings.

Just thinking about it made him glow with pride.

That feeling, however, soon faded beneath the sea of gloom…

(To be continued in the next installment)

 

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