Chapter 61
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Blue Pine Festival (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“A guy who's never once come down from Cheolwon... Who would've thought he'd drag those heavy steps all the way to the capital. What wind blew this time?”
“......”
The Fist Emperor, Baek Mu-yeom, posed her question, but Ryu Jin-seong remained silent.
It wasn't because he refused to answer.
He simply needed time to gather his thoughts and weave together the most fitting words to explain his feelings in relation to her question.
Ryu Jin-seong tilted his head up briefly to gaze at the sky. Unlike the skies over Cheolwon up there, it was fairly blue, clear, and peaceful.
“The facilities are good.”
His response slipped out suddenly, like a stone dropping into water.
Baek Mu-yeom's eyes narrowed slightly.
“Good facilities... You mean Blue Pine Academy here?”
“Yes.”
Ryu Jin-seong nodded without hesitation, giving his immediate reply. Baek Mu-yeom eyed him suspiciously, staring intently into his eyes.
“......This school really is a fine place. With that kid Chan-ho at the top, gripping everything below tight, it's certainly better to send the youngsters here than to that shady Red Tiger Academy in Busan.”
As she spoke, Baek Mu-yeom thought of her granddaughter somewhere on the campus.
That precious girl, whom she wouldn't mind poking her eyes out for, was probably enjoying school life to the fullest.
“Come to think of it, didn't you say your adopted daughter enrolled here too?”
Only then did the meaning behind Ryu Jin-seong's vague answer start to click for her.
At the same time, memories surfaced. The ten-year-old girl Ryu Jin-seong had taken in over a decade ago.
Her name was Ryu Se-eun, if memory served. She'd kept the name her birth parents gave her, just changing the surname to his.
'Oh ho.'
Baek Mu-yeom's eyes widened slightly in surprise as she looked down at Ryu Jin-seong. Though elderly, her stature towered a handspan over him.
She'd wondered if there might be some other motive, but it seemed her worries were unfounded.
Who could've guessed that even the Black Heaven, Ryu Jin-seong, had awakened to parental instincts!
Baek Mu-yeom felt inwardly impressed and quite satisfied.
She'd thought he'd live out his days alone in Cheolwon, but the existence of 'family'—blood-related or not—had changed even him.
For Baek Mu-yeom, who had watched Ryu Jin-seong for so long, it was a profoundly gratifying development.
She was just about to part her lips again, feeling like applauding, when Ryu Jin-seong spoke first.
“I gave my daughter one command.”
Those words made Baek Mu-yeom pause. A few terms in there didn't sit well with her ears.
Issued? Command? For a split second, she mistook it for talk of Cheolwon's border guard.
No matter how you sliced it, those weren't words to use with one's daughter.
Baek Mu-yeom's expression turned subtly peculiar, but Ryu Jin-seong paid it no mind.
“Seol Ha-yeon's disciple, Lee Hyun-jin. He's twenty this year. Same age as my daughter, who started middle school a year late due to issues with his unique magic.”
He continued flatly, as if recounting someone else's tale. The first name he mentioned wasn't his daughter's, but another grand magician's disciple.
Ryu Jin-seong explained in a matter-of-fact tone, like narrating a stranger's story.
The story of how he'd told his daughter Ryu Se-eun to develop a romantic relationship with Lee Hyun-jin.
And if it seemed promising, to even bear his child.
The reason behind all those orders: bolstering Cheolwon's border guard forces.
Having finished, Ryu Jin-seong stroked his chin, his face puzzled.
“I gave the order the day before her enrollment, and suddenly she bolted out. She looked awfully upset......”
“......”
“I couldn't figure it out. Was she dissatisfied with my command? Or was there some other issue? It was her first act of rebellion like this, so I was quite flustered.”
That was the end of Ryu Jin-seong's words. He said no more, merely tilting his head slightly to meet Baek Mu-yeom's gaze.
And she froze once again.
Ryu Jin-seong's eyes narrowed. His expression seemed utterly baffled, as if he truly couldn't comprehend.
It appeared only after he'd noticed Baek Mu-yeom's deeply contorted face.
“What's wrong?”
“......Hah.”
He asked, and she sighed.
The white-haired elder woman glared at him with bulging eyes.
“You fucking idiot.”
Bam!!
The next instant, a fist flew straight at Ryu Jin-seong's face, smashing mercilessly.
It shattered the basic barrier the grand magician had casually set up.
Crash! Ryu Jin-seong, losing his balance, collapsed to the ground. He rolled, his eerie purple eyes—activated by his unique magic 'Black Heaven'—fixing straight ahead.
There stood Baek Mu-yeom, looking utterly dumbfounded. But she wasn't the one who'd just struck Ryu Jin-seong.
It was the arrival of an unexpected third party. A young boy. Or young man.
Silver strands mixed into his black hair, deep navy eyes shimmering. He wore the Blue Pine Academy uniform, and by the badge color, he was a second-year.
But his identity was unmistakable from the three characters on the nameplate.
[Lee Hyun-jin]
The very student Ryu Jin-seong had just mentioned appeared there.
His fist trembled with rage, his face twisted in utter disgust.
Emotions burned endlessly within me.
I was pissed.
Angry, too.
Maybe even feverish with rage.
'All the same thing, huh?'
The thought fit perfectly, but it was trivial, so it faded from my mind quickly.
The point was, I was fucking furious right now. Boiling mad.
In front of me stood the emotionless grand magician rising silently like a shadow. To the side, the flustered Fist Emperor.
And behind, Kim Ji-woo noona—who'd kept me hidden from these two S-Rank Awakeners until now—gaped silently.
My rage and disgust targeted one person alone.
The grand magician, Black Heaven Ryu Jin-seong.
He was my underclassman's father.
Her savior, to Ryu Se-eun.
She'd lost her family young, nearly dying to monsters herself, until Ryu Jin-seong saved her and made her his adopted daughter.
“Ha......”
I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. A smirk laced with revulsion.
I'd heard he'd spouted nonsense to Ryu Se-eun, but...
Seeing the man himself say it so casually, so brazenly shameless, I couldn't hold back.
Was it because of this grand magician that I'd nearly been raped once?
No. That was settled long ago.
I'd punished the perpetrator, Ryu Se-eun, plenty.
Now, our relationship was pretty ideal senior-junior. No reason to double down on the anger.
“......”
Hm.
Whether dragging her into semi-forced sex whenever I felt like it truly counted as 'ideal'... well, debatable.
Anyway.
I harbored no ill will toward Ryu Se-eun anymore. As my first underclassman, I only wanted to cherish her. Probably.
So hearing directly how he'd treated her like that... how could it not piss me off?
That was why I'd impulsively charged in and smashed one of Korea's three grand magicians in the face.
I wished my cheeky top-student junior—who bickered with me daily—would appreciate it. Probably too much to ask.
After all, I'd acted on my own without asking her opinion.
To her, I might even seem rude.
Didn't matter. I had no right to get mad on her behalf. I just wanted to rage my way.
“Hoo.”
I took a short breath to steady myself as best I could.
The guy I'd picked a fight with was Korea's strongest natural magician.
Whatever. Even if he beat me one-sidedly from here on, I had to say my piece first.
Of course, I had no intention of taking it lying down, but anyway.
I exhaled briefly and lifted my gaze.
Floating magic?
Seemed like a different kind, but regardless, Black Heaven Ryu Jin-seong hovered a handspan off the ground, looking down at me.
He didn't seem poised to attack immediately.
Or rather, no aggressive reaction emerged at all...
'What?'
Despite the age gap and his superior realm, getting punched by some kid, his demeanor remained utterly detached.
More than that, his gaze plainly invited me to speak if I had more to say. It felt downright alien.
Ironically, that reaction softened my anger a notch.
Like aimless fury naturally cooling off.
A hollow feeling washed over me, and I looked at Ryu Jin-seong with slightly drooped shoulders.
After a brief pause.
“......I'm still young and don't fully get it, but...”
I cautiously opened my mouth.
A solemn voice steadily flowed from my lips.
“I think parents, fundamentally, aren't the type to give their children such cruel orders. Mr. Ryu Jin-seong.”
His eyes flickered with a strange hue. Did that pupil reaction mean he was listening intently?
I wasn't sure, but at least he wasn't just spacing out pointlessly.
I pressed on.
“If you plan to use Se-eun-i merely as a useful disciple, subordinate, or pawn, I have nothing more to say. But if you're calling her your 'daughter,' shouldn't you watch your words?”
“......”
“Parents' orders to children vary. Telling her to have a kid with some stranger she's never met? By common social standards, that's definitely 'something you just don't say.’”
As I'd premised, I'd never been a parent in my past or current life. I'd always been the child.
So imagining from a parent's perspective... probably not easy.
Thus, my words were limited to what common sense allowed.
Speaking beyond that would be overstepping.
This was the best I could do. If he still didn't get it, oh well.
'Then it'd be faster to talk to Ryu Se-eun directly.'
If this grand magician proved some irredeemably warped personality, I'd have to convince her.
We'd rolled in the sheets together, after all... I couldn't bear seeing my junior under a lunatic like this.
Wary of an imminent barrage with 'Is that all?', I slowly circulated mana through my body.
'If I go all out, I can at least hold out. Or just run.'
Tension was real. A prick of cold sweat. I tracked Ryu Jin-seong's every move with my eyes.
......The pressure of the Black Heaven filling the space began intensifying. Slowly, but unmistakably.
The next moment, Ryu Jin-seong took a heavy step into the air ahead.
And as Kim Ji-woo noona behind me grimaced, reaching for her dagger.
Suddenly, Ryu Jin-seong's head snapped sideways. As if sensing something.
A abrupt silence.
“Hooh...?”
Baek Mu-yeom, who'd stood with an inscrutable expression until now, glanced alternately at me, Ryu Jin-seong, and the side with intrigued eyes.
Naturally, I belatedly activated presence detection and turned to the side as well.
A presence. A true third party.
The owner of that presence—too late to notice—was someone I knew.
“You, speak.”
Just then, Ryu Jin-seong's lips moved.
His voice shook with uncharacteristic uncertainty.
“Daughter.”
He turned to his adopted daughter.
“The order I gave you... did it feel cruel to you?”
“......”
“......Was it an 'uncommon' order?”
Ryu Se-eun, peeking from the alley corner, flinched hard.
My top-student junior's face, looking at me, flushed deeper than usual.
Trembling eyes.
Flushed cheeks.
And twitching lips—embarrassed yet pleased, ambiguous.
Ryu Se-eun shyly averted her gaze from mine.
While avoiding everyone's eyes, she gave a vague reply to her adoptive father.
“Yeah, well......”
A curt affirmation.
“When I first heard it, it felt pretty shitty.”
Followed by a brutal gut punch.
“......”
Ryu Jin-seong's lips pressed into a tight line.
The Fist Emperor burst into roaring laughter.
Amid it all, Ryu Se-eun kept shooting sparkling glances my way...
I felt an inexplicable chill.
Me, an ice mage.
With cold resistance, no less.