The Hero's Day Off
Astrape. A unit composed only of those once called the cream of the crop among all living heroes, known as humanity's sharpest spear and strongest shield. Even among such elites, there were four squad leaders, each possessing abilities that surpassed the rest, tasked with defending the north, south, east, and west of the city. Among these four, the leader of the 4th Squad, responsible for the city's north, was Martina Ivanova—a member of the so-called "Golden Generation" and widely known as the Elemental Archmage.
Admired by countless mages and respected by numerous heroes for her countless achievements and peerless skill, she was currently doing this:
"Hey, rookie. Our days off happen to overlap, so why don't you go on a date with me? I'm a bit of a celebrity, so I can get us into those exclusive restaurants that are impossible to book. What do you think? Hmm?"
She was clinging to the boy who had recently joined her squad, desperately trying to appeal to him. She was even acting with a coy charm that no one would ever imagine from someone usually known for her confidence and charisma. Yet, despite her behavior, the 4th Squad's new recruit, Yoon Siwoo, showed not a hint of agitation, merely smiling quietly.
"It's Yoon Siwoo, not 'rookie,' Captain Martina. And if I may be so bold, there are monsters swarming toward us right now. Wouldn't it be better to refrain from such personal conversations?"
To Yoon Siwoo's mechanical, textbook response, Martina just shrugged her shoulders.
"Why are you worrying about such trivial things? I'm trying to have a deep conversation with my Siwoo here—do you really think a few monsters matter?"
With those words, Martina flicked her hand a few times toward the area beyond the barricades guarding the perimeter. The dozen or so monsters charging toward them were instantly reduced to a handful of ash by flames that erupted suddenly from the ground. Watching the scene, Martina smiled and said, "There, no more monsters. So, what do you say? A date with me on our day off?"
To her question, Yoon Siwoo answered sharply, "I apologize, but I must decline. I have prior plans for my day off."
"Prior plans? Are you going to see your family?"
"I don't have any family. They both passed away when I was young."
"Ah, I'm sorry..."
Martina’s pupils shook violently, having stepped on a landmine after asking about his plans. However, her agitation quickly turned into pity for the boy before her. Without family, how hard must he have had it growing up? Feeling a surge of maternal instinct she had never felt in her life, Martina said, "Well... if you have plans, it can't be helped. I assume the person you're meeting isn't a woman, right?"
Then, Yoon Siwoo replied, "It is a woman."
"...Huh?"
Just as Martina let out a sound filled with bewilderment, Yoon Siwoo glanced at his watch, a flash of insight in his eyes. It was time to go scout the perimeter, and since speed was the lifeblood of a scouting mission, Yoon Siwoo kicked off the ground and shouted as he ran, "It's time for my patrol, so I'll be going now. Please handle the handover to the next shift!"
"Hey, hey! Wait a second... wow, he's insanely fast at running, too."
Yoon Siwoo’s figure vanished in an instant. Left alone at the guard post, Martina muttered in a daze. Honestly, she was dumbfounded. He was going to meet a woman? And he turned me down for that? As someone who had always been full of confidence, she simply couldn't understand his words. What on earth was she lacking compared to other women?
"Captain, why the long face? Did something happen? Did the Monsters of Wrath go on a rampage in the forest again?"
Kanna, the 4th Squad’s vice-captain, asked as she returned from patrolling the perimeter, seeing Martina lost in deep, serious thought. Recently, because the Monsters of Wrath inhabiting the northern forest had been running wild, lower-level monsters pushed out of their territory had been swarming the perimeter all at once. Kanna, fearing another such incident, asked with a stiff expression, only for Martina to mutter in a voice of utmost seriousness:
"Hey, in your opinion, what do I lack compared to other women?"
"Geez, don't make such a serious face thinking about useless things like that. You scared me, I thought something actually happened. Anyway, why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"No, I asked the rookie out on a date, but he turned me down, saying he had to meet another woman instead of me. What exactly am I lacking?"
To Martina’s question, muttered with a look of absolute sincerity, Kanna replied with a look of disbelief.
"For fuck's sake, I think you're lacking a conscience. Haven't I told you for days now to stop being so shameless with the rookie? Do you not know it's a crime to do that to a kid?"
"Marriage is something we can just wait for until he's an adult. And don't you know age is just a number if you like each other?"
"Think about your age, Captain. Think about it. If you go by age, the rookie was a first-year student at the Academy, which means there's at least a two-fold age gap between you two. Even if age looks like just a number to you, how do you think he feels? Do you think he sees an 'ajumma' who's lived as many years as he has as a woman?"
At that, Martina tilted her head and said, "For someone who thinks that, there were plenty of guys around his age who confessed to me, telling me to wait just a few years for them. In the first place, many heroes don't care about that stuff, right? Because of mana, we don't age, so our bodies are no different from someone in their 20s. There's almost no worry about dying early because I'm older than him, either. Do we die because we're old? No, we die fighting monsters."
Kanna clicked her tongue at that and glared at Martina’s face. Yes, honestly, even to her, Martina was incredibly beautiful. It wasn't for nothing that she was always on the ranking of unmarried heroes people wanted to marry. However, Kanna was also unmarried, even if she was younger than Martina. She had no desire to see her superior flirting with a young, pretty boy at work, so she uttered a name that was almost taboo to Martina.
"I heard that Captain Natalia's daughter, Marin, is the same age as the rookie."
"...Haven't I told you several times not to mention that bitch in front of me?"
As soon as the name Natalia came up, Martina’s face turned vicious in an instant. Natalia—that was the name of the only person who had ever dealt Martina a sense of defeat in her life. When Martina attended the Academy, her year was called the "Golden Generation." There were three people who were said to have the talent to lead the next generation in that era. One was Martina herself, one was that damn bitch Natalia, and the last was a male student named Lucas.
The only male student who possessed enough strength to satisfy Martina, whose ideal type was a man stronger than herself, was that Lucas, who was almost as strong as she was. That was why Martina had secretly harbored a crush on him. Even though they were in different classes, there were moments when she thought they were building mutual affection, talking and debating how to become stronger whenever she visited him. Then, a piece of news that felt like a bolt from the blue to Martina spread through the school: the rumor that Lucas had gotten Natalia pregnant.
Good heavens, how could students attending the sacred Academy commit such a shameless act? However, the moment she saw Natalia in the next class, blushing and smiling with a look of superiority, having run over there thinking it was obviously a false rumor, Martina realized that she had suffered the first defeat of her life. Thus, Lucas Eloise and Natalia Eucrasia became a married couple, and Natalia became an Eloise. She hadn't been able to find a man who suited her taste as much as Lucas until their child entered the Academy. But finally, she had discovered a man who suited her taste even more than him.
"...I'm not giving up."
Kanna, slightly intimidated by the sight of Martina leaking mana all around her and radiating killing intent, cleared her throat and said, "Ahem... whether you give up or not, isn't the woman the rookie turned you down to meet also around his age? Since he's a kid, his preference would be a girl his own age."
"So he prefers a young kid, is that it..."
If that was the case, she just had to match that preference. Martina quietly resolved that when she went out on her day off, she would cut her hair into a style that made her look like a student.
*
It had already been a week since he joined Astrape and began rotating between day and night guard duty at the front lines of the perimeter. Yoon Siwoo, who had returned inside the barrier to spend his first day off in a long time, muttered with a bitter smile.
"...This is truly troublesome."
"How can I be joyful? The person coming at me like that is my superior at work."
Yoon Siwoo grumbled to Lucy, who spoke with a voice mixed with laughter. There had been many women who had shown interest in him since he was young, but this was the person he was most worried about how to handle.
"...That's not as simple as it sounds."
Yoon Siwoo, who had gone straight from the Academy into Astrape, was, strictly speaking, in the same state as a fresh graduate entering the workforce. It was a situation where he couldn't help but worry about what the repercussions would be if he rejected a superior who was chasing after him. Honestly, his heart wanted to refuse by saying he couldn't because he had someone he liked, but if he did that and the Captain harbored ill feelings toward him and cut him from Astrape...
"...Well, I suppose that's it."
Yoon Siwoo nodded, feeling awkward at Lucy's blunt expression. He had no choice but to be careful with his actions, contrary to his heart, in case she might be disappointed if she saw him like that. Is this the difficulty of social life? Sighing to himself, Yoon Siwoo quickened his pace.
The place where he stopped walking after a long time was the Mirae Orphanage, the place that had raised him when he was young. To him, who had no family, the person most like family was the director here, Maria. He had come here because he had promised to visit today on his day off, after receiving a message asking how he could not show his face even once after such an incident occurred since he became a hero.
As he stepped into the orphanage building, recalling memories of his childhood, Maria, who had run out of the director's office, glared slightly at Yoon Siwoo standing in front of the door and said, "Oh my, who is this? Isn't it our busy hero? I know you're busy, but what brings you here?"
"Ahaha..., I'm sorry. I'll visit more often from now on."
"You sure talk well. If you don't really do that from now on, I might get sulky, you know?"
After glaring at Yoon Siwoo once, Maria soon broke into a full smile and hugged Yoon Siwoo tightly. "Our Siwoo, when did you grow up like this... Is it dangerous at work?"
"Dangerous? Don't worry. I might look like this, but I'm strong. See?"
"Oh my, ahaha! I know! I know, so put me down!"
Watching her laugh like a girl as he lifted Maria up and spun her around once, Yoon Siwoo felt that a lot of time had passed. She used to look so big, so when did he become able to lift her so easily? The orphanage facilities, adjusted to the size of children, also looked very small now. As he reminded himself that he had decided to become a hero to protect things like this, Maria said to him.
"Since you're here, you'll play with the children, right? The kids were so excited when I told them you were coming. The kids are making a fuss lately saying they want to be like you. Siwoo, who used to be liked only by the girls, is now liked by the boys too, you know."
"Of course I have to play with them. Ahaha..."
Yoon Siwoo answered with a strained smile. It was because the mention of Siwoo being liked by the girls brought back memories of the past. The memory of comforting a few girls who cried collectively, saying they would die if he didn't marry them, was too difficult a memory to call a fond one.
To Lucy's words, Yoon Siwoo answered quietly to himself. ...How can I date everyone who likes me? I have an ideal type, too.
My ideal type... Following Maria toward the children's playroom, Yoon Siwoo pondered. First, maybe someone kind who knows how to think of others before herself. Next, if possible, I'd like someone who doesn't lie well. And I'd like someone strong who can smile even when things are hard. And also,
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you there's a guest today. Siwoo, you know them too, right?"
"It's big sister. Let's draw together with Leon."
"Together? Okay. Then I'll draw Leon."
A figure who looks dazzlingly suited to smiling kindly at a young child.
"...It's been a while."
"...Yeah, it's been a while."
Could the red-haired, girl-like person before his eyes be his ideal type?