Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: For Some Reason, Ronel Started to Slightly Dislike Daniel
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Due to the blessings of the angels, humans are born with their own unique abilities.
Things like superior physical prowess compared to others, or special superpowers.
The angels' authority does not discriminate against humans.
Whether they were wealthy people living in the center or the poor on the outskirts, everyone was born with abilities, though the degree varied.
However, humans were different.
They discriminated based on origin. Even with the same ability, the treatment between those from the center and the outskirts was worlds apart.
No matter how talented they were, if they were born as slum dwellers on the outskirts, they could never become heroes.
All they could do was one of three things.
Accept reality and live their entire lives on the outskirts as is.
Become villains.
Or join the shadows of the Hero Association.
The Association—more precisely, its executives—secretly operated several organizations of their own.
Secret departments unknown to the public, or private forces.
They operated in the shadows to cover up the executives' corruption and misdeeds, or to attack rival factions politically.
Their talents were no less than those of heroes.
But the stage they stood on was always one of ugly political strife, and their opponents were humans rather than magic beasts.
Fergus had a rough idea of how many such departments there were and who their members were.
Since various groups had tried to recruit him, who had become an executive as the first hero to do so, he naturally learned about them in the process.
That day was no different from any other.
Department 3.
The executives who had invited Fergus to pull him into their faction predictably showed off by guiding him through their secret department.
Mechanical training that could be called a relentless march devoid of any humanity.
Human experiments using illegal drugs to enhance the body.
And even using families on the outskirts as hostages to force pledges of loyalty.
It was the moment when Fergus was utterly disgusted by their brazen display of corruption, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"...What is that child?"
She looked no more than 10 years old at most.
A young girl was huddled with her head buried in her knees in solitary confinement.
"A child sold by her mother."
"You're laying hands on children too?"
"No, that's not usually the case... but she was sold for next to nothing. She seems to have decent talent, so we brought her along for now. But... well. Want to take a look?"
Fergus took the paper the executive handed him and read it.
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Name: Ronelia Fiorentina.
Age: 10.
Origin: Z District, Sector 12.
Personality that doesn't mix well with others and tends to be isolated.
Suffers from affection deprivation, hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorder, insomnia from drug side effects, and hyperventilation.
Ability: Body Strengthening.
However, despite the Body Strengthening ability, she fears using her body.
Thus, her combat power is below average.
Intelligence is not particularly outstanding.
Scheduled for disposal.
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"She's the obedient type. Even if you give her tasks she can't handle, she'll try her best for a month. But since she can't do them properly, she's slated for disposal."
".........."
The executive uttered the word 'disposal' as casually as if discussing an object, without a flicker of emotion.
Fergus felt rage boiling inside but struggled to maintain a blank expression.
Whether due to affection deprivation or fear of abandonment.
The child was fearful but obedient.
However, what the executives needed wasn't an obedient child.
They wanted capable, talented personnel.
And so, the child was locked in the cold solitary cell.
Unaware that she was soon to be disposed of.
".........."
Perhaps because she was just a child.
Even though Fergus had seen countless others in similar situations, for some reason that day he couldn't just stand by.
Fergus opened the door to the solitary cell and spoke to the child.
"Kid, want some candy?"
That was the first meeting between the child and Fergus.
After that day, Fergus frequently visited Department 3 where the child was held.
He didn't want to get involved with the executives, so he couldn't free her.
Instead, every time he visited, he gave her a handful of candy.
As time passed, the child, who had nowhere to rely on, quickly opened her heart to Fergus.
Fergus, too, found himself growing fond of her without realizing it.
And the executives trying to pull Fergus into their faction didn't miss this.
"How about joining our faction? If you do, we'll release the child freely."
It started with persuasion.
But it took less than half a day for the polite invitation to turn into a threat.
Threats that the child would die if he didn't join, escalating to accusations of him being a hypocrite ignoring her.
Fergus didn't want to be a bystander.
But he was just one executive whose only strength was his personal combat power.
For someone who had lived as a hero his whole life and only recently become an executive, changing anything was realistically impossible.
He didn't want to let the child die. But he also didn't want to partake in their filthy deeds.
Yet the executives forced a choice on him.
Save the child and stain himself black as well.
Or abandon her and remain clean alone.
After some time passed, he visited the solitary cell in Department 3 with a heavy heart.
"Can I call you Grandpa?"
The child asked Fergus.
"...Why do you want to call me that?"
"...Just because. Can't I?"
Fergus glanced outside briefly. All the faction's executives were watching him.
The child, oblivious, looked only at Fergus with anxious eyes.
".........."
Fergus avoided the child's gaze.
He simply stayed silent, squeezing his eyes shut.
Then as now,
He was still a coward.
"...Call me Mr. Fergus."
"Ah... Okay."
Fergus turned his back, leaving only those words.
"...When will you come next?"
Fergus didn't answer the child's question.
Seeming to sense something, the child didn't open her mouth again.
Kiiik- Clang.
With the cold metallic sound, the door closed, and Fergus never visited Department 3 again after that day.
The faction trying to recruit him was crushed by a young executive named Colton, who was actively engaging in power struggles,
and he heard later that Colton had taken in the child who was on the verge of disposal.
Ronel, who had unwittingly followed Daniel into the room, sat on the sofa in the center.
Daniel, looking at her suspiciously, asked,
"Do you know Grandpa Fergus?"
"...Grandpa?"
Ronel flinched slightly.
But only for a moment, she replied calmly.
"People in the Association are all connected one way or another anyway."
"...Grandpa Fergus is the academy principal?"
"He was an Association executive before that. Didn't you know?"
That Fergus was a former Association executive was news to Daniel. He tilted his head and looked at Fergus.
Fergus gave a small nod to answer Daniel's question, then said to Ronel,
"...You've grown a lot. Sorry for not recognizing you."
"That can happen. I was so young back then. Anyway, it's great to see you after so long~ What brings you here?"
In Ronel's voice as she spoke, there wasn't a trace of resentment or negativity. It was filled only with genuine joy.
"...I came after hearing that the heroes will head to X District soon."
Even so, Fergus's head hung lower and lower.
He lacked the confidence to meet her eyes squarely.
"Will you be joining the battle too, Mr. Fergus?"
"...Yes. All I've got going for me at my age is this body."
"Haha."
Ronel let out a small laugh.
At an age nearing eighty, claiming his only asset was his body.
It could be seen as confidence in his own strength, or conversely, a lack of confidence in anything else.
"What about Lady Yeriel?"
At that moment, Fergus panicked.
It was only natural.
Ronel was merely a private soldier at best.
For a mere private soldier like her to know an angel's name, and even know of Yeriel's connection to Fergus, was strange.
'...Looks like Colton didn't just pick her up as a mere subordinate.'
Judging by how much she knew, she seemed to have earned Colton's trust and favor.
Yeriel wouldn't come.
She couldn't participate in battle.
Though Yeriel herself had intended to join, it was overruled by Colton and others.
Yeriel was humanity's last remaining angel.
And now, her mind wasn't fully sound.
If something happened to her in battle, that would be a true disaster.
This battle was expected to be overwhelmingly favorable to humanity anyway.
The number of magic beasts was low, and the demons weren't awakening.
The captured traitor also said it would take quite some time for Kahtel to awaken.
Anis's existence was a slight concern... but whether or not, Anis was a magic beast, and magic beasts suffer greatly from holy power.
Han U-sol's holy power was strong.
The heroes also wielded weapons infused with holy power created by Han U-sol's authority.
Han U-sol himself might hesitate to fight Anis, but the Association's upper echelons judged that other heroes could handle it even without him.
"Lady Yeriel won't be coming."
"I see~ I figured as much."
Ronel set her empty teacup down on the table and stood up.
"Then I'll be going, Mr. Fergus."
After their stiff, formal conversation, Ronel walked toward the door without lingering, as if there was nothing more to discuss.
"Oh, by the way. I asked Daniel this too."
Ronel paused briefly and asked Fergus,
"What do you think about Anis Harper?"
".........."
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Fergus stiffened again.
Unlike Daniel, Fergus knew Anis's true nature.
He was a bystander who knew and watched how she became unhappy, how she went mad.
Perhaps no one here knew her better than Fergus.
Thus, Ronel was subtly asking Fergus.
You, who are deeply connected to Anis Harper's misfortune.
Do you think she should be saved, like Han U-sol?
Or killed, like Colton or Aselrika?
"For the record, I think we should kill her if possible. What about you, Mr. Fergus?"
".........."
And silence.
Ronel waited patiently for Fergus's answer without pressing.
10 seconds. 30 seconds. Past 1 minute, to 5 minutes.
Fergus remained silent.
Then as now.
Still.
"Pfft."
Ronel let out a weak laugh.
A laugh mixed with love and hate.
"You're still the same as ever."
Leaving those words behind, Ronel opened the door and left.