ch 256
Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 256
I was momentarily flustered, but soon regained my composure.
I had experienced a similar situation before.
"Have you been well?"
As expected, when I turned around, there stood a child who seemed to be about half my height.
I hadn't noticed at all, but there was nothing I could do about it.
"I greet the Primordial Heavenly Honored One."
When I bowed my head respectfully, the Primordial Heavenly Honored One waved his hand dismissively.
"We're not meeting for the first time, so there's no need to be so formal."
"What brings you here?"
"Don't you already know?"
Is the Demon King really going to descend?
Before the world stopped, Luciel had said 'Something tremendous in New York...'
"Did you come because of the Demon King?"
"Demon King, you say. By Demon King, do you mean the leader of the demons who invaded this world in the past few days?"
"That's correct."
I expected him to affirm, but the Heavenly Honored One's expression turned serious as he shook his head.
Then what?
"Then what brings you..."
"Do you remember the future I showed you last time?"
"I remember."
"Then you must also remember that I told you the future I showed wasn't set in stone."
I had told the Heavenly Honored One at that time that I would change the future.
So for the past three years, I have worked tremendously hard.
Why does he keep asking obvious things?
I don't understand.
"That's correct."
"The future has changed."
The future has changed?
"Then that white smoke I saw back then... no, the Demon King won't appear in our world?"
"That's right. The leader of the demons who will appear soon can be handled without much difficulty with your current strength."
Something hot rises in my chest...
As the old saying goes, 'sincerity moves heaven' - am I receiving the reward for all my efforts?
I'm not lying - right now, my eyes are stinging as if tears might burst out at any moment.
From three years ago until this very moment, what I had been worried about was the Demon King; honestly, I hadn't worried much about the Demon King.
When the portal liberation incident occurred and the demons appeared, they were all just the ones from the original story.
There were no particularly strange ones, and compared to the original, they didn't feel stronger either.
So I thought the Demon King would be similar to the original too.
While I wouldn't completely underestimate it, the Primordial Heavenly Honored One himself said I could handle it without much difficulty - nothing could be better than this.
"It's not something to be so happy about."
"Pardon?"
Wait... thinking about it carefully, something seems strange.
The fact that the Demon King won't appear should definitely be good news, but it doesn't make sense for the Primordial Heavenly Honored One to come see me just to tell me that.
Moreover, ever since he first greeted me, the Heavenly Honored One's expression has been dark throughout.
"You tried to change too much. In that process, the immortals moved a lot and used much power."
"Is that a problem?"
"Did you think it wouldn't be? You made too big a mistake."
***
"I've returned. Please report the situation starting from Area A."
During the operation with guild members, Sister Luciel discovered demons in Kyushu, Japan, so I was away for nearly an hour to deal with them.
—This is Area A. Monster extermination complete, currently disposing of corpses.
"Good work. How's the situation in Area B?"
—Area B had two trolls escape during combat, but they're young ones, and we've formed a pursuit team to track them.
"Do you need support?"
—No. We should be able to wrap up soon, so you don't need to come our way.
"Understood. Don't let your guard down until the end and keep a good watch while moving."
—Yes!
Fortunately, the situation seemed fine, so I put down the radio and was about to take a breather when I felt vibration from inside my jacket.
Taking it out, it was my honey.
"Honey?"
—Yeah, it's me. Se-Jin, where are you now?
"I'm in Namyangju area. Is something wrong?"
—No. Luciel said she doesn't see any more demons. I was going to come help you.
"Ah, I'm fine. Namyangju is all cleared up too."
—Really? That's good. Then you don't have any night operations today?
"No. Another team let two trolls escape and they're tracking them. Once that's sorted out, I'll return immediately."
—Got it.
My honey's voice seems particularly weak today.
Well, even though he's my honey, he's been traveling around the world for six days straight dealing only with demons - there's no way he wouldn't be tired.
Since we finished early for once, I should go and make some nutritious food.
While cleaning up the monster corpses around, the guild members in charge of Area C reported that they caught the trolls that had fled, so we ended the operation.
I moved the hardworking guild members to the guild with teleportation magic and returned home myself.
Upon entering the entrance, I see two familiar pairs of shoes.
I heard honey finished early, but did Eunseo come early too?
We're in the same guild, but Eunseo went to Pyeongtaek today.
Since we're all gathered for once, I thought we could cook together as I took off my shoes, when my honey came out to greet me from inside.
"You really finished early? You worked hard again today."
"Honey? Are you cooking?"
He's wearing an apron with a pink background and brown teddy bears drawn on it.
Usually, Eunseo and I do the cooking. Of course, Teacher sometimes makes snacks and such, but this is the first time I've seen him in an apron, so I was a bit surprised.
"Why? Is it strange? If it's strange, go to the dentist..."
"Stop right there! I told you not to make such jokes. And it's not strange at all - it's so cute and nice?"
I'm not lying - it's so cute that I feel like my fatigue is completely disappearing.
"Since we finished early for once, I thought I'd properly show off my skills after a long time."
"What are you making?"
"You'll see directly later. Eunseo also came early and is washing up, so Se-Jin, you wash up too."
"I'll just quickly change clothes and help you too."
Usually I prefer showering directly rather than using magic, but I want to see my honey's cute appearance for longer.
"It's fine. I'm almost done."
I came to the room, quickly cleaned my body with magic, changed clothes, and came out.
As I was going to the kitchen, I saw Eunseo drying her hair in front of the large bathroom.
"Oh? Sister, you're here?"
"How was Pyeongtaek? Namyangju finished today."
"Pyeongtaek should be mostly sorted out by tomorrow too."
"You worked hard. Are you very tired? Give me the hair dryer. I'll dry it for you."
"I'm fine."
She says she's fine but quickly hands over the hair dryer.
After drying Eunseo's hair, we came to the kitchen together, and delicious smells were wafting around.
"You're here? I just need to carry things over, so wait a little."
"I'll help too."
"Me too."
"Today I want to treat you, so please sit down, my two ladies."
He brings out the food playfully - steak and pasta, fresh-looking salad, and even pizza.
Everything is just what Eunseo and I like.
Since the monster liberation incident, we've been eating mostly simple foods like combat rations, so it looks even more appetizing.
"Wow, what's the special occasion today?"
"Right. Our honey did all the cooking."
"What special occasion? If your mothers-in-law were here, they would have misunderstood that I normally don't lift a finger. I usually cook often."
The parents we brought home when the liberation incident occurred returned to their original homes two days ago when the monster extermination in Seoul was completed.
"Hmm, I don't think it's that often."
"That's right."
"Is... is that so? Let's eat quickly before it gets cold."
"Before eating, you look so cute in the apron - can I take a photo?"
"Oh, me too. We'll only look at it ourselves."
I was going to say the same thing, but Eunseo beat me to it.
"Photos? Sure. Take as many as you want."
Given my honey's personality, I thought he would refuse, so I was even considering acting cute.
Hmm, somehow my honey seems strange today.
Did he do something wrong?
It was suspicious, but for now, Eunseo and I took photos for each other and had our meal.
"How is it? It's been a while since I cooked, so I'm a bit worried my skills might have gotten rusty."
"You could even open a restaurant? It's so delicious. Meat is the best after all."
"Eat a lot. How about you, Se-Jin?"
"Everything is so delicious, but I like the pasta the most. It tastes exactly like what we ate in Gangwon-do before."
"Gangwon-do? Ah, you mean when we were preparing for WHCU?"
"Yes. It's exactly the same as back then."
"Really? That's probably because I used sauce from the same company. The taste of big corporations indeed."
"Rather than the taste of big corporations, I think it's because our honey's love and sincerity are contained in it?"
"Right. Eat a lot."
What's this? It's really strange.
Usually, when I make such cheesy comments, Teacher gets extremely embarrassed... but today he's too calm.
After finishing the meal, Eunseo said she would do the dishes, so I took out fruit from subspace to eat as dessert.
Around the time I finished cutting all the fruit, Eunseo also finished washing dishes and returned.
"I have something to tell you two today."
"I knew you did something wrong."
It seems Eunseo also thought something was a bit strange.
"It's not like that - it's about Luciel."
"Sister Luciel?"
"Yeah. Luciel won't be coming to this side for a while."
"What?"
"What do you mean? Sister Luciel not coming... Did you two fight?"
"We didn't fight, there are just some circumstances. You can meet her if you go to Luciel's world, so we're not parting forever."
"No, what circumstances?"
Is it because of magic research?
"Well, it would take too long to explain... since it's related anyway, can I talk about something else first?"
"Yes."
I also nodded.
"You both remember the Demon King I talked about last time, right?"
"Of course we remember. You said once we defeat that Demon King bastard, this whole situation would end."
"Right. The Demon King will descend in two days."
"T-two days?"
"I thought there would be a bit more time..."
"Luciel measured it that way. The location is likely New York, but it could change. Anyway, that's not the important part - Luciel can't go to that place."
"Why not? Sister Luciel said she suffered a lot from the Demon King last time and would get revenge this time."
"I heard that too... well, it doesn't matter, does it? Anyway, with just our honey there..."
"No. It's not certain, but I might not be there at that time either."
Our honey won't be there?
***
It's futile.
There's a saying that effort never betrays you, but I know that effort doesn't always bring rewards.
But still, this isn't right...
Unlike last time when he simply showed me the future, the Primordial Heavenly Honored One gave quite detailed explanations this time.
The reason why the Demon King that was originally trying to descend to this world wanted to descend was because he coveted Luciel's power.
The portal where Luciel awakened was originally a portal where demons existed.
Because she awakened there, the Demon King noticed Luciel's existence and tried to descend.
But that Demon King was apparently annihilated.
When I asked what the problem was then, he said the one who annihilated the Demon King that was trying to descend here was a Demon God who noticed Luciel's existence thanks to Luciel traveling around the outside world and using her power for the past three years...
I was dumbfounded when I heard the story.
I didn't know there was a Demon God ... no, if he had properly told me the cause from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened...
"Are you going right now?"
"Do I have to go right now?"
"The sooner the better. There's still a little time left, but not much leeway. If we're even a little late and that thing gets closer to here, the possibility of this place being caught up in the shock would increase."
"...Assuming I go as late as possible while preventing the shock from reaching here, how much time is left?"
"You must depart within two days at the latest."