ch 265
Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 265
"Uncle, aren't you going to order? You came here a long time ago and you can't just occupy a seat."
I took out my phone to check the time and an hour had already passed.
"I'm sorry. I'll come again next time."
It seems I was wrong again this time too.
Today is Mother's birthday.
I had promised that I would really settle everything now and wouldn't meet her anymore, and we decided to have dinner together, but Mother didn't show up.
I left the restaurant and hailed a taxi.
"Where shall I take you?"
When I gave him the address, the taxi started moving.
After driving for about 20 minutes, we arrived at a secluded residential area.
After walking for about 3 minutes, I could see a familiar blue house.
This is where Mother's mother, my maternal grandmother, lives.
When I went to the parking space in the back, sure enough, Mother and the families of her affair partner were all gathered there again this time.
"Let's go! How did your mother raise her daughter, that she goes around wagging her tail at other people's husbands? Let's go to your mother too and tell her everything!"
The woman grabbing Mother's hair and fighting with her is the wife of the affair partner.
She met that man again and the partner's family came here saying they would tell Grandmother about it.
There's no need to stop them.
In the past and through repeated trials, I kept stopping them, but anyway...
Sure enough, this time too, my aunts and uncles appeared and separated the affair partner.
"What is this? Coming to someone else's house at this hour and causing trouble?"
After shouting, fighting, and making a commotion, the affair partner's family went back.
Mother avoided my gaze and my aunts and uncles scolded Mother.
"Why do you meet such a pathetic guy?"
"Aren't you embarrassed in front of the children?"
The looks my aunts and uncles gave me were full of sympathy.
In the past, I really thought it was miserable.
Today was not only Mother's birthday but also the day I was launching my work that I had been preparing for a long time.
Apart from my expectations being shattered, I believed that I would be congratulated and reconciled and we could return to being the family we used to be, but on this day I was betrayed once again.
My mental state was completely shattered and I couldn't write a single word.
I went on hiatus right after launching, so I got criticized and my performance was completely ruined.
But now there's no special emotion or anything.
Anyway, it's all just past that's already gone.
I can't turn it back and I knew this would happen.
Most importantly, I'm not experiencing this situation just once or twice.
This is the fifth time... no, was it the sixth time?
These three months have been repeating continuously since I first entered the trial.
In the past six attempts, I really tried everything I could do.
I persuaded Mother and even went to the point of actually jumping off the balcony, saying let's die together.
When that didn't work, I even brought my annoying older sister to persuade her together, and I waited in advance at the motel where she was going with her affair partner and attacked them.
I even helped the two of them escape in a previous round.
I really tried everything I could, but none of it was the answer, and time just kept repeating.
In a week, it will return to the beginning again...
It's frustrating and hopeless.
I thought it wouldn't be easy, but to this extent...
"I'll be going now."
I greeted my aunts and uncles and returned to my studio apartment.
Mother didn't look at me until the end, and I also turned away from such a mother.
Why does she want to continue such a dirty love?
I can't understand it.
I also like three people but I don't hurt the people around me... Right, at first people opposed it too.
Maybe it's hypocrisy... bullshit.
Luciel, Eunseo, and Se-jin aren't married women with families.
Even though their families were a little hurt and shocked because I love the three of them and the three of them love me, I made them all understand and accept it and got their permission.
But Mother and that affair man destroyed both families...
RING! RING!
At the vibration sound, I checked my phone and it was from the affair partner's children.
When I didn't answer the call, a text message came.
[Your mother and our father disappeared together.]
Again?
Has this happened before?
Well, it must have.
It's not just once or twice that I've been contacted.
It's really tiresome.
So what do they want me to do about it?
I sent a reply saying I would cut ties and not to contact me anymore, then turned off my phone.
Actually, even sending such a message saying I'm cutting ties is useless.
The affair partner's family keeps contacting me.
They don't just contact me.
If I avoid contact, they think I'm helping their father and our mother's affair, so they even come and cause a commotion.
Why else would I have even fled to a foreign country?
My younger sibling is in the military, my older sister lives in a different region and blocked all contact from the beginning, so I'm the only one they can contact, I understand that.
The perpetrators are the affair man and our mother, but I'm also a victim like them.
Whether I help Mother and the affair man or not, they torment me terribly.
It's not like I committed a crime... Wait, could this be it?
***
I finished checking even the last documents.
Looking out the window, it had become dark before I knew it.
Just like my heart right now.
I used teleportation magic to move to a park near my house.
I want to walk a little.
It's already been a year since the Demon King's descent happened.
Of course, the damage from the Demon King and the monsters that suddenly poured out was indescribably great.
Of course, now countries around the world have joined forces and made efforts, and recovery has been achieved to some extent.
I also took over Ares Guild in place of Sister Se-jin and worked hard on damage recovery.
Fortunately, our country had prepared thoroughly in advance and it wasn't the place where the Demon King directly descended, so it didn't take long to regain its former appearance.
The monsters that escaped at that time have all been dealt with, and portals no longer appear.
Media outlets like TV and newspapers celebrate that the world has regained peace, and work has definitely decreased, but I don't agree at all.
Because brother, who left saying he would save Sister Se-jin, hasn't returned.
When brother, who I can say is my everything, hasn't returned, what peace?
Should I not have let him go then?
No, brother would have gone even if I tried to stop him.
Still, it would have been nice if we had spent even a little time together.
If we had, I could have endured with those memories at least.
Not long after brother left, sister Luciel also left my side.
She didn't challenge Hell's Gate like brother, but disappeared saying she would conduct magic research.
It must be sister’s own way of enduring.
With a hopeful heart, I took out my wallet and tore a leaf.
My vision changed in an instant.
I've been to sister’s world many times, but there's one thing that's different from before.
Around the large Demon Realm Tree, a translucent blue barrier has been installed.
Since I last told her to let me know immediately when brother returns, sister Luciel hasn't come out from inside this... Huh?
The blue barrier split and sister Luciel appeared.
"Unnie?"
"Our Eunseo, it's been a while. By any chance, is Shin-hyeok..."
"No. Brother still hasn't..."
"I see. Not yet."
Even though I said brother still hasn't returned, sister’s expression looks bright.
Did she finish the magic research she was doing?
Wait, could the magic she's researching be something that can bring brother back here?
If it's really something like that...
"I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your face. Unfortunately, the research I was doing isn't magic to bring Shin-hyeok back."
"I see..."
"Eunseo, don't you trust Shin-hyeok? This won't do. I'll have to tell him everything when Shin-hyeok returns."
Of course I trust him too, but sister’s faith seems really amazing.
"...You can tell him, so I just wish brother would return quickly."
"Right. Shin-hyeok is really mean, isn't he? He said he'd return quickly. Has it been about a year now?"
"Br... Brother isn't mean. Sister will tell on you too."
Anyway, sister has the same feelings as me, so she probably doesn't care at all, but it's been a while so I complained a little.
"I don't mind. That guy Shin-hyeok should prostrate himself and beg when he returns. He's a sinner who left me lonely for a year after saying he'd make me happier than anyone else."
"That's right. Oh, sister, shall I give you some chocolate bars?"
"I was just about to ask, do you have Twix?"
She still likes chocolate bars.
"Of course. I have ten boxes."
I used subspace magic to take them out and handed them to sister.
She smiled brightly and skillfully tore open the chocolate bar wrapper.
I envy sister.
She finished one box in an instant, but for some reason she doesn't eat more and opens subspace to store the rest.
"Are you saving them? I'll buy more. Eat more."
"That's not it, I promised Shin-hyeok to eat only one box a day. It would be a bit awkward not to keep the promise just because he's not here."
...The expression on sister’s face as she speaks is familiar.
Sister is also missing him a lot.
"Eunseo."
"Yes?"
"The magic research isn't finished yet. But it will be completed soon."
"That's good. Then I'll visit often... unnie?"
Suddenly she grabs my hand and looks into my eyes.
It's a serious and earnest expression unlike sister.
"You like Shin-hyeok, right?"
"Yes? What obvious thing are you saying? I don't like him."
"Huh? You don't like him?"
"It's not that I like him, I love... Ack!"
Sister flicks my forehead.
"I'm going to tell brother everything later."
"Hmph, you deserved it. I know well that you love Shin-hyeok."
"But why are you asking such a question..."
"I think it's good to make sure, so I'll ask once more. If Shin-hyeok is there, everything else doesn't matter, right?"
She asked with such a serious expression that I thought she would ask some difficult question.
There's no need to even think about it.
"Of course. Oppa is my everything."
***
[Your destination is coming up ahead shortly.]
I could see a small factory ahead, so I parked the car right next to it.
I came here even renting a car, but it was quite far.
Now that I'm here, I feel a bit reluctant.
Is this really the right answer?
Maybe... no.
Anyway, if it goes wrong, I can just start over, so there's no need to hesitate, I thought as I turned off the engine.
Then I took out my phone from my pants pocket and made a call.
---What's the matter?
"I'm in front of the company now."
---In front of the company?
It's a quite surprised voice.
Well, he probably never thought I would come here.
"I have something to talk about. You said the dormitory is inside the factory, are you somewhere else?"
---I'm out in the town center now.
"Then I'll come to you. Please send me the store name by text."
I hung up and started the engine again, then a text arrived.
The town center wasn't far, so I arrived in about 20 minutes.
[Hosik Hop]
I parked and went inside the store, but there were only foreigners.
They seem like foreign workers working at nearby factories, did I come to the wrong store?
"Oh? You really came."
Fortunately, I didn't come to the wrong place as I could see the person I was looking for.
"These are friends who work with dad. Guys, this is my son."
Right. What I came for is father, who I hadn't gotten along with well even before mother's incident broke out, so we didn't talk properly, and after I left home, I never met him even once.
"I said I had something to talk about earlier, can we talk separately for a moment?"
Since it's the town center, I was worried he might be drinking, but seeing his clear face, fortunately he doesn't seem to have been drinking.
"What's the story? Dad has to take these friends back to the dormitory."
"Foreman, we're all done eating."
"We can go now."
"These guys... Then will you wait here for a bit? Or did you buy a car?"
"I didn't buy one, it's a rental. I'll go with you too."
We paid and went outside, heading back to the factory.
We arrived at the factory and I waited a moment, then father came out again.
"What important thing did you have to say that you came at this hour, even renting a car?"
"Mom is having an affair."