Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: To the Original Place (2)
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I quickened my pace.
I could see Udo in the distance.
“Udo!”
I called out, waving my hand.
“Huh? Where are you going!”
Despite seeing me, Udo didn't stop. Instead, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
“Wait!”
I dashed forward and blocked his path.
“Udo, Udo. Heading back from personal training?”
“....”
Normally, Udo would have shot some sarcastic remark at me for blocking his way, but he just scowled.
I heard he was blaming himself for being the first to be eliminated in the group competition, and it seemed he still hadn't gotten over it.
“...If you don't have anything to say, move.”
The words he finally uttered lacked his usual energy.
The way he vaguely avoided my gaze told me his condition was more serious than I'd heard.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue before I could stop myself.
To get into this state over something as trivial as winning or losing a group competition.
Twitch.
Udo's brow furrowed.
“...You.”
He seemed to have taken offense at my clicking my tongue in front of him.
“...Never mind.”
But instead of snapping at me, Udo sighed and turned away.
“Don't tell me you think our loss in the group competition was your fault?”
Udo, who was about to walk away, flinched and stopped.
“Our team faced Team 2 right after Team 1. It would have been a miracle if we'd won against Team 2 in that state.”
I continued talking to his back.
“Don't you think we fought well enough, considering Team 2's individual skills were superior to ours to begin with?”
There was still no answer.
“I couldn't beat Amelia, and Lian couldn't beat Hummel. That result was a defeat for all of us, not just one person.”
I wasn't just spouting nonsense to comfort him.
Achieving Geomyeong made me delusional for a moment.
I thought I was really something.
I acted as if I were special in this Cradle, a place teeming with geniuses and prodigies.
I forgot my place and forgot what this place was.
And the price for that forgetfulness was a crushing defeat.
“You.”
Udo turned around.
“You did more than your part. Everyone did. I was the only one who failed to properly fulfill my role.”
The self-blame was clear on his face.
“What are you talking about? Didn't you see me get knocked out after just a few clashes with Amelia?”
“That was because your training sword unluckily broke. If your sword had been fine, the result might have been different.”
“That's just an excuse.”
“I...!”
Udo suddenly shouted.
“...don't even have that excuse.”
After glaring fiercely at me, Udo dropped his head.
“Because I lost completely.”
No, was it that bad?
I was busy exchanging blows with Amelia, so I didn't see Udo get eliminated myself.
But it seemed he'd lost more overwhelmingly than I thought.
“It wasn't even her main weapon, the bow. It was a spear. I lost in close combat to an archer with a spear.”
“Emma was eliminated by that cadet too, wasn't she?”
“She didn't lose so badly that she had no room for excuses, like I did.”
No matter what I said, the answer was the same.
I lost to an archer in close combat, and our team lost because of me.
That was the gist of it.
“Ha. I've heard enough of this.”
Watching Udo repeat the same thing over and over, something inside me snapped.
“There's a limit to whining.”
Udo's eyes widened.
“Our team lost because you got eliminated? Are you that important?”
He looked hurt.
“Fine. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we lost because of you. So what? Did someone die? Is the Cradle going to expel our entire team because we're useless?”
Ignoring him, I continued to lash out.
“Is it the end of the world or something?”
His weak mentality infuriated me.
No one died, and no one's life was turned upside down.
It was just a single loss in a mock battle, nothing more than child's play among a bunch of kids.
“If you're going to make such a fuss over something like this, just pack your bags and go back to the lower world. Go home and take over the family business.”
With an attitude like this, it would be better for both Udo and everyone else if he left the Cradle and inherited his family's merchant guild.
Because if his spirit broke on the battlefield, he wouldn't be the only one to die.
A weak commander who can't endure a brief disadvantage or the scent of defeat.
The worst kind.
The type of commander I would never want to meet on the battlefield.
“What do you know! What does a talented guy like you know!”
Udo screamed in frustration.
I couldn't help but laugh.
‘A dunce with not a speck of talent.’
‘A hopeless squire.’
‘The unremarkable Yan.’
I could say with certainty that no one understood the feeling of being surpassed by the talented better than I did.
“What do I know?”
I'd spent fifteen long years working like a dog, unable to even catch the stars' attention, let alone make a Vow.
“I know that a man steeped in a sense of defeat has no future.”
And yet, I never gave up.
Despite all the ridicule and contempt, I stubbornly struggled to become a knight.
And in the end, I died a miserable death.
To a third party, it was a wretched and worthless life.
The pathetic life of someone who chased an empty dream beyond his reach, only to fall flat.
I used to think so, too.
At least, until today.
“Even if I'm ridiculed as a dunce like before, even if I'm pointed at as a good-for-nothing who will never succeed.”
I realized it anew.
I didn't regret my past life.
I wasn't ashamed of the time I spent trying to become a knight.
“I'm going to see it through to the end.”
I decided to no longer deny my past life.
I intended to give this life my all as well.
“What are you suddenly talking about...?”
Udo's baffled voice snapped me out of my solemn resolution.
“Ah, ahh.”
To get all worked up and declare my resolve while trying to lecture someone.
It was so embarrassing.
“Anyway! If you're going to act like that over one loss, then just quit everything!”
I yelled to hide my embarrassment.
“....”
Udo stared at me blankly.
“What, what is it.”
His gaze made me feel so ashamed that I just kept acting irritated.
“You're a strange one.”
After a long moment, Udo spoke.
“Actually, back home, my father used to scold me harshly for this personality of mine. Not every business venture turns a profit, but I tend to be very sensitive to even small losses.”
But his face looked somehow relieved.
“Part of the reason my father wanted me to become a knight was so I could fix this part of myself. But here I was, doing it again.”
Udo smiled sheepishly and placed a hand on the crown of my head.
“What do you think you're doing!”
I slapped his hand away.
“I didn't understand that whole long-winded speech, but I got the part about not moping around.”
Even after getting his hand smacked, Udo didn't seem particularly upset.
“Thanks to you, my head feels clearer.”
As he said that, Udo's aura seemed quite mature.
It felt like he had grown up in an instant.
For some reason, that rubbed me the wrong way.
“A fourteen-year-old brat acting like a grown-up.”
He hadn't even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet, just a big body for a kid.
“I'm not just saying that. I really feel like I've come to my senses.”
I sidled up to him and whispered.
“No. You haven't fully come to your senses yet. The wounds on your soul from the last defeat are still there.”
“What?”
“What to do? Leaving a wound on the soul untreated will always lead to trouble later.”
“What are you talking about? I'm really fine now.”
I breezily ignored his words.
“Hah. I guess it can't be helped. As it happens, I have a special elixir that's excellent for healing wounds of the soul.”
I slyly held out the elixir made by Professor Yuria that I took from my coat.
Udo flinched and took a step back.
His gaze toward the vial was filled with suspicion.
But that was only for a moment.
“For your information, Professor Yuria made this. There's nothing better for stabilizing the mind and body. The professor herself guaranteed it.”
Hearing that the elixir's creator was the White Knight of the House of Yurendel of Revival, Udo's expression changed.
“Care to try some?”
After that, it was a foregone conclusion.
I conscientiously explained that there might be a very minor (?) side effect from taking the elixir, and Udo expressed his willingness to accept it.
I'd explained the side effects and received his consent. There was no longer any reason to hesitate.
“Here.”
I handed Udo the fresh elixir I had just received today.
And right in front of me, Udo drained the vial in one gulp.
“Ooh!”
Just like with Jamal Rudiger, the elixir's effect was immediate.
The dark circles under Udo's eyes, caused by his recent distress, instantly returned to their normal color.
Color returned to his face, and his eyes sparkled with vigor.
“This is amazing! I can feel strength surging through my whole body the moment I drank it!”
Udo couldn't stop marveling at the elixir's effects.
But I couldn't purely sympathize with his admiration.
“The headache I've had is completely gone! And my head feels kind of cool, too.”
I wanted to tell him.
I really, really wanted to tell him.
That it wasn't just a feeling—the top of his head had actually gotten cooler.
Whoosh.
Unable to control his overflowing energy, Udo twisted his body back and forth, his hair scattering with each movement.
***
“What's with your hair, Udo?”
It was the first time Team 3 had gathered in a while.
“I shaved it all off to reflect on the past and make a fresh start.”
Lian and the other kids didn't seem to doubt his words.
“Looks manly. It suits you.”
“Yeah. A man should have that kind of spirit.”
They simply gave him a thumbs-up for his extraordinary resolve and offered words of encouragement.
“But Yan, why are you making that face?”
“What, you got something to say?”
Instead of answering, I shook my head.
The glare I felt from right beside me was scorching.
I subtly turned my head.
Sseup.
Udo was glaring, his lips pressed into a thin line.
My gaze drifted upward against my will.
A perfectly round head, without a single dent.
His shiny head was quite fetching.
Lian's comment about it suiting him was definitely not an empty compliment.
Cheok.
I desperately suppressed the twitching corners of my mouth and gave him a thumbs-up.
Udo, who had been glaring at me, whipped his head away with a whoosh.
But he didn't seem truly bothered by his hair.
In fact, Udo himself was quite satisfied with his new hairstyle (?).
Something about how it looked manly and strong.
He'd even refused Professor Yuria's offer to take responsibility and fix the side effect.
“Anyway, it's nice that we're all gathered like this after so long.”
“Not just Udo, but Yan, you've been gone for a while too.”
The atmosphere was warm.
But the warm atmosphere didn't last long.
[Cadet Yan, cease what you are doing and come to the Director's office immediately. I repeat. Cadet Yan, cease what you are doing and come to the Director's office...]
At the voice coming from the speaker, the kids all turned to look at me as if on cue.
“You're being summoned again.”
“What on earth have you been doing out there?”
I shrugged at the words of the sisters, Selma and Emma, and stood up.
Then I headed straight for the Director's office.
When I arrived at the Director's office, the Vice Director, not the Director, was waiting for me as always.
“I'm quite sure the terminal we provided wasn't meant to be used as a stake in a card game.”
Faced with a rebuke instead of a greeting, I could only blink.
“The price for the Myeongbu has been decided.”