A Black Flower Blooms
"W-What?! Wh-When did you…"
Cho Seohyun hurriedly turned her head away and began wiping at her tears.
Armonia, a handkerchief.
I held out the handkerchief that had materialized in my hand and offered it to Cho Seohyun.
"Here. Use this."
"Ah… I-I'm not crying! Th-There's just dust in my eyes…"
"Haha…"
Cho Seohyun took the handkerchief, wiped her tears, then turned back to stare at me intently.
"It really is you, right?"
"Of course."
"…Where on earth have you been?"
The look on Cho Seohyun's face was completely different from the tearful one from a moment ago. Anger simmered in her eyes as she glared at me. It made perfect sense. When a child goes missing, a parent weeps and searches desperately—then, the moment the child is found, they smack them upside the head and scold them half to death. That was love.
…Or was it?
"I'll explain."
"…"
I told her how a group of mysterious assailants had suddenly appeared and chased me, how I'd barely managed to shake them off, and how I'd only just now been able to make it back to the academy. It wasn't a matter of weeks or months—just a single day. Perfectly plausible. On top of that, for some reason my smartwatch had stopped working entirely, leaving me with no way to contact anyone.
"I spent the whole time running around the mountain behind the academy. Barely had a moment to think."
"Haa…"
After listening to everything, Cho Seohyun took hold of both my arms, bowed her head, and murmured in a small voice.
"I was worried about you…"
"I'm sorry."
Still gripping my arms with her head lowered, Cho Seohyun then looked up at me and whispered softly.
"I'm just so glad you're safe."
The Cho Seohyun before me was nothing like the one she usually showed the world. The strict instructor. The quirky colleague. The tender, affectionate woman. Everyone treated different people differently, of course—but with Cho Seohyun, I always got the sense that she kept those lines carefully drawn. And yet she kept shifting those faces for me, one after another, letting me see every side of her.
I didn't want to lose a woman like that.
"Still, it's a little late for dinner together tonight, isn't it?"
"Ha… Is that really what matters right now?"
Cho Seohyun let out a hollow laugh as she looked up at me. The sadness and anxiety had completely vanished from her face. All that remained was pure relief. Well… I supposed it would look pretty ridiculous for a guy who'd just been missing to suddenly reappear and say, "Guess it's too late for dinner, huh?"
I gave her a wry smile and spoke.
"Next time, I promise I'll keep our appointment. For now, since it's late, we should head inside and—"
"Wait…"
I'd been about to suggest we head back to the dorms, given the hour. But Cho Seohyun cut me off, gently catching the sleeve of my clothes between her fingers to stop me. Then she just… held on, saying nothing, sinking into silence.
"…? Instructor Cho Seohyun?"
"I-It's… not midnight yet…"
"But right now…"
Night had already given way to the small hours. Soon it would be fair to call it dawn. We could hardly sit out here unpacking a lunch box at a time like this…
While I scratched my head, Cho Seohyun mumbled something under her breath.
"It's still… before… twelve… a little longer…"
"Sorry? I didn't quite catch—"
I stepped closer so I could hear her properly, and finally got a clear look at her face. Cho Seohyun was fidgeting restlessly. She clenched her fists and forced the words out loud enough for me to hear.
"It's still… not past midnight yet…. Stay a little longer…"
"…"
Even among coworkers, casually suggesting a meal or a meetup was perfectly normal. But asking someone to stay with you in the dead of night—that carried an entirely different meaning. My relationship with Cho Seohyun still had a long road ahead of it, but she kept pointing out the path I needed to walk. All I had to do was trust the road she showed me and walk it, steadily.
I stepped up beside her, smiled softly, and stroked her hair.
"If Cadet Cho Seohyun wants it, then of course I should oblige."
"W-Wait! Th-That's—"
"Hm? Should I stop?"
"…"
Cho Seohyun's pupils were trembling so hard you could practically see the earthquake even in the middle of the night. After a long stretch of hesitant mumbling, she finally managed to speak.
"D-Do… whatever you want… please…"
"Haha…"
After that, I spent the rest of the time on the rooftop gently stroking Cho Seohyun's hair.
Seong Sua saw off the mages from the Tower and offered her farewells.
"Thank you so much for all your hard work."
"We're sorry we couldn't be of more help."
The hour was already tipping toward dawn, and the people from the Tower could hardly be expected to waste an entire day hanging around the academy. Once the send-off was finished, Seong Sua turned her gaze toward the rooftop.
"…Unnie's probably still up there."
She began making her way slowly toward the building's roof.
"Haa… haa…"
As she climbed the stairs at a measured pace, the strength drained from her body and a wave of dizziness washed over her. The events of the previous day had left Seong Sua thoroughly exhausted. She'd burned through every last drop of her mana, and on top of that she'd spent nearly two full days searching for Sung Suho without a single wink of sleep. Mentally and physically, she should have collapsed and been hauled off to a hospital long ago. But she clung stubbornly to both mind and body and pressed on toward the rooftop where Cho Seohyun was waiting.
She could have explained the situation over the phone ages ago, but she was afraid a call would only invite more misunderstanding—so out of guilt, she hadn't dialed.
"First… I need to tell Unnie… what happened…. Haa… haa…"
Dragging her worn-out body along, Seong Sua finally managed to reach the rooftop. Cold wind drifted gently in through the open metal door.
"Unnie's outside…"
Just as she was about to step out onto the roof, a voice rode in on the breeze.
"A-Are you… okay…?"
"Yeah. Your form's looking good."
Through the fog of her spinning head, Seong Sua caught Cho Seohyun's voice.
What? Is someone with her?
Seong Sua carefully peeked her head past the doorway and looked out. On the dark rooftop stood two people with a striking difference in height. Cho Seohyun… and Sung Suho, holding her in his arms.
…What?
Faced with a situation she couldn't begin to process, Seong Sua's brain seemed to short-circuit. She stared blankly at the two of them. What she'd taken for an embrace turned out to be Sung Suho giving Cho Seohyun various instructions.
"Good. Your form's improved a lot."
"Th-Thank you…"
Cho Seohyun held a bow, drawing the string and settling into her stance, while Sung Suho stood behind her checking her posture.
Why… are the two of them…
To Seong Sua, none of it made any sense. She'd been searching for the missing Sung Suho—and somehow he'd reappeared and was holding Cho Seohyun. On top of that, their speech patterns were completely reversed from usual: Cho Seohyun was using formal language, while Sung Suho spoke casually. On the surface it looked almost like a conversation between an instructor and a cadet. And as she watched the intimate scene between them, something began to stir in a corner of Seong Sua's heart.
Inside her chest existed a magnificent flower garden. It had grown a little less vibrant under the weight of loneliness, but it had always been a kind of sanctuary that kept her standing. With that garden, she could offer bright smiles to the people around her. And now, a single black seed was being planted in that garden.
Before she knew it, the fresh, gentle smile Seong Sua had always worn had transformed into something sharp and rough.
I… searched so desperately for him…. And Unnie is just…
If there was one person in the world Seong Sua felt genuine envy toward, it was Cho Seohyun. She had convinced herself that Cho Seohyun was the reason her fiancé, Cho Kang-hyun, had started keeping his distance. Not knowing Cho Seohyun's side of things, Seong Sua couldn't help but misunderstand. Cho Seohyun had always grumbled whenever she saw Seong Sua, always looked at her with open disapproval. Seong Sua was certain Cho Seohyun was pulling the same stunt all over again.
Staring hard at the two of them, Seong Sua whispered words she had never once allowed past her lips in her entire life.
"…This is so annoying."
In one corner of Seong Sua's flower garden, a black flower began to bloom.
I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine and flinched, turning my head.
"Hm?"
I could have sworn someone was watching from behind…
Cho Seohyun, startled by my reaction, fidgeted and asked in formal speech.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Ah… nothing."
I couldn't quite shake that cold sensation, but I wrapped up the little roleplay with Cho Seohyun all the same.
…
…
Wow… this is a bit much, isn't it?
I walked into the dormitory with a hollow laugh.
"Still, you'd think they'd show a little more concern when someone goes missing and then turns back up, right?"
I'd parted ways with Cho Seohyun and headed straight for the dorms. When I tried to explain my situation to the dormitory guard so I could get inside…
("Lucky you. If you'd still been missing tomorrow, we'd have cleared out your room. Hahaha!")
("…")
I really wanted to punch that shamelessly grinning guard in the face, but I held back. I wasn't confident I could win a close-quarters fight, after all…
At least the system was efficient—once the guard heard my story, he promptly struck me from the missing persons list. The real problem was Seong Sua. According to Cho Seohyun, Seong Sua had spent the entire night searching for me as well. The issue was that I, a mere assistant instructor, was in no position to go combing the campus for her at this hour. Fortunately, I'd heard she was heading back to the dorms herself, so I'd been able to return as well.
I'll get up early tomorrow and go find her.
Heh heh… Later on I'll have to ask her to cook for me in nothing but a naked apron~
What? Do you have any idea how insanely hot that would be?
The important thing was that I'd already set one snare around Seong Sua. The Seong Sua I knew was not the type to forget a favor. She was definitely the kind of woman who'd find some way to repay it. I'd deal with Seong Sua tomorrow… The real issue was—
Armonia, show me a recording of what happened yesterday.
A screen appeared before my eyes. The location was the rooftop. Rena stood beside me, and corpses were piled all around. Then came those bizarre phenomena… Objects nearby had flown through the air as if possessed of free will, and Rena's sword had undergone some absurd weathering process—rust seeping through it until it crumbled into orange metal dust that scattered across the floor.
Honestly, talking it over with Armonia aboard the ship, I'd already been able to make a guess at the true nature of those phenomena.
Cho Kang-hyun… right?
It was far too grotesque to call ordinary magic. But just because something was grotesque didn't automatically mean I could pin it on Cho Kang-hyun. We simply didn't have enough information…
We'll… set that aside for now.
There was no point forcing the pieces together in our current state. I brought up the most important topic.
What do you think about raising Rena's magic resistance?
Rena's physical capabilities already far surpassed my own. She was someone who could go toe-to-toe with the so-called Heroes of this world. Her fatal weakness, however, was magic resistance. On the Illunia continent, magic had barely developed at all, so there had never been any reason for magic resistance to evolve in the first place.
…?
We, what?
Armonia paused longer than usual before continuing over the comms.
…
Still can't say the company name properly, huh. Tsk tsk…
Let's raise Rena's magic resistance for now.
Ideally I'd push it all the way to 10, but we only had about 50,000 Enel on hand. Figuring something was better than nothing, I awakened Rena's magic resistance and raised it to 8. The cost came to roughly 22,000 Enel. Since I no longer had any reason to cast sleep or Dream Intrusion magic on Rena, I felt no hesitation about investing in her resistance. From now on, I had to start thinking about deploying not just myself but Rena on missions as well.
Whew… that about covers it, right?
Good… then…
My eyes landed on the VR headgear.
Maybe I'll hop into War of Religions for a bit.
I put on the VR headgear right away and logged into the game.