Great-Grandson #035
If we skip the trivial details, the four weeks of training had produced truly remarkable results. The fundamentals I had earned after thoroughly scolding myself. Just hearing the word “fundamentals” might make it sound pathetically weak, but for me it was anything but.
It wasn’t simply that I had learned the sword under Cheon Mari’s influence. I had also grasped the starting points of several different martial arts. Of course, “several” didn’t mean dozens. Muay Thai and Taekwondo—Earth-born fighting styles. The Far North Striking Technique and Far North Swordsmanship from Shareltea’s northern reaches. Four, maybe five at most. Still, when measuring the actual weight of the training, the latter pair had clearly dominated.
Honestly, I had expected her to teach me nameless techniques born from her own experience. I never imagined she would pass on those archaic arts with “Far North” in the name. They were mocked online as difficult to learn and inefficient, so I had assumed they would be worse than useless. Yet according to her, even outdated martial arts were unmatched when it came to “torturing and beating people into submission.” In the end, I had no choice but to trust Cheon Mari, who possessed far more real combat experience than any basement-dwelling cyber warrior.
“Not bad at all. That’s a relief.”
Looking at everything I had learned so far, the results were better than I had anticipated. Good enough that I occasionally entertained the wild delusion that I might even be able to defeat Lim Hana right now. In an actual fight I would lose, of course, but the point was that the training had been genuinely effective.
And so the four-week basic course came to an end. It was time for the real intermediate curriculum to begin.
The only unfortunate part was that training had been temporarily suspended. All because of a small mistake committed by the friend who was teaching me. Who could have guessed that her demand for “realism” in training would lead her to set the training hall floor on fire? Who could have predicted that an impulsive act without any contingency plan would spiral out of control? The hall wasn’t completely incinerated, but roughly half of it had burned away.
“See? I told you not to do it!”
“Ah, so this is how it turns out.”
“Miss, the chairman has ordered you to discharge immediately and return home.”
“The Flame Girl, passing at the age of fifteen……”
“Hey, stop talking nonsense and just hurry home already.”
As a result, Cheon Mari was forcibly discharged so she could go home and receive her scolding. She had claimed training would resume in a few days, but this was the reason for the temporary halt. The fact that her offense had been outrageously severe yet ended with nothing more than a reprimand gave me a clear sense of exactly how high she stood within the family. According to her, her advice had led to massive success for the company’s ventures and solidified her position. As expected of a regressor. It might not be a bad idea to ask her to manage and grow the money I had saved.
“Huuuaaaam—”
Which was why I could lie lazily in bed like this. Even though I was resting, the start of the new school term was approaching, and completely different days were about to begin. The feeling was strangely bittersweet.
I walked to the window for a change of mood, and the modern wilderness came into view. I idly activated my ability and rolled my eyes upward; clear snowflakes drifted down slowly. Christmas and Lunar New Year had already passed, yet this white trash was still falling. Between the city built of metal and mana stones, the softly descending white petals refused to stop even as spring drew near. They said it snowed all six hundred days of the year in Shareltea’s Far North. If I started working as a hunter, how much of this would I have to witness?
It was around the time that idle question crossed my mind that the hospital room door opened with polite care. The fact that it didn’t slam open told me instantly it wasn’t Cheon Mari. I closed the window against the blowing snow and turned around to find familiar figures standing there. I broke into a wide smile and approached.
“Grandma!”
“Aigoo, our great-grandson. Did your great-grandmother come too late~?”
“Hehe, no, not at all!”
Even after living through countless years, she still looked young and beautiful. A Far North elf with silver hair and teal eyes who had become an elder through sheer ability. My grandmother—who was technically my great-grandmother—had come to visit me in the hospital.
“Have you been well, Grandma?”
“Of course I have~ But this grandmother was so worried about her polite and adorable great-grandson~”
“Hehet.”
The reason I called her “Grandma” instead of “Great-Grandmother” was simple. My actual grandparents had passed away just like my parents, so it was easier this way. Grandma hung her wooden magic wand on the wall, then stroked my head and touched my face here and there. Like any grandmother, she began dispensing timeless wisdom. She pulled crumpled bills from her pocket and declared she would give me allowance, lamented that her precious great-grandson had grown so thin, wondered what on earth had happened to make his face so gaunt, announced that she must take me home and feed me properly—typical grandmotherly talk.
My aunt, who had followed her in, simply smiled as though she had heard the exact same things while growing up.
“Ah, by the way, Sian. You’re transferring middle schools this year, right?”
“Yes! I decided to move to one a little farther away!”
“Grandmother thinks the hunter middle school you attend now is perfectly fine… Must you really transfer?”
Yes. I absolutely must. I have no desire to spend the next two years staring at the faces of drug addicts. The very first thing I had asked my aunt after returning alive was to transfer schools. It was partly to reduce the chance of future problems, but mainly because regular middle schools let out much earlier. Better to spend that time training at Nartika than learning useless things at a hunter school. I hadn’t expected Cheon Mari to decide to transfer along with me, though.
“Ah, well… Sian has low magic power, so he found it difficult to adapt to hunter school.”
My aunt answered Grandmother’s question. Grandmother opened her mouth, then nodded in understanding.
“Then where exactly are you transferring to?”
“A regular middle school that’s a one-hour walk from home.”
“A one-hour walk…? Isn’t that too far?”
“It’s fine. I’ll just wake up early and walk as morning exercise.”
The early wake-up was actually an excuse to avoid running into Lim Hana every morning.
“It would be better if you just lived at Grandmother’s house and attended a school nearby…”
“Grandma, that place is deep in the mountains.”
My aunt answered in shock. I, too, could only stare in astonishment. Never mind the fact that there was no internet in the Far North—did she really expect me to commute to and from school in a place where monsters roamed around saying “Please take me home~”? I could confidently declare there was nothing more horrifying to a modern person.
My aunt immediately tried to dissuade her, but Grandmother instead attempted to persuade my aunt.
“Both you and your brother graduated from that school anyway. This is the perfect chance for Sian to—”
“And that’s exactly why it was so hard. In my opinion it’s better to go where he originally planned…”
My own opinion was perfectly clear, yet everyone was acting like this. Even if I went to Shareltea right now, I would only suffer from my lack of magic power and skill. I was thinking how inscrutable people could be when—
“Hm?”
I felt a presence from the side. Turning my head, I saw someone cautiously peeking around the doorframe. Long white hair like snow spread across a field. Golden eyes like the sun at twilight. Skin like porcelain, smooth as the sky. A black hood that seemed determined to hide everything from the world.
“Grandma, who is that person?”
“Ah, Sua? You may come in. What are you doing standing out there?”
At Grandmother’s words, the exotic beauty called Sua trotted into the hospital room. A black cloak that could have been rags or a coat, a white sleeveless garment that might have been a nun’s habit or a dress, and expensive-looking black leather long boots immediately caught the eye. In truth, every curve of her body stood out dramatically. The outfit should have looked chaotic, even slightly vulgar, yet it gave no such impression. The black-and-white color scheme, the lack of accessories except for a single necklace, and the fact that only her arms and thighs were exposed all contributed to an overall sense of neat, monk-like purity. She was clearly an ice-school mage who had nearly completed her training.
“Hello. My name is Na Sua. My name in the Far North is Nailishita Besabaraola Su…”
“She is my disciple and current attendant.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
A mage and elder, Grandmother’s disciple. I had never heard that Grandmother was raising a disciple.
“She was my student from two hundred years ago. A matter has come up, so she is temporarily serving as my attendant.”
“Our family is always indebted to you, Master.”
“There is no need for that. We are simply old acquaintances helping one another.”
So she had been taught quite a long time ago. That explained why I had never known. After the introductions, the conversation turned to how she was the daughter of a politician and had even worked as an aide to her parents. I was surprised to learn she came from such an influential family, then surprised again by her accomplishments. She lived a life I could only look up to, and she was even blessed with talent. I sparkled my eyes with envy and chimed in at appropriate moments. Meanwhile, Na Sua stared fixedly at me with a stiff, almost proud expression.
Time passed. My aunt glanced at her wristwatch and asked if anyone wanted drinks. Since we had talked enough to grow thirsty, everyone nodded and stated their preferences. My aunt and her husband stepped outside, leaving only three people in the room: me, Grandmother, and Na Sua.
I had expected silence, but Na Sua approached and began stroking my head, completely overturning that prediction. She treated me like a pet, even pinching my cheeks. It hurt a little, so small groans escaped me. Grandmother watched and spoke with clear affection.
“Children these days grow up so quickly compared to our time. Today he looks completely different from the last time I saw him, so I was surprised.”
“Indeed. To think he is already fifteen. It feels quite different from when I was young.”
After the great negotiations between the government and the Far North elders, the generational gap had become obvious. The old Far North elves had grown slowly due to malnutrition, but the current generation grew quickly thanks to overabundant nutrition. Such impressions were only natural.
“So, what do you think? Even if he looks a little different from the photos I showed you before, it’s fine, yes?”
“Yes. The real thing is far more to my liking.”
“You like him? Then that’s wonderful~”
The conversation sounded oddly like they were discussing a familiar object. It felt slightly strange. After all, this was our first meeting. Especially since Na Sua was lightly biting her lip, wearing a half-smile, and staring with sparkling eyes. It made the feeling even stronger.
Hmmmm. Perhaps Grandmother had been showing off my old photos everywhere under the excuse of bragging about her great-grandson. That would explain the strangely familiar reaction. For some reason, I felt oddly certain.
In times like these, there was only one thing to do. To reinforce my image as a good child, I smiled sweetly.
“……Hehe.”
A heavy gaze settled over me. Fortunately, it seemed they were looking at me favorably.