Farewell (1)
Two months had already passed since Isabelle left.
The first few days didn't feel like anything at all. I just thought the house had gotten a little quieter.
No more morning lectures. No more sighs at every meal. No more ghostlike warnings the second I so much as wandered near the forest.
But once I actually tried to get used to it, something felt off.
It was too quiet.
"...Weird."
I sat at the table, chewing a potato, and muttered under my breath. This was exactly the life I'd wanted.
No one interfering. No one to read the room for. A life where I could move however I pleased.
And yet, somehow, it felt a little empty.
In my previous life, and even in the Tower, I'd almost never lived under the same roof with someone for this long. Sure, I'd had comrades I fought beside—the leader, Ahjussi, the rest of the team. People I could trust with my back when our lives were on the line.
But that wasn't family. No one nagged me to eat. No one got angry because something was dangerous. No one fretted over me for no reason at all. I'd never had that.
Maybe that was why the year I'd spent in this village had turned out more special than I expected.
At first, I'd only thought of it as a place to stay for a while. Somewhere to leave once my strength recovered. A place to hide until I could quietly return to the Tower.
But at some point, it stopped being a place to hide.
It became a place I wanted to come back to.
"...That's new."
I let out a small snort of laughter, alone.
Anyway. Enough sentiment.
During the day, I helped around the village—tilling the potato fields, hauling firewood, and sometimes even taking over the housework in Isabelle's place.
Of course, Lawrence was better at housework than I was.
"Rowoon."
"Yes?"
"That's not how you do the dishes."
"I'm doing my best, you know."
"Looks more like you're fighting the plates."
"..."
I felt wronged. I'd been working hard.
In my defense, I'd never washed a dish in my life.
Anyway, in whatever free time I had left, I headed for the forest.
Though, to be precise, I didn't so much go there as get dragged there.
"Why is your body in this kind of shape, you know!"
The moment I arrived, Geukwang looked me up and down and snapped.
"I'm ten years old."
"That is not the problem, you know!"
"No, but if you're ten, isn't being weak kind of normal?"
"I'm saying this because you are not a normal ten-year-old, you know!"
"Is that a compliment?"
"Not even a little, you know!"
At first, I couldn't believe it either. One of the strongest beings in the world, and what she wanted to do was train a kid's stamina? I didn't even need the help in the first place...
But Geukwang was more serious than I'd expected.
"Your problem right now is not power, you know."
She said it firmly.
"You already have more than enough power, you know. But the vessel holding it is far too weak, you know."
I know, damn it. The second this body got younger, that was the first thing I felt.
My biggest problem wasn't the Heavenly Killing Star. It was my body.
No matter how strong the power, if the flesh couldn't take it, it meant nothing.
So the plan Geukwang and I cooked up—the Lee Rowoon Enhancement Project!—was simple. Running. Strength training. Mana control. Work to balance the body.
No flashy techniques. No sparring.
Just the basics.
"Where on earth did you learn that mana control, you know...?"
One day, Geukwang stopped the training and looked at me with genuine curiosity.
"Heh... Want to know, you know...?"
I deliberately dropped my voice low.
"Do not copy me, you know!"
"Ah."
Mistake. Geukwang's eyes narrowed.
"Are you making fun of me right now, you know?"
"No."
"That is a lie, you know."
"No."
"Your face is saying it, you know."
Damn it. Of course her instincts only sharpened for this.
"What if I just... say I learned it in the future?"
"..."
Geukwang froze.
"Are you serious, you know?"
"No?"
"Is that a joke, you know?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"You are a strange one, you know."
Fair enough. I couldn't exactly tell her I'd learned the technique in the Tower, so I had to dress it up somehow. Learned it in the future.
Honestly, it wasn't even completely wrong. That future was already past, for me.
A body that used to run out of breath after a short sprint gradually got used to the work, and that small ten-year-old frame began to change, little by little.
It still couldn't compare to my prime. But at least, the days of my body breaking first the moment I used my power would grow fewer.
And then—
Today.
The day finally came.
The day I would go to where Isabelle was. The Academy entrance exam was right around the corner.
"Rowoon."
A familiar voice called from in front of the house. I set down the bag in my hands and turned around.
Lawrence was standing there.
He looked the same as always—worn work clothes, a slightly bent back, and hands roughened by the fields. The same man I saw every day.
And yet, today, he looked strangely different.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
Lawrence tilted his head and asked.
"No reason."
I hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest.
"Just."
"Just?"
"You look cooler than I thought, Ahjussi."
"Puhaha!"
Lawrence burst out laughing on the spot.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Haha... Sometimes you say things that don't sound like a ten-year-old at all."
"..."
I flinched. Of course. I really had to stop sounding that natural sometimes. I looked away and pretended nothing had happened.
"Anyway."
Lawrence let the laughter go and stepped closer, then quietly set a hand on my shoulder.
"Rowoon."
"Yes."
"Honestly, I was a little surprised when you said you were going to the Academy."
"Why?"
"We only just sent Isabelle off."
Lawrence let out a small sigh.
"And now you're leaving too. What am I supposed to do, left behind?"
"..."
"Am I supposed to eat alone in this house?"
"Ahjussi."
"Hm?"
"You can just eat alone."
"Isn't that a little cold?"
"I'm joking."
I smiled faintly. Lawrence snorted a laugh too.
"Honestly."
He shook his head as he spoke.
"You're underage for it to begin with. I don't even know how you plan on getting in."
"There's always a way."
When I said it with full confidence, Lawrence's eyes narrowed.
"Did you come up with some weird method again?"
"No."
"Rowoon."
"Yes."
"The more you talk, the more nervous I get."
"..."
I felt wronged. I'd put together a perfectly normal plan.
Granted, the plan started with using one of the strongest beings in the world. But that still counted as normal.
"Still."
Lawrence's expression eased a little.
"If it's something you really want to do, I won't stop you."
With those words, the air grew a little quieter.
"The Academy."
Lawrence looked at me for a moment, as if checking for something hidden behind my answer.
"You're not going because you want to get stronger, are you?"
"..."
Of course. This man had a habit of hitting the exact right spot.
I closed my mouth for a second, then shook my head.
"No."
"Then?"
"I'm just curious."
"Curious?"
"Yes."
I looked up at the sky. Clouds drifted by, slow and unhurried.
"I'm curious about school. About friends, too."
"And..."
I paused for a moment.
"About living an ordinary life."
Lawrence's expression shifted, just a little. It was only for the briefest instant, but I saw it—something like sadness, or pity, hard to name. Then it was gone, replaced by his usual warm smile.
"I see."
Lawrence nodded slowly.
"Then you should go."
"Huh?"
"It's what you want to do, isn't it?"
He set his hand on top of my head.
Pat.
Rough, but careful.
"Rowoon."
"Yes."
"It's already been a year since I first met you."
I smiled a little.
"It has, hasn't it."
"I still remember the first time I saw you."
Lawrence gazed off into the distance.
"It was raining."
"One little kid collapsed out in the forest."
He gave a quiet snort of laughter.
"Honestly, I worried a lot at first. What kind of life does a child that small have to live to end up with eyes like that?"
For a moment, I couldn't say a word. The thought that someone who knew nothing about me had seen me that way back then felt strangely unsettling.
"But."
Lawrence went on.
"That doesn't matter anymore."
"Whatever your past was."
"Wherever you came from."
He looked straight at me.
"What kind of person you are now is what matters more."
Silence settled between us for a while.
Then Lawrence spoke, quietly.
"Rowoon."
"Yes."
"You are my son."
"..."
For a second, the words wouldn't come.
"We may not share blood."
"But we ate together."
"Slept under the same roof."
"We laughed together, and spent time together."
Lawrence smiled brightly.
"Isn't that enough to call family?"
Something in my chest ached in a strange way. I never thought I'd hear something like that in my life...
In the Tower, no one ever called me family. I had comrades, but we only ever trusted each other with our backs. We fought together to survive, and endured to grow stronger.
Still... the word family. It was pretty nice. Yeah.
"...Ahjussi."
"Hm?"
I closed my mouth for a moment. And then—
"That's so cringe."
"...What?"
Lawrence's face went stiff.
"No, the mood was perfect just now. Why would you say that all of a sudden?"
"No, you said it so seriously..."
I looked away for no good reason.
"It made me kind of itchy listening to it."
"You little..."
Lawrence laughed in disbelief and raised his hand.
"Ah—no! I'm kidding!"
I waved my hands in a hurry. I was not taking a knuckle to the head. Those hands of his were farm-hardened, and they hurt like hell. Worse than Geukwang's.
"Still..."
I dropped the joke and looked at him quietly.
"Ahjussi."
"Hm?"
"I will come back. I promise."
For a moment, Lawrence's eyes widened a little. As if he hadn't expected that, he looked at me for a while.
Then he smiled, slowly.
"Alright."
"I'll be waiting."
In that moment, I didn't know.
That the ordinary farmer standing in front of me had once been an S-class adventurer whose name shook the entire empire.
And Lawrence didn't know either.
That the small child in front of him had lived through far more time than he imagined.
Neither of them knew the other's true face.
They simply looked at each other as family.