Chapter 258: Intoxicated.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 258: Intoxicated.
My head was spinning.
“Hmm, did we go a bit too hard? Junior, say something.”
“Ah, the taste is fine and I get the intent, but the problem is that everyone’s tolerance is different.”
What are they talking about…?
Ah, right. Master poured me a drink. I have to drink it quickly.
“No, I didn’t mean for you to drink this much. You were handling it so well I thought you were still fine.”
But then, Master took the glass away.
“Why? This is fun. Usually, people would say they’ve had enough before getting to this point, but he just drinks everything he’s given.”
Baek Seol poured a drink into a new glass instead, but of course, I didn’t even give it a glance.
Do you really think I’d drink something you poured…?
“Wow~ I expected as much, but this is really too much. Even when he’s drunk, he’s incredibly picky about people? I guess that’s part of his charm, if you can call it that.”
“Junior, I’m sorry. I think I got a bit too excited.”
…Master, you have nothing to be sorry for.
If anyone should be sorry, it’s me.
How hard could it be to share a single drink? To think I’m your only disciple…
“I’m fine-ish.”
“…At the point where your tongue is that tripped up, I don’t think you’re ‘fine’ at all.”
“…Shut up.”
“Wow~ I’m a Senior too, so why does he only like Ha-ru?”
“Junior, I think it’s best if you stop drinking now.”
“Why? If he drinks a little more, I feel like he’ll spill all his worries.”
My head was dizzy and hot, so I couldn’t be sure, but I could tell the two of them were arguing over whether to give me more alcohol or not.
“I know you want to listen to his troubles, but this isn’t the right way to do it.”
“It’s also the most efficient way, provided we don’t use violence or threats. The other person can just pass it off as a ‘mistake’ even if they didn’t intend to speak.”
“No matter how much you want to share someone’s heavy burden, if the other person doesn’t have the will to share it, it’s no different from violence.”
“No, it’s different. Because they might be suffering while you’re busy choosing the ‘right’ method. As long as we don’t cross the line, right? In the time it takes to save one, we might be able to save two.”
“The problem is that the ‘line’ isn’t as clear as you think. If you keep repeating those methods, you’ll eventually find yourself across that line. If you keep looking for shortcuts, you’ll only end up taking the long way around.”
“Of course, it takes effort to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The two of them looked at each other and smirked.
Were they talking about something interesting?
I wanted to join in, but my head was throbbing.
“Anyway, I never intended to force him to drink.”
“That’s true. I just wanted to see a cute side of him, but I didn’t expect him to drink this much.”
I didn’t really know what they were talking about, but one thing was certain.
The reason this drinking session was ending now was because of me.
“…Master.”
“Hmm?”
“Junior?”
“…I’m okay, Master. I can still drink more.”
“…Huh? Master?”
“In the past, I was too… yes, I rejected you too coldly. I can at least keep you company for this much.”
“…Did you two know each other before?”
“It hasn’t been that long, and I wasn’t exactly in a position to teach him the sword in the first place.”
“Hmm, is that so? Junior, who am I?”
“Baek Seol.”
“…Oh, you’re not even calling me Senior? Then what about Ha-ru?”
“Master.”
“Well, at least it doesn’t seem like he’s mistaking me for someone else.”
“I suppose so.”
Why were they looking at me like that? Ah, I see. They must think I’m pathetic because this loser collapsed after drinking only this much.
But still, but still.
“…I will definitely save you.”
“…Ho?”
“…Eh?”
After saying that much, my consciousness cut out completely.
* * *
After the pleasant drinking session ended, Lee Ha-ru parted ways with Baek Seol, who said she had work to do, and was now carrying him back to the dormitory.
“Hmm, he’s not that heavy, but our Junior would have been in big trouble if he were born a girl. If I were a bad man, I would have devoured him right then and there.”
“Master, you’re not that kind of person…”
“…I really wonder why he keeps calling me Master. Is it just a nickname he came up with on his own?”
In truth, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have her suspicions.
The longing and guilt she had felt in his gaze the day they first met.
His strangely kind and friendly attitude.
If she only thought that far, she might have assumed he had a master who resembled her, but the deciding factor was his swordsmanship—which resembled her own but was far more violent. It made her wonder if there really was something more to it.
“Hmm, I told Seol that this method wasn’t right, but honestly, I am a bit curious.”
She felt that the moment she asked, he would probably answer everything.
Of course, she had no intention of taking advantage of his intoxication just because she was curious.
“A master, huh. I certainly did consider that path once.”
Mana Stone Petrification.
An incurable disease that only affected Superhumans. As the name suggested, one’s internal energy—that is, mana and Mana Circuits—would harden. The more innate mana one had, the faster the disease progressed.
Eventually, the Lower and Middle Dantians would completely harden, leading to death. In severe cases, it was a rare condition where the entire body turned into a mana stone. It was the very disease she was suffering from.
Because she wanted to live. Because she feared death. She had struggled to find a way to slow the disease, but when she reached the conclusion that even those methods weren’t the answer…
She had thought that perhaps such a path existed.
To leave a trace of herself in the world. To create someone who would remember her, someone who would bear new fruit once she, the flower, had withered—a legacy to carry her on.
She thought that wouldn’t be so bad.
Looking back, perhaps she just wanted to give up and run away.
“Come to think of it, I was thinking exactly that right up until I saw you, Junior.”
But seeing his sword—which resembled hers yet was so desperate, choosing to resist even though his forms and everything else were a mess—made her want to try a little harder.
“…Well, personally, rather than being your Master, I like the position of a swordsmanship friend who trains with you every morning much better.”
“I’ll really work hard…”
“I guess you can’t hear me.”
Seeing him sleeping defenselessly with such a pretty face made her feel a bit mischievous, but she forced herself to hold back.
“Ah, right. You can’t hear me, but Junior, you shouldn’t go around telling desperate people that you’ll save them. My heart almost skipped a beat earlier.”
“…I will… definitely save… you.”
“…Oh my, how can you hear that so well?”
Chuckling, she arrived in front of the male dormitory and whispered softly to him.
“I won’t expect too much, but I’ll wait. Because I’m afraid of being disappointed.”
* * *
…It would have been nice if the story ended simply like that.
“So-hyun, wake up.”
Hmm, this wasn’t in the plans~?
His roommate had come out to receive him. It was a familiar face.
They were training partners every morning, and they had also met during the mission briefing for the war against the demons.
Personally, she wanted to become friends with this junior because his swordsmanship was quite excellent, but…
“Why did you get so drunk, seriously?”
The eyes that looked up at her were filled with wariness and a strange irritation.
Ah, hmm. That wasn’t the kind of hostility one would show to someone who simply got their friend drunk.
In the first place, her eyes were practically dripping with honey whenever she looked at the Junior.
Yet when she looked this way, her eyes were colder than ice, sharp as a blade.
Though she was still inferior to Ha-ru, this cute junior—who was fiercely chasing after her by improving her skills every day in their duels—seemed like she would be a bit difficult to get close to for now.
“…Thank you for bringing him back. But from what I can see, I believe you’re the one who made him like this, Senior. Am I correct?”
“Well, I won’t deny it. I happened to run into him and only intended to get a little help, but it turned out like this.”
“Help…?”
“Yes. Soma… ah, you wouldn’t know it by that name. I received a request for a tasting from the developer of Hero Drink.”
“…So-hyun’s body was very weak until not too long ago.”
“Ah, this might sound like an excuse, but Hero Drink isn’t alcohol; it doesn’t really affect the physical body.”
“If it were alcohol, he wouldn’t have come back in this state.”
“…I have nothing to say to that.”
This is that, right? For some reason, she’s feeling a bit of a sense of rivalry toward me, isn’t she?
Honestly, she thought it was possible.
If you saw a man return home completely drunk and clinging to a woman, it was natural to be suspicious or express anger toward the woman.
Provided these two were lovers or something close to it.
…This is the male dormitory, right? So is it that…? No, well. While everyone is free to have their own romantic leanings, shouldn’t she not be jealous of me then…?
“I’m a girl.”
“…Pardon?”
“I thought you might be misunderstanding. The Academy knows, but they’re keeping it a secret.”
“Ah, hmm? I see. Ah, no wonder you were too pretty for a man. Even your swordsmanship focuses on speed and fluidity rather than strength.”
“…You don’t seem very surprised?”
“Everyone has their own circumstances. So that’s why you were looking at me like that. It’s okay. You know that the Junior and I aren’t in that kind of relationship, right, Junior Han-hee?”
She was actually quite confident, and she had her own proof.
The faint scent of camellia still lingered on his body, while her own body gave off a sharp, almost stinging scent of plum blossoms. The two scents hadn’t mixed at all.
“…I think I got a bit worked up.”
“Well, the Junior is a handsome man, so it’s understandable. He suddenly came back drunk and carried by a woman.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Not at all. The Academy starts again tomorrow, so I’m the one who’s sorry for making him drink so much. You should head inside now.”
“Yes.”
The way she turned around without any lingering attachment seemed a bit cold.
Hmm, is this how Seol feels toward the Junior…? It’s a bit disappointing when a junior you want to befriend acts prickly, but she certainly is a bit cute.
“Ah, right. Sorry for stopping you after telling you to go, but can I ask one thing?”
“Yes? Uh, sure. If it’s something I can answer, I will.”
“There must be a reason you’re keeping the fact that you’re a girl a secret, right? Why did you tell me so easily?”
“…You’re not the type of person to go around blabbing secrets, Senior.”
“Pardon?”
Even though they had talked a bit lately, she didn’t think she and Junior Kang Han-hee knew each other that deeply.
“I can tell what kind of person you are just by seeing how So-hyun let you carry him back without any guard up.”
Come to think of it, Seol had said that he would refuse if she tried to take him home, hadn’t she?
“So it’s a relationship of trust.”
That’s wonderful. It meant that if he trusted someone, she could trust them too.
She was a bit envious.
So, she decided she should make things clear.
“Really, don’t worry. I acknowledge that the Junior is a wonderful person, but I’m not in a position to be greedy enough to try and steal someone else’s man.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s nothing, really. It’s just that the plum blossom is the first to bloom to announce the spring, but it’s also a flower that withers just as quickly.”
Having decided to struggle a bit more, one thought had occurred to her.
If she had taken a disciple with a body like this…
Surely, an inadequate master would have ended up deeply wounding the disciple.
She would have become a great burden.
Unable to pass on everything she wanted to, she would have spent her remaining life just trying to enjoy herself, only to die irresponsibly and twist her disciple’s life.
So, at the very least, until she struggled to the end and a result came out—until she grasped something, or conversely, until she was ready to let everything go cleanly…
She couldn’t create anything precious.
Whether that was a disciple or a lover.
“Senior, by any chance…”
“Hmm, I think I might be a bit drunk too. Let’s stop here for today.”
Let’s leave it at this for today.
These weren’t words to be said in front of cute juniors.
“Ah, but still. Our Junior said he would save me, and if he actually does, I might really fall for him.”
Because honestly, even now, she thought he was quite cute.
If he really knew something about her illness and suddenly solved the worry she couldn’t tell anyone, she might indeed fall for him.
“…Pardon?”
Just like the day she fell in love with his sword at first sight.
“It’s a joke, a joke.”
Quite suddenly, indeed.