The First Training
The next morning.
Garam slowly opened her eyes in bed.
It was an ordinary bed, not even from a known brand. However, for Garam, who had only ever slept on the floor, even that bed was the most comfortable place in the world.
“Ugh….”
Although it was a morning in an unfamiliar environment, Garam’s wariness was less than it had been the day before. Unlike the Obelisk training grounds, where she had to wake up to the sound of gunfire and screams, this place greeted her with a comfortable silence.
“Smells delicious….”
On top of that, there was a delicious scent wafting from the kitchen.
Drawn by the smell, Garam rose from the bed like a woman possessed and headed toward the kitchen.
When she stepped into the kitchen, she saw Sion, who was shaking a pan without an apron, his shirt sleeves casually rolled up. Garam habitually moved with silent footsteps, but Sion, who noticed her easily, asked.
“You up?”
“…What? I don’t think I made any sound just now. How did you notice?”
“If you live in that industry for a long time, you pick up on that level of presence easily.”
Sion put the pan down for a moment and turned to look at Garam. The air was filled with the savory scent of olive oil and toasted bread.
“By the way, I can’t believe you’re actually cooking yourself.”
“You sound surprised.”
“Yeah. A guy like you, well… I thought you only knew how to smoke, train, and do things like that.”
Sion chuckled at Garam’s blunt remark.
“I’m human too, I have to eat to live.”
“People in the underworld say you were a killing machine without emotions.”
“I was just faithful to my missions. I have emotions, too. I just try not to show them to others as much as possible.”
“Because showing emotions is the same as revealing a killer’s greatest weakness?”
“You learned well. That’s right.”
As Garam waited, sitting in a chair at the dining table, Sion brought the food over on a plate. It was toast topped with an egg.
“Eat. Like I said yesterday, I didn’t poison it.”
“…Are you sure it’s okay to eat?”
“I made it for you, so of course it is.”
At Sion’s words, Garam cautiously picked up a fork.
The toast was perfectly toasted and crispy. As she took a bite, she felt a strange lump forming in her throat.
“…It’s delicious.”
The mornings Garam had known until now were always cold, a world of achromatic colors, save for the color of blood.
But the morning before her eyes now held the warmth of someone preparing a meal for her instead of someone else’s blood… Garam couldn’t control the emotions surging like a tide, and she ended up shedding tears.
Sion watched her silently without saying a word.
‘…She’s at that age.’
That girl was still too young to handle everything on her own. And when he was around her age, he, too, had shed tears at a single helping hand extended toward him.
Sion put a cigarette in his mouth as if it were nothing.
“Eat up. If it’s not enough, I can give you more.”
“…Yeah.”
Garam nodded and began to eat the bread.
Even though she could have more if she wanted, she chewed it thoroughly, as if it were too precious to waste.
“Hey, mister.”
“Why?”
“I want to eat this meal every day.”
Sion stopped just as he was about to light his cigarette and looked at Garam.
A girl of an ambiguous age, seeming like a child yet trying to act like an experienced adult. But because she was ambiguous, her inner thoughts were more honest than anyone else’s.
“I’ll make it for you at least until you’re sixteen.”
“…And after that?”
“By then you’ll be in high school, so you’ll have to make it yourself. Oh, and mine too, of course.”
“Isn’t that a bit mean to do to a kid?”
“I’m providing a place to sleep and training you, so isn’t housework a cheap price to pay?”
Garam, having no comeback to that logical point, shut her mouth. She then poked the remaining bread with her fork and pouted her lips.
“Hmph. You’re so mean, mister. The training is already super intense, and now you’re saying I have to do housework later too.”
“To put it simply, yes.”
“If I’d known this, I would’ve said I wanted to live a normal life.”
Even while grumbling, Garam took another large bite of the bread. She said that, but the way her eyes sparkled as she focused on the bread made her look just like a cat distracted by its prey.
When Sion chuckled, Garam narrowed her eyes, rested her chin on her hand, and stared up at him.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing. I just thought you really are like a cat.”
“W-what’s like a cat!”
“You just pretended to be sulky, but you’re eating it all anyway. That’s exactly a cat’s habit.”
Garam’s face turned red as she put down her fork, crossed her arms, and spoke in an angry tone.
“Do I look that easy to you?”
“It’s not that you’re easy. Cats are wary and find it hard to give their hearts to others. But once they open up, they’re surprisingly affectionate and take your presence for granted. That’s exactly how you are right now.”
Garam blinked, momentarily speechless at Sion’s explanation. Then, she muttered in a small voice.
“…I wasn’t being affectionate or anything.”
“Really? Wasn’t asking me to make you food every day just now a form of affection?”
“That was just me saying what was on my mind!”
Garam huffed and picked up the bread again.
That appearance, too, felt like a cat with its fur standing on end, hissing and saying, ‘I’m not cute!’
Sion laughed to himself, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and put a candy in instead. As silence naturally drifted through the space, Garam glanced over at Sion.
When their eyes met, she was startled and quickly turned her head the other way.
“What, why are you staring so hard?”
“I wasn’t staring, you were.”
“I wasn’t!”
Garam raised her voice, acting defensive for no reason. But her fingertips, which were poking the bread with the tip of her fork, were trembling clumsily as if she’d been caught.
Sion rolled the candy in his mouth and spoke leisurely.
“How many years do you think I’ve been a killer? It’s obvious when you’re conscious of me.”
“Ugh… so annoying.”
“You’re cute.”
At those words, Garam’s face flushed red, and she shoved the bread into her mouth, muttering with her cheeks full.
“C-cute…? I’m a killer, you know? Logically, shouldn’t you be scared?”
“Not really. To my eyes, you’re just cute.”
At Sion’s calm response, Garam couldn’t continue the conversation and tapped the table with her fork as if she were aggrieved. If she really had a tail, it would probably be lashing back and forth quite hard.
“……Do I look that easy to you?”
“In terms of talent, you don’t look easy at all. It’s just that you’re still young.”
“I’m not a kid. I survived Obelisk.”
“Fourteen is still a child. Surviving Obelisk and becoming an adult are two different concepts.”
Garam, having no more words to refute him, clamped her mouth shut again. Sion watched her for a moment, took a puff of his smoke, crunched the candy with his teeth, and stood up.
“If you’re done eating, get up now. It’s time to train.”
“…Tch.”
“If you keep acting so prickly, I won’t teach you.”
“Fine, I’m going!!”
A while later, in the underground training ground.
Sion, who had brought Garam down, handed her a rubber dagger.
“Today’s training is on how to handle weapons. The first one is the dagger you’re familiar with.”
“……Are we really training right after eating?”
“Do you think your enemies will wait for you to be in the right condition?”
Garam pouted at his firm answer, but she eventually took her stance. She knew that choosing to undergo this training was her own decision, after all.
“Start by fixing your stance. Throw away the method you’ve been using until now.”
“Even though what I learned was an elite course?”
“What rank was the killer who taught you?”
“H-he was an S-class killer too!”
“If he taught you to use a dagger like that, he’s definitely not a killer who primarily uses daggers.”
Garam was momentarily speechless.
Sion’s words were sharp like thorns, but there wasn’t a single part that was wrong.
Because the primary weapon of the killer who taught her the elite course was a gun. The dagger was merely used as a secondary weapon.
As that fact hit her, resentment surged to her throat, but she soon bit her lip hard. She instinctively felt that refuting him would only make her look more embarrassed.
“…Fine.”
Unlike her grumbling tone, Garam gripped the dagger with both hands and reset her stance.
She didn’t extend her arms too far like she used to, and she lowered her center of gravity just as Sion had pointed out. Garam felt much more uncomfortable and awkward than the method she had learned until now, but she was trying to follow his instructions quietly.
“Good. That’s a proper starting stance.”
“It feels… somewhat stable.”
“It’s supposed to. Your body shouldn’t be following the weapon; the weapon should be following your body.”
Sion patted Garam’s shoulder and picked up the remaining training dagger.
“Then, let’s begin.”
In an instant, Sion’s body moved like lightning.
In the blink of an eye, the tip of his dagger stopped right in front of Garam’s throat. Even though Garam had tried her best to dodge, it had happened regardless.
Cold sweat poured down Garam’s spine.
“W-what…! So suddenly!”
“First lesson. Waiting for your opponent to get ready is just a show for the stage. Or it’s just toying with them.”
Garam, feeling frustrated, tried to swing her dagger at Sion.
Sion immediately caught her wrist and continued.
“Second lesson. If you swing your dagger with emotions because you’re frustrated, I’ll easily parry it, and you’ll die. Practice keeping your head cool at all times. No matter what the opponent says.”
With those words, Sion let go of her wrist and stood in front of Garam again.
And he said briefly.
“From now on, even if you want to cry, you won’t even have time for tears. Be prepared.”
“…I was already prepared, you know?”