Chapter 2
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 2. Is there... Hope? (2)
The reason I couldn't remember right away wasn't anything grand.
It was simply because it was just one of the countless web novels I had read.
There are always works among web novels that are particularly memorable, but perhaps this work just didn't resonate with me enough to remember it that clearly.
The tags attached to it were probably Light Novel, Harem, and Academy. A harem story where the protagonist, who happens to awaken a superpower, transfers to an academy late and rubs shoulders with numerous heroines.
I don't remember the title. Just that it was a full sentence? Since most of the novels I read had those sentence-type titles in the first place, recalling it accurately wouldn't be easy.
But still, I was at least able to barely recall my name.
Seo Lua.
A character in an academy story who starts as an early villainess and later becomes a heroine... I think that was it.
Naturally, she also had a superpower. I don't quite remember the description of what age she awakened it—
However, my trailing thoughts were cut off by the mister's coughing.
Cough, every time he coughed, blood flowed from his mouth. The mister wiped his mouth with his arm, acting as if he was simply embarrassed.
And then, he flashed a grin at me.
As if, even in this situation, my peace of mind was a higher priority than his own injuries.
"Mister...?"
"I'm sorry."
The mister shifted his body as he said that. Blood wasn't pouring out like before, but I wasn't sure if it was because of this mister's ability, or if it was just because all the blood that could pour out already had.
A giggling laughter could be heard from behind.
The piece of iron that had sprouted from the mister's chest went back into his body and disappeared.
Ah, he was stabbed from behind.
I was belatedly able to realize that.
"Still, don't worry. I'll protect you."
Wasn't his age a bit over mid-thirties? Honestly, it's hard to guess his age just by looking at his face. Because his impression looked much younger than that. A face that could be seen as early thirties at most, or late twenties at the youngest.
Even so, the reason I could deduce his age relatively accurately was because I thought I knew who this mister was.
In a web novel, unless they purposely commission a character illustration, a person's appearance is built solely through descriptions. But no matter how detailed the description is, the image every reader imagines is slightly different. Yet, the reason I could recognize this mister was because I was barely able to recall my name, Chaeyi's name, and this situation.
Skin-tight blue clothes. It was the kind of outfit a superhero in a typical Hollywood movie would wear.
There were many people who wore blue uniforms in the story, but the reason I remembered this mister—
Ah, right. That's it.
Because he's a heroine's dad.
One who had already died a long time ago by the story's present timeline.
The exact reason was also described. It was definitely related to another heroine, ah.
Right.
It's me. Of course it has to be me. And Chaeyi too.
Because this is a place with two heroines. Naturally, now has to be 'that time'.
The heroine named Seo Lua didn't hang around alone in the story. To describe it accurately, she was part of the 'popular clique', a regretful-type heroine who used to boss around the protagonist back when his superpower was judged to be insignificant early on.
The two heroines who followed that Seo Lua around were Chaeyi, and probably this mister's daughter.
"No."
I muttered without realizing it. The mister, perhaps thinking I was just doing that because I was terrified, smiled gently again and said.
"Don't worry."
The mister reached out his arms and picked me up, holding me.
"Because I'll protect you."
Whoosh, the sound of wind was heard again. But the mister was able to properly dodge it this time. Because he was holding me.
So, in the original work, did he suffer a fatal injury and die while trying to protect Seo Lua?
I thought this while blankly looking up at the mister's face.
The situation didn't feel realistic at all.
No, in the first place, the situation I was in wasn't realistic at all compared to the world I used to live in.
I just thought it was way too early a point in time to enter the story. So I was just feeling relieved.
Should I have thought harder? I have no memory since the orphanage was attacked. The teacher ran holding my and Chaeyi's hands, the building suddenly collapsed, I rolled on the ground, and I couldn't see Chaeyi and the teacher.
Would it have been okay if I had remembered a little earlier? If I, terrified, had told the teacher that we had to run away, could we have avoided this?
I felt something warm soaking my body and turned my gaze, only to swallow my breath.
A large hole had appeared in the mister's body. It wasn't like in a cartoon where you could see right through to the other side or anything, but I could see blood continuously pouring out from that elongated hole where the blade had pierced through.
I unconsciously tried to cover it with my hands, but my hands were inadequate to cover it. A child's body has no strength, and the surface area of my hands was too small.
Besides, wasn't it a wound stabbed from behind? It wasn't a wound that covering from the front with hands would do any good.
Swish, swish. Even amidst that, the mister moved quickly.
I don't know why the villain who invaded the orphanage is targeting me. There wasn't any description of some incredible villain invading in the first place.
Though they are absolutely not an ordinary person at the point they inflicted a fatal wound on a hero.
...Because it's this kind of world, naturally there are villains like this.
In a society where superhumans live, not every superhuman chooses the path of becoming a hero, nor does every superhuman who becomes a villain create and adhere to some deep philosophical principle.
Becoming a superhuman is no different from gaining a bomb in your hands that you can use infinitely.
If it's a person who lived suppressed by society before becoming a superhuman, it's only natural that there are those who think of getting 'revenge' with that power.
So, the reason they are targeting me is probably just because they want to.
Knowing that, the mister couldn't just leave me be.
Whack!
The mister's fist smashed into the villain's face. In return, blood poured from his wound. No matter how much of a hero he is, there's no way he can keep holding on.
"...Ah."
Right.
My power.
With my power, with Seo Lua's power, couldn't I do something about it?
Seo Lua's power is stronger than the protagonist's early power, but objectively looking at it, it's an insignificant power. She entered the academy because she was a superhuman with a superpower, but it was just a mediocre level of telekinesis, not enough to actually face villains as a true hero.
But telekinesis is the power to move matter.
I can't lift a person and slam them down or anything, but still. I might be able to at least block a wound.
...But, so what?
I don't have that power right now. If I did, I would have been fostered or adopted into some hero's family and receiving professional lessons.
The time people awaken superpowers differs for everyone. Although most awaken in their very early childhood, if late, some even awaken after turning thirty.
They say my future self could have that power, but I don't know when that future will be.
Because up until now, I haven't felt the slightest inkling of having something like telekinesis—
"..."
But, still.
Isn't it a bit, you know?
Isn't it a bit much to be a burden and not even help the person trying to save me?
I would have rather just been trembling quietly if I didn't know anything. Thinking this mister would handle it well. Anyway, he's a professional at dealing with villains.
But, he's going to die.
If someone asked if it was definitely this specific time, I couldn't give a definite answer, but if now isn't that situation, then when later?
There was no mention of Seo Lua or Chaeyi being attacked and rescued when they were elementary or middle school students either.
Above all, this person is risking his life to save me. There's no way I can just sit still.
I placed my hands on the wound with my eyes squeezed shut.
And with a 'whatever happens, happens' mindset, I concentrate my mind. The story said using a superpower is as easy as moving a finger or a toe.
Though I wonder what kind of sensation that even is. The author just imagined and wrote it, so they probably just wrote it to sound reasonably plausible.
Still, rather than doing nothing, I felt this would put my mind a bit more at ease.
"...Ah."
And, I felt something.
A feeling like a certain sensation I had never even paid attention to until now was moving.
In a method so simple that I didn't know why I hadn't done something so easy until now.
Was it because I was able to recall what kind of world this was? Or was the situation just so urgent, that I stumbled upon it while struggling in my terrified state of mind?
Either way, it's not something to think about right now.
Rather than that, this power right now.
I only thought that I must not let go of this power.
"Little kid, are you...?"
The mister was a bit flustered, perhaps sensing that the bleeding from the large wounds on the front and back of his body was being blocked by something.
Clang!
But the mister had no time to ask me anything. Because the villain was right in front of him.
Having blocked what the opponent thrust at him with his forearm—I couldn't even see well if it was a sword or what—the mister let out a small laugh.
"I see, so that's how it is."
Because he must have realized that I had a superpower, and that I wanted to help him somehow with that superpower.
"Man, I'd lose face if I lost now."
And then he muttered that while pulling me into a tighter embrace with one arm.
I don't really know what happened after that.
I was stuck right against the mister's chest, and with both hands gripping his wound, I only focused on stopping the bleeding.
It felt like I was hanging onto somewhere with both hands for a very long time, with all my strength.
No matter how well and how long young children are said to run and play, perhaps superpowers are different from playing, because even after the situation was entirely over, I don't think I came down from the body of the mister lying on the floor.
What I heard shortly after was a belated scream.
Having heard the words 'so-and-so's dad', it must have certainly been a person who was about this mister's wife.
A scream was heard from the sky, and the sound of a quick landing next to the mister was heard.
And then, the sensation of someone carefully wrapping around my body and lifting me up.
"No..."
I mumbled that without realizing it, and clung to the unconscious mister's clothes.
My body was also completely covered in blood. To the point where it could absolutely never be called 'a little'.
A smell of iron so thick it paralyzed the nose.
Honestly, my power wasn't very successful. I had only just awakened it, and in the first place, it was said to be an insignificant power even in the original work.
I tried hard to block it, but blood leaking out here and there was unavoidable.
"...It's okay."
Even though she must have been worried about her collapsed husband, she spoke as she carefully separated me from the mister.
"People are here. Everything is going to be fine."
But she couldn't help her voice trembling.
No matter how much strength I put into my hands, it was only a child's strength anyway. I had no choice but to let go quickly.
"It's okay."
Saying that, she turned me toward herself and hugged me.
Only then did that face come into my view.
I thought the mister looked quite young for an age where he has a daughter, but this person is even more so than the mister. Was she younger, or did she just look younger despite being around the same age? I couldn't remember clearly.
However, what I felt at the time was simply that she was pretty.
Ah, it's this person.
One of the greatest heroes of the era, who was said to be so beloved by the people.
I've often heard that judging people solely by their appearance isn't right, but she was the kind of person who just made you instantly understand.
"It's going to be okay."
Those words sounded like they were meant for herself, not me.
I heard someone shouting, and the sounds of busy movements. The sound of sirens. The sounds of children crying.
Is Chaeyi okay?
What about the teacher?
I heard later that the whole situation took exactly about 10 minutes from start to finish.
The ceiling of the peaceful orphanage caved in, the children and teachers panicked and fled hither and thither, and the time it took for the mister to quickly fly in and suppress the villain was exactly 10 minutes.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities at the orphanage.
But didn't they say there were quite a few casualties on the way to the orphanage? And there were injuries in the orphanage as well.
That's all a story I heard the next day.
Because at the scene, I hadn't even been able to regain my senses properly.
In reality, after the situation ended completely, I ended up losing consciousness too.