Grown Toltol-i (3)
It was a bittersweet feeling.
That was the only way to put it.
If you asked whether I’d grown attached to them, I’d say no.
Of course, people like the trash trio and the others were not exactly the sort you looked at fondly, but I did feel some affection for most of the students who worked hard.
Nothing grand, of course.
It wasn’t the kind of feeling that made me sacrifice myself for the sake of some student.
If they came to me when life got rough, I could buy them a meal… maybe offer a word or two of meaningless advice.
That was about the right distance between instructor and student.
In truth, unlike the way I had barked at them a little, I didn’t feel any real concern about those people.
They’ll all make a living somehow.
That was the assumption sitting underneath it all.
In fact, with the exception of Han Sora and a few others, almost every trainee had gone on to join a mid-sized guild or a large one.
Considering the purpose of this training from the start, that was a perfectly natural outcome.
The point of the program had been to cultivate alchemists who were actually worth something.
There was no reason for guilds and clans not to bring in alchemists who possessed good, usable knowledge.
If your results were even slightly exceptional, the large guilds came calling, and those with high mana or intelligence stats were practically drowning in offers, each one more eager than the last.
Of course, they couldn’t expect the same signing bonus or salary as combat classes, but for a production class, they were starting over with a contract generous enough to call excessive. Compared to a half-baked mage who couldn’t even use proper magic, they’d gotten the better end of the deal.
As an aside, those who ignored my advice on the first day and chose combat classes had mostly ended up in miserable shape.
Magic users who lacked mana and fell short in comprehension had nowhere to go, and warriors without talent could be certain they’d be monster food or out begging before long.
As a result, an alchemy boom had begun in Lindel.
In that situation, the reason most guilds had not recruited Han Sora, who ranked near the top, was obvious.
They had probably heard that she’d sneaked into Jung Hayan’s laboratory and tried to steal her results.
That sort of thing makes people sensitive.
People with that kind of reputation usually got pushed out of the group.
Of course, the truth was that she’d only stumbled into me through some half-assed scheme of hers, but wrapping things up like this was better for her than letting a pointless harassment accusation leak outside.
If the truth had been announced publicly, every guild and clan that didn’t want to get on Blue’s bad side would have tried to cut her loose.
This is better than that.
She hadn’t received an offer within the training period, but if she personally applied and went through interviews, her chances of getting in somewhere were probably good.
People with ability always found a use somewhere.
“Han Sora, huh….”
The name slipped out of my mouth again before I realized it, and what answered me was Toltol-i’s shriek.
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
Then a loud voice burst out of my own mouth.
“Shh! Be quiet!”
“Kieek….”
Cases like this had to be handled quickly.
It was the same thought I’d had when watching Jung Hayan: tendencies and behavior like this were best suppressed hard from the very beginning.
This could be a book, honestly….
That was how well I’d come to understand the behavioral patterns of people like this.
When I frowned slightly, the child who had naturally been reading my mood came into view, her face visible in my line of sight.
She had only heard me raise my voice, yet tears were already pooling in those huge eyes. Naturally, a stab of guilt followed.
Even so….
You need to be firm, Father.
Some unfamiliar voice echoed inside me.
“Dialuria.”
“H-hek… hek….”
“When it’s just the two of us, or when you’re with your mother, it’s fine. But when you’re around other people, you have to be careful. If you’re not, Father won’t be able to keep taking you out with him.”
“Kieek!”
“You’re smart, so I trust you understand what I mean. All right?”
“Kieeeeeek!”
Just then, two people were approaching us.
Yoo Ahyoung… and Kim Gicheol….
I was a little worried she might start frothing at the mouth again, but she was only blinking tearfully and not showing any other reaction.
My firm attitude had worked.
When I nodded at what felt like a good test case, Yoo Ahyoung noticed me and started walking over, calling out as she came.
“Instructor Lee Kiyoung!”
The man beside her was also approaching with a somewhat uneasy expression.
Yet there was a strangely triumphant look on his face.
“K-kya…!”
With one warning, she quieted down as expected.
“Ah, Yoo Ahyoung trainee. And… Kim Gicheol trainee, I believe.”
They seemed to be getting along fairly well.
She’s crueler than she looks.
Considering that everything she was showing right now was an act, I did feel a slight chill.
As for Kim Gicheol, who knew nothing at all, he probably believed he’d won his girlfriend’s heart back once again. The truth was something else entirely.
“Instructor. I….”
“Have you thought it over a great deal?”
“No. Not yet….”
“That’s disappointing.”
“Could I put off my answer until the graduation ceremony?”
You already signed the contract, idiot.
Her acting was excellent, too.
Comparable to An Gimo, even.
“Yes, of course. By the way… this is….”
“A pleasure to meet you, Instructor Lee Kiyoung. My name is Kim Gicheol. I’m Yoo Ahyoung’s boyfriend.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard about you.”
“The pleasure is mine. I heard Ahyoung has relied on you quite a lot so far. Thank you for looking after her.”
“Not at all. Someone like Yoo Ahyoung is not the sort of talent you easily find. It’s only natural. Hahaha… you do seem to get along well.”
“Yes. We had a bit of a misunderstanding recently….”
As I began to needle them lightly, I could feel her sending me a peculiar look.
The emotion behind it was inferiority.
Her gaze kept drifting to Toltol-i, hanging onto my back and making those little growling noises, and she seemed to envy the clothes I wore and the atmosphere I carried.
Tsk, tsk.
Looking at his face, I could understand exactly why male jealousy was such an ugly thing.
When I casually turned my eyes toward Yoo Ahyoung, I saw that her mouth kept curling upward; she seemed to be in a rather good mood.
She won’t turn strange too, will she?
By now, that worry had started to creep up on me a little, but in her case I still didn’t think she’d crossed into dangerous territory.
As far as I could see, she was still keeping the title of adorable revenge.
What made me uneasy was that I wasn’t the only one watching her.
The danger wasn’t outside. It was inside.
“Kieeek….”
It was right then that the oblivious Yoo Ahyoung moved a little more boldly.
“Ah, so this is the Dialuria you mentioned the other day?”
“Yes. That’s right, Yoo Ahyoung trainee.”
“She’s cu-cute. May I… touch her?”
She pressed herself a little closer to me as she spoke, even raising her voice slightly.
Whatever the case, she was clearly sending every signal she could to make herself look romantically appealing to me.
I worried for a second that Toltol-i might explode, but she stayed quiet for now, so this seemed to fall within the acceptable range.
Her body was trembling, of course, but she still wasn’t showing any sign of attacking.
What was even more worked up than Toltol-i was Kim Gicheol.
He was biting his lip hard, staring at me with a face full of nothing but hostility.
“She doesn’t especially like being touched by other people, so that would be difficult. It would be better to spend time together afterward. She warms up quickly.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Since the subject came up, how about dinner tomorrow evening?”
The one who answered was Kim Gicheol.
“Instructor Lee Kiyoung, Ahyoung has plans tomorrow—”
“Yes! Of course, Instructor.”
Yoo Ahyoung cut him off.
“Ahyoung….”
“I’m free. Of course I’m free, Instructor.”
“Haha. That’s a relief.”
“Um, Instructor! Since we’re already making the time, could I… ask that of you again this time too?”
Ask what, exactly, you woman?
She hadn’t said what she was asking for, but there was a certain atmosphere that came with the words.
Her flushed expression and excited little tremor made it obvious she was tense in some strange way, which made the awkwardness mine to bear.
Genius.
There was a saying that if a woman holds a grudge, frost will fall even in June.
This performance, implying that there was something vaguely suggestive going on between the two of us, was better than An Gimo’s. It was obvious at a glance.
Yoo Ahyoung was a talent worthy of being compared to An Gimo’s skillful acting.
I really need to recruit her.
She probably didn’t even realize she had this sort of talent.
I’d bet that if she received proper guidance from An Gimo, the Lindel Best Actress Award would already be hers for the taking.
“That… the thing you taught me last time was really good, so….”
What was good? We didn’t even do anything, did we….
For only a moment, I was caught off guard by the sudden setup.
Yet with this kind of performance, this sort of strangely magnetic acting, I had no choice but to play along.
“Of course, Ahyoung. In fact, I’d be the one wanting to ask you. Spending time with Ahyoung is enjoyable for me as well. And the things I wasn’t able to teach you last time, I’ll make sure to guide you properly.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Though Gicheol is here, so….”
“No. You don’t need to worry about him, Oppa. He doesn’t seem to know much anyway… and Instructor Lee Kiyoung teaches much better than he does. Then I’ll see you then, Instructor. We should get going now!”
“Yes.”
Of course, all I meant was dinner tomorrow night and sending her off a little later than usual, but Kim Gicheol didn’t seem to think things would end there.
“W-what do you mean? You really have to meet tomorrow?”
“Ahhh… Oppa doesn’t need to know.”
“What? Is that any way to talk?”
“No, why do you keep butting into everything people do? Isn’t that obsession? Weren’t you the one who said we should be cool about things? Stop worrying so much about my business.”
“Ahyoung… but….”
I could hear the voices of the two of them slowly fading as they argued.
Now this is a dangerous one.
I’d thought she was just some smiling idiot wandering around, but she understood very well how to make a man suffer properly.
Anyone could tell Kim Gicheol’s voice was anxious, while Yoo Ahyoung’s was relaxed.
He didn’t even seem to have the courage to ask outright whether she was cheating on him.
Choyeonga’s Choyeong must have been talking about exactly this kind of guy.
The balance of power had been completely reversed.
It was obvious what he was thinking now.
Not only was he probably worrying about whether I might make some rather intimate display of affection toward Yoo Ahyoung, he was likely running himself ragged trying to figure out what sort of relationship the two of us had.
I couldn’t admit it, but he was definitely going to keep imagining things he didn’t want to imagine.
There was one thing I hadn’t expected….
Huh?
There was one more person here who was thinking the same thing. No, one more dragon.
Huhhh?
“Kiiing… kieeek….”
Toltol-i’s pitiful little sobs were a sight to behold.
When she seemed to understand the conversation we’d just had, the back of my neck went cold all at once.
Of course, I didn’t think she could truly grasp this strange mood, but considering how much smarter and more perceptive she was than most people, it wasn’t impossible that she’d caught some of the wrong impression.
Her pearly tears kept soaking one shoulder, and she clung to my waist and leg as if begging me not to go anywhere, continuing to let out those mournful cries.
The words that slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them were instinctive.
“Ah… Father isn’t cheating, okay? Really….”
At this point I felt like a complete piece of trash.
“Father only has Toltol-i. I’m not cheating on your mother.”
No, I was already a piece of trash.
Damn it.