The Golden Sun and the Hero's Burden
I still had lingering regrets, but there was nothing I could do. It wasn't as if I could pull the arrow out of the green dwarf's neck right now and plunge it into my own chest. If I did that, Frey and Leo would look at me like I was a complete freak. It might be different if I were alone, but I couldn't pull a stunt like that with other people watching.
Besides, the current situation wasn't relaxed enough for me to indulge in my little hobby. People were dying, so I couldn't dwell on what could have been forever. Shaking off my disappointment, I looked at Leo, the culprit who had snatched away my little slice of heaven. He looked incredibly smug, which was almost amusing. He probably thought he had saved me, didn't he? Not even close, buddy. Honestly, you were just a nuisance. Why are you always so fast at the most useless moments? Yet when it mattered most, you were late...
...Ah, a slip of the tongue. Even I have to admit that was a trashy thing to think. Cancel. I cancel that. Thank goodness I only thought it. If I had said that out loud, I couldn't even imagine how Leo would have reacted. Setting aside the question of "How did you know that?", he wouldn't have let me off easy. Maybe he would have lost his temper completely and beaten me to a pulp?
Considering Leo was hot-headed but not the type to swing his fists blindly, my thought just now was a terrible slip. I had practically trampled all over his reverse scale, his trauma, and his deepest wounds. Ugh, Lucia is trash. Highly flammable trash. Please incinerate me. Actually, looking at Leo's sturdy forearms, I'm a little tempted, but I can't repay someone who approached me with good intentions with malice. I spoke up, pretending as if nothing was wrong.
"Leo? Why are you here...?"
"Well... just because?"
Leo answered rather awkwardly. The way he avoided my gaze was highly suspicious. What was this? Leo, who, like Yujin, would get thorns in his mouth if he skipped training for even a single day, was out on a golden weekend? He came to a park instead of the training room? It's not like he even likes cherry blossoms.
"Leo!" "Too fast, too fast! Wait for us!"
My question was quickly answered by the people who appeared next. Arin and Anastasia were running toward us. Right, there was no way Leo would have come to look at flowers alone. He must have been dragged here by those two. What a striking coincidence, meeting them here like this.
Wait, but why did Arin and Anastasia come to the cherry blossom festival with Leo? Meeting up on the weekend isn't strange since they're friends, but... aren't they heroines? Just like Lucia. Even though the main heroine is Aris, a heroine is still a heroine. Shouldn't they normally be paired with Yujin?
Yujin is a single-minded man. Even if he hadn't realized his own feelings yet, that fact remained unchanged. Whether his feelings for Aris were lingering regrets for his deceased sister or romantic affection, he constantly doubted and agonized over it, but his heart always leaned toward Aris. Even though he associated with other heroines, it wasn't Yujin's intention to become closer than friends with them in the novel. The heroines were the ones who actively approached him first.
Take Lucia, for example. In the novel, Lucia gets caught by Yujin during summer vacation with her peculiar tastes. A naked walk in the middle of the night—anyone would think she's a pervert, right? Add cutting her wrists with a box cutter to that, and it's the cherry on top. Yet, even after witnessing that, Yujin didn't dislike or despise her. Instead, he understood and encouraged Lucia's eccentricity, which made her fall head over heels for him. From then on, Lucia actively threw herself at Yujin. She didn't hesitate to use physical seduction, flustering the innocent Yujin.
Thinking about it, Yujin is truly amazing. To have a beautiful girl like Lucia openly making sexual advances and still hold out by biting his tongue. Once, there was an event where Yujin's libido exploded after being hit by Regina's drug (written as drug, read as aphrodisiac). Do you know what Yujin did then? He actually stabbed a knife into the back of his own hand to suppress his lust with pain. He's a total lunatic. So stubborn, so tough. Truly the incarnation of a PG-13 rating. He absolutely refuses to cross over into R-18 territory. Yujin is just that kind of guy. He's the textbook definition of a pushover.
Since Yujin had someone he loved (even if he didn't realize it), there was no way he would go sniffing around other women. Arin, Anastasia, and Lucia were the ones who fell for Yujin first, which is how they got involved. But Arin and Anastasia came to the cherry blossom festival with Leo instead of Yujin...? Why? I'm not really one to talk since I'm actively trying to hook him up with Aris... but shouldn't you guys at least show some interest in Yujin?
I've never seen Arin or Anastasia show any favor to Yujin beyond friendship. I thought it was just because their flags hadn't been triggered yet... but in reality, had a completely different flag already been planted? Since the winner is already decided anyway, loving him would only lead to heartbreak. In that case, it might actually be better for them to have no interest from the start. The heroines have a profound impact on Yujin's growth, so they must become close, but it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic. If that were the case, even I, as Lucia, would have actively made moves on Yujin, regardless of any actual romantic feelings.
Aris is an exception. Please do not take the main heroine's dignity lightly. I'm not putting all this effort into hooking them up for nothing. So, even if Arin and Anastasia show favor to a man other than Yujin, it might cause minor issues, but nothing too major. There shouldn't be... but why? Why does this feel so uncomfortable?
Ah. The moment I looked back at Leo, I immediately realized why. Look at that brilliant blonde hair. Look at that beautifully sun-kissed skin. Those broad shoulders. That tall stature. A picture-perfect blonde, tanned delinquent was standing right there.
Hieek?! A blonde tanned delinquent?! Heh?! NTR?! I knew something felt off ever since he dyed his hair blonde! Shivering, I took a step back. I subtly blocked Frey with my body so Leo's gaze wouldn't reach her. Scary! Leo! Scary! Blonde tanned delinquent! To think he's already conquered two heroines! Come to think of it, since Arin and Anastasia don't like Yujin yet, it's not technically NTR! But they were heroines who might have liked him someday, with a high probability! And you snatched them away?! Are you really Yujin's friend?! Are you really Yujin's rival?! Ah, did you steal them because you're his rival?!
Ugh, but your evil clutches end here. No matter how peerless your skills are, you will never have Lucia, the 17th-generation descendant of the Lu family. Remember that. And if you stretch your slimy hands toward Aris, I will cut off your thing... and make you feel the pain of being gender-bent too...
...is what I almost said. Come on, that's way too much of an overreaction. If meeting up on the weekend makes them lovers, then Aris and I would basically be dating Yujin too. Wow, two-timing. As expected of the protagonist. A hero is always fond of the sensual. Is the aftereffect of being split in half by Murmur still lingering? I keep having these wild thoughts. Shaking my head to clear my mind, I looked at Arin and Anastasia running toward us.
That direction... I see. The sound I heard earlier was the three of them from Class A fighting monsters. I couldn't help but brighten up at the unexpected reinforcements. After all, there was a clear limit to what Yujin, Frey, and I could do. In particular, Anastasia was the exact talent we needed right now. Human wave tactics using clones. We lacked the manpower to evacuate people, but Anastasia alone could solve that in an instant. ...But that's strange. If it were Anastasia, she would have used her clones already. Her clones should have shown up in every corner of the park by now. The fact that they haven't means... could it be?
"Lucia! Aris! You were here?" "Yay!"
Arin looked slightly relieved upon finding us. Anastasia waved her arms wildly in greeting. Her behavior and vibe were similar to the usual Anastasia, yet subtly different. A bit more active, a bit more expressive of her emotions. I spoke with semi-certainty.
"Anastasia. Are you a clone?" "Eh? How did you know?" "You just seem a bit different from usual." "Yay! Yay! Yay!"
Anastasia hopped up and down in delight. She was cute, like a rabbit, but I couldn't hide my inner disappointment. Normally, Anastasia's clones were exact replicas of the original. Personality, thoughts, memories—all of it was identical to the main body. However, when the main body and the clone were far apart, the connection between them would loosen, and sometimes the clone would become subtly different from the main body, like now. Even though they were fundamentally the same Anastasia, their tendencies would change. The Anastasia in front of me was exactly like that. She was more active, more energetic, and much more childlike than the original.
A clone cannot make another clone. An Anastasia who couldn't make clones was basically stripped of most of her combat power. I suppose that's natural. It's the same as Lucia not having Super Regeneration, Arin not having Crisis Detection, or Leo not having Acceleration. If you take away a supernatural ability user's ability, what's left besides their physical stats? Furthermore, clones disappear quickly upon receiving a strong impact. If the main body is close, their durability increases, but when they are far apart like this, the clone's durability drops, causing it to disperse the moment it takes any external shock. In other words, we couldn't expect much from this Anastasia. Since it didn't seem like the main body was nearby either, Anastasia's army was out of the question. Yep, back to square one.
Still, I was grateful enough just to have Arin, Leo, and even a cloned Anastasia join us. In the end, the Golden Generation had all gathered. As expected of the main cast, they really attract incidents and accidents. Or maybe I should say incidents and accidents follow them around.
"I'm glad you're safe. But unfortunately, we don't have time to chat," Arin said, flicking the blood off her blade. She actually brought her weapon with her even on a day off. As expected of the class president. I left mine in the dormitory, thinking I wouldn't need it. I underestimated this world too much. Ugh, I'll reflect on this. I have so much to reflect on today.
"I've already contacted the Heavenly Command. Five minutes. We just need to hold out for ten minutes at most."
"That's reassuring news, but... don't panic and listen to me. The one who attacked us during the field training is here..."
"The girl in the Red Fox Mask? We know." "You knew?" "We saw her."
Ah, they had already spotted her. No wonder Arin looked a bit pale.
"Misfortunes never come singly. A spatial crack is bad enough, but that woman too... Still, don't worry too much. My dad—no, the Captain is coming. I don't know how strong she is, but she won't be able to handle a Division Captain of the Heavenly Command."
A look of pride was visible on Arin's face as she spoke. It was the absolute trust of a child in her parent.
"...Let's hope so."
I couldn't echo Arin's confidence. The seven Captains were indeed absurdly strong. The pillars supporting the Heavenly Command. Humanity's greatest military force. Frankly, claiming that the seven Captains were stronger than all the other heroes of the Heavenly Command combined wouldn't be an exaggeration at all. It was just that, this time, the opponent was too bad. That was all.
Arin frowned, looking like she had a headache. Her Crisis Detection was probably triggering non-stop, giving her a massive migraine. She spoke as if spitting out the words.
"Moving together would be safer, but then we won't be able to cover as much ground. There are still too many people who haven't evacuated. The monsters are trying to break out of the park, too."
"We take risks. That's what heroes do. Our model student is out there giving it his all, after all. We should do the same."
Leo stared into the distance, his eyes burning with competitive spirit. Even at this very moment, flames were swirling. Without that fire, the casualties would have been dozens of times higher.
"That pushover bastard. How dare he try to run ahead all by himself again. It really pisses me off."
"Leo, now is not the time to be needlessly competitive."
"No, Arin. That's not it. Because it's now, we have to burn with competitive spirit even more. Look. Just look at him. That guy is pushing himself way too hard. At this rate, he's going to burn himself to death with his own fire."
Clench. The veins on the back of Leo's hand bulged. Fitting his blood-stained knuckles deeper between his fingers, Leo spoke.
"Let's go show him he's not alone. Saving people isn't something only he can do."
...Heh. Looking at him like this, he's actually a bit of a cool blonde tanned delinquent. Is this how he slowly unlocks the gates to their hearts? Fufu, but that won't work on Lucia. I do like those knuckles, though. Especially the part glistening with blood. That's 2 Lucia Points. Yujin better step up his game. At this rate, his wish coupon might get snatched away, you know?