Chapter 117: An Awkward Relationship (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117: An Awkward Relationship (2)
Abel recalled a fragment of memory. A past from when her parents were still alive. The pungent smell of cheese lent a vivid sense of reality to the recollection.
"Hmph—I know how to use a knife now, too! I'll cut my own food."
At Abel's whining, her father chuckled softly. He spoke with an infinitely warm smile.
"Hahaha. Our Abel is already all grown up. But still, not yet. We of the Nibelung family do not hold blades before the age of seven."
"Huh? Grandfather said you grabbed a sword ever since your first birthday party, Dad."
"Father, really..."
"He also said this: 'Your father is a talent who will leave his name in Nibelung history, Abel.'"
Her parents giggled at Abel's imitation of the Sword Emperor. A proud smile spread across her small lips.
Her father had been a prodigy. He had shown a genius for the sword before he could even walk.
His talent was great enough to occupy a page in the genealogy of the Nibelung family. Yet, he was far from arrogant; he was born with a naturally humble disposition.
"Ahem—it seems Grandfather misremembered. Anyway, Abel, put down the knife and give me your plate, will you? Dad will cut it into bite-sized pieces for you."
"I'm all grown up now... Dad always treats me like a baby!"
Abel pouted but slid her plate over anyway. That gentle smile of his was cheating.
Her father beamed, cutting the meat into child-friendly pieces.
As Abel continued to grumble, her mother whispered softly to her.
"Do you know what, Abel? Entrusting your food to someone is an expression of how much you trust and love them. Your dad is doing that because he wants to feel loved by you."
"Huh? Why?"
"Eating is the most important thing in life, isn't it? That's why you can only entrust it to someone you truly trust."
"Ah...!"
The innocent Abel was instantly convinced.
"You'll understand what it means when you become a lady, Abel. So let's let Dad win just this once today."
Her mother winked and put a finger to her lips. Abel nodded, mimicking the gesture.
Entrusting someone with this means...
Now that she was seventeen, she knew it had simply been out of concern that her daughter might hurt herself.
But now, the parents who had spoken those warm words were no longer by her side.
* * *
"...?"
Abel's eyes glistened with tears.
I had only asked her to cut some meat, and this was her reaction.
...Was it really that shocking?
I had asked her to do it to avoid triggering the Blessing of the Sword God, but Abel looked like she was on the verge of tears. I had no idea what had triggered this.
It was incredibly awkward.
Just as I was about to slide the plate back toward me—
Grab.
Abel grabbed my wrist, following her previous grip on my forearm. Wiping her flushed eyes, she said,
"Sorry. I just remembered something from the past."
"..."
"I'll cut it for you. Just wait a second."
Abel began to cut the meat with utmost sincerity. I wore a bewildered expression at her sudden change in behavior.
Even when I reached out, saying it was fine, Abel swatted my hand away with her fork. She looked ready to slice right through the plate.
"Here, eat. I cut it into bite-sized pieces."
"..."
I looked back and forth between the neatly cut food and Abel's face. When our eyes met, she averted her gaze and continued eating.
Chew, chew. Abel moved her lips in silence. A flush still lingered on the tip of her nose and around her eyes.
The meal drew to a close in an awkward silence. I had intended to use this opportunity to propose joining forces in a party, but...
With the atmosphere like this, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. It was a miracle I hadn't choked on my food.
"...Why aren't you asking?"
Abel was the first to speak. Keeping her eyes on her food, she only moved her fork and knife. Her voice was still thick with emotion.
"You must be curious. Why I cried."
Honestly, I was curious. Abel had suddenly shed tears. At first, I was flustered. But I instinctively realized.
It was definitely a cry with a story behind it. That was precisely why I didn't ask.
Those emotions gathered in her eyes—longing and a sense of loss.
Having earned my living with a knife for twenty years, my ability to read the room had grown proportionally.
I could vaguely deduce her emotions just by looking at her eyes.
I stabbed a piece of meat with my fork without a single change in my expression. At my lack of reaction, Abel's eyebrows furrowed.
"Geomma, do you really have zero interest in others? Even if your way of thinking is different from an ordinary person like me, still..."
It was too weak to be a scolding, yet too serious to be a mere admonishment.
Abel's eyes grew redder. She appealed in a tearful tone.
"You get along so well with the other kids... why are you only like this when you're with me? And while we're on the subject, you hid the fact that you were the top student when we first met, didn't you? Even when I was venting right in front of you."
"..."
"Back then, I thought you didn't say anything because you had some kind of circumstance. But the more I see you, the more I realize I was wrong. Back then, you just found it bothersome, didn't you?"
"..."
"Do you think everyone is a genius like you? No, not at all. Do you know what? Ordinary people like me live by relying on and empathizing with each other emotionally."
I put a finely cut piece of meat into my mouth. I chewed in silence.
Abel, having poured out her words, took a few ragged breaths. Then, as if entering a lull, she covered her face with both hands.
Once again, a heavy silence fell. I swallowed the meat and washed it down with water. Then, I spoke in a cool voice.
"That's enough whining."
"...What?"
Abel's eyes went wide. The only emotion left on her face was bewilderment.
Abel was currently being swayed by her triggered emotions. Of course, there was the option of just listening quietly. I could ignore whatever she said and just comfort her.
But that was not the right way to handle things for Abel's sake. Even if she called me nosy, I wouldn't have an excuse. It wasn't really my place to interfere.
But.
I put down my fork. Then, crossing my arms, I added,
"Abel, I don't care if you complain to me, but what you just said stems purely from your own inferiority complex."
"...!"
Abel's shoulders trembled slightly. I had intentionally hit a sore spot. Without stopping, I drove my words in like nails.
"And you keep saying I'm different, but those remarks are completely dismissive of me. Do you even know what kind of effort I've put in and how I've lived to say that?"
"...T-that's."
Abel's lips parted. I immediately cut off her chance to argue.
"And Abel, you are belittling your own efforts right now. By putting the crown of 'talent' on me."
"..."
People around me called me a genius with a knife.
Since I had reached the pinnacle of the industry in just five years in my past life, it was understandable why they said that.
But they didn't know the inside story. They only looked at the results, turning a blind eye to the hardships of the process.
I held the hilt of the knife until blood scabs formed on my hands. Looking at the deboned fish, I mentally reviewed and practiced my knife work.
The desire for the pinnacle. That was the driving force that allowed me to become the nation's best swordsman.
It was the same now.
The Blessing of the Sword God. It was certainly a powerful force with few rivals while active. A blessing that allowed me to cut down enemies I couldn't otherwise face.
Behind it, however, lay an enormous risk that ate away at my body and mind.
If I exceeded the time limit of the Blessing of Painlessness, I would end up in the hospital.
If the Synchronization Rate rose, my humanity would wither away.
Others called it talent, but to me, it was a blessing with a price.
It was a power of defying heaven that required me to pay with my physical and mental strength.
That was why I trained my body and developed my inherent strength.
Trying to obtain those damn magic stones also boiled down to a single purpose in the end.
To survive.
At first, I didn't have a shred of vigilance. But in the end, I completely overhauled that complacent mindset.
Because I quit the game halfway through, I only knew the story up to the mid-to-late stages. The future was shrouded in fog.
Furthermore, the canon and non-canon events had tangled. Everything was an unknown.
It was highly likely because I had possessed Kang Geomma, who was originally nothing more than Background Character A.
But I couldn't deny my own existence, could I?
I had to prepare tirelessly to prevent variables and brace for an unknowable future.
Therefore, Abel's talk of me being a 'genius' was a statement that erased all my hard work.
Moreover, while Abel was the child of the most prestigious family, wasn't I just a special admission student? No matter what she was venting, to me, it was just a mockery.
Thus, I spoke to her coldly.
"I'm sorry..."
Perhaps my words had been highly effective, as Abel apologized in a wet voice.
I let out a deep sigh. Somehow, it felt like I had just nagged her.
"Forget it, let's just eat."
"...Okay."
Her reply came softly. For some reason, the tension dissipated, and a faint chuckle escaped me. At that, Abel looked at me with a start.
Abel, who was called the Ice Empress in Miracle Blessing M.
Was it because of that discrepancy? This human side of her felt quite cute.
But more than that, the flow of this conversation was absurd.
To think that a request made simply to avoid triggering the [Blessing of the Sword God] would lead to this. I, too, felt quite embarrassed.
Did my mind become a teenager's just because my body did...?
Clatter, clatter. Only the quiet sound of plates and utensils clashing filled the silence.
It was already a greasy dinner.
With the awkward silence poured over it, I desperately craved something tangy and spicy. The cup ramen sleeping peacefully in my suitcase floated before my eyes.
Just as my stray thoughts were heading in a strange direction, I snapped back to reality.
More importantly, the main purpose of this dinner had been completely derailed.
Far from asking Abel if she wanted to join my party, it seemed our relationship had only worsened.
Just then, Abel suddenly murmured as if talking to herself.
"...My parents went to a dungeon and went missing. Today is exactly ten years since they disappeared."
I was slightly surprised by the sudden heavy topic, but I listened in silence.
"You know, I've been waiting only for this break. The minimum requirement to enter a dungeon is to become an Academy cadet."
Abel sipped some water to wet her lips. Then, she spoke cautiously.
"...So this break is deeply meaningful to me. Naturally, the pressure is also immense."
"It must be a very dangerous dungeon."
At my question, Abel shook her head.
"The dungeon difficulty itself isn't high. Honestly, to the point where I still don't understand how my parents went missing there. It's a very low-grade dungeon."
"..."
Listening quietly to her story, I felt a strange sense of kinship.
After all, hadn't my parents in this world also suddenly gone missing one day? In that regard, there was a common ground between her and me.
Besides, I felt like I had snapped at Abel a bit too harshly earlier.
Thus, my brief contemplation quickly translated into words.
"Let's go together."
"!"
"It works out well, since I was planning to run some dungeons during the break anyway."
Abel's eyes widened.
Her golden irises flashed clearly, and tears welled up.
"B-but... this has absolutely nothing to do with you. I can't impose on others."
"In the first place, I'm already imposing on you by staying at your house during the break. I'll just think of it as paying you back a little."
Actually, although I said that, the moment of sentimentality was extremely brief.
In the end, my decision was strictly a conclusion reached after multiple calculations.
My Mental Rank strictly forced only rationality upon me.
If I help Abel, the gains will be overwhelming.
My cold reason spoke so. At the same time, I was drenched in disappointment in myself. It was utterly unpleasant.
It felt as if the place where emotion had lingered was now empty.
Only a machine-like, cold mindscape settled inside me.
Of course, the fact that Abel's feelings felt touching also played a part, but that feeling was extremely faint.
If the Synchronization Rate rises, the Humanity Rank falls.
What would I become at the end of it? It gave me goosebumps.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and asked for the location of the dungeon.
"Where are we going?"
Abel slowly raised her head to look at me. She wiped away any trace of her sniffling from moments ago.
"The Undead Dungeon."
"...!"
I almost choked at that single phrase.