Chapter 95: Mentor (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Mentor (4)
Thump, thump, thump.
Ryozo tapped her forehead against the windowpane. Where her brow pulled away, a pale mark lingered on the glass.
“…That person.”
Those words drove into her chest like a stake.
“Seriously… what is wrong with me……?”
Her breath misted against the cold glass.
She regretted it.
A sudden wave of self-loathing washed over her for speaking so harshly to Abel.
Granted, Abel had acted a bit immaturely herself.
‘Look at the state of the world right now, Abel.’
International affairs were in turmoil on multiple fronts. Abel’s feelings? She understood them completely. But looking at the bigger picture, this matter was trivial in the extreme.
“I know she came to me out of anxiety, thinking we were in the same boat.”
They were adults now. They couldn’t afford to let emotions dictate their lives forever. Moreover, their positions demanded responsibility. Ryozo was the principal of Joaquin Academy, and Abel was the queen of high society.
‘Especially Abel—she can’t let her emotions become her attitude.’
The Nibelungs had many enemies. Even more so now, when the nobles hostile to Kang Geomma were aligning themselves with the Imperial Court. Abel had to watch every word and even the smallest demeanor. One wrong step could create a horde of enemies for Nibelung, and if things went truly awry, it could directly impact Kang Geomma. That was why Ryozo had spoken in such a stern tone.
“…Why.”
And yet, guilt squeezed her heart tight.
“Why did you have to say it like that, Ryozo?”
Subconsciously, Ryozo had tried to pull rank on Abel. She hadn't treated Abel as an equal, dismissing her out of annoyance and turning her away. Abel had every right to feel hurt.
And because of that, Abel had hurled back the very phrase Ryozo hated hearing most.
“That person.”
Throbbing.
Ryozo clutched her temple.
“Ugh…”
A migraine rushed in at the mere thought of that man—a name she hadn't uttered in so long.
Groaning, Ryozo stumbled back to her desk and sat down, picking up her pen once more.
“……”
Silence settled over the principal’s office for a while.
“Haaah.”
Ryozo picked up the intercom receiver.
“Yeah, it’s me. Could you clear my schedule for this afternoon?”
─Ah, yes. Understood.
Her secretary, Choi Seol-ah, replied.
“Thanks.”
─Um, Principal, I need to list a reason for your absence… What should I write down?
“It’s spring now, isn’t it?”
Holding the receiver to her ear, Ryozo turned to look out the window. The cherry trees were scattering their petals in full bloom.
“I think I’ll go for a quick outing.”
*
Episode: Mentor
The graduate school faculty actively cooperated with me. The reason they instantly flipped their conservative stance was that they had seen ‘possibility’ in me.
The Awakening of magic.
Most of the professors in the graduate school wielded magic. On top of that, they were Demons, creatures bound strictly to the logic of power.
I had essentially demonstrated to them the hope that magic could evolve to a higher dimension. Their hearts were undoubtedly pounding with excitement.
“Heavenly Sword, based on the research I conducted overnight…”
“Please take a look at this as well. In my opinion…”
The graduate faculty and I devoted ourselves to research for an entire week. We ate and slept inside the Special Pavilion, treating it like a massive research facility. The professors left only for their scheduled lectures before hurrying back.
It happened to be right after midterm exams, so the Special Pavilion was closed to students for a few weeks. Nothing was there to disturb us while we lived and worked inside.
‘An ideal environment for concentration.’
The momentum was great.
At this rate, progress would be fast.
Smiling, I stepped out of the Special Pavilion. The spring sunlight greeted me. How many days had it been since I last breathed outside air? Breathing in the air of the Human Realm after smelling nothing but the musty atmosphere of the Special Pavilion felt sweet…
“……?”
It happened as I was stretching. A profile that was familiar, yet somehow hard to ever get fully used to, caught my eye.
Ssssshh.
Cherry blossom petals scattered through the air.
She was simply sitting on a bench, yet that alone gave the illusion that the surrounding scenery had suddenly grown far more radiant.
“Oh, Geomma.”
Noticing my intent gaze, Abel turned her eyes toward me. She brushed off the petals resting on her hair and walked closer.
“It really is hard to catch a glimpse of my husband’s face, isn't it?”
Feeling awkward, I scratched near my eyebrow with my thumb.
“Sorry……”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m not just saying this—you really are the busiest man in the world.”
I couldn’t deny that.
“If I had a husband who just lazily stayed home all day, I probably would’ve lost affection for him instead. Besides, taking a break like this almost feels like we're a weekend couple, which has its own fond charm. It’s not so bad.”
“……”
“I mean it literally, so don’t misinterpret what I said.”
Abel gave a soft smile and linked her arm with mine. Resting her head gently against my shoulder, she began to walk. Caught off guard, I joined Abel on her stroll.
Step, step.
How long had we been walking?
“Geomma.”
Abel, who had been walking in silence, finally opened up.
“You know…”
“Yeah.”
“I find myself so, so pathetic.”
I stopped in my tracks and looked down at Abel’s face. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Did something happen?”
I asked, startled. Abel shook her head.
“Nothing happened. If anything, I was the one who caused trouble for no reason.”
“…I still want to hear it.”
“You might like me a little less, you know?”
I dismissed her concern with a firm, steady gaze.
“There’s no way that would happen.”
“I suppose. You hardly ever tell empty flatteries.”
In that moment, a cherry blossom petal landed on the bridge of Abel’s nose. It felt as if the surrounding cherry trees had thoughtfully covered her red, stuffy nose.
“…I said something terrible to Ryozo……”
“What did you say?”
Abel hesitated, her lips quivering, before forcing the words out with all her strength.
“…The Archery Saint.”
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped my lips despite myself.
“H-How did Saki Kojima come up?”
“Well…”
Surrounded by the warmth of spring, Abel explained the circumstances.
It had happened a week ago. On the very day I locked myself in the Special Pavilion with the graduate faculty. Abel and Ryozo had a difference of opinion regarding the current political situation. Things had been suspicious lately. Over a minor comment, feelings were hurt, and in the end, they had hurled sharp words at each other.
“I’m really such an awful bitch.”
The moment she finished speaking, Abel choked back a sob. The rhythm of her tears trembled through her shoulder, reaching all the way to my heart.
My mind went blank. I stood there blinking like an idiot.
“I know I shouldn’t have. But I was just so angry at the time… when I’m supposed to be one of the people who understands best how much pain Ryozo carries.”
I spoke with a heavy sigh.
“…It’s not your fault.”
It was my fault.
The impending Second Apocalypse. The resurrected Villain Syndicate. Saving Chloe. All these overlapping crises had caused me to neglect my family—the thing that should have mattered most to me.
As someone who was essentially a complete orphan, I had made a vow to myself long ago: If I ever get a family of my own, I will put them first above everything else. The reality was the exact opposite. I was a failure of a human being.
“Geomma, Geomma!”
Seeing my eyes go distant, Abel grabbed my shoulders and shook me. Focus slowly returned to my eyes.
“I didn’t tell you this to dump a burden on you,” Abel said, wiping her tears. “This is just me venting about my own mistakes. Besides, where else in the world could you find a husband like mine? Capable, and the handsomest man alive.”
“Isn't Leon the handsomest man in the world?”
“Ew.”
Abel stuck her tongue out in disgust.
“You call that handsome? That’s just a pretty-boy playboy.”
I recalled reading somewhere before that "pretty-boy playboy" was often used as a synonym for handsome men. Though given that Abel was the one saying it, she probably meant it genuinely.
“I’m happy you see me that way, but I really am a terrible husband. Strictly speaking, the fact that you saw a glimpse of the Archery Saint in Ryozo is my fault too.”
“H-Huh?”
Abel looked flustered.
I gently brushed away the fragments of spring clinging to her shoulders as I explained.
“Ryozo has been lonely ever since she was little.”
The Nibelung family and the Saki family. While their social standing was roughly equal, the paths of their lives were vastly different.
Abel had grown up showered with love by the Sword Emperor. Pitying his granddaughter who had lost her parents in an unfortunate accident, he had done everything in his power to ensure she never felt their absence.
‘A precious person died.’
Faced with the same despair, the Archery Saint had handled it in a completely different way than the Sword Emperor. He had tried to replace his beloved deceased wife, Cheolsim, with Ryozo. In his own twisted way, it might have been fatherly love, but his method was far outside the realm of normal.
Warped as he was, Kojima isolated Ryozo. He separated her from her mother, Cynthia. Claiming that human resolve grew soft under affection, he refused to bestow any upon her.
Even though she grew up lacking nothing materially, Ryozo was someone who had never once received recognition from the Archery Saint. Her difficulty in expressing her feelings, both then and now, undoubtedly stemmed from her upbringing.
“You know Ryozo hates the Archery Saint, right, Abel?”
“Y-Yeah, roughly. I don’t know the full details, though…”
“Hate is still an emotion. When you truly despise someone, you don't even bother wasting the emotion of hatred on them.”
“Come to think of it, I’m the same way. When I genuinely loathe someone to the point of shivering, I just erase them from my mind completely.”
“Now imagine Ryozo, whose brain functions like a supercomputer. If she wanted to, she could erase him instantly. Yet she kept that sore spot intact. Given her personality, even if he’s her father, she could have wiped him from her mind if she really wanted to.”
“Could that mean…”
Paradoxically, there must have been a time when Ryozo begged the Archery Saint for recognition and love. And she must have seen a fragment of that past self in Abel.
That was why, in a surge of emotion...
Seeing her past reflection in Abel made her lash out with sharp words. So…
“The one who resembles Saki Kojima isn’t Ryozo—it’s me.”
“……”
After pondering for a moment, Abel took a couple of steps back from me.
Wheeeeew.
A spring breeze blew.
Abel put her hands modestly behind her back and gazed at me.
“Go to Ryozo.”
I nodded.
“I plan to. I was actually heading to the principal’s office anyway—”
Buzz.
A tremble vibrated near my chest. Pulling out my phone, I saw it was a call from Weapon. Even the vibration of the phone conveyed a sense of urgency.
─C-Chief!
“Did something happen?”
─We found the base of the New Villain Coalition!
Finally.
“Where is it?”
─Haa… It’s the place we went for our first-year school trip, but fuck, my brain’s scrambled and I can’t remember the name all of a sudden!
“A school trip… Avallon Island?”
The place where the World Tree Yggdrasil stood.
And the location where I had first awakened the power of the Sword God.
─Yeah, that’s it!
So that was where it was.
“Got it. I’ll stop by the principal’s office first, then head out right away.”
─N-No! There’s no need for that!
“What do you mean no need? I’ve been disappearing without a word too much lately. I need to report to Ryozo at least—”
─Why aren't you getting this?! The one who tipped us off about the villains' base location was Saki!
“…What?”
Weapon yelled in an agitated voice.
─Saki is on Avallon Island right now!
* * *
Up until ten years ago, Avallon Island had been used as a picnic spot for Joaquin.
However, after that incident, Yggdrasil’s vibrant colors faded away.
The old charm, where golden waves used to ripple, was nowhere to be found. Deprived of its scenic beauty, Avallon Island had been abandoned by human hands for a long time.
A dense forest. The dry, shriveled World Tree Yggdrasil. The chilling sound of wind slicing through the bare branches.
The mythical island, having fallen into what appeared to be a desolate, cursed land, was the perfect place for the Villain Coalition to nest.
The Villain Coalition built their hideout inside Yggdrasil. Since its scale dwarfed most skyscrapers, hollowed out, it served as a surprisingly usable base.
“Our splinter cells are practically dismantled.”
A rat-faced man spoke up. A woman with a bull-like nose ring huffed in frustration.
“Dammit! Just when I thought the nobles finally turned their backs on the Heavenly Sword, why is the Hero Agency cooperating with him?! Aren't All Mute and the Heavenly Sword mortal enemies?!”
“It’s because our investigation was lacking.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
Each released their sinister malice as they lamented their misfortune. These were the core forces of the New Villain Coalition, the Villain Twelve. Composed of twelve members, they had gathered villains from all over the world under a ‘grand purpose.’
“At least for now, the silver lining is that only the splinter cells—”
It happened in an instant.
Swoooosh!
The rat-faced man who was speaking scraped backward violently.
“Kaghh!”
A section of the wall caved in under the impact. Trapped in the collapsed wall, the rat-faced man screamed. An arrow had pierced straight through his solar plexus.
The remaining eleven snapped their heads around toward a small peephole made for observation. Before the villains could even snap their fingers, another arrow flew in.
Thwack!
With a sickening crunch, the rat-faced man’s forehead was pierced right between the eyes. The moment he died from the two shots, a rain of arrows rushed in.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack──────!
It rained down endlessly.
The wood grain was chipped away bit by bit by arrowheads. Amid the ferocious flurry of splinters, the attacker’s figure revealed itself.
Riding atop a dragon against the backdrop of clouds, a woman with sky-blue hair notched an arrow to her bowstring.
“I-Immortal Archer!”
Saki Ryozo.
“Right between the eyes.”
The arrow left the bowstring.