Chapter 118: The World Is Favoring Me (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 118: The World Is Favoring Me (3)
On the day of the event.
"Whoa..."
Holding a bag of puffed corn, Medea looked around, taking in the festival scene. The Sword Emperor, walking alongside her, grumbled indifferently.
"You've been at this academy for decades. What's so different that you're standing there gaping?"
Tsk.
"Honestly, you old coot, where's your sense of romance...? Hey! The vibe is totally different! See?! Look at the decorations!"
Joaquin Academy, true to its Western name, was modeled after Western architecture. Though it was just one of infinite worldlines, this world operated under the Miracle Blessing M system. The boundary between Eastern and Western cultures was far from distinct.
Still.
Even so, lanterns were always best when glowing in the traditional Eastern style.
"...Sure, well. It is quite impressive."
"Zieg, you've always been like that. So dishonest with yourself."
The sun was hovering right on the edge of the horizon, painting the sky in a magnificent sunset.
"I-I am simply maintaining my dignity!"
"Dignity, my ass... Hey! Are you going to keep stealing my puffed corn?! When I bought it earlier, you said it was a snack for old folks and wouldn't eat any!"
Reaching out his hand again, the Sword Emperor flinched before barking defensively, clearly caught red-handed.
"With the world being so dangerous lately, I was just checking if it was poisoned!"
"I'm an Ancient. Immunity to a thousand poisons is a passive trait."
"Indeed, seeing how you eat that poison and call it food..."
Medea furrowed her fair brow.
"Confiscated."
"Hey! Do you really have to hide it behind your back like that?! I only have one arm! This is abuse, abuse!"
"Treat someone too well, and they think it's their right."
"...!"
The bickering between the two dissolved softly into the surrounding noise. Students and visitors alike were thoroughly engrossed in enjoying the festival. The atmosphere was simply sublime.
Replacing the fading western sky, lanterns flickered all around. A single flame's crackle might have felt lonely, but coming from all across the grounds, it immersed everything in a uniquely Eastern, bittersweet mood.
"Whew..."
The Sword Emperor swept back his bangs with his sole hand. Giving up on the puffed corn, he looked around at their surroundings.
"I thought this academy would never change, yet changing the name of the festival makes it feel entirely different."
"Tell me about it."
Multiple lantern lights reflected in Medea's spectacle lenses.
"When you're at Joaquin Academy, you sometimes get the illusion that time has stopped, don't you? From an Ancient's perspective, that's quite comforting."
Ancients and humans were distinct. A prime example was lifespan.
From an Ancient's perspective, a human lifespan felt similar to the time it takes for a candle held by those students to melt down.
Short.
To share a life, their naturally endowed lifespans were too different. Yet Joaquin Academy's standing and scenery hadn't changed much for seven hundred years.
"..."
The Sword Emperor stared at Medea's profile. Lantern light split her face in half.
He couldn't find the right words to say. His connection with Medea went all the way back to their cadet days.
'Perhaps the only person I could truly call a friend.'
Though heroes lived longer than ordinary people...
'An Ancient, if living out their full lifespan, lives nearly a thousand years.'
The Sword Emperor himself, and the Spear Saint as well.
One day, they would leave Medea's side first. How Medea would feel, left all alone...
The Sword Emperor shook his head to banish the thought. Perhaps because it was a memorial service, nostalgia was hijacking his brain.
Was that why?
He let out a pointless remark.
"...Things have changed a lot this year. Joaquin Graduate School, and this memorial service too."
"Yeah."
Medea smiled faintly.
"That's why I like it even more."
"Guess you're not disappointed or anything."
"Disappointed? Do you take me for you?"
"..."
"How should I put it... In the past, I think I wished that everyone around me wouldn't change, wouldn't grow old."
Ah! Right on cue, a lantern accidentally released by a little child drifted up into the sky. Far from crying, the child looked up with sparkling eyes at the lantern fading into a tiny dot. Because it vanished before going out, it felt all the more beautiful.
Medea didn't just walk past the little child. She handed over her own lantern. After responding with a smile to the child's polite bow, the two moved on.
They walked aimlessly. Fewer people among the young crowd recognized the Sword Emperor and the Sage than one might expect. In the past, just going to a department store would routinely cause a massive bottleneck.
Even as part of the Seven Stars, they were ultimately heroes who dominated only a single era. Strong figures of comparable stature emerged at least once every few centuries. The aura cast by the title of Seven Star Hero would also eventually adorn just a page of a history book, like a lantern swallowed by the night sky.
Medea spoke up again.
"Maybe because of these changes, I feel like life is richer."
"Is that so?"
"Of course, it's pleasant because it's in a positive direction. Zieg, as you know, sitting among those damn nobles, we've seen all sorts of nasty things. But..."
"Everything changed when the Heavenly Sword appeared."
The Sword Emperor also curled up the corners of his mouth.
'My disciple.'
His proud grandson-in-law.
He couldn't let anyone take him away. Even if it were the Hero of the Origin, Balor Joaquin.
Additionally, the Sword Emperor kept his mouth firmly shut regarding Balor Joaquin's true identity. Though the man himself seemed indifferent to whether it was revealed or not, the Sword Emperor was waiting for the right moment... was his excuse.
He was worried the initiative in the battle for Kang Geomma would pass to Balor Joaquin. That thought bothered him so crazy much that his lips wouldn't part.
'If Medea finds out...'
She'd pick him apart completely.
Petty. Narrow-minded. Already, all sorts of insults echoed in his ears.
He'd swallow it.
'Heavenly Sword.'
My precious!
'Hmm.'
Suddenly, anxiety swept over him. Now that he thought about it, the Heavenly Sword and the Hero of the Origin were nowhere to be seen. Surely the two of them weren't having a secret conversation somewhere?
'...I need to go find them.'
Unaware of—or indifferent to—his complicated inner turmoil, Medea continued.
"Thanks to Geomma, it feels like the world is moving toward a better today than yesterday, and a better tomorrow than today."
"I admit it. In the past, we wore the grand title of the Seven Stars, but we couldn't change the world itself."
"Maybe the very title of the Seven Stars was a leash used by hero society to restrict our movements."
"Now I feel embarrassed all over again."
The Sword Emperor grew bitter.
"What is there to be embarrassed about? Geomma is one of the Seven Stars just like us. Let's be proud."
"Ah, speaking of which. I plan to retire from the Seven Stars soon."
"I think Richard said the same thing to me last week."
"He... well, it's about time for him to step back into the background too."
Regardless of the wishes of the Sword Emperor and the Spear Saint, their skills were far from declining—in fact, they were growing stronger by the day. Yet the reason they sought to retire was to announce the changing of the era to the world. If they occupied the top spots forever, hero society would inevitably stagnate.
With Kang Geomma leading the wave of change, now was the absolute best timing for retirement. Though they hadn't discussed it separately, the Sword Emperor and Spear Saint shared the same vision. Bitter rivals though they were, these two veteran generals were of one mind in desiring a healthy hero society.
Step, step.
After spending some time chatting and enjoying the festival, a massive sphere suddenly rose up ahead of them.
"Woooaaaaah!"
People shouted in cheers and awe.
A moment later.
The identity of the sphere was revealed.
It was a hot air balloon. However, its head section was an extraordinarily massive balloon.
"Was there a hot air balloon scheduled for this event?" the Sword Emperor asked.
Medea replied, looking uncertain.
"From what I overheard, today is the Joaquin Founder's Day anyway. Since it's a long-standing tradition to just ignore, maybe they're trying to set the Founder's Day mood with a hot air balloon."
"Indeed..."
"Want to see it closer? You like that kind of thing."
"Hmph!"
A sulky reaction. But Medea parted the crowd first. Pretending to give in, the Sword Emperor followed her toward the center of attention.
"Ugh!"
The sound of someone letting out held breath greeted them.
It was Rachel.
"Argh, I'm gonna die!"
"Just a little more!"
"Lady Bongseon, fighting!"
Encouragement and cheers echoed from the spectators.
Draggin her exhausted body, Rachel brought her mouth to the balloon's air hole once more.
And then she inflated it.
"...?"
Wait, hold on. Is she blowing that up with her mouth?
A hero revered by the public as Bongseon was literally turned into an air pump.
The Sword Emperor blinked in sheer disbelief. Bongseon was strong. Undeniably so.
But whether she inspired confidence was another matter entirely. Swallowing dryly, the Sword Emperor spoke up.
"Medea."
"If you're taking back your retirement, you can't."
"..."
Regret washed over him like a wave.
* * *
The first day of the festival. Time flew by, and before long, the sun had fully set. Ryozo, Abel, and I stepped through the rustling grass.
"It's so crowded down there."
"I actually prefer this."
Ryozo picked up where Abel opened.
"It would be depressing if the memorial service stayed gloomy the whole time."
"Right."
Let me throw in a word too.
"You know how at funerals, people intentionally play Go-Stop? They say if everyone just wails, the departed soul won't like it."
"Geomma, your analogy is..."
Ryozo caught the end of Abel's trailing words.
"Like an old man's."
"..."
"Well, Geomma's always been like this. Even as a cadet, he was like an old soul yet acting like a three-year-old."
Abel's warmth wrapped around my side.
"I heard from my uncle that when he was little, it was even worse. He was so disobedient they thought he was mute at first!"
"That guy really... Ugh!"
My other side hurt. I looked with teary eyes. Ryozo gave a scolding while pinching my side fat.
"What kind of way is that to talk about your uncle?"
"No, that gu— Never mind. My mistake."
"Always be respectful to your uncle."
"Hear, hear!"
Boss enjoyed total support from both Ryozo and Abel. I don't think even I ever got that kind of treatment. It felt like he was the one who awakened a 'Hypnosis App' Blessing, not me.
"By the way."
I felt the low-lying grass tickling my ankles.
"Why are we going 'there'?"
We were climbing the hill at the back of the academy grounds.
Anyone in the know would realize that our destination was the bench I frequented. It was also the place where I first ran into Abel back when I first enrolled.
"It's crowded down there. And you prefer quiet places anyway, Geomma."
"Well, that's true, but..."
"Is it too sudden?"
I nodded. Ryozo answered.
"I'm an INTP and Abel is an ESFP. We both have spontaneous 'P' personalities. You understand even if it's out of nowhere, right?"
...That's not really the approach I was thinking of.
"Ah, wait a second!"
Abel quickly pulled away from me.
"I-I forgot something at home!"
What's with this awkward acting tone?
"What did you forget?"
"Th-that... Ah! My wallet!"
"Do we need a wallet to go to a bench?"
"...We might have to pay a fee!"
A bench fee, huh. What a thoroughly rotten academy.
"F-For now, you two keep walking!"
Abel hurried down the hill without looking back. While I stood gaping at her departing back, Ryozo made her move next.
"I forgot something too."
"Ryozo, what did you..."
"Sweet red bean jelly."
That makes more sense than Abel's excuse.
"I'll be back."
Through a similar routine, Ryozo departed as well.
'Transparent.'
I scratched my chin and walked toward our original destination.
Walking a bit further, I saw the bench. Along with the man occupying it.
He turned only his eyes toward me.
"You're here."
"Boss."
I narrowed my eyes at Boss, then took a seat beside him. Suddenly finding myself one-on-one with Boss, I kept my mouth shut and stayed still.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence abruptly settled between us.
'Is it really necessary to be this awkward?'
I had spent years beating each other up with this guy in my past life.
Back then, I just thought Boss was some bald middle-aged man.
'My perception of him changed after I came to this world.'
The Hero of the Origin.
Balor Joaquin.
I had been quite shocked when I learned Boss's true identity. Was that emotion taking effect? A distant vibe had formed between me and Boss, who had returned here for reasons unknown.
Even when I wanted to talk to him separately, I found myself choked up. There were also too many interruptions in the first place.
'Those are all excuses, though.'
We had each endured our own tribulations. To the point that our shared past felt distant and hazy. That was why casual conversation didn't come naturally.
Someone had to muster up the courage.
"Why on earth did they turn this into Buddha's Birthday?"
And that role always belonged to Boss.
"And I explicitly told them not to hold things like a Joaquin Founder's Day. In the end, the second academy principal did it anyway..."
"And here I thought."
It suited him.
"I thought you were just an egomaniac trying to etch your name in history, Boss."
"As if I could compare to you."
"..."
Touched a nerve.
"Having regressed countless times, the concept of a birthday is faint to me."
As he spoke, Boss leaned back loosely against the bench. At that exact moment, lanterns began to float up one by one.
"Did you know? Today is the exact day you came to this world."
"How do you know something even I forgot?"
"Because today is the day your missing person report was filed. I was your legal guardian, remember?"
Ah.
Boss twitched his lips.
"How is it, coming to this world?"
He clenched his fists tightly, as if his fingers kept stiffening.
"You can resent me or whatever, I don't care. It's no different from me dumping my responsibility onto you..."
"I'm happy."
I fixed my gaze on the countless wavering lights. Every single one of them was someone's heart.
Hearts offering comfort to civilians caught in the disaster.
Hearts commemorating the birth of the Hero of the Origin.
"...Is that so?"
Thump.
A thick hand rested on the crown of my head.
"Happy birthday."
All those hearts felt as if they were blessing the soul of an outsider.
"You too, Father."
– The World Is Favoring Me. End.