Chapter 121: First Love (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 121: First Love (3)
“By the way,” the boss began, his gaze hovering awkwardly between looking up at the sky and glancing behind us.
“…How long are we supposed to pretend we don't notice her?”
Honestly, I had sensed a presence lurking in the thick bushes for a while now. Considering who was standing here—myself and the Hero of the Origin—hiding from us was virtually impossible.
‘Maybe if it were Al'tair Auditore?’
In contrast, this strangely familiar uninvited guest wasn't nearly as skilled in concealing her presence as the Auditore family.
‘…Ryozo…….’
The name of a stray cat.
She was eavesdropping on us.
I looked up at the night sky nonchalantly. The boss also casually shifted his gaze away and muttered, “Does she usually have a habit of doing that?”
“What are you turning my wife into? Believe it or not, she’s the principal of this academy founded by your father.”
“I think you’re making her sound even stranger than I am.”
“……”
He hit the nail on the head.
The boss suddenly let out a dry chuckle. “Haha… Even if a person's life changes, isn't this night and day compared to your past life?”
“I did go through hell in my past life, after all.”
As Kim OO, I had dragged myself through the absolute bottom of human existence. Though I was eventually hailed as the Nation's Best Swordsman, to me, that glory was nothing more than an empty shell.
What Kim OO truly craved was not a title like that.
“Even I find it unfamiliar at times.”
Unconditional love. Family love.
“…Because in my past life, there was no one who gave me feelings like this.”
“……”
I smiled serenely and looked at the boss.
“Boss?”
And then I froze in surprise.
“You.”
Because his expression was indescribably complex, almost as if his facial muscles had broken down.
“Don't tell me… you don't remember?”
“…? Remember what?”
What was he actually asking?
At my completely oblivious reaction, his dark pupils dilated sharply.
“…You… could it be……”
The boss soon shook his head. “No. Forget it.”
“Boss?”
“I'm a bit tired. I'm going in to sleep first. You go ahead and play with your friend over there before coming in.”
The boss coldly turned his back.
In that fleeting moment, I witnessed it.
The terrifying, overwhelming intent to kill pouring from the eyes of a man who usually seemed so plain and easygoing.
I could guarantee I had never seen that look on his face before.
‘…What was that?’
*
Meanwhile, at the festival grounds.
…Or rather, inside the main building, far removed from the festivities.
While a massive crowd was enjoying the festival outdoors, one person sat watching with her cheek resting on her hand.
Chae Lina.
Her irises were a deep black that signaled a total absence of emotion, fitting her current gaze perfectly.
The lingering glow of the lanterns reflected in the double-pane windows. The sleepless brilliance of Joaquin washing softly over the glass. Chae Lina's eyes swallowed all that light like a black hole, never letting a single ray back out.
Empty-hearted.
They were eyes belonging to someone who had never felt an emotion since birth.
Rattling.
The door slid open. A presence stepped into the room. Chae Lina did not react.
“Even if it's a memorial service, it's still a festival. Is it really okay to just kill time like this?”
Inside the darkened classroom, long white hair swayed fluidly near her hips, commanding a presence all its own.
Chae Lina acknowledged the owner of the voice with just a glance.
“……”
“Then again, for someone who is Hell itself, maybe every single day feels like a memorial service.”
Saintess Yoo Se-in.
Stopping right beside her, she rested a hand on her slender waist.
“Don't look at me so coldly. I just came to give you my thanks.”
“I'll pass.”
“So cold.”
Yoo Se-in plopped down in the seat in front of Chae Lina. She rested her chin on the back of the chair and stared at her.
Chae Lina furrowed her brows deeply and immediately stood up.
“Hey.”
Her hand was grabbed.
“What do you think you're doing?” Chae Lina glared down at Yoo Se-in.
Dark gazes clashed in the pitch-black classroom. Yoo Se-in pressed on.
“I'm not asking some childish question like 'whose side are you on?' Chae Lina, I just don't understand your behavior pattern at all.”
“What about it?”
“Think about it. If you're the 'you' I suspect, you should share a goal with Kali Yuga. Yet last time, the one who practically stopped Kali Yuga was you.”
Kali Yuga. He had intended to plant the Blessing of the Apocalypse M 2nd deep within humanity's minds to control them.
That grand scheme was thwarted because of Chae Lina. Her Authority was Hell—an Authority that overlaid another world onto this one. It was an upgraded version of Kali Yuga's illusion, but her difference from that Apocalypse was her actual combat capability.
It was impossible for Chae Lina to engage in direct hand-to-hand combat with Kang Geomma. In short, when it came to sheer fighting power, she couldn't compare to Kali Yuga, who had briefly stood on equal footing with the Heavenly Sword.
Chae Lina coldly brushed Yoo Se-in's hand away. “It was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence?” Yoo Se-in gave a hollow laugh. “Under the jurisdiction of the Counterforce, there is no such thing as an absolute coincidence. Besides, haven't you heard the saying? If coincidences overlap enough times, it becomes fate.”
“I hear enough lectures during the day.”
“I'm not trying to lecture you. Like I said, I came to thank you.” Yoo Se-in sighed softly and ruffled her hair. “…I know saying this doesn't fit the 'character' I've adopted at all. But I'm still a Saintess, you know? So I thought if you needed help, maybe I could do something.”
“You?”
“Yeah, me. Since we're in the 'same boat.'”
“The same boat?” Chae Lina repeated her words twice, as if testing Yoo Se-in's patience.
Yoo Se-in gritted her teeth silently, yet nodded. “…Both you and I came here because of the Counterforce's play. So I'm saying we should help each other when times are tough. Ever since that Kali Yuga incident, I became convinced that you aren't our enemy.”
“You.”
Chae Lina's eyes glinted fiercely. The atmospheric pressure plummeted instantly. Yoo Se-in felt an overwhelming pressure, as if a giant's hand were crushing her flat.
“There's a limit to how delusional you can be.”
Her black hair fluttered in midair. A reddish haze gathered at the tips of her strands. Because of this, her presence stood out incomparably even in the dark classroom. It was the power of Hell.
“First, you are most definitely my enemy.”
Chae Lina took a step forward.
“Second, I didn't come here because of the Counterforce's play; I came here of my own free will.”
She refuted each point one by one.
“And above all, your arrogance in assuming we're in the 'same boat.'”
Chae Lina's fingertip touched Yoo Se-in's forehead.
“Feel it for yourself.”
“……!”
Yoo Se-in's consciousness went blank.
■■, you promised! That someday you'll definitely ■■.
I'll trust in ■■ and wait. Even if it hurts, I'll endure it. Because if I wait just a little longer, we can ■■.
■■, it hurts so much... ■■■. I don't think my body can ■■ anymore.
■■, my ■ is so suffocated. It's so hard to ■■■.
■■, at this rate, I feel like my ■■ will ■■.
Don't leave me behind.
You promised you'd come back.
…….
..........
.............
A cracked, broken voice tore up through Yoo Se-in's vocal cords.
“If it's going to be like this, just ■■ me instead.”
Gasp!
Yoo Se-in gasped violently for air. “Haa, haa…”
She clutched her neck with both hands. Cold sweat pooled deeply in the lines of her palms.
Her holy power pulled her surface consciousness back up.
‘If it hadn't…’
Just imagining it was horrifying. Yoo Se-in clawed at her own face repeatedly, using her fingernails to ground herself in reality. In a matter of seconds, she had experienced a mental death and returned alive.
I don't want to go back.
I don't want to go through that again.
Her lungs burned from the surge of dark emotions. She didn't have the slightest clue what had caused it, as the scenes and sentences had been chopped into tiny fragments.
But one thing was certain: what she just saw were heart demons so severe it was unbelievable that fragile-looking girl was bearing them.
The worst kind of pain is often called burning pain. The 'fire' in qi deviation was not named after fire for nothing.
Yet Chae Lina was living with pain that was easily double that at all times. A chilling sensation as if her skin were being carved with a sharp knife just by breathing. Even though it was a shriveled, dried-up mindscape, Yoo Se-in's tear ducts stung.
“…Huh?”
Her eyes throbbed. Moisture wet the fingertips she brought to her face.
Tears.
“H-How…”
Yoo Se-in's emotions had been severed upon her reincarnation. That was what made her different from the possessor Kang Geomma or the infinite regressor Balor Joaquin.
Yoo Se-in was a tool meant to maintain order in this world of Miracle Blessing M. Emotion was merely an obstacle that hindered that purpose.
And yet…
“Why… why won't it stop?”
She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands until they burned. But the glistening liquid only continued to drip down from her elbows.
“…Just what kind of life did you……”
Yoo Se-in raised her eyes. Her blurred vision reflected nothing but the empty classroom. Chae Lina had already vanished into thin air.
A deathly silence.
Yoo Se-in reflected on the identity of the emotion overwhelming her.
Soon, she realized.
This terrible sorrow was……
Love.
An endless love for someone.
Transcending eras, space, and even the cosmos itself.
— First Love. End.
*
Three days had passed since the memorial service ended.
“Haa…”
Abel had been filled with worries lately.
‘…I'm anxious.’
Married life was smooth enough. Kang Geomma went without saying, and Ryozo, who was in a subtle position, was also very accommodating.
‘Even if Ryozo is so capable that my role seems diminished…’
In the early days of their marriage, she had struggled a lot due to an inferiority complex. Kang Geomma and Ryozo had been a famous couple since their cadet days, and Abel felt like she had squeezed herself between them.
Deep down, Kang Geomma's warm affection was behind it all, but the public had no way of knowing that.
She had spent a somewhat difficult few years. Even during that time, Kang Geomma steadily encouraged her. Thanks to him, Abel pulled herself out of the mire and found her own role.
Dominating high society.
Standing at the center of aristocratic society just three years after stepping into it, Abel actively used her influence. She reduced the arrows directed at Kang Geomma and supported Ryozo so she could focus solely on managing Joaquin Academy.
She was satisfied.
Kang Geomma treated both Ryozo and Abel without favoritism. Even if she felt randomly jealous on "odd days" sometimes, seeing his face every other day felt so wonderful that her jealousy evaporated like melting snow.
It was an unbroken stretch of peaceful days. For ten years, there had been no major twists or turns.
“Lady Abel!”
Until Rachel began causing a discord.
“Guess what? Today, when I went to pay my respects to my uncle, he didn't say a single word! Doesn't that mean he's practically given his approval?!”
“…Rachel.”
Do people normally say that so proudly to the current wife? She wanted to snap at her, but Rachel's sheer merriment drained all the wind from her sails. Am I not the normal one here? She's the weird one!
‘Yet to call her just a weird girl…’
Abel glanced at Rachel as they walked down the hallway.
‘That look in Rachel's eyes that day still bothers me.’
Her connection with Rachel went way back. They knew each other even before Joaquin Academy. However, Rachel only began openly clinging to him after reaching the Star Class.
‘And yet, I still don't really know Rachel.’
Rachel was transparent inside and out. She couldn't tell a lie. The line between her conscious and subconscious thoughts was faint.
‘On the flip side, what she decides not to say, she will never speak of.’
There were only two times Rachel had revealed her true inner feelings.
Once was the day she declared to Abel, “I won't give up on Kang Geomma.”
The second time was relatively recent—not long ago, when she placed an unconscious Kang Geomma's head on her lap. Abel's heart had chilled then.
‘…What is she thinking?’
Rachel strode along briskly at Abel's side. The two were heading to the Academy Principal's office because Kang Geomma had issued an emergency summons.
‘Once this matter is settled, I should make time to talk with her separately.’
Abel made up her mind and nodded inwardly.
Knock, knock.
After knocking a couple of times, she entered the principal's office.
“Huh?”
There was an unexpected visitor already inside.
“It's been a while.”
Nox di Auditore.
‘He looks terrible.’
Deep worry hung heavily over his complexion. There was no strength in his voice whatsoever.
Abel and Rachel sat in the empty seats on the sofa.
“Umm.”
“It's not too cramped, is it?”
“Nyahaha!”
For some reason, Kang Geomma looked utterly deflated, squeezed between the two of them.
Even though it was a somewhat comical scene, Nox's face remained ashen.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, Abel and Rachel hardened their expressions. Kang Geomma gestured to Nox with his chin.
“Alright, speak up.”
“…Ugh.” Nox opened his mouth with great effort. “I know I have no right to ask, but please…”
“What is it?”
“Some money…”
“Money?”
Nox looked like he was about to die on the spot.
“…Could you lend me some money?”