Chapter 139. The Creature Called Man...
Chapter 139. The Creature Called Man...
I sat quietly on the living room sofa, the acceptance letter placed on the table before me.
'Why... didn't she say anything to me?'
I stared up at the ceiling and thought it over.
It wasn't that I needed to know every single detail of Laila's private life...
But still. Couldn't she have at least told me she'd been preparing for this?
'Hmph...'
A small flicker of hurt feelings rose inside me.
Right then, the smart lock beeped in the entryway, and the door opened.
"I'm home~"
A familiar voice, and the door swinging lightly open.
I reflexively hid the acceptance letter inside my pocket.
"Laila, can we talk for a minute?"
It was easier to handle things like this by just asking.
Better to ask the person directly than to brood by myself for no reason.
"Did you have something to say?"
She tilted her head briefly, then came over and quietly sat down beside me.
At her question, I paused for a beat, then carefully spoke up.
"Laila... have you been working on something lately, by any chance?"
Laila slowly blinked and shook her head.
"No? Not right now, no...?"
I pressed my lips together and pulled the envelope out of my pocket.
Handing it to her, I asked calmly.
"Laila, were you preparing for this?"
The moment Laila saw the envelope, she flinched in surprise.
"Oh... uh... h-how did this...?!"
As she took the envelope in both hands, I could see the flustered look on her face.
"Laila, can I ask why you hid it? Honestly, hiding it was a little..."
She pressed her lips firmly shut and silently turned her head away.
Slowly, her earlobes and cheeks reddened, clearly visible.
"The truth is, I was preparing... but I was worried it would be embarrassing if I failed... so I was going to tell you if I passed..."
I couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at that answer.
It was such a perfectly, utterly Laila-like reason.
"So you were planning to let me know once you got in?"
"Yes..."
She simply wanted to share it with me proudly, once she had good news.
Her answer softened a corner of my heart.
Still, there was something I was curious about.
"But... why did you suddenly decide to go to college?"
At that question, Laila bit her lip, glanced at me, and bowed her head low.
"As you know... I grew up in the convent... so I've never really been able to hang out with friends my own age..."
Right.
She had lived in the convent until our bond was formed, and ever since before adulthood, she had been with me.
"So I wanted to experience an ordinary education, just once... and I wanted to spend time with people my age..."
Both of her cheeks slowly flushed red.
The more her words trailed off, the deeper her shyness became, and I found myself smiling because she was so adorable and endearing.
"And... later on..."
Laila's voice grew smaller and smaller, and her hands clasped tightly together on her knees.
"When we eventually have a child... I want to seem like a smart, cool mom..."
So utterly lovable.
Seriously, what am I supposed to do with this girl?
And then my body moved before my thoughts.
— Chuu...
Before I knew it, I had placed a kiss on her lips.
Not a sticky, suggestive kiss, but one brimming with pure affection.
"Pwah... and later on, it'd be nice to have stories to tell our child about, wouldn't it...?"
I nodded absently, but a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"But... why that school of all places?"
Laila smiled brightly, as if she had expected my question.
"Still, if you can tell them 'Mommy and Daddy went to the same school~', isn't that romantic? Plus... we'd be a campus couple, too."
'Campus...?'
I chuckled internally.
'We'd be alumni, sure... but a campus couple? I mean, when I was in school, Laila was...'
But that didn't matter.
"So, looks like you studied hard, then?"
I didn't say it out loud to brag, but the school I'd attended was a good school.
What you'd call a prestigious university.
But Laila scratched her head a little and said.
"Not exactly... the department I applied to had a 'Hunter Special Selection Track'."
"...?"
"Honestly, we're at the highest rank as hunters, right? So... I got in a little easier than other people."
She said this, sticking out her tongue playfully with a mischievous laugh.
Hearing that, I was momentarily speechless.
'I busted my ass managing my GPA and studying for the college entrance exam... the world really had changed...'
The department Laila applied to was one that wasn't bound by the existing liberal arts or sciences structure; it dealt with gates, hunters, and monsters.
Because it was directly tied to national affairs, this department received massive government support.
Also, for hunters like us, the concept of 'employment' was practically meaningless, but that department's job placement rate was ranked number one among all departments, hands down.
"So graduates from that department get jobs at guilds or government agencies?"
"Yes, I've even heard there are awakened hunters among them from time to time. It's supposed to be looked upon favorably when joining a guild, too."
"Oh..."
I turned my head to look out the window for no reason.
If I hadn't been expelled back then, would I be walking the campus with Laila as a readmitted student?
'That's just overflowing with romance...'
In the future.
The scene of telling our memories to a child who doesn't exist yet.
And that child would say to their dad...
- Daddy, why couldn't you graduate like Mommy?
That phrase popped into my head out of nowhere.
It echoed in my mind like a reverberation.
"...Huh?"
I inadvertently muttered it to myself.
The corners of my mouth, lifted in a smile while imagining a campus stroll with Laila, slowly dropped. A faint crease formed on my brow.
"Hero, what's wrong?"
"...Just a minute."
Laila would proudly earn her diploma, put on her graduation gown, and take pictures...
She would tell tales of how 'Your mom was the best in her department' to our kid...
And me, standing beside her?
- Daddy, why couldn't you graduate?
- ...Daddy was... expelled.
- Huh? What's that?
- I got kicked out of school...
'Hell no!!!'
My eyes flew open wide.
An extreme imagination swallowed me whole.
— Squeeze...
"It would be nice if you went to school together with me too, Hero~"
Could all of this have been Laila's scheme?
She was seducing me with a subtle look in her eyes.
While pushing her holy power pouch toward me, no less...
"Ahem..."
"We'd take the same classes... go to the library... drink at the pub in front of the school..."
"..."
And then she whispered in my ear.
"When the lecture hall is empty...♥"
"!!!"
I audibly gulped.
An empty lecture hall, a bathroom no one visits, the building behind the school.
"B-but, I was expelled... would that even be possible?"
Absolutely not for impure purposes like that.
This was my effort not to be compared unfavorably to my child's mother.
"Well~ with your status, Hero, wouldn't it be entirely possible?"
"We-well, I'll think about it a little more first..."
---
Winter, its chill not yet fully faded away.
Gathered around a screen, admissions office staff carefully flipped through the list of this year's successful applicants.
"Laila..."
"We did grant her admission, but... will it be all right?"
One staff member carefully broached the subject.
It wasn't a question about her academic level.
By any measure, her caliber didn't fall short compared to anyone.
"Will it be feasible? Who was her assigned academic advisor again?"
Their concern was Laila's sheer presence as a public figure.
"Still, since she herself stated that... isn't it fortunate?"
The person who had conducted the interview chuckled.
He'd conducted countless interviews, but he'd never had one like Laila.
"I distinctly recall her saying... 'She wanted a quiet life and hoped her name wouldn't be used for school advertisements'."
At his words, the others chuckled as well.
Someone lamented that they'd missed a chance to boost the school's name value, but another thought it was a relief.
The admissions dean, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
"Her grades are overwhelming. Her real-world track record, her rank... there's absolutely no reason to reject her. We received and reviewed her application, and that's the end of it. There's no need to scrutinize it any further."
They also held another document in their hands.
This one was the file of Song Hoon, a student who had been expelled.
"Did she really come to this school to follow her boyfriend?"
"..."
Truthfully, they had deliberated a great deal over this part.
No matter how prestigious the university was within Korea, globally there were far better schools.
In that context, why would the Unknown Hunter choose this place, of all places?
"But if it isn't that, then why else would she specifically..."
"In that case, shall we reinstate Song Hoon's academic registration? Just in case."
The president had already given prior instructions regarding Song Hoon's student record.
Reinstate it if requested, but don't go out of your way to make a fuss first.
"Let's just give the professor in charge a little heads-up. When they advise Laila, have them subtly bring up Song Hoon."
Two Unknown Hunters at this school?
They wouldn't even need to step forward and advertise it themselves.
"In this country, aren't things still all about school ties, regional ties, and blood ties?"
---
"Are you really going?"
"Yes, don't worry~"
"Drive safely... don't just gulp down every drink someone hands you... and if some punk bothers you, tell me..."
Standing at the front door, Laila smiled bashfully and kissed my cheek.
"I told you, there's no one for me but you, Hero~"
I knew.
For me, Laila was everything, and for Laila, I was everything too.
But...
'Don't you know that every other guy was a wolf?'
A man was, simply put, a creature who grinned like an idiot whenever he saw someone pretty.