Traces of the Father (1)
Once Han Jungwoo left, the inside of the tent fell silent. Arisha sank heavily into the simple folding chair. She had only slightly relaxed her tension, yet her whole body felt limp. Between maintaining this grueling march schedule and clashing with demonic beasts, fatigue had piled up in every way. On top of that, she had forced magic lessons on Han Jungwoo with commanding pressure. The physical exhaustion was bad enough, but the mental strain was just as heavy.
“Haa…”
“You’ve worked hard, ma’am.”
While Arisha had been teaching Han Jungwoo magic formulas, Garan—who had silently stood guard the entire time—finally spoke. He offered her a canteen as she unwound.
“Thank you.”
Arisha opened the cap of the canteen he handed her and drank. Her throat, dry from speaking for so long, was soothed, bringing a refreshing clarity.
“Miss.”
The moment she heard the title, Arisha’s hand holding the canteen froze. Calling her “miss” instead of “Captain” meant this was not official business, but personal.
“…Yes.”
So Arisha changed her tone as well. She no longer used the casual speech of a superior to a subordinate, but showed the respect due to an elder who valued and cared for her.
“Why are you trying to teach Jungwoo magic?”
“Wasn’t it you, sir, who suggested raising him and using him as a blade?”
“That’s true. I’m not saying I dislike your actions, miss. It’s just… hmm.”
Garan paused for a moment. He pondered in his mind, searching for the right words. The hesitation didn’t last long.
“Jungwoo doesn’t seem like someone who deeply desired to study magic. Was it really necessary to teach him to that extent?”
Garan knew better than anyone that since learning magic from Arisha, Han Jungwoo had shown explosively bold combat prowess through his tremendous growth.
“From what I see, if Jungwoo thinks he needs something, he’s the type to ask for help himself. Forcing him to learn magic when he clearly lacked the motivation… I wonder if that was truly necessary.”
In Garan’s eyes, Han Jungwoo was a man with remarkably firm objectivity about himself. If something would benefit him or was necessary, he would do it without fail. He never neglected effort to achieve what he wanted. He understood his own limits and shortcomings clearly. He possessed sharp insight into an enemy’s capabilities, allowing him to accurately gauge the gap between himself and his opponent and make decisive judgments without hesitation. On a battlefield where a single misjudgment could cost lives, such precise decision-making helped not only himself but his comrades as well. That was why Garan and the other senior members of the search unit trusted and relied on Han Jungwoo’s actions and judgments as he stood at the very front.
“That boy may have just become an adult, but he still has some childish sides.”
If something sparked his interest, he would pursue it no matter what until he was satisfied. Conversely, if he had no interest, he would never pay it any attention, and if someone tried to force him, he would recoil in disgust.
Arisha listened to Garan’s explanation and recalled the expression Han Jungwoo had worn earlier while receiving her lecture on magic formulas. It was the face of someone who had bitten into a bug—utterly miserable. Like a child forced to listen to his mother’s nagging about studying.
“…Pfft.”
Arisha burst into laughter, thinking Garan’s analogy was far too perfect.
“Miss?”
Only then did she snap out of it at his voice and hastily compose her expression. Then she answered his question.
“…Because I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like it?”
At his puzzled tilt of the head, she offered a more detailed explanation.
“What do you think of the magic Han Jungwoo uses, sir?”
Garan stared straight at her and gave his honest impression.
“I think it’s incredible. Ever since he learned magic from you, Captain, he’s become absurdly strong. Right now, Jungwoo is the center of our search unit. It’s amazing and I’m grateful… but I always feel sorry for placing such a heavy burden on the youngest.”
It was not something normally asked of the squad’s youngest member. Arisha nodded as if she had expected that answer. She had no objection to how remarkable Han Jungwoo was. She had personally witnessed his performance several times during this subjugation operation, so she had no choice but to acknowledge it. However, that was not the part Arisha was focused on.
“Sir, do you remember what I told Han Jungwoo a moment ago? About the dangers of the magic he’s using.”
“Yes. The risk that his blood vessels and muscles could harden like metal if things go wrong. But didn’t Jungwoo overcome that danger? The priestess has been monitoring his condition, and he’s never been in any real peril.”
“…That’s the problem. He hasn’t overcome the risk. It hasn’t disappeared either.”
It was the difference in perception of magic between a mage and ordinary soldiers. Garan and the regular soldiers could only focus on the results produced by Han Jungwoo’s magic. Because they didn’t understand magic well. They couldn’t use it, so they never learned it. Therefore, only the advantages of using magic caught their eye. But Arisha, as a mage, was different. Knowing the principles and processes by which the magic activated, she could see the risks just as clearly as the benefits.
“Simply put, he will use it dozens, hundreds of times in the future. Can it really be without any risk each time? A single failure could turn his blood vessels, his blood, even his heart into metal.”
“…….”
In truth, every time Han Jungwoo used Hoshin-ganggi, he erased that danger by consuming Heavenly Fate. However, Arisha did not know that secret. She could vaguely guess why he had referenced Ferro Skin when creating that defensive magic. Because it was the simplest and easiest among metal-attribute spells.
“Ferro Skin is originally the most basic magic among gold-attribute spells. It strengthens the properties of metal to make it harder and more durable. Yet there has never been a single case of other mages using it on their own bodies for combat. Why do you think that is?”
“…Because the body the magic is applied to would transform into something with the properties of metal?”
“Exactly. Yet Han Jungwoo attempted it. It’s an insane story, but he even succeeded.”
He really was out of his mind. Garan’s expression grew grave as he listened to Arisha’s explanation. He had known it from the explanation, but as someone who was not a mage, he hadn’t truly felt the weight of it. Since Han Jungwoo had been using the magic without any pain, Garan had thought he had overcome the danger and hadn’t taken it as a serious issue.
“The reason I tried to teach Han Jungwoo magic was so he could abandon that risk and find a more stable way to use it. Before any intention of using him as a blade… I simply don’t want him to die.”
Arisha looked at Garan and continued.
“He’s someone you’re raising, isn’t he, sir?”
“…….”
Arisha knew very well how special Garan considered the soldier named Han Jungwoo. From bringing the man of unknown origin—who had been a slave soldier declared dead—back to the outpost, to teaching him many things, guiding him, and helping him adapt to the unit, it was far more favor than one would show an ordinary soldier. That was why half of the reason Arisha showed goodwill toward Han Jungwoo was because of Garan.
The other half…
She defined it to herself as the goodwill she personally felt toward Han Jungwoo. In her eyes, he was an incredibly diligent person. Just as Garan had said, if he thought something was necessary, he acted on it and worked sincerely to achieve what he wanted. Continuing to act even while carrying the risk of his body transforming into metal was, in a sense, a madness-like tenacity. Those who make an effort deserve rewards equal to that effort. In Arisha’s standards, even if his methods were wrong, the man named Han Jungwoo never neglected effort toward his goals. That was why she wanted to correct his flawed methods.
Besides, to possess talent that can handle every attribute and not use it…
Arisha recalled the time she had investigated which attributes Han Jungwoo had aptitude for. He had shown aptitude for all seven attributes. It was something she had never seen before. There were a few recorded cases of mages with tremendous talent showing aptitude for two or three attributes, but not a single mage had ever shown aptitude for every single one. There was a limit to wasting talent. Thinking about it again, the image of Han Jungwoo’s miserable face while learning magic despite possessing such talent came to mind.
“…There’s a limit to wasting talent.”
Lost in her thoughts of how resentful that was, she didn’t realize she had unconsciously muttered her inner feelings aloud.
“Miss?”
Garan asked again, apparently not having caught the small murmur.
“Ah, anyway, you’ve worked hard too, sir. We have to move early in the morning. Please rest now.”
“Understood. I’ll take my leave.”
Garan straightened his posture and saluted Arisha. It signaled the switch from their personal relationship back to their official one.
After Garan left and she was alone in the tent, Arisha crawled into the sleeping bag on the simple cot.
“J-Jungwoo? What’s wrong?”
“Ugh… my head…”
The moment I opened my eyes in the morning, I was struck by a terrible headache. Seeing me grimace and complain of pain, Seo Hayun was greatly flustered from the start of the day. My mind felt dizzy.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Yeah. It was a really horrible dream.”
I couldn’t remember everything, but fragments remained in my head like afterimages. Magic formulas, mana theory calculations, the basics to advanced stages of gold-attribute magic. All of it was knowledge forcibly injected by Arisha in about two hours last night.
I almost died.
This was the first time I felt so grateful for the early morning wake-up call. If it had been even a little later, I might have foamed at the mouth and never woken up. Would I have been able to resurrect one more time? Along with that unanswerable question, I felt a fierce hunger following the headache. I was starving.
“…I want bossam.”
I muttered the words that had floated into my mind without thinking.
“W-when we return, I’ll definitely make it for you.”
Seo Hayun answered with serious determination, as if making a solemn vow in response to my instinctive words.
“That guy again. There he goes.”
“If you’re awake, hurry up and get ready.”
Receiving disapproving looks from the seniors, Hayun and I quickly packed up the tent and campsite. Another grueling day had begun for the orc subjugation.