Elena Ru
30.
“So, you became a Keeper? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was waiting until I’d settled in a bit before telling you.”
“It’s already been two months, hasn’t it? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
I did my best to brush past my father’s questions.
The real reason was Kaira.
If I told them I’d become a Keeper, either I’d have to go home or my parents would come up to Seoul—and then Kaira’s existence might become a problem.
The fact that she was an otherworlder wasn’t the issue. I’d already told other people; it wasn’t like I couldn’t trust my own family.
The problem was her gender.
Kaira was a woman.
Telling my parents I was living with a woman… wasn’t exactly easy.
Of course, I’d also been busy.
Looking back on the past two months, all I could remember was Gates, learning runes, and se…x.
I’m sorry, Father.
Please forgive this unfilial son.
I got so wrapped up in a woman that I kept my family at a distance.
“Garam said some terrorists are after you. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It’ll be sorted out soon.”
“With a crew this size, they’ll catch them quick enough.”
“Exactly. Just stay here for a little while. Think of it as a long break.”
My father was a taxi driver. That was why he’d been able to come up so easily after Garam’s call.
The real issue was…
“Jimin doesn’t need to worry either. This place is actually a great environment for studying.”
Jimin was a high school senior. He’d done sports until last year, but in the end he’d chosen academics. Even so, he was a top student aiming for a Seoul university. Absolute study hours had been the only thing holding him back, so Father was right—this might actually be a good opportunity.
Naturally, my little sibling’s expression was sour. Stuck inside, unable to go out or meet anyone, forced to do nothing but study. If Father hadn’t been there, Jimin would have started grilling me on the spot. I’d already taken a punch earlier, after all.
“That’s a relief, then. Mom, you’re okay too?”
“Mm. The facilities here are clean and nice.”
Mom looked like she was on vacation. She was probably holding back in front of me, but the fact that she could put on a front at all meant she was doing all right.
“Get some rest. Call me anytime if you need anything.”
“And you?”
“I’ve got terrorists to catch.”
“You’ve only been a Keeper for two months. Don’t go becoming dead weight out there.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be a wheel instead of dead weight.”
A wheel rather than dead weight. That was one of Father’s favorite lines. I didn’t know if he’d heard it somewhere or made it up himself. The meaning was exactly what it sounded like: better to be a wheel than a burden. Of course, being a wheel wasn’t easier. A wheel had to keep rolling without rest.
I said my goodbyes and left my parents’ room. Jimin came out with me, since it wasn’t their room either.
“I’ll let it slide for now since you’re in danger, Oppa. But I’m collecting on this debt later.”
“Got it. I’ll pay it back for sure.”
“Fine, then.”
Cool Jimin. No—not cool at all. They’d already punched me with that fist, hadn’t they?
As if hearing the curse I muttered under my breath, Jimin, who’d been walking ahead, turned around.
“What?”
“…Which of the three is it?”
“Huh? Which what?”
Jimin pointed ahead. Halfway down the tenth floor was a living-room-like space, and three people were sitting there.
Kaira, Elena, and Kim Nayeon.
“Come on, what are you talking about. It’s nothing like that. They’re fellow Keepers.”
“It’s not? Right? There’s no way Oppa’s that popular…”
“Obviously. You go rest too.”
“Hmmm. Well, figure it out yourself. For the record, I like Koreans.”
With that parting shot, Jimin went into their room.
Why pick the least likely candidate of all…? Koreans really did stick with Koreans, I guess. If even my sibling was like that, I was worried how my parents would react to Kaira.
“Why is everyone gathered here?”
“(Kaira-ssi called us.)”
Elena had taken off her armor and was wearing casual clothes. With the figure that had been hidden under the armor now on full display, her already outstanding face stood out even more. Beauty that could hold its own against those aggressive breasts—that was a rare thing.
“Kaira called me too… Before that, Jungmin-ssi, how old are you?”
“Huh? I’m twenty-six.”
“Then I’m dropping the formal speech. I’m twenty-seven. Talk however you want, casual or not. But you have to call me ‘Noona.’”
Refreshingly direct. I liked it.
“Yes—ah… yeah. Nayeon-noona.”
“Ugh… It’s been forever since anyone called me Noona. Gives me goosebumps.”
“…What the hell? You told me to call you that. Want me to drop it?”
“No no. Drop it and you die.”
Nayeon-noona… raised a fist. Getting hit by that fist would actually kill me.
“Let’s talk this out. With words. I will never, ever forget the title.”
“Good. Now let’s hear what Kaira has to say. She’s been holding it in waiting for you.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Kaira. Without so much as a throat-clear, she opened fire.
“Could you help with Jungmin’s training a little?”
“Training? What kind of training? This guy’s a mage. Why me?”
Nayeon asked the exact question I’d been about to ask.
“His basic physical fitness is terrible. Even for a mage, this level isn’t acceptable.”
…Terrible?
I’m not terrible—you’re just too strong. Is there anyone who could keep up with your endless sex drive?
“If that’s the case, I can work him as hard as you want. Any potential left?”
“…About five points remaining.”
“Five, oh! At that level we can raise one a day.”
“…What?”
A chill ran down my spine. Raising one stat a day. That was absurd. How much would the student have to suffer to make that possible?
“Don’t worry. Any Keeper can do it.”
I shot Kaira a look begging for salvation, but the woman who thought I was “terrible” showed no sign of changing her mind.
“(What should I do?)”
“Please teach him swordsmanship. It doesn’t have to be the Sword of Ru. Just the basics.”
“(There’s an introductory form of the Sword of Ru. I’ll teach that.)”
Sword? I had to learn swordsmanship too?
I’d planned to learn it someday. Keeper meant sword, sword meant Keeper, right? Countless Keepers used swords as their main weapon. I’d wanted to as well. But was now really the time? When was I supposed to see results from learning the sword now?
“Hold on—physical training is one thing, but isn’t swordsmanship overkill? If we’re catching terrorists, I should be polishing my magic.”
“Even if you polish it, you can’t beat that terrorist right now.”
“…Could you maybe ease up on the brutal honesty?”
I knew. What could an F-class Keeper who hadn’t even earned an apprentice badge do?
“And learning swordsmanship will help raise your physical stats. My world’s system tends to reward diverse experiences. Looking at the data so far, this world’s system will probably show a similar tendency.”
“…There was something like that?”
I hadn’t known. Apparently neither had Nayeon, an A-class Keeper. Otherworld knowledge. It had a way of popping up in unexpected places and teaching you unexpected things.
“For real? Then I want to learn swordsmanship too. If it goes well, I might even break through a wall, right?”
“It’s entirely possible, Unnie. Do you want to learn from Elena as well?”
“Learning would be good. That one’s strong.”
“I’ll ask for you.”
Kaira was using translation magic, so she could communicate with Elena, but Nayeon and Elena still couldn’t speak to each other.
And since when was it “Unnie”? Kaira had surprisingly good social skills when you looked closely. She got along well with Soyeon, and she was already buddy-buddy with Nayeon. Did people just like Kaira? Maybe. She was doll-pretty, after all. But the winner is me, ladies.
“She says Unnie can learn too. Shall we head over right away? Where’s the training room again?”
“It’s on this floor. That way.”
We followed Nayeon to the training room. It was a room with mirrors along the walls, like a dance practice studio. The ceiling looked about four meters high—plenty of room to swing a sword. Fitness equipment was fully stocked around the edges. There’d been similar facilities downstairs; I hadn’t known the tenth floor had them too.
“Nice, right?”
“This is seriously good. How much money did they pour into this building?”
“Our Unnie’s a bit of a perfectionist. She invests without holding back.”
Pride for Nari came through clearly in Nayeon’s voice. The quality certainly justified it.
“Shall we start right away? Light push-ups first… Ah, change clothes first. There are workout clothes in the locker room over there—just put on whatever fits.”
Workout clothes already prepared? What even was this place?
I threw something on and came out. Kaira was gone.
“Kaira said to take good care of you and left. Said she had something to prepare herself?”
“Got it.”
“You ready too?”
The way Nayeon’s voice sounded not just energetic but full of mischief had to be my imagination… right?
“Yeah.”
My own voice, on the other hand, was a little cowed—like a herbivore in front of a predator.
And so, with Elena watching, hellish training began.
The physical training menu was simple: running, push-ups, squats, planks. The reality was anything but simple. Every single rep felt like hell, because Nayeon kept pushing me with “just one more, just one more.” She worked me until curses came out of my mouth, then moved on to the next exercise. After one full cycle, my entire body was screaming.
Once the physical training was done, we watched Elena give a short swordsmanship demonstration, then Nayeon and I tried to copy it. Practice swords were ready in the training room. Nayeon picked it up quickly. No wonder she was an A-class Keeper—her talent was on a completely different level from mine. Me? Elena had to correct me one movement at a time. That was another reason my whole body ended up screaming.
The swordsmanship session lasted thirty minutes, and in those thirty minutes I didn’t properly master a single motion. I never knew even a simple swing could be that complicated.
Then physical training again, swordsmanship, physical training, swordsmanship. Just hearing the schedule was more than a human could digest. We exercised without rest for a full six hours. The only reason an F-class Keeper like me could handle it was the potions Kaira had brought.
“Stamina potions made from troll blood. I whipped them up in a hurry so the effect’s weaker, but this much should be fine.”
So Kaira could make potions too. Was there anything she couldn’t do? The “weaker” potions turned me into a new man in an instant. With potions, I felt like I could go all day. But Kaira wouldn’t let me take more than two.
“Any more and you’ll get the opposite effect. This is the right amount.”
Medicine from the pharmacist. Potions from Kaira.
“And this.”
Kaira handed me a blue gem the size of a fist.
“What’s this?”
“A B-class Magic Stone. I pulled it from the warehouse.”
A B-class Magic Stone. The same kind Go Hangyeol had mentioned before. Just as he’d said, its radiance was on a completely different level from F-class stones. It felt like it might suck me in.
“If you hold it, the mana in your body will slowly recover. You should be running low by now.”
Spot on! I’d been feeling the mana shortage. Why would I be low on mana while exercising? Because I had to transfer mana and magical power to Elena every hour. My mana was already a tiny scrap; handing it over was exhausting enough. On top of that, the body-wrecking workouts. I really wanted to rest.
And yet…
“We’ll be going. Elena-nim, please come to my room to recharge whenever you have time.”
“(…Yes.)”
Kaira apparently had no intention of letting me sleep. More potential-raising, no doubt. At this rate, was I going to become a man who couldn’t lift his head?
A moment later, my worries proved unfounded. Kaira laid me on the bed, then snuggled up right beside me and did nothing at all.
“…I thought you were going to jump me right away?”
“I know my own property’s limits better than anyone. Right now you need rest. Instead, we’ll do this.”
A warm energy began flowing from her hand into me. Her mana. It circled around my heart, intertwining with my own mana this way and that.
Whoosh.
A strange sensation. Ticklish, warm, and somehow cold at the same time. And then—
“Just doing this will raise it a little. In this case I won’t go up—only you will.”
“Hnn—but this… ahh… are you sure this isn’t…?”
Kaira’s mana was turning me on. I had no idea someone else’s mana could be this stimulating. My other self swelled as if it were about to burst.
“We will do it.”
“Then right now—”
I shifted and climbed on top of Kaira. But she covered my mouth.
“Wait. How long do you think Elena’s been holding back?”
“Huh?”
“Elena feels something similar. And she repeated it every hour.”
What? What did she just say?
I hadn’t known at all. I’d heard the occasional soft moan and thought she just felt a bit strange, but I never imagined it was this arousing. How on earth had she endured that?
“So you hold back a little too. If you just do whatever you feel like, your stamina—no, your soul—will shatter in no time. This is training. Not making love.”
This is training.
Kaira’s voice landed heavier than ever. Come to think of it, her valley was already wet. She was holding back too—the lust monster who would normally have pounced first and pinned me down.
“…Got it.”
I lay back down and stared at the ceiling. Kaira’s mana circulating around my heart was more stimulating than any foreplay or caress, and like any foreplay or caress, it refused to give me release.
…This was going to be a hard stretch of time.
Please, let it bear fruit…