Big Trouble (1)
Lee Daesan, seated across from us, lowered his deep, booming voice.
“It’s good that you’re working hard, but you can’t go around causing trouble for the other students.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Min Soyeon and I had been summoned to the staff room, only to end up getting scolded by Lee Daesan.
“Well… since it wasn’t intentional, I won’t issue any formal punishment… but you’ll need to be more careful from now on.”
The moment I let out a sigh of relief at avoiding disciplinary action, Lee Daesan added one more thing.
“And that ‘tag’ game of yours is banned for the time being.”
At his words, Min Soyeon jumped in surprise.
“What? B-banned?”
“That’s right. Banned. I don’t care if the two of you do it, but if the other students start copying you, the training grounds will be completely ruined.”
“B-but… we still haven’t…”
Min Soyeon looked back and forth between me and Lee Daesan, lips moving hesitantly. It seemed she was bothered that they hadn’t settled their match. Still, the fact that she stayed quiet probably meant she also knew his reasoning was fair.
“To be precise, it’s banned for this semester. It’ll be allowed again next semester.”
Huh? Next semester?
I couldn’t understand why Lee Daesan was deliberately splitting the restriction by semester.
“We’ve decided to add ‘tag’ to next semester’s curriculum, so you can play to your heart’s content then.”
Huh?
While I was blinking, wondering if I’d heard wrong, Lee Daesan gestured toward me.
“Since it’ll be listed under your name as the proposer, you’ll probably even receive some kind of award by the end of the year.”
“Excuse me?”
I let out a dazed sound without thinking, unable to believe what I was hearing. The training method my wife had created was going to be added to the curriculum under my name?
“It’s a very systematic training method. It fits perfectly with the Academy’s educational philosophy that emphasizes partnership.”
“Uh… that is…”
“Congratulations.”
“…Thank you.”
What else could I possibly say? An award from the Academy was nothing but a good thing. The only part that pricked my conscience was that I hadn’t actually created the training method myself.
“Anyway, keep training quietly for now and make sure you don’t cause any trouble for the other students while you work hard.”
With that, Lee Daesan sent us out after giving us a formal lecture.
On the way down from the staff room to the training grounds, I glanced sideways at Min Soyeon walking beside me. She looked displeased about something, her pretty brows slightly furrowed as she walked with irritated steps.
From experience, the best thing to do in situations like this was to not say a word. I stayed silent as we headed down to the training grounds, but then Min Soyeon suddenly turned in the opposite direction.
“Soyeon, where are you going?”
“…None of your business.”
It seemed she didn’t want to tell me.
“…Then I’ll wait for you at the training grounds?”
She disappeared without giving any answer at all.
Since I couldn’t just follow her blindly, I decided to trust her and wait quietly.
*
How long had I been waiting for Min Soyeon?
When I checked the time, a whole hour had already passed. I’d even sent her a message in the meantime, but there was no reply. Worried she might have gone home early, I went to see our homeroom teacher…
“She hasn’t come by. Is something wrong?”
After thinking for a moment, I gave a vague excuse and left the staff room.
It wasn’t an early dismissal. The time was too long for her to have just gone to the bathroom, and she wasn’t in the classroom either. I checked every other place she might have gone, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.
Then where on earth had she disappeared to?
“…”
Having returned to the training grounds with nothing to show for my efforts, I fiddled pointlessly with my phone while waiting for Min Soyeon to show up. As I stared blankly at the students training, one thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Maybe she’d gone to smoke.
It made sense. All educational institutions had a no-smoking policy, and the Academy was no exception. There was a smoking room for teachers, but no matter how rebellious she was, Min Soyeon wouldn’t smoke there. Naturally, the places she’d sneak off to smoke would be outside the building, somewhere with few people around.
No wonder I hadn’t found her even after wandering around the building. Just how many hidden spots were there in this vast Academy?
I never thought my memories of sneaking around every corner of the campus with my wife would come in handy like this.
“…Alright.”
Having made up my mind to find Min Soyeon, I immediately left the training grounds.
The first place I checked was behind Building 1. It was a simple, convenient spot my wife and I had often used…
“…W-wait… someone’s coming…! Be quiet!”
“D-don’t move…”
Min Soyeon was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I stumbled upon a very heated scene. Things were just as passionate as they’d always been. The red brooch on the male student’s chest suggested he was a third-year.
“…”
I pretended not to see the pair enthusiastically expressing their patriotism and quietly left the area.
So it wasn’t behind Building 1. What about Building 2, then? It was close to the central building, had more hidden spots than behind Building 1, and the thick grass made it hard to see anything. There was even a memory of me getting extremely nervous, thinking my second child had been conceived there. Thankfully, that hadn’t been the case.
I picked the closest spot, silenced my footsteps, and quietly approached. Through the grass, I could see a couple passionately kissing.
“Mmm… haup…”
I couldn’t see their faces clearly, but the female student had red hair. It probably wasn’t Soyeon. I let out a small sigh of relief and quietly moved on.
“Phew…”
If Soyeon had been kissing someone here, what would I have done? I probably would’ve fired an attack spell first.
…I couldn’t possibly hand my daughter over to a man weaker than my wife.
After moving a little farther, I reached the second location.
“…”
This one was empty. Well, of course. This wasn’t a motel… Kids should study and train hard. Getting pregnant at such a young age would only bring hardship. It really would.
After that, I thoroughly searched behind Building 2, but there was no trace of Min Soyeon, not even any sign of smoking.
“Where the hell did she go…”
I was starting to think this was all a waste of time and nearly gave up, but when I saw the unread message on my phone, I steeled myself once more and resumed my search for her.
I passed the central building and Building 3, heading toward the last one—Building 4—when suddenly…
Boom…
A low explosion sounded from somewhere.
“…Huh?”
It wasn’t strange in a place full of ability users. Back in my school days, a furious Ju Yeonhee had destroyed a building and everyone mistakenly thought a Gate had opened.
I didn’t think much of it and kept walking, but then—
Boom…!
A slightly louder explosion rang out.
What the…
Kwaaang!
The successive explosions were growing louder and louder. Something was clearly wrong.
Bang!!!
And it was coming from Building 4, exactly where I was headed.
Sensing something ominous, I quickly gathered my mana and ran toward Building 4.
*
Shweeeek—
A spear came flying straight at me.
“Kgh…!”
I cursed inwardly and twisted my body sharply. The spear barely grazed past me and thunk! embedded itself deep into the wall.
I swallowed hard as I stared at the spear vibrating slightly in the wall.
…It hadn’t even left a scratch when I cut it before…
A moment later, the spear embedded in the wall disintegrated with a pssh and vanished. Then a man’s voice came from beyond the grass.
“Ah, this is a big problem… Where did they hide?”
It was the sharp-looking man who had thrown the spear at me.
“Hey, hurry up and finish this. We’ll get scolded by the Lady at this rate.”
This time it was the chubby man who had been causing the distant explosions.
They were casually chatting as they searched for me.
“…We won’t get scolded if we find the Lady.”
“This is so boring.”
While eavesdropping on the terrorists’ bold laughter, a small question arose in my mind.
…The Lady…?
Rustle— rustle—
Then the grass right beside me rustled, and someone suddenly poked their face out.
“Oh.”
It was Yu Jihwan.
Startled by the sudden eye contact, I quickly clamped my hand over his mouth. Thud. Yu Jihwan must have been quite surprised too; his eyes widened as he stared at me.
“Mmph… S-Soyeon, are you o—”
“S-shut up, you crazy bastard…!”
As I struggled quietly with the flustered Yu Jihwan, the chubby man’s voice came from very close by.
“Hmm? I think I heard something over here.”
And then the rustling sound began drawing nearer.
We’d been discovered.
The moment I realized that, a huge wave of despair crushed down on my shoulders. Those men were not opponents we could handle.
I barely managed to regain my senses, shoving Yu Jihwan’s face deeper into the grass as I whispered urgently.
“…R-run! Those bastards are Hunters!”
“H-Hunters? Soyeon, what the hell is—”
…I shouldn’t have come all the way out here to smoke. I should’ve run away sooner…
“Oh? There’s two of them?”
“A couple? Absolutely unforgivable.”
The voice coming from behind us made my heart stutter as if it had broken.
Regret, fear, and overwhelming despair. Unable to overcome the terror, I covered my head and squeezed my eyes shut.
“…D-Dad…”
For some reason, I unconsciously called out for my father.
The father who had left me behind…
As I waited for death in the deep darkness, endlessly calling for my father—
‘Soyeon.’
A warm voice echoed inside my head.
‘Just wait a little longer. I’ll protect you.’
It wasn’t my father’s voice, but it was just as warm.
*
“…What the hell are those two doing?”
“Fuck… I can never forgive couples!”
I carefully released Min Soyeon from my arms and glanced at the two terrorists a short distance away.
“Those bastards…! I’ll kill them!!!”
“Hey, hey, calm down! You need to conserve your mana! I’ll handle this quietly—”
They were completely letting their guard down because their opponents were just students.
I turned my gaze back to Min Soyeon, who was curled up tightly, trembling in fear.
“…D-Dad… …Dad…”
She was out of it, muttering something under her breath.
The explosions I’d heard earlier must have been aimed at her. Her combat uniform was blackened and scorched, torn in several places as if slashed by something.
The sight of her in such a miserable state made rage surge through me. I shot to my feet and shouted loudly.
“Hey, you sons of bitches!!”
The terrorists, who had been tangled up trying to stop each other, turned to look at me.
“…What the?”
“Huh?”
I walked toward them and shouted again.
“How dare you lay a hand on our Soyeon?”
I scraped up every last drop of mana sleeping deep inside my body and spread it around me.
“Ha, this is really annoying…”
The sharp-featured man summoned a short spear, shook off the chubby man, and took a stance. It was a classic javelin-throwing posture.
“Kill him!!!”
The moment the chubby man, who had stepped back, shouted—
The sharp spear flew straight toward me.
Shweeeeeek—
Soyeon must have been hit by that spear.
I unconsciously grit my teeth with a crack, immediately activating my magic as I roared.
Frost Explosion
Kwaaaaaang!!!!!!
The instant the freezing explosion erupted, a short scream rang out. A fierce wind whipped up from the aftermath of the blast. The fine dust scattering like snow made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
But I didn’t need to see.
Because I had frozen them solid all the way to their lungs.
Clatter…
The spear that had been flying toward me was now flung far away, clattering helplessly against the wall before falling to the ground.
Leaving the fading dust behind, I quickly approached Min Soyeon.
The protective magic I’d cast in advance seemed to have worked well. A circle of pure white snow powder had piled up around her.
“Soyeon! Min Soyeon!! Snap out of it!!”
She didn’t respond at all, just kept trembling. The thin barrier hadn’t been enough to block the cold completely—her exposed skin was frozen solid. It was because my mana capacity was still too low.
Startled, I pulled her into my arms as if to shield her, praying she would regain consciousness.
After some time, people began gathering because of the continuous explosions.
“W-what the—someone’s frozen solid!!”
“There are students over there!!”
The crowd that had rushed over quickly took control of the scene, and Min Soyeon’s trembling gradually began to subside.
“Hey, student! Are you alright? You there! Take care of this area first!!”
I received help moving Min Soyeon onto a stretcher. The moment I tried to let go of her—
“…D-Dad…”
Min Soyeon, who had apparently come to her senses while in my arms, looked straight into my eyes.
Her gaze, wet and trembling, made my heart grow heavy as well.
Even though the father she was looking for was me.
I couldn’t give her any answer.
Swallowing the bitter reality, I gently brushed aside the hair that had fallen over her forehead and offered a small smile.
It was the best expression of affection I could give her right now.
Min Soyeon, who had been staring at me with shaky eyes, slowly loosened her grip on my hand.
Even as she was carried away on the stretcher and left the scene, her gaze remained fixed on me.