Return: The Cherry Blossom Oath
To prepare for any possible retaliation, we detonated every gate in the Great Forest before returning. Creating gates from nothing was nearly impossible, so there shouldn't be any payback waiting for us. In the end, we made it safely back to the Academy.
"Finally back to the roots!"
[Where the hell are the roots in this novel anyway.]
"......Stop poking at my sore spots, you bastard."
But the timing of our return was nothing like we'd expected. Forget New Year's. Almost a full year had passed, and a new semester was right around the corner.
"Shinwoo, a whole year went by just like that."
"Yeah. We blew up plenty of stuff, but nothing ever really wrapped up."
"What are you talking about? The World Tree arc ended."
"Ah, I'll give you that one."
Great Forest Slayer. Our shiny new title.
Then it hit me what we still had to do.
"I'm gonna go check on our Kemono Friends real quick."
"Why?"
Hye-ji shot me a look that demanded an explanation.
"They're refugees. Someone's gotta look after them."
"Oh. Right."
"Husband! I'll come with you!"
Elsia came running over. The only real difference from before was how bold her skinship had become. When she hugged me, my left arm was enveloped in the ultimate softness.
'Am I... in heaven?'
[Just go to heaven already, you bastard.]
Piece's opinion didn't matter. Elsia clung to my left arm and rubbed her face against it. Then she looked up at me with an ecstatic yet slightly eerie expression.
"Husband! You promised we'd always be together, right?"
"...Did I say 'always'?"
"I'm extremely possessive."
Ignoring my answer, Elsia tightened her grip even more.
"I'll never let you go! Not like before!"
"Stop outbidding me, you bastard!"
Hye-ji suddenly grabbed my right arm.
..... It was hard. A wall. Concrete.
'Whoa, talk about extremes.'
[...Don't say it. You'll really die.]
Hye-ji looked at me with slightly anxious eyes and asked carefully,
"Shinwoo, you're not upset, are you?"
"Of course not."
I gave her my honest impression without holding back.
"Being clung to like this feels sturdier than a gauntlet."
"You bastard."
[No, just die already.]
Hye-ji's fierce assault rained down on every inch of my right side. Side, ribs, liver, thigh, neck, shin. Each blow was lethal.
To escape the overwhelming violence, I tried to pry her off.
'Shit, Death Grip for real.'
[Just take the beating. Please die like that.]
Hye-ji refused to let go, gripping my arm like a vice.
Seeing this, Elsia's eyes lit up and she pushed me toward the wall. Naturally, my right arm was still trapped in Hye-ji's grip. Hye-ji hit the wall first, and I crashed into her right after.
Elsia placed her hand on the wall, looked up at me, and asked,
"Husband! This is what they call a wall slam between lovers, right?"
"......That wasn't a wall slam. That was a wall combo. Two walls means double wall damage."
"You bastards."
- Crunch!!
Before I could react, Hye-ji bit down hard on my right arm. She anchored her teeth into my flesh and hammered my ribs with her left hand while manifesting a shotgun in her right and blasting at Elsia.
- Bang!
But Elsia's abilities had grown far beyond before. Countless butterflies and thorn vines manifested instantly to shield her.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! That fucking hurts!"
"Pfft! Hye-ji unni can't beat me anymore!"
"Oh yeah?"
"My abilities have grown explosively, just like my chest?"
"...Then block this."
Hye-ji's eyes gleamed dangerously as she manifested an anti-materiel sniper rifle in her right hand.
Up to that point, nothing was wrong. She could manifest it before.
But there was one thing that felt off. Hye-ji was holding the massive sniper rifle with only one hand. No support. Aimed straight at Elsia.
Elsia broke into a cold sweat at the unbelievable sight.
"Uh...... You're not supposed to hold that with one hand."
"Since when exactly."
The rifle's muzzle clicked into position.
"did I mistakenly think I had to hold something like this with two hands?"
"......Husband, we're screwed."
"Please just let her die."
"Married couples are a community of fate!"
"Both of you, stop fucking around!!!"
- Crack!!
"Aaaaaah!!!!!"
Once again, Hye-ji's teeth sank deep into my arm. Her bite held me like a trap, digging deeper every time I moved. With her left hand she kept pounding my side while firing the anti-materiel rifle like a pistol with her right.
"Die."
- Baaaaang!!!!!!!
As if mocking Elsia's growth, the massive bullet tore through every butterfly and thorn vine and flew straight ahead.
But Elsia had grown too. She finally started using her head.
"Husband, deploy AT Field!"
"You fucking elf bitch!!"
- Ting!!!!!
She used my head as armor. Naturally, the bullet ricocheted off my skull.
Unfortunately, the ricochet direction was terrible.
- Crash!!
"Aaaaaah!!!! Save me!!!!!"
I couldn't track how the bullet changed course. The result was a shattered window in the Academy President's office and his scream echoing from inside.
We froze and exchanged glances.
"......."
"......."
"......."
".......Should we run?"
"Let's go!"
"Yeah."
The decision was instant.
A furious roar burst from the broken window.
"Who the hell is targeting me!!!!!!!"
"It's the guy in the martial arts uniform over there!"
I quickly pointed at Jung Ayeon, and we all bolted.
Left behind, Jung Ayeon reacted a beat late.
"Don't pin this on me!!!!"
Later, the incident was recorded in Academy history as the "Academy President Assassination Attempt." Despite the President's protests, the window was replaced with ordinary glass instead of bulletproof. Too many people were disappointed he survived. Even the surveillance ability users sighed in regret and claimed they hadn't seen the culprit.
A truly peaceful Academy.
***
After running for a while, we reached the cafeteria. Elsia kept fussing over my head, worried she'd used it as an AT Field.
"Sorry. You're not hurt, right?"
"I'm fine. I won't die even if I get hit."
"Still, don't use it so recklessly."
"......You're the one who used it recklessly, you bastard."
"Husband is a shield, after all! And."
Suddenly Elsia hugged my head and spoke in a sweet voice.
"I'm Husband's, forever!"
"Mmph!"
Honestly, I couldn't hear a word. The ultimate softness was smothering my face. Breathing was difficult, but it didn't matter. I was satisfied.
It wasn't a bad life.
'Ah. Shubakjuk. It was a good life.'
[Get up, you crazy bastard!!!]
Hye-ji, who witnessed everything, glared and thrust a gun barrel at us.
"Put away that monstrosity, you bastard!"
"Yes!"
The softness vanished. I could breathe again.
Carrying the thrill of survival and the regret of the vanished chest, we headed for our destination.
Jung Ayeon said she had to submit a report to the Martial Artists Guild. She walked away with slumped shoulders, dragging her feet.
"We're fucked. We're really fucked."
While Jung Ayeon left us behind, we arrived at the center of the mountain behind the cafeteria.
At that moment, an unexpected noise. It sounded like a fight.
We rushed over and found the native animals and the foreign species that had arrived as refugees from the Great Forest growling at each other. They clearly had differences of opinion.
Such meaningless fights were wrong.
"Kneel, you bastards!"
Every animal stood upright on the spot. They looked full of complaints, but seeing the mountain lord like the sky above, no one dared protest.
I listened to both sides.
The natives were being territorial toward the sudden newcomers. The foreign species were demanding space to stay. In short, a real estate dispute.
I called forward the native representative boar and the foreign representative brown bear. We linked arms, me in the middle. The two kept growling at each other. The emotional rift ran deep.
To end the fight, I pulled out the magical item that would reconcile them.
"Ta-da!"
Vodka. The magical item that made everyone honest and turned strangers into friends after a few drinks. One of the spoils I'd taken from the elves earlier.
The brown bear's nostrils flared as if it smelled home.
Cherry blossoms weren't blooming, but the cherry trees were there. Good enough for an oath.
I poured drinks for everyone and shouted,
"We may have been born on different days and be of different species, but we die on the same day!!!!"
At first the animals responded with awkward, reluctant cries. But as the alcohol flowed, the wariness vanished. Soon everyone was cheering and drinking together.
As the booze hit me too, I could converse freely with the animals.
'Alcohol really is the ultimate conversation catalyst!'
[This kind of bastard is the protagonist...]
Still, the effect was excellent. The growling stopped. Laughter and chatter filled the air.
Just then, the martial arts gorani who had left to attain enlightenment rejoined us.
I poured him a drink and asked how he'd been. He said he'd been busy with a contest.
"Sniff!! You worked hard! You really worked hard!"
I patted his shoulder and poured another round.
The martial arts gorani downed it, then suddenly slung an arm around my shoulder and got to the point.
He asked if I'd bought the Pia-chan dakimakura.
'So the Heavenly Demon was a salesman.'
[The price was quite high, wasn't it.]
"I didn't buy it because it was expensive."
Instead of getting angry, he showed me the price list for paid gacha items.
After serious consideration, I made my decision.
"Is it a good deal?"
[No!!!! You crazy bastard!!!!!]
The martial arts gorani nodded in satisfaction.
However, my purchase attempt failed. Elsia and Hye-ji clung to me and threatened me.
"Husband! Who else is there besides me!"
"What kind of female cat is that!!!"
"......Kids, this person is the president. Watch your words."
And it's not a cat. It's a bunny girl.
Seeing my attempt fail, the martial arts gorani quietly left a purchase link in a message and departed.
I carefully folded it and tucked it into my pocket.
Anyway, that day we formed the Cherry Garden Oath on the mountain behind the cafeteria.
To commemorate it, everyone started tossing me into the air.
"Let's go to Mars!!!!"
I kept rising high and falling back down.
Then the drunk brown bear failed to control its strength.
"Choo choo choo choo!!!"
"Ah, shit."
I soared far higher than before.
That day, I became a star.