Chapter 419: First Love (1)
9HBbTHVThe silence had gone on so long that, when we finally spoke, the boss and I had many things to say to each other. Fifteen years had already passed since the last time we saw each other.p7qaH
TO2ZAgain and again I had put it off, telling myself, “I’ll call him someday, someday…,” and I ended up regretting it more times than I can count.nNzt4n
oqrOwYes, it was true—I had avoided him because the boss was someone v—violent. And this time, the moment I met him again, he had already given me a smack on the head.n3m
Xqa7‘If I think of all the times the boss reached out to me…’FhcxU
mSlYdOhI can’t help but reflect on how miserable I’ve been.A1ol
aezQZVrOf course, since he was my adoptive father, maybe this counts as self-criticism against myself.5bx
rVsXL2Either way, the years of distance had piled up so many topics of conversation, and the depth of each one was as well matured as the passage of time.hUGEd
jOxjhFrom Japanese restaurant worker to boss.gdHIB
vfeLCwjFrom Heavenly Sword to founding hero.VA3z
z55lOur dialogues were, at least in my desire, filled with the dignity and presence befitting such titles.yHb
u9oB……axhg6R
EB5qS3XWell, that’s what I expected.rD8b
pwbrlON“Uaaagh!”wwNmrsA
voDjgThe boss trapped my head under his arm and ruffled it with his fist.geEp9bT
FKlb“You little brat! You save the world and end up with not one, but two wives? And on top of that, a girlfriend!”vRKcSu
fozl3c“Hey, come on! That’s not true!”0wWHC
lyatwxj“Do you have any idea how much Media and Rachel hassle me because of you? Media always wants to poison me, and Rachel… better not even mention her.”LbgKA
FNmdE“Then if you’re not going to mention her, let me go already!”sN8x2qF
rojW“Hoo, getting defiant now, are you?”MCNAZX
X684KVODear god. I felt like my skull was about to split in two. I wanted to resist, but how? I was facing the founding hero; escaping wasn’t something simple.waCXu
QJ78“On Earth you didn’t even touch a woman’s hand, and here you’ve turned into a Casanova!”lB9RZL
cVbQ4Nt“That’s not how it is!”dyE
LWeJ6YI barely managed to wriggle free of his arm just in time; otherwise, he would’ve crushed me like a can.nXNw
zsYlrvB“I swear it’s not what you think. I didn’t go after them, they were the ones who confessed to me!”uApQhzu
7In“And you expect me to swallow that?”u3F4
npm“There’s nothing to swallow, it’s the truth!”bCTwLNz
Qr4“Oh, sure. Turns out you’re the handsome man of the century. Getting confessions? What are you, Leon? With that face of yours… really, what woman in the world approaches first a man with such tiny eyes?”fVqJoNd
GJjI knew it better than anyone.OwJrzlc
zF1gADMy character, both in my past life and now as Kang Geom-Ma, was naturally unsociable. An extremely uncooperative person.ArmE
ETa5fAlways indifferent. And on top of that, there was Leon, always smiling, making me look even more surly in comparison.UFi
UxhLYAnd yet…b5Wl
uay3Lv“Women like that exist. And there were two.”2KPyD
vpt“Every time you open your mouth, it’s just another lie…”kmql
sKw“Believe it or not, that’s how it was.”VuQ
jLAYz“…Haa…”gZK6EE
1szyh8The boss let out a helpless sigh.ltfIlt
E04In the end, what more could he say? He had seen the result for himself. Ryozo and Abel were pure devotion to me. And in the days he had spent with us, he had noticed it firsthand.AG8918
5sX30IThe feelings were the same, but they expressed them much more than I ever did.t27gHKT
4TOoK“So then.”EGP
gCdo4The boss gave me a look of suspicion. The kind of look that appeared when he started to half-accept what he was hearing.W6L
UoAdyS9“I want to hear that story of the confessions, see how good it is.”toC8xkX
0MsC“Don’t we have more important matters to discuss?”HuPjQnF
NMSLike future plans. His vision about the suppression force he possessed. Things I thought were the point of this talk.wFRP0s
5yireDm“You said they’re your family.”hNgcMko
nRiaR9c“Yes.”z6sBm
GqqvKt“There’s nothing more important than family.”A70
NcWtJl…Truly.iHy8ca0
6AgIKtVThis man, with phrases that seem trivial, manages to stir my heart. Makes it impossible to turn away the admiration I feel toward him.5Ad
5lGvtI lifted my gaze to the sky, full of lanterns, and remembered. Then too, just like now, the night was splendid.MgePh
FEBTAThere was no turning back. I began to speak slowly.H08cvGJ
Ipqym“You see, what happened was…”Vi7
wbgFVrp***qGV
UVxThe Joaquin Academy is a very conservative educational institution. And that’s not strange—after all, its main role is to train heroes.WgKOLwo
GjaH3Besides, the founding hero himself was such a rigid scholar that his rules seemed like iron.rKOt
zBiVc8Only since a new director arrived has the academy become a little freer.5o9S0
leOBack in my days, the rules bound us hand and foot.Qpo
JLXIU0VThe most representative example was the ban on romance.VvlC
2ZkzHNEven today, officially, students are forbidden from dating each other. But in my time, it wasn’t just forbidden—it was absolutely banned. If you were discovered, you faced sanctions, no matter what family you came from. Not even if you were the youngest hero to achieve the title of Seven Stars.aJbNQV
IAkrxIt was about a year after the end of the Second Great Human War.AAyK
fIZMy classmates and I were eighteen years old.stn
tjc7mAt that time, Kang Geom-Ma’s popularity was at its peak.lOM
0PnIuImagine it—I even overshadowed the absolutely imposing Leon when it came to attractiveness. Can you believe it?JqHUTXp
RpBCI‘Though maybe it also had to do with Leon having taken a leave of absence.’q0LHGW6
V23coBack then, Leon was branded as a traitor to humanity. They treated him like a sellout who had turned his back not on one country, but on the entire human world.1CJ
BYT1Even though I and the Master of the Sword explained many times the truth behind his actions, even though we tried to make them understand the weight of the mission he had taken on, the people didn’t accept it.AgM
IWKrAfter all, with his sword, he had killed Saki Kojima. And that was something not even we could excuse. A mistake made demands responsibility.s6o4De9
etpAU0Anyway, Leon isn’t what’s important here.n7U
6pL3In contrast to Leon’s bad image, I became the most popular hero in history.MiG6LLR
4oYfXWP“Heavenly Sword, are you free today?”l7hlFTW
NSrGirls, even strangers, threw hints at me.cvm0p
fqPf“S-senior, please accept this.”1JUI
pim8ofs“Aaah! It can’t be! She really gave it to him!”XcLe
cD2FReceiving letters with hearts attached from younger students was my daily bread.sVcCB
k2isck“Look, there goes my boyfriend!”ykwFd
ijWPvnE“Hey, idiot, how can Heavenly Sword be your boyfriend!”nF1LBKU
e3X10The shouting matches were so common they kept me on edge.6Kx
2JFmb“Heavenly Sword!”mtQID
aQa“Heavenly Sword!”XRd
kSz1“Oppa!”KBZgKM
gcD5sR“I love you!”UuxjSY
LOlt3I never thought the words, “Sorry, I can’t give you my number…” would come out of my mouth.ei36F
ODX9What an irony, living two lives. Just a year ago, my image was in the gutter.aOqKe
d27PIAAt eighteen, I moved around dragging crowds. The line of people following me was so long that they even made waiting lists.WoDdsJ
TT2Did I like it? It wasn’t bad.ZiVpK
2FvPZuIt wasn’t… bad.iNuFUtp
qZmAnd that’s as far as I can say.CoX
gu4PhQrBecause back then, I—ka2
5W0d“I’m going to die.”5tH
Sf6tb“……”Zos
SXTThe refuge where I escaped from obsessive fans was, as always, the bench.NorUWws
2A870khThat bench again.vJ6
kZE7BThud.djE7nWH
sFwhpRyozo, who was already sitting there, closed her book. The thump of the paper sounded louder than usual—or at least that’s how it felt.DknN6
tVG“Well, you’re popular.”qN5
QawgKg“…It was just a phase.”39rEtl
dJiuPUv“Was it really a phase? Look from here. You can see the whole Joaquin Academy, right?”HsxJU
6LPcuI only nodded my head.FUJb6
p8hRyozo spoke in her monotonous tone.Y1PAaF
Hut“People always come here and repeat the same thing—founding hero, founding hero… It’s not strange. He ended the First Great Human War. Seven hundred years, or more, he deserves to be remembered.”zIUbkT9
hVtmY“Yes.”doYg
NeUY“But our Geom-Ma was the one who ended the Second Great Human War.”CfOEh
QF3n7aq“That—”DjV0CF
GaKd“Listen.”6awYny
655KablYes.N1wUcP
vzW6U“Geom-Ma, listen well. This isn’t something temporary. You know? You’re already a great hero who will be engraved forever in history.”mZge
zINvShe took a deep breath.CVc
NxkAnd said again.1Vkniq
NF9YwHq“Do you expect me to endure watching you surrounded by women for another two years?”zfWhsA
DnrG“……”Cr44B
L4tNSlJIt was true.csLV
3tLFjWI was in a secret romance with Ryozo.zewQ7vD
72ctesIt was hard to pinpoint the exact moment it started. Maybe when Ryozo stamped that first kiss on me. More or less since last year we had been a tacit couple.b9Z4z3
yC97b0OBut because of the ban on romance, we couldn’t show anyone. Not even the members of the exploration club.1zuiOy
2j1zzkRThere was still a year and a half left before our relationship could come to light.jyKFXo2
QVRm“…I knew it.”UUe
jW22PMGRyozo’s eyes darkened.eZrwI
0HotxNo“I knew it, but… I didn’t think it would come to this point.”48gPKP
z44“Ryozo.”LxHkW
Z0vGT“You!”J9OnR
i8rbyfShe looked at me with contained fury.AMhd
m6AUp“Do you know how much I suffer because of you?!”0vUpr
kYp“……”RZiSo
HEljy“Do you know that yesterday I had to shoot blunt arrows at some girls trying to climb through your dorm window?”BnkgwTn
IepTs55“What?”VLvPAU
cjyzAZ0“There were only a few yesterday, just twice. Sometimes it gets to be ten.”G2Qm3qy
6LI3MThis was madness.udn
Vg3“But Ryozo, how did you see—”HFBD
rFiut“Does it matter?”iVPtdK8
O3vL“Not at all.”lna
0anpvNo, not at all.n8q
nWwyjI straightened up rigid in my seat.zcRj1UU
mGtC“Cadets should be studying, not blinded by emotions.”OiSQz7C
fMzzXL“But that applies to us too…”fWx
AccSm“I’m number one in written exams, and you’re number one in practice. Is it fair to put us on the same scale as them? That would be what’s unfair!”IjgS
CIrVkk3Looking back, at that time Ryozo still carried a faint trace of elitism. Years at my side would wear it away.Fne5sp
UcMHE“Anyway.”9DO
7oytgRyozo stood up, brushing off her skirt.GdUYS3
eNcwfD“Behave yourself.”7o7cxuD
wnkFP“I swear I’ve never looked at anyone else. And I never will.”udOK
QTtm“That Kojima told my mother the same thing.”QhoVGG7
4kwMpTDamn it.wUnaBCN
DImTHVfThe late Kojima stirring things up for me while I’m alive.Vgy4tNs
E4wYj1“Then tell me, what number wife was my mother?”BSQ012
wScOW“……”JJs
wYxedX6“Whatever it is, I’m not giving up first place.”U1Y
ZQwgV“In relationships there are no places.”ksR
JL3“For me, there are.”FsXOXz
mvv3uTS“…I know.”Rlcv5Rg
GG8zcN4“Don’t take me for granted. I’m human too. Even that Vixbig runs out of power—don’t you think I’ll get tired?”R2N6qob
Kn6opQXAfter leaving those sharp words, Ryozo walked away. I was left there, empty.4VV0
QVcdR8k“Ah…”nG1cRV1
oaxPYI washed my face with my hands, burning with embarrassment.Hpraxqo
xQk76s6“This has no solution…”liS
rFurfAfter clearing my head a bit at the bench, I returned to the dormitory. And that very night I came down with a fever.VcOGi
YQkMaybe because of the hectic days.PjE
RJSOr maybe because of the weight of living every day under the spotlight. I still don’t know.C1z4
0IdW“Ugh…”2lwN
ucuAJDOFor a future god of the sword to fall from a simple fever was ridiculous.pzoVo
B7Wj‘How absurd.’8SNhjTg
BAUQYEvery time I coughed, laughter came out of me on its own.9CFgcv0
ENfh5CEThat’s how I ended up hospitalized in the VIP ward of the hospital attached to Joaquin Academy.RqCj
BcqcQpVery different from the dormitory, with strict security. I spent the days in bed.44d
oeooX3Of course I missed classes. Every moment of youth was precious to me and I wanted to attend, but my condition didn’t allow it.yOiZAdP
gpo“…At least I should eat something.”FFigyh2
mNm4II tried to scoop up the watery porridge, but gave up. The spoon sank into it, just as I sank into my state.stwk
D8y“Better take a walk around the hospital.”Yqd
JCiFI got out of bed and opened the door. On the first step, something hit my foot.7XE9
D6SLooking down, I saw a rice ball wrapped in plastic.EZ3Dn7
EQjQ“A rice ball?”djyHw6
H42Did the hospital give out snacks too?tDVS
U4oIGruu.UC4AU2
rehAfter so many days of unsalted porridge, I was practically starving.auLC
rXtyAs if hypnotized, I tore off the wrapper.nQsZjlD
SRNUnEy“The shape is… hmm.”c6fVq
Hnyy3I had been a cook. It was inevitable to look at food with critical eyes.IbptTR
Q3ul‘This is amateur.’rIM
vPuIt didn’t look like it was from the hospital, but a personal delivery.l4gcNEi
dlWW8MAnother obsessive fan?l1Pbsj
UJH‘It’s not poisoned, right?’CGziovp
Ob2bBut it wasn’t like I would die from it.Cxd
bLLAfter hesitating for a moment, I took a bite.dnhX8
WI2gFHThe taste was—SBWv3Es
BEQ‘Sour.’VrAiqc
09THYnPI felt an electric tingle in my jaw. The seasoning was unbalanced.sPao5Z
rEN6And yet, why did my heart feel so warm from that cold rice ball?4uZ3
CRHI instinctively pulled out my smartphone. I asked Vixbig, the AI, directly.0QP
OWSk7c“Has anyone searched recently on your engine how to make rice balls?”BGJ2X
Siq4T0P[Cataloged as level 1 confidential.]54opaK
BLNSRImmediate response.uuU
Dlhc8Os[Does that answer your question?]0pbrWDv
xQXLI smiled.hC87
6d7W“Yes.”5Opu2UF
H8T2[The second years are currently in joint training at the practice field.]HhK
fufH7“Vixbig, your performance is the best.”kWiGb
zvfSYNo sooner had I put away the phone than I ran to the practice field. My body felt light, as if the fever had never existed.fiRwO7
pMHaA little later.f2bNNME
pxqJust as it said, all the second years were training in the field.Nsz
IFCr“It’s the Heavenly Sword!”i0YcY
blnAt my appearance, the cadets surrounded me at once.8Xo
0ZPRKH7I didn’t hear them.TPD
xjOI pushed through them, walking straight toward a point of sky blue.wGKjmW
pzX5The murmurs grew, and she lifted her gaze. On her swollen fingers were band-aids.81Wu
asZdE4The moment she saw me, she hid her hands behind her back.prw
v9VcI stopped in front of Ryozo.BPq9Ury
LTWODnI gathered every possible gaze.mlY4F4
DoCI wanted everyone to see.TXoeM
6VWiAnd when the tension was at its peak, I embraced her.bNmWr
bDC5RN3“E-e-eh.”j1c7j
1Ze3Three syllables.kB81
keLzvnfThen I slowly let go.Ejx33
3LLihX“Let them punish me if they want.”XfLm
60jdS“……”gakX1y
6NEMa8Ryozo looked like she was in shock.qpW9j2a
ostvAnd when her cheeks began to burn, she stood on tiptoe.MPj7UJi
f1y2O“A grain of rice.”65X5G
CmvShe went back down on her heels.sawl
Z7fKmS“I can’t let a Seven Stars walk around with rice stuck on his lips. They’ll blame me.”T9q
ucIhThen she bumped her forehead against my chest several times.bbYkaJy
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