Chapter 257: A Challenge To See Tommorow
by Afuhfuihgs
Buzz-!
The bees greeted their master as if asking, ‘Where have you been?’
It had only been five days since Lee Han last saw them, but he felt like they had grown bigger.
“No, no, they are really growing! Why in the world there’s bee as big as a puppy?”
To be precise, the bees were truly growing big.
Their growth rate really showed just how great of a species the Tiger Bees were.
“Don’t be happy, do something about it! They keep attacking me, you know!”
“They did it because they are unfamiliar with you. But, assistant, where have you been? I haven’t seen you recently?”
“I took your place on duty and did the paperwork for you…!!”
“Really? Keep up the good work.”
“!?!!”
Damien Paulet, who was famous as the official slave of Lee Han, or rather the teaching assistant of the swordsmanship department, or a master of organizing documents, kicked the ground with an angry roar as his face turned red and blue.
Then, with the hammer that had became his trademark,
“You know that doing it is a treason, right?”
“It’s not a treason but a revolution!”
Damien, who raised his hammer of revolution high, was determined. He wouldn’t stop before he somehow landed a blow on his opponent.
Damien’s hammer traveled twice as fast and powerful than usual. Perhaps, he had received a buff because of the immense anger burning in his heart.
To think he was able to reach the Hammer Sound level!!
It was such a grand moment that would make people think that this was the start of the legend of [Hammer Knight].
However…
Bang-!
“…Huh?”
“Did you take some elixir? You’re a bit stronger than yesterday.”
“??”
The hammer was easily blocked.
No, it wasn’t just blocked, Damien was witnessing the strange phenomenon of the hammer breaking due to the durability of the muscles on the back of his opponent’s hand.
At the same time, his opponent,
“My body got a little stronger.”
“That part alo get stronger?”
“Yes. It somehow happened.”
“What happened?”
“…I’m sick and tired of it. Even a large beast wouldn’t be this hard to defeat!”
“Forget about that. You’ve become quite good.”
Thud-!
“But, try harder.”
“…Shit.”
Damien Paulet swore and looked at the finger that was closing into him. The moment that finger flicked his forehead,
Crack-!
He lost consciousness.
Even the Light is indifferent to my struggle…
He was already someone who was pervertedly strong. Why did the Light make him even stronger?
Damien raised his middle finger to the sky in discontent and lost consciousness.
Lee Han looked down at the unconscious assistant who had a raging expression on his face with pure admiration.
“He’s become quite strong.”
“I heard that he recently bought a mid-level elixir with the money he saved while helping out at another department. Seems like the elixir worked well.”
“He’s using some doping?”
As soon as Lee Han heard that he even doped himself to hit him, he wondered if he had pushed the guy too hard. But his regret quickly disappeared as he felt the heaviness left by the hammer.
“No, no. This guy is the type of person who needs to be pushed. He will get stronger the more he is being pushed.”
“Are you serious, Instructor?”
“You saw the Hammer Sound, didn’t you? If that’s not proof, then what is?”
“So, does that mean you’re going to keep pushing him like this?”
“It’s the pain of growth.”
“…”
Derrick sincerely felt sorry for Damien but also felt respect towards him. He was amazed by the fact that Damien would continue to take on the instructor’s duties and felt that being able to become strong like that was a talent.
It was a pitiful talent, though.
Still, when Derrick thought about the fact that there were people who literally sold their souls to become strong, he felt that Damien was probably one of the lucky ones(?).
“But why are you still here rather than returning home?”
“…Because Miss Karin is at my house.”
“…”
Was he trying to insult him?
Lee Han clenched his fists a little, but he tried to speak as gently as possible by clenching his teeth.
“Then go away to your girlfriend.”
To repeat it, Lee Han said it as gently as possible.
“I-I can’t go…”
“Why?”
“I-I got kicked out.”
“?”
“Y-you know I got hurt badly before, right? But I kept it a secret from Miss Karin…”
“You were wrong then. Go and apologize.”
“I-If I apologize, there’s a chance that Miss Karin will follow me to a dangerous places next time. Because of that, I shouldn’t apologize.”
“You are more romantic than you look, huh?”
“Haha…”
“Don’t laugh. It’s not a compliment.”
“Yes…”
Status Window was dispirited by his words, but Lee Han wasn’t generous enough to comfort him. After all, they were in a fight because they loved each other.
There’s a limit on insulting…
Lee Han thought he had learned a thing or two and seriously considered hitting this guy hard. No matter how much he thought about it, he was really annoying.
At that time,
“…Instructor, I thought about it deeply, and no matter how I look at it, it seems like the reason why Illiad is alive is thanks to you.”
“Are you trying to change the topic?”
“I’m not.”
“Then why are you suddenly talking nonsense?”
He had already saved him, yet he was saying that it was thanks to him that he didn’t die?
“I-I’m talking about the original work. According to it, Iliad should have passed away before the first semester. But by that time, he’s still alive, and now he’s even survived. I guess this series of changes is all thanks to you, Instructor.”
“Do you think I am omnipotent?”
Lee Han was dumbfounded. How could he say that the reason someone whose face he didn’t know back in the first semester didn’t die was because of him? What kind of nonsense was that?
When Lee Han suspected that Status Window had some Demonic seed in his head and about to treat him,
“But what if you hadn’t stopped the Monster Terror?”
“?”
He started to pour out some pretty persuasive words.
“If you as well as the students you trained hadn’t been there back then, the gnolls would have definitely escaped to the entire capital. They might have even gone all the way to the Offen Family’s mansion…
“In addition to that, what if you hadn’t caught the illegal mages hiding in the academy? We wouldn’t have known what kind of evil schemes the illegal mages were plotting, and it might have resulted in them collaborating with traitors like Gardin and Elza.”
“Isn’t that too far-fetched?”
“Yes, I admit that it’s too far-fetched. But it just means that the butterfly effect that you caused is quite considerable, Instructor. You’ve told me before, you became a knight and spent three years destroying illegal mages and slave merchants. That alone would have caused a huge butterfly effect.”
“…I understand what you’re trying to say, but is that important now?”
“By examining past records, we could at least predict how they will affect the present. That way, wouldn’t we be able to gather as much information as possible?”
It was a method that was so unlike him.
This guy, his girlfriend is smart, is he becoming more and more like her?
“Karin told me that. She told me to broaden my horizons first.”
“…This bastard!”
As Lee Han gave him a cold gaze, Status Window deflated. He realized belatedly that he shouldn’t have said the last words.
He was really evil for subconsciously insulting Lee han.
Probably because he realized that Lee Han’s expression was colder than usual…
“I-I just wanted to tell you that someone is alive thanks to you, Instructor! I-I just think someone should be thanked for it… T-then excuse me!”
As expected of a guy with a great survival instinct, he ran away right away when Lee Han’s expression turned fierce, and Lee Han could only click his tongue.
“He’s too worried about something he shouldn’t have.”
Lee Han wanted to follow him and scold him right away, but unfortunately,
“He’s just worried about your sacrifice. I see it too. You’ve been hiding all your accomplishments, right? That kid must have been worried about that. He’s a deep thinker.”
Lee Han couldn’t follow him because he had to greet a guest.
“Are you happy after eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?”
“I-I didn’t do it on purpose. I was just wondering when to show up…”
“That’s a long excuse.”
“…It’s not an excuse.”
He had already noticed her presence when the bees suddenly became quiet and hid in their nests, but now that he saw it directly, his eyes naturally widened.
“Why did you come here? You should have spent a cozy time together with your family.”
“That’s also what I was thinking, but there’s something I haven’t done yet.”
As she said so, Felicia was floating with a smirk on her face, sword in hands.
The sight of a woman flying on her sword at a height of about 10 meters was incredibly mystical.
It was clearly a fantasy world, so how could she remind him of the Immortals?
“You are really talented.”
“Oh, this? It’s nothing special. Anyone can do it if they can just levitate their sword.”
“…Isn’t that an extremely hard condition?”
Felicia quietly laughed at Lee Han’s rebuttal and gently came down to the ground. It was as if she felt sorry for making him look up at her.
“I’ll apologize again. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“How much did you hear?”
“I heard from the part where the kid said Illiad should have already died.”
“…So you heard everything.”
“That’s why I apologize.”
Felicia, who had not lost her composure even after hearing that her son was supposed to have died, had a very firm look in her eyes, unlike her usual demeanour that reminded Lee Han of a Sunfish.
Perhaps because Lee Han’s surprise was showing on the outside, Felicia spoke with a relaxed smile.
“Seems like that kid has the [Future Sight] Mystic. I saw a fortune teller with a similar Mystic 40 years ago. But he seems much sharper than that fortuneteller.”
“Since you don’t mean anything bad, I’ll forgive you.”
“Even if I am not angry. I just felt relieved that my son’s fate changed.”
“…”
“I’m just grateful. Thanks to you, Illiad survived twice in a row. How many times do I have to thank you now…”
Felicia looked at Lee Han with a deep gaze.
Should he say that it was a gaze dripping with honey?
It was really a gaze that was so burdensome that it made Lee Han’s hair stand.
“It’s burdensome, so stop looking at me.”
“It’s just a gaze filled with affection.”
“But that’s what makes it more unpleasant?”
“You rude guy…”
Despite all the words, the burden did not disappear from Felicia’s eyes.
“This is probably the first time I’ve felt this grateful to someone. Not only did you save my child, but you also cleared up the misunderstanding between my child and me.”
Felicia remembers the conversation she had with her son where they talked about their feelings.
They had many conversations.
And then she realized.
She really…
“I never praised Illiad. No, what I thought as a praise was all mere ‘congratulation’.”
Was there a more incompetent mother than her in the world?
“Don’t worry. There are more parents in the world who are worse than you.”
“Where?”
“My parents who sold me into slavery?”
“…”
“So don’t worry. There are more incompetent parents than you.”
“I-I’m not comforted at all.”
Felicia realized once again that the mouth was the source of disaster.
Lee Han asked again.
“So, why did you come here?”
He was criticizing her for coming to him instead of giving her son all the compliments she had not been able to give him, and he also had the intention of not seeing her for a while, but Felicia wasn’t sharp enough to realized it.
However, even though she wasn’t sharp,
“I’m here to teach you one last lesson.”
“?”
“When I think about it, I don’t think I’ve really taught you anything. I just kept saying something strange to you.”
She always kept his promises.
However,
“You’re only realizing that now?”
It was really absurd in the eyes of a learner that their supposed teacher suddenly realized she had to teach them something. Probably because Lee Han’s expression said everything he wanted to say, Felicia felt a little stung.
No, not a little. A lot.
Still,
“H-honestly, I never expect you to be able to use willpower this early…”
To make an excuse, she was mistaken in thinking that he would roll around a bit more and take at least half a year to get to where he was now.
“You broke my expectations and finally reached the idea you wanted to pursue. I’m proud of you, but I’m also sorry.”
Even so, shouldn’t she at least fill the part she could?
“Do you understand what willpower is now?”
“Roughly?”
“Haha, yeah, it should be subtle now.”
“Hmm…”
Lee Han agreed with that statement.
Yes, Lee Han definitely knew what it was. He knew that there’s some kind of ‘power’ inside his body. But using it as he wished was another thing entirely.
“It’s subtle, as you said. I know what it is, but if you ask me to explain it clearly, I really can’t.”
“That’s natural. Willpower is like a song. We can hear it clearly, but there’s a beauty there that we can’t catch.”
“…?”
“…I just said that it’s there, so don’t worry about it.”
“That’s what I thought.”
To Lee Han, It felt like something he had read in a book, but it wasn’t something he could relate to. After all, for him willpower wasn’t like a song.
Rather,
It’s like a new muscle.
Lee Han decided to think in a way that was easier for him to accept.
Willpower is muscle.
What if humans had wings or a tail?
They would have to work hard to be able to control it.
In that sense, willpower was like tails or wings. It was a newly formed muscle that needed to be trained. By training to use it, there would come a day when they wouldn’t even feel odd of using it.
Natural integration.
“When that happens, I’ll be able to go somewhere and brag about how strong I am.”
“You understood correctly. Yes, the integration of willpower is a stage in itself. Representatives of those who have reached that stage include His Highness the Crown Prince… no, Duke Blake, Archduke Lionel, and Marquis Jenimia.”
“…”
The Marquis, that gentleman, was indeed a formidable guy.
Luckily, he spared me that day.
It was really fortunate that his stomach didn’t get punctured the day he attacked the Marquis alone.
As Lee Han smiled bitterly in relief, Felicia’s advice continued.
“It will be hard and boring as only steady effort and training are the only way to train willpower. However, if you keep trying without deceiving yourself, you will eventually reach it. Even if the road into that place is so long and winding.”
“That’s fortunate. Even if it’s slow, running is my specialty.”
“That’s a very welcomed thing.”
Swoosh-!
Felicia smiled happily at Lee Han’s confident attitude. After all, a man should have that level of confidence.
But what good was teaching him with words alone?
“Explaining it with words alone will not be enough. So, would you like to experience it with your body?”
“But those were real swords?”
“It’s part of my collection.”
Seventeen white swords made from some kind of pure white materials rose high into the sky.
“They are swords that I have highly concentrated my willpower on. Dealing with them would be of some help to you.”
“They are really sharp.”
“I wonder if they will be able to penetrate your body or not.”
“Are you telling me about a murder you will commit soon?”
It was incredibly creepy to see someone who could easily turn him into a hedgehog with a wooden sword aiming dozens of real swords at him at the same time. Common sense dictated that there’s no need to risk one’s life for a little bit of growth.
“Are you trying to kill me? What kind of crazy guy would happily be subjected to something like that?”
“So you won’t do it?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
-He should do it right now!
Common sense also said men were just like that.
Even if they knew they might die during a challenge, even if a strong wave was right in front of them, they had no choice but to move forward.
After all, men were creatures who would only see tomorrow after overcoming challenges.
That day, Lee Han was stabbed with twelve swords, and only regained his consciousness four days later.
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