episode_0065

A clear blue sky. From the colossal oval stadium at the academy’s center, turquoise tree branches surged forth, glittering.

Thundering crash!

What were merely parts of a plant, however, soon tore through and pierced the sword orb a male student, the runner-up of the 10th class, had unleashed.

“…!”

The male student’s eyes widened significantly.

It was a reaction of complete surprise.

Realistically, who would have thought that mere tree branches could so easily breach a skill superior to sword aura?

Nevertheless, his momentary panic, which delayed his reaction by more than two beats, proved to be his undoing.

CRASH!

“Ugh!”

The tree branch, launched by Ryu Seeun with a cool expression, precisely struck his abdomen.

The male student, who had taken a considerable blow, spewed clear gastric fluid and collapsed on the spot.

[Freshman Representative Ryu Seeun, victory in the first round.]

The announcer’s clear voice echoed through the stadium, and Ryu Seeun elegantly tossed her hair, as if flaunting her victory.

Applause and cheers erupted from all directions. Thus concluded the first round of the 8-person tournament.

‘She’s definitely good.’

And I sat in the very last row of the spectators’ section, assigned to second-year students, gravely observing Ryu Seeun.

This wasn’t my perspective as her senior, but as a fellow mage.

I’d never actually had a proper magic duel with Ryu Seeun to begin with. At most, it was a brief skirmish we had at the hotel that day.

The outcome of that bout was quickly nullified by the Heaven’s Thunder I unleashed with deep frustration, but…

Honestly, if I had to genuinely fight to defeat an opponent, well, I wonder?

Would I truly be able to unilaterally overwhelm that nature-aligned divinity even then?

Of course, I don’t think I’d lose to her.

But I don’t think I’d win easily either.

The dynamic of the previous match was overwhelming to that extent. The black-haired male student on the opposing side wasn’t low-level either.

It was Ryu Seeun who, in an instant, pierced through that male student’s defensive sword orb and ended the match.

Considering that nature-aligned magic, especially plant control spells, generally lacks strong offensive power, that was quite remarkable.

Unless one adds ice attributes to the ‘Plant Manipulation’ stolen from Ryu Seeun, as I did, generating such offensive power wouldn’t be very easy.

In any case, today’s match concluded in a somewhat anticlimactic manner.

The victor was Ryu Seeun. As the top-ranked student, she would have had a statistical advantage to begin with.

Even considering that perception, a win is a win. I was about to stand up, intending to congratulate her for her hard work outside the stadium.

“How was it?”

A somber voice pierced my ears.

For a moment, I had to stop in my tracks.

I turned my head to look at the source of the voice. I didn’t have to look far. Right beside me, the second-year students had somehow all moved away from my vicinity.

And in the seat next to mine sat a man with turquoise hair.

I had only met him once before, but his uniquely gloomy eyes still remained vividly in my memory. And they were the same now.

Ryu Jinseong, having slightly turned his head, met my gaze.

“Was my daughter’s skill adequate?”

“…”

And then he asked that.

How should I answer this?

It wasn’t so much an awkward or difficult question to answer as it was simply impossible to discern his intent.

If I knew what kind of answer he was expecting from me, it would be much easier.

Ryu Jinseong said nothing more, merely holding my gaze steadily.

He waited patiently for my reply.

I furrowed my brow with discomfort, yet decided to think. If I couldn’t find an ideal answer, I should at least state my own opinion.

‘…Was Ryu Seeun’s skill adequate, he asks.’

He asked me about his daughter’s skill. A Grand Mage, who could perceive ‘magical skill’ from a higher perspective, surely wasn’t asking because he couldn’t gauge Ryu Seeun’s capabilities himself.

So, it felt subtle even to ponder further.

“Uh, well.”

I just scratched the back of my head awkwardly and replied.

“She’s moderately good.”

A short, concise answer. But don’t tell me I was insincere. ‘Moderately good’ was my genuine opinion, and it was actually the truth.

She’s good, but still lacking.

That wasn’t to say I looked down on Ryu Seeun or considered her beneath me.

Rather, it was a somewhat simpler issue. In short, it was the difference between human combat and monster combat.

‘In Cheorwon, she must have been clashing with monsters almost daily.’

I don’t know everything about Ryu Seeun’s upbringing. But it was clear that she had grown up in Cheorwon since being taken in by Ryu Jinseong at the age of ten.

And the role of the Border Defense Unit stationed in Cheorwon was to prevent the southward advance of monsters.

North Korea, which had all but collapsed, didn’t need to be concerned with, but the gate breaks that occurred there required cleanup.

If she lived with soldiers and fought monsters, then Ryu Seeun would probably also be considered a specialist in anti-monster combat.

Didn’t that tendency show a little in the recent match? There was definitely a sense that she hit the runner-up male student too violently.

Well, since this 8-person tournament is conducted like a real battle, most probably wouldn’t mind too much…

I might end up being knocked out if I face her in the semifinals. Or it might be Cheon Soyul, who would have advanced by defeating me.

“It would be good to correct that violent attack style. While it might work against thoughtless monsters, such methods don’t always work well against other humans.”

Why could I say such a thing? The reason was simple. Since I was fifteen, I’d been put through magic training designed for human combat almost every vacation. Summoned to my master’s house.

…Anyway.

I finished my words like that and casually glanced at Ryu Jinseong’s profile.

It was to gauge his reaction.

The expressionless man silently nodded, as if he had heard my words, but his overall reaction was somehow bland.

‘At least pretend to be interested…’

It was as expected. It seemed this man hadn’t specifically come to hear my evaluation of Ryu Seeun’s skill. Which was, in fact, obvious.

I let out a deep sigh and subtly turned back to face forward.

Only then did Ryu Jinseong, as if briefly waking from a daze, properly look down at me.

He was a rather large man for a mage. At least, he was much taller than me.

To speak with a slight derogatory tint, he was like a telephone pole.

Of course, that was speaking negatively, but his impression itself was that of a clean-cut twenty-nine-year-old man.

“Do you have something to say?”

I didn’t bother beating around the bush.

His expression clearly showed he had something to say.

‘What if he tells me to kneel?’

Outwardly, I feigned a very composed demeanor, but in reality, I was slightly intimidated. After all, it was a clear fact that I had struck him.

Even in the Awakened society’s senior-junior hierarchy, this was an extreme act of insubordination.

If he told me to apologize, I’d bow my head immediately, but… I probably couldn’t bring myself to kneel.

And it was also an undeniable fact that Ryu Jinseong had spoken like a dog…

I looked at Ryu Jinseong with the sole thought that I should just run away if things went awry.

Oh, I also didn’t forget to act as calm as possible on the outside. ‘Pride.’

“Lee Hyunjin.”

But Ryu Jinseong simply called my name concisely and asked me a question.

A single, brief question.

“What is the role of a father?”

“…?”

It was a question very far removed from what I had expected. Slightly flustered, I failed to maintain my expression.

…The role of a father, he asks.

There were many reasons for my bewilderment, but putting all else aside, isn’t that not something one should ask a mere twenty-year-old?

This was surely a reasonable thought.

For that reason, I was about to retort with a tone of utter disbelief.

I could see where Ryu Jinseong’s gaze was directed. Too late.

“…”

This man was looking at Ryu Seeun, who was just about to leave the stadium.

Ever since he asked me that one question, his gaze had been fixed in that direction.

Reluctantly, I pressed my lips together. The thoughts that gratuitously arose were about the peculiar relationship between the father and daughter that I had heard from Gwon Hwang the day before.

What indeed was the reason for Ryu Jinseong’s wretched personality being formed this way?

Once I considered that, no matter what, I felt I couldn’t treat this man harshly anymore.

I rotated my body, which had been turned away, back to the front. And I looked down at the stadium.

Though she might not have used much mana, Ryu Seeun was leaving the arena, lightly wiping away sweat, seemingly having expended some energy.

Only after she had disappeared from view from the spectator stands did I raise my head.

And I decided to speak.

“I don’t know.”

It was a direct answer at first.

And it was my true feeling.

“…”

Ryu Jinseong, also in silence, merely turned his head to look at me.

No particular disappointment or regret was discernible in his expression.

Of course, I hadn’t finished saying everything I had to say either.

I had certainly never been in the position of a ‘parent’.

Nevertheless, I felt as if I could understand what Ryu Jinseong needed to do at this very moment.

In fact, it was something obvious, almost without needing deep thought.

He had come to the Cheongsong Festival, the festival of his daughter’s school. It was, needless to say, to see his daughter.

And Ryu Seeun had just fought a match in front of many people…

“Isn’t it nothing special?”

I turned back to Ryu Jinseong, and simultaneously pointed towards the outside of the stadium with an impertinent flick of my chin.

The man’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

“Just go and tell her she did well. If it feels right, give her a pat on the head, offer some words of encouragement…”

“…”

“What’s so grand about the role of a parent? You just do what you ought to do and say what you ought to say to your child.”

This was undoubtedly my personal opinion. I couldn’t possibly say that I was unequivocally right.

However, at the very least, I was absolutely certain of one thing.

For Ryu Jinseong and Ryu Seeun, the two, these words were precisely what was most needed.

For the first time, a peculiar glint appeared in Ryu Jinseong’s purple eyes.

Only then did I let out a soft chuckle. Perhaps because they both mastered the same unique magic, their physical features were quite similar.

They probably didn’t have such hair or eye colors at first.

But now, wouldn’t anyone who saw them consider them family?

Isn’t that enough? At least, it doesn’t look bad.

Ryu Jinseong nodded with a serious expression.

“I will keep that in mind.”

And before I could even make a retort, he vanished with a whoosh, turning into a shadow.

I made a dazed expression for a moment, then quickly composed myself and let out a wry chuckle.

‘A Grand Mage is a Grand Mage, after all.’

I couldn’t follow his presence. I couldn’t even read the flow of his mana, and it felt like it would take an eternity just to figure out where he disappeared to.

Perhaps my master, the Ice Empress Seol Hayeon, also stood at the same level as him.

‘When will it be?’

I idly fell into a restless mood and momentarily thought of something sentimental.

When would ‘Mage Lee Hyunjin’ truly be able to catch up to her?

It was impossible to tell.

At least, for now.

[The second round will begin at 4 PM. Second-year top-ranked student Cheon Soyul, and second-year runner-up student Lee Hyunjin, please wait in the waiting room.]

I stood up from my seat.

In any case, now it was Cheon Soyul.

Wouldn’t it be rude, in a way, to think of another woman while leaving my wife-nim aside?

With such a silly, playful thought, I let out a muffled laugh.