Ch.150150 – The Sound of a Whistle

<150 – Whistle Sound>

A boundary is a unique skill that contains the life of the strong.

Destroyer had long fought against the numerous duties and pressures he had to endure.

The responsibility weighing down his shoulders.

The guilt that kept him from raising his head.

The self-reflection that prevented him from straightening his back.

Yet, the warrior’s mission that wouldn’t allow him to bend his knees.

As a member of the hero party.

Due to the incomplete journey of the hero.

Even after the hero party’s official activities ended, he revisited their past travel destinations, confronting the darkness they had previously overlooked or deliberately ignored.

The world was a bit darker, crueler, and more desperate than he had known.

‘All I could do was endure and keep moving forward one step at a time.’

Believing that this step toward the next destination would be a step toward a better world.

He actively utilized the unprecedented authority granted to the hero party, crossing the line between legal and illegal.

“The pain you’re experiencing now is no different from what I experienced as a hero. If you hadn’t developed a mind and body comparable to an active hero, you would have died.”

Jona must advance from the starting point of the boundary to the endpoint, with all his past rights gone, leaving only responsibilities, duties, and pain.

It was natural that the distance to go forward was longer than the distance to turn back.

“Is it difficult? Is it too much for you?”

“This is reality.”

“The gap between you and me is this enormous. Can’t you see how merciful I’m being just by not using my hands directly?”

Just looking at his grim face and the physique revealed beneath his butler uniform, one could tell.

This man is no ordinary butler.

A figure possessing extraordinary capabilities enough to be the public face of the foundation.

However, he cannot compare to himself, a retired hero.

Destroyer actively exploited this gap.

If he sends this man back from here, the connection between Oknodie and the foundation will loosen.

The greater the physical distance, the greater the emotional distance.

Estrangement or resentment.

It’s much easier to become emotionally closer to a professor who meets face-to-face twice a week than to a guardian who doesn’t show up for promised visits.

“The foundation’s specialty of depriving and violating hearts. I’ve returned it in kind, but can you endure it? You who have only ever been in the position of manipulating others.”

Those who only know the pleasure of abusing power, but not the pain of being controlled.

Foolishly, he poured out insults without restraint, mocking and despising the butler who had stepped forward, trying to break his heart and will.

He was certain.

That such cowardly types had neither the ability nor the qualification to pass through this corridor.

That this man would not pass his test.

“Forgive my presumption, but I cannot help but contradict the words of a former hero.”

He should have retreated long ago.

He should have stopped walking when he realized his limits.

But the man did not stop.

“The foundation is a charitable organization that provides a new chance at life for pitiful children who have talent but no opportunities.”

Even if countless “young ladies” were discarded before obtaining that opportunity.

“We are willing to make any sacrifice for the success of these children.”

Even if it’s a heartless and cruel organization that makes the very people who raised the young ladies carry out their disposal.

“The foundation’s actions may seem uncomfortable, but compared to the lives they would have had without our intervention, the children who received opportunities are living better lives.”

Saying that compared to those who couldn’t even grasp an opportunity and crumbled at the bottom of the foundation, you are fortunate—he himself had said such things to the young ladies.

Because he once sincerely believed that and regarded their downfall merely as defects in human merchandise.

“If it’s to sustain that life, I, Jona Wiheomhae, as the foundation’s representative and Oknodie’s guardian, will gladly accept the former hero’s test.”

No more regrets.

The same mistakes must not be repeated.

“You’re an unpleasantly stubborn man. If an organization has earned the loyalty of a man like you, it’s no wonder my informants’ contacts have been cut off.”

Jona’s spirit, determination, and will were clearly conveyed.

The former hero acknowledged it.

Men who could stand so proudly before him wouldn’t exceed ten even if he searched the entire world.

At least in his past.

During his two journeys as a hero.

Even then, those with as much spirit as this man didn’t exceed ten in total.

He acknowledges it.

Jona Wiheomhae.

He is too strong to be merely a butler for a “young lady.”

That paradoxically proves Oknodie’s specialness.

“A man who can’t be easily overlooked or forgiven. I guess the easy path ends here…”

The blade of grass in Destroyer’s mouth folded in half and fell.

The ground where it touched rippled like water, activating the transformation formula that had been input into the corridor.

<Double Boundary Transformation Formula>

<Trigger Release>

<Type 2 – Boundary of Oppressive Gaze>

He didn’t move a finger.

With his arms crossed, the perpetrator merely emitted an oppressive aura that could blow away one’s mind just by contact, his cape fluttering.

Just by being under his gaze, Jona felt the pain of parts of his body being crushed and contracted.

<Mana Cultivation Method>

<Iron Armor Technique>

<Self-Defense Technique – Silver Mountain Iron Wall>

Metal manipulation techniques used for weight tools to aid in the young lady’s training.

He used his unique skills for self-defense to protect his body from the pressure of the gaze, but Jona’s expression was far from bright.

The exchange rate is poor.

The cost-effectiveness of mana depends on the user’s determination.

For a former hero who has actually experienced a disaster where an entire city was trampled, crushing someone with just a gaze is not difficult.

It’s powerful enough to exert 100 units of power with just 1 unit of mana.

Jona was not lacking either.

He protects himself with a stubbornness close to self-belief.

A defensive magic that becomes more solid and lasting the longer one keeps their oath.

He could normally block power of 30 units with 1 unit of mana, but he forcibly modified it on the spot to block power of up to 100 units.

But since it’s not the standard operation, the cost is high.

The mana consumed for the power increase is not 1 but 10.

A fight with 10 times disadvantage.

When the difference in area between “eyes” and “whole body” is added, the exchange rate between the two exceeds 1 to 1000, far beyond 1 to 10.

Destroyer still had an overwhelming amount of energy left.

Truly an incredible reserve befitting a man who accompanied a legendary hero’s journey.

If what he had to protect was wealth, honor, his own face, or personal success, he would have given up and yielded long ago, such was the strength that could break one’s spirit.

But what he was shouldering now was not such trivial things.

-I’m going to enter the Academy. Jona and Leaf too. Everyone did their best to help me. I don’t want to run away and make that time meaningless.

He remembers her trembling hand, though she smiled brightly on the outside, perhaps feeling fear of the unfamiliar environment.

-I don’t know what Papa and the foundation want, but I am strong. It won’t be easy to demand something from me. Because I’ll keep getting stronger!

He remembers how the child, who should have been more anxious than anyone, comforted and encouraged him, the adult.

-I’m not a strange person.

In reality, she was just a scaredy-cat little girl with a painful past who would hide behind closets or curtains to avoid people’s eyes if left alone for even a short while.

The foundation and the Academy are the same.

They all recognize the young lady’s talent and want to develop her power to use her according to their will.

Justice.

Vice.

It doesn’t matter for what purpose.

Either way, she’s being used.

If there could be a sanctuary for such a young lady, if she wished for him to be that sanctuary, he could willingly choose to remain as her sanctuary.

Even facing an exchange with a thousand-fold disadvantage, even with the pain of his internal organs churning with each step.

“I am Miss Oknodie’s butler.”

Thud.

He took a step so heavy that the floor tiles shattered into pieces.

Jona’s one step.

That weighty resolve was clearly conveyed to Destroyer’s heart as well.

Even with blood flowing from his mouth.

Even with blood dripping from his clenched fists.

His grim face never compromises with pain.

‘I can’t kill him. If I kill a guardian who came for a visit, I’d certainly be expelled from the Academy.’

So this is a threat.

It was Destroyer who was threatening and holding his life.

But Jona’s spirit.

His advance that didn’t fear death.

Was reversing the situation, cornering him.

Go ahead and kill me if you dare.

Try exchanging a mere foundation butler for your position as a former hero professor.

Faced with this bold threat, Destroyer, instead of lowering his output, opened his narrowed eyes as wide as possible and pressed down on him with all his might.

I’ll make you faint to the point where you won’t even have the will to resist.

<Full Power Release>

<Maximum Wide Eyes>

An oppressive battle of attrition that forces mana consumption of over 10,000 times per second, making it impossible to even endure.

As intended, the butler was pushed to the brink of collapse and staggered.

Peeeeep─ Peep─!

A whistle sound rang out.

A noise from outside that shouldn’t be heard and couldn’t be heard in the corridor blocked by the double boundary.

“A gap in the boundary? Impossible. There couldn’t have been any intruders!”

As Destroyer turned around, he saw a semi-transparent figure flinching greatly.

Paching!

The invisibility broke less than a second after his gaze fell upon it.

Beyond it appeared a black-bobbed female student wearing a first-year Academy uniform.

Following the path of Zhang, who possessed superior invisibility skills, a crack formed in what should have been a perfect boundary, and through that gap, sound leaked from deep inside the visiting area.

‘It’s just one sound. It’s frustrating that a crack formed, but nothing will change because of that little thing.’

But he didn’t know.

“!!”

The reason why a man who was about to collapse had somehow managed to pass by his side.

That Jona had realized the owner of the whistle sound was Oknodie.