Ch.25Episode 6. The First Turning Point (5)

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Just like any other lunch break.

Yu Ari was sitting on the back hill of the academy, where there were the fewest people, blankly staring up at the sky.

This was the only place where she could feel comfortable.

She had found this spot after searching the academy for a month last year, and it was the place that gave her the greatest sense of security.

She didn’t have to worry about others watching her, and noise didn’t carry well here, allowing her to maintain her composure without taking her depression medication.

However, despite coming here for several days, her mood remained unsettled.

“Haah.”

A sigh escaped her lips.

Recently, Yu Ari had been troubled because of Instructor Yujin.

She knew that Yujin was someone she could rely on, regardless of whether he was trustworthy or not.

But that was it.

She didn’t want to develop their relationship any further.

Developing a relationship meant that someday, there would come a moment when she would have to reveal all of her past.

She couldn’t move forward because she couldn’t imagine Yujin staying by her side after she revealed everything.

For her, the act of trusting someone was too great a risk.

It was obvious she wouldn’t be able to endure being betrayed again by people she trusted, so she kept her distance from the beginning.

This was a kind of defense mechanism for her.

But at the same time, she wanted to get closer.

She had many days ahead to live, and she didn’t want to spend her entire life steeped in loneliness.

“Haah…”

She sighed again and looked at what she held in her hand.

A tuna mayo triangle kimbap and a banana milk.

It was far too meager an amount for someone who trained every night. If Yujin had seen it, he would have forcibly taken her to a lunch box shop to eat more.

Riiip.

Yu Ari tore open the sealed plastic of the triangle kimbap. She folded the seaweed into a triangular shape and took a bite.

She chewed a few times with her mouth tightly closed and swallowed without much interest. For her, eating was simply an act to fill her empty stomach.

Slurp.

She inserted a straw into the banana milk and sucked it in.

“Hmm…”

Although it was only early April, she could feel sweat forming on her body from the gradually increasing heat of the sun.

She was fortunate to be under the shade of a tree, but the thought of having to take off her hoodie and wear the summer uniform soon filled her with gloom.

As someone who extremely disliked exposure, she hated summer. It was too hot to wear clothes, but she was too conscious of others’ gazes to take them off.

To make matters worse, her chest was large enough to make her seem assertive.

“What should I do now…”

Having quickly finished her food, she leaned against the tree and blankly stared at the passing clouds.

She had a fleeting desire to fall asleep and skip afternoon classes, but she shook her head.

“No, I can’t do that. The instructor might not like it… If he gets disappointed and… stops talking to me… I don’t want that…”

Even though she knew in her mind that she should keep her distance, she found herself wavering as she thought of Yujin, who had momentarily helped her forget her loneliness and negative emotions.

It was a moment of confusion as her reason and emotions looked in different directions.

“Ah… here you are.”

Yu Ari jumped up in surprise at the unfamiliar male voice. Looking to the side, she was startled to see a male student who had somehow climbed up the hill.

“W-who are you?”

“Wow~ I didn’t expect you to be hiding in a place like this.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“Nice to meet you. Are you that famous gloomy girl from the special class? You really do cover your eyes with your hair. Heh heh.”

Yu Ari was greatly disturbed by the male student’s sudden appearance and rude remarks.

“Who are you…?”

Yu Ari discreetly moved her hand behind her back and grabbed the dagger at her waist.

The pounding in her chest seemed to urge her to cut him down right then and there.

But since killing that robber, she had never attacked another person. She couldn’t move rashly because she abhorred bloodshed more than anyone.

“I understand why you’re curious about me. But gloomy girls aren’t my type. You seem like the obsessive kind.”

As Yu Ari was about to half-draw her dagger, losing her composure at his continued provocation, she remembered Yujin’s words.

‘The phone…!’

Thinking that Yujin would somehow help her, she decided to choose escape rather than confrontation, just as he had told her.

“And your stuttering is fucking annoying.”

The male student was willing to let Yu Ari attack first.

It was to establish that his actions were in self-defense.

Creating the justification that he had no choice but to fight after being attacked first would allow him to navigate the situation to his advantage.

“W-what do you want me to do about it?”

Yu Ari took a step back and pulled out her phone. The male student flinched at the sight of the phone.

‘Shit. I can’t let her contact anyone.’

The male student watched her intently, feeling anxious.

“D-don’t come closer! If you do, I-I’ll kill you…!”

She frantically searched through her contacts while shouting. As soon as she found Instructor Yujin’s number, she pressed the call button.

“Really? Like how you dismembered and killed someone in middle school?”

“!”

While Yu Ari was stunned by his statement revealing her secret, the male student quickly approached.

He struck the phone from her hand, causing it to fall down the hill.

“Ah!”

“Oh dear, what a shame. No way to contact anyone now?”

“Ugh!”

Yu Ari grabbed her dagger again and glared at him, ready to cut him if he made any foolish moves.

“You really have no shame.”

“What?”

“Look at you, a murderer, brazenly attending the academy to become a hero.”

“!”

She stood with her mouth open, unable to hide her shock at his one-sided accusation.

Tears began to well up in Yu Ari’s eyes.

She bit her lower lip to stop her whole body from trembling, but the ripples of disturbance in her heart wouldn’t easily subside.

Her innocent lip only bled from the force of her bite.

“How do you know that…?”

“How do I know? Everyone’s talking about it.”

It was a lie.

The rumor that Yu Ari had killed someone had not spread throughout the academy.

If it had, the special class’s image would have been even worse than it already was.

“T-the rumor is out…?”

Normally, she would never have believed such a story.

But with her reason eroded, Yu Ari was unable to judge the situation clearly enough to avoid fully believing the man’s words.

‘C-could it be that Instructor Yujin knew too…?’

She despaired as she realized that Yujin, who frequently went to the main building, might have heard about it.

“I…! I, I didn’t want to do it! B-but if I didn’t, I might have died…”

“But you still killed, didn’t you?”

Her mouth gaped at the man’s words. Yu Ari couldn’t speak, even though rebuttals came to mind.

She had fallen into self-loathing to the point where she no longer knew what was right.

‘I see… I… never even deserved to become a hero…’

In the end, she gave up.

Her precarious mental state had collapsed at the carelessly thrown words of a complete stranger.

‘A murderer like me becoming a hero… I was trying to do something beyond my station…’

“…You’re right. I don’t deserve to be a hero.”

With those words, she drew her dagger.

“But I h-hate people like you who talk without knowing anything.”

She chuckled bitterly and pointed the tip of her dagger at him.

“I’ve already killed someone… what’s one more? Right?”

“Look who’s talking about being a murderer…!”

‘Good, now with my observation skill—’

He activated his observation skill as Yu Ari approached, his black pupils turning blue.

But there was one fact he overlooked.

Yu Ari was talented enough to receive a recommendation to the academy from the Association President.

If he intended to pick a fight with someone like her, he should have brought at least an A-rank villain.

Yu Ari closed the distance in an instant, moving far beyond the capabilities of his observation skill.

He panicked as the dagger approached his body too quickly for him to react.

‘S-shit! How is she so fast?!’

Yu Ari thrust the dagger toward his forearm without hesitation, and just as the blade was about to make contact—

“Yu Ari! What did you make of my words?!”

Her dagger veered off its intended path and sliced through empty air.

Just before the dagger could touch the male student’s body, Yujin had appeared and grabbed her wrist, deflecting it.

“I-Instructor…?”

* * *

“I told you to run away! What are you doing?!”

Even as I shouted those words, I felt relieved inside.

Thank goodness. I wasn’t too late.

It was worth drinking an acceleration potion and rushing here right after knocking out the opposing instructor with one blow, before the whistle for the match result could even be blown.

“Instructor Yujin?! How did you get here—!”

“…You shut your mouth and stay in the corner. I’ll question you thoroughly later.”

I glared at him, emanating killing intent. After giving him a stern look, I checked on Yu Ari’s condition.

When I brushed her hair aside, I saw tears streaming from her eyes. Her lower lip was bleeding from how hard she had bitten it, and her body was trembling non-stop.

“Instructor? How did you get here…?”

“How? I know everything about you.”

At my words, her shoulders jerked violently.

Yu Ari looked up at me with a distorted face of anguish and then lowered her head, bursting into tears.

In that moment, I gently took the dagger from her hand.

“I told you to run away. Why didn’t you listen?”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

There seemed to be no point in continuing to scold her as she kept apologizing with her head bowed.

I’ll hear Yu Ari’s story later.

First, this bastard.

“…Eat this and calm down. I’m going to have a little chat with that guy.”

I handed her a green grape candy.

Sweet things do help improve mood a bit.

After patting her shoulder, I turned around.

He was still standing in place, watching us.

I had to give him credit for his courage in not running away yet.

But predictably, he was probably looking for an opportunity because he needed to complete his mission to join Evil Heaven. What a pathetic bastard.

Not even realizing he was being used by Evil Heaven.

You’re far from becoming a villain.

Even villains need to be smart, you idiot.

“I’m pretty pissed off right now. You’d better answer my questions well. Otherwise, you’ll die by my hand.”