Ch.372367 – Hot Springs

It took about 3 hours by Shinkansen from Fukuoka to Tokyo.

The journey itself went quite smoothly.

Before boarding the train, I had a quick lunch at a ramen shop near the station, then slept the entire 3-hour train ride.

After checking into the hotel, Adella and I decided to share a room.

While I was unpacking my luggage in the cool air conditioning, Adella, who had already changed into a yukata, started pestering me.

“Forget about unpacking and hurry up and change too, sis.”

“Where did you get that? Did you buy it?”

“No, it’s in the closet here. Take a look.”

There was a yukata hanging in the closet that perfectly fit my body size.

With a little thought, I realized something was off about this.

Don’t hotels usually provide clothes sized for adults?

“I mentioned everything when I made the reservation. I specially requested they prepare one for a 6-year-old’s body type. Hehe!”

“Hey! I may be small, but I’m not THAT small!”

Six years old is not even old enough to start elementary school.

“Do you know how tall kids are these days? Look it up if you don’t believe me. Anyway, there’s a large public bath on the 13th floor of the hotel, so hurry up and change so we can go. It gets really crowded after dinner.”

Adella snuck up behind me and suddenly pulled my t-shirt off.

“Wait, I should at least tell Dad—”

“Oh, I already told him everything before we came. I’m the one who booked this hotel, remember? You just need to show up. Wow, it fits perfectly! *clap clap clap* It looks great on you!”

She rushed me out so quickly that my belt almost came undone.

The hem of the yukata fell exactly at my ankles.

It neither dragged on the floor nor exposed my calves.

This was when I experienced my first shock.

‘Is my height really this small?’

I leaned against the corner of the elevator and searched for the average height of a 6-year-old.

‘116cm, pretty much the same as my current height…’

That’s when I experienced my second shock.

Adella, who peeked at my search screen from above, had eyes that curved into half-moons.

“You—”

“Hehee. Shh! Someone else is getting on. Look forward, look forward.”

The elevator stopped at every floor.

Other hotel guests were also walking around in yukatas like us.

The newlywed couple right in front of me had really long limbs.

In my previous life, I was never called short, so this left me with a bitter feeling.

Before entering the hot spring, we quickly washed in the shower room and put our yukatas back on.

There weren’t many people using the bath facilities right now—it seemed like everyone we saw earlier was heading to the restaurant.

“Should we go to that rock open-air bath over there?”

Adella grabbed my wrist and walked quickly.

We dipped our feet and legs into the hot spring where warm steam was rising.

I skimmed through an informational sign stating that the hot spring water contained large amounts of components that make the body healthy.

Even in the 2050s, pseudoscience continues its tenacious existence.

“Ahh, this feels great! You’ve been enjoying this good stuff all by yourself. Was it nice traveling alone, sis?”

Adella said while splashing water with her feet.

“What are you talking about? I just watched a few National Exchange Competition matches, had some sparring sessions, and spent the rest of the time at home.”

“Oh my, the real madness was right here. You came all the way abroad and all you did was sparring…?”

“It’s fun, isn’t it? An event where talented kids from all over the world gather in one place. Something unimaginable in the past.”

“Haha, what past? You’re just a 9-year-old kiddo.”

“Yeah, and you’re one year old.”

Just because Adella is being childish doesn’t mean I should be too.

I slapped my cheek to regain my composure.

“Has everything been okay at home?”

“We video called every day.”

“Things might sound different in person.”

“Nothing special happened. Just that Father was worried about you a lot?”

Adella said with a grin.

“I decided to really go for it this time. I might get busier in the future, and I can’t keep bringing Dad along forever.”

“Ooooh, puberty!”

“No, it’s not!”

“But wasn’t that too impulsive for you?”

“I won’t deny it. But time passes so quickly when you’re not paying attention. I don’t want to miss opportunities when they come.”

I do feel somewhat anxious.

I worry that I might be missing something while being absorbed in this peaceful daily life.

Obviously, terrorist organizations’ clocks don’t stop just because I’m young.

I can’t stop thinking about what the best course of action is for me right now.

‘I need to become a high-ranking mage and establish a clan as soon as possible. To increase the clan’s influence, I need fame. There aren’t many ways to gain fame in a short period. The image created in the first year determines the speed of future growth. Funds are lacking. For now, rely on connections. The Korean employment market is too heavily influenced by foundations and clans. The most ideal structure would be to bring in foreign talent. The National Exchange Competition is an opportunity I must seize. Support? Government project bids, corporate 5th industry projects. Core clan projects? Human genome analysis, structural design of the Demon King’s horn, minimizing mana loss in power plants.’

What if I encounter Walpurgis before I even become an adult?

What if I clash with them sooner?

When these thoughts come to mind, I fall into an endless cycle of image training.

NoName at eighteen, NoName at seventeen, sixteen, fifteen… eleven, ten.

Next year, next month, next week, tomorrow.

And today, this very moment.

What their combat style might be, how many there might be, how far I can handle with my current skills.

Only when I’m confident I can win at every moment can I finally feel at ease.

It’s not like image training doesn’t work.

It’s impossible to internalize without persistently imagining and contemplating thousands of battles.

Simply knowing something and actually doing it are different.

I need to raise my capabilities to the level where it’s as automatic as an adult doing multiplication tables.

These thoughts aren’t just useless obsessions.

They’re clearly backed by interest.

While the appearance of Walpurgis in reality would be truly terrible and I don’t even want to imagine it, I felt a strange pleasure when I won against them in my imagination.

And my body itches with the desire to realize the ideas I’ve executed in my imagination.

“Someday when everything is over, I’ll travel the world.”

“World travel?”

“Yes. Going around fighting the strongest people in the world. Whether it’s sparring rules, magic ban rules, or aura ban rules, I don’t care. Arm wrestling or chicken fights are fine too. Oh, except natural. I’m giving up on natural fighting in this life.”

Hearing that, Adella clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.

She put her arm in the hot spring water, stirred it around, and splashed the water droplets on my face.

“No matter how I think about it, your true self must be your World of Arsheria avatar!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

“Oh, you admit it? Tell the truth, human…! You’re actually an ASI!”

“I’m getting hungry since I skipped lunch. I should have eaten with you when you had ramen. What are we having for dinner? Hotel buffet? Or should we go out?”

“Hey hey hey, don’t change the subject!”

Splash splash!

Adella kicked at the hot spring water.

Sharp glares from people all around flew at us.

The bath area that had been empty earlier was now crowded with people.

It was too late to stop her.

“Eep!”

Shortly after, a large security guard auntie appeared and grabbed Adella by the scruff of her neck, escorting her outside.

The price for not following public etiquette.

‘She still hasn’t grown up. Hmm…?’

Beckoning gestures—

The security guard at the entrance motioning for me to follow.

It seems I couldn’t escape being treated as an accomplice.

* * *

“Why am I getting scolded when Saet-byeol was the one who caused trouble?”

“It’s because you said weird things and teased me! If we’re being honest, it’s Name sis’s fault.”

“Sigh… I get it, both of you. Let’s just eat quietly, okay?”

Another wrinkle appeared on Professor Cheon’s forehead.

It was already challenging enough raising Name alone, but now he suddenly had two daughters.

To others, they might look like cute and well-behaved children, but for some reason, he felt his migraine might return.

Name tilted her head curiously after hearing Professor Cheon’s sigh.

“Are you not feeling hungry?”

“No, no. I think I ate too much for lunch. I feel a bit bloated—”

“Dad, can I have this then? I’ll take it.”

Name moved Professor Cheon’s barbecue ribs to her plate.

Seeing this, Adella reached out her hand, but Name blocked it and pushed it away.

“Ah! Just one for me too.”

“Get your own.”

“That’s so stingy. No wonder you’re not growing taller with that attitude!”

“What does that have to do with height?”

The two girls’ voices grew louder.

They say siblings with large age gaps don’t fight much.

But since Name’s mental age was higher than it appeared, and Adella wasn’t particularly mature, they ended up at a similar level.

‘They fight because they’re close, because they’re close. Chorong and Onyu became close that way too.’

People who aren’t close don’t even mix words.

In fact, he thought it was fortunate that there was a child who would constantly chatter by Name’s side.

They would stop their fights abruptly just when they seemed about to cross a line, making it difficult for Professor Cheon to intervene.

In these situations, all he could do was change the subject.

“Name, I heard you competed with national representatives. How was it?”

“Except for Katsuhata and de Sampaio, they were all pretty average? The semifinalists might be different, but I haven’t sparred with them because of the competition.”

It was fortunate they were speaking Korean, because in Japan, there were certainly other participants who were as revered as Katsuhata.

If such words came from a nine-year-old child’s mouth, parents would be criticized for poor child-rearing.

“So it seems Katsuhata’s successor has impressed our Name.”

“Not at all? She still has so much to fix. Did you watch the match? You haven’t? You should. I can’t believe the articles are hyping up the ‘Sword Emperor’s Fatal 249 Combo’… Is it something to brag about that she couldn’t take down a young child after hitting her 249 times? Wow, if Japanese people’s understanding of mage duels is only at this level, considering all the comments and advice they’ve been giving, it’s just… absolutely ridiculous?”

“Name sis.”

“Nani (What)?”

“Name sis, you just spoke in Japanese.”

“Oh, did I? Oops.”

Name covered her mouth.

“I’m just used to speaking Japanese with Ban So-wol’s parents…”