SS #38 Two Years Later, A Day in Each of Their Lives (2)

#3 Of the Retired Mercenary/Angel and the Author/Swordsman

At that moment, as Yuria led a shy Yujin by the hand into the bath…

In a fine café in the capital’s downtown, two people who seemed to have no connection whatsoever—to be precise, a blonde beauty and a white-haired beauty—were facing each other.

The woman’s name was Natasha Molotov.

A direct angel of Cordelia, the Goddess of the Sun.

Her rank was Power, corresponding to a fifth-class angel.

But not many knew that she was an angel. This wasn’t because she particularly kept it a secret, but because an overwhelming number of people knew her other facets.

For Natasha Molotov was the real person behind Tanya Noona, the ultimate idol who had dominated the cyber world ever since her debut over a decade ago.

Moreover, she had yet another side to her.

To Bertrand and his friends, whom Natasha had beaten soundly for spouting nonsense like, “She became a cyber-whore!”, she was an eternal comrade-in-arms and a mother of the battlefield.

The woman who was the ‘gun’ of the ‘gun and sword’ raised by the legendary mercenary Alexei.

Natasha Molotov.

A bundle of contradictions: beautiful and strong, yet delicate and gentle.

A woman called a potent liquor, like gunpowder—as deadly as poison, yet simultaneously sweet.

But she wasn’t here today as a mercenary.

Nor was she here as an angel, nor as an idol with tens of millions of fans worldwide.

“So, you’re the aunt.”

At the white-haired beauty’s—the man’s—words, Natasha narrowed her eyes in slight displeasure and nodded.

“Then you must be the uncle-like master?”

To her slightly stinging question, the white-haired beauty furrowed his brow just a little and nodded.

The white-haired beauty.

Possessing an androgynous attractiveness that made the word ‘beauty’ seem more fitting than ‘handsome man,’ he had a cold beauty that sent a chill through those who saw him.

The man’s name was Kamael.

One of the Five Heroes of Paragon, and a great hero of salvation who had played a major role in the Disaster War.

He was one of the four strongest swordsmen on the continent, and in the realm of swordsmanship, he was reputed to be worthy of calling himself the First Sword among the Four Great Swordsmen of the Continent.

Hence, he was called the Sword Demon.

But he, too, had another hidden side.

The great author, Sanudil.

The author of the wildly popular series, Bildwein’s Heroic Saga—the most famous and widely known work in Pleiades, with sales so high that no book could compare, save for the scriptures of the Cordelia Church, which were practically distributed for free in the Holy Kingdom.

A legendary author treated like a god in the Hresvelg territory, where one had to own at least one full set of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga to receive citizenship.

But he, too, was like Natasha.

He was not here as the Sword Demon, nor as the great author who boasted sales of over a hundred million copies.

“Well, since we’re meeting like this, we should probably introduce ourselves properly, right? I’m Natasha Molotov.”

Natasha smiled brightly and extended her hand, but instead of taking it, Kamael narrowed his eyes a bit more and replied in a stiff voice.

“Kamael.”

“Yup, Kamael-sa.”

“What?”

“No, no. It’s just. You’re pretty famous on our side, too.”

As Natasha giggled, Kamael narrowed his eyes.

He already knew that a story called Heroic Saga was widespread over there—on the place called Earth—and that he appeared in it, but conversely, that was all he knew.

But Kamael-sa?

It was a nickname that felt difficult to just ignore.

But Kamael didn’t rashly ask what “Kamael-sa” meant.

His unique Sword Demon’s intuition warned him that showing any careless opening to the woman before him would lead to trouble.

So Kamael remained silent, and Natasha soon fidgeted with her fingers before bowing her head slightly and apologizing.

“Um, sorry. I was just trying to break the ice with a joke… Um… sorry.”

It takes two to tango, after all.

Faced with Kamael’s consistent silence, Natasha crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as well.

‘Yujin and Yuria, you just wait, you hear?’

The reason these two, who had no particular connection, were facing each other in the first place.

The two culprits who had set them up on a blind date, of all things.

-Auntie, please, just meet him once. Please?

-He’s my master, but he’s a really wonderful person. And he’s incredibly handsome. This is a huge secret, but sometimes I think he’s even more handsome than my father.

‘Damn it.’

Getting tempted by the words ‘more handsome than Yuder’ was a mistake.

Of course, she hadn’t come here just because she was tempted by those words.

Natasha herself had a much more important reason.

She needed to see for herself just who this ‘sword master’ was, the one who had clearly had a profound influence on Yuria’s upbringing—

After all, no matter what anyone said, Natasha was Yujin’s aunt and godmother.

And Kamael was much the same.

The reason he had bothered to come was to find out what kind of person this Yujin fellow’s godmother was.

And so, the two of them faced each other.

In this meeting that was ostensibly a blind date but in reality was closer to a parent-teacher conference—no, a meeting between in-laws.

“Hey, how about we at least get something to eat?”

“…Let’s do that.”

After all, getting to know someone required conversation and time.

And so Natasha, the former mercenary and current idol-angel, and Kamael, the Sword Demon and great author, began their not-quite-a-blind-date.

And at the same time, in another place—

There were those watching these two.

#4 Of the Legendary Heroes and the Chatroom Members

In the drawing room of a mansion about seven kilometers away from the café-restaurant where the angel and the Sword Demon’s blind date was taking place, four men and women—to be precise, a blonde beauty, a beautiful young man, a handsome black-haired man, and a man with a hearty smile as vast as the other three combined—were focusing all their attention on a crystal ball before them.

“Oh, his date is pretty nice, huh? She’s pretty, very pretty.”

“So that woman is Yujin’s godmother.”

“Hahahahaha.”

Fran whistled as if the whole situation was amusing; Belkian observed Natasha with cautious eyes; and Landius laughed heartily as if simply delighted that such a meeting had come to pass.

Their attitudes were different, but they all shared one thing: they were all looking at Natasha with considerable favor.

But there was one person who was not.

“I don’t like that woman.”

“Huh? Lena?”

Startled by the stiff voice, the three of them couldn’t help but widen their eyes in unison.

It wasn’t just Lena’s voice that was stiff.

Her slightly bitten lip, her blue eyes full of discomfort, and an inexplicably irritable aura.

“Do you know what kind of person our Kamael is? How wonderful and magnificent he is. Did you see her expression just now? The way she narrowed her eyes? Someone kinder and gentler would suit Kamael better.”

At the sudden torrent of words, Fran blinked again, Belkian gave a bitter smile, and Landius laughed awkwardly.

Lena and Kamael.

Among the Five Heroes, they could be called the worst of rivals, but at the same time, they were also the closest of friends.

At least, that’s what the other heroes thought.

“Our Kamael is such a delicate person. That woman seems so insensitive. And she’s blonde, too. It won’t go well with our Kamael’s white hair. Besides, I don’t like blonde women; they’re generally frivolous.”

‘Hey, Lena, you’re blonde too, you know? And since when was he ‘our Kamael’?’

Feeling bewildered, Fran looked at Belkian, who, still wearing a bitter smile, replied via Message Magic.

[If she were a redhead, she would have come up with a reason to dislike redheads. If she had silver hair, she would have said she dislikes silver hair.]

[Ah, I think I get the picture.]

At Belkian’s reply, Fran chuckled and nodded as if he finally understood.

And one other person, the man who knew Lena better than anyone else present, smiled gently and said.

“Still, Lena. Let’s just watch for now. It’s a rare occasion, isn’t it?”

“Right, right. A blind date for Kamael. The heavens must be splitting open.”

“It’s not a blind date! It’s just a casual meeting to say hello!”

Lena retorted sharply to Fran’s words and pouted again, while Fran snickered and nodded.

“Alright, alright. Anyway, let’s just watch a bit more. They seem to suit each other better than I thought.”

“Suit each other, my ass.”

Seeing Lena grumble, using uncharacteristically harsh language, Landius laughed awkwardly again before looking at his friend in the crystal ball.

‘There’s no harm in expanding his social circle.’

Especially for someone like Kamael, whose social circle was so narrow.

Landius’s intuition was telling him.

They would have a hard time becoming lovers.

But becoming friends who could share their inner thoughts without reservation seemed possible.

Seeing his friend continue the conversation, albeit with a stiff face, Landius smiled again, and Lena pouted even more.

And at the same time, in another place.

A group gathered in a drawing room, watching a large monitor screen, were each offering their own commentary.

“Wow, as expected of Kamael-sa. He’s so handsome. Pretty. A real beauty.”

“But it looks like the blind date itself is a bust, though?”

“But it’s fun, isn’t it? If he tells the secret joke I taught him, Kamael-sa is sure to burst out laughing.”

In order: Kim Hye-eun, Cowabunga, Yoo Ga-young.

“If he hears a joke like, ‘Do you know why rabbits are strong?’, wouldn’t Kamael’s anger be the one to burst…?”

Hong Yu-hee muttered under her breath.

“I don’t like it.”

At the small mumble, the chatroom members all turned their heads at once.

And what they saw was Kang Jin-ho, clicking his tongue with a stiff expression.

“Natasha is taking the initiative to talk to him, and he’s playing hard to get?”

Hearing the voice full of dissatisfaction with Kamael, the chatroom members looked at each other and smiled.

They already knew full well that Kang Jin-ho was a siscon.

“But don’t they kind of suit each other? It looks like they could become friends.”

At Hong Yu-hee’s words, the other members nodded in unison.

The proof was Natasha and Kamael’s conversation, which, despite their bickering, was flowing surprisingly well.

But seeing Kang Jin-ho express his displeasure with his entire body, Hong Yu-hee eventually shook her head as if there was nothing to be done, while the other chatroom members chuckled—

“But what if the sprinkler is mobilized?”

If it’s the ultimate decisive weapon, the sprinkler.

At Cowabunga’s playful remark, Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened.

#5 Of the Count Like the Wind and the Count Like Gold

While Yujin and Yuria were having an audience with the Fairy Queens, and the angel and the Sword Demon continued their meal…

In Bailun, a large city in the northern Sailun Kingdom, two counts who had spent a long time together stood side by side, gazing at the same spot.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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