episode_0015

With Irha still sniffling, Professor Rosalie and I, along with Irha, ate dinner.

“Gulp gulp! Munch munch! Munch munch munch!”

“Hey… eat slowly. You’ll get a stomachache.”

The sight of him, with his tear-stained face, aggressively spooning rice like a warrior, somehow seemed incredibly genuine.

This idiot, who doesn’t have an ounce of talent for lying.

I do find Irha’s foolishness endearing, but people shouldn’t be foolish at important times. If foolishness persists deliberately, it can no longer be forgiven with ‘I didn’t know! Please forgive me!’

Before the regression, he was foolish in many ways, and the situation was also a desperate, worst-case scenario. No, in a way, those two elements were intertwined in a vicious cycle. Far from looking ahead, people become foolish in situations where they’re scrambling to solve immediate problems, and foolishness drives the situation deeper into a pit. So, despite being conflicted due to his conscience, he couldn’t ultimately refuse the hand Emma extended. He was too desperate, and from the start, he knew so little that he wouldn’t have known any flaws hidden in his choice.

However, judging by Irha’s demeanor now, he must have chosen to reject Emma’s offer. This foolish but honest guy isn’t the type to try to stab a knife in my back while shamelessly asking me to buy him food to his face. I’m not overestimating my ability to see through people or my insight just based on a few days of interaction. This judgment is based on my knowledge of the actions of a person named Irha Livingston, buried in my past memories.

In his previous life, he came to me, who was lying there a cripple, and Professor Rosalie, who was looking after me, and sobbed as he told us everything that had happened. He revealed everything honestly, saying he would pay the price no matter what it was. He asked us not to forgive him. The guy who left those words is still etched in my memory.

His subsequent end was simply futile. What could a clumsy seagull caught in the nobles’ vulgar games possibly have done? He made gestures like exposing the truth… then got caught in the relentless maw of their games and ended his life, ‘committing suicide’ without a trace. Even if that hadn’t been the case, he would have been eliminated soon to cover things up.

If he had truly been a villain, he would have at least kept his mouth shut and pretended not to know from me. Then, until Leon told me the entire truth of the incident just to mock me, I truly wouldn’t have known anything.

“Um… Ras… there’s something I want to talk about, just the two of us… Could we go outside for a moment?” Irha, with his mouth full of stew, suddenly said, stealthily glancing at me.

Professor Rosalie, seeing Irha hesitating, made a ‘Hmm~’ sound.

“The two of you have a strange atmosphere. Ras, did you break up with your girlfriend? Weren’t you dating Lizley?”

What is this person talking about… I don’t have a girlfriend like that. Please don’t say such terrible things… I was planning to officially break up soon anyway! It was a bit difficult to say that directly, so I vaguely brushed it off.

“Ah, well, we’re in a severe rut. I’m taking some time for myself these days. Anyway, we’ll just step out for a moment.”

“Okay~ I’m bored, so if you two ditch me, I’ll punish you! Go have your talk quickly. Teacher-nim is going to have a drink alone!”

This situation, where Irha was trying to confess something directly to me, was new, so I took him outside the restaurant.

*

The two of us sat on a park bench near the restaurant. It was a quiet, small park where only occasional passersby walked.

“Groan…” From the guy groaning while holding a bottle of ginger ale, I sensed something akin to a drunkard’s agony.

“Ah, what, why. Did you really call me to confess your love?” I disliked this unnecessarily awkward atmosphere, so I thought of Professor Rosalie’s teasing and just blurted out anything.

“That’s not it!!!!”

But I was slightly hurt by his overly resolute shout. What’s with denying it so seriously like that? After hesitating for about three more seconds, he chugged the ginger ale as if it were alcohol, then tossed the bottle into a trash can. Then, like a drunk person’s heartfelt confession, he soon began to pour out the words he had held back.

“Actually, Ras. I received a bad offer from Emma today. An offer that would harass you, and might even harm you if things went wrong.”

Irha’s tone, as he spoke softly and seriously, was different from his usual slightly foolish and frustrating way of speaking. At my silent signal to continue, Irha rapidly continued his story.

“She told me to find an opportunity during next week’s evaluation to give you some kind of medicine. She said that if you got good grades, she’d have to drop out of the academy herself. It was a noble family matter, something someone like me couldn’t really understand.”

“What an absurd person.”

The story that followed, punctuated by my interjections, was generally what I already knew. The fact that Emma knew her younger sibling was terminally ill due to a rare disease, that she offered to cover the surgery costs and introduce a good surgical facility, and so on… The place he finally arrived at, as he continued his story, was…

“I’m sorry, Ras. I, actually, hesitated for a moment. Just because my younger sibling is sick, or because I’m poor… I shouldn’t use those as an excuse to harm you, who knows nothing. I shouldn’t have hesitated even for a moment.”

It was a proper apology, one I hadn’t heard from the Irha of my previous life, who had been desperate from beginning to end, and one I had wanted to hear from him. At the same time, it was a sentiment I hadn’t even expected to hear, even now, after the regression.

No matter what my circumstances are, they shouldn’t be an excuse to treat an innocent person harshly. This is precisely why, in this life, I don’t want to become a blood-soaked monster like in my previous life, if I can help it. Because of my somewhat harsh life before the regression, I shed far too much unnecessary blood in the world. To the point where I wondered if I had died so painfully and futilely as karma for it.

Anyway, this time, I intend to torment only those who attacked me, and do it well. Because whatever it is, I can’t overlook someone directly bothering me.

My minion, who was speaking like an adult, was so admirable that I gently stroked his smart-looking head. “Hey. Anyway, you only hesitated, right? That’s enough. At that point, you buying me mint chocolate bread was arguably a worse deed. Thank you for telling me honestly.”

Mint chocolate bread is a heinous bad deed, but anyway…! I was even grateful that he agonized over it alone, didn’t hide the truth, and told me, who was almost the victim. After feeding him well for a few days, the kid’s discernment has increased. As expected, a person’s intelligence improves when they eat well. Of course, Irha still has much to learn to navigate this treacherous world. But problems of common sense or intelligence are, as always, not that important. If one possesses proper shame and conscience, those things can always be acquired.

Irha continued speaking, stealthily watching me nod with satisfaction. He was hesitating again, watching my reaction.

“Um… Ras… I’m really sorry, but… could we get some help with Mirha’s problem? I know I’m shameless, but I’ll pay you back somehow, even if it takes my entire life…”

And this is it: proper socialization. To reveal one’s circumstances to a proper person and honestly ask for help. To develop the insight to discern whether someone’s offer to help is born of goodwill or a trick to exploit you. If you grasp the black-hearted hand extended by bad people like Leon, Lizley, or Emma, you’ll immediately ruin your life.

“Well… I should help. Isn’t taking good care of your minions when they’re in trouble another virtue of a great leader?”

“Wow…!” He smiled brightly with an innocent face, overjoyed.

“But it’s not free. Let’s see… This time, the cost will be a bit higher than during the last ‘Hiols’. You’ll probably have to be my minion without rest for about 20 years.”

But as soon as I finished speaking, he suddenly spread his arms wide and hugged me tightly! This minion has finally gone crazy!

“I’ll do it. Not 20 years, but forever. Thank you, Ras. I’ll just do everything you tell me to!”

No… well, actually, when I think about it, 20 years won’t happen. We all die in a mass death and the world ends in 10 years… And actually, I don’t know your younger sibling’s exact symptoms, so I’m not even sure I can save her. Whatever the case, it had truly been a long time since I’d hugged a woman, so I enjoyed the sensation, even if only for a moment. His embrace is quite generous, so the feeling of being held is nice again…! It was a comfort that reminded me of my beautiful master, who sometimes used to hug me.

However, this brief satisfaction, less than 30 seconds long, was instantly cut short by a quite displeased voice.

“Oh my~ You young people are having such a great time…! In a secluded spot! It must be wonderful to hug each other while leaving an old person alone, huh~?”

Where the voice came from, there was Ms. Rosalie, who had been alone in the bar, gotten really angry, and come looking for us. The sight of a mature beauty sulking was surprisingly quite pleasant to behold.

*

“Ah! Professor-nim, Ras and I aren’t *that* kind of relationship…! It’s because of something I’m grateful for…!”

“Oh my~ I heard everything you said: ‘Forever. Thank you, Ras. I’ll just do everything you tell me to!’ Your voice was quite clear, Irha?”

As expected, our idiot’s voice was too loud, even when it was just loud. I smacked my lips, then pulled Irha away from me. Anyway, the reason I specifically brought Ms. Rosalie today was that, to my knowledge, she’s the person who can provide the quickest help to Irha’s younger sibling. I’m a fighter who doesn’t know much about diseases or rare mana-related illnesses, and she’s the second best person I know at saving lives. If Ms. Rosalie can’t save Irha’s younger sibling, Mirha, then I have no other way. Of course, idiots like Emma or their incompetent family couldn’t even touch this matter, and while Leon might be able to help, there’s no way he would.

“We’re really not *that* kind of relationship. Since Professor-nim is here, I should hand over the conversation baton. Irha, explain your younger sibling’s symptoms in detail. This person is the real expert… and prepare to give Professor-nim a heartfelt hug.”

“…???”

To the bewildered Ms. Rosalie, Irha began to prattle on, explaining his younger sibling’s condition. Ms. Rosalie and I, after hearing the explanation of Mirha’s condition, were surprised and simultaneously asked Irha. However, the reasons for our surprise were slightly different.

“Wait a minute… Irha, is your younger sibling Mirha Livingston?” Ms. Rosalie was surprised because she had already encountered Mirha’s case in some way, knowing the child Mirha herself.

“Irha, what did you say your younger sibling’s symptoms were? Tell me slowly again.” In my case, it was because I knew what Mirha’s symptoms were and even how to treat them.

I’ve been conflicted lately about whether to become stronger through the same methods as my previous life, or to explore a different path. What’s certain is that in the former case, I could rapidly recover my previous life’s level of strength, but it would be incredibly painful. And that’s because, frankly, the breakthrough I found before the regression wasn’t a method one would take in a sane or normal situation. No, it was closer to a fluke that somehow stemmed extremely abnormal situations from the start, so much so that it made me doubt if it was the right path.

But to save my minion’s younger sibling, who had been given a one-month death sentence, I had no time to choose another path. The choice Mirha newly made in this life called to me, and I would ultimately follow the same path as my previous life. However, even if I walked the same path, because the me of that time and the me of now were different, this life’s journey would be different from that one.

The path spread before my eyes was blazing bright red.

‘Well, welcome to hell, then…! The world will still be a burning hell!’

I sighed deeply. It seemed Irha would have to be my minion until just before he died.