episode_0037

*****

Being a hero is just one job in today’s world.

This has advantages such as stable income and guaranteed welfare, but of course there are also disadvantages. It is something called ‘social life’ that cannot be avoided as a member of society.

A senior hero’s backstabbing, forced participation in a team dinner, gossiping about a popular hero, and──

“Oh, no. Amiya, I think I’m going to die… .”

“Come to your senses, Raon. We’ve only been up for 30 minutes.”

Things like hiking on the weekend.

Well, it’s only half a joke, and in reality, it’s nothing more than a profit for us. The facility where Hwa-in and Ra-on were staying, which they decided to visit for Chuseok, is located halfway up the mountain. It was still a strange time to say that it had cooled down, so we were sweating profusely and spending our long-awaited holiday hiking.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect the car to be under repair… .”

“If I had known this would happen, I would have asked Sia to take me there.”

“Teacher, it’s not vacation. I can’t ask you to come all the way to Gangwon-do.”

but. As Jeongyoung said, Shia-unna—no, Shia is an S-class hero in charge of the main defense of the capital. If we were traveling around Seoul, they wouldn’t have been able to take us all the way to Gangwon-do.

“Sorry, guys. Let’s take a break for a moment… .”

In the end, Raon, whose natural physical ability was weak, got tired first. Strengthening the body through magic is not very efficient for such long-term movements. Aside from me being a full-fledged bodybuilder, I guess my stamina quickly fell as I had to keep up with the pace of Hwa-in, who was in charge of the front line, and Jeong Young-i, who was in charge of the ranger.

“Then let’s rest here. There is a place with a pretty nice view.”

Following Hwa-in’s guidance, we left the mountain path a bit and came across a resting area with a bench. It wasn’t maintained very well, as if no one had used it for a long time, but Raon ran over and sat down as if he was grateful for that.

“Ah, I think I’ll buy something now. Hmm, ────”

Raon immediately chanted wind magic and made a cool breeze blow. Hwain caught the wind and smiled bitterly.

“Is this air conditioner magic?”

“Yes! I only let the wind come out from there.”

“What is the magic of air conditioning?”

“The facility’s air conditioner broke down last summer. The heat was no joke and I didn’t think I could stand it until the repairman came.”

It is said that at that time, Raon combined wind magic and ice magic to create a magic that blows cold wind and named it air conditioner magic. Raon laughed, saying that he became extremely popular with the kids at the facility during that period.

That’s just a story about talent without awareness, but what can I say? No one here is worried about lack of talent. It’s the main character’s party for no reason. Rather, I was much happier with the cool breeze.

Perhaps because it was a fairly high mountain, I could see the surrounding scenery at a glance. It looks like a bustling town has been built under a high mountain. In the original world, it would be a bustling area similar to a large city in the countryside, but in this world, it was not a metropolitan area, so it could be considered a fairly large city.

“This is where you two grew up.”

“Yes! Until I find my memories, wouldn’t it be okay to consider it my hometown?”

It may have been a meaningful place for Hwain and Raon, but it was also meaningful for me. This is where the original work began, and there are various important settings here. These are the so-called coincidences. In other words, it could be called a power-up event.

Since I’ve come so far, I want to gain as much as I can. Even though we are Chinese, me too.

***

It was a short walk from where I was resting to the facility. It was the result of Raon using flight magic, saying it would be okay since no one would pay attention. In fact, in a place like this with few people, the police tend to look after you even if you get caught, so it was a wise choice. Does it feel like someone would look after you even if you drive agricultural machinery on the road?

“Huh? Hwain is my older brother!”

“Raon unnie!”

As soon as I passed through the facility’s gate, children who were playing in a playground-like area came rushing in. This is the part where you can really feel the popularity of these two people.

“I also have a sister and brother I don’t know.”

“Who… ?”

On the other hand, he was keeping a distance from me and Jeongyoung, and was glancing at them as if observing them. In this day and age, it’s a good thing to be properly wary of strangers. It’s a little sad from the perspective of being on guard.

“Those two are friends who go to the same school. The black-haired older brother is Ho Jeong-young, and the blonde older sister is Kim A-mi. Now, let’s say hello.”

“”Hello~.””

The children held each other’s small hands and greeted each other. The strangely short-tongued pronunciation is cute!

“Same school? So, are your brother and sister heroes too?”

“I’ve seen this girl on TV!”

“Do you want to play house?”

“Well, well~?”

A few girls came up to me and started talking. I’m not your sister. I’ve never played house before, so it’s hard to know how to answer.

“… … .”

“… Ugh.”

On the other hand, the kids didn’t approach Jeong Young-i, who usually had a slightly frowning expression, and Hwa-in hid behind her. Although Jeongyoung was faking an expressionless expression, he looked quite shocked.

“Now, now. Sisters and brothers have to go in, put down their bags, and say hello to the director, so let’s talk again later.”

“Yes!”

“Sister, bye bye~.”

The children waved their hands at Hwain’s guidance and returned to the playground, chattering among themselves. When I look at that, I feel very healed.

“The kids are following along very well.”

“Haha… . First of all, I was the eldest here not long ago. Rather than that, let’s go inside. I have to say hello to the director too.”

It was the artist who, with humility, brushed aside the envious compliments of the sagging Jeongyoung and changed the conversation.

This is what I felt when I saw it from the outside, but the facility was so large that it looked like a normal school. These orphanage facilities are the foundation that supports the current Hero Association, so a significant amount of budget must be invested.

In this day and age, there is a high probability that a child who has lost a parent will have experienced an unfortunate event. And as mentioned before, as awakening requires a ‘chance’, the probability of these children becoming awakened was often higher than that of ordinary children.

Well, even if it is high, it is not even 10%. And being an awakened person does not necessarily mean you become a hero. Of course, it would not be a bad investment regardless of whether it is considered humanitarian or the image of the association.

The story went around a bit, but in any case, due to the importance of the orphanage, the position of director of the orphanage is not one that the association can just assign to anyone. So, I thought he would be a person with some experience, but… .

“Jeong So-yeon!?”

I never thought a familiar face would pop out.

“… ? Who is that?”

“Ah… . sorry. I got confused with someone I know.”

The narrow-eyed woman with elegant brown hair tied up looked clearly familiar to me. There’s no way I saw it wrong, right? However, I thought there must be a good reason for the flirtatious behavior, so I set my tone for now.

“Hehe. You are interesting guests. Are you guys friends from school?”

“Yes. Their names are Jeongyoung and Ami, respectively. By the way, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Director.”

“It’s been a while!”

“Okay. It’s been a really long time.”

There was a warm atmosphere between the three people as they greeted each other. If I remember correctly, Raon would have spent about 3 years here, and Hwain would have spent about 5 years here.

Looking at the way they calmly talk about their current situation, Hwain and Raon must have been happy in their own way during the time they spent here.

“Oh my, look at my mind. You shouldn’t be so caught up in the conversation that you neglect the guests who came after a long time like this. Have you had your meal?”

“Lunch is okay. Can I ask you to start dinner first?”

“Okay. I’ll prepare something delicious so I’m looking forward to it.”

After the greetings and current status report, there wasn’t much to talk about, so the conversation ended quickly. The director said that we would leave our luggage in our room, so we put down our luggage and left the director’s office.

“I think it will take a while for the room to be ready anyway, so would you like to go to the place you were planning to go first? Or should we go tomorrow?”

“I don’t want to start today──”

“Oh, wait a minute. Before that, I want to go to the bathroom. Where is the bathroom here?”

Raon told me the location of the bathroom and I immediately left the group. Ugh, there are separate bathrooms for men and women here too. I’ll have to think about which way to go later.

First of all, the reason I left for a moment wasn’t to go to the bathroom. I knocked again on the door of the director’s office I had just left.

“Please come in.”

Squeak, rattle. When the door opened and closed, the director was standing at the window of the room, just as before.

But the vibe I felt from her was completely different. If just now she had the image of a gentle and quiet nanny, now she had a contradictory atmosphere of being both hard and natural, like a soldier.

“It’s been a while since I saw you.”

“Yes. It’s been a while, Soyeon.”

“You managed to remember it.”

“Sure.”

A bitter smile came out at Jeong So-yeon’s words, which seemed a bit harsh. It’s probably about recognizing the sign that was secretly shown to me before we left this room.

Even when a person is still, his or her magical energy slightly shakes due to breathing or heartbeat, and special agents of the Ministry of Intelligence used to use a method of sending a message as if it were a weak shaking.

However, I was very bad at memorizing it, so I was often scolded by Jeong So-yeon and other intelligence agents. To be honest, I couldn’t interpret it properly, but I roughly guessed it from the context.

Anyway, I think the director of this place was Jeong So-yeon, a special agent from the Ministry of Intelligence whom I knew.

“I will formally greet you. My name is Soyeon Jeong, and I was previously appointed as the general manager of talent development in the Yeongseo region. Loyalty.”

It was a salute marking the beginning of the Intelligence Department’s unique reporting format that was often seen in the past. Since a long time ago, I didn’t like this kind of thing very much because it was unfamiliar, but the guys in the intelligence department were so stubborn. Jeong So-yeon relaxed her posture as she waved her hands in a vague manner reminiscent of a sergeant in her final years.

“You guys don’t change over time. Anyway, I don’t have a position right now, right? You could just skip it.”

“Hmph. I don’t want to salute a fool like you either. Instead, why don’t you be thankful for the rules?”

He gave a sharp salute just a moment ago and then immediately spits out harsh words. He hasn’t changed much.

Of course, it’s like a light joke that we can do because we both know that it’s not sincere. Both Jeong So-yeon and I had a light smile on our lips.

“Still, I heard it through reports… . It’s amazing. Is it really Ashura?”

“Of course. If you are my opponent, I can prove it as much as I want.”

Soyeon Jeong was a hero who had been working as a partner with Changhyuk for quite some time. Like Sia to me. However, there was one big difference with Sia: she quite genuinely liked her partner.

So, this is not the only thing he complains about while drinking. If you just bring up one of them, it will be proven quickly.

“It’s obvious what you’re going to say, so please shut your mouth.”

Jeong So-yeon herself must have known that fact, so she tried to silence me. Of course, I can’t stop it like that!

“I still remember it vividly. Just ask the priestess to cast a strengthening spell once, and she’ll do it for you.”

“Tell them all.”

It’s blocked. There is no way to do it unless your mouth is physically captured. The person who had actually grabbed my mouth was looking down at his hands and making a strange expression.

“Why did you look like that when you shut up like you wanted?”

“No… . Your cheeks are soft.”

“There’s nothing I can do because my body is in this state.”

I tried to say that it wasn’t just soft things, but I thought I would get a strange misunderstanding, so I stopped.

“Anyway, it’s quite surprising. I never thought you were the director of this place.”

“Is this unexpected?”

“Yes. I thought you would continue to work next to Changhyuk.”

“It’s not as surprising as Kwon Seong turning into a young girl.”

Even as she said that, a bitter smile appeared on her face.

“The director was talking about it. From now on, I ask you not to stand by yourself, but to take care of your future hopes.”

“So, did you get that?”

“It came down to an order, so what should I do? Still, the lifespan of an awakened person is long, right? Aging is also slow. I’m going to look at it for a long time.”

“It would be possible.”

“And when I actually tried it, this mission wasn’t that bad.”

As he spoke his last words, he had returned to the ‘Director’ mood and expression. Indeed, it doesn’t seem like he took on a task that clearly didn’t suit his aptitude.

“Still, I get depressed sometimes… .”

“It’s okay. Looking at it, it seems like Changhyuk doesn’t have a partner.”

“Right!? There’s no one else after me, right? I guess I can look at this for a long time, right?”

Of course, I didn’t say that Changhyuk wouldn’t necessarily need a partner since he’s currently working as an office worker at the association and not working as a hero. People still change whenever Changhyuk is mentioned.

And maybe taking a long-term view may not be such a wrong strategy. Please take care of the hopes of the future, will you?

To Jeong So-yeon, who does not know the existence of the original work, it may sound like something like ‘please take good care of the children’, but considering the Hwa-in, Chang-hyuk may have entrusted the role of ‘nanny’ to the person he trusts the most.

“I’ve been here long enough, so now… . Asura, you think so too, right? Although the marriage age of awakened people varies widely, socially, mid-30s is honestly the limit──”

But after watching the happiness circuit run to its heart’s content, I don’t really want to talk about it.

“That story is over. Anyway, why did you call me?”

“Please listen. It’s hard to find someone who can talk about this. ha… . Anyway, the reason I asked you to come this time is to give you information about the ruins and dimensional rifts around here.”

“Uh, really?”

I wondered what was going on, and it turned out to be exactly the information I needed right now. This is very necessary, but how did you figure this out?

“Looking at that expression, it seems like this information is definitely needed. Genesis once attacked the ruins near here, but after that, they investigated the area and strictly prohibited access. I was wondering why they went to such lengths, but maybe there was something I didn’t know about?”

indeed. It was Changhyuk’s consideration. Certainly, now that the government and association have maintained their proper form, unlike the original work, there was a concern that the things here could be discovered by someone in advance. Changhyuk must have secured it in advance and saved it for Hwain, the ‘main character’.

In addition to this, there may have been efforts by Changhyuk and the old man to preserve elements of the ‘original work’ while I was away. I realize once again that the decision to tell Changhyuk everything was a nice play.

“… Are you really sure you came back to life?”

“To be exact, it seems like he was still trapped in the egg. why? Do you think it’s not you? Prove it one more time?”

“If you do it one more time, I’ll rip your mouth off. And it’s not that I doubt it, it’s just that I’m curious. The investigation in this area was blocked last year, but you weren’t there then, right? However, I was surprised that the manager presented it like this as if it had been prepared by him.”

“Ask me directly later, after you marry Changhyuk.”

“Gyeo, marriage… !”

Although she continued to show strange appearances, Jeong So-yeon was a very calm and capable agent. It would be difficult to find out out of curiosity, so I turned my attention to Changhyuk’s story.

Oh, it’s not that I’m in trouble, it’s that Jeong So-yeon herself is in trouble. Because Changhyuk has a bit of a merciless side. It looks like you’ve done a good job as the director of the orphanage here, so I’d be sorry if you messed around for no reason and ended up being eliminated as a Jesu candidate.

“Anyway, I got what I needed, so I’ll go.”

“… Thank you for your hard work. Loyalty.”

I left the director’s office, leaving behind Jeong So-yeon, who faithfully maintained the formalities of the intelligence department even while running the circuit. Well, now the problem is how to get the kids here.

… Oh right. This is what I did when I said I was going to the bathroom. I feel embarrassed for no reason… .

*****