episode_0041

*****

To talk a little later, it was Sia who came to the support team. I was waiting anxiously at the entrance of the ruins, wondering why the support team wasn’t coming, when they suddenly appeared from behind.

“It’s good that there’s no need to explain the situation in a complicated way. Is it okay though? Even if I just got out of Seoul.”

“What do you think? For about a day. I confirmed that my senior was safe, so that’s enough.”

“As you can see, I’m fine. But then isn’t it dangerous? If you came here by throwing away this and that──”

“Since I just happened to be here, I think I should talk to Soyeon today before leaving. Well then, see you in Seoul!”

In the end, Sia refused to say everything was okay and ran towards the facility. That guy, I’m 100% sure he’ll write a statement or something later.

It was expected to some extent that Soyeon Jeong would come back to Seoul. Changhyuk probably knows that I’m going to let Surt have Muspelheim, and if that happens, there will be no reason to strictly manage and supervise this area.

Of course, its importance from the association’s perspective has decreased, but it is still like home to Hwain and Raon. That was clear just by looking at what he was seeing now.

“Hwain hyung! Let’s play together!”

“Hyung, do you want to play soccer together after a long time?”

“No, we start training from now on… .”

Just like when we first came, Hwa-in and Ra-on were surrounded by children. No, there were a lot more kids than there were then. Just now, there were only children, but now you can see quite a few children who look like middle school students as well as elementary school students.

You must have had something in mind while looking at the snake woman’s sword just now. As we left the ruins, everyone agreed to Hwain’s idea of training. I also wanted to let Muspelheim use it quickly, so I agreed.

Hwa-in looked stern for a moment, probably thinking that if things continued like this, he might get carried away by the atmosphere and start playing around. However, that expression was immediately dispelled by a person appearing from across the hallway.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here. Wouldn’t it be okay if I played with the kids for a bit?”

“Oh, director.”

“If you go too hastily, nothing will happen. Something big happened today, so please rest.”

“… yes. I will do that.”

Jeong So-yeon smiled slightly at Hwa-in, who agreed. hmm. Well, the original purpose of coming here this time was Chuseok vacation. It’ll be okay for a day or two.

“If that happens, how many people will follow me? The amount of food I have to buy for dinner has increased.”

“Hey, I want to go! But are you making that many?”

“Because an unscheduled guest came.”

Jeong So-yeon’s face frowned slightly as she said, “It wasn’t planned.” You’re probably referring to Sia.

Raon put a question mark above his head, but quickly followed behind Jeong Soyeon with a smile on his face.

“Because the kids are a bit uncomfortable.”

With a strangely embarrassed expression, Jeongyoung also joined the grocery shopping party. If kids are cute, you can say they are cute. Jeongyoung here was concerned about acting in a strangely masculine way, perhaps because he was short.

hmm. Well, I’m not in a position to talk to others either.

Anyway, that’s how Hwain and I ended up playing soccer together with the kids. Since the kids kept calling me ‘noona’, I spent quite a bit of time correcting them by calling them ‘brother’. No, I failed to completely correct the title this time.

“Hyung? this way! Pass this way!”

“Hyung? Stop it there!”

That’s why I got the strange nickname “Hyungnya.” He’s probably a combination of an older brother and an older sister, but he has poor sense.

But every time I called him “hyungnya,” the kids laughed and had fun, so I decided to leave it as is. It’s best for kids to have fun—Ah, does it sound like you’re an old man when you say this?

“Now, now! Is there anyone who can stop me?”

As for me, I was running around from left to right, making use of my physical strength as an awakened person. It hurts to see Hwa-in looking at the goalkeeper on the other side as if he was waking up.

At Cheonmyeong High School, it is common to play like this by taking advantage of the physical abilities of awakened players, so I went wild without thinking. When a lion catches a rabbit, he does his best… Is it too ugly to make excuses like, ?

Of course, there are other valid reasons. This is because right in front of me, there was a boy, Hojae, who was quickly catching up with me.

“It won’t break through this time, bro!”

It is said that this kid, who is almost the only one who does not call me “hyungna,” was playing soccer while suppressing his physical abilities as an awakened person. This is because he was the only person in this facility who enjoyed soccer.

But that kind of self-restraint will eventually lead to stress building up, whether you know it or not. So, for the first time in a long time, I am being given the opportunity to go wild by being the opponent of good news.

“Ahh—!”

Ho-jae yells as he rushes towards me. This child is said to have the potential to manipulate sound waves. Even considering that it is an easy-to-control potential, the ability to attack me with its body and cleverly block the target with sound waves was very good for its age.

“Ha!”

Of course, I had no intention of letting it go just yet. Blocked everywhere? Then just jump up! I used my feet to quickly launch the ball into the air and then jumped high as well.

“Uh, huh?”

Maybe even Hojae’s physical ability can catch up to this level of jump. I secretly expected him to follow me, but Hojae just looked up at me like the other kids. This meant that they were still caught up in common-sense movements.

Half with the hope that I could become a textbook to break that common sense, and half with the joy of using a technique I had seen in a cartoon a long time ago, I spun around in the air and threw a powerful kick.

“Eagle, shoot──!”

“Wait a minute, it’s too strong… !?”

I thought it wouldn’t matter much since the goalkeeper was an awakened painter anyway, but maybe I was getting too excited. The shot is a little more than I thought, maybe a little more… It flew quite hard.

“Pfft!”

Jijijijijik. Hwain’s body, which blocked the ball, was pushed back. The fact that he was able to block without breaking his stance until the end was indeed a great fundamental skill and was worthy of praise.

But this is a sport with rules. Even if the ball was in the goalkeeper’s hand, it was bound to be recognized as a point if it fell inside the goal line.

“Wow! 1 point!”

“Brother, how did you do that!? Teach me too!”

Kids gathered in droves, captivated by the spectacular motion of the high-altitude overhead kick. I don’t hate this feeling of being popular. Naturally, the shoulders shrug and rise.

“Why are you feeling proud? . Be gentle, I thought your arm was going to fall off.”

“I’m sorry~.”

I raised my hand and apologized to Hwain, who was frowning and patting my shoulder. The kids were happy because they created a pretty cool scene, so I hope they can tolerate some mistakes.

***

After that, I continued to play soccer with the kids (from then on, I played without using my powers as an awakened person), or played piledriver (for some reason, when I tried to play the defense team, Hwain and some of the kids got freaked out, so I kept jumping to the attack team). As we continued to play, it soon became dinner time.

Since the grocery shopping team had already returned and started preparing food, I decided to take charge of washing the kids with Hwain. It seems that if you leave them alone, there are cases where they come to eat without washing. There were only a few kids in kindergarten or so.

While I was leaving, I also washed up and went to the kitchen to find that dinner had already been roughly prepared.

“Amy, you take better care of your kids than I thought.”

“Is that so?”

“Kids around kindergarten age cry and throw tantrums even over small things. If it were me just now, I wouldn’t have been able to calm you down so quickly.”

Come to think of it, did something like that happen? One of the kids playing on the sand beach started crying because someone had taken all of his sand. If children’s crying is left alone, it can become contagious, so there is a need to suppress it early.

It’s a handshake that brings in other sand that’s lying around. Because even children don’t know that there is sand around them. In cases like this, it is effective to trick the child with something else, so I just offer things that the child might like, such as insects or pretty rocks. If there was candy or something, it would have been straight bread.

“It’s not just that his mental level matches well with the kids─ugh.”

“Oh, sorry. My hand slipped.”

Jeongyoung is holding her side and whining, but if you think that since her tongue slipped, her hand also slipped, it might be teacher.

“I have a lot of experience calming kids in the past. Even if it’s like this, I’m a professional.”

The awakening of an awakened person usually occurs during childhood. Therefore, in the early stages of the great chaos, among the forces that sought artificial awakening, including Genesis, there were many who kidnapped children. If you destroy dozens of such organizations, you will naturally learn how to comfort the rescued children.

There was also a series of funny faces for kids that I practiced to lighten my scary look. This body is very popular with children even if it doesn’t do anything like that, so I didn’t have a chance to demonstrate it.

“Oh, I see. Did you take care of your relatives’ children?”

“… Something similar.”

Actually, if you think about it normally, it would be like that.

“But where did the director go?”

“The director went to the director’s office to attend to the guests. They told us to eat first by ourselves.”

“Hmm~, that’s what you said, but it’s not right for us to eat alone… ? Should I go to the director’s office and ask again?”

The moment Hwain said that and was about to walk towards the director’s office, a scene passed through my mind. I grabbed Hwain’s shoulder a little urgently.

“In that case, I’ll go. The customer you’re serving is Sia, right? Even if the two of you are talking about something important, wouldn’t it be okay if you and I are family members?”

“Is that so? Then I will ask you a favor.”

Fortunately, Hwain obediently accepted my request.

It’s almost like a big deal… , although not harshly. Still, looking at Jeong So-yeon here, I was able to get a glimpse of what kind of image Hwa-in and Raon had of Jeong So-yeon. He must have been a trustworthy adult who was strict but also kind.

At least, I probably wasn’t imagining it like this.

“Sia, why does it seem like there is a sound of water sloshing inside the hero drink you drank?”

“So, didn’t you drink water just now? are you okay? I think he has become quite weak due to his age… ”

“You won’t be able to talk to others in the next year, right?”

When I opened the door to the director’s office and entered, there was chaos unfolding there. Hero drinks rolling around, the remains of what used to be potato chips scattered around, and even snacks like squid and peanuts piled up in front of each other.

At least it didn’t look like a ‘kind and trustworthy adult with some strict parts’.

Yes, I thought it might be like this. Jeong So-yeon had never been addicted to drinking since long ago, and Sia wasn’t like that before either, but after seven years, she had become a drunkard. There was no way those two could be drinking calmly and gracefully, so I came instead to protect Hwa-in’s illusion.

“Senior! Are you here to have a drink with us?”

Sia recognized my arrival and welcomed me warmly. To be honest, it was a very attractive offer. I should be able to withstand the hero drink now.

Of course, if that were possible, I would have already intervened even before Sia suggested it.

“You idiot, how can I drink when there are all these kids? I came to ask him if he wanted to have dinner with me. Of course, just looking at it now, I can see what the answer will be.”

“Hey, my senior says since when did you start paying attention to things like that?”

“Oh my, my. Kids too. I raised it properly.”

Sia, who must have been quite drunk by now, clung to her and tried to drag her away, while Jeong So-yeon was smiling with a strangely proud look on her face. I wanted to say, “You didn’t raise it,” but it was impossible because it was true that you actually raised it to some extent.

“The kids will really like it when they see it now.”

“Sometimes this kind of deviation is necessary. It’s okay, I’ll deal with it right away when the kids come.”

Like this? I looked around. It seemed impossible to return the appearance of the director’s office to its normal state unless at least using magic to turn back time.

“What do you think, Asura? After all, if you have a track record of raising children this well, wouldn’t it be okay to say that your capabilities as a mother are guaranteed? Will this be something that will appeal to the manager?”

“Sister too! I’ve said this many times, but it’s better to catch it with your body than that, right? Since your body is so good, I will come over right away!”

“What can a girl who has never caught a fish say? It’s not persuasive at all.”

“If you think about it that way, you know the senior too!?”

“Who, who knows!? It’s not? You have a lot of experience, right?”

“That much I know. Have you already forgotten where I belong? However, even if there is the same lack of experience, it may be different from the male perspective.”

Sia and Jeong So-yeon squabbled with each other without even listening to my counterargument. Did those guys from the intelligence department collect information that was probably good for them? I want to ask where the concept of privacy protection has gone.

“Since when did you guys get along so well…? .”

Of course, it’s not that our relationship was bad in the past, but if we had to categorize it, Jeong So-yeon was the ‘drinker’ like me, and Sia was the ‘nagging’ side. I don’t think we were close enough to Sia to call her sister, but does just moving over to the ‘drinking side’ make that much of a difference?

” Since when, that is, after you died, Shia──”

“Sh—it.”

The moment Jeong So-yeon was about to say something, Sia put her index finger in front of Jeong So-yeon’s mouth. Jeong So-yeon cleared her throat for a moment in response to the pressure, which even felt like a strange spirit, and then changed the subject.

“Hmm. Listen to Sia separately later.”

“He wouldn’t say it out loud… .”

“Anyway! I definitely heard it from Sia. Once the handover is over, I think I will go to Cheonmyeong High School, so please take care of me then.”

Jeong So-yeon didn’t seem to have any intention of speaking either, so I just sighed and nodded.

Ugh. I need to go eat something with the kids.

***

I resisted Sia’s temptation to go and have a drink since I was already here, and had dinner with the Chinese and the children at the facility.

The food was very delicious, and I heard that most of it was made by Jeong So-yeon. Normally, this would be admirable, but it makes me a little sad when I think of Jeong So-yeon, who must have been practicing with bloodshot eyes for a bridal class.

Anyway, free time was given after dinner. I was given a separate room, but if I were to stay alone in an empty room, I would just play with my smartphone. Since it was still too early to go to bed, I was thinking about breaking into the other kids’ rooms.

“Huh?”

Outside the window, which was now completely dark, a shadow was moving out of the facility.

To an ordinary person, it would have looked like a black behemoth like the criminal from Conan was moving, but to me, it was not much different from broad daylight, so I could clearly see the face in the shadow.

“Where is he going at this time?”

Grumble. I opened the window of my room and jumped out of the second floor window, which was like a staircase to me. As I was about to hit the floor, I relaxed my body and completely absorbed the impact of the landing. What this means is that it landed without making any sound.

Although they are far inferior to those in the intelligence department who specialize in hiding, they can do most things that require physical effort. On the way, I found a cardboard box, an invincible hiding item, so I put it on and followed Hwain, feeling like I was doing stealth for the first time in a long time.

Thanks to the overwhelming effect of the cardboard box, Hwain didn’t notice me at all. He might be talking to Sarah because he’s muttering something.

How long did it take to walk like that? I noticed that the road I was taking now overlapped with the road I took during the day. Could it be that I left it at the facility, or that there are other artifacts that need to be obtained?

I wasn’t sure if I should say it was fortunate or unfortunate. The place Hwa-in headed to was an empty lot surrounded by trees. With the trees gone, countless stars were shining in the open sky.

I see I guess this was the vacant lot where Hwain and Raon practiced before entering Cheonmyeong High School. In that case, what Hwain is trying to do now is probably the same ‘practice’ as then.

“So you mean I can say it like this? Of the forgotten giants of the earth──”

He’s probably following Sarah’s instructions. Hwain was trying to chant something. That chant, where I could clearly hear every word because it didn’t use high-speed chanting, was in a corner of my memory.

“──And dwell there.”

When the chant ended, flames spewed out from Hwain’s raised right hand. Hwa-in was embarrassed and withdrew his hands, but the flames burned as they pleased, drawing a border around the area.

The moment the wall of fire rose to the sky and created a spherical dome, the surrounding scenery changed completely. From a clearing in the forest where the stars in the night sky are pouring down, to a barren red land where only sand winds blow.

This scenery is not the Muspelheim that exists in Norse legends—it is a very small part of Muspelheim. It is also the place where the spirit Sarah stayed.

When Hwain from the original story first entered this place, he was quite shocked. Because a girl like that has been living in this desolate place for hundreds or thousands of years. Sure enough, the painter here also had an absurd expression──Oh, an absurd expression?

“… Ami, what are you doing there?”

“The cardboard box was discovered… !?”

“Blonde hair is all sticking out from under the box.”

Well, it would be strange not to find it if it was hiding among the trees in the forest and suddenly came to a desolate land like this. The box was an object picked up to create a tailing atmosphere, and the actual tailing was simply moving around without making a sound.

Metal Gear Solid 2, a full-fledged cardboard love affair, was released in 2001. Naturally, it was not released during the period of great chaos, so it seems that the paper box drip did not spread in this world. It’s such a pity.

“It looked like he was trying to do something fun, so I secretly followed him!”

“You too… .”

“So? What on earth is this space?”

Rather than just making excuses for this or that, I confronted it with the correct approach. Hwain sighed as if it was absurd, but explained it kindly.

“Do you remember that I took Sarah’s place during the day? It looks like you can summon it like this.”

It is also a basic function of the key taken from Genesis. Of course, now that the residence itself has been moved from the ruins, the key has become meaningless.

“That’s fascinating. Is it another dimension like a rift? Can we trap the enemy here like we did when we fought the Genesis executives?”

“Unfortunately, it seems that such use is impossible. I heard that if you lightly release magical power with hostile intent, it will disappear? Sarah said it was just overlapping dimensions or something, but I’m not sure.”

“Huh? Then what is better?”

“That’s… , hmm. Because it is said that seeing is worth seeing. Just wait a moment.”

With a cheering sound, Hwain closed his eyes and stretched out one hand. It seemed like I was roughly heading in the right direction, so I waited patiently with anticipation… .

“Hmm!”

“… … .”

“Haaa!”

“… .”

“This is strange. Sarah said it would work like this… . wait for a sec. Hmm!”

I know what you’re trying to do. I know that, but looking at it objectively, what can I call the sight of him putting out one hand and putting his energy into it… . It was a bit difficult to see. Let’s stop for now.

“Stop pushing yourself. Then it will come out.”

“Poo-eup!?”

While he was trying to concentrate, Hwain showed a violent reaction that seemed like something out of a cartoon. Hwain was barely able to open his mouth after coughing violently several times as if he was swallowing his saliva.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden!?”

“Why don’t you imagine yourself objectively?”

“Ugh… . Well, that might have looked a little strange. But isn’t there a better expression!?”

“I think I expressed it sufficiently.”

I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders at Hwain who was glaring at me with his eyes wide open.

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to learn to speak in a way that suits your appearance?”

“When I learn to use words that match my appearance, I will have to call you all sister and oppa. Why did you want to hear your voice so much? Fine brother~?”

“… Let’s not talk.”

He raised his eyes and called out in a voice like a blind man, “Brother!”, but in the end, Hwain couldn’t stand it anymore and turned his head away, covering his face with both hands. My tolerance is still low to just give in to this level of cringe. Well, I mean, the reactions are fun so I make fun of them often.

Seeing Hwain sighing, not knowing what episode of the season it was, I changed the subject appropriately.

“So what were you trying to do? Please explain in detail. This guy could be helpful, right?”

“… It’s a problem because it’s always been helpful.”

“Huh?”

Wouldn’t it be great if it helped? What kind of ghost talk is this?

However, even when I tried to ask him in detail about it, Hwa-in never answered. This guy uses the second method of making people angry?

“What the heck, don’t be so pretentious and tell me. Cheetically.”

“That’s it! Anyway, this space is said to be the place where Sarah was sealed.”

It was obvious that he was trying to change his mind, but he said he didn’t want to talk about it, so what could he do? In the end, I had no choice but to agree and listen to what Hwa-in had to say.

What Hwain told me was not much different from what I knew. This was Sarah’s original residence. So, Sarah can appear more easily.

“The artifact you gave me that creates a shape with the smoke, that’s training so you can materialize Sarah, right? So, I thought it might work better here.”

Hwain shook his head bitterly, saying, “Nothing goes as planned.” Well, that was actually the reason why Hwain needed this place the most. But the utility of this space is not limited to that.

I held my palm outstretched in front of Hwain’s eyes.

“Now, look at this. How many of these do you see?”

“How many? Five?”

“Not just what you can see. Take a good look.”

Hwa-in’s eyes seemed to be filled with magic as if he understood what I meant. It activates the unique vision of the awakened person who can see magical power. Hwain’s eyes probably see the flame of magic burning at my fingertips.

“… Two?”

“Ding. You’re wrong, there are three. Look more closely.”

Hwain’s eyes widened, as if he was shocked by the fact that what he saw was wrong. After struggling for about 20 seconds, I even opened my mouth in a daze when I discovered a faint, lower-density magical power on my ring finger.

“What the hell is this… .”

“It means that your proficiency in magic is not high yet.”

Most awakened people can visually recognize magical power, but in fact, the degree varies greatly from person to person. Just as small letters at a distance may not be visible depending on eyesight, there is a limit to what magic vision can detect depending on each individual’s ability.

So far, things like reading signs of magical power in the other person’s eyes or noticing subtle differences in magical power between illusionary clones have actually been quite amazing. If you add combat experience to predicting the opponent’s actions, you’ll reach a point where the martial arts guys have the mind’s eye and all.

If your ability to detect magical power is low, you will be defeated in a battle with your opponent, but that’s a story for another time. Right now, we are training Sarah’s materialization side.

“If your proficiency in magic is low, it becomes difficult to use magic with low density. Of course, just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean you can’t write it, but it tends to become sensuous. It’s impossible unless you’re a genius.”

To use a metaphor, you need to freely use the thickness and density of the lines with a brush to create a realistic picture, but you can only draw one type of line with a ballpoint pen. Then, even if you capture the image correctly, the basis for materialization becomes ambiguous, and materialization fails as before.

“So, I have no choice but to slowly increase my skill level. You’re not used to creating shapes with acting yet, right?”

“… That’s it, but.”

“You just have to take things slowly, one by one. I will help you.”

Another effect of this place is that the surrounding magic concentration is high, which helps increase magic skill proficiency. When Painter in the original got his hands on Muspelheim, his skills had improved to a certain extent, so he used this function to train his colleagues, but the current Painter, who is still inexperienced, can use it very usefully.

“… huh. Thank you.”

“Why this much? We’re on the same team, right? Rather, it’s training. Now, how many are these?”

“Three, three?”

“Ding!”

So, we repeated special training after special training in this space spread out in the vacant lot until we realized that midnight had passed through Raon’s angry message magic.

*****