episode_0118

That was probably around the time winter break was almost over.

The day I finished the national contribution mission with Jiwoo Noona.

It’s quite a strong memory for me, so it still comes back vividly. When you think about it, it was also the second time I’d slept with a woman.

I guess you could call it a monumental moment in its own way.

Speaking of which, I wonder if Jiwoo Noona is doing well?

The last message I got said she was doing quite well in the guild she’s currently affiliated with.

‘I’m going crazy.’

But that wasn’t an urgent question right now. What I needed to pay attention to was the girl in front of me… and the girl next to me, for good measure.

And Cheon Soyul, who had come all the way to Busan with me for a date.

“…Come to think of it, we never introduced ourselves. I’m Hong Yeonhwa. I’m a first-year student at Red Tiger Academy.”

Yes, just as she said, it was about the girl named Hong Yeonhwa. I had the impression it was a pretty name that suited her hair color.

I instinctively nodded and belatedly took the hand she offered, awkwardly.

“…I’m Lee Hyunjin.”

At my greeting, the girl, Hong Yeonhwa, simply tilted her head as if it were nothing.

“I know.”

“Huh?”

The answer was a little perplexing. She knew my name? I didn’t remember revealing my name during that brief encounter.

Hong Yeonhwa continued gently, looking at me with a slightly strange expression.

“Well, I didn’t know back then. I just thought she was a very noisy guest in the next room.”

However, the wording in her remark made me flinch a little. It wasn’t explicit, but it hinted at the situation back then.

I involuntarily had to check Cheon Soyul’s expression. Her gaze was subtle.

…I quickly turned my head, afraid she’d notice my gaze if I stared any longer, and feigning nonchalance, I asked again.

“Then…?”

“I saw the news.”

“Ah.”

And I immediately understood the situation. The news. The reason she, who didn’t know my name, came to know it.

Hong Yeonhwa chuckled and lifted her head.

“So you were an amazing person? More than I thought. I mean, I guessed you were an Awakened, but I never imagined the young man I met in that rural village back then would be ‘that’ Lee Hyunjin of Cheongsong Academy…”

“…”

“The Ice Empress’s favorite disciple, current second-ranked student in the second year, and let’s see. The news said you directly subdued several S-rank villains.”

I awkwardly scratched my cheek.

“Well, there’s quite a bit of exaggeration mixed in.”

It wasn’t false modesty. In fact, that news… I don’t know which broadcasting station or newspaper she was talking about, but it was true that there was exaggeration. Isn’t that how the media always is?

It was true that I subdued the old man who used a demonic sword, and I did face off against Violet, and it’s also true that I held out for a long time.

‘But the Hero handled all that, didn’t he?’

Honestly, it’s problematic if they attribute all that to me. It’s just that my older brother, Cheon Woohyuk, really dislikes media exposure…

And Yang Chan-ho-ssi, well. He was just happy that the academy’s prestige would rise, so he dumped it all on me.

It was a mistake not to have noticed their schemes earlier and responded.

Awkwardly, yet unable to explain further, I just offered a wry smile.

At times like these, changing the subject was the best course of action.

“Hong Yeonhwa-ssi, uh.”

“You can speak comfortably. I believe you’re a year older than me, right?”

“Ah, then.”

Though she cut me off in the middle of my sentence. Anyway, I subtly looked around and finally spoke what I’d wanted to ask a moment ago.

“Here… I don’t know if it’s normally like this, but I see quite a few Red Tiger Academy students. Did they come here as a group, or something?”

“Yes, well.”

Hong Yeonhwa nodded.

“Just as your academy has the Cheongsong Festival, we also have something similar to a festival. Since it ended and our lecture times were free, the school sent us here.”

It was voluntary participation, so not everyone came, though. Hong Yeonhwa added, subtly crossing her arms, and only then did she turn her head to look at the person beside me.

Her gaze and Cheon Soyul’s met awkwardly for a moment. Then, a brief silence.

“…Hmm.”

“Hmm, hm.”

It was a somewhat comical sight, each of them making sounds of contemplation in their own way. Perhaps feeling awkward, Hong Yeonhwa, who had been speaking so well to me, subtly lowered her gaze, looking diagonally.

Controlling her breath as if adjusting her emotions, she cautiously began to speak.

“Cheon Soyul-ssi… right?”

“Ah, um, yes.”

And Cheon Soyul, in her own way, answered stiffly. I somehow managed to suppress the snicker that wanted to escape.

Hong Yeonhwa, blushing as if quite shy, stammered her words.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you someday, but I never imagined I’d run into you in Busan, not even Daejeon. To think I’d meet the prodigy of lightning magic at an amusement park.”

“Yes, yes?”

“…I admire you. Personally.”

Ah, ah.

Aha…

Cheon Soyul let out a short gasp, then nodded twice as if she understood.

And quickly, she composed her expression back to normal, showing a faint smile.

“It’s an honor. Hong Yeonhwa of Red Tiger Academy, if I’m not mistaken, you’re perhaps the granddaughter of the Flame Emperor… right? I’ve heard much about you as well.”

“…Hmm?”

However, it was I, not Hong Yeonhwa, who tilted my head at Cheon Soyul’s words.

Flame Emperor? The Flame Emperor I know? The Fire King?

…Was she referring to the person who is almost uniquely comparable to those three great mages among the many mages nationwide, incomparable to my Master, Ryu Jinseong, and my mother-in-law (?)?

Come to think of it, I think I did hear that he was the chairman of Red Tiger Academy.

‘No wonder, her red hair and sharp eyes look exactly like that old man’s.’

I had met that old man once before. When I was young, I came down to Busan just once with my Master, and that was when it happened.

I still remember him acting beyond his age, challenging my Master to a spar, and having all his flames frozen solid along with him.

As I marveled at this new fact, my eyes sparkling, Cheon Soyul subtly poked my side.

-Hey, it’s rude to stare like that…

‘Hmm.’

Seeing her mouth the words slightly, I also regained my composure. Indeed, it was rude to act surprised as if I was only just realizing it.

However, if she was the Flame Emperor’s granddaughter or disciple, it would have been polite to recognize her beforehand.

My excuse is that I’m not very familiar with the magic world, specifically the disciples and family relations of its elders.

Anyway, I know now, so isn’t that enough?

“Um, Soyul-ssi. Uhm.”

Whether it was fortunate or not, Hong Yeonhwa was no longer paying any attention to me. She was simply sparkling with excitement.

“Meeting like this in Busan must be fate, so, if it’s okay, could I, perhaps, call you Unnie…?”

“…Huh?”

Cheon Soyul was flustered, a rare sight.

The girl blinked her eyes wide.

Did she think her reaction wasn’t positive enough? Hong Yeonhwa visibly cowered.

“…Is it not allowed…?”

“Ah, no, um.”

And Cheon Soyul, twice as flustered, quickly conjured a smile. The girl hurriedly took Hong Yeonhwa’s hands and nodded vigorously.

“Of course, that’s fine, yes. What’s wrong with that?”

“…Ah!”

Hong Yeonhwa immediately brightened. Her red eyes twinkled brightly, as if genuinely happy.

“Thank you!? Then, uh, Unnie, you can speak comfortably with me.”

“Th-that’s right. No, that’s…?”

Cheon Soyul was flustered again, but from her demeanor, it didn’t seem like she disliked it at all.

Come to think of it, she did have a particular fondness for girls who had a little sister vibe.

Like Baek Ayun, or Baek Ayun.

Or Baek Ayun.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen it before, but even so, as I chuckled faintly at Cheon Soyul’s rather fresh, excited expression, I felt a lukewarm emotion.

“…Then there’s just one thing I want to ask.”

Cheon Soyul suddenly lowered her voice completely and spoke to Hong Yeonhwa. I flinched, unconsciously detecting killing intent directed at me.

“Yes?”

“What you just mentioned, that thing.”

“Ah, yes! What are you referring to?”

Cheon Soyul asked. Hong Yeonhwa smiled brightly.

And I took a slight step back.

Thump!

It was no use. Lightning, leaking past Cheon Soyul’s shoulder, transformed into a hand and gripped the nape of my neck. As if it would rip it right off.

With a single refreshing smile, Cheon Soyul said to Hong Yeonhwa with dead eyes…

“Could I ask you where you first met him…?”

“…Eh?”

Unable to hide her bewilderment, Hong Yeonhwa shifted her gaze to me. Her trembling red eyes seemed to ask me.

Meaning, outright-.

[Hey.] [The person who was in that room with you back then.] [Don’t tell me it was another woman?]

Like that, she asked.

I slapped my forehead.

Caught.