episode_0197

It didn’t take long for my body to completely recover.

Thanks to Ravin’s ability, he was able to quickly get out of bed, but he had difficulty controlling his ability.

“Want to try again?”

“Yes.”

I fired a bullet at the target as Victor said.

Phagectic – The ability to appear a darker blue than usual.

The accuracy that had always been boasted was nowhere to be found.

The lightning strike, which landed a little far from the target, turned the surrounding area pitch black.

I don’t know why, but my abilities have become stronger.

As the destructive power increases, does it become more difficult to control?

Things that usually worked fine stopped working.

“Um…”

Victor nodded as he examined my abilities.

“Nothing is wrong. It’s just growing.”

Are you sure it’s okay?

If you act out recklessly based on your emotions like before, you’ll end up hurting the people around you.

I looked down at my hands with such worries.

A small hand wiggles and emits blue lightning.

The flash of light that collided and disappeared in the air was still fierce.

“Keep practicing.”

Victor placed his hand on my head and stroked it, moving it gently.

Lately, I’ve been touching my hair a lot, so it’s become a mess.

But I didn’t feel bad about it.

I took a step back and straightened my hair.

Victor looked at me, cleared his throat, and turned around.

Back to normal.

Everyone acted as usual, to the point where the events of that day felt like a dream.

I always thought of the person who used to occupy a corner of the practice field.

I didn’t know his name, but he was a team member who always practiced hard and sweated.

The place was empty.

It was so empty and cold that it made me feel so cold.

But no one here paid any attention to it.

Just like that, without even mentioning it, it’s forgotten.

What we do is very dangerous.

A situation where you never know when or where you might lose your life.

So I had to get used to this situation.

As I stared blankly at the empty space in the training grounds, Victor said:

Don’t forget, but get used to it.

He spoke as if this kind of thing was all too familiar.

At first, I couldn’t agree with what he said.

I asked if Nana, Shine, Rain, and Amy would have acted the same way if they hadn’t returned this time.

Victor didn’t answer.

I just kept my mouth shut in silence.

People remembered those who did not return in their own way.

As I was changing clothes and returning to my room, I discovered a small flower placed in front of the room.

I could tell right away whose room it was.

I walked over to the flower and squatted down.

As I was blankly staring at the flowers, a person popped out from the room across from the empty room.

He was talking on the phone with an urgent expression.

“I’ll be there right away!”

It seemed like he had been given a mission.

I was caressing the flowers, then I passed him and returned to the room I was staying in with Shine and Amy.

There was still time left for Shine’s training, so I had to finish showering before she came back.

If I kept on rambling, it was clear that I would have to go into the bathroom with her.

I didn’t mind washing together, but her hands, which were lathering up and tickling my body, were too burdensome.

Wash your body under warm water.

I dazedly soak in water until my pure white body turned a light pink.

A smile appeared on my face at the pleasant feeling.

“Jeff!”

Just then, Shine’s voice was heard from outside the bathroom.

I quickly finished showering and went outside wearing a bathrobe.

“Ah! I told you to shower together.”

Shine looked at me with great regret.

But it was already too late.

My body was so clean that I didn’t even need to go into the bathroom again.

“Slow.”

I dodged Shine who was rushing towards me and ran straight to the refrigerator.

I didn’t wash my hair properly so the water flowed out and fell to the floor, but it was okay.

It will dry anyway.

“Jeff. If you don’t dry your hair properly, Amy will scold you.”

“It’s okay!”

After answering Shine, I took out some cold milk from the refrigerator and drank it.

I should have drank some green juice, but I thought it would be better to take some to Appleton and feed it to him later.

It was better for Appleton, who was weak, to eat it rather than me.

Shine seemed to think the same, as she was not drinking her share of green juice.

The first day of school is tomorrow.

Just wake up early tomorrow morning and fill a water bottle with the green juice from the fridge.

It was a really perfect plan.

I stared blankly at the shadow of Shine as she entered the bathroom and started washing up, drinking milk.

The transparent bathroom door was foggy, but I could see her blurry shadow moving little by little.

Surely, inside this, there will be a girl in white washing her body with warm water?

This is not it.

I shook my head to shake off the useless imagination.

My hair was so wet and heavy that it swayed in all directions and sprayed water, but it was okay.

It will dry anyway.

I was sitting in front of the bathroom, sipping milk, when Shine opened the door.

She started to walk out confidently, wiping her dripping hair with a towel.

A wisp of smoke rises over her body.

After wiping all of her hair off, she sat down on the floor and tapped the floor in front of her.

“Come here Jeff.”

I approached her obediently and sat down.

As I sat with my back to her, her legs grabbed hold of my waist.

“I told you that if you don’t stop properly, Amy will scold you.”

“Yeah.”

Nagging again.

I gave a vague answer to her nagging and closed my eyes comfortably.

She started drying my hair with a towel.

Unlike me who had roughly brushed it off, a hand that stroked my hair similar to Amy’s.

I could feel the little hands moving diligently.

It makes me feel so good that I can’t stop smiling.

The body, which had been leaning backwards, suddenly tilts over.

I looked at her face as I felt my head resting against Shine’s soft belly.

A gaze looking down at me with eyes wide open as if slightly surprised.

Shine’s small lips move slightly.

“I haven’t cleaned it yet.”

“I’ll stop.”

“Do you want to get scolded by Amy?”

“If you ask Rain, he’ll stop you, so what’s the problem?”

“Ugh…”

Shine pouted her lips as if she was dissatisfied with my answer.

As I smiled slightly at the sight, she covered my face with a damp towel.

***

After a peaceful day, Shine Rain and I once again stood in front of the portal with our bags on our backs.

“Can you have a nice day today too?”

Amy stood behind us and asked with a worried look on her face.

I waved my hand to tell her not to worry.

“I’ll be back!”

Shine and Rain, holding each other’s hands, go through the portal.

I was staggering for a moment from the familiar dizziness, so Shine grabbed my body and straightened me up.

“Welcome~”

A familiar voice was heard.

But it wasn’t the voice I was expecting.

I shook my head and looked ahead.

There, instead of Shandroy, who had always been waiting for us, stood Carmel.

“Carmel?”

“Hello, Senior Rain.”

“Ugh. Why are you here?”

“Shandroy cannot come here because of his promise with Ferman.”

I was startled by Carmel’s words and asked back.

“With my grandfather?”

“Yes.”

Carmel nodded, turned around, and left the room.

He turned his head slightly to confirm that we were following him and continued speaking.

“You didn’t tell me what the promise was, but judging from what you’ve been talking about so far, it seems like it’s a very important topic. That’s why I came.”

“I see.”

I nodded and thought of Grandpa Ferman.

Grandpa was always busy.

I wish he had sent me at least a text message, I felt a little disappointed.

I sighed, fiddling with my phone.

“Do you miss Grandpa that much?”

“Yeah. You can eat a lot of delicious things.”

I answered Shine’s words and fixed my bag.

Today too, I prepared a lot of gifts from Appleton, so my bag was full.

“This is today’s class schedule. If there’s anything you don’t like, please let me know right away.”

Carmel handed us a piece of paper with our class schedule on it and then walked away.

It seemed like he was going to get ready for class since it was going to start soon.

I walked down the familiar hallway, went to the window, and looked outside.

Bang! Bang!

Felix, still practicing there, came into view.

Practicing at such an early hour? What an amazing kid.

I thought about saying hello, but I withdrew my hand because I thought it would disturb practice.

“Why do you keep pretending to know?”

“Huh?”

As I turned my body leaning against the window and headed toward the classroom, Shine spoke.

“Talk to him.”

“Just. It’s cute.”

“What?”

Shine’s face was distorted at my answer.

“That?”

“Yeah.”

I answered her question lightly.

Do you think it’s cute when you say “fairy, fairy” with sparkling eyes?

I didn’t feel any aversion to him because it felt just like looking at a golden retriever.

“Jeff. That won’t do.”

“Why?”

“Don’t say I’m cute. I think I’m ugly.”

“What?”

This time I asked back.

Gross? That doesn’t seem like something you should say to a child.

I looked out the window again.

Felix is moving and practicing hard.

He. He…

uh?

“Is that so?”

For some reason, I started to feel a little reluctant.

As I got closer, I could see sticky sweat on me, and the sight of the boy’s eyes shining as he called me “Fairy, fairy” started to feel a little creepy.

“Yeah.”

Shine grabbed my hand and led me to the classroom.

“Rain thinks so too?”

No matter how I think about it, it’s still strange.

It was an event where the impression I had on a person changed in an instant.

I did feel a little burdened, but not to this extent.

This means that from a distance, you can look at it like you are looking at a puppy.

But Rain nodded and answered.

“Yeah. I don’t like it that much.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It might look like that now, but later on, you’ll grow really tall, have a beard, and your leg hair will grow out like crazy…”

Rain moved his little mouth vigorously as he explained to me how the boys were becoming more and more disgusting.

I headed to the classroom, blankly listening to her explanation.

Shine also nodded her head every now and then, as if agreeing with what Rain said.

The moment I entered the classroom, all the surrounding sounds instantly quieted down.

I couldn’t help but laugh because it felt like someone had turned the sound down on the video.

“Appleton!”

I found Appleton sitting alone in the middle of the classroom and waved happily.

She was alone, unlike before.

And it looked a little lonely.

She sat up, startled by my voice.

The two strands of hair sticking up looked like rabbit ears.

We quickly walked over to her and sat down.

I asked her, watching Appleton’s expression as she looked uncomfortable.

“Hey Appleton, who’s been bothering you?”

“Oh, no!”

Appleton’s pigtails popped up again.

“Did they bully you?”

I pointed with my hand at the children who were glaring at Appleton with strange eyes.

Then the children I had pointed out scattered in all directions with astonished expressions.

“Poor Appleton… He’s all alone because the kids are bullying him…”

I recalled the contents of the comic book that Rain had shown me.

The story was about a weak protagonist who was bullied at school.

I took out Appleton’s gift from my bag, clutching my aching heart.

“Okay. Here’s your gift.”

What I prepared this time was a very special dish.

Something you can eat right now.

It was the dried tail of a giant monkey.

She accepted my gift with trembling eyes.

I hope you are happy.

When I smiled brightly with that kind of hope in my heart, Appleton started to laugh and drool.

Are you really that happy?

I sat Appleton down next to me, unwrapped the dried tail of the giant monkey I had placed in her hand, and held it out to her mouth.

“Ah~”

“Ah, ahhhh….”

She licked the monkey’s tail as if it was delicious.

Is it so delicious that it makes you cry?

A small drop fell from Appleton’s eye and down his cheek.