Perspective

I paid for the food and left the restaurant alone. Yunis-ssi got up from her seat without answering my proposal. She left without saying goodbye, but since I offered to buy her a meal in return for her help, it doesn’t really matter. The fact that she didn’t reject my proposal on the spot can be seen as a positive sign in a way.

Somehow, I feel like I’m in a situation where I confessed my hidden feelings, and the girl ran away in horror, leaving me to pay for the food all alone. It’s not just a groundless sense of victimhood; the cashier’s pitying gaze makes me feel that way.

Still, I achieved my initial goal by explaining the transfer to Yunis-ssi. It’s not like Yunis-ssi can transfer to Transcendence tomorrow. She’ll have plenty of time to consider her options while preparing for the transfer. If she refuses, I’ll have to try three times, even if it means camping outside her door.

My very existence has already created a variable in the existing flow. Yunis-ssi, who is known as a strategist who reads the situation, will be able to read even the distorted flow. That’s what I expect from Yunis-ssi.

As soon as I left the restaurant and headed back to the clubroom, I felt the piercing gazes of those around me. Fortunately, I didn’t have the misfortune of running into my parents. Considering their personality, I thought they wouldn’t be able to contain their anger and would storm into the clubroom and make a scene, but they’re surprisingly quiet, so it seems like Roel-ssi did something.

I hurried back to the clubroom, avoiding the gazes around me. Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t the club members who greeted me, but Headmaster Nelson, who had meticulously groomed his beard. It was the first time I’d met him in the clubroom, so I couldn’t help but be taken aback. Did he come to question me about what happened at the triathlon? Contrary to the anxiety slowly rising in my chest, Nelson-ssi wore his usual warm smile.

“Ross, it’s been a while since it’s just the two of us. Have you eaten?”

“Yes, I’m just coming back from eating.”

At my answer, Nelson-ssi nodded with a disappointed expression and pointed to a box on the table.

“Then eat this cake with the club members later.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I awkwardly nodded and was wondering if I should just stand there when Nelson-ssi gestured for me to sit across from him. As I sat down, Nelson-ssi, who seemed to have nothing to do with his hands, fiddled with a cushion that Aria-yang had carelessly thrown on the sofa and asked me.

“Do you know why I came to see you?”

That question made my throat dry for no reason. I feel a strange sense of guilt, as if I’ve done something wrong to someone who’s been good to me. I sighed and scratched my forehead as I answered.

“Is it because I ruined the triathlon?”

At my answer, Nelson-ssi shook his head and gave me a gentle smile.

“Ross, I’ve never thought that you ruined the triathlon. In fact, I knew from the beginning that other academies had allied themselves.”

“You knew that other academies would ally themselves…?”

I frowned without realizing it. The guilt that had filled my chest instantly changed its nature and turned into impulsive resistance. If he knew, it means Nelson-ssi just stood by and watched the situation. That made my voice a little rough.

“Then you know very well how long the triathlon has been making other academies feel hopeless, and what would have happened if this vicious cycle hadn’t been broken this time… I don’t need to tell you, do I?”

At my sarcastic tone, Nelson-ssi put down the cushion he was fiddling with and looked at me with a smile. Unlike me, who couldn’t hide my stiffness, he had a relaxed expression, as if he was about to tell me a long story. But the words that came out of Nelson-ssi’s mouth, unlike his expression, were a huge shock to me.

“Of course I know. It was none other than me who created the triathlon.”

Before I knew it, words popped out of my mouth as if I was interrogating him.

“…Are you saying that Headmaster Nelson-ssi created the triathlon?”

“Yes, I proposed it to the Emperor and created it.”

I feel nauseous at Nelson-ssi’s calm voice. I’m confused. Until now, I only thought of Nelson-ssi as a good person. Considering what he’s done for me, I couldn’t help but think that way. It was all thanks to Nelson-ssi that I was able to make precious friends and create a lover with whom I want to spend every season.

That’s why I’m even more confused. The triathlon was the Emperor’s political show that had lasted for 31 years. The fact that it was created by none other than Nelson-ssi, whom I trust the most, is something hard to accept. I feel like I want to ignore it as if I heard nonsense.

I didn’t set up how the triathlon was created. There must have been some kind of plausibility that worked for the flow. As I roughly wiped my face with my hands to clear my head, Nelson-ssi, who was looking at me, tapped his knee.

“You have a curious look on your face. Before I explain the triathlon, will you listen to my story?”

I sighed and nodded.

“Once upon a time, there was a village. The village was located at the point where one large river split into two. Because two rivers passed on either side of the village like an island, transportation was very inconvenient.”

I focused, trying to soothe my churning stomach, as it didn’t seem like Nelson-ssi would bring up an old story for no reason.

“Because transportation was inconvenient, no customers bothered to visit the village. At this rate, the village was in danger of disappearing soon. The village chief, who used to be a famous adventurer, spent all his money to call a famous architect from the capital. The architect looked around the village and proposed to remove the bridges on both ends of the village and build a new T-shaped bridge in the forest at the point where the river split.”

As Nelson-ssi took out his cane and moved it as if drawing a picture, a T-shaped bridge floated in the air.

“If the bridge is built, there will be no need to cross two rivers, so people will flock to use this new bridge, and the village will see an increase in visitors for transportation. The architect’s prediction came true. Merchants had to take responsibility for adventurers and mercenaries protecting goods, and for the rest of horses. Adventurers who traveled a long way to cross the bridge also needed rest.”

As Nelson-ssi waved his cane, a small village floated in the air. Time passed quickly, and the village’s buildings began to increase.

“Thanks to the architect’s wisdom, the village became prosperous. Many people moved in from surrounding villages. Everyone praised the village chief for bringing in the architect. There was even talk of erecting a statue for the wise village chief.”

The image of the village chief smiling broadly while receiving cheers from many people floated in the air.

“But a few years later, a huge typhoon struck. It was a natural disaster. An enormous amount of rain poured down, and the river flooded. The terrain that divided the river into two was in a state where the ground was weakened because the forest had disappeared. Eventually, the ground collapsed, and the two streams of the river merged and covered the village as it was.”

The image of the village being swept away by the huge river appeared. Nelson-ssi, who gave me some time to appreciate it, smiled gently with a calm voice and asked.

“What do you think of the village chief’s actions?”

“…I’d have to say it was a bad choice. After all, the village was swept away by the water.”

At my answer, Nelson-ssi stared at me and asked.

“Then do you think the village chief is an evil person?”

“That’s….”

I couldn’t answer Nelson-ssi’s question. If the village chief hadn’t done anything, the village would have disappeared as it was. There would have been no need for the village chief to spend the money he had saved all his life to hire an architect. He sacrificed his share for others, not for his own benefit. The village chief tried to save the village. He even made the village prosper.

If it hadn’t been for the sudden natural disaster, the village might have grown even more and become a city. But the village chief’s choice ultimately made the village disappear. Even if he’s not an evil person, he can’t avoid responsibility. That responsibility is because he didn’t run away and tried to get out of the situation.

“The surviving villagers blamed the village chief for everything, as if nothing had happened. They blamed him, cursed him, and cursed him. Eventually, the village chief couldn’t bear the guilt and took his own life. It was a bitter end. No one even came to the funeral.”

Nelson-ssi stroked his beard and continued.

“The survivors built a new village. Because the river had become one, the downstream area was even better to live in than before. Eventually, a larger village was created than before. Transportation using boats was also created, and there were more fish and animals.”

Nelson-ssi lowered his cane and asked with a smile.

“When the bridge was first built, the village chief was clearly good to the people. But when the village was swept away by the river due to a natural disaster, people defined him as evil. But now that time has passed and the result is that the river, which was divided into two, has become one, which is for more life. What kind of person should we see the village chief as?”

“…”

I ended up saying that the village chief made the wrong choice just because the village was swept away. But after that, I couldn’t answer about the result that came from the river being merged into one. A good result came after a bad result. Then does the village chief, who was evil, become good again?

“In the end, it’s others who determine good and evil, right and wrong in any action. What is considered good depending on the perspective can be felt as evil to someone. Just like how what was justice at the time can turn into malice later.”

Nelson-ssi smiled and continued.

“Depending on the perspective, your actions will only show someone the result of ruining the triathlon. Those who know your intentions and truth know that your actions are a good act that sacrificed yourself.”

Nelson-ssi paused for a moment and looked straight into my eyes as if to remember it, and said in a calm voice.

“What perspective you will take on yourself. That is the problem that you have to think about and solve until the end of your life.”