episode_0026

Park Cheol lay on the hospital bed, quietly gazing at his younger sister.

While her injuries weren’t severe, they were not insignificant either, and considering the stress she had been under, it was best for her to rest for a while.

According to her, some lunatic had attacked her, and then there was some kind of commotion. It was utterly bewildering.

“Oppa.”

“What?”

“Peel an apple for me.”

“You can do it yourself.”

“You can’t even do that for a patient?”

“But you’re not really a patient.”

“What? Can’t you see I’m wearing a patient’s gown?”

As they bickered as usual, suddenly the recent hit song from Park Daseul’s phone began to play. It was “Heros” by the rising idol group Changcheon Yeonhwa, a song that had become so popular lately, thanks to challenges on platforms like NewTube Shorts.

“Isn’t that a call?”

“Oh, wait a moment.”

Taking her phone out of her pocket, Park Daseul’s expression changed immediately.

“It’s a call from Ye-rin unni.”

“…Switch it.”

“What? No, I won’t. Why should I?”

“I asked you to take my calls last time.”

“So what? She’s probably calling because she’s worried about me.”

After sticking her tongue out at Park Cheol, Park Daseul answered the call and started conversing.

“Hello? Yes, unni… Yes? You want me to switch? What about my worries? Ah… Are you okay? Yes, I’m fine….”

“Chuckle.”

“Unni will definitely have a cold heart. If your heart is cold, you die? Are you T, unni?”

After muttering several times into the phone, Park Daseul, with a disgusted expression, handed the phone to Park Cheol.

“Switch it.”

“I told you. It would be for me.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. Unni doesn’t like people like you.”

“How would you know that? And that’s not the intention.”

Taking the phone from Park Daseul, Park Cheol assumed a polite posture and left the room.

He didn’t want to act recklessly in front of his sister. Not because he wanted to show a good image in front of her, but rather because if she saw him acting recklessly, she’d tease him for years to come.

“I’ve taken the call.”

[Yes. How have you been?]

“Yes… but your voice seems a little different from last time, are you okay?”

Somehow, last time it had a slightly husky feeling. Now it feels as if I’m just making a call with a young girl.

[…Yes. There’s a bit of a situation, so my voice is like this. Please understand.]

What does this hesitation mean?

Park Cheol decided to harbor his doubts without pressing on about it. He couldn’t afford to be rude to his benefactor.

[So, why did you ask for a call?]

“Oh, that. I wanted to express my gratitude.”

[I don’t recall doing anything worthy of thanks.]

“You risked your life entering the gate. Thanks to that, many people came back alive.”

[That’s not something to be thanked for.]

“Why…?”

[If you have power, it’s only right to do what needs to be done. You can’t expect praise for doing what’s natural.]

At those words, Park Cheol swallowed a breath. If those words were sincere… isn’t this person the epitome of a hero?

“…Not everyone can act like you just because they have power. Above all, even if it was truly a natural thing to do.

[…….]

“You deserve thanks. I really appreciate it.”

Not just this gate incident, she wandered through the most dangerous battlefields in the world as a member of the Twilight Brigade.

[…Is that so.]

“Of course.”

[Thank you. Is there anything else?]

“…Actually, I have one request.”

His hand tightened involuntarily. Can he really make such a request of her?

[A request?]

…A request. Yes, maybe it wouldn’t be bad if it took that form. She had heard he was a problem solver.

“Yes. A request.”

[What is it?]

“I would like you to teach me.”

[Teach you what?]

“Anything that can make me stronger.”

[Are you asking to be taken as a disciple?]

“Yes. That’s how it will be.”

He hesitated. His younger sister, his comrade, the people he should protect, all drawn away and he couldn’t do anything.

I was so angry at the fact that I felt so powerless, and at my own arrogance on such a subject. If I had power, I could have saved myself.

That’s why I wanted to become stronger. If something like this happens again, I want to be able to save people without relying on anyone else.

[Hmm….]

* * *

…Disciple.

It was a word I hadn’t really thought about until now. It was rare to think about such concepts on the battlefield.

The master teaching me magic, and I, learning martial arts from him. On the battlefield, in order to survive, we had to learn everything, so everyone was a master and everyone was a disciple. We pointed out each other’s shortcomings and worked hard to become stronger.

“Not bad.”

I’m not opposed to taking on a disciple. It’s not volunteer work, it’s a paid request, so there will be compensation.

Above all, right now, there was a need for at least one more skilled person.

“Astoria has been resurrected.”

Soon, another war between the world and the empire might break out again.

It’s better to have at least one more person who can fight.

“…Alright. I’ll take on the request.”

[Thank you. You will be duly compensated.]

“Okay.”

[So when will the lessons start…?]

“At the moment, it’s difficult due to personal circumstances… I’ll get in touch once things settle around next week.”

[Understood. Then, I will see you then.]

“Okay.”

I ended the call after that conversation. Taking on a disciple… I did think about it a little while talking.

Kind of cool, isn’t it?

As I shrugged alone, Elena leaned in close.

She still tightly held onto my tail.

“Sis.”

“Stop touching my tail.”

“Aww, don’t say that.”

“Why are you sulking? It’s annoying.”

“Wow, your tone is so blunt right now, sis.”

“Enough, let go.”

“Okay.”

Finally, she let go of my tail. Sniff… my tail. It got touched a lot by two people, more than usual…

Somehow it feels a bit stiff?

I resolved to take extra care of it when I get home.

“So, sis, what’s up with this Park Cheol guy or whatever?”

“He says thank you.”

“And that’s it?”

“Apparently, they want me as their disciple.”

“…Disciple?”

“Yeah. They said it’s a request. They even offered money.”

But come to think of it, even if it’s not a formal request, shouldn’t I get paid? Well, it’s too late to dwell on that now.

More importantly, for some reason, Elena’s lips were pursed and her eyebrows were raised.

“Why again?”

“In my opinion, that guy is totally into you, unni.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Unni… Are you really going to fall for a guy like him?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Ugh, after all I’ve done for her, she doesn’t even realize and just runs off with some random guy…”

“….”

She kept babbling without listening to me, so annoyed, I smacked Elena’s face with the pillow behind her.

Whack!

“Ow!”

“I said, it’s not like that!”

“Ow! Ow! Unni, stop hitting me!”

“I told you it’s not like that!”

“Ow! Ouch!”

“What’s this, a pillow fight?”

Finally, Baek Sihyun, who had just come out of the bathroom, smirked. I nodded in response to her question and replied.

“It’s time to discipline Elena.”

“Oh, sounds fun.”

“What?! Fun? Wait, wait, hold on!”

Baek Sihyun also grabbed a pillow and started playfully hitting Elena. Seeing her genuinely enjoying swinging the pillow, it seemed like she had accumulated a lot of stress.

“Ow! Why are you both doing this to me! Ow! Ahh! Why!”

“You deserve it.”

“When did I… ow!”

After playing the game of hitting Elena for a while, we stopped as the dust was flying too much. At that point, Elena was already sprawled out on the bed, unable to move.

“Sob… Sob. You’re all so mean.”

“Don’t fake cry.”

“…Can’t you at least show some concern?”

Nope. Can’t do that.

I lightly brushed her off, and she made a sulky face. She mumbled something to herself and then clung to me.

“So, um… what will you teach Park Cheol or whoever he is?”

“Well, let me think about it.”

“How about broadcasting it? He seems quite knowledgeable as a hunter, it might attract a lot of attention, right?”

“…Broadcasting? I’ll do it if he agrees.”

Not a bad plan. It’s supposed to be a broadcast to promote the work of a problem solver, but if there are no viewers, there won’t be any promotion, and then there won’t be any requests.

Some appropriate controversy is essential.

After giving some clever thought for once and patting him on the head, he’s acting like he’s going to die. I shouldn’t have bothered.