༺ Reunion of Sisters (1) ༻
Hua Ran’s ascension ritual to Hou by Purple Hawk Academy’s Senior Professor Kang Ryun ended as a failure.
As for our next course of action, it was as we had always done. I had already been notified by Lady Josephine and Master Erin on how they were going to deal with this if everything was to go well.
Long story short, it was concealnt again.
It was a big problem that the senior professor of Purple Hawk Academy had attempted such a disastrous ritual, but spreading news of that had chances of increasing the public’s wariness or interest in Hua Ran even though she was the victim of this incident.
The forr would be people condemning Hua Ran from fear while the latter would be people interested in the potential of Hua Ran’s power.
That was why Lady Josephine, master, and I had been planning on concealing this matter from the start.
And everything had gone according to plan.
“Professor Kang Ryun returned first and got caught up in an unfortunate event… is what we will be announcing to the public. We have already discussed this with the chairman of Purple Hawk Academy.”
“They’re pretty cooperative, aren’t they?”
“Because that is probably the best-case scenario for Purple Hawk as well.”
That made sense – their senior professor, student council president, and their highest-achieving student of the 2nd grade had wreaked havoc at another academy. Although Yuhua and Jinhyuk had been used without realizing the true purpose of the agenda, Kang Ryun was a senior professor, and Purple Hawk couldn’t just gloss over the issue by saying they didn’t know.
“You didn’t forget to charge them for the repairs and stuff, right?”
“…Mister Chairman wanted to let it slip but well, I am of the sa opinion as you, Student Korin, when it cos to that.”
“Right? Chairman is a bit too naive–. Oops~. Very kind is the word I was looking for.”
“Everything went well… thanks to you again. Korin Lork.”
Lady Josephine said while deeply staring at . She still had a strict pair of eyes, but that was only because her default gaze was a bit on the harsher side, and in fact, this was quite warm for her.
“Thanks for your work.”
She said while looking at the bandages that were wrapped all over my body. Despite the regeneration ability, the recovery was very slow which was most probably because of over-using my aura.
“Feels a bit embarrassing to hear that.”
“We… are in a position where we cannot trust other people with ease.”
80 years ago, Master had been betrayed by her trusted disciple; by her successor, Tates Valtazar.
The shock of that betrayal left a lot of scars in her mind and she beca a lot more prudent than before. It was obvious that she couldn’t readily give her trust.
“There will co a day when we can trust each other.”
“…I hope so.”
Josephine slowly stood up, and said one last thing while dropping off her get-well gift.
“Please look after your body. The festival is not over yet.”
They must be very busy considering all the things that happened. I’m sure the busiest person right now was Master Erin, who still had to discuss and negotiate with Purple Hawk.
As soon as Josephine left the room, Marie hopped inside from the door.
“You’re awake!”
Marie pretty much threw her body onto my bed for a tight hug. As if she wanted to confirm that I was alive, she rubbed her cheeks and checked the warmth of my body.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Look at your nails; they’re all gone!”
“Ohh… No wonder it was feeling empty there.”
“I can’t believe it! Seriously, every ti! Korin, you overwork yourself every ti and you always end up in hospital!”
Slap! Marie slapped my shoulders on repeat but was controlling herself so much that I could barely feel her skin touching my shoulder.
“Seriously… seriously…”
She couldn’t find the right words to say and gave another hug and stayed that way for a long ti before finally letting go of .
Tears were budding beneath her eyes.
“Don’t cry. It pains to see you cry.”
“That’s exactly why I’m crying!”
“Were you fine, Senior? You had to fight all the stone warriors and destroy all the articles by yourself, right?”
“President Kang Yuhua and that student called Sa Jinhyuk did destroy one but…”
I knew it. That was why they weren’t there, huh. It was thanks to them that I barely made it in ti without being bashed to death.
“But if you think about it, it’s their fault that this started in the first place,” grumbled Marie.
“Don’t be like that. They’re not bad people. Things were just… a little bit unlucky for them.”
Jinhyuk, who had been wanting to avenge the death of his family, and Yuhua, who was trying to save her cousin – the two of them were just desperate in their own ways and the real villain was Kang Ryun, who had manipulated them by making use of their desperation.
We had to avoid hating the wrong people.
“You always speak like an adult. Even though I’m older than you…”
“How about you call ‘oppa’?”
“You’re doing that again! Trying to be called ‘oppa’! Sotis, it feels like you have an obsession with being called oppa!”
Marie flapped her arms around and gave a cute outburst but before long, she turned dejected and murmured after lowering her head.
“I… don’t want you getting hurt all the ti, but… You will continue doing things like this in the future, right?”
“…”
I couldn’t say no to her question.
I was soone who had the duty of saving the world, who in spite of that grand aspiration, was weaker off than most other players.
Since I was nothing but a sub-player with so spearmanship skills, my body was bound to suffer during the process.
“You’re not saying ‘No’. Korin, sotis… it feels like you’re living in a different world.”
Tightly holding onto my fully-bandaged arm, she pleaded with her eyes fixed on .
“I… can fight with you. Please let stand by your side. I can help you anyti.”
“…You are already helping so much.”
Both in the King of Iron Mountain incident and this ti around, I was receiving more than enough help from Marie. In fact, I even thought I was being too rough with people.
“Senior. I’m a weak person.”
“No, Korin. You’re not weak.”
“Things like that are subjective. In comparison to the upcoming evil, I am way too insignificant of a person and I cannot overco them without receiving help.”
“Anything’s fine. No matter what you are fighting against… I will stand by your side.”
I felt extrely grateful.
And I felt so blessed to be able to hear sothing like that.
All the enemies standing in my path were tough and powerful villains. So wanted to satisfy their wicked greed, so for their incorrect convictions and so only wanted to destroy the world.
What was the way for to save the world against these powerful enemies? The answer to that question was always very simple.
“Together.”
Please fight together with . I requested the girl whom I had once saved.
“Un!”
She replied with clear teardrops flowing down her cheeks. Even though I was the one making the request and even though I was the one that was supposed to thank her for everything, she was the one crying instead of .
“What is this; you’re ruining your beautiful face. Smile. It’s all done and dusted in a good way. Smile and you’ll be happy.”
“How can I smile! When you’re in the hospital like this!”
“I’m asking you as the patient! Smile. Just smile! When beautiful ladies smile, everyone gets double the happiness.”
“You’re lying!”
We continued talking for a long ti.
………
……
…
– Slip!
After organizing her loosened clothes, Marie stood up from the bed. Her reddened eyes and the tiny beads of sweat all over her body attested for the things that had been happening until just then.
“Oh right.”
Straightening out my hospital clothes that had drooping collars, Marie summoned Doggo.
“I’ll leave Doggo behind, so he will look after you! My parents said they’ll be sending so dicine from ho and Doggo will bring them to you when they’re here.”
“Ohh~. Is Doggo going to look after ? What a good boy~”
– Kiing!
Unlike what Marie was saying, Doggo didn’t seem too keen. He liked his mother but was very rude to his father.
Of course, he might take his revenge later on if I said this out loud so I swallowed those words instead.
“No! Doggo, listen to ! You need to be nicer to your daddy!”
Marie started preaching like an actual mom that was scolding their infant. She was definitely quite abundant with maternity. Yes… Ah I an her personality of course.
“Ah, and you know that Guardians Guild thing? I’ll apply for that soon,” said Marie.
“Already?”
“It’s going to be ti for harvest soon. With all the holidays coming up, we need to do it now or everyone will be busy taking a rest at ho.”
“Oh~, you’re right. Thank you.”
“Un. Korin you’re the Guild Master… and I’m the Deputy. What about the rest?”
The ‘Guardians’ was essentially a fixed party of the core mbers that would be moving with outside for external matters. Not everyone would be combatant, and there would be so who would be helping in various ways.
I had already gotten several confirmations and acquired the three core mbers so it was probably okay for to tell Marie their nas.
“First off, Alicia Arden and…”
“Hnnn… I knew it. She… Well, I guess there’s no helping it.”
“And Renya Claire.”
“Oh~. A female?”
“Yes. She’s a pretty lady working in intelligence.”
“I see~. Pretty?”
“And next up will be Ren and Ron.”
“Who are they?”
“They’re a sibling of wolf beastn. Ren’s a girl so just make sure you check Ron as a boy.”
“Hmm…”
– Crack!
“I’m thinking about recruiting Yuel but I’m not sure yet. Well, but we’re close so I’m sure she’ll help out for the most part.”
“That druid girl… Are you guys very close?”
“We’re close enough to joke around and have so als together.”
– Crack!
“Lastly, Hua Ran is a must so don’t forget to write her down. Professor Josephine allowed it as well.”
Just like what happened after Marie’s incident, it looked like it was pretty set in stone that Hua Ran would be under my care from now on.
– Kajik!
That was when the sound of sothing breaking reached my ears. Turning around, I noticed that the pen in her hands was now in two pieces. Why did that pen break, I wonder?
“…Senior?”
It was strange that Marie was staying silent so I spoke to her, but she didn’t say anything for a long ti and instead, she quietly and slowly walked towards .
“…”
Her clear eyes that used to glisten in gold had turned into red by the ti I noticed it. Umm… that’s probably because she just recently sucked blood, right?
“Korin.”
“Umm… Senior?”
“Are you trying to drive crazy?”
Wat?
****
After my body recovered enough for to move around, I visited Alicia who was in the sa hospital as . By the way, Doggo was driving the wheelchair for .
“Ehew, little Doggo. Great work helping out with your daddy.”
“…”
He turned his head away with a flick.
“Buddy… You’re not really liking this, are you?”
I’m sure you want to be with your mommy. How unfortunate that you have to stick with your daddy but you know what? You have to listen to your mom! What can you even do huh?
“Woof!”
After seemingly reading my impure thoughts, Doggo furiously flipped the wheelchair.
“Huhu… It’s things like that that give away your feelings. You immature little kid…!”
“Kaoooooooo…!”
“Mister Doggo! Please do not howl in the hospital!!”
“Woof…”
Due to moving around everywhere across the campus ever since the start of the sester, everyone seed aware of how Doggo was a slightly special dog. He was going around running errands for his mom every ti so that wasn’t anything strange.
“Ugh… What are you doing?”
Alicia seed to have heard the ruckus from inside her room and she asked that as soon as we entered the room.
“We’re here for a visit. Are you feeling okay?”
“Ughhh… Do I look okay?”
Lying down on the bed with bandages wrapped all around her body, she moved her chin slightly to face our way. Leaving behind Doggo, I sat on the chair that was placed next to the bed.
“Wow~. You look like a mummy.”
“Uguk…! Whose fault do you think it is?!”
“Thanks.”
“Huh? Nn… Well, you are welco, I guess.”
Because she had to take dozens of steps through the Domain just to save , her entire body was in tatters.
Her bones were back together thanks to the made-by-Marie elixir, but apparently she still needed to rest for at least 2 weeks in the best dical facilities. There was only about 1 week left of the festival so she probably wouldn’t even be able to make it to the closing campfire.
“I’m probably going to be leaving soon, but I guess you need to stay hospitalized for a bit more.”
“Hing… I wanted to go to the campfire though!”
“You can wait until the winter banquet.”
“But that’s different from this.”
She was right. Besides, even though I had experienced them multiple tis in the last iteration, this was the first one for Alicia and I felt a bit guilty considering how she was in this state because of .
“I will get you a Ghesquiere dress for the winter banquet.”
“Hukk…! Really? Y, you an that super expensive brand?”
“Tell anything else you need. This oppa here is loaded with money now~”
“You’re not an oppa! We’re the sa age okay? …Oh right! What about your hotel? Did you earn a lot?”
“Huhuhu. We do have enough to buy our esteed investor a dress.”
“A, am I going to be rich now as well?”
“You can fill a bathtub with gold coins…! Okay, maybe not, but you can probably fill them with silver coins.”
“Uwahh!”
“Yayy~!”
We, who had been petit bourgeois until just yesterday, danced despite having bandages all over our bodies.
“Flex…!”
“Flex…!”
““We’re rich~!!””
Discussing what to buy with Alicia was a very fun conversation topic.
– Woof!
That was when Doggo took out a bill from his furry coat. The na of the store was Puppy Coat Manufacturing Salon, or sothing like that.
…I feel like there was a white gold coin written on the bill, but that was probably seeing things, right?
****
She ended up hurting Korin. She was close to hurting a bunch of people again just like last ti.
After that incident, Hua Ran spent the next few days blankly staring at the white wall from her bed.
Her mories of that ti were still vivid. Despite having his limbs crushed and wrecked because of her, he didn’t bla her and instead reached out for her hands to soothe her mind.
『I told you I’ll help you… until you can make a decision for yourself.』
His words touched her soul.
He told Hua, that the important one was not the nature of one’s birth but their choices. He told her that how and what she was born as didn’t matter.
She wondered. How could he say such a thing?
Everyone was afraid of Hua. They were wary of Hua and condemned her. Screaming at Hua that she was a monster that shouldn’t have been born, they threw stones at her.
“Korin… was different.”
He called her a child, and said he will help her…
Why did he do that?
She used to hate this world.
She hated Ran who used to have happiness that never belonged to her, and the world was full of people that wanted to use her to suit their needs. Everyone and the world hated her which was why she hated them back, and yet…
Strength was the only value she used to have. Using strength as an excuse was the only way she could justify herself for pushing away the original owner of the body to take control of it.
That was why she didn’t want to show anyone her weak side. She did not ask for anyone’s help.
『I can help you.』
His kindness stung her heart.
His consideration and concern pierced her heart like a sharp blade.
Korin was thinking that Hua would make the right choice. Why was he certain when even she herself didn’t know what she was supposed to do…? Even though she didn’t want to make that choice as ‘Hua’…
『Make… a decision you can be proud of. So that… you don’t regret it.』
How was she supposed to do that…? What did she have to do… to make a decision that she could be proud of…?
What should I do?
The only path in front of her was a cliff going straight down. The only future she could see by taking a step forward was dropping down the abyss… How was she supposed to even face her own sin?
What are you… telling to do?
『We’ll look for ways together.』
“……”
I hate you, Korin Lork.
You… make my heart ache all the ti.
– Tap tap!
It was then. Hearing the sound of soone knocking on the window, she opened the curtain and found Korin Lork waving his hand while dangling on the windowsill of the second floor.
Ever since her birth, Hua had been alone the whole ti. Deceitful relationships had always been broken down in an instant and she had been used the whole ti.
That was why she didn’t allow people to enter her boundaries until now, but…
“But…”
Korin Lork was crossing her fences as if they were nothing, while reaching out to her with his hands.
****
There was a short quarrel but Hua Ran let into the room before long.
“…You recovered.”
That was the first thing she said out of the blue. It was a cold statent, but I could tell that she had been very concerned about my well-being.
“Were you worried?”
“…No.”
Ohh, I could now tell albeit by a little. Although Hua Ran rarely showed any expression on her face, it was exactly because of that that I could tell her emotion based on the small changes of her expression.
“How have you…”
“Hurry up.”
“Huh?”
“There’s a way to change to Ran, right? Do it quick.”
Hua Ran rushed as if she wanted to get it over and done with. Even though… she really might vanish if Ran couldn’t accept her existence and rejected her.
Did she give up? No, that was probably not it. It’s just that… this child had made a decision. She must have decided not to run away from the responsibility of her choices anymore.
“What a good girl.”
I caressed her hair. Usually, she would have flicked my hand away but she obediently let stroke her hair and closed her eyes as if this was her last mont.
She seed determined.
“Then…”
“W, wait.”
It was then. Hua Ran suddenly held onto my hand and fidgeted her fingers while hesitantly looking for words.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Fish.”
“Huh?”
“I want fish.”
The last lingering attachnt stopping her after she resolved herself was my cooked fish dish.
****
“…Get rid of the bones, please.”
I ca back after cooking a mackerel in the kitchen. Calmly, Hua Ran waited for to debone the fish and slowly put them into her mouth.
She loved fish so she used to munch through them in one go but this ti, she was slowly consuming them as if she wanted to buy even a little bit of more ti.
It was natural for her to be anxious.
It was normal for her to be scared.
There was no guarantee that she would be able to regain control over her body after changing the owner once. Despite resolving herself, the child was still very scared.
Although it took quite a long ti for a single al, I patiently waited for her regardless.
“I… am done.”
“Let wash the dishes first.”
After cleaning up everything, we went to the backyard.
“…Start.”
Hua Ran resolved herself and looked at with a composed pair of eyes. However, she still couldn’t hide the tension on her face. Things like this actually made her look quite cute.
“Stay still.”
I took out the silver spear that I was carrying behind my back as she watched while vacantly blinking her eyes.
“That…”
She mumbled while looking at the ferocious-looking gem that was stuck on the spear.
[Orb of the Grim Reaper]
– The attack will always hit the target.- It will separate the flesh from the soul.
– The attack ignores defense.
It was the 100%-accuracy soul collecting ability of the Grim Reaper that only existed as a concept. Of course, the effectiveness would be greatly reduced when used by a human but… it would be infinitely different when I was the one using it.
〚I do not perceive spirits.〛
Because of the absolute rules of the Precept, as soon as I used the power of this Orb which counted as a spiritual attack, the accuracy would be multiplied negatively by an infinite amount.
As a result, it would beco a never-landing spear that couldn’t kill people.
‘But there’s a catch.’
I took out a blue stone from my pocket that resembled a gem. It was a manastone carved by a first-rate blacksmith into the perfect size.
That was one of the manastones I purchased in bulks at the festival, which was then polished by Ferghus.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a faulty manastone used in the festival. When I take this to the Orb…”
– Sururuk!
The manastone was then absorbed into the Orb. Strictly speaking, it was closer to the manastone burrowing into the Orb of the Grim Reaper.
Now, let’s think this through one more ti.
Adding mana to the ‘festival-use faulty manastones’ made them explode from overload. In the ga, the explosion range decreased with higher accuracy rating to make it easier to clear the mini-ga, and a lower accuracy increased the explosion range.
No matter how low your accuracy rating was on the system, the maximum range limit was 100 ters.
It was a decent AOE skill that was often used in the ga.
Now, what would happen if the manastone was absorbed by the Orb of the Grim Reaper, when it has the sa rules of the 2nd Precept applied to it?
“Watch. I’m going to do so magical stuff.”
Jumping onto the tree in the backyard, I landed on one of its branches.
The explosion of mana wouldn’t go through the wall and wouldn’t reach the sky either, so staying here should keep out of the range.
“I’m going to throw it!”
Either because of her trust in her Unbreakable Vajra Body or , she didn’t even blink her eyes after I tossed the spear at her. The spear that was traveling straight at Hua Ran suddenly turned its direction in mid-air and landed on the ground.
“???”
It was a strange phenonon that didn’t abide by the original laws of physics, but that wasn’t the end.
– Boom!
The manastone absorbed by the Orb of the Grim Reaper led to a small explosion that dispersed the mana inside it. In the blink of an eye, the backyard was filled with the Grim Reaper’s mana.
Yes, this was it.
“Uhh…”
After a single groan, Hua Ran imdiately fell on the ground.
It was simple.
The Orb of the Grim Reaper was one that targeted the soul. After absorbing that specific trait of the orb, the manastone exploded and applied the power of the Grim Reaper to Hua Ran who was within the range of the explosion.
‘A little trick people found by playing around with these niche items.’
When used by a human, the Orb of the Grim Reaper wasn’t a strong weapon but when combined with these festival-use faulty manastones, they were surprisingly quite effective.
It was effective to the point that they could make indirectly have an impact on spirits despite my inability to affect them due to my Precept.
Strictly speaking, it was not that touched Hua Ran’s soul and it was the exploded manastone so I wasn’t going against the Restriction.
“I was going to use it inside the Evil Extermination Formation if necessary but…”
It was a sha that I couldn’t use it there, but it was still okay since I got to use it here.
“Hua Ran. I only used a little bit of mana this ti. How do you feel? Are you okay?”
“Mhmm…”
She opened her eyes. After rubbing her eyes and looking around her surroundings with unfocused eyes, she turned to and opened her mouth.
“Hello oppa.”
Hua Ran, or rather, Ran said with a bright and refreshing smile on her face.
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