Chapter 13: 13

     After calming down a little, I felt embarrassed by the earlier situation. However, at times like this, all parties involved tried their hardest not to notice such awkwardness. Since I brazenly continued to act as if I was alright, everyone started eating naturally. What a relief.

     I took a spoonful of porridge and placed it in my mouth; a savory smell wafted up my nose. Delicious–actually, delicious was an understatement. Park Yul was an amazing chef. “It’s tasty, Yul-ie Hyung.”

     “Great–eat as much as you want, slowly.” He responded, voice full of amusement. “Ha-gyeon-ah, I haven’t seen your face even though you returned yesterday. You’ve worked hard.”

     “…Yeah. And, Park-Yul Hyung.”

    Park Yul nodded–it seemed as if he was used to Song Ha-gyeon’s slow speech patterns.

    “Sun Yihan treated my injuries from last time.”

     As soon as he finished speaking, Park Yul’s body seemed to go rigid. Then, the chosen hero looked my way. His eyes, as if he were wary, shadowed over for a moment.

    Or, was I just seeing things? Perhaps I was being too paranoid. Unlike with Raen, a quest to clear Park Yul’s suspicions didn’t pop up.

     Park Yul’s eyes crinkled into a smile before chuckling. “Is that so, Yihan-ah?” He said in a soft voice.

     Come to think of it, I probably should have told him earlier that I could heal people. Although, I suppose I didn’t have much time to do so since I wasn’t properly awake with him.

     Wouldn’t Raen also be relieved if he heard that I’m a healer? Perhaps I could finish the quest that way.

    Just as I was about to answer, the door to the canteen opened. Red hair shone in the sunlight; Raen, robes wrapped loosely around his body, quietly closed the door and walked in.

    When our eyes met, he hurried to my side, “Yihan. How’s your body now? Are you alright?”

    “Yes, Raen-hyung. I’m feeling fine.”

    “Sorry. You must have been surprised. I should have watched my words.”

    “No–I’m truly fine. It’s not Hyung’s fault…”

     “…Raen.” Next to us, Song Ha-gyeon quietly called out to the other. Then, he slowly continued, “Sun Yihan can use healing magic.”

    Raen, who was stroking lightly at my hair, lightly sat down in the seat on my other side. “What do you mean?”

     “…My previous injury. It’s all better now.”

    “Ha-gyeon, there’s no such thing as healing magic. You know that.”

     “But, now, it does exist.”

     Of course, what I had wasn’t exactly ‘healing magic.’ It was a system-driven skill.

     Raen fell into brief contemplation before speaking in a thoughtful tone, “Perhaps it’s divine power… No, I’ve never heard of a divine power that could treat something like that.”

     “…Yeah. And also. You said you saw mana on him.”

     Raen knew that fact well. When I thought of how divine powers and clairvoyance could have a large impact on the human world, I thought I shouldn’t speak about the system much. I never really learned the detailed reasons or consequences for divine powers, but I suppose this ability had a similar context.

     Should I say that my ability was some divine power? If I insisted that was the source of my skill, then perhaps things would work out? However, as I thought that, Raen looked at me as if he had come to some conclusion, “Then perhaps the reason why his mana’s form is different is due to his ability to use healing magic.”

     If Raen’s come to his own hypotheses, then there’s no need for me to correct him. He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t correct either.

     Raen nodded. Of course the ‘quest successfully completed’ notification didn’t appear. It seemed that, in order to meet the system’s standards, Raen’s suspicions must be resolved in a clearer manner. There must be a long way to go before I complete this quest.

 

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     Later on, whenever Raen found the time, he called me to his room.

     Small objects were littered everywhere in his room. Each knickknack drew my attention because they were such fascinating things.

     Dreamcatchers adorned with several large, oddly-coloured feathers; a transparent hexagonal pillar-shaped sculpture that housed a golden flower; a round crystal ball containing breaking waves, as if the sea was trapped within it.

     Sitting in front of me in a fluffy, velvet armchair, Raen used some magic. “Yihan, tell me immediately if you sense anything wrong with your body.”

     Though Raen had confirmed the existence of mana within me, he said that it took him a while to run diagnostics since the shape of my mana was so different from the general population’s. He added that if a person without mana was heavily exposed to magic, that could strain that person’s body. He needed to make sure that I would be like the general populace–that magic wouldn’t react adversely with me.

     ‘Fascinating.’

     Magic could be used to float objects into the air, make one’s surroundings warm, and create a light upon one’s palm. I had never seen the spell that Raen was chanting; it was fascinating. I couldn’t help but stare. “Raen Hyung. Did Hyung become a warrior because of your outstanding casting abilities?”

     “No. Ah, you haven’t been told?” Observing my expectant expression, Raen raised his eyebrows and smiled bashfully. “I suppose you haven’t. It’s only natural that you’re curious, sorry.”

     “No, I just thought about it right now.” I quickly shook my head.

     Raen patted me on the shoulder and tapped at empty air. A group of yellow lights gathered before amalgamating into one mass in the shape of a star. “First, Leader Hyung… Park Yul, that is… was chosen as a Warrior. And we…”

     Raen circled his finger; three rings of light formed in the wake of his finger’s movements. Then, a line extended out from the star to the circles’ centers. “We made a warrior’s oath alongside our chosen Leader Hyung.”

     What’s a Warrior’s oath?

     Just as I thought that, Raen slowly continued to speak, his mind now lost in thought.

 

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 Raen recalled that fateful day.

    ‘It’s about three years ago from today.’ Yeah. That’s right–it was then. On the first day the new academic year began, one rumor rattled the entire academy. It was said that the warrior for this generation was selected from the academy students.

     But the fever that gripped the school died down in less than a day.

    Everyone seemed to have lost interest; most didn’t even bother to speak about it anymore. But, this incident kept lingering in my head. Maybe I felt a vague responsibility to help since I was a high-achieving student at the academy–the best in my grade, in fact.

     I went into the classroom next door to seek out a familiar head of purple hair. As always, Song Ha-gyeon was sitting next to the window, gazing out. I climbed up the carpeted stairs and sat in front of him. “Ha-gyeon, did you hear? There’s a sunbae who was chosen as a Warrior from this school.” 1

    I told him that I wanted to go visit the chosen hero–perhaps I’d be of some use to him.

     Song Ha-gyeon nodded his head quietly, “Ah. Is that it?” After a pause, he continued, “…You’ll be a great boon.”

     “I didn’t tell you this just to fish for compliments. It’s just… I thought you’d ask me for more information or try to stop me.”

     “It feels like you’ve already made your decision.”

     I suppose that was true. To be frank, I was trying to find the right words to ask Song Ha-gyeon to come with me. I was gauging his feelings with my question, but his response was lukewarm. I couldn’t tell whether or not that was a good sign. I was used to this sort of behavior from him though.

     Since it seemed the other had no strong feelings, I visited that sunbae alone.

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     Park Yul, someone I had never met before, was an affable person. Friendly, despite the fact that he was two grades above me. “Hello. You must be Raen.” He smiled brightly while looking at my name tag. What a soft sounding voice. He stared at me straight in the eye and said, “…I see. So that’s how it is. Thanks for coming here, Raen-ah.”

     When I asked if there was anything I could do to help, Park Yul explained to me about the warrior’s oath.

     There wasn’t much to it. Park Yul just said that if I wanted to become a warrior, I simply had to go to the temple with him and make a pledge. Since Sunbae had verified me himself,   no additional verification was needed.

     When I stated I’d make the oath, Park Yul nodded. He continued calmly, “However, what about your friend? The one with the long, purple hair tied to the side…”

     “Mm, are you talking about Song Ha-gyeon?”

     “I believe so. Do you happen to know where he is?”

     “I know, but… What business do you have with him? I said I was coming to see you, but he didn’t seem to be too interested.”

     “Really?” Park Yul laughed.

     I had no idea why he was searching for Song Ha-gyeon, but we eventually started walking to him. When we arrived, Park Yul Sunbae asked if Song Ha-gyeon would also take the warrior’s oath. His voice was stable–as if he had already completed a purchase, and had only come to receive the promised goods.

     “…Yeah.”

     That was the end of Song Ha-gyeon’s answer. Honestly, was it alright to make light of this decision? He didn’t seem all that motivated earlier?

     After Park Yul left, I asked my friend, “You didn’t come with me before!”

    “…Mhmm.”

     “Are you doing this willingly? You might not be able to attend the Academy for a few years.”

     “Not really. It doesn’t matter.”

     “Wait, you shouldn’t be so flippant or give such a vague response about your livelihood. How could you do something like that to yourself…”

     Song Ha-gyeon looked at me blankly, as if he couldn’t understand what my problem was.

     ‘That. That expression itself was the problem.’

     In any case, just like that, Song Ha-gyeon and I signed a warrior’s oath with Park Yul.

 

 

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Sun Yihan:

     Raen’s explanation concluded; I nodded as I listened closely. “Raen Hyung, then what about Min Joo-hyuk?”

     “Joo-hyuk hasn’t told me how he came to sign a warrior’s oath.”

     Well. I suppose that’s valid.

     The process of becoming a warrior was fascinating. I could see why Raen called Park Yul ‘Leader Hyung.’ There was something else that triggered my curiosity. The system said the warriors were sacrificing themselves for the world…

     “What do you do when you become a warrior? Save the world?”

    “Mmm…Well, to put it grandly, yes.” Looking at me, Raen smiled slightly and continued, “To be exact, we deal with demonic beasts and close the cracks in the world.”

     Raen pulled a white pillow from his bed and raised it into the air. He drew a line with his hand from top to bottom, the pillowcase sliced apart following his gesture. “This is a crack. Demonic beasts flood out from within.”

    Raen twisted his fingers; cotton fell out in clumps from the pillow. Interestingly, though, the cotton was pitch black.

     “Um, is that the color of those demonic beasts?”

     “That’s right. And, when we drive back all these beasts…”

    The cotton, frozen in the air, hardened and turned gray. Then, it scattered and disappeared without a trace.

     “When all the beasts that flood out of the crack vanish, the crack closes as well.” Raen deftly snapped his fingers. The tear in the pillowcase sewed itself back together. He then floated the pillow back onto the bed and laid it in its original place neatly.

     My curiosity was nearly sated. Considering what the system told me, fighting against these demonic beasts must be incredibly dangerous. I supposed I needed to be on my guard.

 

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     After that day, Raen gradually used increasingly complicated and high level magic so as to not strain my body. Meanwhile, I’d been constantly trying to resolve Raen’s doubts.

     “Raen Hyung. There are so many kinds of magic out there, but is there really no such thing as healing magic?”

     “That’s right–nobody, not even me, has managed to use something like that so far. Until Yihan, that is.”

     “…I see.”

     “Mm, there’s no need to be down about this. Relax.” Raen spoke quickly before summoning a single caramel square. Then, he brought it before me using magic. I peeled off the wrapper and popped the caramel into my mouth–so sweet and delicious.

     Of course, despite the added sweetness, my mouth still tasted bitter when I thought about Raen’s still unsuccessful quest.

     “Yihan. You’re not feeling uncomfortable anywhere right now, are you?”

     “There’s nothing wrong at all.”

     “I suppose even summoning magic is fine.”

     A pen moved gently over the paper in the air. Glancing at the pen’s scritches for one moment, Raen said, almost as a passing statement, “I’m not saying that healing magic is bad, but I’d rather you not use it too often.”

     “Why?”

     “There’s reason and logic to everything in this world, even when it comes to things that shouldn’t exist… A reason for everything.” His tone sounded strangely dogmatic. His serious gaze met mine. I could see my figure clearly in his gleaming gold eyes.

 

 

 

TL: Sorry for updating super late after the hiatus >.< I think I have covid so I have some brain fog today and yesterday.

Also, Park Yul? Still very VERY sus.

Footnotes

Sunbae = Senpai in Japanese. Literally it means your senior in school, work, or other professional areas of life. 

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