227 — Hero (3)

At the moment Su Ok-bin had thoroughly dealt with the traitors of the cult and neatly wrapped things up.

‘Ugh…’

I let out a small groan.

I barely lifted my heavy and tired eyelids upward.

I soon realized I had dozed off.

‘Ah, damn…’

I only moved my eyes to look around.
The ruined city center and the acrid smell.
Voices of chaos everywhere, calling for help and healing.

Having defeated the <Kirin>, and finished talking with Su Ok-bin, I realized only a few minutes had passed.

I must have been really exhausted.
Usually, I never faint twice…

‘My whole body aches…’

At times like this, a panacea is needed.

I wanted to hug our Meowi and hear her ‘Meow~’.

And while at it, pinch Ju Na-young and Moon Bora’s cheeks to hear ‘Yongaaa! Hooongengeng!’.

‘Haah…’

I tried to get up.
I couldn’t lie down forever.

Then, a sensation and sound caught my attention.

Soft.

“Heut!”
“…?

A firm yet soft feeling in my hand.
At the same time, a cute, tiny voice.

I turned my gaze in curiosity.

I met eyes with Peng Jin-ah, who was blushing and quietly avoiding my gaze.

Wh-what on earth is this situation…?
Before I could properly grasp the situation, Peng Jin-ah spoke.

“Y-you’re awake. S-Student Yu Seha. Sorry for suddenly touching your thigh… it’s a bit… a sensitive spot…”
“…Uh, what?”

Huh? Thigh?
After a few blinks, I quickly understood the situation.
My mouth dropped open.

‘Damn.’

Currently, my head was resting on Peng Jin-ah’s thigh as she knelt.

This is the classic event known as the ‘lap pillow situation’ often seen in romantic comedies.

And it was happening to me now.

‘Holy shit…’

Looking closely, my body was wrapped in bandages.
Not ordinary regular bandages.
They were all made by tearing the training clothes Peng Jin-ah was wearing.

Thanks to that…
Um, her, um.
She was now in a state close to rags, revealing quite a bit of skin here and there.
Underneath, I could see white underwear and… a faint pinkish area.

‘…Hoo.’

I closed my eyes and took a small deep breath.
I barely regained my composure.

For a moment, memories from a few days ago came to mind.
The night I spent with Moon Bora.

I tried to get up quickly.
But Peng Jin-ah, who was quicker, stopped me with force.

“S-sorry!”
“…! You must not get up!”

Push!

She pressed down hard!
She could have stopped me with her hand, but she deliberately used her upper body to block me.

A sweet scent mixed with sweat, like a cafe latte, wafted from her nose.

And the embarrassing area was now in full view.

Whether she was aware or not,
Peng Jin-ah was busy explaining the situation.

“I’ve contacted them. The rescue team will arrive soon. Until then, rest! Student Yu Seha. Your current physical condition is absolutely not good!”
“U-uh… um, um!”
“Hey! Stay still! At times like this, you must rely on your teacher!”
“N-not that… there’s a problem!”
“…Problem?”
“I-it’s…”

It touched!

A scream close to a shout.
Peng Jin-ah tilted her head.
She glanced down.

Because she bent over deeply, the swordsmanship pouch pressed blatantly against my face.

“…!”

Realizing what she had done, Peng Jin-ah blushed deeply.
She quickly moved away.
Thanks to that, I escaped from the soft heaven(?).

“Hoo, hua…”
“S-sorry, Student Yu Seha. I caused you an unpleasant experience.”
“Ah, no… it’s not… like that.”
“…Is that so? Th-that’s a relief.”

Peng Jin-ah and I said nothing for a while.
We were both too exhausted.
Neither of us had any energy left.
A victory achieved by pouring everything out, followed by an overwhelming emptiness.

The first to break the silence was Peng Jin-ah.
More precisely, she gently hugged me.

“…Teacher?”
“… Student Yu Seha. Actually… I have many things I want to say.”

I flinched slightly at her trembling gesture.
It was a similar vibration.
After the Jing Daram incident.
When she hurriedly came and hugged me while crying, her voice was similar.

“…You are… too reckless.”
“…Teacher.”
“I told you from the start. You didn’t need to get involved directly in this matter. Just provide information and watch from behind would have been enough…”
“…But if I did that—”
“You are still a student! A young student!”

Peng Jin-ah’s teary eyes pierced me.
I have been feeling it these days.
Lately, I realized she surprisingly cries a lot.

“You don’t have to risk your life like this. You don’t have to struggle in pain!”
“…”
“I respect your opinion. That’s why I silently followed this time. I don’t want to suppress you. But I still don’t want to see my disciple get hurt.”
“…I’m sorry, Teacher.”

I bowed my head and apologized to her.

This apology contained many meanings.

An apology for this incident.

And… an apology for the reckless things I will continue to do.

Peng Jin-ah seemed to understand this.
She looked at me with a sad expression and gently stroked my forehead.

“…Yes. Just as Su Ok-bin said.”
“…What?”
“That damn woman said you are not someone who should be locked up…”

She didn’t want to admit it…
But she felt it clearly this time.

“You will continue to swing your sword at the approaching enemies, even if it means you fall.”
“…”
“I won’t stop you. But I will be with you.”
“Teacher…”
“Like the kids around you… I will also help you.”

Please allow that much.

“…I also ask for your help.”
“…Alright.”

Peng Jin-ah hugged me.
Her small, delicate shoulders.
I patted her back, expressing…
My apologies and gratitude.

A time of many emotions stirring.
At that moment, a subtle presence and a slight sting on the back of my head.

I activated [Unprecedented Sense].
I realized someone was watching me.

I turned around.
On a hill several kilometers away.
I met eyes with a woman in a robe bearing the <Dragon Sword Mir> emblem on her shoulder.
A slight smile appeared in her distinct deep green eyes.

I recognized her immediately.

‘Ah! The one who used ‘Petit Meteor’ earlier.’

I was too weak, so rudely, I just bowed my head in thanks.

The robed woman waved her hand as if to say ‘don’t mind’ and turned away.

She didn’t ask for any reward.

I thought that was cool.

At the same time, I silently vowed.

‘I have to ask Ju Na-young about it.’

Who that person was.
And once I find out, I will definitely go thank her.

Thus, the evil schemes and conspiracies.
The S-rank monster <Kirin> raid boss that threatened the cult’s survival.
Having brilliantly overcome the crisis, I ended safely, having grown even more.

The robed woman who greeted Yu Seha slowly walked away.

Before long, hundreds of clan members wearing the red-tinted <Dragon Sword Mir> uniforms began to follow her.

Each member was at least B-rank or higher, making it a truly formidable armed force in South Korea.

The robed woman walked proudly as the leader.

Soon, an armored woman, presumed to be the deputy commander, approached her.

The woman removed her helmet.

Revealed inside was Cho Seol-hwa.
Leader of the <Red Wyvern> team belonging to…
Dragon Sword Mir.

Cho Seol-hwa immediately got to the point without the usual ‘thank you for your hard work.’

“You didn’t need to intervene personally.”
“…If saving those people over there means anything, then it’s a cheap price to pay.”
“The cult.”

At those words, the robed woman stopped.
She looked steadily at Cho Seol-hwa.
In Cho Seol-hwa’s eyes burned a cold blue flame.
It was anger, resentment, and unmistakably the flame of hatred.

“They are the enemy. The more of them die, the more it benefits us.”
“…”

Truly cruel words.
Words that don’t seem human.

The robed woman silently watched, but Cho Seol-hwa showed no sign of backing down.

“You probably know. When the eldest lady died, the first to ask for help was the cult.”

They trampled and ignored our help.
Beasts who don’t see people as people under the name of holiness.
This was a perfect opportunity to bring them down.

The robed woman smiled bitterly at those words.
She couldn’t completely disagree.

If she had stepped forward from the start, this raid would have ended more easily.

But the reason she didn’t intervene and watched passively.
The reason she listened to the dying screams.

Many interests were tangled, but…
Ultimately, the biggest reason was her anger at the cult that mocked her daughter’s death.

She still remembered.
Those women who babbled while looking at her daughter’s corpse.

—But it’s strange. There were so many guards beside your eldest daughter, yet she was poisoned.
—That’s why holiness is necessary. If the sacred deity’s power was with her, she wouldn’t have been poisoned. Maybe…

Are you pretending not to be dead to get the villain and mine raid rights?

They weren’t idiots and surely knew she was poisoned yet they said such things deliberately.
It was a petty provocation to sully <Dragon Sword Mir> this time.

She knew.
It was childish talk.
But she couldn’t stand the blood boiling.

The bishop who brought up her child’s death because of lack of holiness.

She remembered tearing the skin off his face right there.

The robed woman closed her eyes and looked at Cho Seol-hwa.

“Team Leader Cho Seol-hwa. What you say is not wrong.”
“…Then!”
“But naturally… not all members of the <Cult> are like that. And especially not the warriors who risked their lives on the front lines.”

Cho Seol-hwa denied it.

“Paladins, acolytes, or novice priests, they are all in cahoots. They were indoctrinated with inferiority about holiness since childhood. We cannot trust them!”
“…Do they really seem like that?”
“Huh?”

The robed woman pointed her finger.
Cho Seol-hwa looked down the hill.

Then, a scene unfolded…

She couldn’t help but be surprised.