A Father...?

Cheon Su-ho, having landed with a hero landing from some high place again today, turned toward the gaze glaring at him and spotted Lee Ro-un.

“Oh! Student Council President. Good morning.”
“It’s afternoon.”
“Then good afternoon!”

Good afternoon, my ass. This idiot skipped all his classes and only showed up at the academy in the afternoon.
Ro-un released [Protection] and rubbed the startled children’s backs.

“There’s nothing to be alarmed about. He’s just an ordinary academy student.”

That ‘ordinary’ was only in the sense that he was a student of Jiri Academy.
For the sake of the children’s innocence, Ro-un swallowed the rest.
Realizing that Ro-un was carrying children in his arms, Cheon Su-ho looked startled.

“Oh dear! If I had known there were children here, I would have held the pose a little longer.”

You’re the one who’s surprised?
At the sight of him showing not a trace of remorse, Ro-un hugged the children closer and decided to get out of here fast.
The best thing to do was avoid a dangerous person who gave him a headache just by being in sight.
But the number one entry on his blacklist trailed right after him.

“President, who are those children? Could they be—”

If you’re about to say they’re my younger siblings, stop right there.
He could let it slide when it came from the princess, who knew nothing, but he had no desire to hear ‘younger sibling’ from a fellow academy student, especially the number one on his blacklist.

“Are they your kids?”
“…What?”

Fine, at least he’d avoided the word he didn’t want to hear, but what the hell was that supposed to mean.
The baby dragon and baby tiger are my kids?
Suddenly turned into a father of two, Ro-un’s face twisted up.

“Oh! So the president can make a face like that too. I thought the muscles in your face were fixed into a smile. You can make other expressions?”
“Stop saying useless things.”
“That way of talking is new too! You seem more mature than the president I know, but your outside looks exactly the same. It’s fascinating.”

You’re the one who’s fascinating.

‘For someone who can’t even sense mana, his instincts are still annoyingly sharp.’

Watching Cheon Su-ho circle around him like an overeager puppy, Ro-un clenched his fist.

Cheon Su-ho.
Someone who stood out even at Jiri Academy, where the useless ones tended to gather.
His personality was good, but he had a fatal flaw severe enough to land him at Jiri Academy.

‘. That was the status abnormality he had.’

Even among Awakeners, who had to awaken their mana the moment they awakened, he was afflicted with , unable to sense mana at all.
A status abnormality with neither known cause nor known solution.
As a backlash, his instincts had developed to the level of a trait, but they couldn’t make up for an innate inability to use mana.
Even entering an otherworld passage was impossible without mana, since one needed it to withstand the otherworld’s energy.
An Awakener unable to raid passages was no different from an ordinary person.

‘If he’d even just been F-rank, he could at least clear low-grade passages easily.’

Lee Ro-un remembered the way he had performed in the practical exam.
If his mana hadn’t been marked with a dash, he had more than enough combat skill to have functioned as a proper Awakener.

“So, President. Since when did you have two kids?”
“Saint. This human is quite rude.”
“Hi?”
“Haha! Hi to you too.”

He wasn’t saying hi to you.
With a deadpan face, Ro-un ignored Cheon Su-ho and walked past him.

“President? You’re just leaving? Hahahaha. You’re not telling me to go to class today!”
Whether you go or not has nothing to do with me.

“Looks like you’re busy taking care of children today. See you tomorrow, President!”

I’m not seeing you tomorrow either.
Refuting Cheon Su-ho in his head, Ro-un went into the building where the chairman’s office was.
I need to get these kids back and go rest at the dorm.

“Saint. Who was that?”
“Cheon Su-ho. The owner of the trait .”
“Oh. So that one is the Hero of this age.”
“So there were people called Heroes in the past too?”
“Hi?”

At In-woo’s words, both Ro-un and the white-haired child showed interest at the same time.

“In the old days, there were quite a few beings who possessed the trait . Most of them evolved their trait all the way to S. History recorded such beings as heroes.”

Stop.

At In-woo’s words, Ro-un stopped in his tracks.
So there were other cases of traits evolving besides mine?
The trait can evolve too?

“Princess. Traits can evolve too?”
“It’s rare, but the trait is one that can evolve.”

If so… if his trait evolved, could that solve the Cheon Su-ho had?

‘If I could borrow that bastard’s strength in exchange for helping his trait evolve, I might be able to stop incidents I couldn’t stop alone.’

‘There’s no guarantee that Cheon Su-ho, once cured of his status abnormality, would meekly listen to me. He already runs around like that now. Would he listen to me then? And I don’t even know how to evolve his trait. Better drop it.’

Ro-un cleanly gave up on adding Cheon Su-ho to the list of people he could use.
Since whether evolving his trait could overcome was uncertain, it was best not to dwell on it.
Looks like I’ll have to stop the Calamities alone.

“There’s still a lot humans don’t know. You’re impressive, Princess.”
“Ahem! I am one who will one day become the Tiger Clan’s Great Shamaness, so of course I’m impressive.”
“That’s right. You are impressive.”
“Aheeeem!”
“Hiii!”
“Yeah, yeah. You go on and become impressive too.”
“Hi!”

Praising the two children, Ro-un headed up toward the chairman’s office.

True to his word that he would remain at the academy for a week, Yong Chang-jin stayed at Jiri Academy.
He seemed to go out at night, and most likely headed for the snowy peak of Mount Jiri where his mate had stayed.

‘What do I care where that dragon sleeps?’

He’s a dragon, supposedly. He can manage himself.
Whether the dragon slept rough or pitched a tent, Ro-un stopped caring.
He had more important things to worry about than whether a dragon sleeping outdoors might end up with a crooked mouth.

“You! Get down this instant!”
“Hi.”
“Princess. This child still isn’t used to a human body yet, so he can’t walk for long.”
“Eek! This one clearly saw him running around yesterday!”

Huh? Come to think of it.
Ro-un remembered chasing after the white-haired child as he energetically ran around yesterday.
Then why was I still carrying him even after seeing that?
As the princess’s words made Ro-un try to come to his senses, the child poked his cheek.

“What?”

The white-haired child gave a little grin.
At the innocent, adorable smile, Ro-un forgot what he had just been thinking about entirely.
The child who had stolen Ro-un’s focus stretched out a finger and pointed somewhere.

“Hi!”
“You want to go over there?”
“Hi!”
“All right. Let’s go there today.”
“Eek! Devious thing! Benefactor! Do not be deceived!”
“Would you like to come too, Princess?”
“…This one’s legs hurt as well.”
“All right. Then come here too, Princess.”

Swallowing a laugh, Ro-un lifted In-woo into his other arm.
She did not want to act the same way as that devious reptile, but the Saint’s arms were far too comfortable to refuse.

“Princess, you didn’t see it yesterday, but that’s the main building where the students take classes.”
“The building is quite large!”
“The places where they take classes differ depending on their aptitude.”
“Then are the classes divided as well?”
“Classes are assigned randomly regardless of aptitude or trait. They take common subjects like that, and then from the second year onward, classes are divided according to their awakened abilities.”
“Hm. I see! So you take classes there too, Benefactor!”

At the sparkling gaze looking up at him, Ro-un quietly avoided those pure eyes and answered,

“No. I’ve been skipping class lately.”
“I understand! It is because you are superior to the other students that you do not attend class.”
“Mm. That’s not exactly wrong.”

I’ve already taken those classes once before, so isn’t there no need either way?
Ro-un hid the truth from In-woo, who looked about the age of a first- or second-grader.
Children that young didn’t need to know about cutting class.

“Hi.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Hiii!”

Seeing where the white-haired child was pointing, Ro-un let out a quiet ‘Ah.’
In-woo asked with an innocent look.

“So those humans are skipping because they already know all the lesson material too!”

No, Princess.
At In-woo pointing at the students sprawled lazily around the flower bed while skipping class again today, Ro-un lifted his head and stared at the sky.

‘Blindingly bright, damn it.’

It was so bright he felt like tears might slip out.
Unable to show the children anything inappropriate, Ro-un turned a bright smile on them.

“Would you like to go see the pond?”
“The pond?”

Ro-un guided them toward the pond on the opposite side from where those students were sprawled out.

“Our academy has a pond where a celestial maiden might once have come down to bathe.”
“Oh. As expected of an academy attended by my benefactor.”
“Yeees. Well, I suppose.”

Ro-un could not bring himself to say that every famous mountain seemed to have some legend about celestial maidens bathing there.

“Do you want to go see it too?”
“Hi.”

Quoting the sort of academy legend every academy had, Ro-un had just barely managed to redirect the children’s attention and head for the pond when the students sprawled in the flower bed started shouting noisily.

“I’m telling you, I really saw it!”
“Ha. This bastard’s lying again.”
“I’m not lying. This time it’s real!”
“You said that last time too.”
“Just ignore him.”

At the noise, Ro-un could see the children starting to turn their heads.
Those bastards.
Of all moments, now?!
Grinding his teeth, Ro-un picked up his pace to nearly a run.

“I’m serious! The president had kids!”

Slip!

‘I had what now?’

Ro-un, trying to ignore them and get to the pond fast, stumbled.
His face was full of disbelief as he turned back.
I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak.
The two children, with their sharp hearing, had heard it too and looked at Ro-un.

“Benefactor. You have children?”
“Hiii…?”

I do not, so could you please stop asking with such horrified faces?
Forcing the corners of his mouth up through his pounding headache, Ro-un answered,

“It’s not like that. Th-that student just has the wrong idea.”

As if refuting him, a voice burst out from the group of students.

“No, I’m serious!”

Shut up already.
At the voice barging right over his words as if answering him, Ro-un clamped his mouth shut.
Otherwise, he felt like he was going to curse in front of the children.

“Whoa. Then the reason the president suddenly said he was dropping out is?”
“Because of the kids! Not one, but two, I’m telling you!”

In-woo and the white-haired child in Ro-un’s arms both widened their eyes into circles.
Seeing their already big eyes grow so wide they looked as if they might pop out and roll away, Ro-un almost let his face relax without thinking, but he quickly pulled himself together and said,

“No. It’s really not.”

Even at Ro-un’s denial, the children still looked unconvinced.
Humans, tigers, and dragons all like juicy stories just the same!
At the sight of children already awakening to the taste for scandal, Ro-un looked up at the sky again.
The sky was still blinding.

“I saw the president carrying two kids yesterday! They looked old enough to be starting elementary school soon!”

Yesterday?
If it was children I knew yesterday….
Ro-un’s gaze dropped downward.

“So people got to see your children yesterday, Benefactor! What a shame. You should show them to me too!”
“Hi.”

That would be you.
Only then did Ro-un begin to understand how this whole thing had turned out, and the strength abruptly drained from his body.
With that odd sensation of limpness, Ro-un slowly turned around.
Behind him came the sounds of students floundering deeper into a swamp of misunderstanding.

“…The president had a shotgun wedding?”
“At that point, when the hell did he even manage it?”
“Damn it. I thought the president would get married even later than me.”
“Hey! Is that what matters right now!?”
“Then what does matter?”
“…Good point.”

Leaving the students flailing pointlessly behind him, Ro-un headed for the pond.
He was planning to cool his temper by staring at the clear water.
But near the pond, Ro-un ran into an unexpected figure.

“President! I went to the classroom and heard that you skipped class! Since the students didn’t seem to know you were busy taking care of your children, I told them the president was occupied with child-rearing! Hahahaha!”

Surge!

‘That whole stupid rumor spread because of you?!’

For the first time since regressing, Ro-un fervently wished for an attack skill.
Seeing Cheon Su-ho looking at him as if asking for praise, like he’d done something well, Ro-un clenched his fist tight.
If he could just punch that smug face once, he’d die happy.

‘But if I did, only my hand would hurt.’

Damn combat-type!
Even with his Strength and Stamina up, he still couldn’t land a solid one on an Awakener with !
It was unfair enough to make him want to cry.

“Hm? Why that face, President? You look like you’re about to cry from sheer injustice.”
“You noticed.”
“Hahahaha! I must have seen wrong, right? The president wouldn’t cry just because he felt wronged, would he!”

The president you knew died when I returned from three years in the future.
Setting aside the cynical thought, Ro-un spun around with a snap.
Because if he kept dealing with the number one on his blacklist, he felt like his insides would explode even more.

“President! Where are you going?”
“Somewhere without you. More importantly, I’m not the president anymore.”
“Hm? If the president isn’t the president, then what is he?”
“Hoo.”
“Saint! Your complexion looks poor! Are you feeling ill?”
“Hiii?”
“No. I’m healthy.”

Holding back the urge to hit someone right then and there with the warmth of the children in his arms, Ro-un answered.

“Call me Lee Ro-un.”
“Lee Ro-un! I see! So the president became Lee Ro-un. When did you change your name?”

It was Lee Ro-un all along, you idiot.
Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.
Pulling the children gently against him, Ro-un took a long deep breath.

“What is it, Benefactor?”
“Hi?”
“I’m taking a moment to recover my peace of mind.”

The children looked up at Ro-un with puzzled faces at his unfamiliar behavior, but he brushed it off with an answer they could not understand anyway.
As if checking whether this was really Ro-un, the white-haired child poked his cheek.

Poke, poke! Poke poke poke poke!

At first it seemed like he was poking just to check, but then, apparently finding the sensation amusing, the child became engrossed in poking his cheek.
Even In-woo, cradled in his other arm, started with ‘Is that fun?’ and then began poking his other cheek too.
The sensation on both cheeks slowly dragged Ro-un’s attention in that direction.

“You’re close with the children! What a fine father-child relationship!”

That’s not it.
With his mood jerking all over the place because of Cheon Su-ho, Ro-un decided to get rid of him fast.

“What did you want from me?”

Say what you came to say and get it over with.

“Oh! Right! There is something I wish to ask of you.”
“To me? What is it.”

I’ll at least pretend to listen.
Thinking he would just half-listen to whatever Cheon Su-ho wanted, Ro-un jerked his chin.

“Would you perhaps go with me to the C-rank passage in Gokseong?”
“What…?”

Gokseong. C-rank.
At that combination of words, impossible to ignore, Ro-un forgot all about half-listening and glared at Cheon Su-ho.

“You can’t go in.”
“I know. But Lee Ro-un, you can.”

As he said, Ro-un had no restrictions on entering passages.
An A-rank healer was needed anywhere, and since Lee Ro-un had entered passages both to support other guilds at the Association’s request and to handle private favors for those pigs, he had no passage-entry restrictions.
With his face hardened, Ro-un spoke to Cheon Su-ho.

“I’m against it. You can’t use your power inside a passage. The two of us alone can’t clear one. And no one else is going to want to enter a passage with a minor Awakener suffering from and a healer.”
“No, if you help me, the two of us can clear it. The residents of the otherworld that come out of that passage are spirit forms, so your skills should work on them just fine.”

At Cheon Su-ho’s words, a resolute light settled over Ro-un’s face.
I thought maybe, but it really is that passage.

“No.”

This wasn’t because he was worried about Cheon Su-ho.
It was because that passage was not something to meddle with carelessly.

The place Cheon Su-ho wanted to go.
It was a dual passage hiding an S-rank passage within.