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Chapter 148: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 148



On the way home, Yoon Si-woo was still deeply immersed in the lingering emotions from the zoo. Just thinking about the photo that now served as his phone's wallpaper made it impossible for him to stop smiling. As a result, every time he glanced at Scarlet walking beside him, he found himself looking at her with even warmer eyes than before.


It was the first time in his life that a day had felt so enjoyable.


And he knew that such joy would have been impossible without the girl walking by his side.


The thought of Scarlet brought a sincere feeling of gratitude to his heart, and he expressed it to her.


"Today was really fun. Scarlet, thanks to you, I had a great holiday."


In response to his words, Scarlet merely nodded silently.


He hoped that she had enjoyed herself as much as he had.


As he thought about that, a desire slowly grew in his heart. After hesitating about whether or not he should speak, Yoon Si-woo finally made a decision.


After all, just as he had unexpectedly ended up on something like a date with Scarlet today, it was only by summoning his courage that he could achieve what he wanted.


So he took a deep breath and said to her,


"Hey, if it's okay with you, let's go out together again sometime. If there's a place you want to go, just let me know."


Although he didn’t have the courage to say that he hoped it would just be the two of them next time, he still managed to voice his feelings honestly. Unfortunately, however, the reaction he had hoped for didn’t come.


The moment he spoke, Scarlet averted her gaze slightly, as if she wasn’t too keen on the idea, and the courage he had mustered seemed to dissipate like dust. Feeling disheartened, Yoon Si-woo murmured,


"Oh... I mean, it doesn’t have to be, just if you feel like it..."


As he trudged along, they soon arrived home. The moment they did, Scarlet bowed her head slightly, as if apologizing, and spoke,


"Sorry, I'm a bit tired. I'll go to my room for a bit..."


With those words, Scarlet closed the door and went inside.


Was she really that tired?


Usually, after returning from an outing, she would always prepare a meal, so her unusual behavior worried him. Yoon Si-woo stood staring at her door for a moment before nodding and making up his mind.


Since she seemed exhausted, and since he wanted to repay her for the enjoyable day, he decided to prepare dinner himself.


And since he was going to cook, he wanted to make something delicious with some high-quality ingredients.


He realized he would need to go shopping for that, so he turned around and headed back out.


What kind of meal would she like?


He remembered that she seemed to enjoy sweet desserts the other day, so maybe he could buy some ingredients for a dessert as well.


As he pondered this while walking toward the market, Yoon Si-woo suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.


It was an unsettling, ominous feeling.


It was too chilling to dismiss as mere nerves, and the sensation ran down his spine like a cold shiver.


He stopped in his tracks.


Recently, Yoon Si-woo had been gradually awakening to the true abilities of the Holy Swords through Lucy. As a result, the original powers of the Holy Swords had been slightly enhanced, making his senses as sharp as those of a superhuman.


His sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch had all become exceptionally heightened, along with an indescribable, almost mystical sense often referred to as a sixth sense.


And that sense was now warning him.


Something bad was about to happen.


As he internally wrestled with what could possibly go wrong, an earlier incident flashed through his mind.


When he returned with drinks at the zoo, he had found Scarlet standing with a hardened expression in front of a sleeping Rion. When he had asked if something was wrong, she had replied that everything was fine, yet the Holy Sword of Truth had given an ambiguous response, neither confirming nor denying her words.


The memory of that moment suddenly weighed heavily on his mind, and his expression grew increasingly grim.


Yoon Si-woo quickly turned around and began walking briskly back to the house he had just left.


Nothing's wrong, right?


He kept mumbling this to himself, but the closer he got to home, the more intense the ominous feeling in his chest became, and his pace quickened.


As he was nearing the house, he faintly heard a series of thudding and crashing sounds coming from somewhere.


It was the chilling sound of something soft and fleshy being struck and shattered by something hard.


As those unsettling sounds continued to echo, Yoon Si-woo’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted as his legs carried him at full speed toward the house.


When he finally flung open the door, the sound rang out.


A loud shattering noise, like glass breaking.


The sound of the happy day shattering into pieces.


And then,


"Noooooo!!!"


A scream of despair, wrenched from the depths of Scarlet’s soul.


That scream carried the metallic scent of blood.


Yoon Si-woo dashed toward the source of that ominous scent and forcefully pushed open the door. What he saw made his blood run cold.


The walls were stained with crimson spots of blood, and the floor was littered with shards of a shattered mirror that reflected the same red hue.


In the midst of it all stood a red-haired girl, her dress soaked in blood, holding a sharp shard of glass poised over her chest.


The shard gleamed ominously as she prepared to strike.


Fortunately, Yoon Si-woo’s hand reached her arm before the shard could pierce her heart.


He had been incredibly lucky.


Had he been even a little further away, had he not returned in time...


He didn’t even want to imagine what horrifying scene might have unfolded before his eyes.


Panting, with her face twisted in agony, Scarlet looked at him as he asked,


“...Why, why are you doing this, Scarlet?”


“...Please, don’t stop me.”


The way she pleaded, with tears in her eyes, made her seem so desperate.


Her arms were tensed, as if she would bring down the shard the moment he released his grip.


Yoon Si-woo couldn’t understand her.


The disparity between the girl he had seen at the zoo and the one standing before him now was too great for him to comprehend why she was doing this.


“...Tell me why. There has to be a reason.”


When he asked, Scarlet hesitated for a moment before responding.


“...The drawing, on the bed.”


Scarlet gestured toward the bed as she spoke.


Glancing over, Yoon Si-woo saw a drawing lying there, as if it had been torn from a sketchbook.


Carefully prying the shard from Scarlet’s grip so she wouldn’t hurt herself, Yoon Si-woo reached out and picked up the drawing.


The moment he saw it, he couldn’t help but gasp.


The drawing was drenched in red.


The background was filled with swirling flames, and at the center of it all was a red-haired girl with a sorrowful expression, a sword plunged into her chest.


At her feet lay a white-haired boy, seemingly lifeless.


Even at a glance, it was clear that the figures depicted were him and Scarlet, but...


What kind of drawing was this? He couldn’t make sense of it and asked her.


“...What is this supposed to be?”


“Rion... Rion drew it...”


At the mention of Rion’s name, Yoon Si-woo was taken aback.


Rion, the child from the orphanage who was especially fond of Scarlet. The same cute child who had played with them today had drawn this grim image?


Sensing his confusion, Scarlet added more context.


“...Rion can see the future. She drew this after seeing you and me today. Do you understand what this means?”


Seeing the future?


Yoon Si-woo stared at the drawing again.


If what she said was true, then this was the future awaiting him and Scarlet.


No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t accept it, even if Rion truly had the ability to see the future.


But Scarlet, refusing to accept such a future, pleaded with him as she clung to his arms.


“Because of me... you die because of me. I could never accept that... So please, let me go... I’d rather die now than let that happen...”


Hearing those words, it felt like his heart was being torn apart.


She wasn’t afraid of her own death.


She was terrified of his.


She was willing to make such an extreme choice just to prevent that future.


She was such an infuriatingly kind person.


“...Scarlet.”


“...Or would you prefer to do it yourself? You remember the promise we made, right?”


When he called her name, she mentioned a promise.


Yoon Si-woo remembered that promise all too well.


That one day, when she was no longer herself.


When that day came.


Her lips parted slowly.


“Kill me.”


The moment he heard those words, he inhaled sharply.


The truth revealed by the Holy Sword of Truth was so unbearably sad.


It made him so incredibly angry.


He took a deep breath and then exhaled.


“...Hoo.”


Then, he quietly drew the Holy Sword of Truth from thin air.


As he pointed the sword at Scarlet, she slowly closed her eyes, misunderstanding his intentions.


But he had no intention of killing her.


“Just a small cut.”


He whispered softly to her as she closed her eyes and cut a few strands of her hair.


“You told me once, didn’t you? That you trust me more than anyone else in the world.”


As he spoke, he tied her hair around


As Scarlet opened her eyes and stared blankly at him, Yoon Si-woo felt a surge of anger.


"Was that a lie?"


"...It wasn't a lie."


"Am I really that untrustworthy?"


"...No, you're not."


"Then why?"


It wasn’t that she seemed to trust the drawing more than him, but rather,


"It hurts that you trust a single drawing more than me."


It hurt him because he felt like he hadn’t given her enough trust to overcome her fears about that stupid drawing.


Anger swelled up inside him, and he spoke to her with determination.


"I'm strong. Probably much stronger than you think. And if you're still worried, I'll become even stronger. Strong enough to fight and defeat any witch."


He wanted her to know that he was strong.


And that he would only grow stronger.


So she should have nothing to fear.


He even considered overpowering her with brute force to convince her that no matter what she did, she could never defeat him. But he didn’t want to resort to such foolish methods.


Instead, he firmly grasped her shoulders.


He wanted her to feel secure, even just a little.


And then he spoke.


"So, I’m never going to die because of you. Not ever. So don’t worry about that stupid drawing, okay?"


"But..."


"Scarlet."


Her anxious gaze only made his anger flare up more.


The more anger he felt, the sadder he became.


He was frustrated with himself, knowing that his own shortcomings had driven her to say such things.


He had made her hide her true feelings and say those awful words.


And so, he asked her,


"…If you don’t want to die, just say so."


The truth was, she didn’t want to die.


That was her real feeling.


What she had asked of him before—to kill her if she ever lost herself to the witch—was different.


She didn’t want to die just because of some vague fear about the future.


Even if she appeared to accept death, she was still a normal person.


A person who wanted to experience more joy and happiness.


It hurt him deeply to realize that he had made her say something that wasn’t in her heart. So, he pleaded with her,


"If it’s too hard to bear, say it’s hard. If you’re worried or scared, don’t ask me to kill you—just tell me you’re worried and scared."


She lowered her head as if realizing he had seen right through her, and Yoon Si-woo showed her the strands of hair tied to the sword's hilt.


"See? With this, I’ll know immediately if you’re in danger. And if you ever are, I’ll come running to you no matter where I am."


It was a vow he made to himself.


A sincere promise that he would prioritize her safety above all else.


Had his sincerity reached her?


Seeing Scarlet in tears, Yoon Si-woo reached out and gently, but firmly, pulled her into a hug.


He hoped that she would never have to cry again.


They had made a promise to each other.


That they would find happiness.


With the same heart as when they made that promise, he spoke to her.


"So, Scarlet, don’t dwell on bad thoughts and just think about how to be happy. If anything bad happens, I’ll handle it, no matter what. Because when I say I’ll do something, I do it. Trust me, okay?"


"..."


When she didn’t respond, Yoon Si-woo held her even tighter and whispered,


If even making that choice is hard for you, I’ll help you with that too.


So,


"Tell me you trust me."


And she finally answered,


"...Yes, I trust you."


When he patted her back, telling her she made the right choice, Scarlet quietly fell asleep in his arms.


Yoon Si-woo gazed down at her sleeping form, then gently laid her down on the bed and silently drew his sword.


If you believe in me, I’ll change any future, no matter what it is.


He made that vow as he sliced through the future depicted in the drawing.


*


After wiping the bloodstains from the walls and cleaning up the mess made by the broken mirror shards, Yoon Si-woo carefully wiped Scarlet clean with a towel, changing her out of her bloodied clothes with Lucy's help. Once everything was done, he quietly lay down in his own room and drifted into deep thought.


In that place within his mind, Yoon Si-woo picked up his sword.


He had made a promise.


To become strong enough to defeat the witch.


There was something he needed to do to achieve that.


His eyes shone with resolve as he spoke to Lucy, who was watching him.


"Lucy, starting today, I’m going to train until I can fully wield your power."


[Hmm, even though you haven’t mastered the other Holy Swords yet?]


"I need to get stronger quickly. I need your power."


Lucy muttered in response to his determined words.


[Didn’t I tell you before that it would be better to take your time with this training? And this power doesn’t do you any good the more you use it.]


"I told you, I’m someone who does what he says he’ll do."


Lucy gave him a faint smile.


[It’s a power that might make you unhappy.]


"I’ll only use it if I have no other choice. If it’s for Scarlet."


[If people find out, everything you’ve built up until now could be destroyed in an instant.]


"That stuff doesn’t really matter to me."


[Even if that girl doesn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for her happiness?]


Yoon Si-woo hesitated at Lucy’s question.


It was true that Scarlet might not want him to sacrifice himself for her happiness.


But


"...I want it."


He wasn’t pretending to be some kind of noble person.


He wasn’t doing this purely for her sake.


He was acting because it was what *he* wanted.


That’s why he wanted her to be happy.


"I want it."


Even if he had to become unhappy, he wanted her to be happy, more than anything.


"Scarlet’s thoughts don’t matter. I want her to be happy."


Even if she didn’t want to be happy at the cost of his sacrifice, if that was the only way to make her happy, he would force it upon her.


"So, Lucy, just shut up and help me."


Yoon Si-woo growled.


Not for anyone else, but purely for himself.


And because of that,


[Si-woo, you’re truly arrogant.]


Lucy smiled.


"So, what’s your answer?"


Yoon Si-woo asked.


Lucy bowed her head and replied,


[Do as you wish, my master, my family, my contractor.]


For someone as endlessly arrogant as him, she would simply follow.


[You have the right to be arrogant.]


*


Late at night, somewhere far away.


The king of beasts awoke from a deep slumber and let out a mighty roar.


---------------------


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Comments

  1. Lucy is or is related to the Witch of Pride? Kind of suspected it with how OP is Holy Sword. Hope new power isn't witch transformation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm guessing it's more like the king of witches

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah. He is an idiot and that is not in any way a good way of thinking

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a normal and natural way of thinking. It's just that you can't save someone unless they already want to be saved, so it's usually futile.

      Delete
  4. Siwoo on that "I can fix her" grindset

    ReplyDelete

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