Chapter 203: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 203
Yoon Si-woo, having completed the appointment ceremony, was quietly gazing at his hands inside the waiting tent.
His hands, which had been trembling so much before the ceremony started, were now strangely steady during the actual event.
If there was a reason, was it because of what he had seen earlier?
Recalling the scene he witnessed during the ceremony, Yoon Si-woo flashed a slight smile but quickly came back to his senses when he heard a voice from someone who had just entered the tent.
"You did well getting through the appointment ceremony. You seemed pretty nervous during the rehearsal, but when it came to the real thing, you were calm and performed well. Are you one of those who perform better in actual situations?”
“Ah, Captain Martina.”
It was Martina, who had helped with the appointment ceremony.
Yoon Si-woo greeted her warmly while thinking to himself.
He wasn't particularly strong in actual situations or anything like that.
Before the ceremony began, wasn't he trembling with nervousness and anticipation?
But despite that, the reason he was able to stay calm was probably because of the encouragement he received during the ceremony.
Remembering that moment again, he couldn't help but smile.
It was a curious feeling.
Even with so many people around, he was able to spot Scarlet in the crowd at a glance.
Even though he had been so nervous, the moment he saw her mouthing the words 'good luck,' his trembling mysteriously stopped.
She was, in various ways, the person who made things the hardest for him, but at the same time, she was the person who gave him the most strength.
As long as she smiled for him, he felt like he could overcome all the expectations of others and the pressure of his responsibilities.
Could there be another special person like her?
While lost in such thoughts, Martina, wrapping her arm around his head, murmured.
"More than that, thanks to you, I'm experiencing something like this for the first time. I never thought I’d be directing such a ridiculous event in my life... How does it feel to boss around your former superior, our youngest captain?”
“Aha-ha…”
Martina teased him while playfully putting him in a headlock.
With nothing to say, Yoon Si-woo just laughed awkwardly.
It did feel like he was bossing her around, but it wasn’t intentional. He had just asked for her cooperation because it was necessary.
Of course, he was genuinely grateful to Martina for helping without any complaints.
"Ha, but to think that you're a captain now. It feels like just yesterday you joined our ranks as a rookie..."
“I know, right? I didn’t expect things to turn out like this either…”
“It feels weird... Honestly, I thought that even if you became a captain, you’d still be on our side.”
“Really? But Natalia said last time that you reluctantly took me in after losing in the draw.”
“Hey! That’s true, but I really did care about you!”
Yoon Si-woo chuckled at Martina’s loud defense, as if she were hurt by his words.
She spoke as if she was sulking, but it was obviously not serious.
After all, he knew better than anyone how much she valued her subordinates, having worked under her.
And she had accommodated his unreasonable requests many times.
She was someone he was thankful for and respected as his captain.
If nothing had happened, he probably would have continued working under her, eventually inheriting her position, just as she said.
While he was lost in these thoughts, Martina, with a somewhat awkward expression, spoke up.
“Anyway, it’s not just because of that... You know, about your parents…”
“Ah…”
Yoon Si-woo’s expression also hardened naturally at her words.
He understood what she meant.
“...Because the Beast that killed your parents, the Rage Beast, is under our jurisdiction. So I thought you’d stay with us, even if you had to force yourself, to avenge them. Well, if you had, I would’ve knocked some sense into you.”
Martina was one of the few people who knew what had happened to his parents.
That's why she assumed he would stay with the 4th Division guarding the north, to avenge them.
She wasn’t wrong.
There had been times when he thought about avenging his parents if he got the chance.
But there was something more important to him now than revenge.
He was about to say that when—
“Ah…”
A sound of something dropping to the ground, accompanied by a sigh, was heard from somewhere.
“...Scarlet?”
When he turned his head towards the sound, he saw Scarlet standing there with a shocked expression.
Yoon Si-woo immediately realized.
That Scarlet had overheard what Martina just said, and what she might be thinking after hearing it.
So he tried to say it quickly.
That she shouldn’t pay attention to what she just heard.
That he was fine, and that none of this was her fault.
But before he could get the words out—
“...I’m sorry.”
With a pained expression, Scarlet muttered a single apology, then turned and ran away.
Martina, watching this, muttered with a bewildered look.
“Uh… Did I just mess up?”
“...It’s not like that, so don’t worry about it.”
Yoon Si-woo shook his head at Martina.
Even though Scarlet had heard something that would have hurt her because of Martina, it wasn’t her fault.
No one had done anything wrong.
It was just that someone got hurt because of a cruel fate.
So he tried to run after Scarlet right away.
To stop her from blaming herself for something she didn’t even do.
To stop her from hurting herself any more.
“Yoon Si-woo? We need to leave for the next event soon. Are you ready?”
But just as Yoon Si-woo was about to dash out to chase after Scarlet, Sylvia’s voice stopped him.
He felt the gazes of people looking at him.
Eyes filled with expectations.
It was as if those gazes were telling him that he shouldn’t act recklessly like before.
Yoon Si-woo frowned as he came to a stop.
It was ironic.
The choice he made for Scarlet’s sake was now the very thing that bound him, preventing him from going to her.
What was the point of his decision if this was the outcome?
For a moment, such thoughts crossed his mind, but the conflict was brief.
"…Did something happen?"
"…It’s nothing. Let’s go."
If he chased after Scarlet now, he would be breaking the promise he made to her to prioritize others over herself.
She was someone who valued promises.
If he ran after her, she would definitely be disappointed.
So Yoon Si-woo suppressed his impulse for a moment, hardened his expression, and followed Sylvia.
Only the fallen, scattered bouquet remained behind, forlornly watching his departure.
\* \* \*
The western front line, guarded by the 2nd Division of Astrape.
Facing the fiercest battlefield in human history where the great hero Aegis defeated the Witch of Gluttony, this place was notorious for frequent appearances of monsters due to the lingering dark energy from that era.
Yoon Si-woo quietly surveyed his surroundings upon arriving there.
He had come to receive a briefing from the previous captain, but no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find anyone who seemed to fit that description.
As he was looking around, a member nearby spoke up.
"Ah… You’re the new captain assigned today, right?"
“Yes. I came to receive the handover. Where is the captain?”
“Haha… We tried to stop him, but he just wouldn’t listen. Please wait a moment. Ah, he’s coming over now.”
At those words, Yoon Si-woo turned to where the member was pointing.
And there he saw, a man with a massive, muscular build, defying his age, and hair streaked with gray as proof of his long life, crushing monsters to pieces.
People often enjoyed talking about heroes.
Most of the time, it was about topics like ‘who is the strongest hero.’
When such topics arose, opinions tended to be divided.
Some would mention Leon Lionelle, while others would bring up Martina Ivanova.
However, there was a topic on which people's opinions rarely differed.
Who was the most reliable hero?
Regarding that topic, the people of this era would probably think of the same name.
The captain of the 2nd Division, ‘the Unyielding One,’ Tellos Dolos.
His fighting style was simple.
With the blessed body that carried the strong bloodline of Dolos, he would crush and tear apart monsters.
The claws and fangs of monsters could only leave scratches on his body.
His method wasn’t as fast as Leon's, as spectacular as Martina's, or as efficient as Natalia's.
Yet, no one could deny their trust in him or their respect for him.
It was because he had held the position of the 2nd Division’s captain for more than half a century.
And, true to his nickname, ‘the Unyielding One,’ he had never once left his post for a single day during those decades.
Just for the simple reason that it was more helpful to humanity to kill even one more monster during his vacation time.
That was why Yoon Si-woo’s eyes were filled with respect as he watched him.
To the man who had repeated the same work for decades, dealing with monsters seemed more like a routine task.
Finally, when Yoon Si-woo, who was watching Tellos as he finished his task and climbed up, his body emitting steam-like heat, Tellos spoke, looking down at him.
“You’re the one who said you’d be coming today.”
“Yes, sir! I’m Yoon Si-woo, the new captain of the 2nd Division!”
“A new captain, huh…”
Watching Yoon Si-woo swallow nervously under the weight of his low, imposing voice, Tellos murmured.
“Prove yourself.”
A short command.
Those few words made Yoon Si-woo flustered.
Prove himself, but how?
As he stood there, bewildered, Tellos continued speaking.
“The monsters here are tenacious. Their regenerative abilities are so strong that if you don’t kill them properly, they’ll be back on their feet in no time. Since other people recommended you, I doubt you’re that incompetent, but I need to see it for myself. Prove to me that you can do as well as I can. If you fall short, I’ll send you back.”
“Captain?!”
It must have been an unexpected action, as the member standing next to him shouted in surprise.
It was understandable.
After all, this was being broadcasted live.
The plan was to film the scene of the longest-serving captain passing on his duties to the youngest-ever new captain, but this unexpected clash had occurred.
The people filming from the back also seemed unable to hide their shock.
But Yoon Si-woo didn’t mind.
The words ‘prove you can do as well as I can.’
It might have sounded like territorial behavior, words that could hurt one’s pride, but Yoon Si-woo nodded without hesitation.
At the very least, the man before him had the right to say such words.
“All right.”
“Wait, hold on a moment!!!”
As he replied and leapt over the barrier where a few monsters were still lingering, someone shouted in surprise from behind.
From their perspective, it might have looked like he was recklessly jumping into danger, and they were probably worried about a broadcasting mishap.
But Yoon Si-woo muttered to himself that he would show them they had nothing to worry about as he pulled out a massive greatsword in midair.
The Holy Sword of Protection, originally used to create a shield.
“Holy Sword, release.”
With those words, the enormous greatsword scattered into pieces in midair, then gathered back together.
What was revealed was the true form of the Holy Sword of Protection.
It was pure white armor.
The moment he landed, Yoon Si-woo, now clad in armor from head to toe, looked like a white knight, fitting of the title.
A monster’s claws flew towards the white knight from afar.
But even as that attack grazed him, and even as a swarm of monsters clawed and bit at him, the white light surrounding the knight remained immaculate.
The monsters, realizing too late that their attacks were ineffective, had to pay a heavy price for that revelation.
Swish— The bodies of the monsters were sliced in half.
But a few of them, even with their bodies cut apart, began bubbling and regenerating on the spot.
The unique regenerative ability of the Gluttonous Beasts.
Monsters belonging to the annoying category that would quickly recover from most wounds.
But rather than being troublesome, Yoon Si-woo muttered inside his armor that this was fortunate as he glared coldly at the monsters.
He needed opponents to vent the frustration that had built up from earlier.
His sword struck again at the regenerating bodies of the monsters.
Before their shattered bodies could sprout new ones—
Again and again and again.
The monsters, desperately trying to regenerate, were attacked relentlessly, far more frequently than they could recover.
In the end, the monsters were reduced to countless pieces, a puddle of blood staining the ground.
Even after letting out his emotions in a fierce battle, his frustration wasn’t completely gone.
For the last time, he drew out the Holy Sword, shining brilliantly with a golden light, and swung it at the swarm of monsters charging from afar.
A brilliant flash of light surged, and what remained was a vast, empty field devoid of a single monster.
Returning to the people who had watched his actions in silence from atop the barricade, Yoon Si-woo spoke to Tellos, who was staring at him.
“Is this enough to prove myself?”
At his words, Tellos smiled with satisfaction and said,
“More than enough. I entrust the division to you.”
* * *
“Wow, that was amazing! The incredible prowess shown by Yoon Si-woo! This scene, where he gains the recognition of former captain Tellos, marks a true generational shift!”
A woman’s voice came from in front of the camera as she held a microphone, clearly in the middle of a broadcast.
Watching her for a moment, Yoon Si-woo noticed that she blushed and approached him with the camera, holding out the microphone as their eyes met.
The woman, looking flustered, asked with an excited expression,
“Um… Mr. Yoon Si-woo? If you don’t mind, could we have a brief interview?”
Feeling a bit tired, Yoon Si-woo considered declining, but then he remembered Scarlet, who had disappeared somewhere.
Was she at home? If she was at home...
He glanced at the camera filming him, then nodded and murmured,
“All right. If it’s just for a moment. But before the interview, could I send a quick text?”
“Oh! Really?! Of course!”
Having received permission, Yoon Si-woo carefully took out his phone.
He made sure the photo of him and Scarlet at the zoo, set as his wallpaper, wasn’t visible to others.
Then, he sent a short message to her, the person in the photo.
[Turn on the TV.]
He had something he wanted to say to her right now.
After putting his phone away, he nodded, and the woman asked her question.
“Th-then, as the youngest to become a captain, could you share your thoughts?”
“My thoughts…”
Taking a deep breath, Yoon Si-woo began to speak carefully.
“My parents passed away fighting monsters.”
The gaze of people looking at him with sympathy.
But this wasn’t what he wanted to say, so Yoon Si-woo continued immediately.
“When I say this, many people think I became a hero to avenge the monsters that killed my parents. But that’s not why I became a hero. I became a hero to protect.”
He spoke towards the camera.
“I became a hero to protect what’s precious.”
More precisely, he spoke to Scarlet, who might be watching him through the screen beyond the camera.
“It’s not that my parents weren’t precious to me. But right now, the present is far more precious to me than my parents who have already passed. I became a hero to protect what I have now, so that I wouldn’t lose it again.”
To him, you, who are alive now, Scarlet, are much more precious than his parents who passed away in the past.
“I’m standing here now to protect you.”
I’m standing here to protect you.
“So, please, even when things get tough, don’t be discouraged and smile.”
So, please smile, be happy.
“I wanted to say this.”
I just wanted to say this.
Did it reach her?
He hoped it did.
With that earnest wish, Yoon Si-woo smiled faintly.
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will scarlet become complete witch?
ReplyDeletePossible but not that easy, she need to be outside the barrier like last time and last witch's shards in her mechanic arm have to be rip out and put in too her.
DeleteThe only reason she is incomplete because the last shared is not in her body when she got force transformation
2%
ReplyDelete