Chapter 163 – K-Hero (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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TV, newspapers, and YouTube were plastered all over with the events of that day.

『[Breaking News] Headmaster Media visits the bereaved families of the Hoakin tragedy to beg forgiveness.』

『[Breaking News] Vice President of the Hero Association schedules a visit to Korea… to mourn with the bereaved families.』

『[Question of Responsibility] Hoakin Academy and the Hero Association. The public asks: where exactly did the responsibility lie?』

At first, most of the articles were based on hearsay. That was because both Hoakin Academy and the Association side were only saying that they were still determining the truth and were holding back their statements.

The reason Hoakin Academy and the Hero Association, those two forces, had acted this way was not because they intended to hide the truth. The two sides intended to announce everything as soon as the situation had been fully sorted out.

Everything had its order of priority. They pushed the announcement back as a lower priority out of consideration for the cadets’ mental state.

Several friends had died at the same scene, there had been a gigantic monster they had never seen before in their lived, and the descent of Third Legion Commander Vesna.

They had vividly witnessed things that made you wonder whether normal daily life would even still be possible. On the same day, at the same time, all together.

A human exposed to fear and shock needed time for that to settle. All the more so for teenagers whose minded were still immature.

Even so, the cadets of Hoakin Academy had managed to pull themselves together because they were cadets of Hoakin Academy. If they had been ordinary people, their brains would already have been ruined by PTSD and they would not have been able to live normally.

And so Hoakin Academy kept as silent as possible about the incident.

Of course, that was only possible because they had obtained the consent of every cadet who had been there.

Honestly, the cadets’ cooperation had been unexpected. Those haughty little noble young masters keeping their mouths shut so readily.

Those guys with zero social skills? Did they all grow up a bit from this incident.

‘I guess people really do have to suffer before their heads harden.’

Even so, little by little, the inside story had been coming out online.

Well, what kind of world was this now. In an age like this, it was impossible to completely cover up an incident of that scale.

The reporters exercised their journalistic spirit and worked until sweat formed on the soles of their feet. They ran around in all directions, collecting information and piecing it together.

…The reporters scattered the truth they had reached. Each in their own way.

『The Sashimi Sword Saint, hero of the Hoakin tragedy that shocked the archipelago and left the continent stunned.』

『Sashimi Storm, Kang Geom-ma. Was he truly a god?』

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I threw my phone away. I covered my burning face.

“Please….”

Why were shame and embarrassment always my share. For the first time since falling into this world, I wanted to cry.

* * *

The affiliated hospital of Hoakin Academy.

【Room 313】

While I was checking the room number, some kind of sound drifted from beyond the door.

– Then let me be that.

– …Be what?

– Eun-japcho, honorary firefighter.

It sounded like some kind of drama….

Just hearing the line made my fingers curl up like squid.

This old guy and I really didn’t share the same taste. But what could I , I had to respect it.

Ahem.

I deliberately cleared my throat loudly and knocked.

“Ah, yes…! Come in!”

The hurried sound of a TV being turned off. When I carefully opened the door and entered, Manager Seong welcomed me.

I pretended not to notice the remote he subtly hid beneath the blanket.

“S-Sword Demon-nim! What brings you here!”

“……”

Manager Seong’s face was so gaunt it looked almost skeletal. When he tried to rise unsteadily from the bed, I waved my hands at him.

“I was passing by, so I came to visit. And please stay still. Your surgical stitches will tear open. I know because I’ve been hospitalized a lot.”

“Oh, please don’t say that. My savior personally came to see me. How could I possibly just lie still?”

This was a man who had crossed the River Styx two or three times already, and he was acting like that. I shook my head sternly.

“If the person you think of as your savior ends up causing a funeral because of you, who’s going to take responsibility for that? Just stay still. Otherwise I’ll call your attending physician and run.”

I knew I was being rude to an adult, but it really felt like he was about to keel over.

Manager Seong had gone through major surgery over the past few days. To be honest, he had looked hopeless, but more than a dozen medical personnel had clung to him and barely managed to save his life.

Even the doctors had praised themselves, saying they had practically brought a dead man back to life.

Apparently he still had several more surgeries left. Fortunately, he had at least made it past the crisis point.

I checked on Manager Seong’s condition. The sense of loss on his face no doubt came from wounds of the heart.

Because the subordinate employee he had treasured had turned out to be an enemy within. The disappointment must have been severe.

Still, there was no reason for Manager Seong to carry that guilt. He was a good person. That was enough.

“Ah, ah, yes. If you put it that way….”

Manager Seong let the back he had lifted settle against the bed again. I placed the canned fruit I had brought on the bedside table and sat beside him.

“How does your body feel?”

“As you can see, aside from some minor injuries, I’m perfectly healthy!”

Manager Seong laughed with a joking tone.

“Your arms and legs disappeared, and you’re calling them minor injuries. That’s a bit much for a joke.”

“When you work in hero-related business, aren’t injuries like this bound to happen. In truth… I did choose office work, even though the salary is lower, because I wanted to avoid exactly these kinds of things, but….”

Manager Seong, who had been chattering energetically, let the end of his sentence trail off. Then he brightened and shook his head.

“The Association provides prosthetic limbs made using one of the artifacts in preparation for just this sort of thing.”

Suddenly slapping his knee, Manager Seong said.

“Ah! If there’s anything you want, please say so, Sword Demon-nim. I’m saying this on behalf of the Association. In the Hoakin tragedy, you saved me and the cadets. You’re a hero.”

“Honestly, I was lucky.”

“Haha, to call it luck. I can still see the scene clearly. Suddenly those sashimi knives rose into the air and shik shik, you filleted the enemies and saved us! Sword Demon-nim, you have more than enough right to ask for compensation.”

Manager Seong was right. At that time, I had floated thousands of sashimi knives into the air and slaughtered the enemies.

And while doing so, I had even said that cheesy line, `Controlling the Sword with Qi.`

Just thinking back on it made my face heat up.

What difference was there between me and this old guy watching cringe-worthy dramas?

At least if I had taste like his, people would respect it. I, on the other hand, had struck a pose in front of an enemy.

At the heat suddenly rising in me, I rubbed my face.

‘Seriously, why did I do that?’

At this point, the caliber of mind was even controlling my actions. To think that would turn out to be more dangerous than the wearing away of my humanity….

…Anyway, after that, I had not been able to manifest Controlling the Sword with Qi again. I had tried a few times, but it did not work.

Only the image of the sword formed in the domain of my mind, while the sashimi knife in reality did not budge at all.

Apparently some specific condition had to be fulfilled, but it was not hard to guess the clue for that condition.

[The Blessing of the Sword God, `Heart`, is activated.]

It was probably only when that line appeared that I could wield Controlling the Sword with Qi.

I did not know how to make it manifest again. Even so, that was something I could figure out later. I decided to think about it gradually.

I looked back at Manager Seong. With a bitter expression, he added.

“…Assistant Manager Ha, that girl, was the one who orchestrated this matter, wasn’t she. The Association feels deeply responsible for that. So from our point of view, we can only feel gratitude to you again and again, Sword Demon-nim. Because you personally carved away the Association’s mistake.”

“I see.”

“We will absolutely announce the truth. But before that, it was decided that we should provide you with appropriate compensation. No matter how great a hero may be, there should not be such a thing as unpaid labor. There has to be just reward.”

That part was wrong. I had gained something of my own.

Jormungandr’s poisonous fangs. The teeth of that demonic creature were special among high-grade strengthening materials.

The only problem was that the source was the demonic realm Gehenna, which made it a notoriously difficult material to obtain from Miracle’s Blessing M.

But luckily for me, I had run into the thing, and after subjugating it, I had neatly collected what I could.

Even now, I had just come back from leaving Murasame and the poisonous fang with Byulant.

The hospital happened to be on the way, so I had stopped by while I was at it. In other words, I had already taken what I needed. It was not unpaid.

For reference, Jormungandr’s corpse oxidized like dust a little while later. Because it had been an incomplete summoning and the environment had changed abruptly. Its body probably couldn’t endure it. I had wanted to collect the scales too, but there hadn’t been enough time. It was a shame.

‘Compensation, huh….’

I thought for a short moment. Since things had come to this, I would ask for what I had wanted all along.

“Actually, there has only ever been one thing I wanted. Access to the artifact Monolith.”

Manager Seong’s eyes turned startled. He asked back.

“But isn’t that practically something you’ve already achieved, Sword Demon-nim? Once you become student council president, you’ll naturally be issued an Association pass.”

“That’s exactly what I don’t want. What I want is not the student council presidency, only the Association pass.”

In other words, I wanted to throw away the shell and keep only the substance. To put it more bluntly, I didn’t want to be student council president.

“Is that possible?”

Only then did he seem to understand what I meant, and Manager Seong swallowed. A moment later, his dried lips opened.

“It’s possible. Of course it is.”

“Your reaction was so lukewarm that I thought it wasn’t.”

“What surprised me wasn’t anything else, but that your request is so modest. The higher-ups had already agreed quite readily to even material demands… Sword Demon-nim, you really are beyond imagination in many ways. Should I call it detached?”

It was not an incomprehensible reaction.

Did I lack greed myself? Of course not. Nor was I the sort of person who threw away practical benefit in favor of pride.

But I was satisfied with this. Right before me was someone who had lost a great deal because of this incident.

Manager Seong, who had lost his limbs and his subordinate employee. I did not feel like demanding this and that from someone like him. Even if it was compensation offered by the Association.

And later on, there might be something else I needed from the Association. It was right to rein in greed and look to the future.

With his one remaining hand, Manager Seong rubbed his chin.

“So to summarize, Sword Demon-nim, you wish to give up your qualification as a presidential candidate in exchange for only the Association pass?”

“Yes. If it turns out that I received the highest number of votes, then please hand the position over to whoever comes after me.”

Having made up his mind, Manager Seong nodded.

“Understood. I’ll have it handled that way. I want to do more for you, but when you yourself refuse, well. It’s making me feel a little embarrassed.”

He gave an awkward smile.

“You should focus on recovering too, Manager. It’ll get worse otherwise. Anyway, I’ll be going now.”

The matter had been settled. Just as I was about to leave the room.

Almost paradise~♪ More dazzling than the morning~♫

The ringtone rang out from behind me. It was coming from Manager Seong’s phone.

That old guy really was serious about dramas.

With his face flushed bright red, Manager Seong answered the call. As I was about to leave while pretending not to hear it again, he hurriedly stopped me.

“Sword Demon-nim! Please wait just a moment!”

Without turning back, I shook my head.

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“N-no, that’s not it! They say they want to speak to you for a moment!”

“What? Who does?”

Without a word, Manager Seong simply held out the phone. Feeling awkward, I took the call. And then a voice like thunder crashed into my ears.

[So this is the nephew I’ve heard so much about. It’s my first time hearing your real voice! A few days from now I’ll be heading to Korea, so I’ll be seeing your face in person too, but still, hahahaha!]

“Who is this?”

[I am the Vice President of the Hero Association. My given name is Richard, and my family name is Muir.]

“…?”

[If the pronunciation is difficult, feel free to call me Spear Saint.]

* * *

…The same place, the same time.

Saki paced the third-floor hospital corridor. After going around in circles on the spot, she eventually leaned against the window frame.

“Haa.”

Feeling the chill of the glass against her back, Saki tilted her head back. She gazed up at the ceiling steadily.

“Seriously, what is wrong with me.”

That day, in the Hoakin tragedy, Saki had been injured as well. She had been torn up here and there and had spilled a great deal of blood.

But unlike Manager Seong, Saki’s condition had been relatively fine.

Weapon and Kang Geom-ma, who had both been on site, had activated healing blessings together. Thanks to that, only traces remained. Even those were hardly visible now.

Still, she needed regular examinations. Since she had taken magic all across her body, they apparently needed to observe how things progressed. That was why she had come to the hospital today, but….

Lowering her gaze, Saki stared fixedly at the door to Room 313. At that moment, the door slid open and Kang Geom-ma came out.

“Oh, Ryozo. Why are you here?”

Ryozo only darted her eyes around without answering. She couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse to say.

What was she supposed to do, act casual and say, Oh, I just happened to see you go in and waited~?

…She would rather bite off her tongue than say something like a stalker.

Ryozo’s pupils spun like whirlpools. At that, Kang Geom-ma, who had been wearing a puzzled expression, widened his eyes.

“Ah, it’s the day of your checkup, isn’t it.”

Ryozo immediately latched onto the words.

“Y-yeah, yeah. That’s right.”

“You’ve been taking care of yourself well. That’s a relief.”

At the soft smile, Ryozo felt something melting inside her.

“Th-th-that aside. Geom-ma, what are you doing at the hospital?”

“I came to visit Manager Seong. Because of that, I got dragged into something troublesome too, unexpectedly….”

Ryozo tilted her head, then soon shook it.

On top of waiting for him, she was now even curious about his privacy. That wasn’t good. She herself was becoming dangerous.

Her legs twisted together restlessly. Ryozo lowered her head deeply. She couldn’t bring herself to lift her face.

After quietly watching Ryozo, Kang Geom-ma spoke first.

“If you’ve got time, come to the market with me.”

At that suggestion, Ryozo slowly lifted her eyes. Scratching at his cheek, Kang Geom-ma said.

“I said I’d buy you yokan.”

“…Ah.”

“I don’t eat sweets, so I don’t know which ones taste good. And for preference foods, it’s best if the person picks them out themselves.”

Ryozo stared fixedly at Kang Geom-ma. She had forgotten, but Geom-ma really was more attentive in memory than she’d expected…. Ryozo fidgeted with her fingers.

“Could it be something other than yokan…?”

“Not yokan? Then what?”

An awkward silence drifted through the hospital corridor. The evening sunlight softly settled over the two of their shoulders.

In a tiny voice, Ryozo answered.

“Geom-ma… kimchi jjigae that you make.”