CH 19

“Our goal is to catch the daemon today. Since it’s the first day, your seniors will demonstrate, and you will watch..”

“Senior!”

“What?”

At that time, Yulrey, who had been quiet so far, pulled on Nathan. He was a seemingly fragile boy who was much smaller than Nathan.

“It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Rain?”

Yulrey said in an uneasy voice. Everyone looked up when hearing those words. The sky was full of dark clouds. Soon after, as Yulrey said, it rained.

. . . 

Shoot!

“That’s a problem.”

Nathan murmured softly. As soon as the raindrops fell one by one, they ducked under a huge tree. The rain thickened in an instant. Thanks to the pouring rain, there was a fog forming.

“Tsk, it’s raining hard. Nathan, what do we do? Should I just go back like this?”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

First of all, it was an opinion to wait and see because it might be a simple shower, but in fact, the situation was not good from the moment the rain started.

“I can’t even see. Of course, if we strengthen our bodies, this rain doesn’t matter, but we’re not wizards.”

“I think we’d better just go back, Nathan. Fighting in the rain is dangerous in many ways.”

“Well…”

Nathan was briefly silent as everyone asked Nathan for his opinion. Somehow Nathan seemed to be the leader of this group. As the two other seniors passed on the leadership role to Nathan, the remaining juniors had no choice but to wait for Nathan’s words as if it were natural. Then Yulrey said cautiously…

“…..If it rains like this, you won’t be able to really use your magic well.”

The story was true. Wizards really needed a magic medium to use magic, but drawing magic with their staff in real time is quite time consuming. So, Nathan drew a few magic circles on the paper in advance, and would take it out and use it when necessary. However, when it rained like this, the paper that drew the magic got wet, and eventually the paper could not be used. In this case, the wizard has to draw a magic circle in real time…

“You’re right, Yulrey.”

“Yulrey, how did you know it was going to rain?”

“Right! It rained as soon as you said it!”

“Well, one of my parents is a spirit. So the weather… I can just tell.”

Boom!

Then there was the sound of fireworks breaking through the sound of rain. The dark sky sparkled blue for a moment.

“It’s a signal bomb.”

“What? Who used it?”

“There’s already a team that shoots a flare? Did I make a mistake?”

The children murmured with fright. Nathan frowned at the darkened sky again.

Why did you shoot the flare? If you’re going back because of the rain, you can just use “Return.”

Nathan had an ominous feeling. The next moment, there was a sound of a signal explosion from all over the dark sky, pouring rain, and still silence. The sky is twinkling.

“Everyone, take out the return seats!” cried Nathan impatiently. However, it was too late to realize that the daemon was approaching while being buried by the sound of rain.

“Nathan, I think it’s already here”

At the same time Agnes and Lariya took out their swords and rushed at the daemon that appeared from behind them. The daemon’s hard front feet hit the two swords and roared. It was not a weight to endure, so Agnes hit the front paws of it with strength. While the daemon faltered due to the rebound of power, the two ran back, widening their distance from the daemon.

“Wow, damn it. What is this? Was this guy always here?”

“No, I’ve never seen him before!”

Agnes shook off his hand as if it were numb. Watching Lariya and Agnes re-positioning, Nathan rummaged in his arms, took out the paper and threw it on the floor.

“[Water, be a chain of restraints and bind your enemies before you!]”

The rain poured down and there was enough water around. As Nathan recited the spell, the rain fluctuated violently with bright light. The water took the shape of a chain and curled up the devil’s body, an evil spirit

It was unsettling to see something’s huge body struggling the way it struggled. The shrill scream that penetrated their ears only brought even greater fear.

“This won’t last long. It’ll be wiped off by the rain soon!”

Nathan’s wand, slightly taller than his height, trembled, but Nathan clenched his teeth.

“Don’t fight both of you! Juniors, use the return seat!”

“Yes, yes!”

“I have to stay, so the magic is maintained. Go ahead!”

“Nathan!”

As soon as the other children used the return seat one after another and Agnes called Nathan, the magic staff ran out. Like an angry bull, the devil rushed at Nathan. Nathan hurriedly wrapped himself around

Yulrey next to him and rolled on the ground.

Bang!

The place they had just stood was to the other end. His heart beat fast. There are only deep marks in the place where evil spirits passed.

“Return seat!”

Nathan agonized. In the front, there was a daemon, and in the back, there was a child who couldn’t escape. In addition, Yulrey missed the return seat a while ago. Sadly, the return stone could not be easily picked up by rolling over to that point.

Nathan’s head was taut. ‘What should I do? What should I do?’ Even if he drags on like this, he’ll get in the way. ‘But I can’t run away alone. What if I give him my return seat? Can I run away? Damn it. What’s going on? What if I don’t give you a return seat? He’s too young. Besides, there’s already a panic. Do you think you can hold out until the other kids bring you back? I don’t know, but he definitely can’t. You can’t even get up now. First of all, we need to send him to a place where the daemon can’t see him. I’m… I’m…. I’m fine.’ 

T/N: That was an inner conversation of Nathan being both the one that asks himself questions and answering them. His way of preparing himself for what’s to come. 

‘It’s gonna be okay.’

“Hey! Junior!”

“Senior!”

“Take this!”

Nathan threw his return stone at Yulrey. Fortunately, the distance was close, so Yulrey could get it without missing it. It was so wet that I couldn’t tell whether Yulrey’s face was wet with rainwater or tears.

“Ha, but what about you?”

“Hurry up! I’ll go on my own!”

“I’ll bring the professor!”

“Go!”

Fortunately, Yulrey disappeared with a group of lights as if the return stone was used quickly. Now there are really only Nathan and the daemon.

“Ha, that’s right.”

Nathan slowly backed away. His hair, which was quite long because he didn’t cut it, was wet, and it was very annoying. The rain rather obscured the view. Nathan took off his glasses and held them in his hand. The view was blurry, but it was better than being blind because of the water. The wand in his hand was held tightly as if it were a lifeline, and he ran in the opposite direction before the daemon returned.

Nathan didn’t give up the return seat to Yulrey because he was full of justice. It’s just that Yulrey was still a kid. It’s only natural that he should take care of them as an adult. That’s why. That’s all.

Running in the rain was very difficult. Furthermore, the pouring rain in the forest was enough to lose one’s sense of direction. Nathan just ran forward without knowing where he was running.

Nathan cried because he was afraid of this situation. It was also unfair. If asked if he regretted what he had done, of course he regretted it. ‘What’s the point of being a good adult? Even as an adult, I’m not even 30 years old!’

“Ugh..”

Nathan, who was running with a blurry view, tripped over the root of the tree and fell. Nathan tried to get up in a hurry, but his arms trembled. He was out of breath.

‘Oh, Professor Michael told me not to overdo it.’

The damn body screamed that it only ran. He used the wand as support.

Nathan felt that the daemon was approaching while he was getting up. He was afraid to look back. The constant sound of rain fell to his ears.

‘Do I die like this? Really? I haven’t even started the novel yet.’ He had thought about death after graduation, but it was not in Nathan’s mind to die before graduation. At this moment, his head was filled with questions.

“If I die here, it’s not fair..” 

When he forcibly turned his head that was not turning around, the daemon stood right behind him. The ferocious red eyes look at Nathan. Everything seemed so slow at the moment. The pouring rain and even the way the devil opened his huge mouth to swallow him moved very slowly.

‘Death was just around the corner’ I thought.

…if it weren’t for the next moment’s voice, Nathan would have thought he was dead already.

“Why do you think about dying already?”

“What?”

His plain tone was too inconsistent with the situation. Then the daemon’s body collapsed, trying to swallow him. When Nathan looked up in a daze, a familiar person stood on the body of a dead daemon.

Hazard smiles at Nathan.

“Wouldn’t we be too young to die now?”